Calibration of the NuSTAR High Energy Focusing X-ray Telescope

Abstract

We present the calibration of the \textit{Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array} (\nustar) X-ray satellite. We used the Crab as the primary effective area calibrator and constructed a piece-wise linear spline function to modify the vignetting response. The achieved residuals for all off-axis angles and energies, compared to the assumed spectrum, are typically better than $\pm 2$\% up to 40\,keV and 5--10\,\% above due to limited counting statistics. An empirical adjustment to the theoretical 2D point spread function (PSF) was found using several strong point sources, and no increase of the PSF half power diameter (HPD) has been observed since the beginning of the mission. We report on the detector gain calibration, good to 60\,eV for all grades, and discuss the timing capabilities of the observatory, which has an absolute timing of $\pm$ 3\,ms. Finally we present cross-calibration results from two campaigns between all the major concurrent X-ray observatories (\textit{Chandra}, \textit{Swift}, \textit{Suzaku} and \textit{XMM-Newton}), conducted in 2012 and 2013 on the sources 3C\,273 and PKS\,2155-304, and show that the differences in measured flux is within $\sim$10\% for all instruments with respect to \nustar.

References in corpus (8)

• Tempo2, a new pulsar timing package. II: The timing model and precision estimates
• NuSTAR Observations of the Bullet Cluster: Constraints on Inverse Compton Emission
• When A Standard Candle Flickers
• No Time for Dead Time: Timing analysis of bright black hole binaries with NuSTAR
• The NuSTAR View of Nearby Compton-thick AGN: The Cases of NGC 424, NGC 1320 and IC 2560
• The Broad-band X-ray Spectrum of IC 4329A from a Joint NuSTAR/Suzaku Observation
• A broadband X-ray study of the Geminga pulsar with NuSTAR and XMM-Newton
• Cross-Calibration of the XMM-Newton EPIC pn & MOS On-Axis Effective Areas Using 2XMM Sources

Cited by in corpus (233)

• New Constraints on Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter from $NuSTAR$ M31 Observations
• (Almost) Closing the $\nu$MSM Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter Window with NuSTAR
• Multiwavelength Study of Quiescent States of Mrk 421 with Unprecedented Hard X-Ray Coverage Provided by NuSTAR in 2013
• NuSTAR catches the unveiling nucleus of NGC 1068
• The distribution of radioactive ${}^{44}$Ti in Cassiopeia A
• NuSTAR and Swift observations of the very high state in GX 339-4: Weighing the black hole with X-rays
• The Soft State of Cygnus X-1 Observed with NuSTAR: A Variable Corona and a Stable Inner Disk
• IACHEC Cross-Calibration of Chandra, NuSTAR, Swift, Suzaku, and XMM-Newton with 3C 273 and PKS 2155-304
• A New Population of Compton-Thick AGN Identified Using the Spectral Curvature Above 10 keV
• A High Braking Index for a Pulsar
• The NuSTAR view on Hard-TeV BL Lacs
• A new class of flares from accreting supermassive black holes
• MAXI J1820+070 with NuSTAR I. An increase in variability frequency but a stable reflection spectrum: coronal properties and implications for the inner disc in black hole binaries
• The Soft-Excess in Mrk 509: Warm Corona or Relativistic Reflection?
