<p>I'm working on a simulation project with Hubble data and I need the standard deviation of the sky in ADU per pixel. Sometimes I can obtain a fits file (e.g. <a href="https://hla.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/moreinfo.cgi?html=1&amp;dataset=hst_07633_02_wfpc2_f606w_pc&amp;filename=hst_07633_02_wfpc2_f606w_pc&amp;level=2&amp;spectral_elt=F606W&amp;aperture=WFALL-FIX&amp;mode=IMAGE&amp;propid=7633&amp;piname=WILLIAMS&amp;detector=PC&amp;naxis=800%20800&amp;output_size=256&amp;szoom=1.000000&amp;hrcmatch=1&amp;target=HDFS-223338-603329-QSO&amp;format=FITS&amp;title=07633_02%20PC%20F606W%20(combined)%20HDFS-223338-603329-QSO&amp;releasedate=878296025&amp;daocat=&amp;sexcat=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">hdfs image</a>), open this with astropy, and see that hdul<a href="https://hla.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/moreinfo.cgi?html=1&amp;dataset=hst_07633_02_wfpc2_f606w_pc&amp;filename=hst_07633_02_wfpc2_f606w_pc&amp;level=2&amp;spectral_elt=F606W&amp;aperture=WFALL-FIX&amp;mode=IMAGE&amp;propid=7633&amp;piname=WILLIAMS&amp;detector=PC&amp;naxis=800%20800&amp;output_size=256&amp;szoom=1.000000&amp;hrcmatch=1&amp;target=HDFS-223338-603329-QSO&amp;format=FITS&amp;title=07633_02%20PC%20F606W%20(combined)%20HDFS-223338-603329-QSO&amp;releasedate=878296025&amp;daocat=&amp;sexcat=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">1</a> has BACKGRND of around 6.7 (not even sure what units this is).</p>
<pre><code>XTENSION= 'IMAGE   '           / Image extension                                
BITPIX  =                  -32 / array data type                                
NAXIS   =                    2 / number of array dimensions                     
NAXIS1  =                  800                                                  
NAXIS2  =                  800                                                  
PCOUNT  =                    0 / number of parameters                           
GCOUNT  =                    1 / number of groups                               
CRVAL1  =    338.2431271061111 / right ascension of reference pixel (deg)       
CRVAL2  =       -60.5461614475 / declination of reference pixel (deg)           
CRPIX1  =                400.0 / x-coordinate of reference pixel                
CRPIX2  =                400.0 / y-coordinate of reference pixel                
CD1_1   = -1.388888888888889E-05 / partial of the right ascension w.r.t. x      
CD1_2   =                  0.0 / partial of the right ascension w.r.t. y        
CD2_1   =                  0.0 / partial of the declination w.r.t. x            
CD2_2   = 1.388888888888889E-05 / partial of the declination w.r.t. y           
DATAMIN =            -247.6876 / minimum value of the data                      
DATAMAX =             99962.19 / maximum value of the data                      
VAFACTOR=                  1.0 / velocity aberration plate scale factor         
MIR_REVR=                    T / is the image mirror reversed?                  
ORIENTAT=                  0.0 / orientation of the image (deg)                 
FILLCNT =                    0 / number of segments containing fill             
ERRCNT  =                    0 / number of segments containing errors           
FPKTTIME=          50752.17983 / time of the first packet (Modified Julian Date)
LPKTTIME=    50752.17999800001 / time of the last packet (Modified Julian Date) 
CTYPE1  = 'RA---TAN'           / first coordinate type                          
CTYPE2  = 'DEC--TAN'           / second coordinate type                         
DETECTOR=                    1 / CCD detector: PC 1, WFC 2-4                    
DEZERO  =              315.421 / mean bias level from EED extended register     
BIASEVEN=             315.4364 / bias level for even-numbered columns           
