Analysing Fermi-LAT data

What you will learn

You will learn how to analyse data from the LAT telescope about NASA’s Fermi satellite with ctools.

You can use ctools to analyse data from the LAT telescope aboard NASA’s Fermi satellite. To do this you need to be familar with the Fermi-LAT Science Tools that you will use to prepare the Fermi-LAT data for the analysis. You can download the Fermi-LAT Science Tools from the Fermi Science Support Center (FSSC) which provides also more detailed information about how to prepare the data. What you need for a given observation are the following files:

• srcmaps.fits - source maps file that include a counts cube and maps of the diffuse model components
• ltcube.fits - livetime cube file that corresponds to the Good Time Intervals of the data
• expmap.fits - exposure map file

To demonstrate how the Fermi-LAT analysis works with ctools, here is a short tutorial that is based on a simple analysis of the Vela pulsar.

• Prepare Fermi-LAT data
• Fit a model to the data
• Generate a butterfly diagram for a model component
• Generate a spectral energy distribution for a source
• Generate a Test Statistic map
• Derive upper flux limits for a source
• Determine asymmetric model parameter errors for a model component