the north american astronomical photographic plate center session 57.03. wednesday, june 2, 2004 204...
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The North American Astronomical Photographic Plate Center
Session 57.03. Wednesday, June 2, 2004 204th Meeting
of the American Astronomical Society
A Not-for-Profit Public Foundation
www.pari.edu
J. D. Cline, M. W. Castelaz, T. Crowley (PARI)
E. Griffin (DAO)
W. Osborn (CMU)
One-Minute OverviewOne-Minute Overview Observations in digital form have become an
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 Is digitizing old plates worth the effort? A few examples of the effort? A few examples of research based on archived research based on archived
plate collectionsplate collections
Gamma Ray Bursts Historical Data
Long-term Star Variability
Re-analysis of old observations of currently interesting object that include:
• Near-Earth Asteroids
• BL Lac Objects
• Novae
What is being done to What is being done to preserve and digitize preserve and digitize astronomical platesastronomical plates
A number of projects of plate preservation and digitization are currently active. These are summarized in Table 1.
Project URL Location
IAU Preservation & Digitization of Photographic Plates Working Group
www.inasan.rssi.ru/iau/iau5/tgpdpp.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 AstronomyBulgarian Academy of Sciences
Spectroscopic Virtual Observatory
www.spectraheritage.org/details.html
Dominion Astrophysical Observatory
The Plate Collection of theNantucket Maria Mitchell Association
www.aas.org/%7Epboyce/mma/plates.htm
Maria Mitchell Association4 Vestal St., Nantucket, MA 02554
Table 1. Some Examples of Plate Preservation & Table 1. Some Examples of Plate Preservation & Digitization ProjectsDigitization Projects
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
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
Why a Center at PARI?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
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 CarolinaThe PARI Campus is relatively free of light and radio interference.
N
PARI Meets the Requirements PARI Meets the Requirements for Facilities and Storage Areafor Facilities and Storage Area
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 RequirementsFunding 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.
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
PHASE I
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 RequirementsPlate 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 tohttp://mail.pari.edu/mailman/listinfo/astro-plates
Funding will support
•Personnel•Acquisition of plates•A scanner•Computer and data storage•Electricity •Network connection fees•Heating and air conditioning
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
PHASE IV