Commissioning TolTEC

Now that TolTEC is installed we have the big task of characterizing its performance on the LMT and tuning it up to work as well as possible. To do this we need to perform both routine observations (pointing, focussing the telescope, etc.) as well as a series of actual science observations that are designed to test out various observing modes that TolTEC is capable of executing. These observations require an astronomical signal so that the mapmaking and instrument noise can be characterized.

The TolTEC science team collectively produced a set of commissioning proposals that describe particular observations to be made to characterize the instrument. While the proposals themselves will remain private, we are publicly listing the potential targets here so that those who may wish to apply to the LMT to observe the same targets know that this data may be taken. Note that this does not reserve these targets in any way, we are simply making this list public so that everyone is aware of what might be observed. That said, the TolTEC team will make all data products from the commissioning data public for open scientific use once the analysis has been vetted by the team for quality assurance.

The map size and depth of the commissioning observations will depend on how the commissioning activities proceed. We expect to spend only a few hours at the most on each commissioning field. Note that some of these fields are part of the legacy surveys and any data taken in commissioning will become part of the legacy survey datasets.

Here are the potential commissioning targets for spring 2023:

Field/Obj RA DEC
COSMOS10:00:30+02:12:20
MACS J1149.5+222311:49.5+22:23
Ophiuchus16:28:00-24:32:30
Oph A16:28:06-24:32:30
HDF-N12:36:49.4+62:12:58
NGC473612:50:44.5741:4:9.43
3c28613h31m08.2830:30:32.96
Vega18h36m56.3438:47:01.28
Aquila N/S18h30m00-03:00:00
RX J134713h47m30.50s-11d45m09s

Here are the potential commissioning targets for the winter:

Field/Obj RA DEC
M1 05:34:31.94 +22:00:52.2
Orion-Kl filament 05:35:12 -5:23:00
3C147 05:42:36.13 +49:51:07.23
OH 231.8+4.2 07:42:16.9 -14:42:50.20
MACS J0717.5+374507:17:31.15+37:45:25.82
M8209:55:52.43+69:40:46.93
Epsilon Eridani 03:32:55 -09:27:29
Abell2631 23:37:39 00:16:22
HR8799 23:07:28.72 +21:08:03.3
V488 Per 03:28:18.68 +48:39:48.19
Perseus 03:28 +31:21
NGC891 02:22:33.41 +42:20:36.9
M74 01:36:41.7 +15:47:01
UDS 02:17:57 -05:11:37
XMM/UDS-LSS 02:17:40 -05:05:55
ECDFS 03:32:28 -28:48:30
HerS 00:54 to 02:24 +00
HeLMS 23:12 to 01:12 +00
IC10 00h20m18.08147234s +59d17m59.33601482s