What to look for

This section lists the most important files to check after reduction, particularly a non-interactive one. They are explained and illustrated in more depth in the preceding sections; the aim of this summary is mainly to provide a quick cheat sheet for deciding whether to re-run any of the steps with manual intervention.

As well as the final spectrum, it’s a good idea to look at the following:

• The PRODUCTS/Checks_and_Warnings.txt file. Do any warnings suggest a closer look at the reduction is warranted? For example, large-scale factors found by the telluric task might mean the telluric correction could be improved. Note that the values used to separate Checks (things look OK) from Warnings (something looks suspicious) are best guesses that may not be appropriate for all data and purposes.

• The PRODUCTS/orders.pdf file. Are there offsets between the spectral orders, and are there regions at the end of any orders that could benefit from being omitted from the combined spectrum? See Fig. 14.

• The INTERMEDIATE/standard_comb.fits file. Have all the orders been straightened nicely? If the standard_comb file looks good, the target_comb one should as well. See S-distortion Correction and Wavelength Calibration (Step=5).

• The INTERMEDIATE/bgmsk*pl files. These masks should contain scattered points, not real structure. See Reducing the Science Target and Standard Star Data (Step=4).