The ROSAT wide field camera scientific simulator.

The ROSAT spacecraft is due for launch in June 1990. On board will be an X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and an XUV Wide Field Camera (WFC). The XRT will perform the first ever imaging all sky survey in the 0.1 keV- 2.0 keV wave-band. This will be complemented by the first all sky survey in the 0.062 keV - 0.21 keV wave-band using the WFC. A scientific simulator has been developed to assist the WFC mission in the following areas: 1. Production of representative telemetry to develop and test the ROSAT WFC ground system software. 2. Determination of optimum parameters for several WFC firmware and hardware features. 3. Evaluation of background radiation effects on operational and astrophysical aspects of the WFC mission. The modelling and simulation of the performance aspects of the WFC telescope and its interaction with the predicted environment is described here. The complete model has been implemented as a user orientated software package and can be run to produce scientific telemetry and other simulated output that interface with the ROSAT WFC ground system software. The results of the simulator provide essential foresight into the following: The efficacy of image analysis software. The efficiency of in-orbit WFC low energy (50 keV) electron rejection. Prediction of all sky exposure coverage, the background environment, and minimum source sensitivity.