Noise from undetected sources in Dark Energy Survey images

K. Eckert; G. M. Bernstein; A. Amara; A. Amon; A. Choi; S. Everett; D. Gruen; R. A. Gruendl; E. M. Huff; N. Kuropatkin; A. Roodman; E. Sheldon; B. Yanny; Y. Zhang; T. M. C. Abbott; M. Aguena; S. Avila; K. Bechtol; D. Brooks; D. L. Burke; A. Carnero Rosell; M. Carrasco Kind; J. Carretero; M. Costanzi; L. N. da Costa; J. De Vicente; S. Desai; H. T. Diehl; J. P. Dietrich; T. F. Eifler; A. E. Evrard; B. Flaugher; J. Frieman; J. Garcia-Bellido; E. Gaztanaga; J. Gschwend; G. Gutierrez; W. G. Hartley; D. L. Hollowood; K. Honscheid; D. J. James; R. Kron; K. Kuehn; M. A. G. Maia; J. L. Marshall; P. Melchior; F. Menanteau; R. Miquel; R. L. C. Ogando; A. Palmese; F. Paz-Chinchon; A. A. Plazas; A. K. Romer; E. Sanchez; Scarpine; S. Serrano; Sevilla-Noarbe; M. Smith; M. Soares-Santos; E. Suchyta; M. E. C. Swanson; G. Tarle; D. Thomas; T. N. Varga; A. R. Walker; W. Wester; R. D. Wilkinson; J. Zuntz; DES Collaboration

doi:10.1093/mnras/staa2133

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Noise from undetected sources in Dark Energy Survey images

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Noise from undetected sources in Dark Energy Survey images

K. Eckert, G. M. Bernstein, A. Amara, A. Amon, A. Choi, S. Everett, D. Gruen, R. A. Gruendl, E. M. Huff, N. Kuropatkin, …

Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol.497(3), pp.2529-2539

09/01/2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa2133

Abstract

Astronomy & Astrophysics

Science & Technology

Physical Sciences

For ground-based optical imaging with current CCD technology, the Poisson fluctuations in source and sky background photon arrivals dominate the noise budget and are readily estimated. Another component of noise, however, is the signal from the undetected population of stars and galaxies. Using injection of artifical galaxies into images, we demonstrate that the measured variance of galaxy moments (used for weak gravitational lensing measurements) in Dark Energy Survey (DES) images is significantly in excess of the Poisson predictions, by up to 30 per cent, and that the background sky levels are overestimated by current software. By cross-correlating distinct images of 'empty' sky regions, we establish that there is a significant image noise contribution from undetected static sources (US), which, on average, are mildly resolved at DES resolution. Treating these US as a stationary noise source, we compute a correction to the moment covariance matrix expected from Poisson noise. The corrected covariance matrix matches the moment variances measured on the injected DES images to within 5 per cent. Thus, we have an empirical method to statistically account for US in weak lensing measurements, rather than requiring extremely deep sky simulations. We also find that local sky determinations can remove most of the bias in flux measurements, at a small penalty in additional, but quantifiable, noise.

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Title: Noise from undetected sources in Dark Energy Survey images
Creators: K. Eckert - University of Pennsylvania
G. M. Bernstein - University of Pennsylvania
A. Amara - Federal Reserve
A. Amon - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
A. Choi - The Ohio State University
S. Everett - Santa Cruz Inst Particle Phys, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 USA
D. Gruen - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
R. A. Gruendl - National Center for Supercomputing Applications
E. M. Huff - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
N. Kuropatkin - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
A. Roodman - SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
E. Sheldon - Brookhaven National Laboratory
B. Yanny - Fermilab Natl Accelerator Lab, POB 500, Batavia, IL 60510 USA
Y. Zhang - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
T. M. C. Abbott - Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
M. Aguena - Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia
S. Avila - University of Portsmouth
K. Bechtol - University of Wisconsin–Madison
D. Brooks - University College London
D. L. Burke - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
A. Carnero Rosell - Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas
M. Carrasco Kind - National Center for Supercomputing Applications
J. Carretero - Institute for High Energy Physics
M. Costanzi - Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe
L. N. da Costa - Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia
J. De Vicente - Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas
S. Desai - Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad
H. T. Diehl - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
J. P. Dietrich - Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
T. F. Eifler - University of Arizona
A. E. Evrard - University of Michigan
B. Flaugher - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
J. Frieman - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
J. Garcia-Bellido - Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
E. Gaztanaga - Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya
J. Gschwend - Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia
G. Gutierrez - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
W. G. Hartley - ETH Zurich
D. L. Hollowood - University of California, Santa Cruz
K. Honscheid - The Ohio State University
D. J. James - Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian
R. Kron - Fermilab Natl Accelerator Lab, POB 500, Batavia, IL 60510 USA
K. Kuehn - Lowell Observatory
M. A. G. Maia - Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia
J. L. Marshall - Mitchell Institute
P. Melchior - Princeton University
F. Menanteau - National Center for Supercomputing Applications
R. Miquel - Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats
R. L. C. Ogando - Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia
A. Palmese - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
F. Paz-Chinchon - National Center for Supercomputing Applications
A. A. Plazas - Princeton University
A. K. Romer - University of Sussex
E. Sanchez - Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas
Scarpine - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
S. Serrano - Institute of Space Sciences
Sevilla-Noarbe - Ctr Invest Energet Medioambientales & Tecnol CIEM, E-28040 Madrid, Spain
M. Smith - University of Southampton
M. Soares-Santos - Brandeis University, Martin A. Fisher School of Physics
E. Suchyta - Oak Ridge National Laboratory
M. E. C. Swanson - National Center for Supercomputing Applications
G. Tarle - Institute for High Energy Physics
D. Thomas - University of Portsmouth
T. N. Varga - Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
A. R. Walker - Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
W. Wester - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
R. D. Wilkinson - University of Sussex
J. Zuntz - Univ Edinburgh, Inst Astron, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, Midlothian, Scotland
DES Collaboration
Publication Details: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol.497(3), pp.2529-2539
Publisher: Oxford Univ Press
Number of pages: 11
Grant note: University of Edinburgh University of Chicago Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago Ministerio da Ciencia, Tecnologia e Inovacao; Spanish Government Ministry of Science and Education of Spain; Spanish Government Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai (IEEC/CSIC) Collaborating Institutions in the Dark Energy Survey Ohio State University 12-EUCLID11-0004 / NASA; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) University of Pennsylvania
Identifiers: 9924552851001921
Academic Unit: Martin A. Fisher School of Physics
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

Noise from undetected sources in Dark Energy Survey images

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