I have a question about marx that is not addressed here. Where can I get additional help?

Marx-specific questions should be sent to marx-help at space mit edu. If your question is CIAO-related, then you should contact the CXC Helpdesk.

Do you distribute marx binaries?

No. There are several reasons for this including the lack of resources. Rather, we have tried to make the installation process as simple as possible so that even the most inexperienced user can do it. Step by step instructions for compiling marx are available on the installation page. The reward for compiling it yourself is that you can be sure that marx was built explicitly for your system, and as such, no incompatibilities should arise. One cannot make this guarantee for a precompiled binary version.

How do I create an ARF and RMF that match my marx simulation?

The answer to this question may be found on here.

Can I simulate arbitrary combinations of ACIS CCDs in marx?

The simple answer is "no". Out of the box, marx allows users to select either the ACIS-S array (6 CCDs) or the ACIS-I array (4 CCDs). Arbitrary mixtures of chips from the two arrays are not currently supported although we plan to add that option in a future version of marx.

In the meantime, if you do need to simulate other combinations, one can assemble such composites by creating the desired ACIS-S and ACIS-I chips separately and them merging the resulting event lists with the dmmerge tool in CIAO. For such mergers, both pieces of the simulation must have the same aimpoint position. This configuration can be accomplished by a SIM translation in marx using the DetOffsetX and DetOffsetZ parameters.

For example, to create a marx simulation where the default ACIS-S aimpoint was used, but ACIS-I chips were also active during the observation, one would do two separate simulations. The ACIS-S portion of the simulation would utilize the marx defaults. The simulation of the ACIS-I chips however would require moving the SIM to position the ACIS-I detector correctly relative to the default ACIS-S aimpoint. The appropriate values in the marx.par file would be:

  DetOffsetX=-0.0990000
  DetOffsetZ=-43.4590

Note that the DetOffsetY parameter is not modified since SIM motion along the Y axis is not permitted. For simulations using the default ACIS-I aimpoint, the ACIS-S simulation would need to be offset using the values:

  DetOffsetX=0.0990000
  DetOffsetZ=43.4590

The dmmerge tool will produce some warning messages during the combination of the two event lists, but should produce a valid FITS event file. Unwanted CCDs can be removed using dmcopy.

Can I simulate CTI-corrected observations in marx?

No. marx does not currently recognize the new format of the CTI-corrected FEF file available in the CALDB (versions 2.18 and higher). So simulations cannot be created directly which feature the improved spectral response of the front-illuminated CCDs after CTI correction. Users wishing to simulate CTI--corrected spectra can however use the marxrsp tool to fold a given marx simulation through an existing RMF created from the CTI--corrected FEF.