IACHEC Cross-Calibration of Chandra, NuSTAR, Swift, Suzaku, and XMM-Newton with 3C 273 and PKS 2155-304

TL;DR

This paper reports on the cross-calibration of major X-ray observatories using observations of 3C 273 and PKS 2155-304, providing calibration constants and analysis to improve measurement consistency.

Contribution

It presents a comprehensive cross-calibration analysis of Chandra, NuSTAR, Swift, Suzaku, and XMM-Newton, establishing standardized normalization constants for better data comparison.

Findings

Derived average cross-normalization constants for each instrument pair.

Identified calibration features affecting flux measurements.

Provided reference tables and figures for future calibration efforts.

Abstract

On behalf of the International Astronomical Consortium for High Energy Calibration (IACHEC), we present results from the cross-calibration campaigns in 2012 on 3C 273 and in 2013 on PKS 2155-304 between the then active X-ray observatories Chandra, NuSTAR, Suzaku, Swift and XMM-Newton. We compare measured fluxes between instrument pairs in two energy bands, 1-5 keV and 3-7 keV and calculate an average cross-normalization constant for each energy range. We review known cross-calibration features and provide a series of tables and figures to be used for evaluating cross-normalization constants obtained from other observations with the above mentioned observatories.