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UMaryland's Astronomical Digital Video System (ADVS) for Occultations

An update on UMaryland's ADVS for Occultations, including background information, project status, recent attempts, and upcoming attempts.

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UMaryland's Astronomical Digital Video System (ADVS) for Occultations

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  1. Update on UMaryland’s Astronomical Digital Video System (ADVS) for Occultations

  2. Personal background Undergrad project on Grazing Lunar Occultations Requests Pluto in 2012 Doable for students Student tech fees in 2013 Started research in Feb 2013, submitted proposal in mid-March; approved in early Aug 2013; items purchased late 2013, delivered early 2014 2014 Spring, summer going through setting up the computer Why? How?

  3. What? • www.kuriwaobservatory.com/ADVS.html • Point Grey Grasshopper Express (GX-FW-28S5M-C) • Field of view • Sensitivity • Cable, Hardware Timer and Camera Controller (HTCC) • MacBook Pro 2.9GHz 13" w/ 8GB Memory and 750GB harddrive • Firewire800 which is standard on the MacBook Pro but is an extra feature on other computers, most of which only have FW400 if they have a FW port at all • large disc drive for the large video files • speedy processor to keep up with tens of frames per second • Portability • arxiv.org/abs/1507.05151

  4. Status – in July 2014 • Installed Ubuntu on the MacBook Pro and started iterations of updating the Ubuntu OS to a version that properly controlled the computer, which ended up being 13.04. • However, neither the camera control software from Pt Grey or ADVR software work under 13.04. • Could step back down to 12.04, but run risk of laptop overheating. • (alternative option) Find a PC (desktop w/ FW800)… This is where we were last summer…

  5. Status • Fall 2014 • Student intern Clayton Smith engaged to work on getting the system working • Software debugging and deconflicting • Late fall doing active tests • Students Jordan Horwat and Mike Cassano trained to collect observations during Fall 2014 • Several tests using camera with a Shorttube 80 on a tripod • Not steady enough and no tracking • (Wanted to try that as that was my “portable” set up) • Spring 2015 • Observations!

  6. Status – 1st Observation • Jan 2015 • Winter break for students, but events happen anytime • 10 Jan 00:38 UTC, (489) Comacina occulted 2UCAC29025706

  7. (489) Comacina

  8. (489) Comacina

  9. (489) Comacina www.asteroidoccultation.com/observations/Results/

  10. Problems • Extremely cold during spring and one of the cables broke • Diagnosed the problem and replaced cable • Couldn’t change frame rates (ongoing since fall) • Worked with Michael Barry and Dave Gault to update to test system and debug • Edit the .ini file and a camera firmware update • (Hesitant to do updates because we are running Linux and don’t want to mess up anything that is working because of Linux dependencies.)

  11. Recent attempts • 2015.03.25 (7259) Gaithersburg and (257206) 2008UA • Building, trees • Equipment problems (broken cable) • 2015.04.27 (2666) Gramme • Successful miss • 2015.05.10 (19696) 1999 SW1 • cloudy • 2015.06.10 (17) Thetis • non-event • 2015.07.08 (904) Rockefellia • cloudy • 2015.08.07 (921) Jovita • Cloudy • 2015.08.09 (46441) Mikepenston

  12. (46441) Mikepenston • 2015.08.09 03:50:42 UTC • Sat 2015.08.08 23:50:42 EDT • Synch Alpheratz (in Andromeda) • Record 23:47 – 23:54

  13. (46441) Mikepenston FOV: SBIG ST-10 on 6” AP f/9

  14. Recent attempts 2015.08.09 (46441) Mikepenston Clear, on target, on time… Observed by two students while I was on vacation! Very fast, needed help with processing (comparison stars are faint) Thanks to Tony George for analyzing the video and confirming the 2-frame occultation! Graphs courtesy Tony George, R-OTE

  15. Upcoming attempts (34116) 2000 PW26 2015.10.20 19:56 EDT (62989) 2000 WC2 2015.10.20 21:20 EDT (319) Leona 2015.10.22 19:27 EDT In 1-sigma at observatory, but in shadow path at home in Alexandria Target star is faint (10658) Gretadevries (6088) Hoshigakubo (8061) Gaudium 51P/Harrington (1452) Zamenhof (129) Antigone

  16. Procedure -- prep • Use OccultWatcher to find a potential occultation.

  17. Procedure -- prep • (319) Leona occults 4UC 384-132090 • Thu 2015-10-22 19:27:30 EDT • ± 7 sec • Max. duration 3.1 sec • Star mag 13.4 • Mag. drop 3.2

  18. Procedure -- prep • Use Starry Night Pro to generate finder charts and determine a synch star. (Overlays show CCD and ADVS FOVs)

  19. Procedure -- prep Use Starry Night Pro to generate finder charts and determine a synch star. (Overlays show CCD and ADVS FOVs)

  20. Procedure -- prep • Use StarryNightPro to generate finder charts and determine a synch star.

  21. TELESCOPE Ops Start up telescope, get initial pointing synch, move to closer synch star, center, focus, and finally move to target star (using coordinates) Match up FOV; take several frames w/ SBIG ST-10 to confirm FOV Place PG camera in eyepiece position Be aware of PG camera orientation in eyepiece holder for field matching ADVS Ops Connect PG camera, HTCC, and computer Start up computer, software Focus PG camera Adjust centering if needed Adjust gamma, gain, frame rates Start recording a few minutes before predicted time Stop recording a few minutes after predicted time Use Tangra3 to analyse Procedure – night of

  22. Procedure -- after • Submit report • If cloudy, report • If miss, report • If observed, fill out detailed report

  23. Procedure -- after

  24. Summary Beta Testing • Purchased the ADVS as a US beta test site • Generally very pleased • Very easy to use system • Sensitive • But • 1 connection is sketchy (loose) • Cables are fragile (winter, cold, brittle) • Connecting to GPS takes a little while • Would be good if they could get it to work with any video camera as there are now many on the market. • Yes, I would recommend.

  25. Resources • ADVS • arxiv.org/abs/1507.05151 • www.kuriwaobservatory.com/ADVS.html • Occult Watcher • www.occultwatcher.net/ • IOTA user group • groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/IOTAoccultations/info • IOTA • www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/iotandx.htm • occultations.org/community/meetingsconferences/na/na2014/2014-presentations-page-2/ • Occult • www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/occult4.htm

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