OSSERVATORIO ASTRONOMICO DI PALERMO GIUSEPPE S. VAIANA

Research Project
Algorithms and Data Bases for X-ray Astronomy

The OAPA group has a long tradition in the development of data-bank based on the homogeneous analysis of data from X-ray mission. This tradition starts since the 1985 when the OAPA group in collaboration with a team leaded by Dr. F. R. Harnden. Jr. of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have realized a database of the homogeneous analysis of the IPC and HRI data taken with the first extra-solar imaging X-ray telescope on board the Einstein observatory. This database was (and it is still) implemented on the INGRES Database Management System available among the suite of tools adopted by OAPA scientist for their research programs.

In recent years a group of scientists of the OAPA in collaboration with scientists of CFA has developed a complete system for the automated scientific analysis of the ROSAT PSPC data, that is based both on IRAF/IDL/FTOOL/XSPEC standard tools and new detection algorithm based on ``wavelet transforms'' developed at OAPA . This new algorithm is also capable to give consistent source intensities and upper-limits for undetected objects as well as an estimate of source extension. For further detailed description of the general mathematical properties of this wavelet transforms detection code see Damiani et al. 1997a and for a specific ROSAT PSPC application Damiani et al. 1997b ( Figures 1-11 [516 kB], Figure 12-15 [1137 kB] )
The pipeline makes also use of an optimized time screening algorithm for ROSAT PSPC/HRI observations (Bocchino, Barbera, Sciortino 1997), implemented under the IRAF package and used in the ROSATPIPE Project.

The entire data set of the PSPC pointed data have been analyzed and the results of the analysis have been stored in a database management system. This effort, on the italian side, has been largely founded by the italian CNAA with small additional funds from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) as a part of the realization of DIANA , the Distributed Italian Astronomical Network Archive. As a result of the DIANA realization the database of PSPC pipeline results generated at OAPA is publicly accessible through DIANA@OAPA .

The more recently activity has been concentrated in the realization of the of a porting of the Palermo Wdetect algorthm for the imaging detectors on-board CHANDRA and XMM-Newton

NEWS: The V1.0 of the OAPA Pwdetect code for Chandra is now available.