• NuSTAR Tests of Sterile-Neutrino Dark Matter: New Galactic Bulge Observations and Combined Impact
• Living on a Flare: Relativistic Reflection in V404 Cyg Observed by NuSTAR During its Summer 2015 Outburst
• A hard X-ray view of Luminous and Ultra-luminous Infrared Galaxies in GOALS: I - AGN obscuration along the merger sequence
• An Iron K Component to the Ultrafast Outflow in NGC 1313 X-1
• Analysis of NuSTAR and Suzaku observations of Cyg X-1 in the hard state: evidence for a truncated disc geometry
• Reflection Spectra of the Black Hole Binary Candidate MAXI J1535-571 in the Hard State Observed by NuSTAR
• Super-Eddington Accretion onto the Neutron Star NGC 7793 P13: Broadband X-ray Spectroscopy and Ultraluminous X-ray Sources
• Long-Exposure NuSTAR Constraints on Decaying Dark Matter in the Galactic Halo
• Microflare Heating of a Solar Active Region Observed with NuSTAR, Hinode/XRT, and SDO/AIA
• A Potential Cyclotron Resonant Scattering Feature in the ULX Pulsar NGC 300 ULX1 seen by NuSTAR and XMM-Newton
• NuSTAR observations of WISE J1036+0449, a Galaxy at z$\sim 1$ obscured by hot dust
• Pulsating in unison at optical and X-ray energies: simultaneous high-time resolution observations of the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038
• A very young radio-loud magnetar
• NuSTAR Hard X-ray Survey of the Galactic Center Region II: X-ray Point Sources
• Comprehensive Broadband X-ray and Multiwavelength Study of Active Galactic Nuclei in Local 57 Ultra/luminous Infrared Galaxies Observed with NuSTAR and/or Swift/BAT
• The 450 days X-ray monitoring of the changing-look AGN 1ES 1927+654
• Decaying dark matter search with NuSTAR deep sky observations
• The NuSTAR view of reflection and absorption in NGC 7582
• X-Ray Polarimetry with the Polarization Spectroscopic Telescope Array (PolSTAR)
• Non-thermal X-rays from Colliding Wind Shock Acceleration in the Massive Binary Eta Carinae
• NuSTAR reveals the hidden nature of SS433
• Measurement of the absolute Crab flux with NuSTAR
• Hard X-ray Morphological and Spectral Studies of The Galactic Center Molecular Cloud Sgr B2: Constraining Past Sgr A* Flaring Activity
• Discovery of 105 Hz coherent pulsations in the ultracompact binary IGR J16597-3704
• The NuSTAR Serendipitous Survey: Hunting for The Most Extreme Obscured AGN at >10 keV
• The First Focused Hard X-ray Images of the Sun with NuSTAR
• The Unusual Broadband X-ray Spectral Variability of NGC 1313 X-1 seen with XMM$-$Newton, Chandra and NuSTAR
• The first X-ray imaging spectroscopy of quiescent solar active regions with NuSTAR
• Unravelling the complex behavior of Mrk 421 with simultaneous X-ray and VHE observations during an extreme flaring activity in April 2013
• Investigation of the correlation patterns and the Compton dominance variability of Mrk 421 in 2017
• NuSTAR and XMM-Newton Observations of the Hard X-Ray Spectrum of Centaurus A
• Constraints on Axion-like Particles from a Hard $X$-ray Observation of Betelgeuse
• A Long Look At MCG-5-23-16 With NuSTAR: I- Relativistic Reflection And Coronal Properties
• On the timing properties of SAX J1808.4-3658 during its 2015 outburst
• Characterizing X-ray and Radio emission in the Black Hole X-Ray Binary V404 Cygni during Quiescence
• The NuSTAR Extragalactic Surveys: X-ray spectroscopic analysis of the bright hard-band selected sample
• The NuSTAR X-ray Spectrum of Hercules X-1: A Radiation-Dominated Radiative Shock
• 3C 273 with NuSTAR: Unveiling the AGN
• Discovery of a new accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar in the globular cluster NGC 2808
