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ccd-exposure-time-calculator

Usage:

  • Clone into the repository of your choice
  • From a bash terminal, run: python guiccdnoise.py
  • From an ipython termina, run: %run guiccdnoise.py

A window will appear with a number of sliders on the right and two Set the sliders to match the properties of your observations. The plots will rescale themselves to reflect how your choices affect the exposure time needed to overcome different sources of noise.

Sliders

  • V-band flux [mag]: V-band magnitude of your target
  • Sky flux [mag]: V-band magnitude of the sky
  • Dark current [magnitude]: dark current as a magnitude
  • Read noise [e/s]: read noise per pixel
  • Cosmics [10^[x] N/cm^2]: density of cosmic ray flux
  • Aperture diameter [m]: mirror size
  • Bandwidth [um]: effective filter width
  • CCD dimension [pixels]: assumes square CCD
  • Quantum efficiency [0-1]: pixel quantum efficiency
  • Pixel size [um]: size of square pixels
  • Pixels under PSF [# pixels]: the number of pixels contained inside the PSF
  • Target size [# PSFs]: the number of PSFs needed to cover a target (1 for point sources, more for extended objects)

Plots

Top:

  • the LHS shows the SNR as a function of time based on the noise, target, and instrument properties set on the sliders
  • the RHS shows the probability to have a cosmic impact a single pixel based on the cosmic flux density

Bottom: histogram electrons per second broken down by source

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Exposure time calculator for CCD cameras

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