Preparing Colorful Astronomical Images and Illustrations

Science.gov (United States)

Levay, Z. G.; Frattare, L. M.

2001-12-01

We present techniques for using mainstream graphics software, specifically Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, for producing composite color images and illustrations from astronomical data. These techniques have been used with numerous images from the Hubble Space Telescope to produce printed and web-based news, education and public presentation products as well as illustrations for technical publication. While Photoshop is not intended for quantitative analysis of full dynamic range data (as are IRAF or IDL, for example), we have had much success applying Photoshop's numerous, versatile tools to work with scaled images, masks, text and graphics in multiple semi-transparent layers and channels. These features, along with its user-oriented, visual interface, provide convenient tools to produce high-quality, full-color images and graphics for printed and on-line publication and presentation.

Creating and enhancing digital astro images a guide for practical astronomers

CERN Document Server

Privett, Grant

2007-01-01

This book clearly examines how to create the best astronomical images possible with a digital camera. It reveals the astonishing images that can be obtained with simple equipment, the right software, and knowledge of how to use it.

Viewing and imaging the solar system a guide for amateur astronomers

CERN Document Server

Clark, Jane

2015-01-01

Viewing and Imaging the Solar System: A Guide for Amateur Astronomers is for those who want to develop their ability to observe and image Solar System objects, including the planets and moons, the Sun, and comets and asteroids. They might be beginners, or they may have already owned and used an astronomical telescope for a year or more. Newcomers are almost always wowed by sights such as the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter, but have little idea how to find these objects for themselves (with the obvious exceptions of the Sun and Moon). They also need guidance about what equipment to use, besides a telescope. This book is written by an expert on the Solar System, who has had a lot of experience with outreach programs, which teach others how to make the most of relatively simple and low-cost equipment. That does not mean that this book is not for serious amateurs. On the contrary, it is designed to show amateur astronomers, in a relatively light-hearted—and math-free way—how to become serious.

Super resolution for astronomical observations

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhan; Peng, Qingyu; Bhanu, Bir; Zhang, Qingfeng; He, Haifeng

2018-05-01

In order to obtain detailed information from multiple telescope observations a general blind super-resolution (SR) reconstruction approach for astronomical images is proposed in this paper. A pixel-reliability-based SR reconstruction algorithm is described and implemented, where the developed process incorporates flat field correction, automatic star searching and centering, iterative star matching, and sub-pixel image registration. Images captured by the 1-m telescope at Yunnan Observatory are used to test the proposed technique. The results of these experiments indicate that, following SR reconstruction, faint stars are more distinct, bright stars have sharper profiles, and the backgrounds have higher details; thus these results benefit from the high-precision star centering and image registration provided by the developed method. Application of the proposed approach not only provides more opportunities for new discoveries from astronomical image sequences, but will also contribute to enhancing the capabilities of most spatial or ground-based telescopes.

Spectroscopy for amateur astronomers recording, processing, analysis and interpretation

CERN Document Server

Trypsteen , Marc F M

2017-01-01

This accessible guide presents the astrophysical concepts behind astronomical spectroscopy, covering both the theory and the practical elements of recording, processing, analysing and interpreting your spectra. It covers astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, nebulae, novae, supernovae, and events such as eclipses and comet passages. Suitable for anyone with only a little background knowledge and access to amateur-level equipment, the guide's many illustrations, sketches and figures will help you understand and practise this scientifically important and growing field of amateur astronomy, up to the level of Pro-Am collaborations. Accessible to non-academics, it benefits many groups from novices and learners in astronomy clubs, to advanced students and teachers of astrophysics. This volume is the perfect companion to the Spectral Atlas for Amateur Astronomers, which provides detailed commented spectral profiles of more than 100 astronomical objects.

An infrared upconverter for astronomical imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Boyd, R. W.; Townes, C. H.

1977-01-01

An imaging upconverter has been constructed which is suitable for use in the study of the thermal 10-micron radiation from astronomical sources. The infrared radiation is converted to visible radiation by mixing in a 1-cm-long proustite crystal. The phase-matched 2-kayser bandpass is tunable from 9 to 11 microns. The conversion efficiency is 2 by 10 to the -7th power and the field of view of 40 arc seconds on the sky contains several hundred picture elements, approximately diffraction-limited resolution in a large telescope. The instrument has been used in studies of the sun, moon, Mercury, and VY Canis Majoris.

Image processing of globular clusters - Simulation for deconvolution tests (GlencoeSim)

Science.gov (United States)

Blazek, Martin; Pata, Petr

2016-10-01

This paper presents an algorithmic approach for efficiency tests of deconvolution algorithms in astronomic image processing. Due to the existence of noise in astronomical data there is no certainty that a mathematically exact result of stellar deconvolution exists and iterative or other methods such as aperture or PSF fitting photometry are commonly used. Iterative methods are important namely in the case of crowded fields (e.g., globular clusters). For tests of the efficiency of these iterative methods on various stellar fields, information about the real fluxes of the sources is essential. For this purpose a simulator of artificial images with crowded stellar fields provides initial information on source fluxes for a robust statistical comparison of various deconvolution methods. The "GlencoeSim" simulator and the algorithms presented in this paper consider various settings of Point-Spread Functions, noise types and spatial distributions, with the aim of producing as realistic an astronomical optical stellar image as possible.

FITSManager: Management of Personal Astronomical Data

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Chenzhou; Fan, Dongwei; Zhao, Yongheng; Kembhavi, Ajit; He, Boliang; Cao, Zihuang; Li, Jian; Nandrekar, Deoyani

2011-07-01

With the increase of personal storage capacity, it is easy to find hundreds to thousands of FITS files in the personal computer of an astrophysicist. Because Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) is a professional data format initiated by astronomers and used mainly in the small community, data management toolkits for FITS files are very few. Astronomers need a powerful tool to help them manage their local astronomical data. Although Virtual Observatory (VO) is a network oriented astronomical research environment, its applications and related technologies provide useful solutions to enhance the management and utilization of astronomical data hosted in an astronomer's personal computer. FITSManager is such a tool to provide astronomers an efficient management and utilization of their local data, bringing VO to astronomers in a seamless and transparent way. FITSManager provides fruitful functions for FITS file management, like thumbnail, preview, type dependent icons, header keyword indexing and search, collaborated working with other tools and online services, and so on. The development of the FITSManager is an effort to fill the gap between management and analysis of astronomical data.

Choosing and using astronomical filters

CERN Document Server

Griffiths, Martin

2014-01-01

As a casual read through any of the major amateur astronomical magazines will demonstrate, there are filters available for all aspects of optical astronomy. This book provides a ready resource on the use of the following filters, among others, for observational astronomy or for imaging: Light pollution filters Planetary filters Solar filters Neutral density filters for Moon observation Deep-sky filters, for such objects as galaxies, nebulae and more Deep-sky objects can be imaged in much greater detail than was possible many years ago. Amateur astronomers can take

Novel optical designs for consumer astronomical telescopes and their application to professional imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Wise, Peter; Hodgson, Alan

2006-06-01

Since the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope there has been widespread popular interest in astronomy. A further series of events, most notably the recent Deep Impact mission and Mars oppositions have served to fuel further interest. As a result more and more amateurs are coming into astronomy as a practical hobby. At the same time more sophisticated optical equipment is becoming available as the price to performance ratio become more favourable. As a result larger and better optical telescopes are now in use by amateurs. We also have the explosive growth in digital imaging technologies. In addition to displacing photographic film as the preferred image capture modality it has made the capture of high quality astronomical imagery more accessible to a wider segment of the astronomy community. However, this customer requirement has also had an impact on telescope design. There has become a greater imperative for wide flat image fields in these telescopes to take advantage of the ongoing advances in CCD imaging technology. As a result of these market drivers designers of consumer astronomical telescopes are now producing state of the art designs that result in wide, flat fields with optimal spatial and chromatic aberrations. Whilst some of these designs are not scalable to the larger apertures required for professional ground and airborne telescope use there are some that are eminently suited to make this transition.

Image processing applications: From particle physics to society

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sotiropoulou, C.-L.; Citraro, S.; Dell'Orso, M.; Luciano, P.; Gkaitatzis, S.; Giannetti, P.

2017-01-01

We present an embedded system for extremely efficient real-time pattern recognition execution, enabling technological advancements with both scientific and social impact. It is a compact, fast, low consumption processing unit (PU) based on a combination of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and the full custom associative memory chip. The PU has been developed for real time tracking in particle physics experiments, but delivers flexible features for potential application in a wide range of fields. It has been proposed to be used in accelerated pattern matching execution for Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting (biomedical applications), in real time detection of space debris trails in astronomical images (space applications) and in brain emulation for image processing (cognitive image processing). We illustrate the potentiality of the PU for the new applications.

The Red Rectangle: An Astronomical Example of Mach Bands?

Science.gov (United States)

Brecher, K.

2005-12-01

Recently, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) produced spectacular images of the "Red Rectangle". This appears to be a binary star system undergoing recurrent mass loss episodes. The image-processed HST photographs display distinctive diagonal lightness enhancements. Some of the visual appearance undoubtedly arises from actual variations in the luminosity distribution of the light of the nebula itself, i.e., due to limb brightening. Psychophysical enhancement similar to the Vasarely or pyramid effect also seems to be involved in the visual impression conveyed by the HST images. This effect is related to Mach bands (as well as to the Chevreul and Craik-O'Brien-Cornsweet effects). The effect can be produced by stacking concentric squares (or other geometrical figures such as rectangles or hexagons) of linearly increasing or decreasing size and lightness, one on top of another. We have constructed controllable Flash applets of this effect as part of the NSF supported "Project LITE: Light Inquiry Through Experiments". They can be found in the vision section of the LITE web site at http://lite.bu.edu. Mach band effects have previously been seen in medical x-ray images. Here we report for the first time the possibility that such effects play a role in the interpretation of astronomical images. Specifically, we examine to what extent the visual impressions of the Red Rectangle and other extended astronomical objects are purely physical (photometric) in origin and to what degree they are enhanced by psychophysical processes. To help assess the relative physical and psychophysical contributions to the perceived lightness effects, we have made use of a center-surround (Difference of Gaussians) filter we developed for MatLab. We conclude that local (lateral inhibition) and longer range human visual perception effects probably do contribute to the lightness features seen in astronomical objects like the Red Rectangle. Project LITE is supported by NSF Grant # DUE-0125992.

The Dark Energy Survey Image Processing Pipeline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morganson, E.; et al.

2018-01-09

The Dark Energy Survey (DES) is a five-year optical imaging campaign with the goal of understanding the origin of cosmic acceleration. DES performs a 5000 square degree survey of the southern sky in five optical bands (g,r,i,z,Y) to a depth of ~24th magnitude. Contemporaneously, DES performs a deep, time-domain survey in four optical bands (g,r,i,z) over 27 square degrees. DES exposures are processed nightly with an evolving data reduction pipeline and evaluated for image quality to determine if they need to be retaken. Difference imaging and transient source detection are also performed in the time domain component nightly. On a bi-annual basis, DES exposures are reprocessed with a refined pipeline and coadded to maximize imaging depth. Here we describe the DES image processing pipeline in support of DES science, as a reference for users of archival DES data, and as a guide for future astronomical surveys.

VIP: Vortex Image Processing Package for High-contrast Direct Imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez Gonzalez, Carlos Alberto; Wertz, Olivier; Absil, Olivier; Christiaens, Valentin; Defrère, Denis; Mawet, Dimitri; Milli, Julien; Absil, Pierre-Antoine; Van Droogenbroeck, Marc; Cantalloube, Faustine; Hinz, Philip M.; Skemer, Andrew J.; Karlsson, Mikael; Surdej, Jean

2017-07-01

We present the Vortex Image Processing (VIP) library, a python package dedicated to astronomical high-contrast imaging. Our package relies on the extensive python stack of scientific libraries and aims to provide a flexible framework for high-contrast data and image processing. In this paper, we describe the capabilities of VIP related to processing image sequences acquired using the angular differential imaging (ADI) observing technique. VIP implements functionalities for building high-contrast data processing pipelines, encompassing pre- and post-processing algorithms, potential source position and flux estimation, and sensitivity curve generation. Among the reference point-spread function subtraction techniques for ADI post-processing, VIP includes several flavors of principal component analysis (PCA) based algorithms, such as annular PCA and incremental PCA algorithms capable of processing big datacubes (of several gigabytes) on a computer with limited memory. Also, we present a novel ADI algorithm based on non-negative matrix factorization, which comes from the same family of low-rank matrix approximations as PCA and provides fairly similar results. We showcase the ADI capabilities of the VIP library using a deep sequence on HR 8799 taken with the LBTI/LMIRCam and its recently commissioned L-band vortex coronagraph. Using VIP, we investigated the presence of additional companions around HR 8799 and did not find any significant additional point source beyond the four known planets. VIP is available at http://github.com/vortex-exoplanet/VIP and is accompanied with Jupyter notebook tutorials illustrating the main functionalities of the library.

The Astro-WISE approach to quality control for astronomical data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mc Farland, John; Helmich, Ewout M.; Valentijn, Edwin A.

We present a novel approach to quality control during the processing of astronomical data. Quality control in the Astro-WISE Information System is integral to all aspects of data handing and provides transparent access to quality estimators for all stages of data reduction from the raw image to the

Efficient morphological tools for astronomical image processing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moschini, Ugo

2016-01-01

Nowadays, many applications rely on a huge quantity of images at high resolution and with high quantity of information per pixel, due either to the technological improvements of the instruments or to the type of measurement observed. This thesis is focused on exploring and developing tools and new

Astronomical Instrumentation Systems Quality Management Planning: AISQMP (Abstract)

Science.gov (United States)

Goldbaum, J.

2017-12-01

(Abstract only) The capability of small aperture astronomical instrumentation systems (AIS) to make meaningful scientific contributions has never been better. The purpose of AIS quality management planning (AISQMP) is to ensure the quality of these contributions such that they are both valid and reliable. The first step involved with AISQMP is to specify objective quality measures not just for the AIS final product, but also for the instrumentation used in its production. The next step is to set up a process to track these measures and control for any unwanted variation. The final step is continual effort applied to reducing variation and obtaining measured values near optimal theoretical performance. This paper provides an overview of AISQMP while focusing on objective quality measures applied to astronomical imaging systems.

Longwave Imaging for Astronomical Applications, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — We propose to develop a compact portable longwave camera for astronomical applications. In Phase 1, we successfully developed the eye of the camera, i.e. the focal...

Astronomy Legacy Project - Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute

Science.gov (United States)

Barker, Thurburn; Castelaz, Michael W.; Rottler, Lee; Cline, J. Donald

2016-01-01

Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) is a not-for-profit public foundation in North Carolina dedicated to providing hands-on educational and research opportunities for a broad cross-section of users in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines. In November 2007 a Workshop on a National Plan for Preserving Astronomical Photographic Data (2009ASPC,410,33O, Osborn, W. & Robbins, L) was held at PARI. The result was the establishment of the Astronomical Photographic Data Archive (APDA) at PARI. In late 2013 PARI began ALP (Astronomy Legacy Project). ALP's purpose is to digitize an extensive set of twentieth century photographic astronomical data housed in APDA. Because of the wide range of types of plates, plate dimensions and emulsions found among the 40+ collections, plate digitization will require a versatile set of scanners and digitizing instruments. Internet crowdfunding was used to assist in the purchase of additional digitization equipment that were described at AstroPlate2014 Plate Preservation Workshop (www.astroplate.cz) held in Prague, CZ, March, 2014. Equipment purchased included an Epson Expression 11000XL scanner and two Nikon D800E cameras. These digital instruments will compliment a STScI GAMMA scanner now located in APDA. GAMMA will be adapted to use an electroluminescence light source and a digital camera with a telecentric lens to achieve high-speed high-resolution scanning. The 1μm precision XY stage of GAMMA will allow very precise positioning of the plate stage. Multiple overlapping CCD images of small sections of each plate, tiles, will be combined using a photo-mosaic process similar to one used in Harvard's DASCH project. Implementation of a software pipeline for the creation of a SQL database containing plate images and metadata will be based upon APPLAUSE as described by Tuvikene at AstroPlate2014 (www.astroplate.cz/programs/).

IMFIT: A FAST, FLEXIBLE NEW PROGRAM FOR ASTRONOMICAL IMAGE FITTING

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Erwin, Peter [Max-Planck-Insitut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstrasse, D-85748 Garching, GermanyAND (Germany); Universitäts-Sternwarte München, Scheinerstrasse 1, D-81679 München (Germany)

2015-02-01

I describe a new, open-source astronomical image-fitting program called IMFIT, specialized for galaxies but potentially useful for other sources, which is fast, flexible, and highly extensible. A key characteristic of the program is an object-oriented design that allows new types of image components (two-dimensional surface-brightness functions) to be easily written and added to the program. Image functions provided with IMFIT include the usual suspects for galaxy decompositions (Sérsic, exponential, Gaussian), along with Core-Sérsic and broken-exponential profiles, elliptical rings, and three components that perform line-of-sight integration through three-dimensional luminosity-density models of disks and rings seen at arbitrary inclinations. Available minimization algorithms include Levenberg-Marquardt, Nelder-Mead simplex, and Differential Evolution, allowing trade-offs between speed and decreased sensitivity to local minima in the fit landscape. Minimization can be done using the standard χ{sup 2} statistic (using either data or model values to estimate per-pixel Gaussian errors, or else user-supplied error images) or Poisson-based maximum-likelihood statistics; the latter approach is particularly appropriate for cases of Poisson data in the low-count regime. I show that fitting low-signal-to-noise ratio galaxy images using χ{sup 2} minimization and individual-pixel Gaussian uncertainties can lead to significant biases in fitted parameter values, which are avoided if a Poisson-based statistic is used; this is true even when Gaussian read noise is present.

Deconvolution of astronomical images using SOR with adaptive relaxation.

Science.gov (United States)

Vorontsov, S V; Strakhov, V N; Jefferies, S M; Borelli, K J

2011-07-04

We address the potential performance of the successive overrelaxation technique (SOR) in image deconvolution, focusing our attention on the restoration of astronomical images distorted by atmospheric turbulence. SOR is the classical Gauss-Seidel iteration, supplemented with relaxation. As indicated by earlier work, the convergence properties of SOR, and its ultimate performance in the deconvolution of blurred and noisy images, can be made competitive to other iterative techniques, including conjugate gradients, by a proper choice of the relaxation parameter. The question of how to choose the relaxation parameter, however, remained open, and in the practical work one had to rely on experimentation. In this paper, using constructive (rather than exact) arguments, we suggest a simple strategy for choosing the relaxation parameter and for updating its value in consecutive iterations to optimize the performance of the SOR algorithm (and its positivity-constrained version, +SOR) at finite iteration counts. We suggest an extension of the algorithm to the notoriously difficult problem of "blind" deconvolution, where both the true object and the point-spread function have to be recovered from the blurred image. We report the results of numerical inversions with artificial and real data, where the algorithm is compared with techniques based on conjugate gradients. In all of our experiments +SOR provides the highest quality results. In addition +SOR is found to be able to detect moderately small changes in the true object between separate data frames: an important quality for multi-frame blind deconvolution where stationarity of the object is a necesessity.

