Overview of the Advanced Camera for Surveys on-orbit performance

Holland C. Ford; Mark Clampin; George F. Hartig; Garth D. Illingworth; Marco Sirianni; Andre R. Martel; Gerhardt R. Meurer; William Jon McCann; Pamela C. Sullivan; Frank Bartko; Narcisco Benitez; John Blakeslee; Rychard Bouwens; Tom Broadhurst; Robert A. Brown; Christopher J. Burrows; Douglas Campbell; Edward S. Cheng; Paul D. Feldman; Marijn Franx; David A. Golimowski; Caryl Gronwall; Randy A. Kimble; John E. Krist; Michael P. Lesser; Dan Magee; George Miley; Marc Postman; Marc D. Rafal; Piero Rosati; William Brian Sparks; Hien D. Tran; Zlatan I. Tsvetanov; Paul Volmer; Richard L. White; Robert A. Woodruff

doi:10.1117/12.460040

24 February 2003 Overview of the Advanced Camera for Surveys on-orbit performance

Holland C. Ford, Mark Clampin, George F. Hartig, Garth D. Illingworth, Marco Sirianni, Andre R. Martel, Gerhardt R. Meurer, William Jon McCann, Pamela C. Sullivan, Frank Bartko, Narcisco Benitez, John Blakeslee, Rychard Bouwens, Tom Broadhurst, Robert A. Brown, Christopher J. Burrows, Douglas Campbell, Edward S. Cheng, Paul D. Feldman, Marijn Franx, David A. Golimowski, Caryl Gronwall, Randy A. Kimble, John E. Krist, Michael P. Lesser, Dan Magee, George Miley, Marc Postman, Marc D. Rafal, Piero Rosati, William Brian Sparks, Hien D. Tran, Zlatan I. Tsvetanov, Paul Volmer, Richard L. White, Robert A. Woodruff

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4854, Future EUV/UV and Visible Space Astrophysics Missions and Instrumentation; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.460040
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2002, Waikoloa, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

We present an overview of the ACS on-orbit performance based on the calibration observations taken during the first three months of ACS operations. The ACS meets or exceeds all of its important performance specifications. The WFC and HRC FWHM and 50% encircled energy diameters at 555 nm are 0.088" and 0.14", and 0.050" and 0.10". The average rms WFC and HRC read noises are 5.0 e^- and 4.7 e^-. The WFC and HRC average dark currents are ~ 7.5 and ~ 9.1 e^-/pixel/hour at their operating temperatures of - 76°C and - 80°C. The SBC + HST throughput is 0.0476 and 0.0292 through the F125LP and F150LP filters. The lower than expected SBC operating temperature of 15 to 27°C gives a dark current of 0.038 e^-/pix/hour. The SBC just misses its image specification with an observed 50% encircled energy diameter of 0.24" at 121.6 nm. The ACS HRC coronagraph provides a 6 to 16 direct reduction of a stellar PSF, and a ~1000 to ~9000 PSF-subtracted reduction, depending on the size of the coronagraphic spot and the wavelength. The ACS grism has a position dependent dispersion with an average value of 3.95 nm/pixel. The average resolution λ/Δλ for stellar sources is 65, 87, and 78 at wavelengths of 594 nm, 802 nm, and 978 nm.

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Holland C. Ford, Mark Clampin, George F. Hartig, Garth D. Illingworth, Marco Sirianni, Andre R. Martel, Gerhardt R. Meurer, William Jon McCann, Pamela C. Sullivan, Frank Bartko, Narcisco Benitez, John Blakeslee, Rychard Bouwens, Tom Broadhurst, Robert A. Brown, Christopher J. Burrows, Douglas Campbell, Edward S. Cheng, Paul D. Feldman, Marijn Franx, David A. Golimowski, Caryl Gronwall, Randy A. Kimble, John E. Krist, Michael P. Lesser, Dan Magee, George Miley, Marc Postman, Marc D. Rafal, Piero Rosati, William Brian Sparks, Hien D. Tran, Zlatan I. Tsvetanov, Paul Volmer, Richard L. White, and Robert A. Woodruff "Overview of the Advanced Camera for Surveys on-orbit performance", Proc. SPIE 4854, Future EUV/UV and Visible Space Astrophysics Missions and Instrumentation, (24 February 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.460040

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