Dictionary: ARF: Auxiliary Response File - CIAO 4.18
ARF: Auxiliary Response File
Contains the combined telescope/filter/detector areas (“effective area”) and the quantum efficiency (QE) as a function of energy averaged over time (and therefore, aspect). The effective area is [cm] and the QE is [counts/photon]; they are multiplied together to create the ARF, resulting in [cm counts/photon].
When the input spectrum is multiplied by the ARF, the result is the distribution of counts that would be seen by a detector with perfect (i.e. infinite) energy resolution. The RMF is then needed to produce the final observed spectrum.
There are three CIAO tools to create Chandra ARFs, depending on the application:
mkarf
- ✤ to create imaging ARFs for pointlike sources
mkwarf
- ✤ to create weighted ARFs for extended sources
mkgarf
- ✤ to create grating ARFs
The ARF is a standard OGIP file format.
Printed 2026-10-22.
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