MICADO + ScopeSim

MICADO + ScopeSim

MICADO + ScopeSim#

Introduction#

A MICADO data simulator is being developed as part of the generic simulator ScopeSim, a descendant of the older SimCADO software. MICADO is the near-infrared camera for the ELT and supports both MCAO (4 mas) and SCAO (1.5 mas and 4 mas) imaging modes.

Note

Bug reports and help desk

If you come across a bug or get stuck with ScopeSim or the MICADO package, please open an issue on GitHub or contact us by email (see below).

Your feedback is the only way we know what needs to be changed or improved with the package and the simulator.

Please always include the output of scopesim.bug_report() from your installation.

Downloading the MICADO instrument package#

Once ScopeSim is installed, download the MICADO instrument package into your working directory:

import scopesim
scopesim.download_packages(["Armazones", "ELT", "MICADO"])

This installs the packages into the subdirectory ./inst_pkgs/.

Your working directory should look like this afterwards:

my_simulations/
├── <your notebook>.ipynb
└── inst_pkgs/
    ├── Armazones/
    ├── ELT/
    └── MICADO/
        └── docs/
            └── example_notebooks/
                └── <notebook>.ipynb   ← copy to working dir before running

Prerequisites#

  • A working installation of Python 3.8 or newer

  • pip (the Python package installer)

  • Jupyter, if you want to run the example notebooks (recommended)

Installing ScopeSim#

Install the latest release from PyPI:

pip install scopesim

To upgrade an existing installation:

pip install -U scopesim

Setting up a working directory#

Create a dedicated directory where your simulation notebooks will live and where the instrument packages will be downloaded:

mkdir ~/path/to/my_simulations
cd ~/path/to/my_simulations

Running the example notebooks#

The instrument package ships tutorial notebooks inside inst_pkgs/<INSTRUMENT>/docs/example_notebooks/. Copy the desired notebook out of that folder before running it — notebooks should not be run in-place, as their output would modify the package files.

cp ./inst_pkgs/<INSTRUMENT>/docs/example_notebooks/<Notebook.ipynb> .
jupyter notebook <Notebook.ipynb>

Documentation and useful references#

Contact and support#

Example notebooks#

Download the notebooks from the GitHub repository or find them locally in inst_pkgs/MICADO/docs/example_notebooks/ after downloading the package.

Warning

Run notebooks in your working directory, not inside inst_pkgs/. Copy the desired notebook out first.

Scientific use-case notebooks#

Notebook

Description

1_scopesim_MCAO_4mas_galaxy

MCAO 4 mas imaging of a galaxy

2_scopesim_SCAO_1.5mas_astrometry

SCAO 1.5 mas astrometry use case

3_scopesim_SCAO_4mas_fv-psf

SCAO 4 mas field-varying PSF

MICADO_FAQs

Frequently asked questions

Validation#

The table below shows limiting-magnitude test results (minimum S/N = 5). Green = passed, yellow = expected deviation, red = unexpected failure. Click a row to see the test plot.

Showing results from 6 tests for MICADO

AO mode IMG mode Filter Expected
[mag]		 Obtained
[mag]		 Difference
[mag]		 Status
MCAO IMG_4mas J 27.9 ± 1.0 26.15 -1.745 xfailed
SCAO IMG_4mas J 27.9 ± 1.0 28.68 0.78 passed
MCAO IMG_4mas H 27.5 ± 0.6 26.96 -0.541 passed
SCAO IMG_4mas H 27.5 ± 0.6 28.39 0.885 xfailed
MCAO IMG_4mas Ks 27.1 ± 0.3 27.0 -0.1 passed
SCAO IMG_4mas Ks 27.1 ± 0.3 28.0 0.899 xfailed

Difference is calculated as obtained - expected, meaning a positive difference indicates ScopeSim reached a fainter limiting magnitude than the reference document, while a negative difference means ScopeSim did not reach the reference magnitude in that combination of modes and filter.

The test code lives in the MICADO/test_micado/ folder on GitHub.