TN 0077: TASS disk sets 17 and 18 measurements

Jure Skvarc
July 12, 2001
Keywords: photometry calibration

The data analyzed in this Technical Note can be accessed via FTP at the following sites: Thanks to Arne Henden and USNO for hosting them.
MWR 7/12/2001

This page allows access to 319324 observations made both in I and V filter of 29952 stars. The observations were made by Tom Droege using his 2-camera Mark IV telescope. The location of the observatory is Batavia, Illinois. The data were taken during the following nights in 2001 (UT):

25, 27 and 28 March; 13, 16, 17, 18, 27, 28, 29, 30 April and 20 May.

The area imaged is between 10:36 < RA < 14:36 and -2.41 < DEC < 2.05.

The same fields was imaged several times simultanously in I and V filter. Images was processed using IRAF routines and star intensities were determined using fitsblink, as described in the Technical Note 67. For each pair of images, a list of stars which appeared on both images was formed. Those of the paired stars that were identified a TYCHO stars were used for the determination of the color transformation. For each TYCHO star, first Johnson V magnitude was calculated using formula

V =Vt-0.090(Bt-Vt),

where Vt and Bt are TYCHO-2 magnitudes.

Then a color transformation was made using formula

V=Vraw+a+b (Vraw-Iraw).

The raw magnitudes Vraw and Iraw are defined as

Vraw=22.5-2.5 log10g,

where g is the star intensity in ADU units. The constant term 22.5 is arbitrarily chosen to translate the raw magnitudes into a familiar range.

Unknown coefficients a (offset) and b (color term) were calculated using a two-step linear fitting routine. In the first step, a linear fit was made, then all points with deviation larger than 3 sigma were removed and a fit was made again. This procedure removed outliers. Then V magnitudes were calculated for all paired stars. Graphs of all calibration measurements are available in a separate page.

In the next step, a master observation file MasterObs.dat was made which contains stars from all 12 disks (disks 17a-17c, 18a-18d, 18f-18i) used in this analysis. Measurements of the same stars are joined together and the average coordinates and magnitude are calculated, as well as the V magnitude. This summary information is contained in a file Totals.dat. It has one line for each star with the following fields:

  1. Star ID
  2. Right ascension (decimal degrees)
  3. Sigma of right ascension (hour seconds)
  4. Declination (decimal degrees)
  5. Sigma of declination (arc seconds)
  6. Average magnitude
  7. Magnitude sigma
  8. Number of observations

From Totals.dat derivative files are made:

  1. Totals1.dat is identical to Totals.dat except that each line contains three more items:
  2. Totalsmag.dat is Totals1.dat ordered by magnitude.
  3. Totalssgm.dat is Totals1.dat ordered by uncertainty in magnitude.
  4. Totalsnobs.dat is Totals1.dat ordered by the number of observations.

Each of these files is 2.7 MB long.

The MasterObs.dat is 90 MB long and contains raw observations in the following format:

  1. Star ID
  2. Johnson V magnitude, calculated from raw magnitude using color transformation for each field of view separately
  3. Julian Day of observation
  4. Star number in it's file for V filter image
  5. Image x-centroid for V filter image
  6. Image y-centroid for V filter image
  7. Number of pixels belonging to the star for V filter image
  8. Intensity (ADU units) for V filter image
  9. Estimated uncertainty in intensity for V filter image
  10. Saturation flag (1 - saturated, 0 not saturated) for V filter image
  11. Estimated background / pixel (ADU units) for V filter image
  12. Right ascension (decimal degrees) for V filter image
  13. Uncertainty in right ascension (arc seconds) for V filter image
  14. Declination (decimal degrees) for V filter image
  15. Uncertainty in declination (arc seconds) for V filter image
  16. Raw magnitude for V filter image
  17. Uncertainty in the raw magnitude for V filter image
  18. Star symmetry for V filter image
  19. Star number in it's file for I filter image
  20. Image x-centroid for I filter image
  21. Image y-centroid for I filter image
  22. Number of pixels belonging to the star for I filter image
  23. Intensity (ADU units) for I filter image
  24. Estimated uncertainty in intensity for I filter image
  25. Saturation flag (1 - saturated, 0 not saturated) for I filter image
  26. Estimated background / pixel (ADU units) for I filter image
  27. Right ascension (decimal degrees) for I filter image
  28. Uncertainty in right ascension (arc seconds) for I filter image
  29. Declination (decimal degrees) for I filter image
  30. Uncertainty in declination (arc seconds) for I filter image
  31. Raw magnitude for I filter image
  32. Uncertainty in the raw magnitude for I filter image
  33. Star symmetry for I filter image
  34. Directory (should be equal to disk name) where the data was stored
  35. Name of the V filter image (without .fits).

One of the more important information is the dependence of the magnitude uncertainty on the V magnitude. It is shown in the following image...

Magnitude dependence on 
magnitude uncertainty

and the average magnitude uncertainty as a function of magnitude:

Average magnitude uncertainty as a function of magnitude

Other statistical evaluations (graphs are presented with and without data from disk17f, which is of low quality):

Average number of observations / star as a function of magnitude:

Average number of observations / star as a function of magnitude

How many stars have been observed n-times:

How many stars have been observed n-times

Some known variables were found by choosing stars with large sigma and checking them against GCVS using the Guide 6.0 program. These are:

  • UU Vir
  • BH Vir
  • UV Vir

    One star is offered here as a candidate for a new variable: GSC 282_0743


    jure.skvarc@ijs.si TASS home page