Subaru Data Reduction Cookbook: Grism Spectroscopic Observations with IRCS

1 Foreward This Cookbook presents the typical procedure used to analyze infrared spectra. It is our expectation that a novice at grism spectroscopic observations using Infrared Camera and Spectrograph (IRCS) at Subaru Telescope will be able to produce a final infrared spectrum by him/herself. The focus of this Cookbook is to describe how to analyze low-wavelength resolution infrared spectra having a moderate signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio. The targets of infrared low-resolution spectroscopy, like Subaru IRCS grism spectroscopic observations, are generally faint where the S/N ratio with respect to the continuum may be at most 10–30. On the other hand, high-dispersion spectroscopic observations are often carried out on bright objects, with an aim of achieving very high S/N ratios exceeding e.g., ∼100. Analysis of such high dispersion and high S/N ratio spectra requires a few more procedures where special care is needed in addition to the procedures described in the Cookbook. As for the data handling of such spectra, we comment briefly on such additional procedures. Last but not least, we appreciate any feedback from the readers to help improve this Cookbook.