Post-NCS Performance of the HST NICMOS

Schultz, A.; Sosey, M.; Mazzuca, Lisa M.; Bushouse, H.; Dickinson, Mark; Boeker, Torsten; Calzetti, Daniela; Arribas, S.; Bergeron, Louis; Freudling, W.; Holfeltz, S. T.; Malhotra, Sangeeta; Mobasher, Bahram; Noll, K. S.; Roye, E.; Xu, Chun

doi:10.1117/12.461243

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…This effect is not present in post-NCS observations and suggests that the pedestal effect is non-negligible in pre-NCS dithered polarimetry. It is well known that the NCS produces much more stable temperatures for the array (Schultz, Roye & Sosey 2003;Arribas et al 2005), which is why the pedestal effects are much less dramatic than when NICMOS was cooled with nitrogen ice. We also note that there are late variations from linear (∼ 10 seconds onward) in the photometric curves of growth.…”

Section: Cha-dc-f7mentioning

confidence: 99%

The NICMOS Polarimetric Calibration

Batcheldor

Robinson

Axon

et al. 2006

PUBL ASTRON SOC PAC

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The value of accurately knowing the absolute calibration of the polarizing elements in the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) becomes especially important when conducting studies which require measuring degrees of polarization of close to 1% in the near infrared. We present a comprehensive study of all previously observed polarimetric standards using the NIC2 camera on NICMOS. Considering both pre- and post-NICMOS Cooling System observations we find variations in the polarimetry consistent with the effects of sub-pixel mis-alignments and the point spread function. We also measure non-zero results from unpolarized standards indicating an instrumental polarization of p ~ 1.2%, theta ~ 88degrees. The lack of polarized and unpolarized standard stars with which to perform a comprehensive calibration study means we cannot be confident that the current calibration will be effective for a number of recent large NICMOS GO programs. Further observations of polarimetric standards are needed in order to fully characterize the behavior of NICMOS at around p=1%.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, PASP accepte

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Section: Cha-dc-f7mentioning

confidence: 99%

The NICMOS Polarimetric Calibration

Batcheldor

Robinson

Axon

et al. 2006

PUBL ASTRON SOC PAC

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“…We built the photometric spectral energy distribution (SED) of J0855−0714 by converting our photometry and the photometry available in the literature (see Section 1) into observed flux densities. We used the Vega flux densities of 1784.9 Jy (Schultz et al 2005) and 1048.801 Jy (Cohen et al 1992) at F110W and CH 4off, respectively. For the remaining filters we employed the flux densities given in Reach et al (2005) for Spitzer, Hewett et al (2006) for z, Y, J, K, and Jarrett et al (2011) for WISE.…”

Section: Temperature and Gravitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1) into observed flux densities. We used the Vega flux densities of 1784.9 Jy (Schultz et al 2005) and 1048.801 Jy (Cohen et al 1992) at F110W and CH 4 -off, respectively. For the remaining filters we employed the flux densities given in Reach et al (2005) for Spitzer, Hewett et al (2006) for z, Y, J, K, and Jarrett et al (2011) for WISE.…”

Section: Temperature and Gravitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Near-infrared photometry of WISE J085510.74–071442.5

