SPEX is an X-ray spectral analysis software package optimized for the interpretation of high-resolution astrophysical X-ray spectra. The software is especially suited for fitting spectra obtained by current X-ray observatories like XMM-Newton, Chandra, Suzaku, and Hitomi. SPEX will be continuously improved to handle spectra from high-resolution X-ray instruments on future missions like Athena.
The advantages of SPEX 3.0
- Fast fitting due to efficient memory and multi-core CPU usage
- Optimal design of response matrices
- Fit multiple spectra with different model components simultaneously
- Handles highly complex models with many free parameters
- Wide range of models available based on single atomic database
- Contains up-to-date atomic data
- Easy to fit grating spectra of spatially extended sources
SPEX X-ray spectral analysis package and Python tools
The SPEX package available on this site contains the main SPEX program and a few auxiliary programs written mainly in Fortran. In addition, a python toolbox called Pyspextools is available that is installed separately. This package contains scripts and methods to convert OGIP spectra to SPEX format, response generators for simulations and a python interface to create SPEX user models.
Important note
If you use the SPEX X-ray spectral analysis software for research that will appear in a scientific publication, then please add a reference to Kaastra, Mewe and Nieuwenhuijzen (1996) and a reference to the specific SPEX version on Zenodo. A&A tested BibTeX entries for these publications can be downloaded here.
