Photometric Calibration Research Articles

The CFHQSIR survey: a Y-band extension of the CFHTLS-Wide survey

Context. The Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS) has been conducted over a 5-yr period at the CFHT with the MegaCam instrument, totaling 450 nights of observations. The Wide Synoptic Survey is one component of the CFHTLS, covering 155 square degrees in four patches of 23 to 65 square degrees through the whole MegaCam filter set (u*, g’, r’, i’, z’) down to i’AB = 24.5. Aims. With the motivation of searching for high-redshift quasars at redshifts above 6.5, we extend the multi-wavelength CFHTLS-Wide data in the Y -band down to magnitudes of ~22.5 for point sources (5σ). Methods. We observed the four CFHTLS-Wide fields (except one quarter of the W3 field) in the Y -band with the Wide-field InfraRed Camera (WIRCam) at the CFHT. Each field was visited twice, at least three weeks apart. Each visit consisted of two dithered exposures. The images are reduced with the Elixir software used for the CFHTLS and modified to account for the properties of near-InfraRed (IR) data. Two series of image stacks are subsequently produced: four-image stacks for each WIRCam pointing, and one-square-degree tiles matched to the format of the CFHTLS data release. Photometric calibration is performed on stars by fitting stellar spectra to their CFHTLS photometric data and extrapolating their Y -band magnitudes. Results. After corrections accounting for correlated noise, we measure a limiting magnitude of YAB ≃ 22.4 for point sources (5σ) in an aperture diameter of 0.′′93, over 130 square degrees. We produce a multi-wavelength catalogue combining the CFHTLS-Wide optical data with our CFHQSIR (Canada–France High-z quasar survey in the near-InfraRed) Y -band data. We derive the Y -band number counts and compare them to the Vista Deep Extragalactic Observations survey (VIDEO). We find that the addition of the CFHQSIR Y -band data to the CFHTLS optical data increases the accuracy of photometric redshifts and reduces the outlier rate from 13.8% to 8.8% in the redshift range 1.05 ≲ z ≲ 1.2.

Gaia Data Release 2

Aims. We describe the photometric content of the second data release of the Gaia project (Gaia DR2) and its validation along with the quality of the data. Methods. The validation was mainly carried out using an internal analysis of the photometry. External comparisons were also made, but were limited by the precision and systematics that may be present in the external catalogues used. Results. In addition to the photometric quality assessment, we present the best estimates of the three photometric passbands. Various colour-colour transformations are also derived to enable the users to convert between the Gaia and commonly used passbands. Conclusions. The internal analysis of the data shows that the photometric calibrations can reach a precision as low as 2 mmag on individual CCD measurements. Other tests show that systematic effects are present in the data at the 10 mmag level.

Gaia Data Release 2

Context. The second Gaia data release is based on 22 months of mission data with an average of 0.9 billion individual CCD observations per day. A data volume of this size and granularity requires a robust and reliable but still flexible system to achieve the demanding accuracy and precision constraints that Gaia is capable of delivering. Aims. We aim to describe the input data, the treatment of blue photometer/red photometer (BP/RP) low-resolution spectra required to produce the integrated GBP and GRP fluxes, the process used to establish the internal Gaia photometric system, and finally, the generation of the mean source photometry from the calibrated epoch data for Gaia DR2. Methods. The internal Gaia photometric system was initialised using an iterative process that is solely based on Gaia data. A set of calibrations was derived for the entire Gaia DR2 baseline and then used to produce the final mean source photometry. The photometric catalogue contains 2.5 billion sources comprised of three different grades depending on the availability of colour information and the procedure used to calibrate them: 1.5 billion gold, 144 million silver, and 0.9 billion bronze. These figures reflect the results of the photometric processing; the content of the data release will be different due to the validation and data quality filters applied during the catalogue preparation. The photometric processing pipeline, PhotPipe, implements all the processing and calibration workflows in terms of Map/Reduce jobs based on the Hadoop platform. This is the first example of a processing system for a large astrophysical survey project to make use of these technologies. Results. The improvements in the generation of the integrated G–band fluxes, in the attitude modelling, in the cross-matching, and and in the identification of spurious detections led to a much cleaner input stream for the photometric processing. This, combined with the improvements in the definition of the internal photometric system and calibration flow, produced high-quality photometry. Hadoop proved to be an excellent platform choice for the implementation of PhotPipe in terms of overall performance, scalability, downtime, and manpower required for operations and maintenance.

