Timing Offset Calibration of CZTI instrument aboard ASTROSAT

TL;DR

This paper estimates the timing offsets of the CZTI instrument on ASTROSAT by comparing simultaneous pulsar observations with ground-based radio telescopes and Fermi-LAT, enabling precise multi-wavelength timing alignment.

Contribution

It provides the first calibration of the timing offset for ASTROSAT's CZTI instrument using multi-wavelength pulsar data, improving time alignment accuracy across observatories.

Findings

Estimated the ASTROSAT-CZTI timing offset as -4716 ± 50 μs.

Determined the ORT-ASTROSAT offset as -29639 ± 50 μs.

Measured the GMRT-Fermi-LAT offset as -5368 ± 56 μs.

Abstract

The radio as well as the high energy emission mechanism in pulsars is yet not understood properly. A multi-wavelength study is likely to help in better understanding of such processes. The first Indian space-based observatory, ASTROSAT, has five instruments aboard, which cover the electromagnetic spectrum from infra-red (1300 $\AA$) to hard X-ray (380 KeV). Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI), one of the five instruments is a hard X-ray telescope functional over an energy range of 20-380 KeV. We aim to estimate the timing offset introduced in the data acquisition pipeline of the instrument, which will help in time alignment of high energy time series with those from two other ground-based observatories, viz. the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) and the Ooty Radio Telescope (ORT). PSR B0531+21 is a well-studied pulsar with nearly aligned radio and hard X-ray pulse profiles. We use simultaneous observations of this pulsar with the ASTROSAT, the ORT and the GMRT. The pulsar was especially observed using the ORT with almost daily cadence to obtain good timing solutions. We also supplement the ORT data with archival FERMI data for estimation of timing noise. The timing offset of ASTROSAT instruments was estimated from fits to arrival time data at the ASTROSAT and the radio observatories. We estimate the offset between the GMRT and the ASTROSAT-CZTI to be -4716 $\pm$ 50 $\mu s$. The corresponding offset with the ORT was -29639 $\pm$ 50 $\mu s$. The offsets between the GMRT and Fermi-LAT -5368 $\pm$ 56 $\mu s$. (Abridged)