(Very) Fast astronomical photometry for meter-class telescopes
L. Zampieri, G. Naletto, C. Barbieri, A. Burtovoi, M. Fiori, A. Spolon, P. Ochner, L. Lessio, G. Umbriaco, M. Barbieri
备注：
12 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of the Conference "Observing techniques, instrumentation and science for metre-class telescopes II", Tatranská Lomnica, Slovakia, September 24-28, 2018
Our team at the INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova and the University of Padova is engaged in the design, construction and operations of instruments with very high time accuracy in the optical band for applications to High Time Resolution Astrophysics and Quantum Astronomy. Two instruments were built to perform photon counting with sub-nanosecond temporal accuracy, Aqueye+ and Iqueye. Aqueye+ is regularly mounted at the 1.8m Copernicus telescope in Asiago, while Iqueye was mounted at several 4m class telescopes around the world and is now attached through the Iqueye Fiber Interface at the 1.2m Galileo telescope in Asiago. They are used to perform coordinated high time resolution optical observations and, for the first time ever, experiments of optical intensity interferometry on a baseline of a few kilometers. I will report on recent technological developments and scientific results obtained within the framework of this project.
A trade-off between speed and information controls our understanding of astronomical objects. Fast-to-acquire photometric observations provide global properties, while costly and time-consuming spectroscopic measurements enable a better understanding of the physics governing their evolution. Here, we tackle this problem by generating spectra directly from photometry, through which we obtain an estimate of their intricacies from easily acquired images. This is done by using multi-modal conditional diffusion models, where the best out of the generated spectra is selected with a contrastive netwo…
The analysis of the night cloud cover is very important for astronomical observation in real time, considering a typical observation time of about 15 minutes, and to have a statistics of the night cloud cover. In this paper we use the SQM (Sky Quality Meter) for high resolution temporal analysis of the La Silla and Asiago (Ekar observatory) sky: 3 and 5 minutes respectively. We investigate the annual temporal evolution of the natural contributions of the sky in a site not influenced by artificial light at night (ALAN) and one highly influenced respectively. We also make a correlation between G…
I developed a new pure-python pipeline to reduce photometric and polarimetric data: ASTROPOP. It has been designed and optimized to work fully automated with the IAGPOL polarimeter of Pico dos Dias observatory (OPD, Brazil) and can reduce photometry and polarimetry data from other instruments, especially from SPARC4, a multi-channel polarimeter that has been developed for OPD. We present the results produced by this new code, and compare them with those obtained from PCCDPACK, a traditionally used IRAF package developed for IAGPOL. We also propose to use this code for automatic photometric red…
We installed two sets of Astronomical Site Monitoring System(ASMS) at Lijiang Observatory(GMG), for the running of the 2.4-meter Lijiang optical telescope(LJT) and the 1.6-meter Multi-channel Photometric Survey Telescope (Mephisto). The Mephistro is under construction. ASMS has been running on robotic mode since 2017. The core instruments: Cloud Sensor, All-Sky Camera and Autonomous-DIMM that are developed by our group, together with the commercial Meteorological Station and Sky Quality Meter, are combined into the astronomical optical site monitoring system. The new Cloud Sensor's Cloud-Clear…
We describe a new concept to correct for scintillation noise on high-precision photometry in large and extremely large telescopes using telemetry data from adaptive optics (AO) systems. Most wide-field AO systems designed for the current era of very large telescopes and the next generation of extremely large telescopes require several guide stars to probe the turbulent atmosphere in the volume above the telescope. These data can be used to tomographically reconstruct the atmospheric turbulence profile and phase aberrations of the wavefront in order to assist wide-field AO correction. If the wa…
Scintillation noise due to the Earth's turbulent atmosphere can be a dominant noise source in high-precision astronomical photometry when observing bright targets from the ground. Here we describe the phenomenon of scintillation from its physical origins to its effect on photometry. We show that Young's (1967) scintillation-noise approximation used by many astronomers tends to underestimate the median scintillation noise at several major observatories around the world. We show that using median atmospheric optical turbulence profiles, which are now available for most sites, provides a better e…
The National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Science (NAOC), has started building the largest antenna in the world. Known as FAST, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope is a Chinese mega-science project funded by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). FAST also represents part of Chinese contribution to the international efforts to build the square kilometer array (SKA). Upon its finishing around September of 2016, FAST will be the most sensitive single-dish radio telescope in the low frequency radio bands between 70 MHz and 3 GHz. The design …
The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) is a Chinese mega-science project funded by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of the People's Republic of China. The National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) is in charge of its construction and subsequent operation. Upon its expected completion in September 2016, FAST will surpass the 300-meter Arecibo Telescope and the 100-meter Green Bank Telescope in terms of absolute sensitivity in the 70 MHz to 3 GHz bands. In this paper, we report on the project, its current status, the key science goals, and…
The new SAI MSU observatory 2.5-meter telescope and capabilities of its current instrumentation are described. The facility operates actively since 2014 in parallel to the engineering works. It has delivered a number of prominent results in the field of optical and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy as well as newly developed observational techniques like differential speckle polarimetry.
