The IRAC point response function in the warm Spitzer mission

Joseph L. Hora; Massimo Marengo; Rebecca Park; Denise Wood; William F. Hoffmann; Patrick J. Lowrance; Sean J. Carey; Jason A. Surace; Jessica E. Krick; William J. Glaccum; James G. Ingalls; Seppo Laine; Giovanni G. Fazio; Matthew L. N. Ashby; Zhong Wang

doi:10.1117/12.926894

21 September 2012 The IRAC point response function in the warm Spitzer mission

Joseph L. Hora, Massimo Marengo, Rebecca Park, Denise Wood, William F. Hoffmann, Patrick J. Lowrance, Sean J. Carey, Jason A. Surace, Jessica E. Krick, William J. Glaccum, James G. Ingalls, Seppo Laine, Giovanni G. Fazio, Matthew L. N. Ashby, Zhong Wang

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8442, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave; 844239 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926894
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

The Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) is now the only science instrument in operation on the Spitzer Space Telescope. The 3.6 and 4.5 µm channels are temperature-stabilized at ~28.7K, and the sensitivity of IRAC is nearly identical to what it was in the cryogenic mission. The instrument point response function (PRF) is a set of values from which one can determine the point spread function (PSF) for a source at any position in the field, and is dependent on the optical characteristics of the telescope and instrument as well as the detector sampling and pixel response. These data are necessary when performing PSF-fitting photometry of sources, for deconvolving an IRAC image, subtracting out a bright source in a field, or for estimating the flux of a source that saturates the detector. Since the telescope and instrument are operating at a higher temperature in the post-cryogenic mission, we re-derive the PRFs for IRAC from measurements obtained after the warm mission temperature set point and detector biases were finalized and compare them to the 3.6 and 4.5 µm PRFs determined during the cryogenic mission to assess any changes.

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Joseph L. Hora, Massimo Marengo, Rebecca Park, Denise Wood, William F. Hoffmann, Patrick J. Lowrance, Sean J. Carey, Jason A. Surace, Jessica E. Krick, William J. Glaccum, James G. Ingalls, Seppo Laine, Giovanni G. Fazio, Matthew L. N. Ashby, and Zhong Wang "The IRAC point response function in the warm Spitzer mission", Proc. SPIE 8442, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 844239 (21 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926894

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