Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 0806.0256

The StarScan plate measuring machine: overview and calibrations

Norbert Zacharias·Lars Winter·Ellis Holdenried·Jean-Pierre de Cuyper·Ted Rafferty·Gary Wycoff
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The StarScan machine at the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) completed measuring photographic astrograph plates to allow determination of proper motions for the USNO CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC) program. All applicable 1940 AGK2 plates, about 2200 Hamburg Zone Astrograph plates, 900 Black Birch (USNO Twin Astrograph) plates, and 300 Lick Astrograph plates have been measured. StarScan comprises of a CCD camera, telecentric lens, air-bearing granite table, stepper motor screws, and Heidenhain scales to operate in a step-stare mode. The repeatability of StarScan measures is about 0.2 micrometer. The CCD mapping as well as the global table coordinate system has been calibrated using a special dot calibration plate and the overall accuracy of StarScan x,y data is derived to be 0.5 micrometer. Application to real photographic plate data shows that position information of at least 0.65 micrometer accuracy can be extracted from course grain 103a-type emulsion astrometric plates. Transformations between "direct" and "reverse" measures of fine grain emulsion plate measures are obtained on the 0.3 micrometer level per well exposed stellar image and coordinate, which is at the limit of the StarScan machine.

Explore related subjects

astro-ph

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Norbert Zacharias, Lars Winter, Ellis Holdenried, Jean-Pierre de Cuyper, Ted Rafferty, Gary Wycoff. 2008-06-02. The StarScan plate measuring machine: overview and calibrations. https://doi.org/10.1086/589845

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2009

Intensity Scintillation and Astronomical Quantum Observation

Holography is 3D imaging which can record intensity and phase at the same time. The importance of construct hologram is holographic recording and wavefront reconstruction. It is surprised that holography be discovered in study interstellar scintillation for pulsar provide a coherent light source recently. I think that is speckle hologram and speckle interference(i.e. intensity interference), and use modern technique which include phased array,CCD, digital signal processing and supercomputer can achieve that digital and computer holography from radio to X-ray astronomy. This means we can use it to image the universe and beyond the limited of telescope for cosmos provide much coherent light from pulsar,maser, black hole to 21cm recombination line. It gives a probe to the medium of near the black hole et al. From those coherent light sources in the sky, we can uncover one different universe that through astronomical quantum observation which use intensity interference.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2009

Synthesis of Taylor Phase Screens with Karhunen-Loeve Basis Functions

Phase screens above a telescope pupil represent the variation of the phase of the electromagnetic field induced by atmospheric turbulence. Instances drawn from such statistics are represented by a vector of random phase amplitudes which are coefficients of a linear superposition of two-dimensional basis functions across the pupil. This work shortly reviews Fried's analysis of this modal decomposition for the case of Kolmogorov statistics of the phase covariance as a function of separation in the pupil plane. We focus on the numerical synthesis of phase screens. The statistically independent modes are transformed into the eigen-modes of a gradient matrix as time-dependence is introduced such that on short time scales the instances of the phase screens are rigidly shifted into a direction imposed by some wind velocity - known as the Taylor frozen screen approximation. This simple technique factorizes spatial and temporal variables and aims at binding the time dependence of the phase screens to the few expansion coefficients of the basis functions that obey a stochastic time-dependent differential equation.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2009

Towards the First Galaxies

The formation of the first galaxies at redshifts z~10-15 signaled the transition from the simple initial state of the universe to one of ever increasing complexity. We here review recent progress in understanding their assembly process with numerical simulations, starting with cosmological initial conditions and modelling the detailed physics of star formation. In particular, we study the role of HD cooling in ionized primordial gas, the impact of UV radiation produced by the first stars, and the propagation of the supernova blast waves triggered at the end of their brief lives. We conclude by discussing promising observational diagnostics that will allow us to probe the properties of the first galaxies, such as their contribution to reionization and the chemical abundance pattern observed in extremely low-metallicity stars.

astro-ph↗