Optical follow-up of gravitational-wave events in the Southern hemisphere: Development of the TOROS project software pipeline

南半球引力波事件的光学跟踪：TOROS 项目软件管道的开发

• 批准号: 2108400
• 负责人: Mario Diaz
• 金额: $ 41.44万
• 依托单位: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-07-15 至 2024-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2108400&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Optical; follow; up; gravitational; wave; Optical; follow; up; gravitational; wave

The TOROS (Transient Optical Robotic Observatory of the South) project, developed by researchers at the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, will observe and characterize transient optical light associated with the mergers of compact stellar objects such as pairs of neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole, while working in connection with ground-based gravitational wave detectors. During this research project, the team will fully develop, test and implement the software and pipelines required to successfully carry out the project. This work makes a critical contribution to the multi-messenger research infrastructure by enabling new capabilities in sky coverage with an improved sensitivity in the southern hemisphere at a modest cost. The rapid localization and accurate characterization of electromagnetic emission associated with astrophysical mergers can make significant contributions to the understanding of the production of heavy elements through nuclear processes. The associated gravitational wave information has the potential to yield estimates of the expansion rate of the Universe (the Hubble constant), which complement and are competitive with current techniques. Through a partnership with local school districts and a local amateur astronomical society, the research team will offer formal and informal educational opportunities in astronomy to college and high-school students (more than 92% of them Hispanic). Educational materials will be developed incorporating the images obtained from TOROS and other observatories. The students involved will acquire skills in data analysis, programming, and robotics, skills which are transferrable beyond the discipline of observational astronomy and will be applicable to any STEM field. Students enrolled in these classes will actively participate in the scientific enterprise. The partnership will also directly impact the general population of the Rio Grande Valley through public sessions at the Resaca de la Palma State Park observatory. The TOROS system will be a fully robotic facility. The software to be developed will be critical to integrate all instances of the scientific operation — from responding to gravitational-wave and transient alerts, to scheduling observations, processing the raw data and carrying out the initial analyses. The TOROS telescope and dome are already installed at Cordon Macon in the Argentine section of the Atacama plateau. A custom optical corrector and monolithic 10K×10K CCD camera, yielding a 1.9 square degree field of view sampled at 0.47”/pix, will be installed early in the project. This project advances the goals of the NSF Windows on the Universe Big Idea.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

由德克萨斯大学里奥格兰德山谷（Rio Grande Valley）的研究人员开发的Toros（南方的瞬态光机器人观测值）将观察并表征与紧凑型恒星物体（如中性星星对或中性星星和黑洞）的合并相关的瞬态光学光，同时与地面重力重力波波探测器有关。在此研究项目中，团队将完全开发，测试和实施成功执行该项目所需的软件和管道。这项工作通过在天空覆盖范围中实现新的功能，在南半球的灵敏度提高，以适度的成本以提高灵敏度，从而为多理智的研究基础设施做出了重要贡献。与天体物理合并相关的电磁发射的快速定位和准确表征可以为通过核过程理解重元素的产生做出重大贡献。相关的引力波信息有可能产生宇宙膨胀速率（哈勃常数）的估计，该宇宙已完成并且与当前技术具有竞争力。通过与当地学区和当地的业余天文学会建立合作伙伴关系，研究小组将为大学和高中生提供正式和非正式的教育机会（其中超过92％的西班牙裔）。将开发教育材料，结合从Toros和其他观察家获得的图像。参与的学生将获得数据分析，编程和机器人技术的技能，这些技能被转移到观察天文学的学科之外，并适用于任何STEM领域。参加这些课程的学生将积极参与科学企业。该伙伴关系还将通过Resaca de la Palma州立公园观察中的公开会议直接影响里奥格兰德山谷的一般人口。 Toros系统将是一个完全机器人的设施。要开发的软件对于整合科学操作的所有实例至关重要 - 从响应引力波和瞬态警报，到调度观察，处理原始数据并进行初始分析。 Toros望远镜和圆顶已经安装在Atacama高原阿根廷区的Cordon Macon。 A custom optical corrector and monolithic 10K×10K CCD camera, yielding a 1.9 square degree field of view sampled at 0.47”/pix, will be installed early in the project. This project advances the goals of the NSF Windows on the Universe Big Idea.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed precious of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.