Some computer applications and digital image processing in nuclear medicine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowinger, T.

1981-01-01

Methods of digital image processing are applied to problems in nuclear medicine imaging. The symmetry properties of central nervous system lesions are exploited in an attempt to determine the three-dimensional radioisotope density distribution within the lesions. An algorithm developed by astronomers at the end of the 19th century to determine the distribution of matter in globular clusters is applied to tumors. This algorithm permits the emission-computed-tomographic reconstruction of spherical lesions from a single view. The three-dimensional radioisotope distribution derived by the application of the algorithm can be used to characterize the lesions. The applicability to nuclear medicine images of ten edge detection methods in general usage in digital image processing were evaluated. A general model of image formation by scintillation cameras is developed. The model assumes that objects to be imaged are composed of a finite set of points. The validity of the model has been verified by its ability to duplicate experimental results. Practical applications of this work involve quantitative assessment of the distribution of radipharmaceuticals under clinical situations and the study of image processing algorithms

What Lies Behind NSF Astronomer Demographics? Subjectivities of Women, Minorities and Foreign-born Astronomers within Meshworks of Big Science Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Guillen, Reynal; Gu, D.; Holbrook, J.; Murillo, L. F.; Traweek, S.

2011-01-01

Our current research focuses on the trajectory of scientists working with large-scale databases in astronomy, following them as they strategically build their careers, digital infrastructures, and make their epistemological commitments. We look specifically at how gender, ethnicity, nationality intersect in the process of subject formation in astronomy, as well as in the process of enrolling partners for the construction of instruments, design and implementation of large-scale databases. Work once figured as merely technical support, such assembling data catalogs, or as graphic design, generating pleasing images for public support, has been repositioned at the core of the field. Some have argued that such databases enable a new kind of scientific inquiry based on data exploration, such as the "fourth paradigm" or "data-driven" science. Our preliminary findings based on oral history interviews and ethnography provide insights into meshworks of women, African-American, "Hispanic," Asian-American and foreign-born astronomers. Our preliminary data suggest African-American men are more successful in sustaining astronomy careers than Chicano and Asian-American men. A distinctive theme in our data is the glocal character of meshworks available to and created by foreign-born women astronomers working at US facilities. Other data show that the proportion of Asian to Asian American and foreign-born Latina/o to Chicana/o astronomers is approximately equal. Futhermore, Asians and Latinas/os are represented in significantly greater numbers than Asian Americans and Chicanas/os. Among professional astronomers in the US, each ethnic minority group is numbered on the order of tens, not hundreds. Project support is provided by the NSF EAGER program to University of California, Los Angeles under award 0956589.

Realization of High Dynamic Range Imaging in the GLORIA Network and Its Effect on Astronomical Measurement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stanislav Vítek

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Citizen science project GLORIA (GLObal Robotic-telescopes Intelligent Array is a first free- and open-access network of robotic telescopes in the world. It provides a web-based environment where users can do research in astronomy by observing with robotic telescopes and/or by analyzing data that other users have acquired with GLORIA or from other free-access databases. Network of 17 telescopes allows users to control selected telescopes in real time or schedule any more demanding observation. This paper deals with new opportunity that GLORIA project provides to teachers and students of various levels of education. At the moment, there are prepared educational materials related to events like Sun eclipse (measuring local atmosphere changes, Aurora Borealis (calculation of Northern Lights height, or transit of Venus (measurement of the Earth-Sun distance. Student should be able to learn principles of CCD imaging, spectral analysis, basic calibration like dark frames subtraction, or advanced methods of noise suppression. Every user of the network can design his own experiment. We propose advanced experiment aimed at obtaining astronomical image data with high dynamic range. We also introduce methods of objective image quality evaluation in order to discover how HDR methods are affecting astronomical measurements.

High Energy Astronomical Data Processing and Analysis via the Internet

Science.gov (United States)

Valencic, Lynne A.; Snowden, S.; Pence, W.

2012-01-01

The HEASARC at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the US XMM-Newton GOF has developed Hera, a data processing facility for analyzing high energy astronomical data over the internet. Hera provides all the disk space and computing resources needed to do general processing of and advanced research on publicly available data from High Energy Astrophysics missions. The data and data products are kept on a server at GSFC and can be downloaded to a user's local machine. Further, the XMM-GOF has developed scripts to streamline XMM data reduction. These are available through Hera, and can also be downloaded to a user's local machine. These are free services provided to students, educators, and researchers for educational and research purposes.

Getting Astronomers Involved in the IYA: Astronomer in the Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Koenig, Kris

2008-05-01

The Astronomer in the Classroom program provides professional astronomers the opportunity to engage with 3rd-12th grade students across the nation in grade appropriate discussions of their recent research, and provides students with rich STEM content in a personalized forum, bringing greater access to scientific knowledge for underserved populations. 21st Century Learning and Interstellar Studios, the producer of the 400 Years of the Telescope documentary along with their educational partners, will provide the resources necessary to facilitate the Astronomer in the Classroom program, allowing students to interact with astronomers throughout the IYA2009. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION One of hundreds of astronomers will be available to interact with students via live webcast daily during Spring/Fall 2009. The astronomer for the day will conduct three 20-minute discussions (Grades 3-5 /6-8/9-12), beginning with a five-minute PowerPoint on their research or area of interest. The discussion will be followed by a question and answer period. The students will participate in real-time from their school computer(s) with the technology provided by 21st Century Learning. They will see and hear the astronomer on their screen, and pose questions from their keyboard. Teachers will choose from three daily sessions; 11:30 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. This schedule overlaps all US time zones, and marginalizes bandwidth usage, preventing technological barriers to web access. The educational partners and astronomers will post materials online, providing easy access to information that will prepare teachers and students for the chosen discussion. The astronomers, invited to participate from the AAS and IAU, will receive a web cam shipment with instructions, a brief training and conductivity test, and prepaid postage for shipment of the web cam to the next astronomer on the list. The anticipated astronomer time required is 3-hours, not including the time to develop the PowerPoint.

Biographical encyclopedia of astronomers

CERN Document Server

Trimble, Virginia; Williams, Thomas; Bracher, Katherine; Jarrell, Richard; Marché, Jordan; Palmeri, JoAnn; Green, Daniel

2014-01-01

The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers is a unique and valuable resource for historians and astronomers alike. It includes approx. 1850 biographical sketches on astronomers from antiquity to modern times. It is the collective work of 430 authors edited by an editorial board of 8 historians and astronomers. This reference provides biographical information on astronomers and cosmologists by utilizing contemporary historical scholarship. The fully corrected and updated second edition adds approximately 300 biographical sketches. Based on ongoing research and feedback from the community, the new entries will fill gaps and provide expansions. In addition, greater emphasis on Russo phone astronomers and radio astronomers is given. Individual entries vary from 100 to 1500 words, including the likes of the super luminaries such as Newton and Einstein, as well as lesser-known astronomers like Galileo's acolyte, Mario Guiducci.

TPCs in high-energy astronomical polarimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Black, J K

2007-01-01

High-energy astrophysics has yet to exploit the unique and important information that polarimetry could provide, largely due to the limited sensitivity of previously available polarimeters. In recent years, numerous efforts have been initiated to develop instruments with the sensitivity required for astronomical polarimetry over the 100 eV to 10 GeV band. Time projection chambers (TPCs), with their high-resolution event imaging capability, are an integral part of some of these efforts. After a brief overview of current astronomical polarimeter development efforts, the role of TPCs will be described in more detail. These include TPCs as photoelectric X-ray polarimeters and TPCs as components of polarizationsensitive Compton and pair-production telescopes

Reducing the Requirements and Cost of Astronomical Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, W. Scott; Whitakter, Ann F. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Limits on astronomical telescope apertures are being rapidly approached. These limits result from logistics, increasing complexity, and finally budgetary constraints. In an historical perspective, great strides have been made in the area of aperture, adaptive optics, wavefront sensors, detectors, stellar interferometers and image reconstruction. What will be the next advances? Emerging data analysis techniques based on communication theory holds the promise of yielding more information from observational data based on significant computer post-processing. This paper explores some of the current telescope limitations and ponders the possibilities increasing the yield of scientific data based on the migration computer post-processing techniques to higher dimensions. Some of these processes hold the promise of reducing the requirements on the basic telescope hardware making the next generation of instruments more affordable.

All-sky brightness monitoring of light pollution with astronomical methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Rabaza, O; Galadí-Enríquez, D; Estrella, A Espín; Dols, F Aznar

2010-06-01

This paper describes a mobile prototype and a protocol to measure light pollution based on astronomical methods. The prototype takes three all-sky images using BVR filters of the Johnson-Cousins astronomical photometric system. The stars are then identified in the images of the Hipparcos and General Catalogue of Photometric Data II astronomical catalogues, and are used as calibration sources. This method permits the measurement of night-sky brightness and facilitates an estimate of which fraction is due to the light up-scattered in the atmosphere by a wide variety of man-made sources. This is achieved by our software, which compares the sky background flux to that of many stars of known brightness. The reduced weight and dimensions of the prototype allow the user to make measurements from virtually any location. This prototype is capable of measuring the sky distribution of light pollution, and also provides an accurate estimate of the background flux at each photometric band. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fast and Scalable Gaussian Process Modeling with Applications to Astronomical Time Series

Science.gov (United States)

Foreman-Mackey, Daniel; Agol, Eric; Ambikasaran, Sivaram; Angus, Ruth

2017-12-01

The growing field of large-scale time domain astronomy requires methods for probabilistic data analysis that are computationally tractable, even with large data sets. Gaussian processes (GPs) are a popular class of models used for this purpose, but since the computational cost scales, in general, as the cube of the number of data points, their application has been limited to small data sets. In this paper, we present a novel method for GPs modeling in one dimension where the computational requirements scale linearly with the size of the data set. We demonstrate the method by applying it to simulated and real astronomical time series data sets. These demonstrations are examples of probabilistic inference of stellar rotation periods, asteroseismic oscillation spectra, and transiting planet parameters. The method exploits structure in the problem when the covariance function is expressed as a mixture of complex exponentials, without requiring evenly spaced observations or uniform noise. This form of covariance arises naturally when the process is a mixture of stochastically driven damped harmonic oscillators—providing a physical motivation for and interpretation of this choice—but we also demonstrate that it can be a useful effective model in some other cases. We present a mathematical description of the method and compare it to existing scalable GP methods. The method is fast and interpretable, with a range of potential applications within astronomical data analysis and beyond. We provide well-tested and documented open-source implementations of this method in C++, Python, and Julia.

SAADA: Astronomical Databases Made Easier

Science.gov (United States)

Michel, L.; Nguyen, H. N.; Motch, C.

2005-12-01

Many astronomers wish to share datasets with their community but have not enough manpower to develop databases having the functionalities required for high-level scientific applications. The SAADA project aims at automatizing the creation and deployment process of such databases. A generic but scientifically relevant data model has been designed which allows one to build databases by providing only a limited number of product mapping rules. Databases created by SAADA rely on a relational database supporting JDBC and covered by a Java layer including a lot of generated code. Such databases can simultaneously host spectra, images, source lists and plots. Data are grouped in user defined collections whose content can be seen as one unique set per data type even if their formats differ. Datasets can be correlated one with each other using qualified links. These links help, for example, to handle the nature of a cross-identification (e.g., a distance or a likelihood) or to describe their scientific content (e.g., by associating a spectrum to a catalog entry). The SAADA query engine is based on a language well suited to the data model which can handle constraints on linked data, in addition to classical astronomical queries. These constraints can be applied on the linked objects (number, class and attributes) and/or on the link qualifier values. Databases created by SAADA are accessed through a rich WEB interface or a Java API. We are currently developing an inter-operability module implanting VO protocols.

The data analysis facilities that astronomers want

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Disney, M.

1985-01-01

This paper discusses the need and importance of data analysis facilities and what astronomers ideally want. A brief survey is presented of what is available now and some of the main deficiencies and problems with today's systems are discussed. The main sources of astronomical data are presented incuding: optical photographic, optical TV/CCD, VLA, optical spectros, imaging x-ray satellite, and satellite planetary camera. Landmark discoveries are listed in a table, some of which include: our galaxy as an island, distance to stars, H-R diagram (stellar structure), size of our galaxy, and missing mass in clusters. The main problems at present are discussed including lack of coordinated effort and central planning, differences in hardware, and measuring performance

Radio Astronomers Get Their First Glimpse of Powerful Solar Storm

Science.gov (United States)

2001-08-01

Astronomers have made the first radio-telescope images of a powerful coronal mass ejection on the Sun, giving them a long-sought glimpse of hitherto unseen aspects of these potentially dangerous events. "These observations are going to provide us with a new and unique tool for deciphering the mechanisms of coronal mass ejections and how they are related to other solar events," said Tim Bastian, an astronomer at the National Science Foundation's National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Charlottesville, Virginia. Radio image of coronal mass ejection; circle indicates the size and location of the Sun. White dots are where radio spectral measurements were made. Bastian, along with Monique Pick, Alain Kerdraon and Dalmiro Maia of the Paris Observatory, and Angelos Vourlidas of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., used a solar radio telescope in Nancay, France, to study a coronal mass ejection that occurred on April 20, 1998. Their results will be published in the September 1 edition of the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Coronal mass ejections are powerful magnetic explosions in the Sun's corona, or outer atmosphere, that can blast billions of tons of charged particles into interplanetary space at tremendous speeds. If the ejection is aimed in the direction of Earth, the speeding particles interact with our planet's magnetic field to cause auroral displays, radio-communication blackouts, and potentially damage satellites and electric-power systems. "Coronal mass ejections have been observed for many years, but only with visible-light telescopes, usually in space. While previous radio observations have provided us with powerful diagnostics of mass ejections and associated phenomena in the corona, this is the first time that one has been directly imaged in wavelengths other than visible light," Bastian said. "These new data from the radio observations give us important clues about how these very energetic events work," he added. The radio images show an

First use of a HyViSI H4RG for Astronomical Observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simms, Lance M.; /SLAC; Figer, Donald F.; Hanold, Brandon J.; Kerr, Daniel J.; /Rochester Imaging Lab.; Gilmore, D.Kirk; Kahn, Steven M.; /SLAC; Tyson, J.Anthony; /UC,

2007-09-25

We present the first astronomical results from a 4K2 Hybrid Visible Silicon PIN array detector (HyViSI) read out with the Teledyne Scientific and Imaging SIDECAR ASIC. These results include observations of astronomical standards and photometric measurements using the 2.1m KPNO telescope. We also report results from a test program in the Rochester Imaging Detector Laboratory (RIDL), including: read noise, dark current, linearity, gain, well depth, quantum efficiency, and substrate voltage effects. Lastly, we highlight results from operation of the detector in window read out mode and discuss its potential role for focusing, image correction, and use as a telescope guide camera.

Astrobiology: An astronomer's perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergin, Edwin A.

2014-01-01

In this review we explore aspects of the field of astrobiology from an astronomical viewpoint. We therefore focus on the origin of life in the context of planetary formation, with additional emphasis on tracing the most abundant volatile elements, C, H, O, and N that are used by life on Earth. We first explore the history of life on our planet and outline the current state of our knowledge regarding the delivery of the C, H, O, N elements to the Earth. We then discuss how astronomers track the gaseous and solid molecular carriers of these volatiles throughout the process of star and planet formation. It is now clear that the early stages of star formation fosters the creation of water and simple organic molecules with enrichments of heavy isotopes. These molecules are found as ice coatings on the solid materials that represent microscopic beginnings of terrestrial worlds. Based on the meteoritic and cometary record, the process of planet formation, and the local environment, lead to additional increases in organic complexity. The astronomical connections towards this stage are only now being directly made. Although the exact details are uncertain, it is likely that the birth process of star and planets likely leads to terrestrial worlds being born with abundant water and organics on the surface

Astrobiology: An astronomer's perspective

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bergin, Edwin A. [University of Michigan, Department of Astronomy, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)

2014-12-08

In this review we explore aspects of the field of astrobiology from an astronomical viewpoint. We therefore focus on the origin of life in the context of planetary formation, with additional emphasis on tracing the most abundant volatile elements, C, H, O, and N that are used by life on Earth. We first explore the history of life on our planet and outline the current state of our knowledge regarding the delivery of the C, H, O, N elements to the Earth. We then discuss how astronomers track the gaseous and solid molecular carriers of these volatiles throughout the process of star and planet formation. It is now clear that the early stages of star formation fosters the creation of water and simple organic molecules with enrichments of heavy isotopes. These molecules are found as ice coatings on the solid materials that represent microscopic beginnings of terrestrial worlds. Based on the meteoritic and cometary record, the process of planet formation, and the local environment, lead to additional increases in organic complexity. The astronomical connections towards this stage are only now being directly made. Although the exact details are uncertain, it is likely that the birth process of star and planets likely leads to terrestrial worlds being born with abundant water and organics on the surface.

New discoveries on astronomical orientation of Inca site in Ollantaytambo, Peru

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karolína Hanzalová

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with astronomical orientation of Incas objects in Ollantaytambo, which is located about 35 km southeast from Machu Picchu, about 40 km northwest from Cusco, and lies in the Urubamba valley. Everybody writing about Ollantaytambo, shoud read Protzen. (1  He devoted his monograph to description and interpretation of that locality. Book of Salazar and Salazar (2 deals, among others, with the orientation of objects in Ollantaytambo with respect to the cardinal direction. Zawaski and Malville (3 documented astronomical context of major monuments of nine sites in Peru, including Ollantaytambo. We tested astronomical orientation in these places and confirm or disprove hypothesis about purpose of Incas objects. For assessment orientation of objects we used our measurements and also satellite images on Google Earth and digital elevation model from ASTER. The satellite images were used to estimate the astronomical-solar-solstice orientation, together with terrestrial images from Salazar and Salazar (2. The digital elevation model is useful in the mountains, where we need the actual horizon for a calculation of sunset and sunrise on specific days (solstices, which were for Incas people very important. We tested which astronomical phenomenon is connected with objects in Ollantaytambo. First, we focused on Temple of the Sun, also known the Wall of six monoliths.  We tested winter solstice sunrise and the rides of the Pleiades for the epochs 2000, 1500 and 1000 A.D. According with our results the Temple isn´t connected neither with winter solstice sunrise nor with the Pleiades. Then we tested also winter solstice sunset. We tried to use the line from an observation point near ruins of the Temple of Sun, to west-north, in direction to sunset. The astronomical azimuth from this point was about 5° less then we need. From this results we found, that is possible to find another observation point. By Salazar and Salazar (2 we found observation

Latin American astronomers and the International Astronomical Union

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Peimbert, S.

