MUSE, the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer, 1 is an integral-field spectrograph under construction for the ESO VLT to see first light in 2013. It can record spectra of a 1 H ¢1 H field on the sky at a sampling of 0: HH 2¢0: HH 2, over a wavelength range from 4650 to 9300Å.The data reduction for this instrument is the process which converts raw data from the 24 CCDs into a combined datacube (with two spatial and one wavelength axis) which is corrected for instrumental and atmospheric effects. Since the instrument consists of many subunits (24 integral-field units, each slicing the light into 48 parts, i. e. 1152 regions with a total of almost 90000 spectra per exposure), this task requires many steps and is computationally expensive, in terms of processing speed, memory usage, and disk input/output.The data reduction software is designed to be mostly run as an automated pipeline and to fit into the open source environment of the ESO data flow as well as into a data management system based on AstroWISE. We describe the functionality of the pipeline, highlight details of new and unorthodox processing steps, discuss which algorithms and code could be used from other projects. Finally, we show the performance on both laboratory data as well as simulated scientific data.

The reduction of integral-field spectrograph (IFS) data is demanding work. Many repetitive operations are required to convert raw data into, typically, a large number of spectra. This effort can be markedly simplified through the use of a tool or pipeline, which is designed to complete many of the repetitive operations without human interaction. Here we present our semi-automatic data-reduction tool p3d, which is designed to be used with fiber-fed IFSs. Important components of p3d include a novel algorithm for automatic finding and tracing of spectra on the detector and two methods of optimal spectrum extraction in addition to standard aperture extraction. p3d also provides tools to combine several images, perform wavelength calibration and flat field data. p3d is at the moment configured for four IFSs. To evaluate its performance, we tested the different components of the tool. For these tests we used both simulated and observational data. We demonstrate that a correction for so-called cross-talk due to overlapping spectra on the detector is required for three of the IFSs. Without such a correction, spectra will be inaccurate, in particular if there is a significant intensity gradient across the object. Our tests showed that p3d is able to produce accurate results. p3d is a highly general and freely available tool. It is easily extended to include improved algorithms, new visualization tools, and support for additional instruments. The program code can be downloaded from the p3d-project web site http://p3d.sourceforge.net.

Strong mass loss off stars at the tip of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) profoundly affects properties of these stars and their surroundings, including the subsequent planetary nebula (PN) stage. With this study we wanted to determine physical properties of mass loss by studying weakly emitting halos, focusing on objects in the galactic disk. Halos surround the, up to several thousand times, brighter central regions of PNe. Young halos, specifically, still contain information of the preceeding final mass loss stage on the AGB. In the observations we used the method of integral field spectroscopy with the PMAS instrument. This is the first committed study of halos of PNe that uses this technique. We improved our data analysis by a number of steps. In a study of the influence of scattered light we found that a moderate fraction of intensities in the inner halo originate in adjacent regions. As we combine line intensities of distant wavelengths, and because radial intensity gradients are steep, we corrected for effects of differential atmospheric refraction. In order to increase the signal-to-noise of weak emission lines we introduced a dedicated method to bin spectra of individual spatial elements.We also developed a general technique to part the temperature-sensitive oxygen line [O iii] λ4363 from the adjacent telluric mercury line Hg λ4358 -without using separate sky exposures. By these steps we avoided introducing errors of several thousand Kelvin to our temperature measurements in the halo. For IC 3568 we detected a halo. For M 2-2 we found a halo radius that is 2.5 times larger than reported earlier. We derived radially densely sampled temperature and density structures for four nebulae, which all extend from the central regions and out into the halo. NGC 7662, IC 3568, and NGC 6826 show steep radially increasing temperatures and a hot halo, indicating that the gas in the halo is not in thermal equilibrium. M 2-2 shows a larger temperature in the central region and an otherwise constant value. From the density structures we made estimates of core and halo masses and -for the first time reliablemass loss rates at the tip of the AGB. All four objects show inwards radially increasing mass loss rate structures, which represent a rise by a factor of about 4-7, during the final mass loss phase, that covers a time period of approximately 10 4 years. Within a factor of two, the average of the maximum mass loss rates, which are distance dependent, isṀ max 10 −4 M yr −1 .

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An adaptive filter for processing of astronomical images is developed and described. The filter recognizes the local signal resolution (which usually varies strongly across the image) and adapts its own impulse response to this resolution.