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This is a bugfix to AtomDB 3.1.1: An error in the A-values for inner shell (n=2 ->1) transitions of Fe VII to Fe XVIII (excluding Fe XVII) have been discovered leading to some double counting. These have now been rectified.
The new data can be obtained in 2 ways:This is a minor bugfix to AtomDB 3.1.0: There is an error in the continuum of neutral ions at high temperatures (T>10^8K). This affects only the non-equilibrium plasma, with T>10^8K, and a very short timescale (ne*t < 1e9 cm^3 s^-1). This was due to an error calculating bremsstrahlung emission. Thanks to Taras Kuzyo for finding this. As the error causes XSPEC and pyatomdb to not return a spectrum, if your model returned a spectrum then you are unaffected and no analysis needs to be redone.
Equilibrium file and ionization balance files are unaffected. Also, AtomDB 3.1.0 was packaged with incorrect release notes, which have now been updated.
The new data can be obtained in 2 ways:The release of AtomDB 3.1.0 is finalized and available for download. Full documentation on the changes is being prepared, and will be made available here in the next week or so. As well as the data mentioned in the pre-release 12 below, this data set includes a new ionization balance and fixes to the high n (n>15) data for the Lyman and equivalent He-like series The new data can be obtained in 2 ways:
To use these files in XSPEC, follow the following commands. Note that you can set the "chatter" command to check the changes have worked, e.g. xset chatter 25, and you should see whether the new files have been successfully loaded.
If you wish to test the effect of the ionization balance changes independent of the other atomic data, there are several options:
If you use PyAtomDB, it will also be required to update your version of PyAtomDB to at least 1.0 to handle the new formats. These are available on the GitHub now.
The recent XRISM mission has led to reworking of atomic data for a number of ions, which is still ongoing. We are releasing here some test/development versions of the releases compatible with XSPEC/pyXSPEC. Documentation on the changes is being prepared, and be aware that there may be bugs in here - if you discover new physics, please contact us first before publishing!
The new data includes significant improvements to DR satellite lines for B-like to H-like ions; significantly improved inner shell lines from excitation for the same, going up n=15; inclusion of the K-beta and K-gamma lines from inner shell excitation; revised fluorescence yields for n =3 and above inner shell lines.
Version v12 includes bugfixes to the dielectronic satellite lines and doubly excited states for Li like ions. Also corrects a bug where the data Mg11+ data was missing
As these are test files, I provide only the non-equilibrium files for speed. An equilibrium (APEC) model can be mimicked using an rnei model with the temperatures tied together and the timescale (tau) frozen. To use the data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following command within XSPEC:
XSPEC12> xset NEIAPECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.1.0_xrism_v8
atomdb_v3.1.0_xrism_prerelease8.tar.bz2 - line and continuum files (175MB) md5sum
atomdb_v3.1.0_xrism_prerelease11.tar.bz2 - line and continuum files (217MB) md5sum
atomdb_v3.1.0_xrism_prerelease12.tar.bz2 - line and continuum files (179MB) md5sum
New formats for these require updates to work with PyAtomDB, these will be released when version 3.1.0 is finalized If you are using PyAtomDB, contact me (Adam Foster, afoster@cfa.harvard.edu) for temporary guidance.
Due to interpolation issues becoming apparent in the 51 temperature AtomDB files, we have changed the standard binning from 51 temeprature between 104 and 109K to 201 temperatures. This has been the standard implementation in XSPEC since version 12.11.0k. We had initially intended to change the filename of the new data, but this causes issues with XSPEC therefore the 201 temperature files are the new version 3.0.9, and the 51 temperature files are being renamed to apec_3.0.9_51.
To use the equilibrium data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
XSPEC12> xset APECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.9
atomdb_v3.0.9.tar.bz2 - equilibrium line and continuum files (95MB) md5sum
The non-equilibrium data is unaffected and can be downloaded as before
If you are using PyAtomDB, you can update to the latest files by issuing the command:
python> pyatomdb.util.switch_version('3.0.9', force=True)
Note this requires PyAtomDB v0.10.3 or later
Containts one bugfix and a few minor updates from AtomDB 3.0.8
The new data can be obtained either using pyatomdb (pyatomdb.util.switch_version('3.0.9')) or, if you only want to use the files in XSPEC, by downloading the tarballs below and setting your APECROOT and NEIAPECROOT appropriately. If using pyatomdb, we recommend updating to the most recent version. Note that this data is included in HEASOFT 6.25 by default, so unless you have set the ATOMDB_VERSION in your Xspec.init file it should be automatically loaded. You can check the version being loaded by XSPEC by issuing the "chatter 25" command before loading the model, i.e.
