Transcript The North American Astronomical Photographic Plate Center

The North American
Astronomical
Photographic
Plate Center
A Not-for-Profit
Public Foundation
www.pari.edu
J. D. Cline, M. W. Castelaz,
T. Crowley (PARI)
E. Griffin (DAO)
W. Osborn (CMU)
Session 57.03. Wednesday, June 2, 2004
204th Meeting
of the
American Astronomical Society
One-Minute Overview
 Observations in digital form have become an
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essential element of modern astronomical
research.
At present, generally only recent observations
are available digitally - the rich older collections
of observations are largely available only on
archived photographic plates.
These photographs constitute an enormously
important and, for the large part, unrepeatable
resource for research, but many plate archives
are currently being neglected and their
information may be lost.
International concurrence is mounting to rescue,
preserve and catalog the plates, and to preserve
their information through digitization.
Digitization permits development of an easily
accessible public database of images and spectra
for worldwide retrieval and use.
The task of digitizing the photographic material
is large but uncomplicated, and is fully feasible
with modern technology.
Is digitizing old plates
worth the effort? A few
examples of research
based on archived plate
collections
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Gamma Ray Bursts Historical
Data
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Long-term Star Variability
Re-analysis of old observations
of currently interesting object
that include:
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Near-Earth Asteroids
BL Lac Objects
Novae
What is being done to
preserve and digitize
astronomical plates
A number of projects of plate
preservation and digitization are
currently active. These are
summarized in Table 1.
Table 1. Some Examples of Plate Preservation & Digitization
Projects
Project
URL
Location
IAU Preservation &
Digitization of
Photographic Plates
Working Group
www.inasan.rssi.ru/iau/iau5/tgpd
pp.html
UCCLE Direct
Astronomical Plate
Archive Centre
udapac.oma.be/~fido/ovid.html
Royal Observatory of
Belgium
Wide-Field Plate
Database
www.skyarchive.org
Institute of Astronomy
Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences
Spectroscopic Virtual
Observatory
www.spectraheritage.org/details.
html
Dominion Astrophysical
Observatory
The Plate Collection
of the
Nantucket Maria
Mitchell Association
www.aas.org/%7Epboyce/mma/
plates.htm
Maria Mitchell
Association
4 Vestal St., Nantucket,
MA 02554
The Pisgah Astronomical
Research Institute (PARI) is the
home to a new initiative, called
the North American Center of
Astronomical Photographic Plate
Preservation.
The goal is to be a collection,
preservation, and distribution center
for digitized images of astronomical
plates
The Center is Being Developed in Four
Phases:
I.
Acquisition, Storage and Indexing
II. Local Measurements and Linking
with Other Plate Libraries
III. Digitization
IV. Web Image Database
Why a Center at PARI?
• PARI is a natural home for a plate
archive, offering physically secure and
abundant environmentally controlled
space
• PARI is well suited to serve as a
distribution center for digitized images,
provide available space and Internet 2
infrastructure.
• The Center at PARI is also a long-term
repository for unwanted direct and
objective prism plate collections
currently stored in North America,
complementing the work of the
Spectroscopic Virtual Observatory
(DAO, Canada), whose focus is
digitizing slit spectra plates from
archives worldwide.
Pisgah Astronomical
Research Institute
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PARI is a not-for-profit public foundation
dedicated to providing research and
educational access to radio and optical
astronomy for a broad cross-section of
users.
PARI is located on 200 acres in the Pisgah
National Forest in western North Carolina
The PARI Campus is relatively free of light
and radio interference.
PARI Meets the Requirements
for Facilities and Storage Area
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A secure area with controlled access
Backup power for the entire site
Location with small probability of
flood, earthquake, or fire
Several thousand square feet of floor
space
A clean, relative dust-free environment
with control of humidity, temperature
and protection from direct sunlight
Space for a high resolution scanner and
densitometer
A solid foundation for the digitizing
instrument
High speed internet access
Space for servers and storage media
Funding Requirements
To fully function as a world-wide
distribution center of digitized data
from astronomical plates, the Plate
Center at PARI requires funding for:
•Personnel
•Acquisition of plates
•A scanner
•Data storage and Network
•Electricity, Heating, Humidity
and air conditioning
Those preserving their plate
collections at PARI are asked to work
with the PARI staff to seek grants and
donations for funding to support effort.
PHASE I
1. Acquisition
A. Contact PARI ([email protected])
with the following information:
1. Number of plates
2. Plate Dimensions
3. Type: Objective Prism or Direct
4. Observatory and Telescope used
5. Plate observer/author/log book
6. Sky Coverage
7. Storage for Plates
8. Coordination of shipping of plates:
a. Schedule for Shipping
b. Costs and Funding
B. Ship plates to PARI
1. Box Plates
a. Align plates neatly against each
other within their box to eliminate
side-to-side movement of
individual plates
b. Insert corrugated cardboard filler to
prevent side-to-side plate
movement or end-to-end shifting
2. Transportation
a. Use trucks with air ride suspensions
if at all possible
b. Stack boxes no more than two high
3. Items to be included with plates:
• Copy of Logs
• Cabinets/shelves
4. Plates will be stored at the Center in
their original cabinets if available
2. Relevant information is
catalogued and
indexed on the Internet
Relevant Information for the
Index
Observatory and telescope
Plate observer/author
Plate center coordinates (RA-DEC)
from center of plate “Equinox”
Object/field name and Unique plate
identifier Filter used
Date (yyyymmdd)
Beginning of exposure time in UTC
Continued…
Duration of the exposure in seconds
Emulsion type
Plate size
Multiplicity of the exposure
Object prism indicated
Temperature and humidity
Seeing and transparency
Plate quality
Image Quality
Notes/remarks
3. Secure Long Term Funding
To be an archival resource harnessed by
present and future generations of astronomers
To be a resource for Earth and Atmospheric
Sciences, as well as History of Science.
PHASE II
Local Measurements and
Linking to Other Plate Libraries
 Measuring machines currently at PARI
include (Thanks to Vanderbilt University)
 Grant Line Measuring Comparator
 Becker Iris Diaphram Photometer
 Acquire other measuring machines
 Setup lab space to include
 Internet connection
 Table and desk space
 Document scanner
 Temperature and humidity control
 Easy physical access to plates
PHASE III
Digitization
Plate Digitization
Requirements
Digitizer Requirements
• Scanning resolution similar to
resolution of a photographic plate
• Preserve astrometric precision of
the plate
Data Storage Requirements
• Potentially 3,000,000 plates
Subscribe to the Astronomical Photographic
Plate Listerserver. Go to
http://mail.pari.edu/mailman/listinfo/astro-plates
PHASE IV
Phase IV will be digitization and
development of a public web
accessible database of images.
• Begin service of higher resolution
scanning per astronomer request.
• Continue to acquire plates
• Increase Center staff
Funding will support
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Personnel
Acquisition of plates
A scanner
Computer and data storage
Electricity
Network connection fees
Heating and air conditioning