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| Paper: |
Mid-Infrared Calibration of a Dense Spatial Network of Stars for Accurate Absolute Spectrophotometry: a New Approach for a New Generation of Telescopes |
| Volume: |
364, The Future of Photometric, Spectrophotometric, and Polarimetric Standardization |
| Page: |
433 |
| Authors: |
Martin-Luis, F.; Kidger, M. |
| Abstract: |
The next frontier for calibration is the new generation of 8 and 10-m telescopes. Visible and near-infrared calibration for these telescopes have relatively simple solutions, but the mid-infrared is more complicated and arguably the most important range to calibrate given the paucity of good calibrators and the difficulties that the mid-infrared sky provides, even for a low water vapour site such as the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma where the column of water vapour is below 2-mm for a substantial fraction of the year. We report on our calibration programme, which is in the final stages of preparing a dense network of accurate northern-hemisphere standards for the 3.5–25 micron range for CanariCam, the mid-infrared instrument of the Spanish Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). Our goal is to provide approximately one star per ten degrees square north of declination −40°, with a goal of 2% error in the absolute photometry at the short wavelength end and 10% at 25 microns. We describe the selection, observation and modelling of these stars and the characteristics of our final sample of calibration sources. Nearly 1000 candidate stars were choosen from an initial sample of some 25,000 input stars selected from a variety of sources. Of these we have observations of more than 650 stars from which our final sample of calibrators will be taken. We describe the selection, observation and modelling of these stars and the characteristics of our final sample of calibration sources. |
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