Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2019 Annual Meeting of the APS Four Corners Section
Volume 64, Number 16
Friday–Saturday, October 11–12, 2019; Prescott, Arizona
Session B01: Astronomy |
Hide Abstracts |
Chair: Stacy Palen, Weber State University Room: AC1 107 |
Friday, October 11, 2019 10:30AM - 10:42AM |
B01.00001: Preparing the 0.5-meter Telescope at West Mountain Observatory for Exoplanet Observation. Gilvan Apolonio, Michael Joner Telescope tracking systems are particularly critical for long exposures and lengthy time series runs. Even small target drifts on the CCD impact signal/noise ratios due to pixel-to-pixel sensitivity variations. Differential photometry on faint objects, variable stars and transiting exoplanets is greatly affected by tracking issues. Keeping the target object on the same pixels in all frames cancels out many of the differential errors, thus improving overall signal/noise. Mechanical limitations can be overcome by software intervention to ensure precise tracking. The 0.5-meter telescope at the WMO has received a hardware and software upgrade to achieve improved tracking. An automated dome control has been also implemented, minimizing human error and insuring a clear aperture for the telescope. The most significant improvement, however, is in the control software. Features like Closed Loop Slew and periodic re-slews improve target acquisition and tracking correction, maintaining targets in a fixed position on the CCD. As a result, an improvement in the signal/noise ratio is expected, making this system suitable for long exposures and lengthy sets of time series observations. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 11, 2019 10:42AM - 10:54AM |
B01.00002: Second Order Expansion for Parameter Estimation Improvement in High Noise (ISNR) for future Laser Interferometers. Jonathan Westhouse Following the discovery of Gravitational Waves from Black Holes and Neutron Star Collision in 2015, the international community is anticipating a multibillion-dollar investment towards future detectors on Earth and in Space. A critical element involving future detectors is understanding how precisely some measurements can be taken. This limit on precision is tied to the methods of estimation, which in the past has been the Fisher Information Matrix. However, that method is only reliable with low noise (low ISNR). Any measurement that involves high noise requires a different and more realistic method. In this project we apply an asymptotic expansion technique, referred to as the Second Order Fisher Information Matrix, to improve estimation in parameters for future work with Space and Ground interferometers. LIGO currently relies on two, multimillion-dollar detectors in Livingston and Hanford and collaborate with other detector groups (VIRGO, Kagra). Future, large scale detectors have been planned such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and TianGO but the community is still indecisive about specifics and investment towards them. A Second Order Fisher Information Matrix approach will contribute towards determining the parameters and cost effectiveness of these future detector projects. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 11, 2019 10:54AM - 11:06AM |
B01.00003: Characterization of Unresolved Satellite Imagery Using Polarization Data Lucy Zimmerman, Michael Korta, Adrian Scheppe, Francis Chun, Cameron Harris, David Strong, Roger Tippets, Michael Plummer, Marco Pirozzoli Cadets in the Department of Physics at the US Air Force Academy are developing a new optical sensing modality and characterizing the polarization of a 16-inch DFM Engineering telescope and camera system that will allow us to determine the full linear polarization components of a geosynchronous satellite. The use of polarimetry allows us to characterize a satellite from a point source image in order to further inform space situational awareness. To characterize the polarization of the telescope/camera system, a polaroid film is placed on a rotating frame mounted to an Alnitak Flatman light source, and the relative intensities are measured through four polarized filters oriented at different optical angles (0\textdegree , 45\textdegree , 90\textdegree , and 135\textdegree ). For each of the polarized filters, the polaroid film is rotated every 10\textdegree over a range from 0\textdegree to 180\textdegree . Using this data, Malus curves are created, allowing us to construct the Mueller matrix for the optical system. The Mueller matrix will allow us to determine the Stokes vector, which describes the polarized optical signature of a satellite. We will present the results of calibrating the polarization of the telescope/camera system as well as polarization signatures of geosynchronous satellites. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 11, 2019 11:06AM - 11:18AM |
B01.00004: Confirming Faint Objects Data from ATLAS as Variable Stars. Marcelo Bigheti, Eric Hintz, Michael Joner, Jarrod Hansen According to its own description ATLAS is an asteroid impact early warning system being developed by the University of Hawaii and funded by NASA. It consists of two telescopes, 100 miles apart, which automatically scan the whole sky several times every night looking for moving objects. ATLAS will provide one day's warning for a 30-kiloton "town killer," a week for a 5-megaton "city killer," and three weeks for a 100-megaton "county killer". Eventually its observations capture other kind of objects and processes the survey data to search for stationary transients which include supernovae, CVs, stellar outbursts, and fast transients such as GRB afterglows. 9 faint objects from ATLAS project--which might be variable stars--were observed from May to August 2019 at BYU West Mount Observatory and the analysis of their data confirm the nature of those as variable stars. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 11, 2019 11:18AM - 11:30AM |
B01.00005: A Stellar Intensity Interferometry Target Planner Jonathan Davis, Nolan Matthews, David Kieda Over the past decade, a renewed interest has taken place in using Stellar Intensity Interferometery (SII) for performing high angular resolution measurements of stars at visible wavelengths. Areas of study include studying stellar limb-darkening, rapid-rotators, and potentially performing model-independent imaging. A general purpose SII target planner has been created for determining the best stars to observe for any given night. The catalog is generalized and allows users to customize the catalog for a given observatory. Using information from seven different star catalogs, a master SII catalog is constructed. Stars are then ranked based on the ability to make stellar diameter estimates, which is dependent mainly on the estimated angular diameter and apparent brightness. Once stars are ranked, it also allows the user to perform a visual analysis of the given targets. [Preview Abstract] |
Follow Us |
Engage
Become an APS Member |
My APS
Renew Membership |
Information for |
About APSThe American Physical Society (APS) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics. |
© 2024 American Physical Society
| All rights reserved | Terms of Use
| Contact Us
Headquarters
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844
(301) 209-3200
Editorial Office
100 Motor Pkwy, Suite 110, Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 591-4000
Office of Public Affairs
529 14th St NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20045-2001
(202) 662-8700