PolarizerTables

class acstools.polarization_tools.PolarizerTables(input_dict)

Bases: object

A class for holding all of the polarization tables (as astropy tables) in attributes. These attributes are:

  • wfc_transmission: Transmission and leak correction factors for computing ACS/WFC fractional polarization.

  • hrc_transmission: Transmission and leak correction factors for computing ACS/HRC fractional polarization.

  • wfc_efficiency: Efficiencies of the ACS/WFC polarizers for computing Stokes parameters.

  • hrc_efficiency: Efficiencies of the ACS/HRC polarizers for computing Stokes parameters.

Note

The default table contained within the acstools package uses average transmission leak correction terms for a source with a spectrum flat in wavelength space.

Polarizer calibration information can be read from the default YAML file contained in the acstools package, or from a user-supplied YAML file using the class methods from_yaml() and from_package_data(). The YAML file format is:

transmission:
    meta: dictionary of metadata
    detector:
        filter: list of ACS filters
        t_para: list of parallel transmissions for each filter
        t_perp: list of perpendicular transmissions for each filter
        correction: list of transmission leak correction factors for each filter
efficiency:
    meta: dictionary of metadata
    detector:
        filter: list of ACS filters
        pol0: list of POL0 coefficients matching each filter
        pol60: list of POL60 coefficients matching each filter
        pol120: list of POL120 coefficients matching each filter

The meta elements will pass a dictionary of metadata to the output tables. Any metadata can be included, but at minimum a description of the origin of the table values should be provided. Multiple detectors can be contained in a single YAML file. An example is shown below:

transmission:
    meta: {'description': 'Descriptive message.'}
    wfc:
        filter: ['F475W', 'F606W']
        t_para: [0.42, 0.51]
        t_perp: [0.0, 0.0]
        correction: [1.0, 1.0]
    hrc:
        filter: ['F330W']
        t_para: [0.48]
        t_perp: [0.05]
        correction: [1.21]
efficiency:
    meta: {'description': 'Descriptive message.'}
    wfc:
        filter: ['F475W', 'F606W']
        pol0: [1.43, 1.33]
        pol60: [1.47, 1.36]
        pol120: [1.42, 1.30]
    hrc:
        filter: ['F330W']
        pol0: [1.73]
        pol60: [1.53]
        pol120: [1.64]
Parameters:

input_dict (dict)

Examples

To use the default values supplied in the acstools package (which come from the ACS Data Handbook section 5.3):

>>> from acstools.polarization_tools import PolarizerTables
>>> tables = PolarizerTables.from_package_data()
>>> print(tables.wfc_efficiency)
filter  pol0  pol60  pol120
------ ------ ------ ------
 F475W 1.4303 1.4717 1.4269
 F606W 1.3314 1.3607 1.3094
 F775W 0.9965 1.0255 1.0071

To supply your own YAML file of the appropriate format:

>>> from acstools.polarization_tools import PolarizerTables
>>> tables = PolarizerTables.from_yaml('data/polarizer_tables.yaml')
>>> print(tables.wfc_transmission)
filter       t_para               t_perp             correction
------ ------------------ ---------------------- ------------------
F475W 0.4239276798513098 0.00015240583841551956  1.000719276691027
F606W 0.5156734594049419 5.5908749369641956e-05  1.000216861312415
F775W 0.6040891283746557    0.07367364117759412 1.2777959654493372
>>> print(tables.wfc_transmission.meta['description'])
WFC filters use MJD corresponding to 2020-01-01. HRC filters use MJD corresponding to 2007-01-01.

Methods Summary

from_package_data()

Use the YAML file contained within the acstools package to retrieve the polarizer calibration data.

from_yaml(yaml_file)

Read in a YAML file containing polarizer calibration data.

Methods Documentation

classmethod from_package_data()

Use the YAML file contained within the acstools package to retrieve the polarizer calibration data.

Returns:

pol_tables

Return type:

PolarizerTables

classmethod from_yaml(yaml_file)

Read in a YAML file containing polarizer calibration data.

Parameters:

yaml_file (str) – Path to the YAML file containing the polarizer calibration information.

Returns:

pol_tables

Return type:

PolarizerTables