Detection flags (8 columns)

SUM_FLAG (J)

The summary flag of the detection is derived from the EPIC flag (EP_FLAG, see 2XMM UG Sec. 3.1.2 h) and Sec. 3.2.6  but note also sections 3XMM-DR4 UG 3.11 and 3.7). It is 0 if none of the nine flags was set; it is set to 1 if at least one of the warning flags (flag 1, 2, 3, 9) was set but no possible-spurious-detection flag (flag 7, 8); it is set to 2 if at least one of the possible-spurious-detection flags (flag 7, 8) was set but not the manual flag (flag 11); it is set to 3 if the manual flag (flag 11) was set but no possible-spurious-detection flags (flag 7, 8); it is set to 4 if the manual flag (flag 11) as well as one of the possible-spurious-detection flags (flag 7, 8) is set. The meaning is thus:
0 = good,
1 = source parameters may be affected,
2 = possibly spurious,
3 = located in a area where spurious detection may occur,
4 = located in a area where spurious detection may occur and possibly spurious.
For details see 2XMM UG Sec. 3.2.7 but note that flag 12 is now used to indicate that the source is on or near warm pixels (see Webb et al. (2020))

EP_FLAG (12A) SAS task dpssflag


EPIC flag string made of the flags 1 - 12 (counted from left to right): it combines the flags in each camera ((PN_FLAG, M1_FLAG, M2_FLAG), that is, a flag is set in EP_FLAG if at least one of the camera-dependent flags is set. See 2XMM UG Sec. 3.1.2 h) and Sec. 3.2.6  for a detailed description of the flags.

PN_FLAG (12A) SAS task dpssflag


PN flag string made of the flags 1 - 12 (counted from left to right) for the PN source detection. A flag is set to True according to the conditions summarized in Tab. 3.1 for the automatic flags, and Tab. 3.1 for the manual flags. In cases where the camera was not used in the source detection a dash is given. Where a source was not detected by the PN the flags are all set to False (default).

M1_FLAG (12A) SAS task dpssflag


MOS1 flag string made of the flags 1 - 12 (counted from left to right) for the MOS1 source detection. A flag is set to True according to the conditions summarized in 4XMM UG Tab. 3.1 for the automatic flags, and Tab. 3.1 for the manual flags. In cases where the camera was not used in the source detection a dash is given. Where a source was not detected by the MOS1 the flags are all set to False (default).

M2_FLAG (12A) SAS task dpssflag


MOS2 flag string made of the flags 1 - 12 (counted from left to right) for the MOS2 source detection. A flag is set to True according to the conditions summarized in 4XMM UG Tab. 3.1 for the automatic flags, and Tab. 3.1 for the manual flags. In cases where the camera was not used in the source detection a dash is given. Where a source was not detected by the MOS2 the flags are all set to False (default).

TSERIES (L)

The flag is set to True if this detection has a time series made in at least one exposure (cf. Sec. 3.6).

SPECTRA (L)

The flag is set to True if this detection has a spectrum made in at least one exposure (cf. Sec. 3.6).

HIGH_BACKGROUND (L)

The flag is set to True if this detection comes from a field which, during manual screening, was considered to have a high background level which notably impacted on source detection (see Sec. 6.1.2). This column is not used in 4XMM.