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10.2.1 Determination of Echelle-Order Locations

The key step in the extraction operation is the determination of the centroid of each echelle order to subpixel accuracy. In principle, the global shifting operation of ORDERG, the results of which are incorporated into the high-dispersion SI, accomplishes this same function, but this routine does not always provide the shifting accuracy needed (e.g., for images having weak continua and for extended sources). The input for this refined centroid operation is provided by the high-dispersion SI and SF, the high-dispersion noise model and a set of fiducial line positions for each order which are given in Table 10.1.

The centroid order positions in Table 10.1 were determined empirically for a collection of well-exposed images for each camera. In each case the separations of the initial determinations were compared with echelle grating theory (i.e., they should vary as 1/mech2). The final positions show smooth undulating departures from this distribution amounting to a few tenths of a pixel in most cases.


 
 
Table 10.1:  Fiducial Line Positions for the Echelle Orders
Order LWP LWR SWP Order LWP LWR SWP
No. Line Line Line No. Line Line Line
127 131.04 119.56   96 352.28 343.82 325.32
126 136.34 127.23   95 361.82 353.34 334.43
125 141.95 133.99 128.39 94 371.56 363.11 343.73
124 147.41 139.70 132.99 93 381.50 373.01 353.24
123 153.21 144.50 137.76 92 391.68 383.19 362.95
122 158.98 150.55 142.70 91 402.06 393.50 372.88
121 164.98 156.16 147.82 90 412.71 404.20 383.02
120 171.17 162.81 153.12 89 423.60 415.06 393.40
119 177.12 168.67 158.92 88 434.78 426.14 404.01
118 183.38 175.00 164.80 87 446.18 437.41 414.86
117 189.77 181.49 170.78 86 457.78 449.12 425.96
116 196.22 187.47 176.85 85 469.68 461.04 437.32
115 202.81 194.43 183.02 84 481.90 473.26 448.95
114 209.49 200.80 189.30 83 494.42 485.74 460.85
113 216.16 207.60 195.69 82 507.20 498.52 473.04
112 223.02 214.35 202.20 81 520.30 511.59 485.53
111 229.94 221.02 208.82 80 533.71 525.15 498.32
110 236.97 228.38 215.57 79 547.48 538.83 511.43
109 244.15 235.83 222.45 78 561.57 553.07 524.87
108 251.49 243.17 229.45 77 576.02 567.50 538.65
107 259.02 250.71 236.60 76 590.80 582.49 552.79
106 266.71 258.43 243.88 75 606.01 597.78 567.30
105 274.56 266.13 251.31 74 621.65 613.48 582.19
104 282.57 274.20 258.88 73 637.76 629.57 597.47
103 290.70 282.15 266.60 72 654.42 646.08 613.18
102 298.98 290.53 274.49 71 671.34 662.99 629.31
101 307.43 299.04 282.53 70 688.88 680.35 645.89
100 316.02 307.41 290.74 69 706.53 697.89 662.94
99 324.81 316.31 299.12 68   715.36 680.48
98 333.81 325.30 307.67 67   733.63 698.53
97 342.96 334.44 316.40 66     717.11

For each of the echelle orders, fluxes are extracted from a cut in the spatial direction of the high-dispersion SI, summing the fluxes of all ``good'' (i.e., nonflagged) pixels in a swath between sample positions 150 and 450. The summed fluxes for each spatial line are normalized to a common number of contributing pixels to account for the exclusion of flagged pixels. Next, an rms scatter is computed after excluding points in the spatial profile with significant flux above an initial rms value calculated by including all profile points. A local background is also fit through the low-flux points and subtracted from the profile array. A gaussian model is then cross-correlated through the net-flux profile if there are at least two points with fluxes above the rms value. A default value (i.e., the appropriate fiducial value from Table 10.1) is assigned for the order's centroid position according to any of the following conditions:

The shift of the order centroid from the initial assumed value is applied to the end points of the extraction slit. The centroid of each echelle order is found independently with the above steps, effectively centering the boxcar slit on each order.


next up previous contents
Next: 10.2.2 Description of Spectral Up: 10.2 Spectral Flux Extraction Previous: 10.2 Spectral Flux Extraction
Karen Levay
12/4/1997