XSPEC12> chatter 25
XSPEC12> model apec or XSPEC12> model nei
and the files being accessed will be listed. (Also, any problems loading the files will be highlighted).
To use the NEI emissivity data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
XSPEC12> xset NEIAPECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.9
atomdb_v3.0.9_nei.tar.bz2 - non-equilibrium line and continuum files (153MB) md5sum
In addition, you will require the latest ionization balance calculation, which was updated in AtomDB 3.0.7. These are the same as those in 3.0.4, but also include files for Co, Cu and Zn which had been omitted in 3.0.4. To use this, you will require three things:
To use the equilibrium data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
XSPEC12> xset APECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.9_51
atomdb_v3.0.9_51.tar.bz2 - equilibrium line and continuum files (37MB) *NOTE* These files superceded by the 201 temperature version above, kept here just for anyone interested in comparison work. md5sum
atomdb_v3.0.9_lineid.tar.bz2 - shrunken AtomDB files allowing line identification, e.g. for use with ISIS (45MB)
md5sum
If you have installed pyatomdb, we recommend you untar these in a different folder.
The NEI files were corrupted during release, leading to hydrogen being omitted. Please redownload the NEI tarballs. If you have the correct files, then
md5sum $ATOMDB/apec_v3.0.8_nei_comp.fits = 2c0e29ea34acf124900ea2d8c2e4f874
If you are using pyatomdb, this script will get the fixed datafiles for you
Our thanks to Shinya Nakashima for pointing this out.
Several data updates were made to AtomDB 3.0.7, including:
- New excitation rates for He-like iron and all H-like ions
- Correction of valance shell transition wavelengths for Li-like ions to match NIST
- Fixing an overly strong line in Ni XVII
The new data can be obtained either using pyatomdb (pyatomdb.util.switch_version('3.0.8')) or, if you only want to use the files in XSPEC, by downloading the tarballs below and setting your APECROOT and NEIAPECROOT appropriately. If using pyatomdb, we recommend updating your version.
To use the NEI emissivity data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
xset NEIAPECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.8_nei
atomdb_v3.0.8_nei.tar.bz2 - non-equilibrium line and continuum files (154MB) md5sum
In addition, you will require the latest ionization balance calculation, which was updated in AtomDB 3.0.7. These are the same as those in 3.0.4, but also include files for Co, Cu and Zn which had been omitted in 3.0.4. To use this, you will require three things:
To use the equilibrium data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
xset APECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.8
atomdb_v3.0.8.tar.bz2 - equilibrium line and continuum files (36MB) md5sum
atomdb_v3.0.8_lineid.tar.bz2 - shrunken AtomDB files allowing line identification, e.g. for use with ISIS (45MB)
md5sum
If you have installed pyatomdb, we recommend you untar these in a different folder.
Another bug was found in AtomDB 3.0.6, which had caused some very weak transitions to have negative wavelength. This then interacted with XSPEC in a curious way to turn off entire ions are certain temperatures (notably O VII at ~0.1keV). This has been fixed in 3.0.7.
The new data can be obtained either using pyatomdb (pyatomdb.util.switch_version('3.0.7')) or, if you only want to use the files in XSPEC, by downloading the tarballs below and setting your APECROOT and NEIAPECROOT appropriately. If using pyatomdb, we recommend updating your version.
To use the NEI emissivity data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
xset NEIAPECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.7_nei
atomdb_v3.0.7_nei.tar.bz2 - non-equilibrium line and continuum files (150MB) md5sum
In addition, you will require the latest ionization balance calculation, which was updated in AtomDB 3.0.7. These are the same as those in 3.0.4, but also include files for Co, Cu and Zn which had been omitted in 3.0.4. To use this, you will require three things:
To use the equilibrium data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
xset APECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.7
atomdb_v3.0.7.tar.bz2 - equilibrium line and continuum files (36MB) md5sum
atomdb_v3.0.7_isis.tar.bz2 - additional atomic data files for use with ISIS (not needed for any other purpose) (20MB) md5sum
A bug was found in AtomDB 3.0.5 where there was double counting of recombination into some excited levels, affecting spectra of He-like ions in particular. This has been fixed in 3.0.6.
