13,812 research outputs found
Using muon rings for the optical throughput calibration of the SST-1M prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array
Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) are ground-based instruments
devoted to the study of very high energy gamma-rays coming from space. The
detection technique consists of observing images created by the Cherenkov light
emitted when gamma rays, or more generally cosmic rays, propagate through the
atmosphere. While in the case of protons or gamma-rays the images present a
filled and more or less elongated shape, energetic muons penetrating the
atmosphere are visualised as characteristic circular rings or arcs. A
relatively simple analysis of the ring images allows the reconstruction of all
the relevant parameters of the detected muons, such as the energy, the impact
parameter, and the incoming direction, with the final aim to use them to
calibrate the total optical throughput of the given IACT telescope. We present
the results of preliminary studies on the use of images created by muons as
optical throughput calibrators of the single mirror small size telescope
prototype SST-1M proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array.Comment: In Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference
(ICRC2015), The Hague, The Netherlands. All CTA contributions at
arXiv:1508.0589
Arcfinder: An algorithm for the automatic detection of gravitational arcs
We present an efficient algorithm designed for and capable of detecting
elongated, thin features such as lines and curves in astronomical images, and
its application to the automatic detection of gravitational arcs. The algorithm
is sufficiently robust to detect such features even if their surface brightness
is near the pixel noise in the image, yet the amount of spurious detections is
low. The algorithm subdivides the image into a grid of overlapping cells which
are iteratively shifted towards a local centre of brightness in their immediate
neighbourhood. It then computes the ellipticity for each cell, and combines
cells with correlated ellipticities into objects. These are combined to graphs
in a next step, which are then further processed to determine properties of the
detected objects. We demonstrate the operation and the efficiency of the
algorithm applying it to HST images of galaxy clusters known to contain
gravitational arcs. The algorithm completes the analysis of an image with
3000x3000 pixels in about 4 seconds on an ordinary desktop PC. We discuss
further applications, the method's remaining problems and possible approaches
to their solution.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure
Detection of arcs in Saturn's F ring during the 1995 Sun ring-plane crossing
Observations of the November 1995 Sun crossing of the Saturn's ring-plane
made with the 3.6m CFH telescope, using the UHAO adaptive optics system, are
presented here. We report the detection of four arcs located in the vicinity of
the F ring. They can be seen one day later in HST images. The combination of
both data sets gives accurate determinations of their orbits. Semi-major axes
range from 140020 km to 140080 km, with a mean of 140060 +- 60 km. This is
about 150 km smaller than previous estimates of the F ring radius from Voyager
1 and 2 data, but close to the orbit of another arc observed at the same epoch
in HST images.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, To appear in A&A, for comments :
[email protected]
Gravitational Lensing in Clusters of Galaxies
Gravitational lensing in clusters of galaxies is an efficient tool to probe
the mass distribution of galaxies and clusters, high redshift objects thanks to
the gravitational amplification, and the geometry of the universe. We review
some important aspects of cluster lensing and related issues in observational
cosmology.Comment: invited review of the journal: Progress of Theoretical Physics (in
press) 51 pages - 33 figure
Automated Quantitative Description of Spiral Galaxy Arm-Segment Structure
We describe a system for the automatic quantification of structure in spiral
galaxies. This enables translation of sky survey images into data needed to
help address fundamental astrophysical questions such as the origin of spiral
structure---a phenomenon that has eluded theoretical description despite 150
years of study (Sellwood 2010). The difficulty of automated measurement is
underscored by the fact that, to date, only manual efforts (such as the citizen
science project Galaxy Zoo) have been able to extract information about large
samples of spiral galaxies. An automated approach will be needed to eliminate
measurement subjectivity and handle the otherwise-overwhelming image quantities
