Photometric Analysis of Recently Discovered Eclipsing Binary GSC 00008-00901

Photometric analysis of $BVR_C$ light curves of newly discovered eclipsing binary GSC 0008-00901 is presented. The orbital period is improved to 0.28948(11) days. Photometric parameters are determined, as well. The analysis yielded to conclusion that system is an over-contact binary of W UMa type with components not in thermal contact. The light curves from 2005 show the presence of a spot on the surface of one of the components, while light curves from 2006 are not affected by maculation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

A Comparison of the Gaia and LSST Surveys

Gaia and LSST are two projects that will perform large, multi-epoch, surveys of the sky. Gaia will provide an all-sky map with trigonometric parallaxes of unprecedented accuracy, proper motion and photometric measurements for about a billion stars with G magnitudes up to ∼ 20. LSST, on the other hand, will extend this map to r magnitudes up to ∼ 27 over half of the sky, detecting about 10 billion stars. In this presentation, we will summarise and compare the performances of the two projects, and identify their specific strengths and synergies. It will be shown how the two projects are complementary, Gaia mapping the Milky Way's disk with unprecedented detail, and LSST extending this map to objects located up to the edge of the Galactic halo. A specific focus will be given to the question of multi-epoch observations of these projects and their respective performances

Large Synoptic Survey Telescope: From science drivers to reference design

In the history of astronomy, major advances in our understanding of the Universe have come from dramatic improvements in our ability to accurately measure astronomical quantities. Aided by rapid progress in information technology, current sky surveys are changing the way we view and study the Universe. Next- generation surveys will maintain this revolutionary progress. We focus here on the most ambitious survey currently planned in the visible band, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). LSST will have unique survey capability in the faint time domain. The LSST design is driven by four main science themes: constraining dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. It will be a large, wide-field ground-based system designed to obtain multiple images covering the sky that is visible from Cerro Pachon in Northern Chile. The current baseline design, with an 8.4 m (6.5 m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg2 field of view, and a 3,200 Megapixel camera, will allow about 10,000 square degrees of sky to be covered using pairs of 15-second exposures in two photometric bands every three nights on average. The system is designed to yield high image quality, as well as superb astrometric and photometric accuracy. The survey area will include 30,000 deg2 with δ < +34.5◦ , and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, ugrizy, covering the wavelength range 320-1050 nm. About 90% of the observing time will be devoted to a deep- wide-fast survey mode which will observe a 20,000 deg2 region about 1000 times in the six bands during the anticipated 10 years of operation. These data will result in databases including 10 billion galaxies and a similar number of stars, and will serve the majority of science programs. The remaining 10% of the observing time will be allocated to special programs such as Very Deep and Very Fast time domain surveys. We describe how the LSST science drivers led to these choices of system parameters

Characterization of the Praesepe Star Cluster by Photometry and Proper Motions with 2MASS, PPMXL, and Pan-STARRS

Membership identification is the first step in determining the properties of a star cluster. Low-mass members in particular could be used to trace the dynamical history, such as mass segregation, stellar evaporation, or tidal stripping, of a star cluster in its Galactic environment. We identified member candidates of the intermediate-age Praesepe cluster (M44) with stellar masses ~0.11-2.4 M ☉, using Panoramic Survey Telescope And Rapid Response System and Two Micron All Sky Survey photometry, and PPMXL proper motions. Within a sky area of 3° radius, 1040 candidates are identified, of which 96 are new inclusions. Using the same set of selection criteria on field stars, an estimated false positive rate of 16% was determined, suggesting that 872 of the candidates are true members. This most complete and reliable membership list allows us to favor the BT-Settl model over other stellar models. The cluster shows a distinct binary track above the main sequence, with a binary frequency of 20%-40%, and a high occurrence rate of similar mass pairs. The mass function is consistent with that of the disk population but shows a deficit of members below 0.3 solar masses. A clear mass segregation is evidenced, with the lowest-mass members in our sample being evaporated from this disintegrating cluster

GALEX AND PAN-STARRS1 DISCOVERY OF SN IIP 2010aq: THE FIRST FEW DAYS AFTER SHOCK BREAKOUT IN A RED SUPERGIANT STAR

We present the early UV and optical light curve of Type IIP supernova (SN) 2010aq at z=0.0862, and compare it to analytical models for thermal emission following SN shock breakout in a red supergiant star. SN 2010aq was discovered in joint monitoring between the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) Time Domain Survey (TDS) in the NUV and the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey (PS1 MDS) in the g, r, i, and z bands. The GALEX and Pan-STARRS1 observations detect the SN less than 1 day after shock breakout, measure a diluted blackbody temperature of 31,000 +/- 6,000 K 1 day later, and follow the rise in the UV/optical light curve over the next 2 days caused by the expansion and cooling of the SN ejecta. The high signal-to-noise ratio of the simultaneous UV and optical photometry allows us to fit for a progenitor star radius of 700 +/- 200 R_sun, the size of a red supergiant star. An excess in UV emission two weeks after shock breakout compared to SNe well fitted by model atmosphere-code synthetic spectra with solar metallicity, is best explained by suppressed line blanketing due to a lower metallicity progenitor star in SN 2010aq. Continued monitoring of PS1 MDS fields by the GALEX TDS will increase the sample of early UV detections of Type II SNe by an order of magnitude, and probe the diversity of SN progenitor star properties.Comment: 4 pages, 3 color figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters, corrections from proofs adde