Photometric flats: an essential ingredient for photometry with wide field imagers

摘要

We discuss the challenges to photometry introduced by internal redistribution of light in wide-field imaging cameras with focal-reducers. We have developed a simple least-squares procedure which can be used to determine the zero-point variations across the field. The method uses three orthogonally offseted images of a reasonably dense stellar field, plus an image containing at least three standard stars scattered across the field. The method, which does not require rotating the instrument, have been applied to correct data from the Wide Field Imager at La Silla. It has been shown to reduce a 12% center-to-edge gradient down to a ～2% rms variation accross the field. A new method which can be used with data taken during non-photometric nights is also presented.