The data zoo in Astro-WISE

In this paper we describe the way the Astro-WISE information system (or simply Astro-WISE) supports the data from a wide range of instruments and combines multiple surveys and their catalogues. Astro-WISE allows ingesting of data from any optical instrument, survey or catalogue, processing of this data to create new catalogues and bringing in data from different surveys into a single catalogue, keeping all dependencies back to the original data. Full data lineage is kept on each step of compiling a new catalogue with an ability to add a new data source recursively. With these features, Astro-WISE allows not only combining and retrieving data from multiple surveys, but performing scientific data reduction and data mining down to the rawest data in the data processing chain within a single environment.     

Tracing and using data lineage for pipeline processing in Astro-WISE

Most workflow systems that support data provenance primarily focus on tracing lineage of data. Data provenance by data lineage provides the derivation history of data including information about services and input data that contributed to the creation of a data product. We show that tracing lineage by means of full backward chaining not only enables users to share, discover and reuse the data, but also supports scientific data processing through storage, retrieval and (re)processing of digitized scientific data. In this paper, we present Astro-WISE, a distributed system for processing, analyzing and disseminating wide field imaging astronomical data. We show how Astro-WISE traces lineage of data and how it facilitates data processing, retrieval, storage and archiving. Particularly we show how it solves issues related to the changing data items typical for the scientific environment, such as physical changes in calibrations, our insight in these changes and improved methods for deriving results.     

Astro-WISE and Grid

The paper reviews the Astro-WISE infrastructure and demonstrates that the Astro-WISE Information System provides a Grid itself. We describe the integration of Astro-WISE with an external Grid infrastructure (BiGGrid). The integration is performed on all infrastructural layers (data storage, metadata and processing layers) with Astro-WISE as a “master” infrastructure. We report the use of the integrated infrastructure for the processing of Astro-WISE hosted data and for the future development of Astro-WISE and Target projects.     

Astro-WISE interfaces

From a simple text interface to a graphical user interfaces—Astro-WISE provides the user with a wide range of possibilities to interact with the information system according to the user’s tasks and use cases. We describe a general approach to the interfacing of a scientific information system. We use this approach to create a number of services, which allows the user to browse the data stored in the system, to process the data and to exchange the newly created images and catalogs with the users within the system and wider astronomical community. Reusability of interfaces and services is another important feature of our approach. It reduces the time and resources spent to interface other information systems created from Astro-WISE.     

The Astro-WISE datacentric information system

In this paper we present the various concepts behind the Astro-WISE Information System. The concepts form a blueprint for general scientific information systems (WISE) which can satisfy a wide and challenging range of requirements for the data dissemination, storage and processing for various fields in science. We review the main features of the information system and its practical implementation.     

Monitoring the photometric behavior of OmegaCAM with Astro-WISE

The OmegaCAM wide-field optical imager is the sole instrument on the VLT Survey Telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory. The instrument, as well as the telescope, have been designed for surveys with very good, natural seeing-limited image quality over a 1 square degree field. OmegaCAM was commissioned in 2011 and has been observing three ESO Public Surveys in parallel since October 15, 2011. We use the Astro-WISE information system to monitor the calibration of the observatory and to produce the Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS). Here we describe the photometric monitoring procedures in Astro-WISE and give a first impression of OmegaCAM’s photometric behavior as a function of time. The long-term monitoring of the observatory goes hand in hand with the KiDS survey production in Astro-WISE. KiDS is observed under partially non-photometric conditions. Based on the first year of OmegaCAM operations it is expected that a ～ 1–2 % photometric homogeneity will be achieved for KiDS.     

MDia and POTS

We describe the Munich Difference Imaging Analysis pipeline that we developed and implemented in the framework of the Astro-WISE¹ package to automatically measure high precision light curves of a large number of stellar objects using the difference imaging approach. Combined with programs to detect time variability, this software can be used to search for planetary systems or binary stars with the transit method and for variable stars of different kinds. As a first scientific application, we discuss the data reduction and analysis performed with Astro-WISE on the pre-OmegaTranS data set, that we collected during a monitoring campaign of a dense stellar field with the Wide Field Imager at the ESO 2.2 m telescope.     

Information systems playground—the target infrastructure

The Target infrastructure has been specially built as a storage and compute infrastructure for the information systems derived from Astro-WISE. This infrastructure will be used by several applications that collaborate in the area of information systems within the Target project. It currently consists of 10 PB of storage and thousands of computational cores. The infrastructure has been constructed based on the requirements of the applications. The storage is controlled by the Global Parallel File System of IBM. This file system takes care of the required flexibility by combining storage hardware with different characteristics into a single file system. It is also very scalable, which allows the system to be extended into the future, while replacing old hardware with new technology.     

Implementation of PhotoZ under Astro-WISE

We describe the implementation of the PhotoZ code in the framework of the Astro-WISE package and as part of the Photometric Classification Server of the PanSTARRS pipeline. Both systems allow the automatic measurement of photometric redshifts for the millions of objects being observed in the PanSTARRS project or expected to be observed by future surveys like KIDS, DES or EUCLID.     

