We have obtained high resolution spectra (R = 25000) of an A star over
varying airmass to determine the effectiveness of telluric removal in the limit
of high signal to noise. The near infra-red line HeI at 2.058 microns, which is
a sensitive indicator of physical conditions in massive stars, supergiants, HII
regions and YSOs, resides among pressure broadened telluric absorption from
carbon dioxide and water vapor that varies both in time and with observed
airmass.
Our study shows that in the limit of bright stars at high resolution,
accuracies of 5% are typical for high airmass observations (greater than 1.9),
improving to a photon-limited accuracy of 2% at smaller airmasses (less than
1.15). We find that by using the continuum between telluric absorption lines of
a ro-vibrational fan a photon-limited 1% accuracy is achievable.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in PAS