The exposure time calculator (ETC) roughly calculates the exposure time of LUCIFER at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). There is a wide choice of different model spectra available (e.g. different main sequence stars). It is also possible to select a blackbody spectrum or a single-line spectrum as an object spectrum.
The main calculations are written in Python and the user interface is web-based. The web interface provides an additional graphical output that shows the SNR versus Wavelength in spectroscopic mode or SNR vs. exposure time in case of a selected imaging mode.
This document presents the basics of the exposure time calculator. The formulae of the ETC and the main characteristics of LUCIFER are described in detail.
A pdf-document of this manual can be found
here.
