The SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey – II. Image detection, parametrization, classification and photometry

In this, the second in a series of three papers concerning the SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey, we describe the methods for image detection, parametrization, classification and photometry. We demonstrate the internal and external accuracy of our object parameters. Using examples from the first release of data, the South Galactic Cap survey, we show that our image detection completeness is close to 100 per cent to within ∼1.5 mag of the nominal plate limits. We show that for the B _J survey data, the image classification is externally > 99 per cent reliable to B _J∼19.5 . Internally, the image classification is reliable at a level of > 90 per cent to B _J∼21 , R ∼19 . The photometric accuracy of our data is typically ∼0.3 mag with respect to external data for m >15 . Internally, the relative photometric accuracy in restricted position and magnitude ranges can be as accurate as ∼5 per cent for well-exposed stellar images. Colours are externally accurate to σ _{B − R , R − I} ∼0.07 at B _J∼16.5 , rising to σ _{B − R , R − I} ∼0.16 at B _J∼20 .     

Precision astrometry with SuperCOSMOS

We describe the new, fast, high-precision microdensitometer SuperCOSMOS. Some aspects of hardware and software design that enable high-precision astrometry from photographic plates are explained. We show that the positioning repeatability of the measuring machine is less than 0.1 μ μ m standard error in either coordinate, and the absolute positional accuracy is about 0.15 μ m standard error. Furthermore, measurements of the same plate in different orientations show that the sampling errors are small (e.g. ∼ 0.2 μ m, rising to ∼ 1.0 μ m at the plate limit, for stellar images in a IIIaJ emulsion), thus allowing the extraction of relative positional information from Schmidt plates at accuracies less than 1 μ m. We demonstrate that SuperCOSMOS is capable of measuring the positions of bright stars (i.e. those more than ∼ 4 mag above the plate limit) to a precision ∼ 0.5 μ m with survey–grade photographic plates employing fine–grained emulsions.     

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey monitor telescope pipeline

The photometric calibration of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is a multi‐step process which involves data from three different telescopes: the 1.0‐m telescope at the US Naval Observatory (USNO), Flagstaff Station, Arizona (which was used to establish the SDSS standard star network); the SDSS 0.5‐m Photometric Telescope (PT) at the Apache Point Observatory (APO), NewMexico (which calculates nightly extinctions and calibrates secondary patch transfer fields); and the SDSS 2.5‐m telescope at APO (which obtains the imaging data for the SDSS proper). In this paper, we describe the Monitor Telescope Pipeline, MTPIPE, the software pipeline used in processing the data from the single‐CCD telescopes used in the photometric calibration of the SDSS (i.e., the USNO 1.0‐m and the PT). We also describe transformation equations that convert photometry on the USNO‐1.0m u ′g ′r ′i ′z ′ system to photometry the SDSS 2.5m ugriz system and the results of various validation tests of the MTPIPE software. Further, we discuss the semi‐automated PT factory, which runs MTPIPE in the day‐to‐day standard SDSS operations at Fermilab. Finally, we discuss the use of MTPIPE in current SDSS‐related projects, including the Southern u ′g ′r ′i ′z ′ Standard Star project, the u ′g ′r ′i ′z ′ Open Star Clusters project, and the SDSS extension (SDSS‐II). (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

An investigation of lucky imaging techniques

We present an empirical analysis of the effectiveness of frame selection (also known as lucky imaging) techniques for high-resolution imaging. A high-speed image recording system has been used to observe a number of bright stars. The observations were made over a wide range of values of   D / r ₀  and exposure time. The improvement in Strehl ratio of the stellar images due to aligning frames and selecting the best frames was evaluated as a function of these parameters. We find that improvement in Strehl ratio by factors of 4–6 can be achieved over a range of   D / r ₀  from 3 to 12, with a slight peak at   D / r ₀∼ 7  . The best Strehl improvement is achieved with exposure times of 10 ms or less, but significant improvement is still obtained at exposure times as long as 640 ms. Our results are consistent with previous investigations but cover a much wider range of parameter space. We show that Strehl ratios of >0.7 can be achieved in appropriate conditions whereas previous studies have generally shown maximum Strehl ratios of ∼0.3. The results are in reasonable agreement with the simulations of Baldwin, Warner & Mackay.     

