|
The Palomar Transient Factory (PTF)〔 is an astronomical wide-field survey designed to search for optical transient and variable sources. It is fully automated, including a wide-field survey camera, an automated realtime data reduction pipeline, a dedicated photometric follow up telescope, and a full archive of all detected sources. The survey is performed with a 12Kx8K, 7.8 square degree CCD array camera〔 re-engineered for the 1.2-m Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory. The survey camera achieved first light on 13 Dec 2008; the project completed commissioning in summer 2009, and was planned to continue until at least 2012. PTF is a collaboration of Caltech, LBNL, Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, Berkeley, LCOGT, Oxford, Columbia and the Weizmann Institute. The project is led by Shrinivas Kulkarni at Caltech. Image Subtraction for near-realtime transient detection is performed at LBNL; efforts to continue to observe interesting targets are coordinated at Caltech, and the data is processed and archived for later retrieval at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC). Photometric and spectroscopic followup of detected objects is undertaken by the automated Palomar 1.5-m telescope and other facilities provided by consortium members. Time-variability studies are undertaken using the photometric/astrometric pipeline implemented at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC). Studies include compact binaries (AM CVn stars), RR Lyrae, cataclysmic variables, and active galactic nuclei (AGN). The successor to PTF is the ''Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory'' (iPTF).〔 〕 ==Scientific goals== PTF covers a wide range of science aspects,〔 including supernovae, novae, cataclysmic variables, Luminous red novae, tidal disruption flares, compact binaries (AM CVn star), active galactic nuclei, transiting Extrasolar planets, RR Lyrae variable stars, microlensing events, and solar system bodies. PTF will fill gaps in our present-day knowledge of the optical transient phase space, extend our understanding of known source classes, and provide first detections or constraints on predicted, but not yet discovered, event populations. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Palomar Transient Factory」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|