BIASODD =             315.4055 / bias level for odd-numbered columns            
BIASEVNU=                    0 / uncorrected bias level for even-numbered column
BIASODDU=                    0 / uncorrected bias level for odd-numbered columns
GOODMIN =            -2.250801 / minimum value of the &quot;good&quot; pixels             
GOODMAX =             3715.671 / maximum value of the &quot;good&quot; pixels             
DATAMEAN=             9.204636 / mean value of the &quot;good&quot; pixels                
GPIXELS =               553130 / number of &quot;good&quot; pixels (DQF = 0)              
SOFTERRS=                    0 / number of &quot;soft error&quot; pixels (DQF = 1)        
CALIBDEF=                82453 / number of &quot;calibration defect&quot; pixels (DQF = 2)
STATICD =                    0 / number of &quot;static defect&quot; pixels (DQF = 4)     
ATODSAT =                   12 / number of &quot;AtoD saturated&quot; pixels (DQF = 8)    
DATALOST=                    0 / number of &quot;data lost&quot; pixels (DQF = 16)        
BADPIXEL=                    0 / number of &quot;generic bad&quot; pixels (DQF = 32)      
OVERLAP =                    0 / number of &quot;image overlap&quot; pixels (DQF = 64)    
PHOTMODE= 'WFPC2,1,A2D7,F606W,,CAL                         ' / Photometry mode  
PHOTFLAM= 2.668108146067416E-19 / Inverse Sensitivity                           
PHOTZPT =                -21.1 / Zero point                                     
PHOTPLAM=             6001.288 / Pivot wavelength                               
PHOTBW  =             637.8065 / RMS bandwidth of the filter                    
MEDIAN  =             7.179504 / middle data value when good qual pixels sorted 
MEDSHADO=             15.57535 / median pixel value in shadow of pyramid edge   
HISTWIDE=             1.975092 / width of the histogram                         
SKEWNESS=          0.004381925 / skewness of the histogram                      
MEANC10 =             6.379209 / mean of a 10x10 region at center of chip       
MEANC25 =             8.611205 / mean of a 25x25 region at center of chip       
MEANC50 =             8.237788 / mean of a 50x50 region at center of chip       
MEANC100=             8.284101 / mean of a 100x100 region at center of chip     
MEANC200=             8.513876 / mean of a 200x200 region at center of chip     
MEANC300=             8.804667 / mean of a 300x300 region at center of chip     
BACKGRND=             6.717859 / estimated background level                     
ZP_CORR =          0.004258221 / delta magnitude induced by UV contamination    
CTE_1E2 =                    0 / expected delta mag from CTE for 100 e- PSF     
CTE_1E3 =                    0 / expected delta mag from CTE for 1000 e- PSF    
CTE_1E4 =                    0 / expected delta mag from CTE for 10000 e- PSF   
EXTNAME = 'SCI     '           / extension name                                 
EXPNAME = 'u4e70201r'          / 9 character exposure identifier                
EXTVER  =                    1 / extension version number                       
INHERIT =                    T / inherit the primary header                     
ROOTNAME= 'u4e70201r'          / rootname of the observation set                
OCRVAL1 =        338.244406763 / right ascension of reference pixel (deg)       
OCRVAL2 =   -60.54596020144001 / declination of reference pixel (deg)           
OCRPIX2 =                424.5 / y-coordinate of reference pixel                
OCRPIX1 =                  420 / x-coordinate of reference pixel                
ONAXIS2 =                  800                                                  
ONAXIS1 =                  800                                                  
OCD2_2  =          -1.2185E-06 / partial of the declination w.r.t. y            
