Re: idea

[aah@nofs.navy.mil]

Benoit suggested that others outside of the mark III sites might be able
to contribute to the TASS survey.  Tom and others agreed, and I concur
as well.  Nice idea!
  Like Mike G. said, the software has been geared toward the mark III
drift scan cameras, and would require some modification for other types.
Also, mark III sites use more than one filter, so that the data can be
transformed onto a common system and intercompared.  If an additional
site using, say, a single ST-7 were to take drift-scan data, then it might be
difficult to compare its raw data with the TASS transformed data.  It is
not out of the question to use such data for finding variables, as long
as the new site's filters are close to Johnson bandpasses.  The main
thing is to use a star extraction program and only submit star lists,
as handling many 'foreign' raw fits files might get out of hand.
  One advantage outside sites have is that their camera is usually attached to
a real telescope.  Therefore, I could envision a plan in which you observe
a strip in one color for an hour, stop, change filters, move the telescope
back to the beginning of the strip, and start scanning again.  That way, you
cover the same strip in multiple filters, albeit with an hour gap between
measures.  This is not too different from the way the current mark III systems
work.
  Another method of contribution from outside observers is certainly the
follow-up for any variables or unusual objects.  There, pointed observations
in multiple filters is the way to go.
Arne
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Arne Henden                               Instruments/software/CCDs
US Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station    Cepheids/photometry/IR
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aah@nofs.navy.mil                         FAX:   (520)774-3626