The new data can be obtained either using pyatomdb (pyatomdb.util.switch_version('3.0.6')) or, if you only want to use the files in XSPEC, by downloading the tarballs below and setting your APECROOT and NEIAPECROOT appropriately. If using pyatomdb, we recommend updating your version.
To use the NEI emissivity data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
xset NEIAPECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.6_nei
atomdb_v3.0.6_nei.tar.bz2 - non-equilibrium line and continuum files (150MB) md5sum
In addition, you will require the latest ionization balance calculation, which was updated in AtomDB 3.0.4. To use this, you will require three things:
To use the equilibrium data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
xset APECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.6
atomdb_v3.0.6.tar.bz2 - equilibrium line and continuum files (36MB) md5sum
atomdb_v3.0.6_isis.tar.bz2 - additional atomic data files for use with ISIS (not needed for any other purpose) (20MB) md5sum
There were some packaging issues with version 3.0.4 which led to incorrect fluxes for low Z ions, as well as omitting several rare elements from the database (Li, Be, B, Cr). This update fixes these errors. While the majority of the data is very similar to 3.0.4, we have incremented the version number to avoid confusion..
The new data can be obtained either using pyatomdb (pyatomdb.util.switch_version('3.0.5')) or, if you only want to use the files in XSPEC, by downloading the tarballs below and setting your APECROOT and NEIAPECROOT appropriately. If using pyatomdb, we recommend updating your version.
To use the NEI emissivity data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
xset NEIAPECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.5_nei
atomdb_v3.0.5_nei.tar.bz2 - non-equilibrium line and continuum files (150MB) md5sum
In addition, you will require the latest ionization balance calculation, which was updated in AtomDB 3.0.4. To use this, you will require three things:
To use the equilibrium data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
xset APECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.5
atomdb_v3.0.5.tar.bz2 - equilibrium line and continuum files (36MB) md5sum
atomdb_v3.0.5_isis.tar.bz2 - additional atomic data files for use with ISIS (not needed for any other purpose) (20MB) md5sum
This update contains updates to many wavelengths of lines to NIST values where appropriate, including all the Be, Li, He and H like ions. In addition, a change has been made to the ionization balance for NEI calculations. This make no major difference to equilibrium calculations.
The new data can be obtained either using pyatomdb (pyatomdb.util.switch_version('3.0.4')) or, if you only want to use the files in XSPEC, by downloading the tarballs below and setting your APECROOT and NEIAPECROOT appropriately. If using pyatomdb, we recommend updating your version.
To use the NEI data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
xset NEIAPECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.4_nei
xset NEIVERS 3.0.4
NOTE: it is not possible yet to use NEIVERS 3.0.4 with XSPEC. A patch is on the way once we work this out.
To use the equilibrium data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
xset APECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.4
atomdb_v3.0.4_nei.tar.bz2 - non-equilibrium line and continuum files (110MB) md5sum
atomdb_v3.0.4.tar.bz2 - equilibrium line and continuum files (25MB) md5sum
atomdb_v3.0.4_isis.tar.bz2 - additional atomic data files for use with ISIS (not needed for any other purpose) (19MB) md5sum
This is an update release, including some bugfixes. This includes a revision to the fluorescence yields for ions with 14 electrons or more, which were peviously too high.
The new data can be obtained either using pyatomdb (pyatomdb.util.switch_version('3.0.3')) or, if you only want to use the files in XSPEC, by downloading the tarballs below and setting your APECROOT and NEIAPECROOT appropriately
To use the NEI data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
xset NEIAPECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.3_nei
xset NEIVERS 3.0
To use the equilibrium data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
xset APECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.3
The line data for the equilibrium models should have been sorted by the element, ion and then reverse wavelength before release, to take advantage of XSPEC speed improvements. This was not done, leading to spurious lines in the equilibrium models (APEC, BAPEC, and all "v" letters thereof) in XSPEC.
