Flat-fielding strategy for the JWST/NIRSpec multi-object spectrograph
Abstract
The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) onboard the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be the first space-borne Multi-Object Spectrograph (MOS), comprising a quarter of a million individually addressable microshutters to allow simultaneous observation of ∼100 targets. We present the strategy for flat-fielding the NIRSpec MOS, correcting for the combined effects of the telescope and instrument throughput as well as the detector response. With a highly configurable shutter array, a novel approach is required to ensure that flat- field reference observations do not significantly impact telescope efficiency. We envisage a two-step strategy: 1) Creation of a three-dimensional master flat-field reference (two spatial dimensions, one wavelength) from a small set of well-designed calibration data; 2) Correction of any data frame using a two-dimensional flat-field generated on-the-fly, for that specific MOS configuration, from the master.
- Publication:
-
Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave
- Pub Date:
- July 2016
- DOI:
- 10.1117/12.2232150
- Bibcode:
- 2016SPIE.9904E..46R