2017-07-01

Selected aspects of the participation of the Latin American astronomers in the International Astronomical Union are presented: Membership, Governing bodies, IAU meetings, and other activities. The Union was founded in 1919 with 7 initial member states, soon to be followed by Brazil. In 1921 Mexico joined, and in 1928 Argentina also formed part of the Union, while Chile joined in 1947. In 1961 Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela were already member countries. At present (October 2016) 72 countries contribute financially to the Union. The Union lists 12,391 professional astronomers as individual members; of those, 692 astronomers work in Latin America and the Caribbean, from 13 member states (Argentina, Bolivia , Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, Panamá, Perú, Uruguay and Venezuela) as well as from Ecuador and Puerto Rico. This group comprises 5.58% of the total membership, a figure somewhat lower than the fraction of the population in the region, which is 8.6% of the world population. Of the Latin American members, 23.4% are women and 76.6% are men; slightly higher than the whole membership of Union, which is of 16.9%. In the governing bodies it can be mentioned that there have been 2 Presidents of the Union (Jorge Sahade and Silvia Torres-Peimbert), 7 VicePresidents (Guillermo Haro, Jorge Sahade, Manuel Peimbert Claudio Anguita, Silvia Torres-Peimbert, Beatriz Barbuy, and Marta G. Rovira). The IAU meetings held in the region, include 2 General Assemblies (the 1991 XXI GA took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina and the 2009 XXVIII GA, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), 15 Regional Meetings (in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela and Uruguay), 29 Symposia (in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru and Mexico), 5 Colloquia (in Argentina and Mexico), 8 International Schools for Young Astronomers (in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Honduras and Mexico), and 11 projects sponsored by the Office of Astronomy

Sports Stars: Analyzing the Performance of Astronomers at Visualization-based Discovery

Science.gov (United States)

Fluke, C. J.; Parrington, L.; Hegarty, S.; MacMahon, C.; Morgan, S.; Hassan, A. H.; Kilborn, V. A.

2017-05-01

In this data-rich era of astronomy, there is a growing reliance on automated techniques to discover new knowledge. The role of the astronomer may change from being a discoverer to being a confirmer. But what do astronomers actually look at when they distinguish between “sources” and “noise?” What are the differences between novice and expert astronomers when it comes to visual-based discovery? Can we identify elite talent or coach astronomers to maximize their potential for discovery? By looking to the field of sports performance analysis, we consider an established, domain-wide approach, where the expertise of the viewer (i.e., a member of the coaching team) plays a crucial role in identifying and determining the subtle features of gameplay that provide a winning advantage. As an initial case study, we investigate whether the SportsCode performance analysis software can be used to understand and document how an experienced Hi astronomer makes discoveries in spectral data cubes. We find that the process of timeline-based coding can be applied to spectral cube data by mapping spectral channels to frames within a movie. SportsCode provides a range of easy to use methods for annotation, including feature-based codes and labels, text annotations associated with codes, and image-based drawing. The outputs, including instance movies that are uniquely associated with coded events, provide the basis for a training program or team-based analysis that could be used in unison with discipline specific analysis software. In this coordinated approach to visualization and analysis, SportsCode can act as a visual notebook, recording the insight and decisions in partnership with established analysis methods. Alternatively, in situ annotation and coding of features would be a valuable addition to existing and future visualization and analysis packages.

Test facility for astronomical x-ray optics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Finn Erland; Lewis, Robert A.; Bordas, J.

1990-01-01

Grazing incidence x-ray optics for x-ray astronomical applications are used outside the earth's atmosphere. These devices require a large collection aperture and the imaging of an x-ray source that is essentially placed at infinity. The ideal testing system for these optical elements has to appro......Grazing incidence x-ray optics for x-ray astronomical applications are used outside the earth's atmosphere. These devices require a large collection aperture and the imaging of an x-ray source that is essentially placed at infinity. The ideal testing system for these optical elements has...... to approximate that encountered under working conditions; however, the testing of these optical elements is notoriously difficult with conventional x-ray generators. Synchrotron radiation (SR) sources are sufficiently brilliant to produce a nearly perfect parallel beam over a large area while still retaining...... a flux considerably higher than that available from conventional x-ray generators. A facility designed for the testing of x-ray optics, particularly in connection with x-ray telescopes, is described. It is proposed that this facility will be accommodated at the Synchrotron Radiation Source...

The Practical Astronomer

Science.gov (United States)

Koester, Jack

"The Practical Astronomer" by Thomas Dick, LLD, E.C. & J. Biddle, Philadelphia, 1849, is reviewed. Information on telescope makers and astronomers can be found. Mentioned are: Fraunhofer; John Herschel; Lawson; Dollond; Tulley; W. & S. Jones; and S.W. Burnham.

The Groningen image processing system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen, R.J.; Ekers, R.D.; Terlouw, J.P.

1985-01-01

This paper describes an interactive, integrated software and hardware computer system for the reduction and analysis of astronomical images. A short historical introduction is presented before some examples of the astonomical data currently handled by the system are shown. A description is given of the present hardware and software structure. The system is illustrated by describing its appearance to the user, to the applications programmer, and to the system manager. Some quantitative information on the size and cost of the system is given, and its good and bad features are discussed

Amateur astronomers in support of observing campaigns

Science.gov (United States)

Yanamandra-Fisher, P.

2014-07-01

The Pro-Am Collaborative Astronomy (PACA) project evolved from the observational campaign of C/2012 S1 or C/ISON. The success of the paradigm shift in scientific research is now implemented in other comet observing campaigns. While PACA identifies a consistent collaborative approach to pro-am collaborations, given the volume of data generated for each campaign, new ways of rapid data analysis, mining access, and storage are needed. Several interesting results emerged from the synergistic inclusion of both social media and amateur astronomers: - the establishment of a network of astronomers and related professionals that can be galvanized into action on short notice to support observing campaigns; - assist in various science investigations pertinent to the campaign; - provide an alert-sounding mechanism should the need arise; - immediate outreach and dissemination of results via our media/blogger members; - provide a forum for discussions between the imagers and modelers to help strategize the observing campaign for maximum benefit. In 2014, two new comet observing campaigns involving pro-am collaborations have been identified: (1) C/2013 A1 (C/Siding Spring) and (2) 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (CG). The evolving need for individual customized observing campaigns has been incorporated into the evolution of PACA (Pro-Am Collaborative Astronomy) portal that currently is focused on comets: from supporting observing campaigns for current comets, legacy data, historical comets; interconnected with social media and a set of shareable documents addressing observational strategies; consistent standards for data; data access, use, and storage, to align with the needs of professional observers. The integration of science, observations by professional and amateur astronomers, and various social media provides a dynamic and evolving collaborative partnership between professional and amateur astronomers. The recent observation of comet 67P, at a magnitude of 21.2, from Siding

Skype Me! Astronomers, Students, and Cutting-Edge Research

Science.gov (United States)

Hickox, Ryan C.; Gauthier, Adrienne J.

2014-06-01

A primary goal of many university science courses is to promote understanding of the process of contemporary scientific inquiry. One powerful way to achieve this is for students to explore current research and then interact directly with the leading scientist, the feasibility of which has recently increased dramatically due to free online video communication tools. We report on a program implemented at Dartmouth College in which students connect with a guest astronomer through Skype (video chat). The Skype session is wrapped in a larger activity where students explore current research articles, interact with the astronomer, and then reflect on the experience. The in-class Skype discussions require a small time commitment from scientists (20-30 minutes, with little or no need for preparation) while providing students direct access to researchers at the cutting edge of modern astronomy. We outline the procedures used to implement these discussions, and present qualitative assessments of student's understanding of the process of research, as well as feedback from the guest astronomers.

Astro-imaging projects for amateur astronomers a maker’s guide

CERN Document Server

Chung, Jim

2015-01-01

This is the must-have guide for all amateur astronomers who double as makers, doers, tinkerers, problem-solvers, and inventors. In a world where an amateur astronomy habit can easily run into the many thousands of dollars, it is still possible for practitioners to get high-quality results and equipment on a budget by utilizing DIY techniques. Surprisingly, it's not that hard to modify existing equipment to get new and improved usability from older or outdated technology, creating an end result that can outshine the pricey higher-end tools. All it takes is some elbow grease, a creative and open mind and the help of Chung's hard-won knowledge on building and modifying telescopes and cameras. With this book, it is possible for readers to improve their craft, making their equipment more user friendly. The tools are at hand, and the advice on how to do it is here. Readers will discover a comprehensive presentation of astronomical projects that any amateur on any budget can replicate – projects that utilize lead...

Astronomical Research Using Virtual Observatories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Tanaka

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The Virtual Observatory (VO for Astronomy is a framework that empowers astronomical research by providing standard methods to find, access, and utilize astronomical data archives distributed around the world. VO projects in the world have been strenuously developing VO software tools and/or portal systems. Interoperability among VO projects has been achieved with the VO standard protocols defined by the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA. As a result, VO technologies are now used in obtaining astronomical research results from a huge amount of data. We describe typical examples of astronomical research enabled by the astronomical VO, and describe how the VO technologies are used in the research.

Evaluation of the brightness of lightning channels and branches using the magnitude system: Application of astronomical photometry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nobuaki Shimoji

Full Text Available In this paper, we have evaluated the brightness of lightning leaders shown in a digital still image by applying the astronomical magnitude system. In order to analyze the only lightning leaders, these were extracted from the digital still image. For photometry of the lightning leaders, there is no a standard reference source such as Vega in astronomical photometry. Therefore, assuming the maximum pixel value 255 (in 256 levels as the brightness of a standard reference source, the magnitude of the lightning leaders was obtained. The result showed that the magnitude of the lightning leaders vary spatially (i.e. 2D spatial variability. Furthermore, the result suggested that a low current channel is high magnitude and a high current channel is low magnitude. Keywords: Lightning, Fechner’s law, Magnitude system, Astronomical photometry, Image analysis

AWOB: A Collaborative Workbench for Astronomers

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, J. W.; Lemson, G.; Bulatovic, N.; Makarenko, V.; Vogler, A.; Voges, W.; Yao, Y.; Kiefl, R.; Koychev, S.

2015-09-01

We present the Astronomers Workbench (AWOB1), a web-based collaboration and publication platform for a scientific project of any size, developed in collaboration between the Max-Planck institutes of Astrophysics (MPA) and Extra-terrestrial Physics (MPE) and the Max-Planck Digital Library (MPDL). AWOB facilitates the collaboration between geographically distributed astronomers working on a common project throughout its whole scientific life cycle. AWOB does so by making it very easy for scientists to set up and manage a collaborative workspace for individual projects, where data can be uploaded and shared. It supports inviting project collaborators, provides wikis, automated mailing lists, calendars and event notification and has a built in chat facility. It allows the definition and tracking of tasks within projects and supports easy creation of e-publications for the dissemination of data and images and other resources that cannot be added to submitted papers. AWOB extends the project concept to larger scale consortia, within which it is possible to manage working groups and sub-projects. The existing AWOB instance has so far been limited to Max-Planck members and their collaborators, but will be opened to the whole astronomical community. AWOB is an open-source project and its source code is available upon request. We intend to extend AWOB's functionality also to other disciplines, and would greatly appreciate contributions from the community.

Astronomical Spectroscopy for Amateurs

CERN Document Server

Harrison, Ken M

2011-01-01

Astronomical Spectroscopy for Amateurs is a complete guide for amateur astronomers who are looking for a new challenge beyond astrophotography. The book provides a brief overview of the history and development of the spectroscope, then a short introduction to the theory of stellar spectra, including details on the necessary reference spectra required for instrument testing and spectral comparison. The various types of spectroscopes available to the amateur are then described. Later sections cover all aspects of setting up and using various types of commercially available and home-built spectroscopes, starting with basic transmission gratings and going through more complex models, all the way to the sophisticated Littrow design. The final part of the text is about practical spectroscope design and construction. This book uniquely brings together a collection of observing, analyzing, and processing hints and tips that will allow the amateur to build skills in preparing scientifically acceptable spectra data. It...

Astronomical Research with the MicroObservatory Net

Science.gov (United States)

Brecher, K.; Sadler, P.; Gould, R.; Leiker, S.; Antonucci, P.; Deutsch, F.

1997-05-01

We have developed a fully integrated automated astronomical telescope system which combines the imaging power of a cooled CCD, with a self-contained and weatherized 15 cm reflecting optical telescope and mount. The MicroObservatory Net consists of five of these telescopes. They are currently being deployed around the world at widely distributed longitudes. Remote access to the MicroObservatories over the Internet has now been implemented. Software for computer control, pointing, focusing, filter selection as well as pattern recognition have all been developed as part of the project. The telescopes can be controlled in real time or in delay mode, from a Macintosh, PC or other computer using Web-based software. The Internet address of the telescopes is http://cfa- www.harvard.edu/cfa/sed/MicroObservatory/MicroObservatory.html. In the real-time mode, individuals have access to all of the telescope control functions without the need for an `on-site' operator. Users can sign up for a specific period of ti me. In the batch mode, users can submit requests for delayed telescope observations. After a MicroObservatory completes a job, the user is automatically notified by e-mail that the image is available for viewing and downloading from the Web site. The telescopes were designed for classroom instruction, as well as for use by students and amateur astronomers for original scientific research projects. We are currently examining a variety of technical and educational questions about the use of the telescopes including: (1) What are the best approaches to scheduling real-time versus batch mode observations? (2) What criteria should be used for allocating telescope time? (3) With deployment of more than one telescope, is it advantageous for each telescope to be used for just one type of observation, i.e., some for photometric use, others for imaging? And (4) What are the most valuable applications of the MicroObservatories in astronomical research? Support for the Micro

PC image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwa, Mok Jin Il; Am, Ha Jeng Ung

1995-04-01

This book starts summary of digital image processing and personal computer, and classification of personal computer image processing system, digital image processing, development of personal computer and image processing, image processing system, basic method of image processing such as color image processing and video processing, software and interface, computer graphics, video image and video processing application cases on image processing like satellite image processing, color transformation of image processing in high speed and portrait work system.

Linear feature detection algorithm for astronomical surveys - I. Algorithm description

Science.gov (United States)

Bektešević, Dino; Vinković, Dejan

2017-11-01

Computer vision algorithms are powerful tools in astronomical image analyses, especially when automation of object detection and extraction is required. Modern object detection algorithms in astronomy are oriented towards detection of stars and galaxies, ignoring completely the detection of existing linear features. With the emergence of wide-field sky surveys, linear features attract scientific interest as possible trails of fast flybys of near-Earth asteroids and meteors. In this work, we describe a new linear feature detection algorithm designed specifically for implementation in big data astronomy. The algorithm combines a series of algorithmic steps that first remove other objects (stars and galaxies) from the image and then enhance the line to enable more efficient line detection with the Hough algorithm. The rate of false positives is greatly reduced thanks to a step that replaces possible line segments with rectangles and then compares lines fitted to the rectangles with the lines obtained directly from the image. The speed of the algorithm and its applicability in astronomical surveys are also discussed.

Old Star's "Rebirth" Gives Astronomers Surprises

Science.gov (United States)

2005-04-01

Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope are taking advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch an old star suddenly stir back into new activity after coming to the end of its normal life. Their surprising results have forced them to change their ideas of how such an old, white dwarf star can re-ignite its nuclear furnace for one final blast of energy. Sakurai's Object Radio/Optical Images of Sakurai's Object: Color image shows nebula ejected thousands of years ago. Contours indicate radio emission. Inset is Hubble Space Telescope image, with contours indicating radio emission; this inset shows just the central part of the region. CREDIT: Hajduk et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF, ESO, StSci, NASA Computer simulations had predicted a series of events that would follow such a re-ignition of fusion reactions, but the star didn't follow the script -- events moved 100 times more quickly than the simulations predicted. "We've now produced a new theoretical model of how this process works, and the VLA observations have provided the first evidence supporting our new model," said Albert Zijlstra, of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. Zijlstra and his colleagues presented their findings in the April 8 issue of the journal Science. The astronomers studied a star known as V4334 Sgr, in the constellation Sagittarius. It is better known as "Sakurai's Object," after Japanese amateur astronomer Yukio Sakurai, who discovered it on February 20, 1996, when it suddenly burst into new brightness. At first, astronomers thought the outburst was a common nova explosion, but further study showed that Sakurai's Object was anything but common. The star is an old white dwarf that had run out of hydrogen fuel for nuclear fusion reactions in its core. Astronomers believe that some such stars can undergo a final burst of fusion in a shell of helium that surrounds a core of heavier nuclei such as carbon and oxygen. However, the

World's fastest and most sensitive astronomical camera

Science.gov (United States)

2009-06-01

The next generation of instruments for ground-based telescopes took a leap forward with the development of a new ultra-fast camera that can take 1500 finely exposed images per second even when observing extremely faint objects. The first 240x240 pixel images with the world's fastest high precision faint light camera were obtained through a collaborative effort between ESO and three French laboratories from the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers (CNRS/INSU). Cameras such as this are key components of the next generation of adaptive optics instruments of Europe's ground-based astronomy flagship facility, the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT). ESO PR Photo 22a/09 The CCD220 detector ESO PR Photo 22b/09 The OCam camera ESO PR Video 22a/09 OCam images "The performance of this breakthrough camera is without an equivalent anywhere in the world. The camera will enable great leaps forward in many areas of the study of the Universe," says Norbert Hubin, head of the Adaptive Optics department at ESO. OCam will be part of the second-generation VLT instrument SPHERE. To be installed in 2011, SPHERE will take images of giant exoplanets orbiting nearby stars. A fast camera such as this is needed as an essential component for the modern adaptive optics instruments used on the largest ground-based telescopes. Telescopes on the ground suffer from the blurring effect induced by atmospheric turbulence. This turbulence causes the stars to twinkle in a way that delights poets, but frustrates astronomers, since it blurs the finest details of the images. Adaptive optics techniques overcome this major drawback, so that ground-based telescopes can produce images that are as sharp as if taken from space. Adaptive optics is based on real-time corrections computed from images obtained by a special camera working at very high speeds. Nowadays, this means many hundreds of times each second. The new generation instruments require these

Early results from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neugebauer, G.; Beichman, C.A.; Soifer, B.T.

