Investigating the photometric performance and PSF-reconstruction capabilities of the InfraRed Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) for TMT
Abstract
The InfraRed Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is a first-light instrument for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) which will utilize a near infrared (0.84 - 2.4μm) integral field spectrograph (IFS) and imager operating at (or near) the diffraction limit afforded by the Narrow-Field InfraRed Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS). The imager will operate at a 4 milliarcsecond (mas) plate scale over a 34" x 34" field of view. The IFS will consist of two spatial sampling methods: a slicer that samples at plate scales of 25 and 50 mas, and lenslet array at 4 and 9 mas scales. IRIS coupled with NFIRAOS will offer new scientific capabilities to astronomers in near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy. In order to properly assess the photometric precision and accuracy, we simulate IRIS data sets with Point Spread Function (PSF) images provided by NFRIAOS in varying performances and field locations across the imager and IFS. We analyze a variety of science cases with single source, binary source, and crowded fields using both PSF-fitting algorithm Starfinder and aperture photometry. Additionally, we investigate the current PSF-reconstruction (PSF-R) algorithms by comparing the true simulated PSF photometry results with that of predicted reconstructed PSFs. We report the predicted IRIS photometric performance and capabilities and discuss the current metrics for the quality of PSF-reconstruction needed for TMT and IRIS.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #233
- Pub Date:
- January 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AAS...23343703R