On the accuracy of the signal-to-noise estimates obtained with the exposure-time calculator of the wide field planetary camera 2 on board the Hubble Space Telescope

We have studied the accuracy and reliability of the exposure-time calculator (ETC) of the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) with the objective of determining how well it represents actual observations and therefore how much confidence can be invested in it and in similar software tools. We have found, for example, that the ETC gives, in certain circumstances, very optimistic values for the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of point sources. These values overestimate by up to a factor of 2 the HST performance when simulations are needed to plan deep-imaging observations, thus bearing serious implications on observing-time allocation. For this particular case, we calculate the corrective factors to compute the appropriate S/N and detection limits, and we show how these corrections vary with field crowding and sky background. We also compare the ETC of the WFPC2 with a more general ETC tool, which takes into account the real effects of pixel size and charge diffusion. Our analysis indicates that similar problems may afflict other ETCs in general, showing the limits to which they are bound and the caution with which their results must be taken.