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Paper: Zero-Points of FOS Wavelength Scales
Volume: 172, Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems VIII
Page: 395
Authors: Rosa, Michael R.; Kerber, Florian
Abstract: We have investigated the internal zero-points of the HST's Faint object spectrograph (FOS) on-orbit wavelength calibration between 1990 (launch) and 1997 (de-commissioning). The analysis is based on cross-correlating about 1200 WAVECAL exposures for the high-resolution dispersers, using as templates those exposures which define the dispersion solutions currently in use by the FOS pipeline. FOS has two channels BLUE/RED using two independent Digicon detectors. For BLUE systematic shifts of the zero-points are present, which amount to a maximum offset of 7 pixels (1.75 diodes) over the entire period. The zero-points for RED modes present an apparently random distribution with a peak-to-peak range of 7 pixels. We discu ss the effect of the geomagnetic environment as a possible cause for the observed behaviour and describe the ongoing work to reduce the uncertainty in the wavelength scale.
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