CONCERTO at APEX On-sky performance in continuum

Context . CarbON CII line in post-rEionisation and ReionisaTiOn epoch (CONCERTO) instrument is a low-resolution mapping spectrometer based on lumped element kinetic inductance detector (LEKIDs) technology, operating at 130-310 GHz. It was installed on the 12-metre APEX telescope in Chile in April 2021 and was in operation until May 2023. CONCERTO’s main goals were the observation of [CII]-emission line fluctuations at high redshift and of the Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) signal from galaxy clusters. Aims . We present the data processing algorithms and the performance of CONCERTO in continuum by analysing the data from the commissioning and scientific observations. Methods . We developed a standard data processing pipeline to proceed from the raw data to continuum maps. Using a large dataset of calibrators (Uranus, Mars, and quasars) acquired in 2021 and 2022 at the APEX telescope across a wide range of atmospheric conditions, we measured the CONCERTO continuum performance and tested its stability against observing conditions. Further, using observations on the COSMOS field and observations targeting a distant sub-millimetre galaxy in the UDS field, we assessed the robustness of the CONCERTO performance on faint sources and compared our measurements with expectations. Results . The beam pattern is characterised by an effective full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 31.9 ± 0.6″ and 34.4 ± 1.0″ for high-frequency (HF) and low-frequency (LF) bands, respectively. The main beam is slightly elongated with a mean eccentricity of 0.46. Two error beams of ~65″ and ~130″ are characterised, allowing us to estimate a main beam efficiency of ~0.52. The field of view is accurately reconstructed and presents coherent distortions between the HF and LF arrays. LEKID parameters were robustly determined for 80% of the read tones. Cross-talks between LEKIDs are the first cause of flagging, followed by an excess of eccentricity for ~10% of the LEKIDs, all located in a given region of the field of view. Of the 44 scans of Uranus selected for the absolute photometric calibration, 72.5% and 78.2% of the LEKIDs were selected as valid detectors with a probability >70%. By comparing the Uranus measurements with a model, we obtain calibration factors of 19.5±0.6 Hz Jy −1 and 25.6±0.9 Hz Jy −1 for HF and LF, respectively. The point-source continuum measurement uncertainties are 3.0% and 3.4% for the HF and LF bands, ignoring the uncertainty in the model (which is