Translate an observing plan into calibration and error-budget requirements.
A raw aperture patch records 18500 ADU with flat value F = 1.02. Using the matched-exposure master dark D = 2046.0 ADU from Lecture 1 (which already includes the bias pedestal), compute the calibrated signal I_cal. Show your arithmetic.
A target is observed at altitude 25°. Compute the airmass and the resulting extinction penalty in magnitudes, using k = 0.15 mag/airmass.
Combine the separate master bias uncertainty (±1.71 ADU) and the matched-exposure master dark uncertainty (±1.32 ADU) in quadrature. State whether one term dominates the combined uncertainty or whether they are comparable, and explain what that implies about where this camera’s calibration-floor noise comes from.
A student plans a 9-pixel aperture exposure assuming a dark-sky background of 150 e⁻/pix, but the observation actually occurs during a bright moon with sky background 450 e⁻/pix. For a source with S = 700 e⁻, dark = 5 e⁻/pix, and read noise = 8 e⁻, compute the actual SNR and state whether the student’s plan (which assumed a much lower background) still yields a secure detection.
Submit a clear solution with equations, units, labeled quantities, and a short narrative interpretation for each problem. Show every reduction step and state your assumptions explicitly; a correct final number without visible work receives partial credit at most.
Verify against OpenStax Astronomy 2e Chapter 6.3 (detectors) and Chapter 4.1 (altitude/azimuth coordinates) before instructional release.
materials/ASTR210/data/ where referenced above.