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The calibration hardware system of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is designed to measure two quantities: a telescopes 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 telescopes optical train as well as each filters 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 atmospheres transfer function, we use the telescopes 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.
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NIKA2 is a dual-band millimetric continuum camera of 2900 Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KID), operating at $150$ and $260,rm{GHz}$, installed at the IRAM 30-meter telescope. We present the performance assessment of NIKA2 after one year of observation using a dedicated point-source calibration method, referred to as the emph{baseline} method. Using a large data set acquired between January 2017 and February 2018 that span the whole range of observing elevations and atmospheric conditions encountered at the IRAM 30-m telescope, we test the stability of the performance parameters. We report an instantaneous field of view (FOV) of 6.5 in diameter, filled with an average fraction of $84%$ and $90%$ of valid detectors at $150$ and $260,rm{GHz}$, respectively. The beam pattern is characterized by a FWHM of $17.6 pm 0.1$ and $11.1pm 0.2$, and a beam efficiency of $77% pm 2%$ and $55% pm 3%$ at $150$ and $260,rm{GHz}$, respectively. The rms calibration uncertainties are about $3%$ at $150,rm{GHz}$ and $6%$ at $260,rm{GHz}$. The absolute calibration uncertainties are of $5%$ and the systematic calibration uncertainties evaluated at the IRAM 30-m reference Winter observing conditions are below $1%$ in both channels. The noise equivalent flux density (NEFD) at $150$ and $260,rm{GHz}$ are of $9 pm 1, rm{mJy}cdot s^{1/2}$ and $30 pm 3, rm{mJy}cdot s^{1/2}$. This state-of-the-art performance confers NIKA2 with mapping speeds of $1388 pm 174$ and $111 pm 11 ,rm{arcmin}^2cdot rm{mJy}^{-2}cdot rm{h}^{-1}$ at $150$ and $260,rm{GHz}$. With these unique capabilities of fast dual-band mapping at high (better that 18) angular resolution, NIKA2 is providing an unprecedented view of the millimetre Universe.
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be the next generation ground based observatory in very high energy gamma ray astronomy. The facility will achieve a wide energy coverage, starting from a threshold of a few tens of GeV up to hundreds of TeV by utilising several classes of telescopes, each optimised for different regions of the gamma-ray spectrum. The required energy resolution of better than 10-15% over most of the energy range and a goal of 5% systematic uncertainty on the measurement of the Cherenkov light intensity at the position of each telescope means that a very precise evaluation of the entire system will need to be made. The composite nature of the array means multiple camera technologies will be employed so multiple calibration systems and procedures will be necessary to meet the performance requirements. Additional constraints will come from the need to minimise observing time losses and that the observatory is foreseen to operate for tens of years, so both short and long term systematic changes in performance will need to be investigated and monitored. This contribution summarises the recommended camera calibration strategy of CTA based on the experience with current IACTs.
The Nanshan One-meter Wide-field Telescope (NOWT) is a prime focus system located at Nanshan Station of Xinjiang Astronomical Observatories (XAO). The field of view(FOV) was designed to 1.5 degree *1.5 degree, and Johnson-Cousins UBVRI system was chosen as the main Filter set. The telescope has been providing observation services for astronomers since Sept. 2013. Variable source searching and time-domain surveys are the main scientific goals. The systems test results are reported including linearity, dark current, bias, readout noise and gain of the CCD camera. The accurate instrumental calibration coefficients in UBVRI bands was driven with Landolt standard stars during photometric nights. Finally, the limiting magnitudes are given with signal-to-noise ratios and various exposure times for observers.
The SST-1M telescope is one of the prototypes under construction proposed to be part of the future Cherenkov Telescope Array. It uses a standard Davis-Cotton design for the optics and telescope structure, with a dish diameter of 4 meters and a large field-of-view of 9 degrees. The innovative camera design is composed of a photo-detection plane with 1296 pixels including entrance window, light concentrators, Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs), and pre-amplifier stages together with a fully digital readout and trigger electronics, DigiCam. In this contribution we give a general description of the analysis chain designed for the SST-1M prototype. In particular we focus on the calibration strategy used to convert the SiPM signals registered by DigiCam to the quantities needed for Cherenkov image analysis. The calibration is based on an online feedback system to stabilize the gain of the SiPMs, as well as dedicated events (dark count, pedestal, and light flasher events) to be taken during the normal operation of the prototype.
The RCT 1.3-meter telescope, formerly known as the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) 50-inch telescope, has been refurbished as a fully robotic telescope, using an autonomous scheduler to take full advantage of the observing site without the requirement of a human presence. Here we detail the current configuration of the RCT, and present as a demonstration of its high-priority science goals, the broadband {it UBVRI} photometric calibration of the optical facility. In summary, we find the linear color transformation and extinction corrections to be consistent with similar optical KPNO facilities, to within a photometric precision of 10% (at $1sigma$). While there were identified instrumental errors likely adding to the overall uncertainty, associated with since-resolved issues in engineering and maintenance of the robotic facility, a preliminary verification of this calibration gave good indication that the solution is robust, perhaps to a higher precision than this initial calibration implies. The RCT has been executing regular science operations since 2009, and is largely meeting the science requirements set in its acquisition and re-design.
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