ctbin

Generate counts cube from event list(s).

Synopsis

This tool creates a counts cube and fills it with events. A counts cube is a 3-dimensional data cube spanned by Right Ascension or Galactic longitude, Declination or Galactic latitude, and energy. The energy binning may be either linear, logarithmic, or custom defined using an input file. The events are either taken from a single event list file or from the event lists that are specified in an observation definition file.

In case that multiple event lists are given in an observation definition file there are two options. By default, the tool will loop over all event lists and fill all events into a single counts cube. If stack=no is specified, the tool will bin each event list into a separate counts cube.

ctbin generates counts cube FITS file(s) comprising three extensions. The primary extension contains a 3-dimensional image that contains the counts cube values. The next extension named EBOUNDS contains a binary table that defines the energy boundaries of the counts cube. The last extension named GTI contains a binary table that defines the Good Time Intervals of all event lists that have been filled into the counts cube.

By default, the tool will write out a single, stacked, counts cube. If stack=no is specified, the tool will write all counts cubes into a separate FITS file, prefixing the input event list file name with the string that is specified by the hidden prefix parameter. In addition, the tool will create an observation definition XML file that lists all produced counts cubes, and that can be used as input for any further analysis step.

General parameters

inobs [file]

Input event list or observation definition XML file.

outobs [file]

Output counts cube file or observation definition XML file.

(stack = yes) [boolean]

Specify whether stacking of the events in a single counts cube is requested. By default this hidden parameter is set to yes, and the tool produces a single counts cube FITS file on output. If no is specified, the tool will produce a counts cube for each event list that is found in the input observation, and will also write an observation definition XML file.

(prefix = cntcube_) [string]

Prefix for output counts cube in observation definition XML file.

ebinalg <FILE|LIN|LOG|POW> [string]

Algorithm for defining energy bins. For FILE, the energy bins are defined in a FITS file that is specified by the ebinfile parameter, for LIN LOG and POW there will be enumbins energy bins spaced linearly, logarithmically, or following a power law between emin and emax, respectively. For POW, the parameter ebingamma specifies the slope of the power law.

emin [real]

Lower energy value for first energy bin (in TeV) if LIN or LOG energy binning algorithms are used.

emax [real]

Upper energy value for last energy bin (in TeV) if LIN or LOG energy binning algorithms are used.

enumbins [integer]

Number of energy bins if LIN or LOG energy binning algorithms are used.

ebinfile [file]

Name of the file containing the energy binning definition if ebinalg=FILE. You may use csebins to generate a file with appropriate energy binning.

ebingamma [real]

Exponent of the power law for POW energy binning. An exponent of 1.0 corresponds to a logarithmic energy binning.

(usepnt = no) [boolean]

Use CTA pointing direction for cube centre instead of xref/yref parameters?

nxpix [integer]

Number of cube bins in Right Ascension or Galactic longitude.

nypix [integer]

Number of cube bins in Declination or Galactic latitude.

binsz [real]

Cube bin size (in degrees/pixel).

coordsys <CEL|GAL> [string]

Coordinate system (CEL - celestial, GAL - galactic).

proj <AIT|AZP|CAR|GLS|MER|MOL|SFL|SIN|STG|TAN> [string]

Projection method.

xref [real]

Right Ascension / Galactic longitude of cube centre (J2000, in degrees).

yref [real]

Declination / Galactic latitude of cube centre (J2000, in degrees).

Standard parameters

(nthreads = 0) [integer]

Number of parallel processes (0=use all available CPUs).

(publish = no) [boolean]

Specifies whether the counts cube should be published on VO Hub.

(chatter = 2) [integer]
Verbosity of the executable:

chatter = 0: no information will be logged

chatter = 1: only errors will be logged

chatter = 2: errors and actions will be logged

chatter = 3: report about the task execution

chatter = 4: detailed report about the task execution

(clobber = yes) [boolean]

Specifies whether an existing output counts cube file should be overwritten.

(debug = no) [boolean]

Enables debug mode. In debug mode the executable will dump any log file output to the console.

(mode = ql) [string]

Mode of automatic parameters (default is ql, i.e. “query and learn”).

(logfile = ctbin.log) [string]

Name of log file.