+--------------------------------------------------------+ | STScI Analysis Newsletter (STAN) | Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) | September 2009 +--------------------------------------------------------+ CONTENTS: 1. Retrieving COS SMOV and ERO Data 2. CALCOS and the STScI Archive Pipeline 3. CALCOS Reference Files 4. Caveats when Analyzing COS Data +--------------------------------------------------------+ 1. Retrieving COS SMOV and ERO Data All COS Early-Release Observations (ERO) and Servicing Mission Observatory Verification (SMOV) calibration data are now available to the community. GO and GTO observations are expected to begin in mid September. COS is a new instrument, and its calibration files and software remain in a state of flux. To most easily retrieve and analyze COS data, we recommend the following: ERO Data All ERO data have been calibrated by the COS Instrument Development Team (IDT) and are available from this web site: http://archive.stsci.edu/hst/sm4earlypublic/ Be sure to check the README file, which gives information about how the data were calibrated. SMOV Data All COS calibration data obtained during SMOV are available from the MAST archive. (Of course, GO and GTO data may be retrieved only by their respective PIs.) Beware that the version of CALCOS currently installed in the STScI Archive Pipeline uses pre-flight software and calibration reference files (see below). If you would like to reduce COS data on your own, we suggest that you retrieve the README file from the above web site and run CALCOS using the IDT recommendations, including revised reference files. 2. CALCOS and the STScI Archive Pipeline The STScI Archive Pipeline currently employs pre-flight versions of both CALCOS (2.8c) and its associated calibration reference files. The resulting calibrated spectra are not suitable for scientific analysis. In particular, the extraction boxes used to construct _x1d spectral files may not include all of the flux for a particular target. During the period of calibration and testing since SM4, the COS team has developed new software and reference files that greatly improve the quality of the extracted spectra. Version 2.11b of CALCOS, together with revised reference files, will be installed in the Archive Pipeline on or about 14 September 2009. Once the new software is in place, it will be used for all COS data requests. We recommended that you request (or re-request) your data from MAST after the new software is installed. Users who would like to use a test version of CALCOS 2.11b before installation in the Archive pipeline are encouraged to contact the help desk. Check the COS web site or the COS Pipeline Release Notes website (http://www.stsci.edu/hst/cos/pipeline/CALCOSReleaseNotes/) for an announcement on the release of the new software in the pipeline. Over the next few months, the COS team will continue to improve the calibration software and reference files. Users who wish to be notified when new reference files become available can join the mailing list cos_reffiles_upd@stsci.edu. (Register by sending an e-mail to majordomo@stsci.edu with "subscribe cos_reffiles_upd" in the body of the message.) Major releases of CALCOS will be advertised via COS STANs and the COS Pipeline Release Notes webpages Version 2.11b of CALCOS will be included in the next release of STSDAS, currently scheduled for early November. 3. CALCOS Reference Files The following new reference files will be delivered with CALCOS 2.11b in mid-September or immediately afterwards: - NUV and FUV 1dx files, which define new extraction regions for each spectral stripe. - NUV and FUV wavelength dispersion and lamp template files. - NUV and FUV sensitivity files. The sensitivities are updated with on-orbit estimates for the PSA only. The G230L 3360A NUVB 2nd-order contamination region will be set so that the resultant fluxes are zero. Users who wish to examine that part of the spectrum must work with net counts. The FUV sensitivity assumes no screening of pulse heights (i.e., the valid range is 0-31, as in the current PHA file). - NUV flat field with an updated correction of unity in the wavecal region. 4. Caveats when Analyzing COS Data (http://www.stsci.edu/hst/cos/pipeline/AnalyzingCOSDataCALCOS2.11c) FUV Pulse-Height Thresholds FUV data taken in TIME-TAG mode include a pulse-height value for each photon event. Eventually, pulse-height thresholds will be applied to improve the quality of the data. At present, however, all pulse heights (0-31) are included in the data extraction. This may result in a higher (but still very low) detector background. It may also result in the appearance of several low-gain detector features on segment B. See Section 3.4.4 of the COS Data Handbook for more information on how to use pulse-height filtering in CALCOS, but be aware that adjusting pulse-height thresholds may cause other complications. Since all of the current calcos reference files have been generated using the full range of pulse heights, they may not be appropriate if you choose to apply a different set of thresholds. In particular, the sensitivity, background, and flat field are all dependent on the pulse-height thresholds chosen. Change in FUV Detector Gain Early FUV spectra showed a distinctive pair of emission and absorption features, dubbed the "divot and clod." The divot is a deficit of counts located ~ 4000-5000 pixels from the blue edge of the spectrum and the clod is a corresponding excess of counts located ~ 1000 pixels blueward of the divot. It turns out that the X coordinates of high-gain photon events falling on a particular region of the detector were being systematically mis-calculated, resulting in the counts' being shifted from one region of the detector to another. Lowering the detector gain eliminated these features. The gain was lowered on 12 August 2009. FUV spectra obtained before that date may show spurious features. FUV Flat Field Beware of fixed-pattern noise on the FUV detector. COS FUV spectra will not be properly flat fielded for some time (no on-orbit flat exists yet), so observers should be cautious not to over-interpret features in the data. Data obtained at multiple FP-POS offsets are less susceptible, but even for those spectra the fixed-pattern noise will be present, albeit at a reduced level. A similar warning applies to areas with QE grid shadows, but in those areas the data-quality flag will indicate the presence of a shadow. Change in Instrument Focus As part of the initial COS alignment and focus procedure, the NUV channel focus position was changed a number of times during SMOV. These changes were followed by an OTA secondary mirror adjustment on 20 July 2009. All NUV-channel data taken since that date can be considered in focus. Two FUV focus adjustments have been made since launch. The first, made on 26 July 2009, moved the M gratings slightly further from best focus than their initial launch positions. The second adjustment, on 28 August 2009, brought all the FUV gratings to their current best-focus positions. +----------------------------------------------------------+ | Visit the COS website for more information: | COS: http://www.stsci.edu/hst/cos | Need help? http://www.stsci.edu/hst/cos/help.html | or send your questions to the Help Desk: help@stsci.edu +----------------------------------------------------------+ | To subscribe or unsubscribe to this STAN, send a message | to majordomo@stsci.edu with a blank subject line and | the following in the body: [un]subscribe cos_news"> | This and previous COS STANs are archived at: | COS: http://www.stsci.edu/hst/cos/documents/newsletters +----------------------------------------------------------+ | The Space Telescope Science Institute is operated by the | Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, | Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. +----------------------------------------------------------+
