ISR 2023-02
For the absolute flux calibration of the WFC3/UVIS detector, the aperture-corrected photometry of standard stars observed in staring mode is compared to the predicted photometry of simulated observations. Spatial scans offer greater precision than staring mode observations, but currently cannot be used directly for the absolute calibration of the instrument, as existing software used for generating synthetic observations lacks the capacity to model rectangular photometric apertures used for spatial scans. In this report, we introduce a novel method for calculating aperture corrections for spatial scans, and present the results of preliminary tests of this methodology. We find that ratios of observed-to-synthetic flux are constant over time, validating the implementation of current time-dependent zeropoints. However, the data exhibits a wavelength- and chip-dependent offset between observed and synthetic count rates. This offset may be due to underlying factors complicating the observed photometry, aperture corrections, or both. Until this discrepancy is resolved, spatial scans will not be directly used for the photometric calibration of the WFC3/UVIS instrument. Meanwhile, we provide calculated offset values for each chip and filter as evidence of our initial efforts. A future report will utilize deep exposures from an upcoming calibration program (Program 17271) to examine encircled energies at large radii in order to further refine the process of calculating aperture corrections for spatial scans.