The Astro-WISE approach to quality control for astronomical data

We present a novel approach to quality control during the processing of astronomical data. Quality control in the Astro-WISE Information System is integral to all aspects of data handing and provides transparent access to quality estimators for all stages of data reduction from the raw image to the final catalog. The implementation of quality control mechanisms relies on the core features in this Astro-WISE Environment (AWE): an object-oriented framework, full data lineage, and both forward and backward chaining. Quality control information can be accessed via the command-line awe-prompt and the web-based Quality-WISE service. The quality control system is described and qualified using archive data from the 8-CCD Wide Field Imager (WFI) instrument (http://www.eso.org/lasilla/instruments/wfi/) on the 2.2-m MPG/ESO telescope at La Silla and (pre-)survey data from the 32-CCD OmegaCAM instrument (http://www.astro-wise.org/~omegacam/) on the VST telescope at Paranal.     

空间科学虚拟观测台体系结构研究

科学观测数据的海量增长,使得旨在实现资源互操作的虚拟观测台(VO)应运而生,并迅速受到相关学科的支持和重视。国际虚拟天文台联盟(IVOA)、行星科学数据系统(PDS)和空间物理归档检索抽取标准(SPASE)等数据组织,正加快制定数据管理模型,推动VO的发展和跨学科应用。结合空间科学应用研究的特点,在借鉴国内外天文和空间科学VO研究成果的基础上,提出了一种针对空间科学数据的Hybrid型VO体系结构,并基于此体系结构发展了一个支持同步收割、格式化管道和事件关联发现的空间科学VO原型。实践和应用结果表明,基于这种体系结构建立的VO在解决全局资源的实时同步、异构应用的高度集成和面向科学问题的数据发现等问题上,有一定的普适性。     

A motion planning algorithm for the feed support system of FAST

The paper relates to a motion planning algorithm for the feed support system of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope(FAST).To enhance the stability of the feed support system,the start/termination planning segments are adopted with an acceleration and deceleration section.The source switching planning adopts a combination of a line segment and focal segment to realize stable control of the feed support system.Besides,during the observation trajectory,a transition segment which is not used for observation data is planned with a required time.Through an example simulation,a smooth change is realized via the motion planning algorithm and presented in this paper.     

A high speed networked signal processing platform for multi-element radio telescopes

A new architecture is presented for a Networked Signal Processing System (NSPS) suitable for handling the real-time signal processing of multi-element radio telescopes. In this system, a multi-element radio telescope is viewed as an application of a multi-sensor, data fusion problem which can be decomposed into a general set of computing and network components for which a practical and scalable architecture is enabled by current technology. The need for such a system arose in the context of an ongoing program for reconfiguring the Ooty Radio Telescope (ORT) as a programmable 264-element array, which will enable several new observing capabilities for large scale surveys on this mature telescope. For this application, it is necessary to manage, route and combine large volumes of data whose real-time collation requires large I/O bandwidths to be sustained. Since these are general requirements of many multi-sensor fusion applications, we first describe the basic architecture of the NSPS in terms of a Fusion Tree before elaborating on its application for the ORT. The paper addresses issues relating to high speed distributed data acquisition, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based peer-to-peer networks supporting significant on-the fly processing while routing, and providing a last mile interface to a typical commodity network like Gigabit Ethernet. The system is fundamentally a pair of two co-operative networks, among which one is part of a commodity high performance computer cluster and the other is based on Commercial-Off The-Shelf (COTS) technology with support from software/firmware components in the public domain.     

THE VALUE OF HUMANS IN THE BIOLOGICAL EXPLORATION OF SPACE

Regardless of the discovery of life on Mars, or of “no apparent life” on Mars, the questions that follow will provide a rich future for biological exploration. Extraordinary pattern recognition skills, decadal assimilation of data and experience, and rapid sample acquisition are just three of the characteristics that make humans the best means we have to explore the biological potential of Mars and other planetary surfaces. I make the case that instead of seeing robots as in conflict, or even in support, of human exploration activity, from the point of view of scientific data gathering and analysis, we should view humans as the most powerful robots we have, thus removing the separation that dogs discussions on the exploration of space. The narrow environmental requirements of humans, although imposing constraints on the life support systems required, is more than compensated for by their capabilities in biological exploration. I support this view with an example of the “Christmas present effect,” a simple demonstration of human data and pattern recognition capabilities.     