The SkyMapper Southern Survey and its calibration

AbstractI discuss the photometric calibration of the SkyMapper Southern Survey, our adopted methods and what we learned from comparisons with external catalogues.

Testing of the LSST’s photometric calibration strategy at the CTIO 0.9 meter telescope

AbstractThe calibration hardware system of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is designed to measure two quantities: a telescope’s instrumental response and atmospheric transmission, both as a function of wavelength. First of all, a “collimated beam projector” is designed to measure the instrumental response function by projecting monochromatic light through a mask and a collimating optic onto the telescope. During the measurement, the light level is monitored with a NIST-traceable photodiode. This method does not suffer from stray light effects or the reflections (known as ghosting) present when using a flat-field screen illumination, which has a systematic source of uncertainty from uncontrolled reflections. It allows for an independent measurement of the throughput of the telescope’s optical train as well as each filter’s transmission as a function of position on the primary mirror. Second, CALSPEC stars can be used as calibrated light sources to illuminate the atmosphere and measure its transmission. To measure the atmosphere’s transfer function, we use the telescope’s imager with a Ronchi grating in place of a filter to configure it as a low resolution slitless spectrograph. In this paper, we describe this calibration strategy, focusing on results from a prototype system at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) 0.9 meter telescope. We compare the instrumental throughput measurements to nominal values measured using a laboratory spectrophotometer, and we describe measurements of the atmosphere made via CALSPEC standard stars during the same run.

Digitization and astrometric calibration of Carte du Ciel photographic plates with Gaia DR1

Context. Carte du Ciel was a global international project at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century to map the sky to about magnitude 14 on photographic plates. The full project was never observationally completed and a large fraction of the observations made remain unanalyzed. Aims. We want to study whether the astrometric and photometric accuracies obtained for the Carte du Ciel plates digitized with a commercial digital camera are high enough for scientific exploitation of the plates. Methods. We use a digital camera Canon EOS 5Ds, with a 100 mm macrolens for digitizing. We analyze six single-exposure plates and four triple-exposure plates from the Helsinki zone of Carte du Ciel (+39∘ ≤ δ ≤ +47∘). Each plate is digitized using four images, with a significant central area being covered twice for quality control purposes. The astrometric calibration of the digitized images is done with the data from the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (Gaia TGAS) of the first Gaia data release (Gaia DR1), Tycho-2, Hot Stuff for One Year (HSOY), USNO CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC5), and PMA catalogs. Results. The best astrometric accuracy is obtained with the UCAC5 reference stars. The astrometric accuracy for single-exposure plates is σ(α cos(δ)) = 0.16″ and σ(δ)=0.15″, expressed as a Gaussian deviation of the astrometric residuals. For triple-exposure plates the astrometric accuracy is σ(α cos(δ)) = 0.12″ and σ(δ)=0.13″. The 1 − σ uncertainty of photometric calibration is about 0.28 mag and 0.24 mag for single- and triple-exposure plates, respectively. We detect the photographic adjacency (Kostinsky) effect in the triple-exposure plates. Conclusions. We show that accuracies at least of the level of scanning machines can be achieved with a digital camera, without any corrections for possible distortions caused by our instrumental setup. This method can be used to rapidly and inexpensively digitize and calibrate old photographic plates enabling their scientific exploitation.