1984-01-01

For 10 months the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) provided astronomers with what might be termed their first view of the infrared sky on a clear, dark night. Without IRAS, atmospheric absorption and the thermal emission from both the atmosphere and Earthbound telescopes make the task of the infrared astronomer comparable to what an optical astronomer would face if required to work only on cloudy afternoons. IRAS observations are serving astronomers in the same manner as the photographic plates of the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey; just as the optical survey has been used by all astronomers for over three decades, as a source of quantitative information about the sky and as a roadmap for future observations, the results of IRAS will be studied for years to come. IRAS has demonstrated the power of infrared astronomy from space. Already, from a brief look at a miniscule fraction of the data available, we have learned much about the solar system, about nearby stars, about the Galaxy as a whole and about distant extragalactic systems. Comets are much dustier than previously thought. Solid particles, presumably the remnants of the star-formation process, orbit around Vega and other stars and may provide the raw material for planetary systems. Emission from cool interstellar material has been traced throughout the Galaxy all the way to the galactic poles. Both the clumpiness and breadth of the distribution of this material were previously unsuspected. The far-infrared sky away from the galactic plane has been found to be dominate by spiral galaxies, some of which emit more than 50% and as much as 98% of their energy in the infrared - an exciting and surprising revelation. The IRAS mission is clearly the pathfinder for future mission that, to a large extent, will be devoted to the discoveries revealed by IRAS. 8 figures

Perspectives of intellectual processing of large volumes of astronomical data using neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

Gorbunov, A. A.; Isaev, E. A.; Samodurov, V. A.

2018-01-01

In the process of astronomical observations vast amounts of data are collected. BSA (Big Scanning Antenna) LPI used in the study of impulse phenomena, daily logs 87.5 GB of data (32 TB per year). This data has important implications for both short-and long-term monitoring of various classes of radio sources (including radio transients of different nature), monitoring the Earth’s ionosphere, the interplanetary and the interstellar plasma, the search and monitoring of different classes of radio sources. In the framework of the studies discovered 83096 individual pulse events (in the interval of the study highlighted July 2012 - October 2013), which may correspond to pulsars, twinkling springs, and a rapid radio transients. Detected impulse events are supposed to be used to filter subsequent observations. The study suggests approach, using the creation of the multilayered artificial neural network, which processes the input raw data and after processing, by the hidden layer, the output layer produces a class of impulsive phenomena.

Astronomical Heritage in the National Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Harutyunian, H. A.; Mickaelian, A. M.; Parsamian, E. S.

2014-10-01

The book contains Proceedings of the Archaeoastronomical Meeting "Astronomical Heritage in the National Culture" Dedicated to Anania Shirakatsi's 1400th Anniversary and XI Annual Meeting of the Armenian Astronomical Society. It consists of 3 main sections: "Astronomical Heritage", "Anania Shirakatsi" and "Modern Astronomy", as well as Literature about Anania Shirakatsi is included. The book may be interesting for astronomers, historians, archaeologists, linguists, students and other readers.

Powerful Radio Burst Indicates New Astronomical Phenomenon

Science.gov (United States)

2007-09-01

Astronomers studying archival data from an Australian radio telescope have discovered a powerful, short-lived burst of radio waves that they say indicates an entirely new type of astronomical phenomenon. Region of Strong Radio Burst Visible-light (negative greyscale) and radio (contours) image of Small Magellanic Cloud and area where burst originated. CREDIT: Lorimer et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF Click on image for high-resolution file ( 114 KB) "This burst appears to have originated from the distant Universe and may have been produced by an exotic event such as the collision of two neutron stars or the death throes of an evaporating black hole," said Duncan Lorimer, Assistant Professor of Physics at West Virginia University (WVU) and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The research team led by Lorimer consists of Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University in Australia, Maura McLaughlin of WVU and NRAO, David Narkevic of WVU, and Fronefield Crawford of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The astronomers announced their findings in the September 27 issue of the online journal Science Express. The startling discovery came as WVU undergraduate student David Narkevic re-analyzed data from observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud made by the 210-foot Parkes radio telescope in Australia. The data came from a survey of the Magellanic Clouds that included 480 hours of observations. "This survey had sought to discover new pulsars, and the data already had been searched for the type of pulsating signals they produce," Lorimer said. "We re-examined the data, looking for bursts that, unlike the usual ones from pulsars, are not periodic," he added. The survey had covered the Magellanic Clouds, a pair of small galaxies in orbit around our own Milky Way Galaxy. Some 200,000 light-years from Earth, the Magellanic Clouds are prominent features in the Southern sky. Ironically, the new discovery is not part of these galaxies, but rather is much more distant

Explanatory supplement to the astronomical almanac

CERN Document Server

Urban, Sean E

2013-01-01

The Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac offers explanatory material, supplemental information and detailed descriptions of the computational models and algorithms used to produce The Astronomical Almanac, which is an annual publication prepared jointly by the US Naval Observatory and Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office in the UK. Like The Astronomical Almanac, The Explanatory Supplement provides detailed coverage of modern positional astronomy. Chapters are devoted to the celestial and terrestrial reference frames, orbital ephemerides, precession, nutation, Earth rotation, and coordinate transformations. These topics have undergone substantial revisions since the last edition was published. Astronomical positions are intertwined with timescales and relativity in The Astronomical Almanac, so related chapters are provided in The Explanatory Supplement. The Astronomical Almanac also includes information on lunar and solar eclipses, physical ephemerides of solar system bodies, and calendars, so T...

Astronomical Data Processing Using SciQL, an SQL Based Query Language for Array Data

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Y.; Scheers, B.; Kersten, M.; Ivanova, M.; Nes, N.

2012-09-01

SciQL (pronounced as ‘cycle’) is a novel SQL-based array query language for scientific applications with both tables and arrays as first class citizens. SciQL lowers the entrance fee of adopting relational DBMS (RDBMS) in scientific domains, because it includes functionality often only found in mathematics software packages. In this paper, we demonstrate the usefulness of SciQL for astronomical data processing using examples from the Transient Key Project of the LOFAR radio telescope. In particular, how the LOFAR light-curve database of all detected sources can be constructed, by correlating sources across the spatial, frequency, time and polarisation domains.

Astronomical Ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Neuenschwander, D. E.; Finkenbinder, L. R.

2004-05-01

Just as quetzals and jaguars require specific ecological habitats to survive, so too must planets occupy a tightly constrained astronomical habitat to support life as we know it. With this theme in mind we relate the transferable features of our elementary astronomy course, "The Astronomical Basis of Life on Earth." Over the last five years, in a team-taught course that features a spring break field trip to Costa Rica, we have introduced astronomy through "astronomical ecosystems," emphasizing astronomical constraints on the prospects for life on Earth. Life requires energy, chemical elements, and long timescales, and we emphasize how cosmological, astrophysical, and geological realities, through stabilities and catastrophes, create and eliminate niches for biological life. The linkage between astronomy and biology gets immediate and personal: for example, studies in solar energy production are followed by hikes in the forest to examine the light-gathering strategies of photosynthetic organisms; a lesson on tides is conducted while standing up to our necks in one on a Pacific beach. Further linkages between astronomy and the human timescale concerns of biological diversity, cultural diversity, and environmental sustainability are natural and direct. Our experience of teaching "astronomy as habitat" strongly influences our "Astronomy 101" course in Oklahoma as well. This "inverted astrobiology" seems to transform our student's outlook, from the universe being something "out there" into something "we're in!" We thank the SNU Science Alumni support group "The Catalysts," and the SNU Quetzal Education and Research Center, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, for their support.

Choosing and using astronomical eyepieces

CERN Document Server

Paolini, William

2013-01-01

This valuable reference fills a number of needs in the field of astronomical eyepieces, including that of a buyer's guide, observer's field guide and technical desk reference. It documents the past market for eyepieces and its evolution right up to the present day. In addition to appealing to practical astronomers - and potentially saving them money - it is useful both as a historical reference and as a detailed review of the current market place for this bustling astronomical consumer product. What distinguishes this book from other publications on astronomy is the involvement of observers from all aspects of the astronomical community, and also the major manufacturers of equipment. It not only catalogs the technical aspects of the many modern eyepieces but also documents amateur observer reactions and impressions of their utility over the years, using many different eyepieces. Eyepieces are the most talked-about accessories and collectible items available to the amateur astronomer. No other item of equi...

Korean Astronomical Calendar, Chiljeongsan

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Eun Hee

In fifteenth century Korea, there was a grand project for the astronomical calendar and instrument making by the order of King Sejong 世宗 (1418-1450). During this period, many astronomical and calendrical books including Islamic sources in Chinese versions were imported from Ming 明 China, and corrected and researched by the court astronomers of Joseon 朝鮮 (1392-1910). Moreover, the astronomers and technicians of Korea frequently visited China to study astronomy and instrument making, and they brought back useful information in the form of new published books or specifications of instruments. As a result, a royal observatory equipped with 15 types of instrument was completed in 1438. Two types of calendar, Chiljeongsan Naepyeon 七政算內篇 and Chiljeongsan Oepyeon 七政算外篇, based on the Chinese and Islamic calendar systems, respectively, were published in 1444 with a number of calendrical editions such as corrections and example supplements (假令) including calculation methods and results for solar and lunar eclipses.

ALOHA—Astronomical Light Optical Hybrid Analysis - From experimental demonstrations to a MIR instrument proposal

Science.gov (United States)

Lehmann, L.; Darré, P.; Szemendera, L.; Gomes, J. T.; Baudoin, R.; Ceus, D.; Brustlein, S.; Delage, L.; Grossard, L.; Reynaud, F.

2018-04-01

This paper gives an overview of the Astronomical Light Optical Hybrid Analysis (ALOHA) project dedicated to investigate a new method for high resolution imaging in mid infrared astronomy. This proposal aims to use a non-linear frequency conversion process to shift the thermal infrared radiation to a shorter wavelength domain compatible with proven technology such as guided optics and detectors. After a description of the principle, we summarise the evolution of our study from the high flux seminal experiments to the latest results in the photon counting regime.

The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and Post-war Japanese Optical Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Tajima, Toshiyuki

This paper depicts some aspects of the formative process of the Japanese optical and infrared astronomical community in the post-war period, featuring the transition of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan(NAOJ). We take up three cases of telescope construction, examining their background and their contribution to the Japanese astronomical community. Through these cases, the characteristics of traditions and cultures of optical and infrared astronomy in Japan are considered. Although the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory (TAO) of the University of Tokyo, the predecessor of NAOJ, was originally founded as an agency for practical astronomical observation such as time and almanac service, it has become an international centre for all types of astrophysical research. Research and development of telescopes and observational instruments have become an important part of the astronomers' practice. Now, however, a number of Japanese universities are planning to have their own large to middle-sized telescopes, and a new style of astronomical research is emerging involving astrophysical studies utilising data acquired from the Virtual Observatory, so there is a distinct possibility that the status of the NAOJ will change even further in the future.

New Life for Astronomical Instruments of the Past at the Astronomical Observatory of Taras Shevchenko

Science.gov (United States)

Kazantseva, Liliya

2012-09-01

Astronomical instruments of the past are certainly valuable artifacts of the history of science and education. Like other collections of scientific equipment, they also demonstrate i) development of scientific and technical ideas, ii) technological features of the historical period, iii) professional features of artists or companies -- manufacturers, and iv) national and local specificity of production. However, astronomical instruments are also devices made for observations of rare phenomena -- solar eclipses, transits of planets of the solar disk, etc. Instruments used to study these rare events were very different for each event, since the science changed quickly between events. The Astronomical Observatory of Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University has a collection of tools made by leading European and local shops from the early nineteenth century. These include tools for optically observing the first artificial Earth satellites, photography, chronometry, and meteorology. In addition, it has assembled a library of descriptions of astronomical instruments and makers'price-lists. Of particular interest are the large stationary tools that are still active in their pavilions. Almost every instrument has a long interesting history. Museification of astronomical instruments gives them a second life, expanding educational programs and tracing the development of astronomy in general and scientific institution and region in particular. It would be advisable to first create a regional database of these rare astronomical instruments (which is already being done in Ukraine), then a common global database. By combining all the historical information about astronomical instruments with the advantages of the Internet, you can show the full evolution of an astronomical instrument with all its features. Time is relentless, and much is destroyed, badly kept and thrown in the garbage. We need time to protect, capture, and tell about it.

The PACA Project: When Amateur Astronomers Become Citizen Scientists

Science.gov (United States)

Yanamandra-Fisher, P. A.

2014-12-01

The Pro-Am Collaborative Astronomy (PACA) project evolved from the observational campaign of C/2012 S1 or C/ISON in 2013. Following the success of the professional-amateur astronomer collaboration in scientific research via social media, it is now implemented in other comet observing campaigns. While PACA identifies a consistent collaborative approach to pro-am collaborations, given the volume of data generated for each campaign, new ways of rapid data analysis, mining access and storage are needed. Several interesting results emerged from the synergistic inclusion of both social media and amateur astronomers: (1) the establishment of a network of astronomers and related professionals, that can be galvanized into action on short notice to support observing campaigns; (2) assist in various science investigations pertinent to the campaign; (3) provide an alert-sounding mechanism should the need arise; (4) immediate outreach and dissemination of results via our media/blogger members; (5) provide a forum for discussions between the imagers and modelers to help strategize the observing campaign for maximum benefit. In 2014, two new comet observing campaigns involving pro-am collaborations have been initiated: (1) C/2013 A1 (C/SidingSpring) and (2) 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (CG), target for ESA/Rosetta mission. The evolving need for individual customized observing campaigns has been incorporated into the evolution of PACA portal that currently is focused on comets: from supporting observing campaigns of current comets, legacy data, historical comets; interconnected with social media and a set of shareable documents addressing observational strategies; consistent standards for data; data access, use, and storage, to align with the needs of professional observers. The integration of science, observations by professional and amateur astronomers, and various social media provides a dynamic and evolving collaborative partnership between professional and amateur astronomers

Considerations for the Use of STEREO -HI Data for Astronomical Studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tappin, S. J., E-mail: james.tappin@stfc.ac.uk [RAL Space, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Didcot, Oxon. OX11 0QX (United Kingdom)

2017-04-01

Recent refinements to the photometric calibrations of the Heliospheric Imagers (HI) on board the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory ( STEREO ) have revealed a number of subtle effects in the measurement of stellar signals with those instruments. These effects need to be considered in the interpretation of STEREO -HI data for astronomy. In this paper we present an analysis of these effects and how to compensate for them when using STEREO -HI data for astronomical studies. We determine how saturation of the HI CCD detectors affects the apparent count rates of stars after the on-board summing of pixels and exposures. Single-exposure calibration images are analyzed and compared with binned and summed science images to determine the influence of saturation on the science images. We also analyze how the on-board cosmic-ray scrubbing algorithm affects stellar images. We determine how this interacts with the variations of instrument pointing to affect measurements of stars. We find that saturation is a significant effect only for the brightest stars, and that its onset is gradual. We also find that degraded pointing stability, whether of the entire spacecraft or of the imagers, leads to reduced stellar count rates and also increased variation thereof through interaction with the on-board cosmic-ray scrubbing algorithm. We suggest ways in which these effects can be mitigated for astronomical studies and also suggest how the situation can be improved for future imagers.

Astronomical Instrumentation System Markup Language

Science.gov (United States)

Goldbaum, Jesse M.

2016-05-01

The Astronomical Instrumentation System Markup Language (AISML) is an Extensible Markup Language (XML) based file format for maintaining and exchanging information about astronomical instrumentation. The factors behind the need for an AISML are first discussed followed by the reasons why XML was chosen as the format. Next it's shown how XML also provides the framework for a more precise definition of an astronomical instrument and how these instruments can be combined to form an Astronomical Instrumentation System (AIS). AISML files for several instruments as well as one for a sample AIS are provided. The files demonstrate how AISML can be utilized for various tasks from web page generation and programming interface to instrument maintenance and quality management. The advantages of widespread adoption of AISML are discussed.

Markov Processes in Image Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Petrov, E. P.; Kharina, N. L.

2018-05-01

Digital images are used as an information carrier in different sciences and technologies. The aspiration to increase the number of bits in the image pixels for the purpose of obtaining more information is observed. In the paper, some methods of compression and contour detection on the basis of two-dimensional Markov chain are offered. Increasing the number of bits on the image pixels will allow one to allocate fine object details more precisely, but it significantly complicates image processing. The methods of image processing do not concede by the efficiency to well-known analogues, but surpass them in processing speed. An image is separated into binary images, and processing is carried out in parallel with each without an increase in speed, when increasing the number of bits on the image pixels. One more advantage of methods is the low consumption of energy resources. Only logical procedures are used and there are no computing operations. The methods can be useful in processing images of any class and assignment in processing systems with a limited time and energy resources.

Astronomical Signatures of Dark Matter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Gorenstein

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Several independent astronomical observations in different wavelength bands reveal the existence of much larger quantities of matter than what we would deduce from assuming a solar mass to light ratio. They are very high velocities of individual galaxies within clusters of galaxies, higher than expected rotation rates of stars in the outer regions of galaxies, 21 cm line studies indicative of increasing mass to light ratios with radius in the halos of spiral galaxies, hot gaseous X-ray emitting halos around many elliptical galaxies, and clusters of galaxies requiring a much larger component of unseen mass for the hot gas to be bound. The level of gravitational attraction needed for the spatial distribution of galaxies to evolve from the small perturbations implied by the very slightly anisotropic cosmic microwave background radiation to its current web-like configuration requires much more mass than is observed across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Distorted shapes of galaxies and other features created by gravitational lensing in the images of many astronomical objects require an amount of dark matter consistent with other estimates. The unambiguous detection of dark matter and more recently evidence for dark energy has positioned astronomy at the frontier of fundamental physics as it was in the 17th century.

International astronomical remote present observation on IRC.

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Kaifan; Cao, Wenda; Song, Qian

On March 6 - 7, 1997, an international astronomical remote present observation (RPO) was made on Internet Relay Chat (IRC) for the first time. Seven groups in four countries, China, United States, Canada and Great Britain, used the 1 meter telescope of Yunnan observatory together by the way of remote present observation. Within minutes, images were "On-line" by FTP, and every one was able to get them by anonymous ftp and discuss them on IRC from different widely separated sites.

Amateur Astronomers: Secret Agents of EPO

Science.gov (United States)

Berendsen, M.; White, V.; Devore, E.; Reynolds, M.

2008-06-01

Amateur astronomers prime the public to be more interested, receptive, and excited about space science, missions, and programs. Through recent research and targeted programs, amateur astronomy outreach is being increasingly recognized by professional astronomers, educators, and other amateurs as a valued and important service. The Night Sky Network program, administered by the ASP, is the first nationwide research-based program specifically targeted to support outreach by amateur astronomers. This Network of trained and informed amateur astronomers can provide a stimulating introduction to your EPO programs as Network members share the night sky with families, students, and youth groups.