phoptic -- a Python package for reducing astronomical images
School of Physics and Astronomy University of Southampton（南安普顿大学物理与天文学学院）；Department of Physics University of Warwick（华威大学物理系）；Fluid and Complex Systems Centre Coventry University（考文垂大学流体与复杂系统中心）；Instituto de Astronomía Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México（墨西哥国立自治大学天文研究所）；Universidad Nacional de Córdoba Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba（科尔多瓦国立大学科尔多瓦天文台）；Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Téchnicas (CONICET)（国家科学研究委员会）；ComplyAdvantage；SUPA Physics and Astronomy University of St Andrews（圣安德鲁斯大学物理学与天文学）
The application of machine learning principles in the photometric search of elusive astronomical objects has been a less-explored frontier of research. Here we have used three methods: the Neural Network and two variants of k-Nearest Neighbour, to identify brown dwarf candidates using the photometric colours of known brown dwarfs. We initially check the efficiencies of these three classification techniques, both individually and collectively, on known objects. This is followed by their application to three regions in the sky, namely Hercules (2 deg x 2 deg), Serpens (9 deg x 4 deg) and Lyra (2…
Observations of astronomical objects in the far ultraviolet (FUV wavelengths span 900-1800Å) from earth's orbit has been impeded due to bright Lyman-α geocoronal emission. The Johns Hopkins Rocket Group is developing a hydrogen absorption cell that would act as a narrow band Lyman-α rejection filter to enable space-based photometric observation in bandpasses that span over the Lyman ultraviolet region shortward of the geocoronal line. While this technology has been applied to various planetary missions with single element photomultiplier detectors it has yet to be used on near earth orbiting s…
The Xinglong 2.16-m reflector is the first 2-meter class astronomical telescope in China. It was jointly designed and built by the Nanjing Astronomical Instruments Factory (NAIF), Beijing Astronomical Observatory (now National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, NAOC) and Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1989. It is Ritchey-Chrétien (R-C) reflector on an English equatorial mount and the effective aperture is 2.16 meters. It had been the largest optical telescope in China for $\sim18$ years until the Guoshoujing Telescope (also called Large Sky Area M…
The Nanshan One-meter Wide-field Telescope (NOWT) is a prime focus system located at Nanshan Station of Xinjiang Astronomical Observatories (XAO). The field of view(FOV) was designed to 1.5 degree *1.5 degree, and Johnson-Cousins UBVRI system was chosen as the main Filter set. The telescope has been providing observation services for astronomers since Sept. 2013. Variable source searching and time-domain surveys are the main scientific goals. The system's test results are reported including linearity, dark current, bias, readout noise and gain of the CCD camera. The accurate instrumental calib…
Wayne State University's Dan Zowada Memorial Observatory is a fully robotic 0.5m telescope and imaging system located under the dark skies of New Mexico. The observatory is particularly suited to time domain astronomy: the observation of variable objects, such as tidal disruption events, supernovae, and active galactic nuclei. We have developed a software suite for image reduction, alignment and stacking, and calculation of absolute photometry in the Sloan filters used at the telescope. Our pipeline also performs image subtraction to enable photometry of objects embedded in bright backgrounds …
ASTRONIRCAM is a cryogenic-cooled slit spectrograph for the spectral range 1-2.5 mkm installed at the Nasmyth focus of the 2.5-meter telescope of the Caucasian observatory of Sternberg Astronomical Institute of Lomonosov Moscow State University. The instrument is equipped with the HAWAII-2RG 2048x2048 HgCdTe array. Grisms are used as dispersive elements. In the photometric mode ASTRONIRCAM allows for extended astronomical object imaging in the field of view of 4.6x4.6 arc minutes with the 0.269 arcsec/pixel scale in standard photometric bands J, H, K and Ks as well as in narrow-band filters CH…
