Introduction
The Advanced Exposure Time Calculator (AETC) is a tool to simulate images of astrophysical objects obtained with any combination of telescope, instrument and given passband using a suitable set of parameters that define the configuration of the equipment used for the observations. The tool provides count rates and its distribution over the focal plane, through the proper definition of the PSF, of virtually any telescope equipped with an imager provided that its configuration is assessed. Moreover a detailed simulation of the observed fields can be simulated including stars, galaxies and more complex objects providing template of the targets.
Look at the following references for additional information.
Falomo, R., Fantinel, D., Uslenghi, M 2011 Proc. SPIE 8135, 813523 (2011) (PDF)
Uslenghi, M, Falomo, R., Fantinel, D., 2016 Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 9911, id. 99112U (PDF)
Some example of images produced by AETC:
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Nuclear star cluster. MICADO@E-ELT | Nearby galaxy cluster. WFC@INT | M51-like galaxy @z=2.4. MICADO@E-ELT |
List of published papers that used simulated images by AETC
- Resolved Stellar Population in the ELT era Greggio,L. et al : Workshop Feeding the Giants: ELTs in the era of Surveys, Ischia, 2011
- The ELT view of high redshift active and inactive galaxies : Falomo, R. et al 2011 Workshop Feeding the Giants: ELTs in the era of Surveys, Ischia, 2011
- Resolved stellar population of distant galaxies in the ELT era. Greggio, L., Falomo,R., Zaggia S. et al (2012), PASP Vol 124 pp 653
- Studying the metallicity gradient in Virgo cluster with ELT photometry of resolved stellar population.
Schreiber, L., Greggio, L. ,Falomo, R. , Fantinel, D. , Uslenghi, M.. 2014, MNRAS 437 2966 - The black hole and host galaxy relationship over the cosmic time. Falomo, R.
- Exploring the high redshift galaxies with ELTs, M. Gullieuszik, L. Greggio, R. Falomo 2016, A&A 593 A24
- QSO host galaxy and environments in the ELT era. S. Paiano, R. Falomo , M.Uslenghi, C. Arcidiacono, D. Fantinel, R. Ragazzoni 2017, Proc. AO4ELT5, Tenerife