Balmer absorption variability and the disc wind of V592 Cassiopeiae

We present results from time-series optical spectroscopy of the low-inclination, nova-like cataclysmic variable, V592 Cas. The data span the wavelength range from ∼4000 to 5000  Å, and include Balmer lines (Hβ to Hε) as well as He i and He ii . The Balmer lines are generally characterized by shallow absorption troughs with superimposed narrower central emission components. The absorption troughs are variable on time-scales of at least ∼20 min, but the fluctuations are asymmetric such that they are more dominant on the blueward side of the profile out to ∼−2000 km s⁻¹. Fourier analysis reveals modulation periods for emission radial velocities and absorption changes of ∼0.114 and 0.103 d; we support earlier suggestions that the latter is likely to be 1-day alias of the former, which is essentially the system orbital period. However, there is a phase lag of ∼0.3 between absorption and emission changes. The Balmer absorption changes are compared to the predicted behaviour caused by the (stream overflowing) SW Sex phenomenon. There are several discrepancies in this scenario, including the highly asymmetric nature of blueward changes, the velocity amplitudes, and the phase relation to the emission changes. The role of a disc wind in V592 Cas is also discussed; in particular, with this data set, we cannot rule in or rule out the possibility that axisymmetry of the outflow is broken because it is seated on a warped/tilted inner disc, which is implied by previous evidence for negative superhumps in this system.     

Top layers charaterization of the Martian surface: Permittivity estimation based on geomorphology analysis

Mars Express spacecraft inserted successfully Martian orbit at the end of 2003. On board this probe, a radar instrument called MARSIS (for Mars Advanced Radar for Surface and Ionosphere Sounding) is looking for water inside the first kilometers of Martian crust. To support MARSIS planning and data inversion, Laboratoire de Planétologie de Grenoble developed a MARSIS signal simulator.We show in this paper that MARSIS can also characterize some surface features, in addition to subsurface water and ionosphere sounding. We study a Martian surface region of special interest: Nilokeras Mensae, inside Acidalia Planitia. We discuss the previous geological studies of this region, and show the geomorphologies analyze of this surface area could lead to a simple terrain model. Then, we present a possible data inversion scheme and applying the MARSIS simulator, we test a first radar data inversion.Finally, we will show that complete dielectric characteristics of surface top layers can be retrieved, at least as often Mars Express flies over some layered terrain (at wavelength scale).     

建立WebGIS的月球三维可视化关键技术

嫦娥工程获得了大量月球探测数据。针对让公众用户通过网络获取月球信息,更好了解月球知识的需求,地面应用系统提出了建立基于WebGIS的月球三维可视化系统的解决方案。首先介绍了国内外三维月球的发展现状,详细分析了开发WebGIS系统的客户端和服务器端技术,重点阐述了月球空间数据模型和三维场景可视化渲染等三维GIS可视化关键技术,为建立我国的三维月球可视化系统提供了理论支持。     

The Kuiper Belt luminosity function from mR= 22 to 25

In summer 1999, we performed a survey optimized for the discovery of irregular satellites of Uranus and Neptune. We imaged 11.85 deg² of sky and discovered 66 new outer Solar system objects (not counting the three new Uranian satellites). Given the very short orbital arcs of our observations, only the heliocentric distance can be reliably determined. We were able to model the radial distribution of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). Our data support the idea of a strong depletion in the surface density beyond 45 au.
After fully characterizing this survey's detection efficiency as a function of object magnitude and rate of motion, we find that the apparent luminosity function of the trans-Neptunian region in the range   m_R = 22–25  is steep with a best-fitting cumulative power-law index of  α≃ 0.76  with one object per deg² estimated at magnitude   R _o= 23.3  . This steep slope, corresponding to a differential size index of   q ≃ 4.8  , agrees with other older and more recent analyses for the luminosity function brighter than 25 mag. A double power-law fit to the new data set turns out to be statistically unwarrented; this large and homogeneous data set provides no evidence for a break in the power-law slope, which must eventually occur if the Bernstein et al. sky density measurements are correct.     

Bayesian calibrated significance levels applied to the spectral tilt and hemispherical asymmetry

Bayesian model selection provides a formal method of determining the level of support for new parameters in a model. However, if there is not a specific enough underlying physical motivation for the new parameters it can be hard to assign them meaningful priors, an essential ingredient of Bayesian model selection. Here we look at methods maximizing the prior so as to work out what is the maximum support the data could give for the new parameters. If the maximum support is not high enough then one can confidently conclude that the new parameters are unnecessary without needing to worry that some other prior may make them significant. We discuss a computationally efficient means of doing this which involves mapping p-values on to upper bounds of the Bayes factor (or odds) for the new parameters. A p-value of 0.05 (1.96σ) corresponds to odds less than or equal to 5:2, which is below the 'weak' support at best threshold. A p-value of 0.0003 (3.6σ) corresponds to odds of less than or equal to 150:1, which is the 'strong' support at best threshold. Applying this method we find that the odds on the scalar spectral index being different from one are 49:1 at best. We also find that the odds that there is primordial hemispherical asymmetry in the cosmic microwave background are 9:1 at best.     

Similarity model of feed support system for FAST

A new design of feed support system for Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) is proposed in this paper. According to the similarity theory, a 1:15 scale model of feed support system has been built to make systemic research on the feasibility of the system. Then the control system and hardware structure of the feed support system are illustrated. A complete astronomical observation track is run by the scale model and the experiments results demonstrate that the new feed support system can satisfy the observation accuracy requirement of FAST.