A Fourier-Based Algorithm for Modelling Aberrations in HETE-2's Imaging System

Abstract

The High-Energy Transient Explorer (HETE-2), launched in October 2000, is a satellite experiment dedicated to the study of gamma-ray bursts in a very wide energy range from soft X-ray to gamma-ray wavelengths. The intermediate X-ray range (2-30keV) is covered by the Wide-field X-ray Monitor WXM, a coded aperture imager. In this article, an algorithm for reconstructing the positions of gamma-ray bursts is described, which is capable of correcting systematic aberrations to approximately 1 arcmin throughout the field of view. Functionality and performance of this algorithm have been validated using data from Monte Carlo simulations as well as from astrometric observations of the X-ray source Scorpius X-1.

14 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables; Nucl.Instr.Meth., in press