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Tartarus: Reduced ASCA AGN Data (Version 3.1)

Metadata Updated: February 6, 2026

The Tartarus database contains the results of a detailed but systematic analysis of ASCA observations of active galactic nuclei (AGN). It contains source and background events files, spectra, ancillary response files and response matrices, images, and assorted light curves for a large number of ASCA AGN observations. Spectral fit results are done by automatic XSPEC fitting. This database table allows easy access to reduced AGN data for the whole community, allowing the maximum scientific return from the data. Availability of publishable light curves, images, and spectra (which can also be readily re-fitted) should be particularly valuable to astronomers with little direct experience in the reduction of X-ray data. Version 3.1 has been created by analyzing all ASCA observing sequences with targets designated as AGN, as indicated by a leading "7" in the ASCA observing sequence number. Version 3.1 contains products for all 611 observing sequences designated as AGN observations. This is a significant improvement over Versions 1 and 2. Moreover, the 611 sequences for which products are available are complete in the sense that either the target object was not detected (in which case an upper limit on GIS2 source counts is given) or the intended AGN target was detected and the data were fully analyzed. In order to obtain the most accurate background subtraction and minimize contamination from any nearby sources, version 3.1 makes more use of custom extraction regions than previous versions. It is expected that version 3.1 will be replaced when the final ASCA calibration is completed. This database table has been created by the Tartarus Team, and they, rather than Imperial College London or the HEASARC, are responsible for the contents. It was ingested by the HEASARC in August, 2005. This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date February 6, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date February 6, 2026
Publisher High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center
Maintainer
Identifier ivo://nasa.heasarc/tartarus
Data Last Modified 2026-02-03
Category Astrophysics
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 026:00
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 3e28b1b8-8342-410b-bbd5-6c9b063db21c
Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
Homepage URL https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/W3Browse/all/tartarus.html
Program Code 026:000
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 1a97a782116265233a9f66004e0598bf961fdbc57457678497adb11529e6c741
Source Schema Version 1.1

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