The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) is by far the largest telescope of any kind ever built. FAST produced its first light in September 2016 and it is now under commissioning, with normal operation to commence in late 2019. During testing and early science operation, FAST has started making astronomical discoveries, particularly pulsars of various kinds, including millisecond pulsars, binaries, gamma-ray pulsars, etc. The papers in this mini-volume propose ambitious observational projects to advance our knowledge of astronomy, astrophysics and fundamental physics in…
This paper presents multi-filter measurements of the night sky brightness at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Sutherland in the presence of a bright moon. The observations cover a wide range of sky directions, lunar phases and lunar positions. A revised simplified scattering model is developed for estimating the sky brightness due to moonlight that more accurately reflects the atmospheric extinction of the lunar beam compared to models frequently applied in astronomical studies. Contributions to night sky brightness due to sources other than moonlight are quantified and sub…
This paper describes digital radio astronomical receivers used for decameter and meter wavelength observations. This paper describes digital radio astronomical receivers used for decameter and meter wavelength observations. Since 1998, digital receivers performing on-the-fly dynamic spectrum calculations or waveform data recording without data loss have been used at the UTR-2 radio telescope, the URAN VLBI system, and the GURT new generation radio telescope. Here we detail these receivers developed for operation in the strong interference environment that prevails in the decameter wavelength r…
One important frontier for astronomical adaptive optics (AO) involves methods such as Multi-Object AO and Multi-Conjugate AO that have the potential to give a significantly larger field of view than conventional AO techniques. A second key emphasis over the next decade will be to push astronomical AO to visible wavelengths. We have conducted the first laboratory simulations of wide-field, laser guide star adaptive optics at visible wavelengths on a 10-meter-class telescope. These experiments, utilizing the UCO/Lick Observatory's Multi-Object / Laser Tomography Adaptive Optics (MOAO/LTAO) testb…
As part of the conceptual and preliminary design processes of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), the TMT site testing team has spent the last five years measuring the atmospheric properties of five candidate mountains in North and South America with an unprecedented array of instrumentation. The site testing period was preceded by several years of analyses selecting the five candidates, Cerros Tolar, Armazones and Tolonchar in northern Chile; San Pedro Martir in Baja California, Mexico and the 13 North (13N) site on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Site testing was concluded by the selection of two remaining…
Fast and accurate astronomical source deblending with Density-Peak Clustering
INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste（的里雅斯特天文台）；Dipartimento di Matematica, Sezione di Matematica e Geoscienze, Università di Trieste（的里雅斯特大学数学与地球科学系）
Xinglong Observatory of the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), is one of the major optical observatories in China, which hosts nine optical telescopes including the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) and the 2.16 m reflector. Scientific research from these telescopes is focused on stars, galaxies, and exoplanets using multicolor photometry and spectroscopic observations. Therefore, it is important to provide the observing conditions of the site, in detail, to the astronomers for an efficient use of these facilities. In this …
We present A-PHOT, a new publicly available code for performing aperture photometry on astronomical images, that is particularly well suited for multi-band extragalactic surveys. A-PHOT estimates the fluxes emitted by astronomical objects within a chosen set of circular or elliptical apertures. Unlike other widely used codes, it runs on predefined lists of positions, allowing for repeated measurements on the same list of objects on different images. This can be very useful when forced photometric measurement on a given position is needed. A-PHOT can also estimate morphological parameters and a…