Scientific Astrophotography How Amateurs Can Generate and Use Professional Imaging Data

CERN Document Server

Hubbell, Gerald R

2013-01-01

Scientific Astrophotography is a work for those amateur astronomers looking for new challenges, once they have mastered visual observing and the basic imaging of various astronomical objects. It is a wonderful reference for scientifically-inclined observers who want to learn the fundamentals of astrophotography with a firm emphasis on the discipline of scientific imaging. This book is a wealth of information and a distillation of ideas presented by a diverse set of sources and based on the most recent techniques, equipment, and data available. It also includes numerous exercises for the reader, to maximize the success and minimize the frustration inherent in the pursuit of this specific craft. Scientific Astrophotography is perfect for any amateur astronomer who wants to go beyond just the process of making beautiful images and actually contribute to the science of astronomy! "...Gerald Hubbell's new book, Scientific Astrophotography, is the perfect companion for anyone dipping their toe into the digital imag...

TMT in the Astronomical Landscape of the 2020s

Science.gov (United States)

Dickinson, Mark; Inami, Hanae

2014-07-01

Thirty Meter Telescope Observatory and NOAO will host the second TMT Science Forum at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Arizona. The TMT Science Forum is an an annual gathering of astronomers, educators, and observatory staff, who meet to explore TMT science, instrumentation, observatory operations, archiving and data processing, astronomy education, and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) issues. It is an opportunity for astronomers from the international TMT partners and from the US-at-large community to learn about the observatory status, discuss and plan cutting-edge science, establish collaborations, and to help shape the future of TMT. One important theme for this year's Forum will be the synergy between TMT and other facilities in the post-2020 astronomical landscape. There will be plenary sessions, an instrumentation workshop, topical science sessions and meetings of the TMT International Science Development Teams (ISDTs).

Astronomical and Meteoritic Evidence for the Nature of Interstellar Dust and Its Processing in Protoplanetary Disks

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, C. M. O'd.; Boss, A. P.; Keller, L. P.; Nuth, J. A.; Weinberger, A.

Here we compare the astronomical and meteoritic evidence for the nature and origin of interstellar dust, and how it is processed in protoplanetary disks. The relative abundances of circumstellar grains in meteorites and interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) are broadly consistent with most astronomical estimates of galactic dust production, although graphite/amorphous C is highly underabundant. The major carbonaceous component in meteorites and IDPs is an insoluble organic material (IOM) that probably formed in the interstellar medium, but a solar origin cannot be ruled out. GEMS (glass with embedded metal and sulfide) that are isotopically solar within error are the best candidates for interstellar silicates, but it is also possible that they are solar system condensates. No dust from young stellar objects has been identified in IDPs, but it is difficult to differentiate them from solar system material or indeed some circumstellar condensates. The crystalline silicates in IDPs are mostly solar condensates, with lesser amounts of annealed GEMS. The IOM abundances in IDPs are roughly consistent with the degree of processing indicated by their crystallinity if the processed material was ISM dust. The IOM contents of meteorites are much lower, suggesting that there was a gradient in dust processing in the solar system. The microstructure of much of the pyroxene in IDPs suggests that it formed at temperatures >1258 K and cooled relatively rapidly (~1000 K/h). This cooling rate favors shock heating rather than radial transport of material annealed in the hot inner disk as the mechanism for producing crystalline dust in comets and IDPs. Shock heating is also a likely mechanism for producing chondrules in meteorites, but the dust was probably heated at a different time and/or location to chondrules.

Aesthetics and Composition in Deep Sky Imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Gendler, Robert

It's safe to say that many of us began astrophotography feeling overwhelmed by the unnerving task of creating even the simplest astro image. Typically those first successful images were met with a healthy dose of humility as we began to understand the reality of assembling an aesthetically pleasing astronomical image. As we acquired more experience and gradually mastered the fundamentals of image processing our goals and objectives likely evolved and matured.

CCD Astrophotography High-Quality Imaging from the Suburbs

CERN Document Server

Stuart, Adam

2006-01-01

This is a reference book for amateur astronomers who have become interested in CCD imaging. Those glorious astronomical images found in astronomy magazines might seem out of reach to newcomers to CCD imaging, but this is not the case. Great pictures are attainable with modest equipment. Adam Stuart’s many beautiful images, reproduced in this book, attest to the quality of – initially – a beginner’s efforts. Chilled-chip astronomical CCD-cameras and software are also wonderful tools for cutting through seemingly impenetrable light-pollution. CCD Astrophotography from the Suburbs describes one man’s successful approach to the problem of getting high-quality astronomical images under some of the most light-polluted conditions. Here is a complete and thoroughly tested program that will help every CCD-beginner to work towards digital imaging of the highest quality. It is equally useful to astronomers who have perfect observing conditions, as to those who have to observe from light-polluted city skies.

Sketching the moon an astronomical artist's guide

CERN Document Server

Handy, Richard; McCague, Thomas; Rix, Erika; Russell, Sally

2012-01-01

Soon after you begin studying the sky through your small telescope or binoculars, you will probably be encouraged by others to make sketches of what you see. Sketching is a time-honored tradition in amateur astronomy and dates back to the earliest times, when telescopes were invented. Even though we have lots of new imaging technologies nowadays, including astrophotography, most observers still use sketching to keep a record of what they see, make them better observers, and in hopes of perhaps contributing something to the body of scientific knowledge about the Moon. Some even sketch because it satisfies their artistic side. The Moon presents some unique challenges to the astronomer-artist, the Moon being so fond of tricks of the light. Sketching the Moon: An Astronomical Artist’s Guide, by five of the best lunar observer-artists working today, will guide you along your way and help you to achieve really high-quality sketches. All the major types of lunar features are covered, with a variety of sketching te...

"Word of Discovery": A Planetary Example from Volume I of the Astronomical Journal

Science.gov (United States)

Hockey, T.

1998-09-01

In 1850, William Lassell (1799-1880) discovered a series of bright white spots, in the south temperate latitudes of Jupiter, unlike any that that been seen before. Lassell's note on these STZ features is a useful example of how astronomical discoveries of the day were communicated among astronomers. Word of Lassell's Spots spread quickly by nineteenth-century standards. This was due, in part, to the recent appearance of journals devoted exclusively to astronomy. The transition from letters as a means of conveying scientific information to journals is reflected in the propagation of Lassell's announcement: a report of Lassell's description of the white spots to the Royal Astronomical Society appeared in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society along with a woodblock print of one of his drawings. This report reappeared shortly thereafter in German translation. It was part of a letter to the editor of the Astronomische Nachrichten, Heinrich Schumacher (1780-1850), from an English correspondent of his, the Reverend Richard Sheepshanks (1974-1855). (Sheepshanks was himself editor of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.) It then made its way across the Atlantic as a letter from Schumacher to Benjamin Gould (1824-1896), who published it in the first volume of his upstart Astronomical Journal. There it appears in English, again, as Schumacher quoting Sheepshanks quoting Lassell! The observations by Lassell and William Dawes (1799-1868) of this phenomenon also were the first major planetary discovery made using a silvered-glass reflecting telescope. Lassell's Spots have remained in the "astronomical news" of the last 150 years: Most recently, they appeared worldwide in images showing the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact sites.

New knowledge in determining the astronomical orientation of Incas object in Ollantaytambo, Peru

Science.gov (United States)

Hanzalová, K.; Klokočník, J.; Kostelecký, J.

2014-06-01

This paper deals about astronomical orientation of Incas objects in Ollantaytambo, which is located about 35 km southeast from Machu Picchu, about 40 km northwest from Cusco, and lies in the Urubamba valley. Everybody writing about Ollantaytambo, shoud read Protzen (1993). He devoted his monograph to description and interpretation of that locality. Book of Salazar and Salazar (2005) deals, among others, with the orientation of objects in Ollantaytambo with respect to the cardinal direction. Zawaski and Malville (2007) documented astronomical context of major monuments of nine sites in Peru, including Ollantaytambo. We tested astronomical orientation in these places and confirm or disprove hypothesis about purpose of Incas objects. For assessment orientation of objects we used our measurements and also satellite images on Google Earth and digital elevation model from ASTER. The satellite images used to approximate estimation of astronomical orientation. The digital elevation model is useful in the mountains, where we need the really horizon for a calculation of sunset and sunrise on specific days (solstices), which were for Incas people very important. By Incas is very famous that they worshiped the Sun. According to him they determined when to plant and when to harvest the crop. In this paper we focused on Temple of the Sun, also known the Wall of six monoliths. We tested which astronomical phenomenon is connected with this Temple. First, we tested winter solstice sunrise and the rides of the Pleiades for the epochs 2000, 1500 and 1000 A.D. According with our results the Temple isn't connected neither with winter solstice sunrise nor with the Pleiades. Then we tested also winter solstice sunset. We tried to use the line from an observation point near ruins of the Temple of Sun, to west-north, in direction to sunset. The astronomical azimuth from this point was about 5° less then we need. From this results we found, that is possible to find another observation

New knowledge in determining the astronomical orientation of Incas object in Ollantaytambo, Peru

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Hanzalová

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper deals about astronomical orientation of Incas objects in Ollantaytambo, which is located about 35 km southeast from Machu Picchu, about 40 km northwest from Cusco, and lies in the Urubamba valley. Everybody writing about Ollantaytambo, shoud read Protzen (1993. He devoted his monograph to description and interpretation of that locality. Book of Salazar and Salazar (2005 deals, among others, with the orientation of objects in Ollantaytambo with respect to the cardinal direction. Zawaski and Malville (2007 documented astronomical context of major monuments of nine sites in Peru, including Ollantaytambo. We tested astronomical orientation in these places and confirm or disprove hypothesis about purpose of Incas objects. For assessment orientation of objects we used our measurements and also satellite images on Google Earth and digital elevation model from ASTER. The satellite images used to approximate estimation of astronomical orientation. The digital elevation model is useful in the mountains, where we need the really horizon for a calculation of sunset and sunrise on specific days (solstices, which were for Incas people very important. By Incas is very famous that they worshiped the Sun. According to him they determined when to plant and when to harvest the crop. In this paper we focused on Temple of the Sun, also known the Wall of six monoliths. We tested which astronomical phenomenon is connected with this Temple. First, we tested winter solstice sunrise and the rides of the Pleiades for the epochs 2000, 1500 and 1000 A.D. According with our results the Temple isn't connected neither with winter solstice sunrise nor with the Pleiades. Then we tested also winter solstice sunset. We tried to use the line from an observation point near ruins of the Temple of Sun, to west-north, in direction to sunset. The astronomical azimuth from this point was about 5° less then we need. From this results we found, that is possible to find another

Review on the Celestial Sphere Positioning of FITS Format Image Based on WCS and Research on General Visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Song, W. M.; Fan, D. W.; Su, L. Y.; Cui, C. Z.

2017-11-01

Calculating the coordinate parameters recorded in the form of key/value pairs in FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) header is the key to determine FITS images' position in the celestial system. As a result, it has great significance in researching the general process of calculating the coordinate parameters. By combining CCD related parameters of astronomical telescope (such as field, focal length, and celestial coordinates in optical axis, etc.), astronomical images recognition algorithm, and WCS (World Coordinate System) theory, the parameters can be calculated effectively. CCD parameters determine the scope of star catalogue, so that they can be used to build a reference star catalogue by the corresponding celestial region of astronomical images; Star pattern recognition completes the matching between the astronomical image and reference star catalogue, and obtains a table with a certain number of stars between CCD plane coordinates and their celestial coordinates for comparison; According to different projection of the sphere to the plane, WCS can build different transfer functions between these two coordinates, and the astronomical position of image pixels can be determined by the table's data we have worked before. FITS images are used to carry out scientific data transmission and analyze as a kind of mainstream data format, but only to be viewed, edited, and analyzed in the professional astronomy software. It decides the limitation of popular science education in astronomy. The realization of a general image visualization method is significant. FITS is converted to PNG or JPEG images firstly. The coordinate parameters in the FITS header are converted to metadata in the form of AVM (Astronomy Visualization Metadata), and then the metadata is added to the PNG or JPEG header. This method can meet amateur astronomers' general needs of viewing and analyzing astronomical images in the non-astronomical software platform. The overall design flow is realized

Using commercial amateur astronomical spectrographs

CERN Document Server

Hopkins, Jeffrey L

2014-01-01

Amateur astronomers interested in learning more about astronomical spectroscopy now have the guide they need. It provides detailed information about how to get started inexpensively with low-resolution spectroscopy, and then how to move on to more advanced  high-resolution spectroscopy. Uniquely, the instructions concentrate very much on the practical aspects of using commercially-available spectroscopes, rather than simply explaining how spectroscopes work. The book includes a clear explanation of the laboratory theory behind astronomical spectrographs, and goes on to extensively cover the practical application of astronomical spectroscopy in detail. Four popular and reasonably-priced commercially available diffraction grating spectrographs are used as examples. The first is a low-resolution transmission diffraction grating, the Star Analyser spectrograph. The second is an inexpensive fiber optic coupled bench spectrograph that can be used to learn more about spectroscopy. The third is a newcomer, the ALPY ...

Extracting meaning from astronomical telegrams

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, Matthew; Conwill, L.; Djorgovski, S. G.; Mahabal, A.; Donalek, C.; Drake, A.

2011-01-01

The rapidly emerging field of time domain astronomy is one of the most exciting and vibrant new research frontiers, ranging in scientific scope from studies of the Solar System to extreme relativistic astrophysics and cosmology. It is being enabled by a new generation of large synoptic digital sky surveys - LSST, PanStarrs, CRTS - that cover large areas of sky repeatedly, looking for transient objects and phenomena. One of the biggest challenges facing these is the automated classification of transient events, a process that needs machine-processible astronomical knowledge. Semantic technologies enable the formal representation of concepts and relations within a particular domain. ATELs (http://www.astronomerstelegram.org) are a commonly-used means for reporting and commenting upon new astronomical observations of transient sources (supernovae, stellar outbursts, blazar flares, etc). However, they are loose and unstructured and employ scientific natural language for description: this makes automated processing of them - a necessity within the next decade with petascale data rates - a challenge. Nevertheless they represent a potentially rich corpus of information that could lead to new and valuable insights into transient phenomena. This project lies in the cutting-edge field of astrosemantics, a branch of astroinformatics, which applies semantic technologies to astronomy. The ATELs have been used to develop an appropriate concept scheme - a representation of the information they contain - for transient astronomy using aspects of natural language processing. We demonstrate that it is possible to infer the subject of an ATEL from the vocabulary used and to identify previously unassociated reports.

On the Astronomical Knowledge and Traditions of Aboriginal Australians

Science.gov (United States)

Hamacher, Duane W.

2011-12-01

Historian of science David Pingree defines science in a broad context as the process of systematically explaining perceived or imaginary phenomena. Although Westerners tend to think of science being restricted to Western culture, I argue in this thesis that astronomical scientific knowledge is found in Aboriginal traditions. Although research into the astronomical traditions of Aboriginal Australians stretches back for more than 150 years, it is relatively scant in the literature. We do know that the sun, moon, and night sky have been an important and inseparable component of the landscape to hundreds of Australian Aboriginal groups for thousands (perhaps tens-of-thousands) of years. The literature reveals that astronomical knowledge was used for time keeping, denoting seasonal change and the availability of food sources, navigation, and tidal prediction. It was also important for rituals and ceremonies, birth totems, marriage systems, cultural mnemonics, and folklore. Despite this, the field remains relatively unresearched considering the diversity of Aboriginal cultures and the length of time people have inhabited Australia (well over 40,000 years). Additionally, very little research investigating the nature and role of transient celestial phenomena has been conducted, leaving our understanding of Indigenous astronomical knowledge grossly incomplete. This thesis is an attempt to overcome this deficiency, with a specific focus on transient celestial phenomena. My research, situated in the field of cultural astronomy, draws from the sub-disciplines of archaeoastronomy, ethnoastronomy, historical astronomy, and geomythology. This approach incorporates the methodologies and theories of disciplines in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. This thesis, by publication, makes use of archaeological, ethnographic, and historical records, astronomical software packages, and geographic programs to better understand the ages of astronomical traditions and the

The Aesthetics of Astrophysics: How to Make Appealing Color-composite Images that Convey the Science

Science.gov (United States)

Rector, Travis A.; Levay, Zoltan G.; Frattare, Lisa M.; Arcand, Kimberly K.; Watzke, Megan

2017-05-01

Astronomy has a rich tradition of using color photography and imaging, for visualization in research as well as for sharing scientific discoveries in formal and informal education settings (i.e., for “public outreach”). In the modern era, astronomical research has benefitted tremendously from electronic cameras that allow data and images to be generated and analyzed in a purely digital form with a level of precision that previously was not possible. Advances in image-processing software have also enabled color-composite images to be made in ways that are much more complex than with darkroom techniques, not only at optical wavelengths but across the electromagnetic spectrum. The Internet has made it possible to rapidly disseminate these images to eager audiences. Alongside these technological advances, there have been gains in understanding how to make images that are scientifically illustrative as well as aesthetically pleasing. Studies have also given insights on how the public interprets astronomical images and how that can be different than professional astronomers. An understanding of these differences will help in the creation of images that are meaningful to both groups. In this invited review, we discuss the techniques behind making color-composite images as well as examine the factors one should consider when doing so, whether for data visualization or public consumption. We also provide a brief history of astronomical imaging with a focus on the origins of the "modern era" during which distribution of high-quality astronomical images to the public is a part of nearly every professional observatory's public outreach. We review relevant research into the expectations and misconceptions that often affect the public's interpretation of these images.

The First Astronomical Observatory in Cluj-Napoca

Science.gov (United States)

Szenkovits, Ferenc

2008-09-01

One of the most important cities of Romania is Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár, Klausenburg). This is a traditional center of education, with many universities and high schools. From the second half of the 18th century the University of Cluj has its own Astronomical Observatory, serving for didactical activities and scientific researches. The famous astronomer Maximillian Hell was one of those Jesuits who put the base of this Astronomical Observatory. Our purpose is to offer a short history of the beginnings of this Astronomical Observatory.

Storing Astronomical Information on the Romanian Territory

Science.gov (United States)

Stavinschi, M.; Mioc, V.

2004-12-01

Romanian astronomy has a more than 2000-year old tradition, which is, however, little known abroad. The first known archive of astronomical information is the Dacian sanctuary at Sarmizegetusa Regia, erected in the first century AD, having similarities with that of Stonehenge. After a gap of more than 1000 years, more sources of astronomical information become available, mainly records of astronomical events. Monasteries were the safest storage places of these genuine archives. We present a classification of the ways of storing astronomical information, along with characteristic examples.

Brazilian Participations in the International Astronomical Search Collaboration

Science.gov (United States)

Rojas, G. A.; Dalla-Costa, L. J.; Kalmus, A. T.; Kroth, E. C.; Matos, M. F.; Silva, A. L.; Silva, G. G.

