Sink pixels in the HST wide-field channel 3 CCDs

S. M. Baggett; M. Bourque; J. Anderson; J. Ryon

doi:10.1117/12.2313923

6 July 2018 Sink pixels in the HST wide-field channel 3 CCDs

S. M. Baggett, M. Bourque, J. Anderson, J. Ryon

Proceedings Volume 10709, High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy VIII; 1070933 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2313923
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018, Austin, Texas, United States

Abstract

Isolated pixels with anomalously-low signal in otherwise normal Hubble Space Telescope Wide-Field Channel 3 (HST/WFC3) CCD data have been dubbed 'sink pixels' or SPs. The SPs appear to contain an exceptionally large number of charge traps and thus, they capture a commensurate amount of charge during readout. The effects of the sinks on science data depend on a number of factors including the image background, SP distance from the amplifier, and data epoch. In images with high backgrounds, the sinks act as essentially negative delta-functions, impacting a relatively small number of pixels. In contrast, in images with low backgrounds, the sinks can remove charge from a significant number of trailing pixels generating trough-like profiles. In this paper, we characterize the sink pixels, evaluate their effect on science data, and summarize how the sinks are flagged in the calibration pipeline.

Citation Download Citation

S. M. Baggett, M. Bourque, J. Anderson, and J. Ryon "Sink pixels in the HST wide-field channel 3 CCDs", Proc. SPIE 10709, High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy VIII, 1070933 (6 July 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2313923

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