基于嵌入式人工智能设备的流星光学监测系统

流星光学监测网是定位陨石和观测火流星的基础科研设施. 流星光学监测系统利用光学相机高速采集天空图像, 使用嵌入式系统实时处理数据, 能够快速识别流星并获取流星位置和陨石落点信息, 是构成流星监测网的关键仪器. 为提高流星光学监测系统获取信息的实时性及准确性, 提出了一种基于嵌入式人工智能设备的流星光学监测系统. 该系统由软件及硬件部分组成: 硬件部分包括观测设备(商用高空抛物摄像头)以及数据处理设备(嵌入式人工智能设备); 软件部分运行于数据处理设备内, 主要包括控制界面模块、流星监测模块、数据管理模块. 实际工作时, 摄像头采集天空视频信息, 流星监测模块从视频流中实时监测流星并存储包含流星视频的数据, 数据管理模块将流星位置信息实时传回数据中心用于预警. 观测结束后, 将原始观测数据同步至数据中心用于后续科学研究. 在整个系统中, 流星监测模块决定了整个监测系统的实时性及准确性. 该系统采用嵌入式人工智能设备与人工智能算法结合的方法构建流星监测模块. 通过使用实测数据对搭载监测模块性能进行测试, 结果表明: 流星监测模块能够达到0.28%的低误检率以及100%的召回率, 且数据处理速度达到了Mobilenetv2的8倍. 进一步将包含监测模块的整个流星光学监测系统部署于太原理工大学-张壁古堡远程天文台, 通过实测表明流星光学监测系统实用中能达到100%的召回率和较低的误检率.     

Fast guiding and small telescopes in the 8-m era

Fast guiding may improve the images delivered by telescopes. It may be implemented fairly cheaply and offers an upgrade path to smaller telescopes, which will make them more useful in the 8-m era. However, the detailed performance of a fast guiding system must depend on many parameters and this makes it difficult to assess its precise scientific benefits. This paper provides a comprehensive mathematical framework for calculating the performance of fast guiding systems. A range of models has been calculated that illustrates the benefits for telescopes of various sizes in various wavelength ranges. Three measures of performance have been examined: FWHM, 50 per cent encircled energy diameter and energy concentration in a 0.35-arcsec aperture. Typical gains over natural seeing are found to be in the 20 to 40 per cent range at useful levels of sky coverage. Other things being equal, small telescopes do not benefit as much as large ones from fast guiding. The sensitivity of these benefits to assumptions has also been examined, and this highlights the need to operate in the correct wavelength range for the aperture in question. The largest perturbations to ideal models are likely to be the result of telescope windshake and the outer scale of turbulence. If there is appreciable windshake, fast guiding will yield larger benefits than expected from the natural seeing. A short outer scale (a few hundred metres) will, however, lose most of the gains.     

Virial treatment of the speed of sound in cold, dense atmospheres and application to Titan

The speed of sound in a gas can be used to identify its composition, as has been done on the Earth. We show that, unlike in terrestrial applications, the third virial coefficient cannot be neglected in cold and dense atmospheres. We derive a model for the speed of sound of pure gases and gas mixtures at low temperatures and high pressures, based on the virial equation. After comparing the results of our model to measured data, we apply our model to the atmosphere of Titan. The difference between our third-order virial expansion and the commonly used second-order expansion is significant, showing that the third virial coefficient needs to be taken into account when accurate speed-of-sound measurements are used to derive atmospheric properties under Titan conditions.     

图像移位堆叠方法用于暗天然卫星的天体测量

暗弱天然卫星与主带小行星相比,具有亮度低、速度变化快的特点.在观测这类天体时,不能简单地延长曝光时间来提高其信噪比.尝试观测多幅短曝光的CCD (chargecoupled device)图像,采用移位堆叠(shift-and-add)方法,希望提高目标成像的信噪比,获得暗弱天然卫星的精确测量结果.使用2018年4月9—12日夜间,中国科学院云南天文台1 m望远镜(1 m望远镜)拍摄的木星5颗暗卫星的229幅CCD图像,实施了移位堆叠试验.为了验证结果的正确性,与相近日期中国科学院云南天文台2.4 m望远镜(2.4 m望远镜)观测的相同木卫图像的测量结果进行了比较和分析.位置归算采用了JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)历表.结果表明,对CCD图像使用移位堆叠方法,通过叠加约10幅曝光时间100 s的图像, 1 m望远镜能观测暗至19等星的不规则天然卫星,而且测量的准确度与2.4 m望远镜的测量结果有良好的一致性.     

Detection of Faint Asteroids Based on Image Shifting and Stacking Method

In order to improve the ability to find the faint and small celestial bodies in the solar system, a method of shifting and stacking images which improves the detection efficiency of faint moving objects is applied to process the sequential optical images. This method determines the existence of moving objects by using the method of false position to pre-estimate the apparent velocities of moving objects, then determines iteratively the accurate positions of moving objects based on the SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) and elongation of stellar image. Using the sequential images of the China Near Earth Object Survey Telescope (CNEOST), we carry out an experiment and succeed in detecting asteroids fainter than 21 magnitude which are invisible on a single image. Thus, the feasibility of this method is verified.     

The entropic prior for distributions with positive and negative values

The maximum entropy method has been used to reconstruct images in a wide range of astronomical fields, but in its traditional form it is restricted to the reconstruction of strictly positive distributions. We present an extension of the standard method to include distributions that can take both positive and negative values. The method may therefore be applied to a much wider range of astronomical reconstruction problems. In particular, we derive the form of the entropy for positive/negative distributions and use direct counting arguments to find the form of the entropic prior. We also derive the measure on the space of positive/negative distributions, which allows the definition of probability integrals and hence the proper quantification of errors.     