The one-meter telescope at Weihai Observatory of Shandong University is an f/8 Cassegrain telescope. Three sets of filters, including Johnson--Cousins UBVRI, Sloan Digital Sky Survey u$'$g$'$r$'$i$'$z$'$ and Strömgren uvby, are installed in a dual layer filterwheel. The photometric system and the CCD camera are introduced in this paper, followed by detailed analysis of their performances, and determination of the relevant parameters, including gain, readout noise, dark current and linearity of the CCD camera. In addition, the characteristics of the site astro-climate condition, including typic…
Previous studies determining which astronomical photometry software is best suited for a particular dataset are usually focused on speed, source classification, and/or meeting a sensitivity requirement. For faint objects in particular, the priority is given to maximizing signal-to-noise. Photometry of moving targets offers additional challenges (i) to aperture photometry because background object contamination varies from image to image, and (ii) to routines that build a PSF model from point sources in the image because trailed field stars do not perfectly represent the PSF of the untrailed ta…
GPUPHOT: A Python Framework for High-Performance GPU-Accelerated Photometry and Distributed Astronomical Data Reduction
Light Bridges S.L.；Universidad de La Laguna (ULL)（拉帕尔马大学）；Instituto Tecnológico y de Energías Renovables (ITER)（技术与可再生能源研究所）；Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC)（加那利天体物理研究所）
Optical observation through sub-meter telescope equipped with CCD camera becomes alternative method for increasing orbital debris detection and surveillance. This observational mode is expected to eye medium-sized objects in higher orbits (e.g. MEO, GTO, GSO \& GEO), beyond the reach of usual radar system. However, such observation of fast-moving objects demands special treatment and analysis technique. In this study, we performed photometric analysis of the satellite track images photographed using rehabilitated Schmidt Bima Sakti telescope in Bosscha Observatory. The Hough transformation was…
Narrow-band filters are often used to constrain the chemical composition of astronomical objects through photometry. A challenge to derive accurate photometry is that narrow-band filters are based on interference of multiple reflections and refractions between thin layers of transparent dielectric material. When the light rays reach the surface of a filter not perpendicular to it, they cross the layers obliquely travelling a path longer than the thickness of the layers and different for each inclination. This results in a blue-shift of the central wavelength and a distortion of the transmissio…
The primary task of the 1.26-m telescope jointly operated by the National Astronomical Observatory and Guangzhou University is photometric observations of the g, r, and i bands. A data processing pipeline system was set up with mature software packages, such as IRAF, SExtractor, and SCAMP, to process approximately 5 GB of observational data automatically every day. However, the success ratio was significantly reduced when processing blurred images owing to telescope tracking error; this, in turn, significantly constrained the output of the telescope. We propose a robust automated photometric p…
The Astronomical Telescope of the University of Stuttgart (ATUS): Development, Optimization, and Lessons Learned
Institute of Space Systems, Universität Stuttgart（斯图加特大学空间系统研究所）；The German SOFIA Institute (Deutsches SOFIA Institut, DSI)（德国SOFIA研究所）；SOFIA Science Center, NASA Ames Research Center（NASA艾姆斯研究中心SOFIA科学中心）
MAIA, a three-channel imager targeting fast cadence photometry, was recently installed on the Mercator telescope (La Palma, Spain). This instrument observes a 9.4 x 14.1 arcmin field of view simultaneously in three color bands ($u$, $g$ and $r$), using three of the largest (un-) available frame-transfer CCDs, namely the 2k x 6k CCD42-C0 from e2v. As these detectors are housed in three separate cryostats, compact cooling devices are required that offer sufficient power to cool the large chips to a temperature of 165K. We explored a broad spectrum of cooling options and technologies to cool the …
A ready-to-deploy MLOps software platform for satellite and NEO detection at meter-class ground-based observatories
Real Instituto y Observatorio de la Armada (ROA)（皇家海军研究院与天文台）；Universidad de Granada（格拉纳达大学）；Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC)（安达卢西亚天体物理研究所）；Safran（赛峰集团）；Universidad de Cádiz（加的斯大学）
