W. Kausch

Molecfit: A general tool for telluric absorption correction I. Method and application to ESO instruments ?;??

Context. The interaction of the light from astronomical objects with the constituents of the Earth’s atmosphere leads to the formation of telluric absorption lines in ground-based collected spectra. Correcting for these lines, mostly a ecting the red and infrared region of the spectrum, usually relies on observations of specific stars obtained close in time and airmass to the science targets, therefore using precious observing time. Aims. We present molecfit, a tool to correct for telluric absorption lines based on synthetic modelling of the Earth’s atmospheric transmission. Molecfit is versatile and can be used with data obtained with various ground-based telescopes and instruments. Methods. Molecfit combines a publicly available radiative transfer code, a molecular line database, atmospheric profiles, and various kernels to model the instrument line spread function. The atmospheric profiles are created by merging a standard atmospheric profile representative of a given observatory’s climate, of local meteorological data, and of dynamically retrieved altitude profiles for temperature, pressure, and humidity. We discuss the various ingredients of the method, its applicability, and its limitations. We also show examples of telluric line correction on spectra obtained with a suite of ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) instruments. Results. Compared to previous similar tools, molecfit takes the best results for temperature, pressure, and humidity in the atmosphere above the observatory into account. As a result, the standard deviation of the residuals after correction of unsaturated telluric lines is frequently better than 2% of the continuum. Conclusions. Molecfit is able to accurately model and correct for telluric lines over a broad range of wavelengths and spectral resolutions. The accuracy reached is comparable to or better than the typical accuracy achieved using a telluric standard star observation. The availability of such a general tool for telluric absorption correction may improve future observational and analysing strategies, as well as empower users of archival data.

An atmospheric radiation model for Cerro Paranal - I. The optical spectral range

Aims. The Earth’s atmosphere affects ground-based astronomical observations. Scattering , absorption, and radiation processes deteriorate the signal-to-noise ratio of the data received. For scheduling astronomical observations it is, therefore, im portant to accurately estimate the wavelength-dependent effect of the Earth’s atmosphere on the observed flux. Methods. In order to increase the accuracy of the exposure time calcul ator of the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Larg e Telescope (VLT) at Cerro Paranal, an atmospheric model was developed as part of the Austrian ESO In-Kind contribution. It includes all relevant components, such as scattered moonlight, scat tered starlight, zodiacal light, atmospheric thermal radi ation and absorption, and non-thermal airglow emission. This paper focuses on atmospheric scattering processes that mostly affect the blue ( 0.55� m) wavelength regime. While the former is mainly investigated by means of radiative transfe r models, the intensity and variability of the latter is stud ied with a sample of 1186 VLT FORS 1 spectra. Results. For a set of parameters such as the object altitude angle, Moon-object angular distance, ecliptic latitude, bimonthly p eriod, and solar radio flux, our model predicts atmospheric radiati on and transmission at a requested resolution. A comparison of our model with the FORS 1 spectra and photometric data for the night-sky brightness from the literature, suggest a model accuracy o f about 20%. This is a significant improvement with respect to existing pr edictive atmospheric models for astronomical exposure time calculators.

Molecfit: A general tool for telluric absorption correction. . II. Quantitative evaluation on ESO-VLT/X-Shooterspectra

Context. Absorption by molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere strongly affects ground-based astronomical observations. The resulting absorption line strength and shape depend on the highly variable physical state of the atmosphere, i.e. pressure, temperature, and mixing ratio of the different molecules involved. Usually, supplementary observations of so-called telluric standard stars (TSS) are needed to correct for this effect, which is expensive in terms of telescope time. We have developed the software package molecfit to provide synthetic transmission spectra based on parameters obtained by fitting narrow ranges of the observed spectra of scientific objects. These spectra are calculated by means of the radiative transfer code LBLRTM and an atmospheric model. In this way, the telluric absorption correction for suitable objects can be performed without any additional calibration observations of TSS. Aims. We evaluate the quality of the telluric absorption correction using molecfit with a set of archival ESO-VLT/X-Shooter visible and near-infrared spectra. Methods. Thanks to the wavelength coverage from the U to the K band, X-Shooter is well suited to investigate the quality of the telluric absorption correction with respect to the observing conditions, the instrumental set-up, input parameters of the code, the signal-to-noise of the input spectrum, and the atmospheric profiles. These investigations are based on two figures of merit, Ioff and Ires, that describe the systematic offsets and the remaining small-scale residuals of the corrections. We also compare the quality of the telluric absorption correction achieved with molecfit to the classical method based on a telluric standard star. Results. The evaluation of the telluric correction with molecfit shows a convincing removal of atmospheric absorption features. The comparison with the classical method reveals that molecfit performs better because it is not prone to the bad continuum reconstruction, noise, and intrinsic spectral features introduced by the telluric standard star. Conclusions. Fitted synthetic transmission spectra are an excellent alternative to the correction based on telluric standard stars. Moreover, molecfit offers wide flexibility for adaption to various instruments and observing sites.

