We need some tools for efficient viewing of the VIRUS and LRS2 data. There are two fundamental things we are concerned with in dealing with images from IFU instruments: the spectral and the spatial domains. The tools described here are by no means to be used for efficient, technically rigorous, reduction of data. They are meant to provide a direct way of learning the approximate wavelengths covered in an image and some understandaing of the implied light distribution on the sky that has been observed. Here I am concerned with VIRUS and LRS2 spectrographs that we have been commissioning at the HET during the Spring of 2016. Some basic spectral and spatial properties are summarized here:
LRS2 arm Wavelenth Range Sky Extent (X x Y)
-------- --------------- ---------------------
UV 3700 4700 12" x 6"
Orange 4600 7000 12" x 6"
Red 6500 8420 12" x 6"
Far-Red 8180 10500 12" x 6"
VIRUS 3500 5500 50" x 50"
* X,Y = approximate directions of tracker X,Y
Based on some early work at the telescope, it is clear that we
need some visualization tools that allow us to quickly confirm
the range and ordering of spectral features when we take, for
eaxample, calibration frames with different arc lamps. Also, we need
a means of easily visualizing the implied sky light distribution
from each IFU observation.