Warm Spitzer IRAC Photometry: dependencies on observing mode and exposure time

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Krick, Jessica E, Lowrance, Patrick J, Carey, Sean, Surace, Jason, Grillmair, Carl J, Laine, Seppo, Van Dyk, Schuyler D, Ingalls, James G, Ashby, Matthew L N, Willner, S P
• Format: Paper Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 10.11.2021
• Subjects: Arrays; Calibration; Exposure; Fluxes; Photometry; Physics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics; Pixels; User requirements
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2111.01307

We investigate differences in Spitzer/IRAC 3.6 and 4.5micron photometry that depend on observing strategy. Using archival calibration data we perform an in-depth examination of the measured flux densities ("fluxes") of ten calibration stars, observed with all the possible observing strategies. We then quantify differences in the measured fluxes as a function of 1) array mode (full or subarray), 2) exposure time, and 3) dithering versus staring observations. We find that the median fluxes measured for sources observed using the full array are 1.6% and 1% lower than those observed with the subarray at [3.6] and [4.5], respectively. Additionally, we found a dependence on the exposure time such that for [3.6] observations the long frame times are measured to be lower than the short frame times by a median value of 3.4% in full array and 2.9% in subarray. For [4.5] observations the longer frame times are 0.6% and 1.5% in full and subarray respectively. These very small variations will likely only affect science users who require high-precision photometry from multiple different observing modes. We find no statistically significant difference for fluxes obtained with dithered and staring-modes. When considering all stars in the sample, the fractional well depth of the pixel is correlated with the different observed fluxes. We speculate the cause to be a small non-linearity in the pixels at the lowest well depths where deviations from linearity were previously assumed to be negligible.