Stellar Streams Discovered in the Dark Energy Survey

Abstract We perform a search for stellar streams around the Milky Way using the first 3 yr of multiband optical imaging data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We use DES data covering ∼5000 deg2 to a depth of g > 23.5 with a relative photometric calibration uncertainty of <1%. This data set yields unprecedented sensitivity to the stellar density field in the southern celestial hemisphere, enabling the detection of faint stellar streams to a heliocentric distance of ∼50 kpc. We search for stellar streams using a matched filter in color–magnitude space derived from a synthetic isochrone of an old, metal-poor stellar population. Our detection technique recovers four previously known thin stellar streams: Phoenix, ATLAS, Tucana III, and a possible extension of Molonglo. In addition, we report the discovery of 11 new stellar streams. In general, the new streams detected by DES are fainter, more distant, and lower surface brightness than streams detected by similar techniques in previous photometric surveys. As a by-product of our stellar stream search, we find evidence for extratidal stellar structure associated with four globular clusters: NGC 288, NGC 1261, NGC 1851, and NGC 1904. The ever-growing sample of stellar streams will provide insight into the formation of the Galactic stellar halo, the Milky Way gravitational potential, and the large- and small-scale distribution of dark matter around the Milky Way.

Hot star extension to theHubbleSpace Telescope stellar spectral library

Context.Libraries of stellar spectra find many uses in astrophysics, from photometric calibration to stellar population synthesis.Aims.We present low resolution spectra of 40 stars from 0.2μm (ultraviolet) to 1.0μm (near infrared) with excellent fluxing. The stars include normal O-type stars, helium-burning stars, and post-asymptotic giant branch (PAGB) stars.Methods.Spectra were obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) installed in theHubbleSpace Telescope (HST) using three low resolution gratings, G230LB, G430L, and G750L. Cosmic ray hits and fringing in the red were corrected. A correction for scattered light was applied, significant only for our coolest stars. Cross-correlation was used to bring the spectra to a common, final, zero velocity wavelength scale. Finally, synthetic stellar spectra were used to estimate line of sight dust extinction to each star, and a five-parameter dust extinction model was fit, or a one-parameter fit in the case of low extinction.Results.These spectra dovetail with the similar Next Generation Stellar Library (NGSL) spectra, extending the NGSL’s coverage of stellar parameters, and extending to helium burning stars and stars that do not fuse.Conclusions.The fitted dust extinction model showed considerable variation from star to star, indicating variations in dust properties for different lines of sight. Interstellar absorption lines are present in most stars, notably MgII.

Development of white LED illuminants for colorimetry and recommendation of white LED reference spectrum for photometry

General lighting is undergoing a revolutionary change towards LED-based technologies. To provide firm scientific basis for the related colorimetric and photometric measurements, this paper presents the development of new white-LED-based illuminants for colorimetry, and their evaluation to recommend a new reference spectrum for calibration of photometers. Spectra of 1516 LED products were measured and used to calculate eight representative spectral power distributions for LED sources of different correlated colour temperature categories. The suitability of the calculated representative spectra for photometer calibration was studied by comparing average spectral mismatch errors with CIE Standard Illuminant A, which has been used for decades as the reference spectrum for incandescent standard lamps in calibration of photometers. It was found that in general, when compared with Standard Illuminant A, all the potential LED calibration spectra reduced spectral mismatch errors when measuring LED products. Out of the potential LED calibration spectra tested, the white LED spectrum with correlated colour temperature of 4103 K was found to be the most suitable candidate to complement Standard Illuminant A in luminous responsivity calibrations of photometers. When compared with Standard Illuminant A, employing the 4103 K reference spectrum reduced the spectral mismatch errors, on average, by approximately a factor of two in measurements of LED products and lighting. Furthermore, the new LED reference spectrum was found to reduce the spectral mismatch errors in measurements of daylight, and many types of fluorescent and discharge lamps, indicating that the proposed reference spectrum is a viable alternative to Standard Illuminant A for calibration of photometers.