2014-10-01

International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC) is an international educational project between universities, schools, observatories and research institutions. Its main objective is to enroll high school and college students in the monitoring and discovery of asteroids and Near Earth Objects (NEOs), especially Potentially Hazardous Asteroids. The methodology consists in the analysis of astronomical images obtained in several observatories in North America and Hawaii. The images are distributed throughout the school network and the results must be delivered in a 72-hour timeframe. Since 2010 Brazilian universities and schools have joined IASC, resulting in over a dozen new asteroids found (3 of them NEOs), and hundreds of measurements for already known asteroids. A major event in this collaboration was the All-Brazil Asteroid Search Campaign, which was conducted in September 2012. 2013 marks the fourth year of Brazilian participations in IASC, with one important milestone: the third straight appearance of a Brazilian institution in the Pan-STARRS campaign, which uses the PS1 telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii. We will present a summary of the overall results, as well as the latest news from 2013 campaigns. We will discuss the impact promoted by the past events, such as how the interest in astronomy changed before and after the campaigns, and it has helped the students to choose their future careers.

Spectral atlas for amateur astronomers a guide to the spectra of astronomical objects and terrestrial light sources

CERN Document Server

Walker, Richard

2017-01-01

Featuring detailed commented spectral profiles of more than one hundred astronomical objects, in colour, this spectral guide documents most of the important and spectroscopically observable objects accessible using typical amateur equipment. It allows you to read and interpret the recorded spectra of the main stellar classes, as well as most of the steps from protostars through to the final stages of stellar evolution as planetary nebulae, white dwarfs or the different types of supernovae. It also presents integrated spectra of stellar clusters, galaxies and quasars, and the reference spectra of some terrestrial light sources, for calibration purposes. Whether used as the principal reference for comparing with your recorded spectra or for inspiring independent observing projects, this atlas provides a breathtaking view into our Universe's past. The atlas is accompanied and supplemented by Spectroscopy for Amateur Astronomers, which explains in detail the methods for recording, processing, analysing and interp...

Astronomers Unveiling Life's Cosmic Origins

Science.gov (United States)

2009-02-01

Processes that laid the foundation for life on Earth -- star and planet formation and the production of complex organic molecules in interstellar space -- are yielding their secrets to astronomers armed with powerful new research tools, and even better tools soon will be available. Astronomers described three important developments at a symposium on the "Cosmic Cradle of Life" at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago, IL. Chemistry Cycle The Cosmic Chemistry Cycle CREDIT: Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF Full Size Image Files Chemical Cycle Graphic (above image, JPEG, 129K) Graphic With Text Blocks (JPEG, 165K) High-Res TIFF (44.2M) High-Res TIFF With Text Blocks (44.2M) In one development, a team of astrochemists released a major new resource for seeking complex interstellar molecules that are the precursors to life. The chemical data released by Anthony Remijan of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and his university colleagues is part of the Prebiotic Interstellar Molecule Survey, or PRIMOS, a project studying a star-forming region near the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. PRIMOS is an effort of the National Science Foundation's Center for Chemistry of the Universe, started at the University of Virginia (UVa) in October 2008, and led by UVa Professor Brooks H. Pate. The data, produced by the NSF's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia, came from more than 45 individual observations totalling more than nine GigaBytes of data and over 1.4 million individual frequency channels. Scientists can search the GBT data for specific radio frequencies, called spectral lines -- telltale "fingerprints" -- naturally emitted by molecules in interstellar space. "We've identified more than 720 spectral lines in this collection, and about 240 of those are from unknown molecules," Remijan said. He added, "We're making available to all scientists the best collection of data below 50 GHz ever produced for

Astronomical Cybersketching

CERN Document Server

Grego, Peter

2009-01-01

Outlines the techniques involved in making observational sketches and more detailed 'scientific' drawings of a wide variety of astronomical subjects using modern digital equipment; primarily PDAs and tablet PCs. This book also discusses about choosing hardware and software

Astronomical Symbolism in Australian Aboriginal Rock Art

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, Ray P.; Hamacher, Duane W.

2011-05-01

Traditional Aboriginal Australian cultures include a significant astronomical component, perpetuated through oral tradition and ceremony. This knowledge has practical navigational and calendrical functions, and sometimes extends to a deep understanding of the motion of objects in the sky. Here we explore whether this astronomical tradition is reflected in the rock art of Aboriginal Australians. We find several plausible examples of depictions of astronomical figures and symbols, and also evidence that astronomical observations were used to set out stone arrangements. However, we recognise that the case is not yet strong enough to make an unequivocal statement, and describe our plans for further research.

The Victorian Amateur Astronomer: Independent Astronomical Research in Britain 1820-1920

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Allan

1999-01-01

This is the first book to look in detail at amateur astronomy in Victorian Britain. It deals with the technical issues that were active in Victorian astronomy, and reviews the problems of finance, patronage and the dissemination of scientific ideas. It also examines the relationship between the amateur and professional in Britain. It contains a wealth of previously unpublished biographical and anecdotal material, and an extended bibliography with notes incorporating much new scholarship. In The Victorian Amateur Astronomer, Allan Chapman shows that while on the continent astronomical research was lavishly supported by the state, in Britain such research was paid for out of the pockets of highly educated, wealthy gentlemen the so-called Grand Amateurs . It was these powerful individuals who commissioned the telescopes, built the observatories, ran the learned societies, and often stole discoveries from their state-employed colleagues abroad. In addition to the Grand Amateurs , Victorian Britain also contained many self-taught amateurs. Although they belonged to no learned societies, these people provide a barometer of the popularity of astronomy in that age. In the late 19th century, the comfortable middle classes clergymen, lawyers, physicians and retired military officers took to astronomy as a serious hobby. They formed societies which focused on observation, lectures and discussions, and it was through this medium that women first came to play a significant role in British astronomy. Readership: Undergraduate and postgraduate students studying the history of science or humanities, professional historians of science, engineering and technology, particularly those with an interest in astronomy, the development of astronomical ideas, scientific instrument makers, and amateur astronomers.

The astronomical tables of Giovanni Bianchini

CERN Document Server

Chabas, Jose

2009-01-01

This book describes and analyses, for the first time, the astronomical tables of Giovanni Bianchini of Ferrara (d. after 1469), explains their context, inserts them into an astronomical tradition that began in Toledo, and addresses their diffusion.

ImageX: new and improved image explorer for astronomical images and beyond

Science.gov (United States)

Hayashi, Soichi; Gopu, Arvind; Kotulla, Ralf; Young, Michael D.

2016-08-01

The One Degree Imager - Portal, Pipeline, and Archive (ODI-PPA) has included the Image Explorer interactive image visualization tool since it went operational. Portal users were able to quickly open up several ODI images within any HTML5 capable web browser, adjust the scaling, apply color maps, and perform other basic image visualization steps typically done on a desktop client like DS9. However, the original design of the Image Explorer required lossless PNG tiles to be generated and stored for all raw and reduced ODI images thereby taking up tens of TB of spinning disk space even though a small fraction of those images were being accessed by portal users at any given time. It also caused significant overhead on the portal web application and the Apache webserver used by ODI-PPA. We found it hard to merge in improvements made to a similar deployment in another project's portal. To address these concerns, we re-architected Image Explorer from scratch and came up with ImageX, a set of microservices that are part of the IU Trident project software suite, with rapid interactive visualization capabilities useful for ODI data and beyond. We generate a full resolution JPEG image for each raw and reduced ODI FITS image before producing a JPG tileset, one that can be rendered using the ImageX frontend code at various locations as appropriate within a web portal (for example: on tabular image listings, views allowing quick perusal of a set of thumbnails or other image sifting activities). The new design has decreased spinning disk requirements, uses AngularJS for the client side Model/View code (instead of depending on backend PHP Model/View/Controller code previously used), OpenSeaDragon to render the tile images, and uses nginx and a lightweight NodeJS application to serve tile images thereby significantly decreasing the Time To First Byte latency by a few orders of magnitude. We plan to extend ImageX for non-FITS images including electron microscopy and radiology scan

Constructing Concept Schemes From Astronomical Telegrams Via Natural Language Clustering

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, Matthew; Zhang, M.; Djorgovski, S. G.; Donalek, C.; Drake, A. J.; Mahabal, A.

2012-01-01

The rapidly emerging field of time domain astronomy is one of the most exciting and vibrant new research frontiers, ranging in scientific scope from studies of the Solar System to extreme relativistic astrophysics and cosmology. It is being enabled by a new generation of large synoptic digital sky surveys - LSST, PanStarrs, CRTS - that cover large areas of sky repeatedly, looking for transient objects and phenomena. One of the biggest challenges facing these is the automated classification of transient events, a process that needs machine-processible astronomical knowledge. Semantic technologies enable the formal representation of concepts and relations within a particular domain. ATELs (http://www.astronomerstelegram.org) are a commonly-used means for reporting and commenting upon new astronomical observations of transient sources (supernovae, stellar outbursts, blazar flares, etc). However, they are loose and unstructured and employ scientific natural language for description: this makes automated processing of them - a necessity within the next decade with petascale data rates - a challenge. Nevertheless they represent a potentially rich corpus of information that could lead to new and valuable insights into transient phenomena. This project lies in the cutting-edge field of astrosemantics, a branch of astroinformatics, which applies semantic technologies to astronomy. The ATELs have been used to develop an appropriate concept scheme - a representation of the information they contain - for transient astronomy using hierarchical clustering of processed natural language. This allows us to automatically organize ATELs based on the vocabulary used. We conclude that we can use simple algorithms to process and extract meaning from astronomical textual data.

The Soviet center of astronomical data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dluzhnevskaya, O.B.

1982-01-01

On the basis of the current French-Soviet cooperation in science and technology, the Astronomical Council of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences and the Strasbourg Center signed in 1977 an agreement on setting up the Soviet Center of Astronomical Data as its filial branch. The Soviet Center was created on the basis of a computation center at the Zvenigorod station of the Astronomical Council of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences, which had already had considerable experience of working with stellar catalogues. In 1979 the Center was equipped with a EC-1033 computer. In 1978-1979 the Soviet Center of Astronomical Data (C.A.D.) received from Strasbourg 96 of the most important catalogues. By September 1981 the list of catalogues available at the Soviet Center has reached 140 catalogues some of which are described. (Auth.)

Atlas of Astronomical Discoveries

CERN Document Server

Schilling, Govert

2011-01-01

Four hundred years ago in Middelburg, in the Netherlands, the telescope was invented. The invention unleashed a revolution in the exploration of the universe. Galileo Galilei discovered mountains on the Moon, spots on the Sun, and moons around Jupiter. Christiaan Huygens saw details on Mars and rings around Saturn. William Herschel discovered a new planet and mapped binary stars and nebulae. Other astronomers determined the distances to stars, unraveled the structure of the Milky Way, and discovered the expansion of the universe. And, as telescopes became bigger and more powerful, astronomers delved deeper into the mysteries of the cosmos. In his Atlas of Astronomical Discoveries, astronomy journalist Govert Schilling tells the story of 400 years of telescopic astronomy. He looks at the 100 most important discoveries since the invention of the telescope. In his direct and accessible style, the author takes his readers on an exciting journey encompassing the highlights of four centuries of astronomy. Spectacul...

GalileoMobile: Astronomical activities in schools

Science.gov (United States)

Dasi Espuig, Maria; Vasquez, Mayte; Kobel, Philippe

GalileoMobile is an itinerant science education initiative run on a voluntary basis by an international team of astronomers, educators, and science communicators. Our team's main goal is to make astronomy accessible to schools and communities around the globe that have little or no access to outreach actions. We do this by performing teacher workshops, activities with students, and donating educational material. Since the creation of GalileoMobile in 2008, we have travelled to Chile, Bolivia, Peru, India, and Uganda, and worked with 56 schools in total. Our activities are centred on the GalileoMobile Handbook of Activities that comprises around 20 astronomical activities which we adapted from many different sources, and translated into 4 languages. The experience we gained in Chile, Bolivia, Peru, India, and Uganda taught us that (1) bringing experts from other countries was very stimulating for children as they are naturally curious about other cultures and encourages a collaboration beyond borders; (2) high-school students who were already interested in science were always very eager to interact with real astronomers doing research to ask for career advice; (3) inquiry-based methods are important to make the learning process more effective and we have therefore, re-adapted the activities in our Handbook according to these; (4) local teachers and university students involved in our activities have the potential to carry out follow-up activities, and examples are those from Uganda and India.

"Movie Star" Acting Strangely, Radio Astronomers Find

Science.gov (United States)

1999-01-01

Astronomers have used the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio telescope to make the first-ever time-lapse "movie" showing details of gas motions around a star other than our Sun. The study, the largest observational project yet undertaken using Very Long Baseline Interferometry, has produced surprising results that indicate scientists do not fully understand stellar atmospheres. The "movie" shows that the atmosphere of a pulsating star more than 1,000 light-years away continues to expand during a part of the star's pulsation period in which astronomers expected it to start contracting. Philip Diamond and Athol Kemball, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Socorro, New Mexico, announced their findings at the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Austin, TX, today. "The continued expansion we're seeing contradicts current theoretical models for how these stars work," Diamond said. "The models have assumed spherical symmetry in the star's atmosphere, and our movie shows that this is not the case. Such models suggest that a shock wave passes outward from the star. Once it's passed, then the atmosphere should begin to contract because of the star's gravity. We've long passed that point and the contraction has not begun." The time-lapse images show that the gas motions are not uniform around the star. Most of the motion is that of gas moving directly outward from the star's surface. However, in about one-fourth of the ring, there are peculiar motions that do not fit this pattern. The scientists speculate that the rate of mass loss may not be the same from all parts of the star's surface. "A similar star behaved as predicted when studied a few years ago, so we're left to wonder what's different about this one," Diamond said. "Right now, we think that different rates of mass loss in the two stars may be the cause of the difference. This star is losing mass at 100 times the rate of the star in the earlier study." "This

Care of astronomical telescopes and accessories a manual for the astronomical observer and amateur telescope maker

CERN Document Server

Pepin, M Barlow

2005-01-01

Commercially-made astronomical telescopes are better and less expensive than ever before, and their optical and mechanical performance can be superb. When a good-quality telescope fails to perform as well as it might, the reason is quite probably that it needs a little care and attention! Here is a complete guide for anyone who wants to understand more than just the basics of astronomical telescopes and accessories, and how to maintain them in the peak of condition. The latest on safely adjusting, cleaning, and maintaining your equipment is combined with thoroughly updated methods from the old masters. Here, too, are details of choosing new and used optics and accessories, along with enhancements you can make to extend their versatility and useful lifetime. This book is for you. Really. Looking after an astronomical telescope isn't only for the experts - although there are some things that only an expert should attempt - and every serious amateur astronomer will find invaluable information here, gleaned from ...

Reporting Astronomical Discoveries: Past, Now, and Future

Science.gov (United States)

Yamaoka, Hitoshi; Green, Daniel W. E.; Samus, Nikolai N.; West, Richard

2015-08-01

Many new astronomical objects have been discovered over the years by amateur astronomers, and this continues to be the case. They have traditionally reported them (as have professional astronomers) to the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT), which was established in the 19th century. This procedure has worked very well throughout the 20th century, moving under the umbrella of the newly established IAU in 1920. The discoverers have been honored by the formal announcement of their discoveries in the publications of the CBAT.In recent years, some professional research groups have established other ways of announcing their discoveries of explosive objects such as novae and supernovae; some do not now report their discoveries or spectroscopic confirmations of the transients to the CBAT, including often spectroscopic reports of objects posted to the CBAT "Transient Objects Confirmation Page" -- the highly successful TOCP webpage, which assigns official positional designations to new transients posted there by approved, registered users. This leads to a delay in formal announcements of discoveries by amateur astronomers in many cases, as well as inconsistent designations being put into use by individual groups. Amateur astronomers are feeling frustrated about this situation, and they hope that the IAU will help to settle the situation.We have proposed the new IAU commission NC-52, which will treat these phenomena in a continuation of Commission 6, through the CBAT. We hope to continuously support the reporting of the discoveries by amateur astronomers, as well as professional astronomers, who all deserve and desire proper recognition. Our strategy will maintain the firm trust between the amateur and professional astronomers, which is necessary for true collaboration. The plan is for the CBAT to work with collaborators to assure that discoveries posted on the TOCP are promptly designated and announced by the CBAT, even when confirmations are made elsewhere

Managing distributed software development in the Virtual Astronomical Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Janet D.; Plante, Raymond L.; Boneventura, Nina; Busko, Ivo; Cresitello-Dittmar, Mark; D'Abrusco, Raffaele; Doe, Stephen; Ebert, Rick; Laurino, Omar; Pevunova, Olga; Refsdal, Brian; Thomas, Brian

2012-09-01

The U.S. Virtual Astronomical Observatory (VAO) is a product-driven organization that provides new scientific research capabilities to the astronomical community. Software development for the VAO follows a lightweight framework that guides development of science applications and infrastructure. Challenges to be overcome include distributed development teams, part-time efforts, and highly constrained schedules. We describe the process we followed to conquer these challenges while developing Iris, the VAO application for analysis of 1-D astronomical spectral energy distributions (SEDs). Iris was successfully built and released in less than a year with a team distributed across four institutions. The project followed existing International Virtual Observatory Alliance inter-operability standards for spectral data and contributed a SED library as a by-product of the project. We emphasize lessons learned that will be folded into future development efforts. In our experience, a well-defined process that provides guidelines to ensure the project is cohesive and stays on track is key to success. Internal product deliveries with a planned test and feedback loop are critical. Release candidates are measured against use cases established early in the process, and provide the opportunity to assess priorities and make course corrections during development. Also key is the participation of a stakeholder such as a lead scientist who manages the technical questions, advises on priorities, and is actively involved as a lead tester. Finally, frequent scheduled communications (for example a bi-weekly tele-conference) assure issues are resolved quickly and the team is working toward a common vision.

Astronomical relativistic reference systems with multipolar expansion: the global one

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xie Yi

2014-01-01

With the rapid development of techniques for astronomical observations, the precision of measurements has been significantly increasing. Theories describing astronomical relativistic reference systems, which are the foundation for processing and interpreting these data now and in the future, may require extensions to satisfy the needs of these trends. Besides building a framework compatible with alternative theories of gravity and the pursuit of higher order post-Newtonian approximation, it will also be necessary to make the first order post-Newtonian multipole moments of celestial bodies be explicitly expressed in the astronomical relativistic reference systems. This will bring some convenience into modeling the observations and experiments and make it easier to distinguish different contributions in measurements. As a first step, the global solar system reference system is expressed as a multipolar expansion and the post-Newtonian mass and spin moments are shown explicitly in the metric which describes the coordinates of the system. The full expression of the global metric is given. (research papers)

Image processing and recognition for biological images.

