Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006aas...20915414b&link_type=abstract
2007 AAS/AAPT Joint Meeting, American Astronomical Society Meeting 209, #154.14; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society,
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
8000 photographic plates originally taken at Maria Mitchell Observatory from 1913 to 1996 were scanned and digitized in 2002-2003. The resulting scans are stored in TIFF format. We have investigated the use of currently existing tools to convert plate coordinates to RA and Dec to ready the scans for inclusion in the National Virtual Observatory. This involves converting the scans to FITS format and adding WCS headers. Five of the digitized images, with slightly different centers, covering 13° x 16° in Cygnus, were calibrated using the CDS Aladin program version 3.6. An initial Tangent Plane fit was produced by entering parameters applicable for the MMO plates. The images were first calibrated by parameters. The calibration was refined by matching stars images with their positions by overlaying the positions from the Bright Star Catalog. Once a reasonably accurate calibration has been determined, additional star catalogs can be used to refine the calibration.
We find that the accuracy of the calibration for a Tangent Plane is not heavily dependent upon the number of stars used. Using a simple Tangent Plane model on these wide-field plates, the coordinates of objects near the edges of the plate often differ from coordinates of objects in the catalog by up to an arcminute. As a check, we also used the WCS Tools programs written by Doug Mink at the Harvard-Smithsonian CfA, and they yield the same results. A satisfactory astrometric calibration which covers the whole field will require the use of higher order polynomials.
This project was supported by the NSF/REU grant AST-0354056, the NASA/AAS Small Research Grant Program and the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association.
Boyce Peter Bradford
Truong Phuongmai N.
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