• A Suzaku, NuSTAR, and XMM-Newton view on variable absorption and relativistic reflection in NGC 4151
• On the black hole mass of the gamma-ray emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy 1H 0323+342
• HaloSat -- A CubeSat to Study the Hot Galactic Halo
• The Nature of Soft Excess in ESO 362-G18 Revealed by XMM-Newton and NuSTAR Spectroscopy
• Spectral and timing properties of IGR J00291+5934 during its 2015 outburst
• Shedding Light on the Compton-thick Active Galactic Nucleus in the Ultra-luminous Infrared Galaxy UGC 5101 with Broadband X-ray Spectroscopy
• Multiple cyclotron line-forming regions in GX 301-2
• Coronal properties of Swift/BAT-selected Seyfert 1 AGN observed with NuSTAR
• NuSTAR reveals the extreme properties of the super-Eddington accreting SMBH in PG 1247+267
• NuSTAR and NICER reveal IGR J17591-2342 as a new accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar
• A New Compton-thick AGN in our Cosmic Backyard: Unveiling the Buried Nucleus in NGC 1448 with NuSTAR
• The NuSTAR view of the non-thermal emission from PSR J0437-4715
• A Low-Flux State in IRAS 00521-7054 seen with NuSTAR and XMM-Newton: Relativistic Reflection and an Ultrafast Outflow
• NuSTAR unveils a heavily obscured low-luminosity Active Galactic Nucleus in the Luminous Infrared Galaxy NGC 6286
• Extremes of the jet-accretion power relation of blazars, as explored by NuSTAR
• The 2018 X-ray and Radio Outburst of Magnetar XTE J1810-197
• A broadband X-ray spectral study of the intermediate-mass black hole candidate M82 X-1 with NuSTAR, Chandra and Swift
• STIX X-ray microflare observations during the Solar Orbiter commissioning phase
• The Broadband Spectral Variability of Holmberg IX X-1
• A spectral study of the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070 with AstroSat and NuSTAR
• The first hard X-ray spectral catalogue of Blazars observed by NuSTAR
• Timing Calibration of the NuSTAR X-ray Telescope
• The first nova eruption in a novalike variable: YZ Ret as seen in X-rays and gamma-rays
• Continued decay in the cyclotron line energy in Hercules X-1
• The hyperluminous Compton-thick $z\sim 2$ quasar nucleus of the hot DOG W1835+4355 observed by NuSTAR
• IC 3639 - A new bona fide Compton thick AGN unveiled by NuSTAR
• The Hard State of the Highly Absorbed High Inclination Black Hole Binary Candidate Swift J1658.2-4242 Observed by NuSTAR and Swift
• NuSTAR observations of a repeatedly microflaring active region
• The nature of the torus in the heavily obscured AGN Markarian 3: an X-ray study
• A Hard X-ray Study of the Normal Star-Forming Galaxy M83 with NuSTAR
• X-ray Spectroscopy of the gamma-ray Brightest Nova V906 Car (ASASSN-18fv)
• Peering through the Dust: NuSTAR Observations of Two FIRST-2MASS Red Quasars
• NuSTAR + XMM-Newton monitoring of the neutron star transient AX J1745.6-2901
• The Geometry of the Infrared and X-ray Obscurer in a Dusty Hyperluminous Quasar
• NuSTAR observations of the supergiant X-ray pulsar IGR J18027-2016: accretion from the stellar wind and possible cyclotron absorption line
• $NuSTAR$ Observations of Four Nearby X-ray Faint AGN: Low Luminosity or Heavy Obscuration?
• Evidence for Relativistic Disk Reflection in the Seyfert 1h Galaxy/ULIRG IRAS 05189-2524 Observed by NuSTAR and XMM-Newton
• Reflection geometries in absorbed and unabsorbed AGN
• NuSTAR Hard X-ray Observations of the Energetic Millisecond Pulsars PSR B1821-24, PSR B1937+21, and PSR J0218+4232
• The multi-wavelength view of shocks in the fastest nova V1674 Her
• NuSTAR Observations of AGN with Low Observed X-ray to [OIII] Luminosity Ratios: Heavily Obscured AGN or Turned-Off AGN?