Considerations in Using Photometer Instruments for Measuring Total Particulate Matter Mass Concentration in Diesel Engine Exhaust

In this work, engine-out particulate matter (PM) mass emissions from an off-highway diesel engine measured using a low-cost photometer, scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS), elemental versus organic carbon (EC/OC) analysis, and a photo-acoustic analyzer are compared. Tested engine operating modes spanned the range of those known to result in high semivolatile particle concentration and those that emit primarily solid particles. Photometer measurements were taken following a primary dilution stage and a sample conditioner to control relative humidity prior to the instrument. Results of the study show that the photometer could qualitatively track total particle mass trends over the tested engine conditions though it was not accurate in measuring total carbon (TC) mass concentration. Further, the required photometric calibration factor (PCF) required to accurately measure total PM mass changes with the OC fraction of the particles. Variables that influence PCF include particle effective density, which changes both as a function of particle diameter and OC fraction. Differences in refractive index between semivolatile and solid particles are also significant and contribute to high error associated with measurement of total PM using the photometer. This work illustrates that it may be too difficult to accurately measure total engine PM mass with a photometer without knowing additional information about the sampled particles. However, removing semivolatile organic materials prior to the instrument may allow the accurate estimation of EC mass concentration alone.

Photometric Calibration for the Beijing–Arizona Sky Survey and Mayall z-band Legacy Survey

We present the photometric calibration of the Beijing–Arizona Sky Survey and Mayall z-band Legacy Survey, which are two of the three wide-field optical legacy imaging surveys to provide the baseline targeting data for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument project. The method of our photometric calibration is subdivided into the external and internal processes. The former utilizes the point-source objects of Pan-STARRS1 survey (PS1) as the reference standards to achieve the zero points of the absolute flux for individual exposures. And then the latter revise the zero points to make them consistent across the survey based on multiple tilings and large offset overlaps. Our process achieves a homogeneous photometric calibration over most of the sky with precision better than 10 mmag for g and r bands, 15 mmag for z band. The accuracy of the calibration is better than 1% at the bright end (16–18 mag) over most of the survey area.

Correction of projector nonlinearity in multi-frequency phase-shifting fringe projection profilometry.

In fringe projection profilometry, the original purpose of projecting multi-frequency fringe patterns is to determine fringe orders automatically, thus unwrapping the measured phase maps. This paper presents that using the same patterns, simultaneously, allows us to correct the effects of projector nonlinearity on the measured results. As is well known, the projector nonlinearity decreases the measurement accuracies by inducing ripple-like artifacts on the measured phase maps; and, theoretical analysis reveals that these artifacts, depending on the number of phase shifts, have multiplied frequencies higher than the fringe frequencies. Based on this fact, we deduce an error function for modeling the phase artifacts and then suggest an algorithm estimating the function coefficients from a couple of phase maps of fringe patterns having different frequencies. As a result, subtracting out the estimated phase errors yields the accurate phase maps with the effects of the projector nonlinearity on them being suppressed significantly. Experiment results demonstrated that this proposed method offers some advantages over others, such as working without a photometric calibration, being applicable when the projector nonlinearity varies over time, and having satisfied efficiency in implementation.

Photometric calibration of a wide‐field sky survey data from Mini‐MegaTORTORA

Mini‐MegaTORTORA is a nine‐channel wide‐field camera that continuously monitors the sky looking for rapid optical transients since mid‐2014. It is also performing a regular sky survey, and has already acquired nearly half a million images covering every point of Northern Sky hundreds to thousands of times. Photometric analysis of these data may provide a huge amount of information useful for the detection and characterization of different types of variable objects. Here we present a brief description of our activities related to the acquisition, processing, and calibration of these data, as well as examples of uncataloged variable stars of various types detected during the analysis.