This has been fixed in the atomdb_v3.0.3.tar.bz2 tarball below. If your data has been fixed, the md5 checksum of the $ATOMDB/apec_v3.0.3_line.fits should be: c66905cb963f076b6ff18697b433ca77. If yours is the old version (md5sum: f034f0c8ca110fdd113adddb872e242d) you can either download the above tarball, or run the following command:
for i in {2..52}; do ftsort "path/to/file/apec_v3.0.3_line.fits[$i]" \!path/to/file/apec_v3.0.3_line.fits Element,Ion,-Lambda; done
Note that there have been no other changes to the files, this is simply reordering the existing lines.
atomdb_v3.0.3_nei.tar.bz2 - non-equilibrium line and continuum files (165MB) md5sum
atomdb_v3.0.3.tar.bz2 - equilibrium line and continuum files (35MB) md5sum
ISIS Users: the ISIS software requires access to the underlying atomic database. We normally distribute this as part of the release, however the files produced are very large (>10s of Gb). As a result, this tarball will provide the wavelengths and energy levels required by ISIS. untar them in the same directory as the rest of the AtomDB files from above. A description of the issue is given here (PDF).
atomdb_v3.0.3_isis.tar.bz2 - energy level and wavelength information md5sum
This is an update release, including some bugfixes and the inclusion of the Fe I-VII emission which was omitted in v3.0.1. Bugfixes include fixing many header keywords which were out of sync with previous releases.
A bug has been discovered in the AtomDB 3.0.2 files. None of the data was wrong, but due to changes in XSPEC the lines in the files had to be listed in a specific order. This was done incorrectly, leading to spurious data in NEI models. To fix this, either (a) download the file again (they have been updated) or (b) run the following command on the nei_line file:
for i in {2..52}; do ftsort "path/to/file/apec_v3.0.2_nei_line.fits[$i]" \!path/to/file/apec_v3.0.2_nei_line.fits Element,Ion,-Lambda; done
A short writeup (apologies for the roughness of the draft) is available here. The files can be used in the XSPEC rnei model. To use the NEI data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
xset NEIAPECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.2_nei
xset NEIVERS 3.0
To use the equilibrium data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:xset APECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.2
apec_v3.0.2_nei.tar.bz2 - non-equilibrium line and continuum files (165MB) md5sum
Note that these files are large, and contain data for all elements up to Nickel. If you want a smaller subset of these files, please contact us.
apec_v3.0.2.tar.bz2 - equilibrium line and continuum files (29MB) md5sum
ISIS Users: the ISIS software requires access to the underlying atomic database. We normally distribute this as part of the release, however the files produced are very large (>10s of Gb). As a result, this tarball will provide the wavelengths and energy levels required by ISIS. untar them in the same directory as the rest of the AtomDB files from above. A description of the issue is given here (PDF).
atomdb_v3.0.2_isis.tar.bz2 - energy level and wavelength information md5sum
This is the release of both the equilibrium and non-equilibrium data for AtomDB v3.0.1. This includes inner shell excitation and ionization, along with fluorescence lines, from ions up to Nickel with less than 20 electrons. It includes bugfixes to the version 3.0.0 data, which affected Manganese and Boron emission.
A short writeup (apologies for the roughness of the draft) is available here. The files can be used in the XSPEC rnei model. To use the NEI data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:
xset NEIAPECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.1_nei
xset NEIVERS 3.0
To use the equilibrium data, save and unpack the file below, and issue the following commands within XSPEC:xset APECROOT /path/to/atomdb/apec_v3.0.1
apec_v3.0.1_nei.tar.bz2 - non-equilibrium line and continuum files (242MB) md5sum
Note that these files are large, and contain data for all elements up to Nickel. If you want a smaller subset of these files, please contact us.
apec_v3.0.1.tar.bz2 - equilibrium line and continuum files (16MB) md5sum
This is a bugfix release updating data from v2.0.1. Please note that this does not include the Fe IX data below, which will be in version 2.1. If you wish to use the Fe IX data, please let us know and we will send it to you.
There are two different versions of the dataset, for compatibility reasons. As of version 12.7 (June 2011) XSPEC can handle the full new version of AtomDB. If you are still running an older version of XSPEC you will have to use the 14-element only XSPEC_LEGACY version of AtomDB.
Updated April 22nd 2013: The energy range for the AtomDB data was 0.01 to 50.0keV. Due to satellites such as NuStar requiring higher energy ranges, we have increased the energy range to be 0.01 to 100.0keV. The version 2.0.2 files here have been updated to reflect this, all other data remains identical. If you are looking at spectral ranges below 50keV (above 0.248Å) you will notice no difference at all.