Automatic morphological classification of galaxy images

We describe an image analysis supervised learning algorithm that can automatically classify galaxy images. The algorithm is first trained using manually classified images of elliptical, spiral and edge-on galaxies. A large set of image features is extracted from each image, and the most informative features are selected using Fisher scores. Test images can then be classified using a simple Weighted Nearest Neighbour rule such that the Fisher scores are used as the feature weights. Experimental results show that galaxy images from Galaxy Zoo can be classified automatically to spiral, elliptical and edge-on galaxies with an accuracy of ∼90 per cent compared to classifications carried out by the author. Full compilable source code of the algorithm is available for free download, and its general-purpose nature makes it suitable for other uses that involve automatic image analysis of celestial objects.     

E3D,the Euro3D visualization tool II: Mosaics,VIMOS data and large IFUs of the future

In this paper, we describe the capabilities of E3D, the Euro3D visualization tool, to handle and display data created by large Integral Field Units (IFUs) and by mosaics consisting of multiple pointings. The reliability of the software has been tested with real data, originating from the PMAS instrument in mosaic mode and from the VIMOS instrument, which features the largest IFU currently available. The capabilities and limitations of the current software are examined in view of future large IFUs, which will produce extremely large datasets. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Background–source separation in astronomical images with Bayesian probability theory – I. The method

A probabilistic technique for the joint estimation of background and sources with the aim of detecting faint and extended celestial objects is described. Bayesian probability theory is applied to gain insight into the co-existence of background and sources through a probabilistic two-component mixture model, which provides consistent uncertainties of background and sources. A multiresolution analysis is used for revealing faint and extended objects in the frame of the Bayesian mixture model. All the revealed sources are parametrized automatically providing source position, net counts, morphological parameters and their errors.
We demonstrate the capability of our method by applying it to three simulated data sets characterized by different background and source intensities. The results of employing two different prior knowledge on the source signal distribution are shown. The probabilistic method allows for the detection of bright and faint sources independently of their morphology and the kind of background. The results from our analysis of the three simulated data sets are compared with other source detection methods. Additionally, the technique is applied to ROSAT All-Sky Survey data.     

A fuzzy logic‐based algorithm for cosmic‐ray hit rejection from single images

An algorithm for cosmic‐ray rejection from single images is presented. The algorithm is based on modeling human perception using fuzzy logic. The proposed algorithm is specifically designed to reject multiple‐pixel cosmic ray hits that are larger than some of the point spread functions of the true astronomical sources. Experiments show that the algorithm can accurately reject ∼97.5% of the cosmic rays hits, while mistakenly rejecting 0.02% of the true astronomical sources. The major advantage of the presented algorithm is its computational efficiency. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The ORAC‐DR data reduction pipeline

The ORAC‐DR data reduction pipeline has been used by the Joint Astronomy Centre since 1998. Originally developed for an infrared spectrometer and a submillimetre bolometer array, it has since expanded to support twenty instruments from nine different telescopes. By using shared code and a common infrastructure, rapid development of an automated data reduction pipeline for nearly any astronomical data is possible. This paper discusses the infrastructure available to developers and estimates the development timescales expected to reduce data for new instruments using ORAC‐DR. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Software design for panoramic astronomical pipeline processing

We describe the software requirement and design specifications for all-sky panoramic astronomical pipelines. The described software aims to meet the specific needs of superwide-angle optics, and includes cosmic-ray hit rejection, image compression, star recognition, sky opacity analysis, transient detection and a web server allowing access to real-time and archived data. The presented software is being regularly used for the pipeline processing of 11 all-sky cameras located in some of the world's premier observatories. We encourage all-sky camera operators to use our software and/or our hosting services and become part of the global Night Sky Live network.     

Rugate filters for OH-suppressed imaging at near-infrared wavelengths

Ground-based observations at near-infrared wavelengths are severely affected by atmospheric OH bands. Many authors have recognized the potential gains in sensitivity from suppressing these features. Dispersive instruments show some promise but are both expensive and complicated to build. OH suppression filters using single or periodic notches have the advantage of simplicity but significant gains have not yet been realized.   Rugate filters (with graded index inhomogeneous coatings) offer key advantages for astronomical imaging. It is possible to produce a transmission profile comprising a series of irregular and sharply defined bandpasses. We demonstrate through numerical simulation of rugate filters that it should be possible to achieve 95 per cent suppression of the OH features in the J photometric band, while retaining roughly half of the spectral coverage. This would lead to extraordinary gains in sensitivity even for observations of continuum sources. In addition, these filters allow longer exposures before the detector saturates on the sky background. I - and z -band filters can also be envisaged.   In 1-arcsec seeing, a J -band rugate filter used in conjunction with a 4-m telescope would detect a J  = 23 continuum source at 5.0σ in a single 10-min exposure. In comparison, a conventional J filter requires multiple exposures for a 10-min integration time and achieves only a 2.5σ detection. For emission-line sources, the rugate filter has an even bigger advantage over conventional filters, with a fourfold increase in signal-to-noise ratio possible in certain instances.   Astrophysical studies that could benefit from rugate filters are searches for very low-mass stars and galaxy evolution out to z  = 3.