Implications of a wavelength-dependent PSF for weak lensing measurements

The convolution of galaxy images by the point-spread function (PSF) is the dominant source of bias for weak gravitational lensing studies, and an accurate estimate of the PSF is required to obtain unbiased shape measurements. The PSF estimate for a galaxy depends on its spectral energy distribution (SED), because the instrumental PSF is generally a function of the wavelength. In this paper we explore various approaches to determine the resulting `effective' PSF using broad-band data. Considering the Euclid mission as a reference, we find that standard SED template fitting methods result in biases that depend on source redshift, although this may be remedied if the algorithms can be optimised for this purpose. Using a machine-learning algorithm we show that, at least in principle, the required accuracy can be achieved with the current survey parameters. It is also possible to account for the correlations between photometric redshift and PSF estimates that arise from the use of the same photometry. We explore the impact of errors in photometric calibration, errors in the assumed wavelength dependence of the PSF model and limitations of the adopted template libraries. Our results indicate that the required accuracy for Euclid can be achieved using the data that are planned to determine photometric redshifts.

Detection of new eruptions in the Magellanic Clouds luminous blue variables R 40 and R 110

We performed a spectroscopic and photometric analysis to study new eruptions in two luminous blue variables (LBVs) in the Magellanic Clouds. We detected a strong new eruption in the LBV R40 that reachedV~ 9.2 in 2016, which is around 1.3 mag brighter than the minimum registered in 1985. During this new eruption, the star changed from an A-type to a late F-type spectrum. Based on photometric and spectroscopic empirical calibrations and synthetic spectral modeling, we determine that R 40 reachedTeff= 5800–6300 K during this new eruption. This object is thereby probably one of the coolest identified LBVs. We could also identify an enrichment of nitrogen andr- ands-process elements. We detected a weak eruption in the LBV R 110 with a maximum ofV~ 9.9 mag in 2011, that is, around 1.0 mag brighter than in the quiescent phase. On the other hand, this new eruption is about 0.2 mag fainter than the first eruption detected in 1990, but the temperature did not decrease below 8500 K.Spitzerspectra show indications of cool dust in the circumstellar environment of both stars, but no hot or warm dust was present, except by the probable presence of PAHs in R 110. We also discuss a possible post-red supergiant nature for both stars.

The First Data Release from SweetSpot: 74 Supernovae in 36 Nights on WIYN+WHIRC

Abstract SweetSpot is a 3 yr National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) survey program to observe Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in the smooth Hubble flow with the WIYN High-resolution Infrared Camera (WHIRC) on the WIYN 3.5 m telescope. We present data from the first half of this survey, covering the 2011B–2013B NOAO semesters and consisting of 493 calibrated images of 74 SNe Ia observed in the rest-frame near-infrared (NIR) in the range 0.02 < z < 0.09. Because many observed supernovae require host-galaxy subtraction from templates taken in later semesters, this release contains only the 186 NIR (JHK s ) data points for the 33 SNe Ia that do not require host-galaxy subtraction. The sample includes four objects with coverage beginning before the epoch of B-band maximum and 27 beginning within 20 days of B-band maximum. We also provide photometric calibration between the WIYN+WHIRC and Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) systems, along with light curves for 786 2MASS stars observed alongside the SNe Ia. This work is the first in a planned series of three SweetSpot Data Releases. Future releases will include the full set of images from all 3 yr of the survey, including host-galaxy reference images and updated data processing with host-galaxy reference subtraction. SweetSpot will provide a well-calibrated sample that will help improve our ability to standardize distance measurements to SNe Ia, examine the intrinsic optical–NIR colors of SNe Ia at different epochs, explore the nature of dust in other galaxies, and act as a stepping-stone for more distant, potentially space-based surveys.

