Optimal resolutions for optical and NIR spectroscopy

摘要

We study the effects of atmospheric emission lines in the night sky on spectroscopic measurements in the 0.4-2.4 μmrange at resolutions 100≤R≤50000 to determine an optimal observing resolution. We build a model of the backgroundsky spectrum at various moon phases and calculate the fraction of pixels free of emission lines in 7 different band passeswhile varying the resolution. We then discuss the effect of the background emission on the signal-to-noise of constantflux targets to determine an optimal resolution at which to observe. Preliminary results show that the emission lines havelittle to no effect on the selection of resolution in the optical, but that in the wavelengths ranging from 1.0-2.4 μm theeffects of atmospheric emission line suggests observing at a resolution of R&2000 is recommended.© (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.