A systematic study of inverting overlappograms: MaGIXS -- A case study

TL;DR

This paper systematically investigates the parameters affecting the inversion method used to deconvolve overlapping spectral data in slitless X-ray spectrography, exemplified by the MaGIXS instrument.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of how to optimize the inversion process for slitless spectroscopic data, enhancing data interpretation accuracy.

Findings

Optimized parameters improve spectral line separation.

Enhanced unfolding method accuracy demonstrated on MaGIXS data.

Guidelines established for parameter selection in slitless spectroscopy.

Abstract

Slitless (or wide field) imaging spectroscopy provides simultaneous imaging and spectral information from a wide field of view, which allows for rapid spectroscopic data collection of extended sources. Depending on the size of the extended source combined with the spatial resolution and spectral dispersion of the instrument, there may be locations in the focal plane where spectral lines from different spatial locations overlap on the detector. An unfolding method has been successfully developed and demonstrated on the recent rocket flight of the Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS), which observed several strong emission lines in the 8 to 30 {\AA} wavelength range from two X-ray bright points and a portion of an active region. In this paper, we present a systematic investigation of the parameters that control and optimize the inversion method to unfold slitless spectrograph data.