Observation scheduling and automatic data reduction for the Antarctic telescope, ASTEP+
The possibility to observe transiting exoplanets from Dome C in Antarctica provides immense benefits: stable weather conditions, limited atmospheric turbulence, and a night that lasts almost three months due to the austral winter. However, this site also presents significant limitations, such as lim...
Published in: | Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems IX |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Conference Object |
Language: | English |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-04106813 https://hal.science/hal-04106813/document https://hal.science/hal-04106813/file/2208.04501%281%29.pdf https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2629920 |
Summary: | The possibility to observe transiting exoplanets from Dome C in Antarctica provides immense benefits: stable weather conditions, limited atmospheric turbulence, and a night that lasts almost three months due to the austral winter. However, this site also presents significant limitations, such as limited access for maintenance and internet speeds of only a few KB/s. This latter factor means that the approximately 6 TB of data collected annually must be processed on site automatically, with only final data products being sent once a day to Europe. In this context, we present the current state of operations of ASTEP+, a 40 cm optical telescope located at Concordia Station in Antarctica. Following a successful summer campaign, ASTEP+ has begun the 2022 observing season with a brand-new two-colour photometer with increased sensitivity. A new Python data analysis pipeline installed on a dedicated server in Concordia will significantly improve the precision of the extracted photometry, enabling us to get higher signal-to-noise transit detections. The new pipeline additionally incorporates automatic transit modelling to reduce the amount of manual post-processing required. It also handles the automatic daily transfer of the photometric lightcurves and control data to Europe. Additionally, we present the Python and web-based systems used for selection and scheduling of transit observations; these systems have wide applicability for the scheduling of other astronomical observations with strong time constraints. We also review the type of science that ASTEP+ will be conducting and analyse how unique ASTEP+ is to exoplanet transit research. |
---|