The discovery of ubiquitous habitable extrasolar planets, combined with revolutionary advances in instrumentation and observational capabilities, has ushered in a renaissance in the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI). Large scale SETI activities are now underway at numerous international facilities. The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) is the largest single-aperture radio telescope in the world, well positioned to conduct sensitive searches for radio emission indicative of exo-intelligence. SETI is one of the five key science goals specified in the ori…
Nighttime visible-light sky brightness and transparency are reported for the Polar Environment Research Laboratory (PEARL), located on a 610-m high ridge near the Eureka research station, on Ellesmere Island, Canada. Photometry of Polaris obtained in V band with the PEARL All Sky Imager (PASI) over two winters is supported by standard meteorological measurements and visual estimates of sky conditions from sea level. These data show that during the period of the study, October through March of 2008/09 and 2009/10, the sky near zenith had a mean surface brightness of 19.7 mag/square-arcsec when …
The first observations with the 25 cm telescope of the Shumen Astronomical Observatory led to the following conclusions: (a) Intra-night observations of variable stars with an amplitude larger than 0.1 mag are possible down to 14 mag with an acceptable quality with this setup; (b) The equipment is suitable for observations of bright extended objects with sizes up to 30 arcmin (planets, comets, clusters, nebulae, galaxies) with resolution 0.88 arcsec/pix; (c) The guiding of telescope is very good which makes the equipment appropriate for prolonged patrols; (d) The observations with the 25 cm ar…
The internal antarctic plateau revealed in the last years to be a site with interesting potentialities for the astronomical applications due to the extreme dryness and low temperatures, the typical high altitude of the plateau, the weak level of turbulence in the free atmosphere down to a just few tens of meters from the ground and the thin optical turbulence layer developed at the ground. The main goal of a site testing assessment above the internal antarctic plateau is to characterize the site (optical turbulence and classical meteorological parameters) and to quantify which is the gain we m…
We describe and report first results from PALM-3000, the second-generation astronomical adaptive optics facility for the 5.1-m Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory. PALM-3000 has been engineered for high-contrast imaging and emission spectroscopy of brown dwarfs and large planetary mass bodies at near-infrared wavelengths around bright stars, but also supports general natural guide star use to V ~ 17. Using its unique 66 x 66 actuator deformable mirror, PALM-3000 has thus far demonstrated residual wavefront errors of 141 nm RMS under 1 arcsecond seeing conditions. PALM-3000 can provide phase …
Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) is a Chinese mega-science project to build the largest single dish radio telescope in the world. Its innovative engineering concept and design pave a new road to realize a huge single dish in the most effective way. FAST also represents Chinese contribution in the international efforts to build the square kilometer array (SKA). Being the most sensitive single dish radio telescope, FAST will enable astronomers to jump-start many science goals, for example, surveying the neutral hydrogen in the Milky Way and other galaxies, detecting f…
We present some results of testing of commercial color CMOS cameras for astronomical applications. CMOS sensors allow to perform photometry in three filters simultaneously that gives a great advantage compared with monochrome CCD detectors. The Bayer BGR colour system realized in CMOS sensors is close to the Johnson BVR system. We demonstrate transformation from the Bayer color system to the Johnson one. Our photometric measurements with color CMOS cameras coupled to small telescopes (11 - 30 inch) reveal that in video mode stars up to V $\sim$ 9 can be shot at 24 frames per second. Using a hi…
We present a comprehensive methodology for the simulation of astronomical images from optical survey telescopes. We use a photon Monte Carlo approach to construct images by sampling photons from models of astronomical source populations, and then simulating those photons through the system as they interact with the atmosphere, telescope, and camera. We demonstrate that all physical effects for optical light that determine the shapes, locations, and brightnesses of individual stars and galaxies can be accurately represented in this formalism. By using large scale grid computing, modern processo…
