Testing and Fine-Tuning HANDS’ Automated Photometric Pipeline

1. Testing and Fine-Tuning HANDS’ Automated Photometric Pipeline Austin Barnes Oceanit Mentor: Russell Knox Advisors: Rita Cognion and Curt Leonard Home Institution: Harvard University 2009

2. Overview • Problem: Space Situational Awareness • Solution: Introduction to HANDS • Automated Photometric Pipeline • Calibration Star Correlator • Recommendations • Goal of Photometric Pipeline

3. Problem: Space Situational Awareness • >19,000 objects larger than 10 cm known to orbit the planet at ~17,000 mph • >300,000 objects between 1 and 10 cm • February 2009 satellite collision Nasa Orbital Debris Program Office: www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov

4. Solution: HANDS High Accuracy Network Determination System • Network of deployable robotic telescopes • Capable of: • Astrometry • Photometry

5. Automated Photometric Pipeline Aperture Photometry Satellite Image Reduced Satellite Image Calibration Images Calibration Star Correlator Star Field Image Reduced Star Field Image

6. Calibration Star Correlator • 276 stars found • 35 matched by position to stars in Landolt catalogue with known magnitudes Image Credit: Kawailehua Kuluhiwa

7. Determining Tolerance Average Magnitude Offset Magnitude Offset: Landolt – Observed Angular Separation (arcsec): Landolt – Observed

8. Automated Photometric Pipeline Aperture Photometry Satellite Image Reduced Satellite Image Calibration Images Calibration Star Correlator Star Field Image Reduced Star Field Image Calculate Extinction Coefficients

9. Calculating Extinction Coefficients Slope = Extinction Coefficient Y-Intercept = Instrumental Magnitude Offset Magnitude Offset: Landolt – Observed Airmass

10. Recommendations • Reject outliers based on deviation of ~0.8 mag from average • Allow ≥3 arcseconds of angular separation (up to 5) Average Magnitude Offset Magnitude Offset: Landolt – Observed Angular Separation (arcsec): Landolt – Observed

11. Calculating Extinction Coefficients Slope = Extinction Coefficient Y-Intercept = Instrumental Magnitude Offset Magnitude Offset: Landolt – Observed Airmass

12. Calculating Extinction Coefficients Slope = Extinction Coefficient Y-Intercept = Instrumental Magnitude Offset Magnitude Offset: Landolt – Observed Same Plot Using Outlier Rejection Airmass

13. Automated Photometric Pipeline Aperture Photometry Satellite Image Reduced Satellite Image Standardized Light Curves and Measurements of Tracked Objects Calibration Images Calibration Star Correlator Star Field Image Reduced Star Field Image Calculate Extinction Coefficients

14. Goal of Pipeline • Catalogue standardized magnitudes of detected objects • Identify and differentiate each object • Identify when particular objects change Time 

15. Acknowledgments • Thank you to: • Rita Cognion, Curt Leonard, Russell Knox, James Frith, Kawailehua Kuluhiwa, Brooke Gibson, and the rest of the Oceanit Ohana • Dave Harrington, Mike Foley, Mark Pitts • Lisa Hunter, Nina Arnberg, Mike Nassir, Mark Hoffman • Aunty Lani LeBron, Akamai Workforce Initiative, and the rest of the Maui 2009 Interns The 2009 Maui Akamai Internship Program is funded by the University of Hawaii, the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, the National Science Foundation Center for Adaptive Optics (NSF #AST - 9876783).

16. Questions? Nasa Orbital Debris Program Office: www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov

17. Using Extinction Coefficients • Equation for Standardized Satellite Magnitude: Ms = Mi – k*X + C Ms = Standardized Satellite Magnitude Mi = Instrumental Magnitude k = Extinction coefficient (slope of fitted line) X = Airmass (1 directly overhead, increases towards horizon) C = Instrumental Offset (Y-intercept of fitted line)