X-ray processing: source counts and image extraction

The python script xskyextract extracts X-ray source and background counts for a list of source positions. The output counts data serve as the input for subsequent stacking analysis. The script also extracts image and event cutouts and produces HTML summary reports for each source to allow for quick visual inspection of the sources used in stacking analysis. Program options are available via the --help command line flag.

The pyyaks package is a toolkit for building data processing pipelines and it provides the key processing infrastructure for xskyextract .

Traditional image stacking for eyeball analysis of stacked data is provided by the stack_images.py python script. Program options are available via the --help command line flag.

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The bayesstack python code

uses a hierarchical Bayesian model for the observed counts (output, e.g., from xskyextract.py) to estimate the mean log-flux or log-luminosity for the observed sources, also producing estimates of the uncertainty.