Science.gov (United States)

Uchida, Seiichi

2013-05-01

This paper reviews image processing and pattern recognition techniques, which will be useful to analyze bioimages. Although this paper does not provide their technical details, it will be possible to grasp their main tasks and typical tools to handle the tasks. Image processing is a large research area to improve the visibility of an input image and acquire some valuable information from it. As the main tasks of image processing, this paper introduces gray-level transformation, binarization, image filtering, image segmentation, visual object tracking, optical flow and image registration. Image pattern recognition is the technique to classify an input image into one of the predefined classes and also has a large research area. This paper overviews its two main modules, that is, feature extraction module and classification module. Throughout the paper, it will be emphasized that bioimage is a very difficult target for even state-of-the-art image processing and pattern recognition techniques due to noises, deformations, etc. This paper is expected to be one tutorial guide to bridge biology and image processing researchers for their further collaboration to tackle such a difficult target. © 2013 The Author Development, Growth & Differentiation © 2013 Japanese Society of Developmental Biologists.

Book Review: Scientific Writing for Young Astronomers

Science.gov (United States)

Uyttenhove, Jos

2011-12-01

EDP Sciences, Les Ulis, France. Part 1 : 162 pp. € 35 ISBN 978-2-7598-0506-8 Part 2 : 298 pp. € 60 ISBN 978-2-7598-0639-3 The journal Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) and EDP Sciences decided in 2007 to organize a School on the various aspects of scientific writing and publishing. In 2008 and 2009 Scientific Writing for Young Astronomers (SWYA) Schools were held in Blankenberge (B) under the direction of Christiaan Sterken (FWO-VUB). These two books (EAS publication series, Vol. 49 and 50) reflect the outcome of these Schools. Part 1 contains a set of contributions that discuss various aspects of scientific publication; it includes A&A Editors' view of the peer review and publishing process. A very interesting short paper by S.R. Pottasch (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Groningen, and one of the two first Editors-in Chief of A&A) deals with the history of the creation of the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Two papers by J. Adams et al. (Observatoire de Paris) discuss language editing, including a detailed guide for any non-native user of the English language. In 2002 the Board of Directors decided that all articles in A&A must be written in clear and correct English. Part 2 consists of three very extensive and elaborated papers by Christiaan Sterken, supplying guidelines to PhD students and postdoctoral fellows to help them compose scientific papers for different forums (journals, proceedings, thesis, etc.). This part is of interest not only for young astronomers but it is very useful for scholars of all ages and disciplines. Paper I "The writing process" (60 pp.) copes with the preparation of manuscripts, with communicating with editors and referees and with avoiding common errors. Delicate problems on authorship, refereeing, revising multi-authored papers etc. are treated in 26 FAQ's. Paper II "Communication by graphics" (120 pp.) is entirely dedicated to the important topic of communication with images, graphs, diagrams, tables etc. Design types of graphs

An astronomical murder?

Science.gov (United States)

Belenkiy, Ari

2010-04-01

Ari Belenkiy examines the murder of Hypatia of Alexandria, wondering whether problems with astronomical observations and the date of Easter led to her becoming a casualty of fifth-century political intrigue.

Conducting Original, Hands-On Astronomical Research in the Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Corneau, M. J.

2009-12-01

teachers to convey moderately complex computer science, optical, geographic, mathematical, informational and physical principles through hands-on telescope operations. In addition to the general studies aspects of classroom internet-based astronomy, Tzec Maun supports real science by enabling operators precisely point telescopes and acquire extremely faint, magnitude 19+ CCD images. Thanks to the creative Team of Photometrica (photometrica.org), my teams now have the ability to process and analyze images online and produce results in short order. Normally, astronomical data analysis packages cost greater than thousands of dollars for single license operations. Free to my team members, Photometrica allows students to upload their data to a cloud computing server and read precise photometric and/or astrometric results. I’m indebted to Michael and Geir for their support. The efficacy of student-based research is well documented. The Council on Undergraduate Research defines student research as, "an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline." (http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/studentresearch/What. Teaching from Tzec Maun in the classroom is the most original teaching research I can imagine. I very much look forward to presenting this program to the convened body.

Towards better segmentation of large floating point 3D astronomical data sets : first results

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moschini, Ugo; Teeninga, Paul; Wilkinson, Michael; Giese, Nadine; Punzo, Davide; van der Hulst, Jan M.; Trager, Scott

2014-01-01

In any image segmentation task, noise must be separated from the actual information and the relevant pixels grouped into objects of interest, on which measures can later be applied. This should be done efficiently on large astronomical surveys with floating point datasets with resolution of the

The Very Large Array Data Processing Pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Kent, Brian R.; Masters, Joseph S.; Chandler, Claire J.; Davis, Lindsey E.; Kern, Jeffrey S.; Ott, Juergen; Schinzel, Frank K.; Medlin, Drew; Muders, Dirk; Williams, Stewart; Geers, Vincent C.; Momjian, Emmanuel; Butler, Bryan J.; Nakazato, Takeshi; Sugimoto, Kanako

2018-01-01

We present the VLA Pipeline, software that is part of the larger pipeline processing framework used for the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), and Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) for both interferometric and single dish observations.Through a collection of base code jointly used by the VLA and ALMA, the pipeline builds a hierarchy of classes to execute individual atomic pipeline tasks within the Common Astronomy Software Applications (CASA) package. Each pipeline task contains heuristics designed by the team to actively decide the best processing path and execution parameters for calibration and imaging. The pipeline code is developed and written in Python and uses a "context" structure for tracking the heuristic decisions and processing results. The pipeline "weblog" acts as the user interface in verifying the quality assurance of each calibration and imaging stage. The majority of VLA scheduling blocks above 1 GHz are now processed with the standard continuum recipe of the pipeline and offer a calibrated measurement set as a basic data product to observatory users. In addition, the pipeline is used for processing data from the VLA Sky Survey (VLASS), a seven year community-driven endeavor started in September 2017 to survey the entire sky down to a declination of -40 degrees at S-band (2-4 GHz). This 5500 hour next-generation large radio survey will explore the time and spectral domains, relying on pipeline processing to generate calibrated measurement sets, polarimetry, and imaging data products that are available to the astronomical community with no proprietary period. Here we present an overview of the pipeline design philosophy, heuristics, and calibration and imaging results produced by the pipeline. Future development will include the testing of spectral line recipes, low signal-to-noise heuristics, and serving as a testing platform for science ready data products.The pipeline is developed as part of the CASA software package by an

The Infrared Astronomical Satellite /IRAS/ Scientific Data Analysis System /SDAS/ sky flux subsystem

Science.gov (United States)

Stagner, J. R.; Girard, M. A.

1980-01-01

The sky flux subsystem of the Infrared Astronomical Satellite Scientific Data Analysis System is described. Its major output capabilities are (1) the all-sky lune maps (8-arcminute pixel size), (2) galactic plane maps (2-arcminute pixel size) and (3) regional maps of small areas such as extended sources greater than 1-degree in extent. The major processing functions are to (1) merge the CRDD and pointing data, (2) phase the detector streams, (3) compress the detector streams in the in-scan and cross-scan directions, and (4) extract data. Functional diagrams of the various capabilities of the subsystem are given. Although this device is inherently nonimaging, various calibrated and geometrically controlled imaging products are created, suitable for quantitative and qualitative scientific interpretation.

scikit-image: image processing in Python.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Walt, Stéfan; Schönberger, Johannes L; Nunez-Iglesias, Juan; Boulogne, François; Warner, Joshua D; Yager, Neil; Gouillart, Emmanuelle; Yu, Tony

2014-01-01

scikit-image is an image processing library that implements algorithms and utilities for use in research, education and industry applications. It is released under the liberal Modified BSD open source license, provides a well-documented API in the Python programming language, and is developed by an active, international team of collaborators. In this paper we highlight the advantages of open source to achieve the goals of the scikit-image library, and we showcase several real-world image processing applications that use scikit-image. More information can be found on the project homepage, http://scikit-image.org.

scikit-image: image processing in Python

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stéfan van der Walt

2014-06-01

Full Text Available scikit-image is an image processing library that implements algorithms and utilities for use in research, education and industry applications. It is released under the liberal Modified BSD open source license, provides a well-documented API in the Python programming language, and is developed by an active, international team of collaborators. In this paper we highlight the advantages of open source to achieve the goals of the scikit-image library, and we showcase several real-world image processing applications that use scikit-image. More information can be found on the project homepage, http://scikit-image.org.

Instrument Remote Control via the Astronomical Instrument Markup Language

Science.gov (United States)

Sall, Ken; Ames, Troy; Warsaw, Craig; Koons, Lisa; Shafer, Richard

1998-01-01

The Instrument Remote Control (IRC) project ongoing at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Information Systems Center (ISC) supports NASA's mission by defining an adaptive intranet-based framework that provides robust interactive and distributed control and monitoring of remote instruments. An astronomical IRC architecture that combines the platform-independent processing capabilities of Java with the power of Extensible Markup Language (XML) to express hierarchical data in an equally platform-independent, as well as human readable manner, has been developed. This architecture is implemented using a variety of XML support tools and Application Programming Interfaces (API) written in Java. IRC will enable trusted astronomers from around the world to easily access infrared instruments (e.g., telescopes, cameras, and spectrometers) located in remote, inhospitable environments, such as the South Pole, a high Chilean mountaintop, or an airborne observatory aboard a Boeing 747. Using IRC's frameworks, an astronomer or other scientist can easily define the type of onboard instrument, control the instrument remotely, and return monitoring data all through the intranet. The Astronomical Instrument Markup Language (AIML) is the first implementation of the more general Instrument Markup Language (IML). The key aspects of our approach to instrument description and control applies to many domains, from medical instruments to machine assembly lines. The concepts behind AIML apply equally well to the description and control of instruments in general. IRC enables us to apply our techniques to several instruments, preferably from different observatories.

A buyer's and user's guide to astronomical telescopes and binoculars

CERN Document Server

Mullaney, James

2014-01-01

Amateur astronomers of all skill levels are always contemplating their next telescope, and this book points the way to the most suitable instruments. Similarly, those who are buying their first telescopes – and these days not necessarily a low-cost one – will be able to compare and contrast different types and manufacturers. This revised new guide provides an extensive overview of binoculars and telescopes. It includes detailed up-to-date information on sources, selection and use of virtually every major type, brand, and model on today’s market, a truly invaluable treasure-trove of information and helpful advice for all amateur astronomers. Originally written in 2006, much of the first edition is inevitably now out of date, as equipment advances and manufacturers come and go. This second edition not only updates all the existing sections but adds two new ones: Astro-imaging and Professional-Amateur collaboration. Thanks to the rapid and amazing developments that have been made in digital cameras it is...

Corral framework: Trustworthy and fully functional data intensive parallel astronomical pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

Cabral, J. B.; Sánchez, B.; Beroiz, M.; Domínguez, M.; Lares, M.; Gurovich, S.; Granitto, P.

2017-07-01

Data processing pipelines represent an important slice of the astronomical software library that include chains of processes that transform raw data into valuable information via data reduction and analysis. In this work we present Corral, a Python framework for astronomical pipeline generation. Corral features a Model-View-Controller design pattern on top of an SQL Relational Database capable of handling: custom data models; processing stages; and communication alerts, and also provides automatic quality and structural metrics based on unit testing. The Model-View-Controller provides concept separation between the user logic and the data models, delivering at the same time multi-processing and distributed computing capabilities. Corral represents an improvement over commonly found data processing pipelines in astronomysince the design pattern eases the programmer from dealing with processing flow and parallelization issues, allowing them to focus on the specific algorithms needed for the successive data transformations and at the same time provides a broad measure of quality over the created pipeline. Corral and working examples of pipelines that use it are available to the community at https://github.com/toros-astro.

Automatic astronomical coordinate determination using digital zenith cameras

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S Farzaneh

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Celestial positioning has been used for navigation purposes for many years. Stars as the extra-terrestrial benchmarks provide unique opportunity in absolute point positioning. However, astronomical field data acquisition and data processing of the collected data is very time-consuming. The advent of the Global Positioning System (GPS nearly made the celestial positioning system obsolete. The new satellite-based positioning system has been very popular since it is very efficient and convenient for many daily life applications. Nevertheless, the celestial positioning method is never replaced by satellite-based positioning in absolute point positioning sense. The invention of electro-optical devices at the beginning of the 21st century was really a rebirth in geodetic astronomy. Today, the digital cameras with relatively high geometric and radiometric accuracy has opened a new insight in satellite attitude determination and the study of the Earth's surface geometry and physics of its interior, i.e., computation of astronomical coordinates and the vertical deflection components. This method or the so-called astrogeodetic vision-based method help us to determine astronomical coordinates with an accuracy better than 0.1 arc second. The theoretical background, an innovative transformation approach and the preliminary numerical results are addressed in this paper.

Astronomical imaging with a low temperature InSb charge injection device (CID)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rouan, D.; Lacombe, F.; Tiphene, D.; Stefanovitch, D.; Phan van, D.

1986-01-01

InSb charge injection device (CID) technology focal plane arrays employ two coupled MIS capacitors which collect and store photon-generated charge carriers. Attention is presently given to two-dimensional arrays for 77 K and 4 K operating temperatures in astronomical applications; two such prototypes for ground observations have been developed for use with a 2-m telescope. A CID InSb array is noted to be a useful candidate for the proposed IR Space Observatory's focal plane camera. 7 references

Finding Hidden Treasures: Investigations in US Astronomical Plate Archives

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hudec, René; Hudec, L.

2013-01-01

Roč. 53, č. 1 (2013), s. 23-26 ISSN 1210-2709 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA205/08/1207 Institutional support: RVO:67985815 Keywords : astronomical data archives * astronomical photography * astronomical photographic archives Subject RIV: BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers

Astronomía en la cultura

Science.gov (United States)

López, A.; Giménez Benitez, S.; Fernández, L.

La Astronomía en la Cultura es el estudio interdisciplinario a nivel global de la astronomía prehistórica, antigua y tradicional, en el marco de su contexto cultural. Esta disciplina abarca cualquier tipo de estudios o líneas de investigación en que se relacione a la astronomía con las ciencias humanas o sociales. En ella se incluyen tanto fuentes escritas, relatos orales como fuentes arqueológicas, abarcando entre otros, los siguientes temas: calendarios, observación práctica, cultos y mitos, representación simbólica de eventos, conceptos y objetos astronómicos, orientación astronómica de tumbas, templos, santuarios y centros urbanos, cosmología tradicional y la aplicación ceremonial de tradiciones astronómicas, la propia historia de la astronomía y la etnoastronomía (Krupp, 1989) (Iwaniszewski, 1994). En nuestro trabajo abordamos la historia y situación actual de esta disciplina, sus métodos y sus relaciones con otras áreas de investigación.

IAU Public Astronomical Organisations Network

Science.gov (United States)

Canas, Lina; Cheung, Sze Leung

2015-08-01

The Office for Astronomy Outreach has devoted intensive means to create and support a global network of public astronomical organisations around the world. Focused on bringing established and newly formed amateur astronomy organizations together, providing communications channels and platforms for disseminating news to the global community and the sharing of best practices and resources among these associations around the world. In establishing the importance that these organizations have for the dissemination of activities globally and acting as key participants in IAU various campaigns social media has played a key role in keeping this network engaged and connected. Here we discuss the implementation process of maintaining this extensive network, the processing and gathering of information and the interactions between local active members at a national and international level.

Astronomers celebrate a year of new Hubble results

Science.gov (United States)

1995-02-01

"We are beginning to understand that because of these observations we are going to have to change the way we look at the Universe," said ESA's Dr Duccio Macchetto, Associate Director for Science Programs at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The European Space Agency plays a major role in the Hubble Space Telescope programme. The Agency provided one of the telescope's four major instruments, called the Faint Object Camera, and two sets of electricity-generating solar arrays. In addition, 15 ESA scientific and technical staff work at the STScI. In return for this contribution, European astronomers are entitled to 15 percent of the telescope's observing time, although currently they account for 20 percent of all observations. "This is a testimony to the quality of the European science community", said Dr Roger Bonnet, Director of Science at ESA. "We are only guaranteed 15 percent of the telescope's use, but consistently receive much more than that." Astronomers from universities, observatories and research institutes across Europe lead more than 60 investigations planned for the telescope's fifth observing cycle, which begins this summer. Many more Europeans contribute to teams led by other astronomers. Looking back to the very start of time European astronomer Dr Peter Jakobsen used ESA's Faint Object Camera to confirm that helium was present in the early Universe. Astronomers had long predicted that 90 percent of the newly born Universe consisted of hydrogen, with helium making up the remainder. Before the refurbished Hubble came along, it was easy to detect the hydrogen, but the primordial helium remained elusive. The ultraviolet capabilities of the telescope, combined with the improvement in spatial resolution following the repair, made it possible for Dr Jakobsen to obtain an image of a quasar close to the edge of the known Universe. A spectral analysis of this picture revealed the quasar's light, which took 13 billion years

The amateur astronomer

CERN Document Server

Moore, Patrick

2006-01-01

Introduces astronomy and amateur observing together. This edition includes photographs and illustrations. The comprehensive appendices provide hints and tips, as well as data for every aspect of amateur astronomy. This work is useful for amateur astronomers

Finding and Visualizing Relevant Subspaces for Clustering High-Dimensional Astronomical Data Using Connected Morphological Operators

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ferdosi, Bilkis J.; Buddelmeijer, Hugo; Trager, Scott; Wilkinson, Michael H.F.; Roerdink, Jos B.T.M.

2010-01-01

Data sets in astronomy are growing to enormous sizes. Modern astronomical surveys provide not only image data but also catalogues of millions of objects (stars, galaxies), each object with hundreds of associated parameters. Exploration of this very high-dimensional data space poses a huge challenge.

Available Tools and Challenges Classifying Cutting-Edge and Historical Astronomical Documents

Science.gov (United States)

Lagerstrom, Jill

2015-08-01

The STScI Library assists the Science Policies Division in evaluating and choosing scientific keywords and categories for proposals for the Hubble Space Telescope mission and the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope mission. In addition we are often faced with the question “what is the shape of the astronomical literature?” However, subject classification in astronomy in recent times has not been cultivated. This talk will address the available tools and challenges of classifying cutting-edge as well as historical astronomical documents. In at the process, we will give an overview of current and upcoming practices of subject classification in astronomy.

