Open Exploration of the Time Domain with the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey

通过 Catalina 实时瞬态勘测对时域进行开放式探索

• 批准号: 1313422
• 负责人: Stanislav Djorgovski
• 金额: $ 23.4万
• 依托单位: California Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1313422&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Open; Exploration; Time; Domain; Catalina; Open; Exploration; Time; Domain; Catalina

Exploration of the time domain - discovery and studies of objects and phenomena changing on time scales ranging from seconds to years - is now one of the most vibrant and rapidly developing fields of astronomy, touching on a broad and diverse spectrum of research areas, from the Solar system and discoveries of exoplanets to the distant quasars, and from stellar astrophysics to cosmology and extreme relativistic astrophysics. Time domain information is essential for understanding of some of the most interesting phenomena we observe; for example, we could not learn anything from a single picture of a Supernova, or a single snapshot of a gamma-ray burst; variability of stars aids to our understanding of their structure and evolution; motions of stars tell us about the structure of our Galaxy. We now study the universe and its major constituents as a dynamical, and always changing system. This change was enabled by the progress in information technology. For many years now, large digital sky surveys have been the main sources of data in astronomy. While they can be seen as panoramic cosmic photography, we are now moving into a panoramic cosmic cinematography, with a corresponding increase in information volumes and quality: digital synoptic sky surveys which cover the sky many times, detecting objects and phenomena which change or move. This trend will culminate in the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) years from now, but we are already exploring the science and technology of time-domain astronomy with precursor surveys. They already have a significant potential for discovery, and will help us sharpen our questions and strategies for the larger surveys in the future.This project is a continuation and substantial expansion of the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey (CRTS), an ongoing, productive synoptic sky survey that is producing a steady stream of astronomical transient events, and making them immediately available to the entire community; it is the only current sky survey that does so. It utilizes a data stream obtained in a search for near-Earth and planetary hazard asteroids, funded by NASA, and it leverages considerable existing investments in software and data services. We have established an extensive web of collaborations for the follow-up observations and data analysis. These substantial external resources come at no cost to the NSF, and provide for much greater scientific returns on investment than what could be done with a fully funded, new survey.The overall scientific goal of CRTS is a systematic exploration of the faint, variable sky. CRTS has so far discovered ~6,500 distinct transient events, and 13 million variable sources, including a wide variety of variable stars, active galactic nuclei, various cosmic explosions, stellar flares, etc. For at least 2 years in a row, CRTS has published more Supernovae (SNe) than any other survey, including the most luminous SNe ever seen, long-predicted SNe from AGN accretion disks, hundreds of dwarf novae and other interesting cataclysmic variables, planets around white dwarfs, new counterparts of x-ray sources, new tidal streams in the Galactic halo, etc. In addition to a plenty of known types of objects and phenomena, there is a real possibility of a discovery of previously unknown kinds. This project will continue these studies, and start a number of new ones, that touch on a variety of open astronomical challenges. The unique open data policy of CRTS enables the entire astronomical community to partake in these discoveries. All transient events are published electronically in real time, and all data (images, catalogs, etc.) are also made publicly available; they will enable a broad range of archival science. CRTS may be a showcase for the data sharing and re-use, that must become a standard practice in the 21st century.This project will aid the entire astronomical community in making new discoveries and developing new scientific strategies. It is an example of a new generation of scientific experiments involving real-time mining of massive data streams, and dynamical follow-up strategies. We train undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs, the future science and technology leaders, and develop a broad variety of educational and public outreach materials, both for the new science and computation.

Exploration of the time domain - discovery and studies of objects and phenomena changing on time scales ranging from seconds to years - is now one of the most vibrant and rapidly developing fields of astronomy, touching on a broad and diverse spectrum of research areas, from the Solar system and discoveries of exoplanets to the distant quasars, and from stellar astrophysics to cosmology and extreme relativistic astrophysics.时间域信息对于理解我们观察到的一些最有趣的现象至关重要。例如，我们无法从超新星的一张图片中学到任何东西，或者是伽马射线爆发的单个快照。恒星的变异有助于我们对它们的结构和进化的理解；星星的动作告诉我们有关银河系的结构。现在，我们将宇宙及其主要组成部分研究为一个动态的，并且总是改变的系统。信息技术的进度实现了这一变化。多年来，大型数字天空调查一直是天文学数据的主要来源。虽然它们可以被视为全景宇宙摄影，但我们现在正在进入全景宇宙摄影，信息量和质量相应增加：数字概要天空调查，这些天空调查多次覆盖天空，检测物体和变化或移动的物体和现象。从现在起，这种趋势将在大型概要调查望远镜（LSST）几年中达到高潮，但是我们已经在探索了使用前体调查的时间域天文学的科学和技术。他们已经有很大的发现潜力，并将帮助我们提出未来大型调查的问题和策略。该项目是Catalina实时瞬态调查（CRT）（CRT）的延续和大量扩展，这是一种持续的，富有生产力的概要天空调查，这是一种稳定的短暂性事件，使其立即为整个社区提供了可用的天文学事件；这是当前唯一这样做的天空调查。它利用在搜索由NASA资助的近地和行星危害小行星中获得的数据流，并利用了有关软件和数据服务的大量现有投资。我们为后续观察和数据分析建立了广泛的合作网络。这些实质性的外部资源无需支付NSF的代价，并且提供了比全面资助的新调查所能做到的更大的科学投资回报。到目前为止，CRT已经发现了约6,500个不同的短暂事件和1300万个可变来源，包括各种各样的可变恒星，活跃的银河核，各种宇宙爆炸，恒星爆炸，等等。矮人和其他有趣的灾难性变量，白矮人周围的行星，X射线源的新对应物，银河系子中的新潮汐流等等，除了许多已知类型的物体和现象外，还发现了以前未知类型的实际可能性。该项目将继续这些研究，并开始许多新的研究，这些研究涉及各种开放的天文挑战。 CRT的独特开放数据政策使整个天文学界能够参与这些发现。所有瞬态事件均以电子方式发表，并且所有数据（图像，目录等）也可以公开使用；他们将实现广泛的档案科学。 CRT可能是数据共享和重复使用的展示，这必须成为21世纪的标准实践。该项目将有助于整个天文学界做出新的发现并制定新的科学策略。这是新一代科学实验的一个例子，涉及大量数据流的实时挖掘以及动态的后续策略。我们培训本科生和研究生和博士学位，未来的科学和技术领导者，并为新的科学和计算开发了各种各样的教育和公共外展材料。