Osorio

Lodieu

Béjar

et al. 2016

A&A

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Aims. We aim at obtaining near-infrared photometry and deriving the mass, age, temperature, and surface gravity of WISE J085510.74−071442.5 (J0855−0714), which is the coolest object beyond the solar system currently known. Methods. We used publicly available data from the archives of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to determine the emission of this source at 1.153 µm (F110W) and 1.575 µm (CH 4 -off). J0855−0714 was detected at both wavelengths with a signal-to-noise ratio of ≈10 (F110W) and ≈4 (CH 4 -off) at the peak of the corresponding point-spread-functions. Results. This is the first detection of J0855−0714 in the H-band wavelengths. We measured 26.31 ± 0.10 and 23.22 ± 0.35 mag in F110W and CH 4 -off (Vega system). J0855−0714 remains unresolved in the HST images that have a spatial resolution of 0.22 . Companions at separations of 0.5 AU (similar mass and brightness) and at ∼1 AU (≈1 mag fainter in the F110W filter) are discarded. By combining the new data with published photometry, including non-detections, we build the spectral energy distribution of J0855−0714 from 0.89 through 22.09 µm, and contrast it against current solar-metallicity models of planetary atmospheres. We determine that the best spectral fit yields a temperature of 225−250 K, a bolometric luminosity of log L/L = −8.57, and a high surface gravity of log g = 5.0 (cm s −2 ), which suggests an old age although a gravity this high is not fully compatible with evolutionary models. After comparing our data with the cooling theory for brown dwarfs and planets, we infer a mass in the interval 2−10 M Jup for ages of 1−12 Gyr and high atmospheric gravities of log g 3.5 (cm s −2 ). If it had the age of the Sun, J0855−0714 would be a ≈5-M Jup free-floating planetary-mass object. Conclusions. J0855−0714 meets the mass values previously determined for free-floating planetary-mass objects discovered in starforming regions and young stellar clusters. Based on extrapolations of the substellar mass functions of young clusters to the field, as many J0855−0714-like objects as M5-L2 stars may be expected to populate the solar neighborhood.

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“…The first measurement of IR polarization dates back to 1975 4 and since then there have been several ground and space based instruments covering different regions from ∼0.8 µm in near IR to few tens of µm in the far IR studying wide range of astronomical sources. Few well known near Infrared polarimeters are: SIRPOL at the 1.4 m IRSF, 5 Mimir at the 1.8 m Perkins telescope, 6 NICMOS at the 2.4 m HST, 7 MMTPOL at the 6.5 m MMT Observatory, 8 SOFI at the 3.58 m NTT telescope, La Silla Observatory, 9 POLICAN at the 2.1 m telescope of the Guillermo Haro Astrophysical Observatory (OAGH) located in Cananea, Sonora, Mexico, 10 TRISPEC as a visitor instrument at several facilities including UKIRT, UH, OAO, Subaru telescope, 11 SPHERE at the 8.2 m VLT, 12 HONIR at the 1.5-m Kanata telescope 13 etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

NICSPol: a near-infrared polarimeter for the 1.2-m telescope at Mount Abu Infrared Observatory

Aarthy

Rai

Ganesh

et al. 2019

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst.

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NICSPol is a near infrared imaging polarimeter developed for the Near Infrared Camera and Spectrograph (NICS), one of the back end instruments of the 1.2 m Cassegrain telescope at the Mount Abu Infrared Observatory (MIRO), India. The polarimeter consists of a rotating wire grid polarizer which is mounted between the telescope optics and NICS. The polarimetric observations are carried out by rotating the polarizer using a motorized mechanism to determine the Stokes parameters, which are then converted into the polarization fraction and polarization angle.Here we report the details of the instrument and the results of observations of IR polarimetric standards. A set of polarized and unpolarized standards were observed using NICSPol over J, H and Ks bands covering 0.8 to 2.5 µm. The observations of polarized standards using NICSPol show that, NICSPol can constrain polarization within ∼1% for sources brighter than ∼16 magnitude in JHKs bands. NICSPol is a general purpose instrument which could be used to study variety of astrophysical sources such as AGNs, Pulsars, XRBs, Supernovae, star forming regions etc. With few NIR polarimeters available world-wide so far, NICSPol would be the first imaging NIR polarimeter in India.

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Post-NCS Performance of the HST NICMOS

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

The NICMOS Polarimetric Calibration

The NICMOS Polarimetric Calibration

Near-infrared photometry of WISE J085510.74–071442.5

NICSPol: a near-infrared polarimeter for the 1.2-m telescope at Mount Abu Infrared Observatory

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