FLAMINGOS-I Baseline Calibrations

For all queue observations, a set of standard calibrations (the "baseline calibrations") will be taken by Gemini Staff to ensure the long-term utility of data in the archive. The baseline calibration set varies from instrument to instrument and from mode to mode.

Applicants should not include time for baseline calibrations in their proposals. If additional calibrations are deemed necessary by applicants, for example to achieve a precision beyond that achievable via the baseline set, then these must be included explicitly as part of the Phase I proposal and Phase II science program.

Baseline calibration data may be shared between programs and will be distributed to the users as part of their dataset. Any time used between the hours of nautical sunset and sunrise to obtain baseline calibrations will not be explicitly charged to the program but will be charged to the partner country whose NTAC recommended time (i.e. it is part of the time accounting used to balance partner usage). The time will be charged in proportion to the number of programs that receive the calibration data. Any time required for additional calibrations requested by the PI will be charged to that particular program.

Imaging Mode

Measurement Type	Notes
Bad pixel mask	A recently generated bpm, not necessarily derived each night.
Flat field	Set of Twilight Flatfields provided for each filter used during the night. S/N > 100 per pixel.
Dark	Set of 10 frames for each exposure time.
Wavelength calibration	Not applicable
Telluric standard star	Not applicable
Flux standard star	Minimum of 2 photometric standards per night per filter used. By default, stars are selected from the list of Persson et al. (1998).
Atmospheric extinction	Not included as part of the baseline calibration set.
Point Spread Function star	Not included as part of the baseline calibration set.
World coordinate system	Pixel scale, rotation, and pointing position recorded in the header.
Focal plane mask image	Not applicable
Special standards	No additional standard star observations are provided as part of Baseline calibration.

Spectroscopy Modes

Measurement Type	Notes
Bad pixel mask	A recently generated bpm, not necessarily derived each night.
Flat field	Set of dispersed GCAL flatfields for each grism+filter+slit or mask combination S/N >= 100 per pixel. Taken immediately prior to or following the observation. For longslit only, a twilight sky spectrum will be provided for each slit used in order to determine an illumination correction (slit function).
Dark	Set of 5 frames for each exposure time used.
Wavelength calibration	One GCAL Arc-lamp exposure provided for each grism+filter+slit or mask combination. Taken immediately prior to or following the observation.
Telluric standard star	One spectrum of a nearby A-type star will be provided per science spectrum. The telluric standard will be observed either before or after the science target. You may search for a spectroscopic standard from the Hipparcos catalog. Target S/N = 50 per spectral pixel (integrated along slit).
Flux standard star	One star of known magnitude and spectral type will be observed per grism+filter+slit combination per night. By default, star will be chosen from the list of Persson et al. (1998).
Atmospheric extinction	Not included as part of the baseline calibration set.
Point Spread Function star	Not included as part of the baseline calibration set.
World coordinate system	Pixel scale, rotation, pointing position, and slit rotation angle are recorded in header.
Focal plane mask image	A nondispersed image through MOS mask is provided as a check of slit locations.
Special standards	No additional standard star observations are provided as part of Baseline calibration.

Last update February 14, 2002, Michael Ledlow