Removing sky contributions from SCUBA data

Tim Jenness; John F. Lightfoot; Wayne S. Holland

doi:10.1117/12.317389

31 July 1998 Removing sky contributions from SCUBA data

Tim Jenness, John F. Lightfoot, Wayne S. Holland

Proceedings Volume 3357, Advanced Technology MMW, Radio, and Terahertz Telescopes; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317389
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 1998, Kona, HI, United States

Abstract

The Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) is a new continuum camera operating on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. It consists of two arrays of bolometric detectors; a 91 pixel 350/450 micron array and a 37 pixel 750/850 micron array. Both arrays can be used simultaneously and have a field-of-view of approximately 2.4 arcminutes in diameter on the sky. Ideally, performance should be limited solely by the photon noise from the sky background at all wavelengths of operation. However, observations at submillimeter wavelengths are hampered by 'sky-noise' which is caused by spatial and temporal fluctuations in the emissivity of the atmosphere above the telescope. These variations occur in atmospheric cells that are larger than the array diameter, and so it is expected that the resultant noise will be correlated across the array and, possibly, at different wavelengths. In this paper, we describe our initial investigations into the presence of sky-noise for all the SCUBA observing modes, and explain our current technique for removing it from the data.

Citation Download Citation

Tim Jenness, John F. Lightfoot, and Wayne S. Holland "Removing sky contributions from SCUBA data", Proc. SPIE 3357, Advanced Technology MMW, Radio, and Terahertz Telescopes, (31 July 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317389

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