Related papers: Optimal stellar photometry for multi-conjugate ada…

The Gemini Multi-conjugate Adaptive Optics System - GeMS, a facility instrument mounted on the Gemini South telescope, delivers a uniform, near diffraction limited images at near infrared wavelengths (0.95 microns- 2.5 microns) over a field…

We have developed photometric techniques that can be applied to images with highly-variable backgrounds, as well as to slightly-extended objects (object size comparable to or smaller than PSF size). We have shown that ordinary stellar…

Deep observations of the Universe, usually as a part of sky surveys, are one of the symbols of the modern astronomy because they can allow big collaborations, exploiting multiple facilities and shared knowledge. The new generation of…

Precise photometric and astrometric measurements on astronomical images require an accurate knowledge of the Point Spread Function (PSF). When the PSF cannot be modelled directly from the image, PSF-reconstruction techniques become the only…

Several astronomical surveys aimed at the investigation of the extragalactic components were carried out in order to map systematically the universe and its constituents. An excellent level of detail is needed, and it is possible only using…

The Gemini Observatory is planning to implement a Multi Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) System as a facility instrument for the Gemini-South telescope. The system will include 5 Laser Guide Stars, 3 Natural Guide Stars, and 3 Deformable…

The future generation of telescopes will be equipped with multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) systems in order to obtain high angular resolution over large fields of view. MCAO comes in two flavors: star- and layer-oriented. Existing…

High-precision photometric standard stars play a key role in enabling accurate photometric calibration and advancing various fields of astronomy. However, due to limitations in calibration methods and the limited availability and underuse…

Modern Giant Segmented Mirror Telescopes (GSMTs) like the Extremely Large Telescope, which is currently under construction, depend heavily on Adaptive Optics (AO) systems to correct for atmospheric distortions. However, a residual blur…

First multi-conjugate adaptive-optical (MCAO) systems are currently being installed on solar telescopes. The aim of these systems is to increase the corrected field-of-view with respect to conventional adaptive optics. However, this first…

High-precision astrometry requires accurate point-spread function modeling and accurate geometric-distortion corrections. This paper demonstrates that it is possible to achieve both requirements with data collected at the high acuity…

Community access to deep (i ~ 25), highly-multiplexed optical and near-infrared multi-object spectroscopy (MOS) on 8-40m telescopes would greatly improve measurements of cosmological parameters from LSST. The largest gain would come from…

Astrometry was not a science case of the Gemini Multiconjugate adaptive optics System (GeMS) at its design stage. However, since GeMS has been in regular science operation with the Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI), their…

We present the photometric calibration of the HST Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). We give here an overview of the performance and calibration of the 2 CCD cameras, the Wide Field Channel (WFC) and the High Resolution Channel (HRC), and a…

In preparation for James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a set of cross calibration programs with HST and Spitzer for suitable primary photometric standards and astrometric fields were developed. NICMOS/HST and IRAC/Spitzer photometry…

This article reports on the results of simulations conducted to assess the performance of a modal Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) system on a 10m telescope with one Deformable Mirror (DM) conjugated to the telescope pupil and a…

Transforming the instrumental photometry of ground-based telescopes into a calibrated physical flux in a well-defined passband is a major challenge in astronomy. Along with the intrinsic instrumental difference between telescopes sharing…

The first step toward doing high-precision astrometry is the measurement of individual stars in individual images, a step that is fraught with dangers when the images are undersampled. The key to avoiding systematic positional error in…

Astrometry is one of the oldest branches of astronomy which measures the position, the proper motion and parallax of celestial objects. Following the Hipparcos and Gaia missions that have measured several billions of them using global…

We investigate the limits of ground-based astrometry with adaptive optics using the core of the Galactic globular cluster M5. Adaptive optics systems provide near diffraction-limit imaging with the world's largest telescopes. The…