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calibrator star

{{Short description|Star that is typically used tor calibration purposes}}

File:JWST Telescope alignment evaluation image labeled.jpg]]

A calibrator star is a star that is typically used for calibration purposes on high-sensitized sensors located on space telescopes.

Calibrator stars do not usually follow a specific criteria, but are normally hand-picked for different reasons.

Definition

Infrared and optically bright stars may be observed for calibration purposes by satellites, particularly those with sensitivity to both infrared and visible radiation. The stars chosen generally meet the following criteria: they have a visual magnitude that is equal to or less than +6, and an IR brightness (in the 1-5 micrometer range) greater than that of Vega.{{Cite book |title= 1999 IEEE Aerospace Conference. Proceedings (Cat. No.99TH8403)|chapter=Calibration stars |date=1999 |doi=10.1109/AERO.1999.792098 |chapter-url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/792098 |last1=Sene |first1=D.E. |last2=Caldwell |first2=W.T. |last3=Grigsby |first3=J.A. |last4=George |first4=J.D. |last5=Evans |first5=H.E. |last6=Emmerich |first6=C.J. |pages=297-306 vol.4 |isbn=0-7803-5425-7 }}{{Cite journal |title= A Catalog of Calibrator Stars for Next-Generation Optical Interferometers|doi=10.3847/1538-3881/153/1/16|doi-access=free |arxiv=1610.04600 |last1=Swihart |first1=Samuel J. |last2=Victor Garcia |first2=E. |last3=Stassun |first3=Keivan G. |author4=Gerard van Belle |last5=Mutterspaugh |first5=Matthew W. |last6=Elias |first6=Nicholas |journal=The Astronomical Journal |date=2016 |volume=153 |page=16 }}

The stars are strictly southern objects (i.e., their declinations are negative), and most are cool stars of spectral classes K and M. While these are not the only stars that might serve for these purposes, they are well distributed across the southern sky and some should be visible at all times.

List

class="wikitable"

|+

!Name

!Image

!Telescope used

!Date

!Reference

HD 96755

|File:Hubble First Light, First Released Image (STScI-1990-04a).png

|Hubble Space Telescope

|May 1990

|{{Cite web |title=Hubble's 'First Light' - NASA Science |url=https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/overview/hubbles-first-light/ |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=science.nasa.gov |language=en-US}}

TrES-2

|File:Kepler First Light Detail TrES-2.jpg

|Kepler Space Telescope

|2008

|{{Cite web |title=Tres-2 - in Kepler Photometer First Light Image - NASA Science |url=https://science.nasa.gov/resource/tres-2-in-kepler-photometer-first-light-image/ |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=science.nasa.gov |language=en-US}}

R Doradus

|File:TESS-FirstLight20180807-Released20180917.jpg

|Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite

|August 7, 2018

|{{Cite web |title=First Light! TESS Shares First Science Image in Hunt to Find New Worlds - NASA Science |url=https://science.nasa.gov/missions/tess/first-light-tess-shares-first-science-image-in-hunt-to-find-new-worlds/ |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=science.nasa.gov |language=en-US}}

2MASS J17554042+6551277

|File:Webb's First Image of Focused Star (potm2203a).tiff

|James Webb Space Telescope

|July 12, 2022

|{{Cite web |title=Mission Timeline |url=https://webbtelescope.org/home/news/milestones/mission-timeline |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=Webb |language=en}}

Catalog

A catalog of recommended calibrator stars does exist, with 1,510 stars being listed. The catalog gives the magnitude, mass and other statistics.

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

Category:Stars

Category:Astronomical spectroscopy

Category:Astrometry

Category:Space telescopes