Precision astronomy with imperfect fully depleted CCDs — an introduction and a suggested lexicon

This paper summarizes the introductory presentation for a workshop (held Nov 18,19 2013 at Brookhaven National Laboratory) that explored the challenges associated with making precision astronomical measurements using deeply depleted = “thick" =“high-r” CCDs. While thick CCDs do provide definite advantages in terms of increased quantum efficiency at wavelengths 700 nm < l < 1.1 mm and reduced fringing from atmospheric emission lines, these devices also exhibit undesirable features that pose a challenge to precision determination of the positions, fluxes, and shapes of astronomical objects, and for the precision extraction of features in astronomical spectra. For example, the assumptions of a perfectly rectilinear pixel grid and of an intensity independent point spread function become increasingly invalid as we push to higher precision measurements. Many of the effects seen in these devices arise from lateral electrical fields within the detector, that produce charge transport anomalies that have been previously misinterpreted as quantum efficiency variations. Performing simplistic flat-fielding therefore introduces systematic errors in the image processing pipeline. One measurement challenge we face is devising a combination of calibration methods and algorithms that can distinguish genuine quantum efficiency variations from charge transport effects. These device imperfections also confront spectroscopic applications, such as line centroid determination for precision radial velocity studies. Given the scientific benefits of improving both the precision and accuracy of astronomical measurements, we need to identify, characterize, and overcome these various detector artifacts. In retrospect, many of the detector features first identified in thick CCDs also afflict measurements made with more traditional CCD detectors, albeit often at a reduced level since the photocharge is subject to the perturbing influence of lateral electric fields for a shorter time interval. I provide a qualitative overview of the physical effects we think are responsible for the observed device properties, and provide some perspective for the work that lies ahead. Finally, I take this opportunity to make a plea for establishing a clear and consistent vocabulary when describing these various detector features, and make some suggestions for a standard lexicon based on discussions at the workshop. A more refined understanding of the device imperfections we are working to circumvent lies ahead, and this workshop was convened to help us find our way.AstronomyPhysic

Sky Variability in the y Band at the LSST Site

We have measured spatial and temporal variability in the y band sky brightness over the course of four nights above Cerro Tololo near Cerro Pachon, Chile, the planned site for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). Our wide-angle camera lens provided a 41 deg field of view and a 145 arcsec pixel scale. We minimized potential system throughput differences by deploying a deep depletion CCD and a filter that matches the proposed LSST y_3 band (970 nm-1030 nm). Images of the sky exhibited coherent wave structure, attributable to atmospheric gravity waves at 90 km altitude, creating 3%-4% rms spatial sky flux variability on scales of about 2 degrees and larger. Over the course of a full night the y_3 band additionally showed highly coherent temporal variability of up to a factor of 2 in flux. We estimate the mean absolute sky level to be approximately y_3 = 17.8 mag (Vega), or y_3 = 18.3 mag (AB). While our observations were made through a y_3 filter, the relative sky brightness variability should hold for all proposed y bands, whereas the absolute levels should more strongly depend on spectral response. The spatial variability presents a challenge to wide-field cameras that require illumination correction strategies that make use of stacked sky flats. The temporal variability may warrant an adaptive y band imaging strategy for LSST, to take advantage of times when the sky is darkest.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted to PASP. Minor changes from referee report and editor's revisions

Stellar Locus Regression: Accurate Color Calibration, and the Real-time Determination of Galaxy Cluster Photometric Redshifts

We present Stellar Locus Regression (SLR), a method of directly adjusting the instrumental broadband optical colors of stars to bring them into accord with a universal stellar color-color locus, producing accurately calibrated colors for both stars and galaxies. This is achieved without first establishing individual zeropoints for each passband, and can be performed in real-time at the telescope. We demonstrate how SLR naturally makes one wholesale correction for differences in instrumental response, for atmospheric transparency, for atmospheric extinction, and for Galactic extinction. We perform an example SLR treatment of SDSS data over a wide range of Galactic dust values and independently recover the direction and magnitude of the canonical Galactic reddening vector with 14--18 mmag RMS uncertainties. We then isolate the effect of atmospheric extinction, showing that SLR accounts for this and returns precise colors over a wide of airmass, with 5--14 mmag RMS residuals. We demonstrate that SLR-corrected colors are sufficiently accurate to allow photometric redshift estimates for galaxy clusters (using red sequence galaxies) with an uncertainty $\sigma(z)/(1+z)$ = 0.6% per cluster for redshifts 0.09< $z$ <0.25. Finally, we identify our objects in the 2MASS all-sky catalog, and produce i-band zeropoints typically accurate to 18 mmag using only SLR. We offer open-source access to our IDL routines, validated and verified for the implementation of this technique, at http://stellar-locus-regression.googlecode.comPhysic

Public Domain Treaty Compliance Verification in the Digital Age

We explore in this article some of the emerging opportunities, and associated challenges, that the digital age offers for public-domain verification of compliance with international treaties. The increase in data volume, in ever-improving connectivity, and the relentless evolution towards ubiquitous sensors all provide a rapidly changing landscape for technical compliance verification of international treaties. From satellites to cell phones, advances in technology afford new opportunities for verifying compliance with international agreements, on topics ranging from arms control to environmental and public health issues. We will identify some of the engineering challenges that must be overcome in order to realize these new verification opportunities.Physic

Stellar Locus Regression: Accurate Color Calibration, and the Real-time Determination of Galaxy Cluster Photometric Redshifts

