BatAnalysis -- A Comprehensive Python Pipeline for Swift BAT Time-Tagged Event Data Analysis

TL;DR

BatAnalysis is an open-source Python pipeline that enhances the analysis of Swift BAT time-tagged event data, enabling customized, advanced studies of various astrophysical transient sources.

Contribution

The paper introduces new open-source Python tools for flexible, detailed analysis of BAT TTE data, expanding capabilities beyond existing software.

Findings

Successfully analyzed TTE data from multiple transient sources

Enabled detailed spectral and timing analysis with customizable parameters

Demonstrated utility in multi-messenger astrophysics investigations

Abstract

The Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) is a coded aperture gamma-ray instrument with a large field of view that was designed to detect and localize transient events. When a transient is detected, either on-board or externally, the BAT saves time-tagged event (TTE) data which provides the highest quality information of the locations of the photons on the detector plane and their energies. This data can be used to produce spectra, lightcurves, and sky images of a transient event. While these data products are produced by the Swift Data Center and can be produced by current software, they are often preset to certain time and energy intervals which has limited their use in the current time domain and multi-messenger environment. Here, we introduce a new capability for the BatAnalysis python package to download and process TTE data under an open-source pythonic framework that allows for easy interfacing with other python packages. The new capabilities of the BatAnalysis software allows for TTE data to be used by the community in a variety of advanced customized analyses of astrophysical sources which BAT may have TTE data for, such as Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs), Low Mass X-ray Binaries (LMXB), Soft Gamma Repeaters, magnetars, and many other sources. We highlight the usefulness of the BatAnalysis package in analyzing TTE data produced by an on-board GRB trigger, a FRB external trigger, a sub-threshold detection of the LMXB EXO 0748-676, and an external trigger of a GRB that BAT detected during a slew.