The Pan-STARRS1 Photometric System

TL;DR

This paper details the calibration and definition of the Pan-STARRS1 photometric system, establishing a reference framework based on HST standards for multi-epoch sky observations.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed determination of the Pan-STARRS photometric system, including passbands, calibration methods, and transformations to other systems.

Findings

Defined the Pan-STARRS magnitude system.

Measured system passbands and sensitivities.

Provided transformations to other photometric systems.

Abstract

The Pan-STARRS1 survey is collecting multi-epoch, multi-color observations of the sky north of declination -30 deg to unprecedented depths. These data are being photometrically and astrometrically calibrated and will serve as a reference for many other purposes. In this paper we present our determination of the Pan-STARRS photometric system: gp1, rp1, ip1, zp1, yp1, and wp1. The Pan-STARRS photometric system is fundamentally based on the HST Calspec spectrophotometric observations, which in turn are fundamentally based on models of white dwarf atmospheres. We define the Pan-STARRS magnitude system, and describe in detail our measurement of the system passbands, including both the instrumental sensitivity and atmospheric transmission functions. Byproducts, including transformations to other photometric systems, galactic extinction, and stellar locus are also provided. We close with a discussion of remaining systematic errors.