• The NuSTAR Extragalactic Survey: Average broad-band X-ray spectral properties of the NuSTAR detected AGN
• Additional evidence for a pulsar wind nebula in the heart of SN 1987A from multi-epoch X-ray data and MHD modeling
• A Full Characterisation of the Supermassive Black Hole in IRAS 09149-6206
• NuSTAR hard X-ray spectra of radio galaxies
• A deep X-ray view of the bare AGN Ark 120. III. X-ray timing analysis and multiwavelength variability
• NuSTAR spectral analysis of two bright Seyfert 1 galaxies: MCG +8-11-11 and NGC 6814
• NuSTAR, Swift, and GROND observations of the flaring MeV blazar: PMN J0641$-$0320
• High-redshift blazars through nustar eyes
• Disentangling the Complex Broadband X-ray Spectrum of IRAS 13197-1627 with NuSTAR, XMM-Newton and Suzaku
• Systematic Broad-band X-ray Study of super-Eddington Accretion onto Supermassive Black Holes. I. X-ray Continuum
• A multiwavelength-motivated X-ray model for the Circinus Galaxy
• Nature of Compton-thick Active Galactic Nuclei in "Non-merging'' Luminous Infrared Galaxies UGC 2608 and NGC 5135 Revealed with Broadband X-ray Spectroscopy
• On the Spin of the Black Hole in IC 10 X-1
• The infrared to X-ray correlation spectra of unobscured type 1 active galactic nuclei
• NuSTAR Observation of Energy Release in Eleven Solar Microflares
• Broad-band spectral study of X-ray transient MAXI J1820+070 using Swift/XRT and NuSTAR
• Long term X-Ray Observations of Seyfert 1 Galaxy Ark 120: On the origin of soft-excess
• Spectral and Timing Properties of IGR J17091-3624 in the Rising Hard State During its 2016 Outburst
• High-energy characteristics of the accretion-powered millisecond pulsar IGR J17591-2342 during its 2018 outburst
• A long hard-X-ray look at the dual active galactic nuclei of M51 with NuSTAR
• The Galactic Bulge Diffuse Emission in Broad-Band X-rays with NuSTAR
• SED constraints on the highest-$z$ blazar jet: QSO J0906+6930
• The 2022 high-energy outburst and radio disappearing act of the magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408
• Hard X-Ray Constraints on Small-Scale Coronal Heating Events
• Evidence of Significant Energy Input in the Late Phase of a Solar Flare from NuSTAR X-Ray Observations
• Black Holes and Neutron Stars in Nearby Galaxies: Insights from NuSTAR
• Extreme Relativistic Reflection in the Active Galaxy ESO 033-G002
• Spectro-timing study of GX 339-4 in a hard intermediate state
• The NuSTAR Hard X-ray Survey of the Norma Arm Region
• The Nonstandard Properties of a "Standard" PWN: Unveiling the Mysteries of PWN G21.5-0.9 Using its IR and X-ray emission
• Insights into the broad-band emission of the TeV blazar Mrk 501 during the first X-ray polarization measurements
• Spectral evolution of the ultraluminous X-ray sources M82 X-1 and X-2
• NuSTAR observations of the young, energetic radio pulsar PSR B1509-58
• The Ultraluminous X-ray sources population of the galaxy NGC 7456
• Distinct High Energy Cutoff Variation Patterns in Two Seyfert Galaxies
• An XMM-Newton and NuSTAR study of IGR J18214-1318: a non-pulsating high-mass X-ray binary with a neutron star
• NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observations of the Arches cluster in 2015: fading hard X-ray emission from the molecular cloud
• {\it NuSTAR} hard X-ray studies of the pulsar wind nebula 3C~58
• Neutron Stars and Black Holes in the Small Magellanic Cloud: The SMC NuSTAR Legacy Survey
• X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Emission From Core-collapse Supernovae: Comparison of Three-dimensional Neutrino-driven Explosions With SN 1987A
• Probing Nuclear and Circumnuclear Properties of NGC 6300 using X-ray Observations
• Eta Carinae's Thermal X-ray Tail Measured with XMM-Newton and NuSTAR
• X-ray Spectroscopy of the Highly Magnetized Pulsar PSR J1846-0258, its Wind Nebula and Hosting Supernova Remnant Kes 75
• NuSTAR and Chandra observations of new X-ray transients in the central parsec of the Galaxy
• Ejection-accretion connection in NLS1 AGN 1H 1934-063
• In-flight Calibration of Hitomi Soft X-ray Spectrometer (3) Effective Area
• A New Transient Ultraluminous X-ray Source in NGC 7090
• In-orbit Calibration to the Point-Spread Function of Insight-HXMT
