Exposure-time Correction for the ZTF Camera

Abstract

A correction factor is derived to account for nonuniformities in the exposure time as seen by different positions on the focal plane of the ZTF camera. These nonuniformities arise from a combination of the shutter opening and closing motion; the geometrical setup of the telescope; and the presence of obstructions in the beam beyond the pupil plane. The correction to the exposure time is measured by comparing a set of dome-flat images taken with multiple shutter opening/closing motions to those obtained with a normal exposure of the same total duration. The correction to the exposure time is small, of the order of 30 ms averaged over the entire field of view with peaks of ~60 ms at the east and west edges of the camera. The effect is thus of the order of 0.1% on average for the nominal ZTF survey exposures of 30 s. Comparing the results obtained from three sets of dedicated observations acquired in 2017 December, we assess the stability of the correction factor to be better than 7% both in time and with respect to variations of the experimental conditions.