We present Stellar Locus Regression (SLR), a method of directly adjusting the instrumental broadband optical colors of stars to bring them into accord with a universal stellar color-color locus, producing accurately calibrated colors for both stars and galaxies. This is achieved without first establishing individual zeropoints for each passband, and can be performed in real-time at the telescope. We demonstrate how SLR naturally makes one wholesale correction for differences in instrumental response, for atmospheric transparency, for atmospheric extinction, and for Galactic extinction. We perform an example SLR treatment of SDSS data over a wide range of Galactic dust values and independently recover the direction and magnitude of the canonical Galactic reddening vector with 14--18 mmag RMS uncertainties. We then isolate the effect of atmospheric extinction, showing that SLR accounts for this and returns precise colors over a wide of airmass, with 5--14 mmag RMS residuals. We demonstrate that SLR-corrected colors are sufficiently accurate to allow photometric redshift estimates for galaxy clusters (using red sequence galaxies) with an uncertainty sigma_z/(1+z) = 0.6% per cluster for redshifts 0.09<z<0.25. Finally, we identify our objects in the 2MASS all-sky catalog, and produce i-band zeropoints typically accurate to 18 mmag using only SLR. We offer open-source access to our IDL routines, validated and verified for the implementation of this technique, at http://stellar-locus-regression.googlecode.comComment: Submitted to AJ. The public code is available at http://stellar-locus-regression.googlecode.co

Precise Throughput Determination of the PanSTARRS Telescope and the Gigapixel Imager using a Calibrated Silicon Photodiode and a Tunable Laser: Initial Results

We have used a precision calibrated photodiode as the fundamental metrology reference in order to determine the relative throughput of the PanSTARRS telescope and the Gigapixel imager, from 400 nm to 1050 nm. Our technique uses a tunable laser as a source of illumination on a transmissive flat-field screen. We determine the full-aperture system throughput as a function of wavelength, including (in a single integral measurement) the mirror reflectivity, the transmission functions of the filters and the corrector optics, and the detector quantum efficiency, by comparing the light seen by each pixel in the CCD array to that measured by a precision-calibrated silicon photodiode. This method allows us to determine the relative throughput of the entire system as a function of wavelength, for each pixel in the instrument, without observations of celestial standards. We present promising initial results from this characterization of the PanSTARRS system, and we use synthetic photometry to assess the photometric perturbations due to throughput variation across the field of view.Physic

Towards More Precise Survey Photometry for PanSTARRS and LSST: Measuring Directly the Optical Transmission Spectrum of the Atmosphere

Motivated by the recognition that variation in the optical transmission of the atmosphere is probably the main limitation to the precision of ground-based CCD measurements of celestial fluxes, we review the physical processes that attenuate the passage of light through the Earth's atmosphere. The next generation of astronomical surveys, such as PanSTARRS and LSST, will greatly benefit from dedicated apparatus to obtain atmospheric transmission data that can be associated with each survey image. We review and compare various approaches to this measurement problem, including photometry, spectroscopy, and LIDAR. In conjunction with careful measurements of instrumental throughput, atmospheric transmission measurements should allow next-generation imaging surveys to produce photometry of unprecedented precision. Our primary concerns are the real-time determination of aerosol scattering and absorption by water along the line of sight, both of which can vary over the course of a night's observations.Comment: 41 pages, 14 figures. Accepted PAS

Evaluating Iodine Uptake in a Crystalline Sponge Using Dynamic X-ray Crystallography

The uptake of gaseous iodine into the crystalline sponge material [(ZnI2)3(tpt)2]·0.7triphenylene·0.3PhNO2·0.7C6H12 1 (tpt = 2,4,6-tris(4-pyridyl)-1,3,5-triazine) has been monitored by dynamic X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis. The X-ray analyses have enabled the location, quantity, uptake rate, and subsequent chemistry of the iodine upon inclusion into the pores to be determined. An uptake of 6.0 wt % (0.43 I2 per formula unit) was observed crystallographically over a period of 90 min before crystal degradation occurred. The included iodine molecules interact with the iodine atoms of the ZnI2 nodes at three different sites, forming coordinated I3– ions. The results contrast to recent observations on [(ZnI2)3(tpt)2] without the triphenylene guests which show the presence of I42– ions with low quantities of absorbed iodine

The Pan-STARRS 1 Photometric Reference Ladder, Release 12.0

As of 2012 Jan 21, the Pan-STARRS1 $3\pi$ Survey has observed the 3/4 of the sky visible from Hawaii with a minimum of 2 and mean of 7.6 observations in 5 filters, $g_{\rm P1},r_{\rm P1},i_{\rm P1},z_{\rm P1},y_{\rm P1}$. Now at the end of the second year of the mission, we are in a position to make an initial public release of a portion of this unprecedented dataset. This article describes the PS1 Photometric Ladder, Release 12.01 This is the first of a series of data releases to be generated as the survey coverage increases and the data analysis improves. The Photometric Ladder has rungs every hour in RA and at 4 intervals in declination. We will release updates with increased area coverage (more rungs) from the latest dataset until the PS1 survey and the final re-reduction are completed. The currently released catalog presents photometry of $\sim 1000$ objects per square degree in the rungs of the ladder. Saturation occurs at $g_{\rm P1}, r_{\rm P1}, i_{\rm P1} \sim 13.5; z_{\rm P1} \sim 13.0;$ and $y_{\rm P1} \sim 12.0$. Photometry is provided for stars down to $g_{\rm P1}, r_{\rm P1}, i_{\rm P1} \sim 19.1$ in the AB system. This data release depends on the rigid `Ubercal' photometric calibration using only the photometric nights, with systematic uncertainties of (8.0, 7.0, 9.0, 10.7, 12.4) millimags in $(g_{\rm P1},r_{\rm P1},i_{\rm P1},z_{\rm P1},y_{\rm P1})$. Areas covered only with lower quality nights are also included, and have been tied to the Ubercal solution via relative photometry; photometric accuracy of the non-photometric regions is lower and should be used with caution.Physic