Further calibration of the Swift ultraviolet/optical telescope

The Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) is one of three instruments onboard the Swift observatory. The photometric calibration has been published, and this paper follows up with details on other aspects of the calibration including a measurement of the point spread function with an assessment of th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 2010-08, Vol.406 (3), p.1687-1700
Main Authors: Breeveld, A. A., Curran, P. A., Hoversten, E. A., Koch, S., Landsman, W., Marshall, F. E., Page, M. J., Poole, T. S., Roming, P., Smith, P. J., Still, M., Yershov, V., Blustin, A. J., Brown, P. J., Gronwall, C., Holland, S. T., Kuin, N. P. M., McGowan, K., Rosen, S., Boyd, P., Broos, P., Carter, M., Chester, M. M., Hancock, B., Huckle, H., Immler, S., Ivanushkina, M., Kennedy, T., Mason, K. O., Morgan, A. N., Oates, S., De Pasquale, M., Schady, P., Siegel, M., Vanden Berk, D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
astrometry
Astronomy
Calibration
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
instrumentation: detectors
instrumentation: photometers
Telescopes
Ultraviolet astronomy
ultraviolet: general
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Summary:The Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) is one of three instruments onboard the Swift observatory. The photometric calibration has been published, and this paper follows up with details on other aspects of the calibration including a measurement of the point spread function with an assessment of the orbital variation and the effect on photometry. A correction for large-scale variations in sensitivity over the field of view is described, as well as a model of the coincidence loss which is used to assess the coincidence correction in extended regions. We have provided a correction for the detector distortion and measured the resulting internal astrometric accuracy of the UVOT, also giving the absolute accuracy with respect to the International Celestial Reference System. We have compiled statistics on the background count rates, and discuss the sources of the background, including instrumental scattered light. In each case, we describe any impact on UVOT measurements, whether any correction is applied in the standard pipeline data processing or whether further steps are recommended.
ISSN:0035-8711
1365-2966
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16832.x