Tests with new ThArNe lamP

Version: 1.0 2003-03-05 Ivo Saviane

Introduction

The FEROS calibration arcs are obtained by the superposition of a Thorium lamp filled with Argon (ThAr), plus a Neon lamp. On February 22, 2003, I replaced the ThAr lamp with a Thorium lamp filled with both Ne and Ar (ThArNe), in the proportion Ne:Ar=9:1. I switched off the Ne lamp, and took spectra of the ThArNe lamp. Wavelength calibrated line lists (obtained with the @@ focus procedure) can be downloaded as well.

Raw and extracted data

You can download the raw and extracted+merged spectra by clicking on one of the links below. All files are FITS gzipped. Raw 2d spectra are from 7.4 to 9.4 MB. Extracted+merged orders are ca. 700 KB.
 

  10 sec    raw      extracted:  object  /  sky   line lists:  object / sky  
  30 sec    raw      extracted:  object  /  sky   line lists:  object / sky  

  60 sec    raw      extracted:  object  /  sky   line lists:  object / sky  

 120 sec    raw      extracted:  object  /  sky   line lists:  object / sky  

A few tests

Below I show the 60 sec echelle spectrum of the new lamp, compared to that of the ThAr lamp, and that of the ThAr + Ne lamps (same exposure time, same low and high cuts). Just looking at the new lamp one clearly sees that it is brighter and has a pinkish color, while the old lamp is fainter and has a blue/violet color. The spectra below indeed show that the new lamp provides a higher flux and it has many more red lines.

ThArNe 60 sec (new lamp)	ThAr 60 sec (just one old lamp)	ThAr and Ne 60 sec (both old lamps)

These qualitative remarks are confirmed by the plots below

Plot of row 2050 of new lamp spectrum	Plot of row 2050 of old lamps spectrum
Plot of extracted order 35, corresponding 7657-7946 AA	Same order for the old lamps

And finally, you can compare the results of the @@ focus procedure here:

Result of @@ focus, using new lamp	Results of @@ focus, using old lamp