(up to billions of images) from near-future surveys. Our approach automatically
describes spiral galaxy structure as a set of arcs, precisely describing spiral
arm segment arrangement while retaining the flexibility needed to accommodate
the observed wide variety of spiral galaxy structure. The largest existing
quantitative measurements were manually-guided and encompassed fewer than 100
galaxies, while we have already applied our method to more than 29,000
galaxies. Our output matches previous information, both quantitatively over
small existing samples, and qualitatively against human classifications from
Galaxy Zoo.Comment: 9 pages;4 figures; 2 tables; accepted to CVPR (Computer Vision and
Pattern Recognition), June 2012, Providence, Rhode Island, June 16-21, 201
Pencil-Beam Surveys for Trans-Neptunian Objects: Novel Methods for Optimization and Characterization
Digital co-addition of astronomical images is a common technique for
increasing signal-to-noise and image depth. A modification of this simple
technique has been applied to the detection of minor bodies in the Solar
System: first stationary objects are removed through the subtraction of a
high-SN template image, then the sky motion of the Solar System bodies of
interest is predicted and compensated for by shifting pixels in software prior
to the co-addition step. This "shift-and-stack" approach has been applied with
great success in directed surveys for minor Solar System bodies. In these
surveys, the shifts have been parameterized in a variety of ways. However,
these parameterizations have not been optimized and in most cases cannot be
effectively applied to data sets with long observation arcs due to objects'
real trajectories diverging from linear tracks on the sky. This paper presents
two novel probabilistic approaches for determining a near-optimum set of
shift-vectors to apply to any image set given a desired region of orbital space
to search. The first method is designed for short observational arcs, and the
second for observational arcs long enough to require non-linear shift-vectors.
Using these techniques and other optimizations, we derive optimized grids for
previous surveys that have used "shift-and-stack" approaches to illustrate the
improvements that can be made with our method, and at the same time derive new
limits on the range of orbital parameters these surveys searched. We conclude
with a simulation of a future applications for this approach with LSST, and
show that combining multiple nights of data from such next-generation
facilities is within the realm of computational feasibility.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASP March 1, 2010
Spectroscopic confirmation of the planetary nebula nature of PM1-242, PM1-318 and PM1-333 and morphological analysis of the nebulae
We present intermediate resolution long-slit spectra and narrow-band Halpha,
[NII] and [OIII] images of PM1-242, PM318 and PM1-333, three IRAS sources
classified as possible planetary nebulae. The spectra show that the three
objects are true planetary nebulae and allow us to study their physical
properties; the images provide a detailed view of their morphology. PM1-242 is
a medium-to-high-excitation (e.g., HeII4686/Hbeta ~0.4; [NII]6584/Halpha ~0.3)
planetary nebula with an elliptical shape containing [NII] enhanced
point-symmetric arcs. An electron temperature [Te([SIII])] of ~10250 K and an
electron density [Ne([SII])] of ~2300 cm-3 are derived for PM1-242. Abundance
calculations suggest a large helium abundance (He/H ~0.29) in PM1-242. PM1-318
is a high-excitation (HeII4686/Hbeta ~1) planetary nebula with a ring-like
inner shell containing two enhanced opposite regions, surrounded by a fainter
round attached shell brighter in the light of [OIII]. PM1-333 is an extended
planetary nebula with a high-excitation (HeII4686/Hbeta up to ~0.9) patchy
circular main body containing two low-excitation knotty arcs. A low Ne([SII])
of ~450 cm-3 and Te([OIII]) of ~15000 K are derived for this nebula. Abundance
calculations suggest that PM1-333 is a type I planetary nebula. The lack of a
sharp shell morphology, low electron density, and high-excitation strongly
suggest that PM1-333 is an evolved planetary nebula. PM1-333 also shows two
low-ionization polar structures whose morphology and emission properties are
reminiscent of collimated outflows. We compare PM1-333 with other evolved
planetary nebulae with collimated outflows and find that outflows among evolved
planetary nebulae exhibit a large variety of properties, in accordance with
these observed in younger planetary nebula.Comment: Accepted in The Astronomical Journal, 23 pages, 6 figure
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