All three of these files will unzip into a folder atomdb_v2.0.2. Some files are duplicated in all tarballs, for example the RELEASE_NOTES. The VERSION file is different for the XSPEC_LEGACY tarball, if you wish to use the XSPEC_LEGACY version make sure you untar it last.
atomdb_v2.0.2_runs.tar.gz - line, continuum and linelist files (15MB) md5sum
atomdb_v2.0.2_xspec_legacy_runs.tar.gz - line, continuum and linelist files, restricted to the 14 elements in v1.3.1 (13MB) md5sum
atomdb_v2.0.2.tar.gz - all the underlying atomic data (e.g. energy levels, collision strengths, etc) (79MB) md5sum
We have created a C library for calculating the ionization balance both in and out of equilibrium in a collisional plasma. Documentation is available (a first!). A python wrapper is included. An IDL wrapper routine is also included, although it is operating with limited success on Macs.
libapecnei-0.2.tar.gz - md5sum
We have created a C library for generating spectra from the AtomDB emissivity files. Documentation is available. A python wrapper is included.
libreadapec-0.4.0.tar.gz - md5sum
If you are looking for the Fe IX data from this paper, please contact us for the link. The dataset will be included in AtomDB v2.1.0 when it is released, but you can see it now if you wish.
A bug has been discovered in version 2.0.0 of AtomDB which has required the release of version 2.0.1. We apologize for the mistake, and strongly encourage all users to upgrade now.
There are two different versions of the dataset, for compatibility reasons. As of version 12.7 (June 2011) XSPEC can handle the full new version of AtomDB. If you are still running an older version of XSPEC you will have to use the 14-element only XSPEC_LEGACY version of AtomDB.
All three of these files will unzip into a folder atomdb_v2.0.1. Some files are duplicated in all tarballs, for example the RELEASE_NOTES. The VERSION file is different for the XSPEC_LEGACY tarball, if you wish to use the XSPEC_LEGACY version make sure you untar it last.
atomdb_v2.0.1_runs.tar.gz - line, continuum and linelist files (14MB) md5sum
atomdb_v2.0.1_xspec_legacy_runs.tar.gz - line, continuum and linelist files, restricted to the 14 elements in v1.3.1 (12MB) md5sum
atomdb_v2.0.1.tar.gz - all the underlying atomic data (e.g. energy levels, collision strengths, etc) (130MB) md5sum
In addition, following requests from users we have produced a run which extends the spectrum from an upper limit of E=50keV to E=100keV:
atomdb_v2.0.1_100kev_runs.tar.gz - line, continuum and linelist files (14MB) md5sum
atomdb_v2.0.1_100kev_xspec_legacy_runs.tar.gz - line, continuum and linelist files, restricted to the 14 elements in v1.3.1 (12MB) md5sum
In addition, we have created a number of utility routines that read and manipulate the ATOMDB, including IDL routines that can read the files and create model spectra. These can be downloaded here:
Both Sherpa and XSPEC can now read spectral files created by APEC. The APEC output routines are a separate library, called fitsspec, available here for those potentially interested in creating their own spectral output files. Please contact us if you are interested in using these or need any help with them:
The full release of version 2.0.0 is now available. The beta test has been completed without any major issues being found, but please let us know if you find any.
A paper is being prepared listing the changes in detail. An early draft of this, warts and all, is here. This will be updated as the paper progresses.
There are two different versions of the dataset, for compatibility reasons. XSPEC assumes the AtomDB data has 14 elements present. This can be easily changed within the XSPEC source, but we provide here a version with the same 14 elements as version 1.3.1 for comparison purposes.
All three of these files will unzip into a folder atomdb_v2.0.0. Some files are duplicated in all tarballs, for example the RELEASE_NOTES. The VERSION file is different for the XSPEC tarball, if you wish to use the XSPEC version make sure you untar it last.
atomdb_v2.0.0_runs.tar.gz - line, continuum and linelist files (15MB) md5sum
atomdb_v2.0.0_xspec_runs.tar.gz - line, continuum and linelist files, restricted to the 14 elements in v1.3.1 (12MB) md5sum
atomdb_v2.0.0.tar.gz - all the underlying atomic data (e.g. energy levels, collision strengths, etc) (76MB) md5sum
atomdb131.tar.gz (21 MB; 135 MB uncompressed)
The most recent source tree for the iPad application, designed to work with Apple's XCode development environment, is available as ipad_atomdb2.0.2.1.tar.gz (37 MB) md5sum
(Note: this includes the AtomDB database converted to a format optimized for mobile apps, but not the utility that converts the FITS files to this format. Please contact us if you need this software.)