The Slitless Simulation package aXeSIM

Introduction

As part of the ST-ECF support for the spectroscopic modes of Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), the slitless spectroscopy group of the ST-ECF has developed a dedicated simulation package applicable to WFC3. Whilst the package was initiated for exploitation of WFC3 slitless grism modes, it is equally applicable to other slitless spectroscopy modes of HST, such as ACS and NICMOS.

aXeSIM as web application for WFC3

In addition to the software, aXeSIM can be run as a web application for the WFC3 slitless modes. The web application offers a subset of all options available in aXeSIM, but helps to gain a first impression at least. For occasional users interested in WFC3 slitless spectroscopy the web application could even avoid installing and running aXeSIM on their own computer.

aXeSIM web application for WFC3:

What is New?

14-Feb.-2008: Release of aXeSIM version 1.1. The changes with respect to version 1.0 are an improvement of the computational speed and a small change in the definition of the simulated beams, which corrects a problem for the simulations of large objects with WFC3/G280.

Installation and Download

aXeSIM is organized as a PyRAF package. Only recent versions of STSDAS and PyRAF are required to generate simulated slitless and direct images with aXeSIM. Please download and unpack the tarball:

aXeSIM version 1.1

The aXeSIM distribution contains statically linked executables and the manual in pdf format. To install aXeSIM, please consult the README or the Section 2 of the manual.

The executables were built under Fedora Core 6 and should work under this and similar Linux distributions. In the (hopefully unlikely) case that the binaries do not work, or you work with a different operating system, you have to build the executables by yourself as described in the manual.

aXeSIM Documentation

The aXeSIM User Manual gives a detailed description on how aXeSIM is working and how to perform simulations with aXeSIM. It is available for browsing as well as for download in various formats:

aXeSIM test packages

To verify the aXeSIM installation and to help users making their first steps with aXeSIM, we have composed test packages for some HST instruments with slitles spectroscopic observing modes.

WFC3 UVIS and IR ACS WFC, HRC and SBC

Please download the tarball, unpack it and follow the instructions in the README.

Help and more information

For further help and more information concerning aXeSIM and its use, drop an email to stdesk@eso.org. Please include "aXeSIM" in the subject line to differentiate your request from SPAM.

Maintained by Martin Kümmel <mkuemmel@eso.org>