Astrometric calibration and performance of the Dark Energy Camera

Bernstein, G. M.; Armstrong, R.; Plazas, A. A.; Walker, A. R.; Abbott, T. M.  C.; Allam, S.; Bechtol, K.; Benoit-Lévy, A.; Brooks, D.; Burke, D. L.; Rosell, A. Carnero; Kind, M. Carrasco; Carretero, J.; Cunha, C. E.; Costa, L. N.  da; DePoy, D. L.; Desai, S.; Diehl, H. T.; Eifler, T. F.; Fernandez, E.; Fosalba, P.; Frieman, J.; García-Bellido, J.; Gerdes, D. W.; Gruen, D.; Gruendl, R. A.; Gschwend, J.; Gutierrez, G.; Honscheid, K.; James, D. J.; Kent, S.; Krause, E.; Kuehn, K.; Kuropatkin, N.; Li, T. S.; Maia, M. A.  G.; March, M.; Marshall, J. L.; Menanteau, F.; Miquel, R.; Ogando, R. L.  C.; Reil, K.; Roodman, A.; Rykoff, E. S.; Sanchez, E.; Scarpine, V.; Schindler, R.; Schubnell, M.; Sevilla-Noarbe, I.; Smith, M.; Smith, R. C.; Soares-Santos, M.; Sobreira, F.; Suchyta, E.; Swanson, M. E.  C.; Tarle, G.

doi:10.1088/1538-3873/aa6c55

Title: Astrometric calibration and performance of the Dark Energy Camera

Journal Article · Tue May 30 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/aa6c55· OSTI ID:1361381

Bernstein, G. M.; Armstrong, R.; Plazas, A. A.; Walker, A. R.; Abbott, T. M. C.; Allam, S.; Bechtol, K.; Benoit-Lévy, A.; Brooks, D.; Burke, D. L.; Rosell, A. Carnero; Kind, M. Carrasco; Carretero, J.; Cunha, C. E.; Costa, L. N. da; DePoy, D. L.; Desai, S.; Diehl, H. T.; Eifler, T. F.; Fernandez, E. more »

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 $>10^7$ 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 $$\ge20$$". 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-degree field drifts over months by up to $$\pm7$$ mmag, in a nearly-wavelength-independent low-order pattern. We find no fundamental barriers to pushing global photometric calibrations toward mmag accuracy.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States); Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)

Contributing Organization:: DES Collaboration

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; AC02-07CH11359; AC02-76SF00515; AST-1615555; SC0007901

OSTI ID:: 1361381

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1346375; OSTI ID: 1369280; OSTI ID: 1423239

Report Number(s):: arXiv:1703.01679; FERMILAB-PUB-17-057-AE; arXiv:1710.10943; FERMILAB-PUB-17-459-AE; KJ0402000; KJ0503000; ERKJ311; ERKJEPM

Journal Information:: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 129, Issue 977; ISSN 0004-6280

Publisher:: Astronomical Society of the PacificCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 39 works

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First Data Release of the All-sky NOAO Source Catalog Nidever, David L.; Dey, Arjun; Olsen, Knut The Astronomical Journal, Vol. 156, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aad68f	journal	August 2018
Astrometry and Occultation Predictions to Trans-Neptunian and Centaur Objects Observed within the Dark Energy Survey Banda-Huarca, M. V.; Camargo, J. I. B.; Desmars, J. The Astronomical Journal, Vol. 157, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aafb37	journal	February 2019
First Cosmology Results Using Type Ia Supernovae from the Dark Energy Survey: Photometric Pipeline and Light-curve Data Release Brout, D.; Sako, M.; Scolnic, D. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 874, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab06c1	journal	March 2019
LSST: From Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products Ivezić, Željko; Kahn, Steven M.; Tyson, J. Anthony The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 873, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab042c	journal	March 2019
The Dark Energy Survey: Data Release 1 Abbott, T. M. C.; Abdalla, F. B.; Allam, S. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 239, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/aae9f0	journal	November 2018
Dynamical Analysis of Three Distant Trans-Neptunian Objects with Similar Orbits Khain, T.; Becker, J. C.; Adams, F. C. The Astronomical Journal, Vol. 156, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aaeb2a	journal	November 2018
Overview of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys Dey, Arjun; Schlegel, David J.; Lang, Dustin The Astronomical Journal, Vol. 157, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ab089d	journal	April 2019
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Overview of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys Dey, Arjun; Schlegel, David J.; Lang, Dustin arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1804.08657	text	January 2018
Dynamical Analysis of Three Distant Trans-Neptunian Objects with Similar Orbits Khain, T.; Becker, J. C.; Adams, F. C. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1810.10084	text	January 2018
First Cosmology Results Using Type Ia Supernovae From the Dark Energy Survey: Photometric Pipeline and Light Curve Data Release Brout, D.; Sako, M.; Scolnic, D. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1811.02378	text	January 2018
Astrometry and Occultation predictions to Trans-Neptunian and Centaur Objects observed within the Dark Energy Survey Banda-Huarca, Martin; Camargo, Julio; Desmars, Josselin arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1811.10724	text	January 2018

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