A fast 2D image reconstruction algorithm from 1D data for the Gaia mission

A fast 2-dimensional image reconstruction method is presented, which takes as input 1-dimensional data acquired from scans across a central source in different orientations. The resultant reconstructed images do not show artefacts due to non-uniform coverage in the orientations of the scans across the central source, and are successful in avoiding a high background due to contamination of the flux from the central source across the reconstructed image. Due to the weighting scheme employed this method is also naturally robust to hot pixels. This method was developed specifically with Gaia data in mind, but should be useful in combining data with mismatched resolutions in different directions.Comment: accepted (18 pages, 13 figures) will appear in Experimental Astronom

Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction

Context.A new reduction of the astrometric data as produced by the Hipparcos mission has been published, claiming accuracies for nearly all stars brighter than magnitude Hp = 8 to be better, by up to a factor 4, than in the original catalogue. Aims.The new Hipparcos astrometric catalogue is checked for the quality of the data and the consistency of the formal errors as well as the possible presence of error correlations. The differences with the earlier publication are explained. Methods. The internal errors are followed through the reduction process, and the external errors are investigated on the basis of a comparison with radio observations of a small selection of stars, and the distribution of negative parallaxes. Error correlation levels are investigated and the reduction by more than a factor 10 as obtained in the new catalogue is explained. Results.The formal errors on the parallaxes for the new catalogue are confirmed. The presence of a small amount of additional noise, though unlikely, cannot be ruled out. Conclusions. The new reduction of the Hipparcos astrometric data provides an improvement by a factor 2.2 in the total weight compared to the catalogue published in 1997, and provides much improved data for a wide range of studies on stellar luminosities and local galactic kinematics.Comment: 12 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication by Astronomy and Astrophysic

Severe Language Effect in University Rankings: Particularly Germany and France are wronged in citation-based rankings

We applied a set of standard bibliometric indicators to monitor the scientific state-of-arte of 500 universities worldwide and constructed a ranking on the basis of these indicators (Leiden Ranking 2010). We find a dramatic and hitherto largely underestimated language effect in the bibliometric, citation-based measurement of research performance when comparing the ranking based on all Web of Science (WoS) covered publications and on only English WoS covered publications, particularly for Germany and France.Comment: Short communication, 3 pages, 4 figure

The Geometric Calibration of the Planck satellite using point-source observations

The geometric calibration of the Planck satellite is investigated, specifically those parameters which require the use of the science data for their extraction. Methods for the recovery of these geometric-calibration parameters from point source detections in the science data are presented, together with the accuracies which may be achieved. These methods apply to the a posteriori evaluation of these parameters using all the mission data, and may be incorporated into the initial stages of the construction of the Planck final compact source catalogue. It is found that this process achieves the pointing requirements, provided that the geometric-calibration parameters vary only slowly in time. Indeed the errors in the pointing reconstruction due to the geometric calibration parameters may be seen to approach those due to the star tracker.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, Accepted for publication by MNRA

Optimizing point-source parameters for scanning satellite surveys

We describe a method for deriving the position and flux of point and compact sources observed by a scanning survey mission. Results from data simulated to test our method are presented, which demonstrate that at least a 10-fold improvement is achievable over that of extracting the image parameters, position and flux, from the equivalent data in the form of pixel maps. Our method achieves this improvement by analysing the original scan data and performing a combined, iterative solution for the image parameters. This approach allows for a full and detailed account of the point-spread function, or beam profile, of the instrument. Additionally, the positional information from different frequency channels may be combined to provide the flux-detection accuracy at each frequency for the same sky position. Ultimately, a final check and correction of the geometric calibration of the instrument may also be included. The {\it Planck} mission was used as the basis for our simulations, but our method will be beneficial for most scanning satellite missions, especially those with non-circularly symmetric point-spread functions.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication by MNRA

SiON integrated optics elliptic couplers for Fizeau-based Optical Coherence Tomography

The use of integrated optics for Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) can offer significant cost reductions and new applications. We designed, fabricated, and characterized Silicon oxynitride (SiON) elliptic couplers that are used to focus light from a chip into the off-chip environment. Fizeau-based OCT measurements are performed and compared to calculations

Особливості формування етнічного складу селянської верстви Степового Побужжя

In this short paper we sketch a brief introduction to our Krimp algorithm. Moreover, we briefly discuss some of the large body of follow up research. Pointers to the relevant papers are provided in the bibliography