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Monitoring the photometric behavior of OmegaCAM with Astro-WISE

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Abstract

The OmegaCAM wide-field optical imager is the sole instrument on the VLT Survey Telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory. The instrument, as well as the telescope, have been designed for surveys with very good, natural seeing-limited image quality over a 1 square degree field. OmegaCAM was commissioned in 2011 and has been observing three ESO Public Surveys in parallel since October 15, 2011. We use the Astro-WISE information system to monitor the calibration of the observatory and to produce the Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS). Here we describe the photometric monitoring procedures in Astro-WISE and give a first impression of OmegaCAM’s photometric behavior as a function of time. The long-term monitoring of the observatory goes hand in hand with the KiDS survey production in Astro-WISE. KiDS is observed under partially non-photometric conditions. Based on the first year of OmegaCAM operations it is expected that a ∼ 1–2 % photometric homogeneity will be achieved for KiDS.

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Notes

  1. http://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/paranal/site/paranal.html

  2. See http://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/paranal/instruments/omegacam/doc for Calibration Plan and User Requirements.

  3. The Astro-WISE Python documentation server gives at http://doc.astro-wise.org/astro.main.html an IT-technical description of the Astro-WISE object model.

  4. See the Python Documentation server at http://doc.astro-wise.org/astro.main.QuickCheckFrame.html for the description of the QuickCheckFrame class.

  5. See the Python Documentation server at http://doc.astro-wise.org/astro.main.DomeFlatFrame.html for the description of the DomeFlatFrame class.

  6. See the Python Documentation server at http://doc.astro-wise.org/astro.main.TwilightFlatFrame.html for the description of the TwilightFlatFrame class.

  7. See movie of residuals between twilight flatfield at a given rotator angle and the average of an ensemble average at http://wiki.astro-wise.org/projects:omegacam:portal:illuminationcorrection.

  8. See the Python Documentation server at http://doc.astro-wise.org/astro.main.PhotometricParameters.html for the description of the PhotometricParameters class.

  9. See the Python Documentation server at http://doc.astro-wise.org/astro.main.PhotRefCatalog.html for the description of the PhotRefCatalog class.

  10. To convert to \(e^-\)/s: the typical gain for OmegaCAM;s detectors is ∼ 2.5–2.6e−/ADU.

  11. See the Python Documentation server at http://doc.astro-wise.org/astro.main.PhotometricExtinctionReport.html for the description of the PhotometricExtinctionReport class.

  12. See the Python Documentation server at http://doc.astro-wise.org/astro.main.PhotSkyBrightness.html for the description of the PhotSkyBrightness class.

  13. A detailed description of the illumination characterization and correction is given in commissioning document VST-TRE-OCM-23100-3608 (available at http://wiki.astro-sise.org/projects:omegacam:portal:illuminationcorrection).

  14. For u only the twilight flat is used see commissioning document VST-TRE-OCM-23100-3608 (available at http://wiki.astro-sise.org/projects:omegacam:portal:illuminationcorrection) for an explanation.

  15. See the Python Documentation server at http://doc.astro-wise.org/astro.main.IlluminationCorrection.html for the description of the IlluminationCorrection class.

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Acknowledgments

The OmegaCAM consortium was formed in response to an announcement of opportunity from ESO, and comprises institutes in the Netherlands (NOVA, in particular the Kapteyn Institute Groningen and Leiden Observatory), Germany (in particular University Observatories of Munich, Gottingen and Bonn) and Italy (INAF, in particular Padua and Naples observatories). The ESO Optical Detector Team designed and built the detector system. OmegaCAM is headed by PI K. Kuijken (Leiden University). We acknowledge the good support by ESO staff during OmegaCAM commissioning, with special thanks to Steffen Mieske and Dietrich Baade. OmegaCAM is funded by grants from the Dutch Organization for Research in Astronomy (NOVA), the German Federal Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Technology (grants 05 AV9MG1/7, AV9WM2/5, 05 AV2MGA/6 and 05 AV2WM1/2), and the Italian Consorzio Nazionale per l’Astronomia e l’Astrofisica (CNAA) and Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), in addition to manpower and materials provided by the partner institutes. OmegaCAM dataflow operations in The Netherlands are supported by Target (www.rug.nl/target).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 800, 9700, AV, Groningen, The Netherlands

    G. A. Verdoes Kleijn, E. A. Valentijn, D. R. Boxhoorn, K. G. Begeman, E. M. Helmich & R. Rengelink

  2. Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9513, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands

    K. H. Kuijken & E. R. Deul

Authors
  1. G. A. Verdoes Kleijn
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  2. K. H. Kuijken
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  3. E. A. Valentijn
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  4. D. R. Boxhoorn
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  5. K. G. Begeman
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  6. E. R. Deul
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  7. E. M. Helmich
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  8. R. Rengelink
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. A. Verdoes Kleijn.

Appendix

Appendix

Fig. 20
figure 20

Photometric scale in Sloan r on sky and in dome as a function of over 10 months of survey operations for all 32 science CCDs. The green filled circles denote zeropoints obtained from SA field observations. The blue and red filled circles are dome-screen observations from Quick check from primary and secondary set respectively.The latter have their average value converted to an arbitrary zeropoint (not a fit!). See Section 5.4 for a discussion

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Verdoes Kleijn, G.A., Kuijken, K.H., Valentijn, E.A. et al. Monitoring the photometric behavior of OmegaCAM with Astro-WISE. Exp Astron 35, 103–130 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-012-9325-y

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