Defining High‐Energy Calibration Standards: IACHEC (International Astronomical Consortium for High‐Energy Calibration)

The International Astronomical Consortium for High‐Energy Calibration (IACHEC) aims to provide standards for high energy calibration and supervise cross‐calibration between different X‐ray and Gamma‐ray observatories. This goal is reached through Working Groups, involving around 40 astronomers worldwide. In these Groups, IACHEC members co‐operate to define calibration standards and procedures. Their scope is primarily a practical one: a set of astronomical sources, data and results (eventually published in refereed journals) will be the outcome of a co‐ordinated and standardized analysis of reference sources (“high‐energy standard candles”). We briefly describe here just two of the many studies undertaken by the IACHEC; a cross‐calibration analysis of O and Ne line fluxes from the thermal SNR 1E0102.2‐7219, and at higher energies a comparison study of a sample of cluster temperatures and fluxes. A more detailed picture of the activities of the IACHEC is available via the information portal at http://web.mit.edu/iachec/.