The results of a search for peculiar astronomical objects using very low resolution spectra obtained with the NASA Orbital Debris Observatory (NODO) 3 meter diameter liquid mirror telescope (LMT) are compared with results of spectra obtained with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The main purpose of this comparison is to verify whether observations taken with this novel type of telescope are reliable. This comparison is important because LMTs are a novel type of inexpensive telescope that are very useful for astronomical surveys, particularly surveys in the time domain, and a validation of …
"exoplanet" is a toolkit for probabilistic modeling of astronomical time series data, with a focus on observations of exoplanets, using PyMC3 (Salvatier et al., 2016). PyMC3 is a flexible and high-performance model-building language and inference engine that scales well to problems with a large number of parameters. "exoplanet" extends PyMC3's modeling language to support many of the custom functions and probability distributions required when fitting exoplanet datasets or other astronomical time series. While it has been used for other applications, such as the study of stellar variability, t…
Revisiting the Optical F-corona from the Artemis II Total Solar Eclipse with RAW Data: How Far Can Consumer JPEG Images Be Trusted for Astronomical Photometry?
Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University（东北大学前沿跨学科研究院）；Department of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Tokyo City University（东京都立大学理工学部自然科学科）；National Astronomical Observatory of Japan（日本国立天文台）；Ishigakijima Astronomical Observatory（石垣岛天文台）
Context. Accurate photometry with ground based solar telescopes requires characterization of straylight. Scattering in Earth's atmosphere and in the telescope optics are potentially significant sources of straylight, for which the point spread function (PSF) has wings that reach very far. This kind of straylight produces an aureola, extending several solar radii off the solar disk. Aims. We want to measure such straylight using the ordinary science instrumentation. Methods. We scanned the intensity on and far off the solar disk by use of the science cameras in several different wavelength band…
Context. Modern space telescopes are currently providing high-precision light curves for a large fraction of the sky, such that many new variable stars are being discovered. However, some stars have periodic variability with periods of order minutes and require high-cadence photometry to probe the physical mechanisms responsible. A cadence of less than a minute is often required to remove Nyquist ambiguities and confirm rapid variability which forces observers to obtain high-cadence ground-based photometry. Aims. We aim to provide a modern software package to reduce ground-based photometric ti…
Maunakea, the proposed site of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), is a lightning-rod topic for Native Hawaiians, Hawaii residents, and the international astronomy community. In this paper we, Native Hawaiian natural scientists and allies, identify historical decisions that impact current circumstances on Maunakea and provide approaches to acknowledging their presence. Our aim is to provide an Indigenous viewpoint centered in Native Hawaiian perspectives on the impacts of the TMT project on the Hawaiian community. We summarize the current Maunakea context from the perspective of the authors who …
Robust Photometry for Roman High-Latitude Imaging Survey Cosmology Using Roman and Rubin Imaging
The University of Chicago（芝加哥大学）；Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago（芝加哥大学卡弗里宇宙物理学研究所）；McWilliams Center for Cosmology and Astrophysics, Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University（卡内基梅隆大学物理学院麦克威廉斯宇宙学与天体物理学中心）；Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP), The Ohio State University（俄亥俄州立大学宇宙学与高能粒子物理中心）；Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University（俄亥俄州立大学天文学系）；Department of Physics, The Ohio State University（俄亥俄州立大学物理系）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh（匹兹堡大学物理与天文学系）；Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Center (PITT PACC), University of Pittsburgh（匹兹堡大学匹兹堡粒子物理、天体物理与宇宙学中心）；NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（美国宇航局戈达德太空飞行中心）
