Long-term performance of the VISIR/VLT instrument before the upgrade

Danuta Dobrzycka; Yazan Momany; Lars Lundin; Ralf Siebenmorgen; Hans U. Käufl; Alain Smette; Florian Kerber; Mario Van Den Ancker

doi:10.1117/12.925348

13 September 2012 Long-term performance of the VISIR/VLT instrument before the upgrade

Danuta Dobrzycka, Yazan Momany, Lars Lundin, Ralf Siebenmorgen, Hans U. Käufl, Alain Smette, Florian Kerber, Mario Van Den Ancker

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8448, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems IV; 84481P (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.925348
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

The ESO's VLT Spectrometer and Imager for the Mid-Infrared (VISIR) has been in operation at the Paranal Observatory since 2005. It is equipped with two DRS (formerly Boeing) 256 × 256 BIB arrays. The project to replace detectors into new Raytheon, 1k × 1k AQUARIUS devices as well as to modify observing modes, software, etc. is underway. The VISIR upgrade creates a well defined break point in the instruments' characteristics. For nearly 7 years of the VISIR operations we have been collecting and processing calibration data, in particular observations of the imaging and spectroscopic standard stars, within a regular data flow operation scheme. The derived quality control parameters have been systematically written into a database, which allows the analysis of their temporal behavior. We present an overview of the long term variations of the VISIR quality control parameters: sensitivity, conversion factor and mean background level estimations. The results will be later used to compare performance of VISIR before and after the upgrade.

Citation Download Citation

Danuta Dobrzycka, Yazan Momany, Lars Lundin, Ralf Siebenmorgen, Hans U. Käufl, Alain Smette, Florian Kerber, and Mario Van Den Ancker "Long-term performance of the VISIR/VLT instrument before the upgrade", Proc. SPIE 8448, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems IV, 84481P (13 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.925348

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