OCD2_1  =          1.25878E-05 / partial of the declination w.r.t. x            
OORIENTA=    95.53154229526656 / orientation of the image (deg)                 
OCTYPE1 = 'RA---TAN'           / first coordinate type                          
OCD1_1  =          1.21907E-06 / partial of the right ascension w.r.t. x        
OCD1_2  =           1.2582E-05 / partial of the right ascension w.r.t. y        
OCTYPE2 = 'DEC--TAN'           / second coordinate type                         
WCSCDATE= '19:36:27 (14/12/2009)' / Time WCS keywords were copied.              
OCX10   = -5.00896003912203E-07                                                 
OCX11   =             0.045536                                                  
OCY10   =  0.04553554402160644                                                  
OCY11   = 5.028540601953864E-05                                                 
BUNIT   = 'COUNTS/S'           / Units of science product                       
O_CRVAL1=          338.2436401                                                  
O_CRVAL2=         -60.54619425                                                  
G_CRVAL1=    338.2431271061111 / GSC2 CRVAL1                                    
G_CRVAL2=       -60.5461614475 / GSC2 CRVAL2                                    
G_DRA   =            -1.846778 / GSC2 delta RA in arcsec                        
G_DDEC  =             0.118089 / GSC2 delta DEC in arcsec                       
G_RMSRA =             0.255808 / GSC2 rms in arcsec                             
G_RMSDEC=             0.320619 / GSC2 rms in arcsec                             
G_NMATCH=                    8 / GSC2 number of sources                         
T_CRVAL1=          338.2436401 / 2MASS CRVAL1                                   
T_CRVAL2=         -60.54619425 / 2MASS CRVAL2                                   
T_DRA   =                  0.0 / 2MASS delta in arcsec                          
T_DDEC  =                  0.0 / 2MASS delta in arcsec                          
T_RMSRA =                  0.0 / 2MASS rms in arcsec                            
T_RMSDEC=                  0.0 / 2MASS rms in arcsec                            
T_NMATCH=                    1 / 2MASS number of sources
</code></pre>
<p>But other times, I don't see such header and I'm stuck.</p>
<p>Is there a way to obtain this systematically? Is there a way to do the same for CCD noise?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-04T06:15:22.273Z
I'm not an observer, but how can the background be contained in the header? It doesn't know what is signal and what is noise (it does say "estimated" though). I would think you need to measure it in an imaging program, e.g. SAOImage/DS9, by placing an aperture at various places with no sources and calculate the mean/std. dev. of a number of such apertures.
pela
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-04T13:39:41.627Z
Yes, it does say estimated. I have not used SAOImage/DS9 but I'm reading Source Extractor documentation and think I could use that?
cassandra
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-04T14:25:25.577Z
I just talked to an observer next door: Source Extractor is a better idea (DS9 is mostly for viewing, although you _can_ do some basic measurements). If you know Python, then it might be easier for you to use the Python wrapper for Source Extractor [SEP](https://sep.readthedocs.io/en/v1.1.x/index.html). Another option would be the astropy-based [Photutils](https://photutils.readthedocs.io/en/stable/index.html).
pela
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-04T15:10:53.997Z
Thank you so much! Will try that
cassandra
<observational-astronomy><photometry><hubble-telescope><image-processing>
How do you estimate standard deviation of sky from (Hubble) image
cassandra
# How do you estimate standard deviation of sky from (Hubble) image

