Photometric calibrations and characterization of the 4K$\times$4K CCD Imager, the first-light axial port instrument for the 3.6m DOT

TL;DR

This paper presents the detailed calibration, characterization, and long-term stability analysis of the 4K×4K CCD Imager on the 3.6m DOT, including measurements of photometric parameters, sky brightness, and extinction coefficients.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive calibration and characterization of the 4K×4K CCD Imager, including stability analysis over five years and comparison with theoretical expectations.

Findings

Measured gain and readout noise match theoretical values.

Color coefficients and zero-points are stable over time.

Sky brightness and extinction coefficients are consistent with other observatories.

Abstract

In the present work, recent characterization results of the 4K$\times$4K CCD Imager (a first light instrument of the 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope; DOT) and photometric calibrations are discussed, along with measurements of the extinction coefficients and sky brightness values at the location of the 3.6m DOT site based on the imaging data taken between 2016 and 2021. For the 4K$\times$4K CCD Imager, all given combinations of gains (1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 e$^-$/ADU) and readout noise values for the three readout speeds (100 kHz, 500 kHz, and 1 MHz) are verified using the sky flats and bias frames taken during early 2021; measured values resemble well with the theoretical ones. Using color-color and color-magnitude transformation equations, color coefficients ($\alpha$) and zero-points ($\beta$) are determined to constrain and examine their long-term consistencies and any possible evolution based on $UBVRI$ observations of several Landolt standard fields observed during 2016-2021. Our present analysis exhibits consistency among estimated $\alpha$ values within the 1$\sigma$ and does not show any noticeable trend with time. We also found that the photometric errors and limiting magnitudes computed using the CCD Imager data follow the simulated ones published earlier. The average extinction coefficients, their seasonal variations, and zenith night-sky brightness values for the moon-less nights for all ten Bessell and SDSS filters are also estimated and found comparable to those reported for other good astronomical sites.