An advanced scattered moonlight model for Cerro Paranal

The largest natural source of light at night is the Moon, and it is the major contributor to the astronomical sky background. Being able to accurately predict the sky background, including scattered moonlight is important for scheduling astronomical observations. We have developed an improved scattered moonlight model, in which the components are computed with a better physical understanding as opposed to the simple empirical fit in the frequently used photometric model of Krisciunas & Schaefer (1991, PASP, 103, 1033). Our spectroscopic model can better trace the spectral trends of scattered moonlight for any position of the Moon and target observation. This is the first scattered moonlight model that we know of which is this physical and versatile. We have incorporated an observed solar spectrum, accurate lunar albedo fit, and elaborate scattering and absorption calculations that include scattering off of molecules and aerosols. It was designed for Cerro Paranal, but can be modified for any location with known atmospheric properties. Throughout the optical range, the uncertainty is less than 20%. This advanced scattered moonlight model can predict the amount of scattered moonlight for any given geometry of the Moon and target, and lunar phase for the entire optical spectrum.

Skycorr: A general tool for spectroscopic sky subtraction

Context. Airglow emission lines, which dominate the optical-to-near-infrared sky radiation, show strong, line-dependent variability on time scales from minutes to decades. Therefore, the subtraction of the sky background in the affected wavelength regime becomes a problem if plain-sky spectra have to be taken at a different time from the astronomical data. Aims. A solution of this problem is the physically motivated scaling of the airglow lines in the plain-sky data to fit the sky lines in the object spectrum. We have developed a corresponding instrument-independent approach based on one-dimensional spectra. Methods. Our code skycorr separates sky lines and sky/object continuum by an iterative approach involving a line finder and airglow line data. The sky lines, which mainly belong to OH and O2 bands, are grouped according to their expected variability. The line groups in the sky data are then scaled to fit the sky in the science data. Required pixel-specific weights for overlapping groups are taken from a comprehensive airglow model. Deviations in the wavelength calibration are corrected for by fitting Chebyshev polynomials and rebinning via asymmetric damped sinc kernels. The scaled sky lines and the sky continuum are subtracted separately. Results. ESO-VLT X-shooter data covering 2.5 h with a good time resolution were selected to illustrate the performance. Data taken six nights and about one year before were also used as reference sky data. The variation of the sky-subtraction quality as a function of time difference between the object and sky data depends on changes in the airglow intensity, atmospheric transparency, and instrument calibration. Except for short time intervals of a few minutes, the sky line residuals were between 2.1 and 5.5 times weaker than for sky subtraction without fitting. Additional tests showed that skycorr performs consistently better than the method of Davies (2007, MNRAS, 375, 1099) developed for ESO-VLT SINFONI data.

MICADO: first light imager for the E-ELT

MICADO will equip the E-ELT with a first light capability for diffraction limited imaging at near-infrared wavelengths. The instrument’s observing modes focus on various flavours of imaging, including astrometric, high contrast, and time resolved. There is also a single object spectroscopic mode optimised for wavelength coverage at moderately high resolution. This contribution provides an overview of the key functionality of the instrument, outlining the scientific rationale for its observing modes. The interface between MICADO and the adaptive optics system MAORY that feeds it is summarised. The design of the instrument is discussed, focusing on the optics and mechanisms inside the cryostat, together with a brief overview of the other key sub-systems.MICADO will be the first-light wide-field imager for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) and will provide difiraction limited imaging (7mas at 1.2mm) over a ~53 arcsecond field of view. In order to support various consortium activities we have developed a first version of SimCADO: an instrument simulator for MICADO. SimCADO uses the results of the detailed simulation efforts conducted for each of the separate consortium-internal work packages in order to generate a model of the optical path from source to detector readout. SimCADO is thus a tool to provide scientific context to both the science and instrument development teams who are ultimately responsible for the final design and future capabilities of the MICADO instrument. Here we present an overview of the inner workings of SimCADO and outline our plan for its further development.