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-07-03)

I'm working on a simulation project with Hubble data and I need the standard deviation of the sky in ADU per pixel. Sometimes I can obtain a fits file (e.g. [hdfs image](https://hla.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/moreinfo.cgi?html=1&dataset=hst_07633_02_wfpc2_f606w_pc&filename=hst_07633_02_wfpc2_f606w_pc&level=2&spectral_elt=F606W&aperture=WFALL-FIX&mode=IMAGE&propid=7633&piname=WILLIAMS&detector=PC&naxis=800%20800&output_size=256&szoom=1.000000&hrcmatch=1&target=HDFS-223338-603329-QSO&format=FITS&title=07633_02%20PC%20F606W%20(combined)%20HDFS-223338-603329-QSO&releasedate=878296025&daocat=&sexcat=)), open this with astropy, and see that hdul[1](https://hla.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/moreinfo.cgi?html=1&dataset=hst_07633_02_wfpc2_f606w_pc&filename=hst_07633_02_wfpc2_f606w_pc&level=2&spectral_elt=F606W&aperture=WFALL-FIX&mode=IMAGE&propid=7633&piname=WILLIAMS&detector=PC&naxis=800%20800&output_size=256&szoom=1.000000&hrcmatch=1&target=HDFS-223338-603329-QSO&format=FITS&title=07633_02%20PC%20F606W%20(combined)%20HDFS-223338-603329-QSO&releasedate=878296025&daocat=&sexcat=) has BACKGRND of around 6.7 (not even sure what units this is).

```
XTENSION= 'IMAGE   '           / Image extension                                
BITPIX  =                  -32 / array data type                                
NAXIS   =                    2 / number of array dimensions                     
NAXIS1  =                  800                                                  
NAXIS2  =                  800                                                  
PCOUNT  =                    0 / number of parameters                           
GCOUNT  =                    1 / number of groups                               
CRVAL1  =    338.2431271061111 / right ascension of reference pixel (deg)       
CRVAL2  =       -60.5461614475 / declination of reference pixel (deg)           
CRPIX1  =                400.0 / x-coordinate of reference pixel                
CRPIX2  =                400.0 / y-coordinate of reference pixel                
CD1_1   = -1.388888888888889E-05 / partial of the right ascension w.r.t. x      
CD1_2   =                  0.0 / partial of the right ascension w.r.t. y        
CD2_1   =                  0.0 / partial of the declination w.r.t. x            
CD2_2   = 1.388888888888889E-05 / partial of the declination w.r.t. y           
DATAMIN =            -247.6876 / minimum value of the data                      
DATAMAX =             99962.19 / maximum value of the data                      
VAFACTOR=                  1.0 / velocity aberration plate scale factor         
MIR_REVR=                    T / is the image mirror reversed?                  
ORIENTAT=                  0.0 / orientation of the image (deg)                 
FILLCNT =                    0 / number of segments containing fill             
ERRCNT  =                    0 / number of segments containing errors           
FPKTTIME=          50752.17983 / time of the first packet (Modified Julian Date)
LPKTTIME=    50752.17999800001 / time of the last packet (Modified Julian Date) 
CTYPE1  = 'RA---TAN'           / first coordinate type                          
CTYPE2  = 'DEC--TAN'           / second coordinate type                         
DETECTOR=                    1 / CCD detector: PC 1, WFC 2-4                    
DEZERO  =              315.421 / mean bias level from EED extended register     
BIASEVEN=             315.4364 / bias level for even-numbered columns           
BIASODD =             315.4055 / bias level for odd-numbered columns            
BIASEVNU=                    0 / uncorrected bias level for even-numbered column
BIASODDU=                    0 / uncorrected bias level for odd-numbered columns
GOODMIN =            -2.250801 / minimum value of the "good" pixels             
GOODMAX =             3715.671 / maximum value of the "good" pixels             
DATAMEAN=             9.204636 / mean value of the "good" pixels                
GPIXELS =               553130 / number of "good" pixels (DQF = 0)              
SOFTERRS=                    0 / number of "soft error" pixels (DQF = 1)        
CALIBDEF=                82453 / number of "calibration defect" pixels (DQF = 2)
STATICD =                    0 / number of "static defect" pixels (DQF = 4)     
ATODSAT =                   12 / number of "AtoD saturated" pixels (DQF = 8)    
DATALOST=                    0 / number of "data lost" pixels (DQF = 16)        
BADPIXEL=                    0 / number of "generic bad" pixels (DQF = 32)      
OVERLAP =                    0 / number of "image overlap" pixels (DQF = 64)    
PHOTMODE= 'WFPC2,1,A2D7,F606W,,CAL                         ' / Photometry mode  
PHOTFLAM= 2.668108146067416E-19 / Inverse Sensitivity                           
PHOTZPT =                -21.1 / Zero point                                     
PHOTPLAM=             6001.288 / Pivot wavelength                               
PHOTBW  =             637.8065 / RMS bandwidth of the filter                    
MEDIAN  =             7.179504 / middle data value when good qual pixels sorted 
MEDSHADO=             15.57535 / median pixel value in shadow of pyramid edge   
HISTWIDE=             1.975092 / width of the histogram                         
SKEWNESS=          0.004381925 / skewness of the histogram                      
