Revised calibration for near- and mid-infrared images from ∼4000 pointed observations with AKARI/IRC

Abstract

Abstract The Japanese infrared astronomical satellite AKARI performed ∼4000 pointed observations for 16 months until the end of August 2007, when the telescope and instruments were cooled by liquid helium. Observation targets include solar system objects, Galactic objects, local galaxies, and galaxies at cosmological distances. We describe recent updates on calibration processes of near- and mid-infrared images taken by the Infrared Camera (IRC), which has nine photometric filters covering 2–27 μm continuously. Using the latest data reduction toolkit, we created calibrated and stacked images from each pointed observation. About 90% of the stacked images have a position accuracy better than 1${^{\prime\prime}_{.}}$5. Uncertainties in aperture photometry estimated from a typical standard sky deviation of stacked images are a factor of ∼2–4 smaller than those of AllWISE at similar wavelengths. The processed images, together with documents such as process logs, as well as the latest toolkit are available online.