Master Thesis Defense by Cecilie Valet Henneberg

Title: Simulated Data and Exposure Time Calculator for the NOT Transient Explorer

Abstract: This thesis presents the development of an exposure time calculator and the generation of simulated data to test a data pipeline for the NOT Transient Explorer (NTE), a new instrument designed for the NOT (Nordic Optical Telescope). The exposure time calculator serves as a tool for telescope users to determine optimal exposure times for different observing conditions. The exposure time calculator de- rives a slightly lower signal-to-noise ratio in the UV and VIS arms, but a slightly higher signal-to-noise ratio in the IR arm when compared to direct computation “by hand”.

The simulated data was generated by taking ray-tracing input fluxes through an optical model and taking the efficiency of the telescope-instrument combination into account. These semi-realistic simulated data can then be used to test and prepare a data pipeline for the NTE. Additionally, the simulated data also helped fine-tune some parameters of the setup of the spectrograph before the final construction. Finally, the initial output from testing on the pipeline has also been compared to the output of the ETC. This showed a good similarity between the results and is therefore promising. The quality of the simulated data could also be improved by introducing more realistic effects, such as detector effects and cosmic rays, by using the detector simulation framework Pyxel. Overall, this thesis contributes to future work with the NTE by providing an exposure time calculator and creating simulated data to help the creation of a data pipeline, thereby enabling efficient observations from the moment the NTE is operational

Supervisor:

• Johan Peter Uldall Fynbo, University of Copenhagen, Niels Bohr Insitute

Censor:

• Hans Kjeldsen, Aarhus University