• Re-awakening of GRS 1716--249 after 23 years, observed by {\it Swift}/XRT and {\it NuSTAR}
• UV and X-ray pulse amplitude variability in the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038
• MAXI J1820+070 with NuSTAR II. Flaring during the hard to soft state transition with a long soft lag
• Detection of the high energy cut-off from the Seyfert 1.5 galaxy NGC 5273
• On the X-ray Spectral Energy Distributions of Star-Forming Galaxies: the 0.3-30 keV Spectrum of the Low-Metallicity Starburst Galaxy VV 114
• Evolution of the spin, spectrum and super-orbital period of the ultraluminous X-ray pulsar M51 ULX7
• A Compound Poisson Generator approach to Point-Source Inference in Astrophysics
• XMM-Newton and NuSTAR simultaneous X-ray observations of IGR J11215-5952
• Calibration of the ART-XC mirror modules at MSFC
• Testing relativistic reflection and resolving outflows in PG 1211+143 with XMM-Newton and NuSTAR
• SU Lyn: diagnosing the boundary layer with UV and hard X-ray data
• The multi-phase environment in the centre of Centaurus A
• NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observations of 1E1743.1-2843: indications of a neutron star LMXB nature of the compact object
• Coronal Properties of Low-Accreting AGNs using Swift, XMM-Newton and NuSTAR Observations
• A NuSTAR view of SS433: Precessional evolution of the jet-disk system
• Accreting on the edge: a luminosity-dependent cyclotron line in the Be/X-ray Binary 2S 1553-542 accompanied by accretion regimes transition
• A luminous X-ray transient in SDSS J143359.16+400636.0: a likely tidal disruption event
• First NuSTAR Limits on Quiet Sun Hard X-Ray Transient Events
• NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 5643 X-1
• NuSTAR observation of the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient IGR J11215-5952 during its 2017 outburst
• Hard X-ray View of HCG 16 (Arp 318)
• Isolated AGNs NGC 5347, ESO 438-009, MCG-02-04-090, and J11366-6002: Swift and NuSTAR joined view
• Investigating the evolution of the dual AGN system ESO~509-IG066
• XRB continuum fitting with sensitive high energy X-ray detectors
• Evidence for non-thermal X-ray emission from the double WR colliding-wind binary Apep
• A broadband X-ray study of the Rabbit pulsar wind nebula powered by PSR J1418-6058
• The X-ray pulsar XTE J1858+034 observed with NuSTAR and Fermi/GBM: spectral and timing characterization plus a cyclotron line
• A NuSTAR and Swift View of the Hard State of MAXI J1813-095
• A high-mass X-ray binary pulsar 4U 1907+09 with multiple absorption-line features in the spectrum
• X-ray studies of the pulsar PSR J1420-6048 and its TeV pulsar wind nebula in the Kookaburra region
• NICER, NuSTAR, and Swift follow-up observations of the $\gamma$-ray flaring blazar BL Lacertae in 2020 August-October
• Suzaku observations of the 2013 outburst of KS 1947+300
• NuSTAR Hard X-ray Observation of the Gamma-ray Binary Candidate HESS J1832-093
• Hard X-ray Emission from Sh2-104: A NuSTAR search for Gamma-ray Counterparts
• A possible phase dependent absorption feature in the transient X-ray pulsar SAX J2103.5+4545
• The nature of X-ray spectral variability in MCG-6-30-15
• The NuSTAR View of the Seyfert 2 Galaxy NGC 4388
• Probing the Properties of the Pulsar Wind in the Gamma-Ray Binary HESS J0632+057 with NuSTAR and VERITAS Observations
• NuSTAR observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source M33 X-8: a black hole in a very high state?
• Luminosity dependence of the multiple cyclotron lines in 4U 0115$+$63
• The X-ray emission of the Seyfert 2 galaxy MCG-01-24-12
• XMM-Newton and NuSTAR Observations of an Optically Quiescent Quasar
• Broadband X-ray properties of black holes GRS 1758-258 and 1E 1740.7-2942: AstroSat and NuSTAR results
• Multi-Wavelength Observation Campaign of the TeV Gamma-Ray Binary HESS J0632+057 with NuSTAR, VERITAS, MDM, and Swift
• Long-term evolution of Cyclotron Line energy in an eclipsing pulsar 4U 1538-522
• The Extragalactic Serendipitous Swift Survey (ExSeSS) -- I. Survey definition and measurements of the X-ray number counts
• A peculiar cyclotron line near 16 keV detected in the 2015 outburst of 4U 0115+63?
