Calibration for Astrophysics using an Artificial star with NIST-traceable Distribution of Luminous Energy (CANDLE) Instrument Development

Published

August 23, 2024

Author(s)

Joseph P. Rice, Brian Alberding, Susana Deustua, Thinh Bui, Eric Shirley, Keshet Shavit, Eliad Peretz, Daniel Kuesters, Greg Aldering, Dmitry Vorobiev, Jonathan Papa, Justin Albert, Ralph Bohlin, Benjamin Rose, Piotr Pachowicz, Peter Plavchan, Angella Tanner, John Mather, Jean Thomas Landry, Etienne Gauvin, Thomas Michaud=Bayens, Greg Kopp

Abstract

The CANDLE Engineering Demonstration Unit (EDU) was selected by the 2022 APRA program to develop and demonstrate that we can reach the flux accuracy and range required for an artificial star. A critical issue in producing accurate and reliable flux calibration is systematic effects; adding this EDU is on the path to provide an artificial star calibration payload outside Earth's atmosphere with SI-traceable calibration that enables accurate throughput characterization of astronomical and earth science observatories in space and on the ground. Such a payload could be carried independently on a dedicated platform such as an orbiting satellite, e.g. ORCAS, by a star shade at L2, or some other independent platform to enable accurate end-to-end throughput vs. wavelength calibration that can be measured repeatedly throughout the operational lifetime of an observatory. Once calibrated, the observatory is enabled to carry out astrophysical programs whose science objectives demand high accuracy and/or high precision observations. One specific and immediate application is establishing SI-traceable standard stars beyond the current limited set.

Proceedings Title

SPIE

Volume

13092

Conference Dates

June 16-21, 2024

Conference Location

Yokohama, JP

Conference Title

SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3020319

Local Download

Keywords

Calibration, Standard Stars, Flux, Spectral Irradiance, Cosmology, Satellite, Artificial Star

Citation

Rice, J. , Alberding, B. , Deustua, S. , Bui, T. , Shirley, E. , Shavit, K. , Peretz, E. , Kuesters, D. , Aldering, G. , Vorobiev, D. , Papa, J. , Albert, J. , Bohlin, R. , Rose, B. , Pachowicz, P. , Plavchan, P. , Tanner, A. , Mather, J. , Landry, J. , Gauvin, E. , Michaud=Bayens, T. and Kopp, G. (2024), Calibration for Astrophysics using an Artificial star with NIST-traceable Distribution of Luminous Energy (CANDLE) Instrument Development, SPIE, Yokohama, JP, [online], https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3020319, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=958127 (Accessed November 21, 2024)