J – K DENIS photometry of a VLTI-selected sample of bright southern stars

We present a photometric survey of bright southern stars carried out using the DENIS instrument equipped with attenuating filters. The observations were carried out not using the survey mode of DENIS, but with individual target pointings. This project was stimulated by the need to obtain near-infrared photometry of stars to be used in early commissioning observations of the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, and in particular to establish a network of bright calibrator sources. We stress that near-infrared photometry is peculiarly lacking for many bright stars. These stars are saturated in 2MASS as well as in regular DENIS observations. The only other observations available for bright infrared stars are those of the Two Micron Sky Survey dating from over thirty years ago. These were restricted to declinations above ?-30°, and thus cover only about half of the sky accessible from the VLTI site. We note that the final 2MASS data release includes photometry of bright stars, obtained by means of point-spread function fitting. However, this method only achieves about 30% accuracy, which is not sufficient for most applications. In this work, we present photometry for over 600 stars, each with at least one and up to eight measurements, in the J and K filters. Typical accuracy is at the level of 0\fm05 and 0\fm04 in the J and K_s bands, respectively. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla. Tables 1 and 2 are only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/413/1037

Carbonic acid revisited: Vibrational spectra, energetics and the possibility of detecting an elusive molecule

We calculate harmonic frequencies of the three most abundant carbonic acid conformers. For this, different model chemistries are investigated with respect to their benefits and shortcomings. Based on these results we use perturbation theory to calculate anharmonic corrections at the {\omega}B97XD/aug-cc-pVXZ, X=D,T,Q, level of theory and compare them with recent experimental data and theoretical predictions. A discrete variable representation method is used to predict the large anharmonic contributions to the frequencies of the stretching vibrations in the hydrogen bonds in the carbonic acid dimer. Moreover, we re-investigate the energetics of the formation of the carbonic acid dimer from its constituents water and carbon dioxide using a high-level extrapolation method. We find that the {\omega}B97XD functional performs well in estimating the fundamental frequencies of the carbonic acid conformers. Concerning the reaction energetics, the accuracy of {\omega}B97XD is even comparable to the high-level extrapolation method. We discuss possibilities to detect carbonic acid in various natural environments such as Earths and Martian atmospheres.

Comparison of VLT/X-shooter OH and O2 rotational temperatures with consideration of TIMED/SABER emission and temperature profiles

Abstract. Rotational temperatures Trot derived from lines of the same OH band are an important method to study the dynamics and long-term trends in the mesopause region near 87 km. To measure realistic temperatures, the rotational level populations have to be in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). However, this might not be fulfilled, especially at high emission altitudes. In order to quantify possible non-LTE contributions to the OH Trot as a function of the upper vibrational level v′, we studied a sample of 343 echelle spectra taken with the X-shooter spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope at Cerro Paranal in Chile. These data allowed us to analyse 25 OH bands in each spectrum. Moreover, we could measure lines of O2b(0-1), which peaks at about 94 to 95 km, and O2a(0-0) with an emission peak at about 90 km. The latter altitude is reached in the second half of the night after a rise of several km because of the decay of a daytime population of excited O2. Since the radiative lifetimes for the upper levels of the two O2 bands are relatively long, the derived Trot are not significantly affected by non-LTE contributions. These bands are well suited for a comparison with OH if the differences in the emission profiles are corrected. For different sample averages, we made these corrections by using OH emission, O2a(0-0) emission, and CO2-based temperature profile data from the multi-channel radiometer SABER on the TIMED satellite. The procedure relies on differences of profile-weighted SABER temperatures. For an O2a(0-0)-based reference profile at 90 km, we found a good agreement of the O2 with the SABER-related temperatures, whereas the OH temperatures, especially for the high and even v′, showed significant excesses with a maximum of more than 10 K for v′ = 8. The exact value depends on the selected lines and molecular parameters. We could also find a nocturnal trend towards higher non-LTE effects, particularly for high v′. The amplitude of these variations can be about 2 K or less, which tends to be significantly smaller than the total amount of the non-LTE contributions. The variations revealed may be important for dynamical studies based on Trot derived from OH bands with high v′.

ARCRAIDER II: Arc search in a sample of non-Abell clusters ?

Aims. We present a search for gravitational arcs in a unique sample of X-ray luminous, medium redshift clusters of galaxies. Methods. The sample of clusters is called ARCRAIDER, is based on the ROSAT Bright Survey (RBS) and fulfils the following criteria: (a) X-ray luminosity ≥0.5 × 10 45 erg/s (0.5–2 keV band), (b) redshift range 0.1 ≤ z ≤ 0.52, (c) classified as clusters in the RBS, (d) not a member of the Abell catalogue and, finally, (e) visible from the ESO sites La Silla/Paranal (declination δ ≤ 20 ◦ ). Results. In total we found more than 35 (giant) arc/arclet candidates, including a possible radial arc, one galaxy-galaxy lensing event and a possible quasar triple image in 14 of the 21 clusters of galaxies. Hence 66% of the sample members are possible lenses.