• The high-energy emission from HD~93129A near periastron
• The unaltered pulsar: GRO J1750-27, a super-critical X-ray neutron star that does not blink an eye
• Bulk Comptonization: new hints from the luminous blazar 4C+25.05
• The active nucleus of the ULIRG IRAS F00183-7111 viewed by NuSTAR
• X-ray Monitoring of the Magnetar CXOU J171405.7-381031 in SNR CTB 37B
• XMM-Newton and NuSTAR joint observations of Mrk 915: a deep look into the X-ray properties
• A comprehensive X-ray view of the active nucleus in NGC 4258
• Flux Relaxation after two outbursts of the magnetar SGR 1627$-$41 and possible hard X-ray emission
• The obscured active nucleus of NGC 7172 as seen by NuSTAR
• XMM-Newton --NuSTAR monitoring campaign of the Seyfert 1 galaxy IC 4329A
• Disappearance of a massive star in the Andromeda Galaxy due to formation of a black hole
• Simulation-based spectral analysis of X-ray CCD data affected by photon pile-up
• Ultraluminous X-ray Sources in Seven Edge-On Spiral Galaxies
• In-orbit performance of LE onboard Insight-HXMT in the first 5 years
• The Low Temperature Corona in ESO 511$-$G030 Revealed by NuSTAR and XMM-Newton
• X-Ray Optics for Astrophysics: a historical review
• On joint analysing XMM-NuSTAR spectra of active galactic nuclei
• Hidden biases in flux-resolved X-ray spectroscopy
• Timing and spectral properties of Be/Xray pulsar 4U 1901+03 during 2019 outburst
• NuSTAR View of TeV Blazar Mrk 501
• X-ray Spectral Variability as Probe of Multimessenger Emission in Blazar 5BZB J0630-24064
• Spectral study of neutron star low mass X-ray binary source 1A 1744-361
• Deriving instrumental point spread functions from partially occulted images
• Spectral and timing analysis of BeXRB eRASSU J050810.4-660653 recently discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)
• X-ray Absorption and Reprocessing in the $z\sim 2.5$ Lensed Quasar 2MASS J1042+1641
• Broadband Spectrum of the X-ray Binary M33 X-6 from NuSTAR and Swift-XRT Data: An Extragalactic Z-Source?
• Quiet Sun impulsive events observed with NuSTAR during solar minimum
• Study of recently discovered Be/X-ray pulsar MAXI J0655-013 using NuSTAR
• Spectro-timing analysis of Be X-ray pulsar SMC X-2 during the 2022 outburst
• Spectral and Timing Analysis of NuSTAR and Swift/XRT Observations of the X-Ray Transient MAXI J0637-430
• Detection of a cyclotron line in the Be X-ray pulsar IGR J06074$+$2205
• Spectral evolution of X-ray pulsar 4U 1901+03 during the 2019 outburst based on Insight-HXMT and NuSTAR observations
• The extreme properties of the nearby hyper-Eddington accreting Active Galactic Nucleus in IRAS 04416+1215
• Constraints on cyclotron features and accretion regime in the high-mass X-ray binary 4U 1700-37 from NuSTAR
• The nature of X-ray spectral variability in SWIFT J2127.4+5654
• Spectral Analysis of New Black Hole Candidate AT2019wey Observed by NuSTAR
• CubeSats Reach the Millisecond X-Ray Domain: Crab Pulsar Timing with SpIRIT/HERMES
• Resolving SLX 1744-299 and SLX 1744-300 in the hard X-ray band: implications for their ultracompact nature
• The X-ray coronae in NuSTAR bright active galactic nuclei
• Cyclotron Line Variability and Accretion Dynamics in Vela X-1
• Hard X-ray emission from the eastern jet of SS 433 powering the W50 `Manatee' nebula: Evidence for particle re-acceleration
• Significant reflection and absorption effects in the X-ray emission of the Intermediate Polar IGR J17195-4100
• Multi-mission view of extragalactic black hole X-ray binaries LMC X-1 and LMC X-3: evolution of broadband spectral features
• A concept for the X-ray telescope system with an angular-resolution booster