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Surveying the Southern Sky with a Robotic Camera

Surveying the Southern Sky with a Robotic Camera. John E. Gaustad Swarthmore College Wayne Rosing Las Cumbres Observatory. SHASSA Southern H-Alpha Sky Survey Atlas. Survey Properties. Coverage: declination +15 to -90 Image size: 13 x 13 degrees Image resolution: 0.8 arcminutes

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Surveying the Southern Sky with a Robotic Camera

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  1. Surveying the Southern Sky with a Robotic Camera • John E. Gaustad • Swarthmore College • Wayne Rosing • Las Cumbres Observatory

  2. SHASSASouthern H-Alpha Sky Survey Atlas

  3. Survey Properties • Coverage: declination +15 to -90 • Image size: 13 x 13 degrees • Image resolution: 0.8 arcminutes • Images to cover the sky: 283 • Sensitivity: 2 rayleigh (2% of POSS) • Purpose: • study structure of ISM • set limits on free-free contribution to microwave foreground

  4. We difference line and continuum images:

  5. Equipment • 50 mm f/1.6 Canon lens • Spectrasource CCD camera, TE cooled • 1024x1024 TI chip, 12 micron pixels • Filters: 3 nm H-a, 6 nm dual-band cont. • Byers German mount • 10-foot dome from Technical Innovations • Two PCs, Win95, Visual Basic

  6. Location: Cerro Tololo (Chile)

  7. Lessons Learned

  8. It Will Take Longer Than You Think • Dec ’92 DVB “We ought to do a survey.” • ’93-’96 Pilot study • Apr ’96 Pilot study paper published • Jul ’94 First NSF proposal rejected • Jul ’95 JG met WR at Pittsburg AAS • May ’96 Second NSF proposal funded • Nov ’97 First observations at CTIO • Oct ’00 Observations completed • Nov’01 Survey published in PASP

  9. Robotic is Good • Robots don’t need much space • But the people who set them up do – plan plenty of space for people to move around while installing and repairing • Robots don’t get bored • Robots don’t have to be paid – relatively cheap project

  10. Dudley Observatory 10,000 Fund for Astr. Res. 5,000 AAS 3,000 Keck NE Ast. Cons. 15,000 Swarthmore College 27,000 NSF-9529057 54,000 NSF-9900622 48,000 NASA-JPL 15,000 TOTAL $177,000 Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper 2 million Two-micron All Sky Survey 20 million Sloan Digital Sky Survey 100 million Microwave Anisotropy Probe 180 million SHASSA 0.2 million = 1 deci-wham = 1 centi-2mass = 2 milli-sloan = 1 milli-map SHASSA Project Cost

  11. Humans Are Useful • A truly unattended instrument is costly • Location at an established facility gives • easy access during setup and testing • logistic support • local staff able to make minor repairs, reboot computers, etc. • human judgments on weather and safety (communicated by email to the robot) • camaraderie with other scientists

  12. Perfection is Unattainable • There is no such thing as an uninterruptible power supply • Computers do fail: • add cooling fans to power supplies and CPUs • record data redundantly on separate disks • Learn when to say “this is good enough” – rely on humans for the rest

  13. Keep It Simple • Use a simple shelter, such as a roll-off roof, not a dome • Use separate computers for telescope control, camera control, and communications, so these tasks don’t interfere with each other • Use a computer system compatible with the local network • Invest in accurate telescope drives, so guiding and focusing is not an issue

  14. Test, Test, Test • Pre-deploy a trial computer at the remote site for a few months, in order to identify power supply, network reliability, and communications problems • Integrate and operate the ENTIRE system at home before deploying to a remote site • Allocate a month or more for initial installation and testing at the remote site

  15. Do a Pilot Study • Helps to clarify scientific goals • Identifies technical problems • If it ends up with publishable results, establishes credibility with funding agencies

  16. Benefits of Amateur-Professional Collaboration

  17. Point of View of Amateur • Professionals provided • knowledge of scientific goals • credibility with funding agencies, observatory directors, journal editors • project management • image processing skills • experience in writing scientific papers

  18. Point of View of Professional • Amateur provided • high-quality instrumentation • technical expertise • engineering time • enthusiasm, confidence, and dedication • This meant the project could be done at much lower cost to funding agencies than would otherwise be possible.

  19. Would We Do It Again? Yes! But with more realistic expectations of time and effort involved. In fact, we are now repeating the survey at the wavelengths of [SII] and [OIII] lines

  20. http://amundsen.swarthmore.edu/SHASSA

  21. http://amundsen.swarthmore.edu/SHASSA

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