Flux conversion factors for the Swift/UVOT filters Virtual Observatory Resource

Authors
  1. Brown P.J.
  2. Breeveld A.
  3. Roming P.W.A.
  4. Siegel M.
  5. Published by
    CDS
Abstract

We discuss the transformation of observed photometry into flux for the creation of spectral energy distributions (SED) and the computation of bolometric luminosities. We do this in the context of supernova studies, particularly as observed with the Swift spacecraft, but the concepts and techniques should be applicable to many other types of sources and wavelength regimes. Traditional methods of converting observed magnitudes to flux densities are not very accurate when applied to UV photometry. Common methods for extinction and the integration of pseudo-bolometric fluxes can also lead to inaccurate results. The sources of inaccuracy, though, also apply to other wavelengths. Because of the complicated nature of translating broadband photometry into monochromatic flux densities, comparison between observed photometry and a spectroscopic model is best done by forward modeling the spectrum into the count rates or magnitudes of the observations. We recommend that integrated flux measurements be made using a spectrum or SED which is consistent with the multi-band photometry rather than converting individual photometric measurements to flux densities, linearly interpolating between the points, and integrating. We also highlight some specific areas where the UV flux can be mischaracterized.

Keywords
  1. supernovae
  2. spectroscopy
  3. ultraviolet-astronomy
Bibliographic source Bibcode
2016AJ....152..102B
See also HTML
https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/AJ/152/102
IVOA Identifier IVOID
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/152/102
Document Object Identifer DOI
doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.51520102

Access

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https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/AJ/152/102
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/AJ/152/102
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/AJ/152/102
IVOA Table Access TAP
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History

2016-12-05T12:39:57Z
Resource record created
2016-12-05T12:39:57Z
Created
2017-02-06T14:53:15Z
Updated

Contact

Name
CDS support team
Postal Address
CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
E-Mail
cds-question@unistra.fr