Photometric Characterization of the Dark Energy Camera

We characterize the variation in photometric response of the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) across its 520 Mpix science array during 4 years of operation. These variations are measured using high signal-to-noise aperture photometry of >107 stellar images in thousands of exposures of a few selected fields, with the telescope dithered to move the sources around the array. A calibration procedure based on these results brings the rms variation in aperture magnitudes of bright stars on cloudless nights down to 2–3 mmag, with <1 mmag of correlated photometric errors for stars separated by ≥20″. On cloudless nights, any departures of the exposure zeropoints from a secant airmass law exceeding 1 mmag are plausibly attributable to spatial/temporal variations in aperture corrections. These variations can be inferred and corrected by measuring the fraction of stellar light in an annulus between 6″ and 8″ diameter. Key elements of this calibration include: correction of amplifier nonlinearities; distinguishing pixel-area variations and stray light from quantum-efficiency variations in the flat fields; field-dependent color corrections; and the use of an aperture-correction proxy. The DECam response pattern across the 2° field drifts over months by up to ±9 mmag, in a nearly wavelength-independent low-order pattern. We find no fundamental barriers to pushing global photometric calibrations toward mmag accuracy.

Online Photometric Calibration of Auto Exposure Video for Realtime Visual Odometry and SLAM

Recent direct visual odometry and SLAM algorithms have demonstrated impressive levels of precision. However, they require a photometric camera calibration in order to achieve competitive results. Hence, the respective algorithm cannot be directly applied to an off-the-shelf-camera or to a video sequence acquired with an unknown camera. In this letter, we propose a method for online photometric calibration that enables to process auto exposure videos with visual odometry precisions that are on par with those of photometrically calibrated videos. Our algorithm recovers the exposure times of consecutive frames, the camera response function, and the attenuation factors of the sensor irradiance due to vignetting. Gain robust Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi (KLT) feature tracks are used to obtain scene point correspondences as input to a nonlinear optimization framework. We show that our approach can reliably calibrate arbitrary video sequences by evaluating it on datasets for which full photometric ground truth is available. We further show that our calibration can improve the performance of a state-of-the-art direct visual odometry method that works solely on pixel intensities, calibrating for photometric parameters in an online fashion in realtime.

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: The Photometric Data Set for Cosmology

Abstract We describe the creation, content, and validation of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) internal year-one cosmology data set, Y1A1 GOLD, in support of upcoming cosmological analyses. The Y1A1 GOLD data set is assembled from multiple epochs of DES imaging and consists of calibrated photometric zero-points, object catalogs, and ancillary data products—e.g., maps of survey depth and observing conditions, star–galaxy classification, and photometric redshift estimates—that are necessary for accurate cosmological analyses. The Y1A1 GOLD wide-area object catalog consists of million objects detected in co-added images covering in the DES grizY filters. The 10σ limiting magnitude for galaxies is , , , , and . Photometric calibration of Y1A1 GOLD was performed by combining nightly zero-point solutions with stellar locus regression, and the absolute calibration accuracy is better than 2% over the survey area. DES Y1A1 GOLD is the largest photometric data set at the achieved depth to date, enabling precise measurements of cosmic acceleration at z ≲ 1.

Exploring cosmic origins with CORE: Mitigation of systematic effects

We present an analysis of the main systematic effects that could impact the measurement of CMB polarization with the proposed CORE space mission. We employ timeline-to-map simulations to verify that the CORE instrumental set-up and scanning strategy allow us to measure sky polarization to a level of accuracy adequate to the mission science goals. We also show how the CORE observations can be processed to mitigate the level of contamination by potentially worrying systematics, including intensity-to-polarization leakage due to bandpass mismatch, asymmetric main beams, pointing errors and correlated noise. We use analysis techniques that are well validated on data from current missions such as Planck to demonstrate how the residual contamination of the measurements by these effects can be brought to a level low enough not to hamper the scientific capability of the mission, nor significantly increase the overall error budget. We also present a prototype of the CORE photometric calibration pipeline, based on that used for Planck, and discuss its robustness to systematics, showing how CORE can achieve its calibration requirements. While a fine-grained assessment of the impact of systematics requires a level of knowledge of the system that can only be achieved in a future study phase, the analysis presented here strongly suggests that the main areas of concern for the CORE mission can be addressed using existing knowledge, techniques and algorithms.