A&A 576, A77 (2015) Astronomy DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201423932 & c ESO 2015 Astrophysics Molecfit: A general tool for telluric absorption correction I. Method and application to ESO instruments?;?? A. Smette1, H. Sana1;2, S. Noll3, H. Horst1;4, W. Kausch3;5, S. Kimeswenger6;3, M. Barden7, C. Szyszka3, A. M. Jones3, A. Gallenne8, J. Vinther9, P. Ballester9, and J. Taylor9 1 European Southern Observatory, Casilla 19001, Alonso de Cordova 3107 Vitacura, Santiago, Chile e-mail:
[email protected] 2 now at ESA/Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA 3 Institute for Astro and Particle Physics, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria 4 Josef-Führer-Straße 33, 80997 München, Germany 5 University of Vienna, Department of Astrophysics, Türkenschanzstr. 17 (Sternwarte), 1180 Vienna, Austria 6 Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Católica del Norte, Avenida Angamos 0610, Antofagasta, Chile 7 International Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Technische Universität München, Boltzmannstr. 17, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany 8 Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile 9 European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany Received 2 April 2014 / Accepted 23 December 2014 ABSTRACT Context. The interaction of the light from astronomical objects with the constituents of the Earth’s atmosphere leads to the formation of telluric absorption lines in ground-based collected spectra. Correcting for these lines, mostly affecting the red and infrared region of the spectrum, usually relies on observations of specific stars obtained close in time and airmass to the science targets, therefore using precious observing time.