MEANC10 =             6.379209 / mean of a 10x10 region at center of chip       
MEANC25 =             8.611205 / mean of a 25x25 region at center of chip       
MEANC50 =             8.237788 / mean of a 50x50 region at center of chip       
MEANC100=             8.284101 / mean of a 100x100 region at center of chip     
MEANC200=             8.513876 / mean of a 200x200 region at center of chip     
MEANC300=             8.804667 / mean of a 300x300 region at center of chip     
BACKGRND=             6.717859 / estimated background level                     
ZP_CORR =          0.004258221 / delta magnitude induced by UV contamination    
CTE_1E2 =                    0 / expected delta mag from CTE for 100 e- PSF     
CTE_1E3 =                    0 / expected delta mag from CTE for 1000 e- PSF    
CTE_1E4 =                    0 / expected delta mag from CTE for 10000 e- PSF   
EXTNAME = 'SCI     '           / extension name                                 
EXPNAME = 'u4e70201r'          / 9 character exposure identifier                
EXTVER  =                    1 / extension version number                       
INHERIT =                    T / inherit the primary header                     
ROOTNAME= 'u4e70201r'          / rootname of the observation set                
OCRVAL1 =        338.244406763 / right ascension of reference pixel (deg)       
OCRVAL2 =   -60.54596020144001 / declination of reference pixel (deg)           
OCRPIX2 =                424.5 / y-coordinate of reference pixel                
OCRPIX1 =                  420 / x-coordinate of reference pixel                
ONAXIS2 =                  800                                                  
ONAXIS1 =                  800                                                  
OCD2_2  =          -1.2185E-06 / partial of the declination w.r.t. y            
OCD2_1  =          1.25878E-05 / partial of the declination w.r.t. x            
OORIENTA=    95.53154229526656 / orientation of the image (deg)                 
OCTYPE1 = 'RA---TAN'           / first coordinate type                          
OCD1_1  =          1.21907E-06 / partial of the right ascension w.r.t. x        
OCD1_2  =           1.2582E-05 / partial of the right ascension w.r.t. y        
OCTYPE2 = 'DEC--TAN'           / second coordinate type                         
WCSCDATE= '19:36:27 (14/12/2009)' / Time WCS keywords were copied.              
OCX10   = -5.00896003912203E-07                                                 
OCX11   =             0.045536                                                  
OCY10   =  0.04553554402160644                                                  
OCY11   = 5.028540601953864E-05                                                 
BUNIT   = 'COUNTS/S'           / Units of science product                       
O_CRVAL1=          338.2436401                                                  
O_CRVAL2=         -60.54619425                                                  
G_CRVAL1=    338.2431271061111 / GSC2 CRVAL1                                    
G_CRVAL2=       -60.5461614475 / GSC2 CRVAL2                                    
G_DRA   =            -1.846778 / GSC2 delta RA in arcsec                        
G_DDEC  =             0.118089 / GSC2 delta DEC in arcsec                       
G_RMSRA =             0.255808 / GSC2 rms in arcsec                             
G_RMSDEC=             0.320619 / GSC2 rms in arcsec                             
G_NMATCH=                    8 / GSC2 number of sources                         
T_CRVAL1=          338.2436401 / 2MASS CRVAL1                                   
T_CRVAL2=         -60.54619425 / 2MASS CRVAL2                                   
T_DRA   =                  0.0 / 2MASS delta in arcsec                          
T_DDEC  =                  0.0 / 2MASS delta in arcsec                          
T_RMSRA =                  0.0 / 2MASS rms in arcsec                            
T_RMSDEC=                  0.0 / 2MASS rms in arcsec                            
T_NMATCH=                    1 / 2MASS number of sources

```

But other times, I don't see such header and I'm stuck.

Is there a way to obtain this systematically? Is there a way to do the same for CCD noise?

**Tags:** observational-astronomy, photometry, hubble-telescope, image-processing

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I'm not an observer, but how can the background be contained in the header? It doesn't know what is signal and what is noise (it does say "estimated" though). I would think you need to measure it in an imaging program, e.g. SAOImage/DS9, by placing an aperture at various places with no sources and calculate the mean/std. dev. of a number of such apertures.  
> **username_0**: Yes, it does say estimated. I have not used SAOImage/DS9 but I'm reading Source Extractor documentation and think I could use that?  
> **username_1**: I just talked to an observer next door: Source Extractor is a better idea (DS9 is mostly for viewing, although you _can_ do some basic measurements). If you know Python, then it might be easier for you to use the Python wrapper for Source Extractor [SEP](https://sep.readthedocs.io/en/v1.1.x/index.html). Another option would be the astropy-based [Photutils](https://photutils.readthedocs.io/en/stable/index.html).  
> **username_0**: Thank you so much! Will try that  

---

## 0 answers