Astronomers Win Protection for Key Part of Radio Spectrum

Science.gov (United States)

2000-06-01

International Telecommunication Union meet to painstakingly parcel out the radio frequency spectrum between radio-based applications such as personal communications, satellite broadcasting, GPS and amateur radio, and the sciences of radio astronomy, earth exploration and deep space research. The WRC also coordinates sharing between services in the same radio bands. WRC decisions are incorporated into the Radio Regulations that govern radio services worldwide. The new spectrum allocations for radio astronomy are the first since 1979. Millimeter-wave astronomy was then in its infancy and many of its needs were not yet known. As astronomers began to explore this region of the spectrum they found spectral lines from many interesting molecules in space. Many of those lines had not fallen into the areas originally set aside for astronomy, but most will be under the new allocations. "It's a win for millimeter-wave science," said Dr. John Whiteoak of the Australia Telescope National Facility, Australian delegate to WRC-00. "This secures its future." The protection is a significant step for both existing millimeter-wave telescopes and new ones such as the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) now being planned by a U.S.-European consortium. Even at its isolated site in Chile's Atacama desert, ALMA would be vulnerable to interference from satellite emissions. Sensitive radio astronomy receivers are blinded by these emissions, just as an optical telescope would be by a searchlight. "There is more energy at millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelengths washing through the Universe than there is of light or any other kind of radiation," said ALMA Project Scientist, Dr. Al Wootten of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. "Imaging the sources of this energy can tell us a great deal about the formation of stars and galaxies, and even planets." "But the Earth's atmosphere isn't very kind to us - it has only a few windows at these frequencies, and not very transparent ones at that. They are

Imaging Young Stellar Objects with VLTi/PIONIER

Science.gov (United States)

Kluska, J.; Malbet, F.; Berger, J.-P.; Benisty, M.; Lazareff, B.; Le Bouquin, J.-B.; Baron, F.; Dominik, C.; Isella, A.; Juhasz, A.; Kraus, S.; Lachaume, R.; Ménard, F.; Millan-Gabet, R.; Monnier, J.; Pinte, C.; Soulez, F.; Tallon, M.; Thi, W.-F.; Thiébaut, É.; Zins, G.

2014-04-01

Optical interferometry imaging is designed to help us to reveal complex astronomical sources without a prior model. Among these complex objects are the young stars and their environments, which have a typical morphology with a point-like source, surrounded by circumstellar material with unknown morphology. To image them, we have developed a numerical method that removes completely the stellar point source and reconstructs the rest of the image, using the differences in the spectral behavior between the star and its circumstellar material. We aim to reveal the first Astronomical Units of these objects where many physical phenomena could interplay: the dust sublimation causing a puffed-up inner rim, a dusty halo, a dusty wind or an inner gaseous component. To investigate more deeply these regions, we carried out the first Large Program survey of HAeBe stars with two main goals: statistics on the geometry of these objects at the first astronomical unit scale and imaging their very close environment. The images reveal the environment, which is not polluted by the star and allows us to derive the best fit for the flux ratio and the spectral slope. We present the first images from this survey and the application of the imaging method on other astronomical objects.

Adapting astronomical source detection software to help detect animals in thermal images obtained by unmanned aerial systems

Science.gov (United States)

Longmore, S. N.; Collins, R. P.; Pfeifer, S.; Fox, S. E.; Mulero-Pazmany, M.; Bezombes, F.; Goodwind, A.; de Juan Ovelar, M.; Knapen, J. H.; Wich, S. A.

2017-02-01

In this paper we describe an unmanned aerial system equipped with a thermal-infrared camera and software pipeline that we have developed to monitor animal populations for conservation purposes. Taking a multi-disciplinary approach to tackle this problem, we use freely available astronomical source detection software and the associated expertise of astronomers, to efficiently and reliably detect humans and animals in aerial thermal-infrared footage. Combining this astronomical detection software with existing machine learning algorithms into a single, automated, end-to-end pipeline, we test the software using aerial video footage taken in a controlled, field-like environment. We demonstrate that the pipeline works reliably and describe how it can be used to estimate the completeness of different observational datasets to objects of a given type as a function of height, observing conditions etc. - a crucial step in converting video footage to scientifically useful information such as the spatial distribution and density of different animal species. Finally, having demonstrated the potential utility of the system, we describe the steps we are taking to adapt the system for work in the field, in particular systematic monitoring of endangered species at National Parks around the world.

Budget astrophotography imaging with your DSLR or webcam

CERN Document Server

Jensen, Timothy J

2015-01-01

Here are clear explanations of how to make superb astronomical deep-sky images using only a DSLR or webcam and an astronomical telescope – no expensive dedicated CCD cameras needed! The book is written for amateur astronomers interested in budget astrophotography – the deep sky, not just the Moon and planets – and for those who want to improve their imaging skills using DSLR and webcams. It is even possible to use existing (non-specialist astronomical) equipment for scientific applications such as high resolution planetary and lunar photography, astrometry, photometry, and spectroscopy. The introduction of the CCD revolutionized astrophotography. The availability of this technology to the amateur astronomy community has allowed advanced science and imaging techniques to become available to almost anyone willing to take the time to learn a few, simple techniques. Specialized cooled-chip CCD imagers are capable of superb results in the right hands – but they are all very expensive. If budget is import...

Cosmological field theory for observational astronomers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zel'Dovich, Y.B.

1987-01-01

Theories of the very early Universe that use scalar fields (i.e., the so-called inflationary models of the Universe) have now come into wide use. The inflationary universe approach may perhaps solve some of the most difficult enigmas about the Universe as a whole. The inflationary universe forms a good bridge between the quantum theory of the birth of the Universe (which is still in the initial stages of development) and the standard hot Big Bang theory (which is well established, at least qualitatively). Therefore, an understanding of the basic ideas of inflation is a must for astronomers interested in the broad picture of the science. Astronomers are mathematically oriented enough (via celestial mechanics, electromagnetic theory, magnetohydrodynamics, nuclear reactions,etc.) that there is no negative attitude towards formulae in general. What the astronomer lacks is a knowledge of recent developments in particle physics and field theory. The astronomer should not be blamed for this, because these branches of physics are developing in a very peculiar fashion: some subfields of it are progressing comparatively slowly, with experimental verifications at each and every step, while other subfields progress rapidly

Subarray Processing for Projection-based RFI Mitigation in Radio Astronomical Interferometers

Science.gov (United States)

Burnett, Mitchell C.; Jeffs, Brian D.; Black, Richard A.; Warnick, Karl F.

2018-04-01

Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) is a major problem for observations in Radio Astronomy (RA). Adaptive spatial filtering techniques such as subspace projection are promising candidates for RFI mitigation; however, for radio interferometric imaging arrays, these have primarily been used in engineering demonstration experiments rather than mainstream scientific observations. This paper considers one reason that adoption of such algorithms is limited: RFI decorrelates across the interferometric array because of long baseline lengths. This occurs when the relative RFI time delay along a baseline is large compared to the frequency channel inverse bandwidth used in the processing chain. Maximum achievable excision of the RFI is limited by covariance matrix estimation error when identifying interference subspace parameters, and decorrelation of the RFI introduces errors that corrupt the subspace estimate, rendering subspace projection ineffective over the entire array. In this work, we present an algorithm that overcomes this challenge of decorrelation by applying subspace projection via subarray processing (SP-SAP). Each subarray is designed to have a set of elements with high mutual correlation in the interferer for better estimation of subspace parameters. In an RFI simulation scenario for the proposed ngVLA interferometric imaging array with 15 kHz channel bandwidth for correlator processing, we show that compared to the former approach of applying subspace projection on the full array, SP-SAP improves mitigation of the RFI on the order of 9 dB. An example of improved image synthesis and reduced RFI artifacts for a simulated image “phantom” using the SP-SAP algorithm is presented.

Astronomical Books and Charts in the Book of Bibliographie Coreenne

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ki-Won; Yang, Hong-Jin; Park, Myeong-Gu

2008-06-01

We investigate astronomical materials listed in the book of Bibliographie Coréenne written by Maurice Courant. He classified ancient Korean books into nine Divisions (?) and thirty six Classes (?), and published them as three volumes (ranging from 1894 to 1896) and one supplement (in 1901). In total, 3,821 books including astronomical ones are listed together with information on physical size, possessional place, bibliographical note, and so forth. Although this book is an essential one in the field of Korea bibliography and contains many astronomical materials such as Cheon-Mun-Ryu-Cho ????, Si-Heon-Seo ??????, and Cheon-Sang-Yeol-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do ????????, it has not been well known to the public nor to astronomical society. Of 3,821 catalogues, we found that about 50 Items (?) are related to astronomy or astrology, and verified that most ! of them are located in the Kyujanggak Royal Library ???. We also found an unknown astronomical chart, Hon-Cheon-Chong-Seong-Yeol-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do ??????????. Because those astronomical materials are not well known to international astronomical community and there have been few studies on the materials in Korea, we here introduce and review them, particularly with the astronomical viewpoint.

GBT, VLA Team Up to Produce New Image of Orion Nebula

Science.gov (United States)

2002-01-01

Combining the best features of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) new Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia with those of the NSF's Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico, astronomers have produced a vastly improved radio image of the Orion Nebula and developed a valuable new technique for studying star formation and other astrophysical processes. GBT-VLA Image of Orion Nebula GBT-VLA Image of Orion Nebula "Our GBT image of the Orion Nebula is the best image ever produced with a single-dish radio telescope and it illustrates the superb performance of this new telescope," said Debra Shepherd, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Socorro, NM. "By combining data from the GBT with that from the VLA, we get an image that reflects reality far better than images from the separate telescopes could do," she added. Shepherd worked with Ron Maddalena from NRAO in Green Bank and Joe McMullin, from NRAO in Socorro. The astronomers presented their work to the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington, DC. Single-dish radio telescopes such as the GBT, dedicated in 2000, are able to capture the large-scale structure of objects such as the Orion Nebula. However, they are unable to discern the fine detail revealed by multi-antenna arrays such as the VLA. Conversely, a VLA-like array is "blind" to the larger-scale structures. Combining the data from both types of radio telescopes to produce an image showing both large- and small-scale structures in the same celestial object has been a difficult, laborious task. "We are developing new observing techniques and software to make this task much easier and quicker," said McMullin. "We now have achieved in hours what used to take months or even longer to do, but we are producing an observational tool that will allow astronomers to make much higher-fidelity images that will greatly improve our understanding of several important astronomical processes," McMullin added. For this observation

Image processing with ImageJ

CERN Document Server

Pascau, Javier

2013-01-01

The book will help readers discover the various facilities of ImageJ through a tutorial-based approach.This book is targeted at scientists, engineers, technicians, and managers, and anyone who wishes to master ImageJ for image viewing, processing, and analysis. If you are a developer, you will be able to code your own routines after you have finished reading this book. No prior knowledge of ImageJ is expected.

150th Anniversary of the Astronomical Observatory Library of Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Solntseva, T.

The scientific library of the Astronomical observatory of Kyiv Taras Shevchenko University is one of the oldest ones of such a type in Ukraine. Our Astronomical Observatory and its scientific library will celebrate 150th anniversary of their foundation. 900 volumes of duplicates of Olbers' private library underlay our library. These ones were acquired by Russian Academy of Sciences for Poulkovo observatory in 1841 but according to Struve's order were transmitted to Kyiv Saint Volodymyr University. These books are of great value. There are works edited during Copernicus', Kepler's, Galilei's, Newton's, Descartes' lifetime. Our library contains more than 100000 units of storage - monographs, periodical astronomical editions from the first (Astronomische Nachrichten, Astronomical journal, Monthly Notices etc.), editions of the majority of the astronomical observatories and institutions of the world, unique astronomical atlases and maps

Stellar Image Interpretation System using Artificial Neural Networks: Unipolar Function Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. I. Younis

2001-01-01

Full Text Available An artificial neural network based system for interpreting astronomical images has been developed. The system is based on feed-forward Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs with error back-propagation learning. Knowledge about images of stars, cosmic ray events and noise found in images is used to prepare two sets of input patterns to train and test our approach. The system has been developed and implemented to scan astronomical digital images in order to segregate stellar images from other entities. It has been coded in C language for users of personal computers. An astronomical image of a star cluster from other objects is undertaken as a test case. The obtained results are found to be in very good agreement with those derived from the DAOPHOTII package, which is widely used in the astronomical community. It is proved that our system is simpler, much faster and more reliable. Moreover, no prior knowledge, or initial data from the frame to be analysed is required.

Climate and carbon-cycle response to astronomical forcing over the last 35 Ma.

Science.gov (United States)

De Vleeschouwer, D.; Palike, H.; Vahlenkamp, M.; Crucifix, M.

2017-12-01

On a million-year time scale, the characteristics of insolation forcing caused by cyclical variations in the astronomical parameters of the Earth remain stable. Nevertheless, Earth's climate responded very differently to this forcing during different parts of the Cenozoic. The recently-published ∂18Obenthic megasplice (De Vleeschouwer et al., 2017) allowed for a clear visualization of these changes in global climate response to astronomical forcing. However, many open questions remain regarding how carbon-cycle dynamics influence Earth's climate sensitivity to astronomical climate forcing. To provide insight into the interaction between the carbon cycle and astronomical insolation forcing, we built a benthic carbon isotope (∂13Cbenthic) megasplice for the last 35 Ma, employing the same technique used to build the ∂18Obenthic megasplice. The ∂13Cbenthic megasplice exhibits a strong imprint of the 405 and 100-kyr eccentricity cycles throughout the last 35 Ma. This is intriguing, as the oxygen isotope megasplice looses its eccentricity imprint after the mid-Miocene climatic transition (MMCT; see Fig. 1 in De Vleeschouwer et al., 2017). In other words, the carbon cycle responded completely differently to astronomical forcing, compared to global climate during the late Miocene. We visualize this difference in response by the application of a Gaussian process, which renders the dependence of one variable (here ∂18Obenthic or ∂13Cbenthic) in a multidimensional space (here precession, obliquity and eccentricity). Together, the ∂13Cbenthic and ∂18Obenthic megasplices thus provide a unique tool for paleoclimatology, allowing for the quantification and visualization of the changing paleoclimate and carbon-cycle response to astronomical forcing throughout geologic time. References De Vleeschouwer, D., Vahlenkamp, M., Crucifix, M., Pälike, H., 2017. Alternating Southern and Northern Hemisphere climate response to astronomical forcing during the past 35 m

Imaging sciences workshop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Candy, J.V.

1994-11-15

This workshop on the Imaging Sciences sponsored by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory contains short abstracts/articles submitted by speakers. The topic areas covered include the following: Astronomical Imaging; biomedical imaging; vision/image display; imaging hardware; imaging software; Acoustic/oceanic imaging; microwave/acoustic imaging; computed tomography; physical imaging; imaging algorithms. Selected papers are indexed separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database.

Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) Catalogs and Atlases. Explanatory Supplement

Science.gov (United States)

Beichman, C. A. (Editor); Neugebauer, G. (Editor); Habing, H. J. (Editor); Clegg, P. E. (Editor); Chester, T. J. (Editor)

1985-01-01

The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) mission is described. An overview of the mission, a description of the satellite and its telescope system, and a discussion of the mission design, requirements, and inflight modifications are given. Data reduction, flight tests, flux reconstruction and calibration, data processing, and the formats of the IRAS catalogs and atlases are also considered.

Hyperspectral image processing methods

Science.gov (United States)

Hyperspectral image processing refers to the use of computer algorithms to extract, store and manipulate both spatial and spectral information contained in hyperspectral images across the visible and near-infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. A typical hyperspectral image processing work...

Visualizing Astronomical Data with Blender

Science.gov (United States)

Kent, Brian R.

2014-01-01

We present methods for using the 3D graphics program Blender in the visualization of astronomical data. The software's forte for animating 3D data lends itself well to use in astronomy. The Blender graphical user interface and Python scripting capabilities can be utilized in the generation of models for data cubes, catalogs, simulations, and surface maps. We review methods for data import, 2D and 3D voxel texture applications, animations, camera movement, and composite renders. Rendering times can be improved by using graphic processing units (GPUs). A number of examples are shown using the software features most applicable to various kinds of data paradigms in astronomy.

New VLA Images Unlocking Galactic Mysteries

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

start the process of star formation. "Using the data from THINGS in combination with observations from NASA's space telescopes has allowed us to investigate how the processes leading to star formation differ in big spiral galaxies like our own and much smaller, dwarf galaxies," said Adam Leroy and Frank Bigiel of the Max-Planck Insitute for Astronomy at the Austin AAS meeting. Because atomic hydrogen emits radio waves at a specific frequency, astronomers can measure motions of the gas by noting the Doppler shift in frequency caused by those motions. "Because the THINGS images are highly detailed, we have been able to measure both the rotational motion of the galaxies and non-circular random motions within the galaxies," noted Erwin de Blok of the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Galaxy Dynamics in THINGS The motion measurements are providing new information about the mysterious, unseen "dark matter" in the galaxies. "The non-circular motions revealed by the THINGS observations, turn out to be too small to solve a long-standing problem in cosmology, namely the inability of state-of-the-art computer simulations to describe the distribution of dark matter in disk galaxies. It was thought that random motions could explain that inability, but our data show otherwise," de Blok explained. The THINGS images revealed what Elias Brinks of the University of Hertfordshire, UK, called a "stunning complexity of structures in the tenuous interstellar medium of the galaxies." These structures include large shells and "bubbles," presumably caused by multiple supernova explosions of massive stars. Analyzing the detail of these complex structures will help astronomers better understand the differences in star formation processes in the varied types of galaxies. Even such a simple question such as how big are the disks of gas in spiral galaxies had largely eluded astronomers previously. "The quality and sensitivity of the THINGS images has allowed us to see the actual edges of these

Serbian Astronomers in Science Citation Index in the XX Century

Science.gov (United States)

Dimitrijevic, Milan S.

The book is written paralelly in Serbian and English. The presence of works of Serbian astronomers and works in astronomical journals published by other Serbian scientists, in Science Citation Index within the period from 1945 up to the end of 2000, has been analyzed. Also is presented the list of 38 papers which had some influence on the development of astronomy in the twentieth century. A review of the development of astronomy in Serbia in the last century is given as well. Particular attention is payed to the Astronomical Observatory, the principal astronomical institution in Serbia, where it is one of the oldest scientific organizations and the only autonomous astronomical institute. Its past development forms an important part of the history of science and culture in these regions. In the book is also considered and the history of the university teaching of astronomy in Serbia after the second world war. First of all the development of the Chair of Astronomy at the Faculty of Mathematics in Belgrade, but also the teaching of astronomy at University in Novi Sad, Ni and Kragujevac is discussed. In addition to professional Astronomy, well developed in Serbia is also the amateur Astronomy. In the review is first of all included the largest and the oldest organization of amateur-astronomers in Serbia, founded in 1934. Besides, here are the Astronomical Society "Novi Sad", ADNOS and Research Station "Petnica". In Valjevo, within the framework of the Society of researchers "Vladimir Mandic - Manda", there is active also the Astronomical Group. In Kragujevac, on the roof of the Institute of Physics of the Faculty of Sciences, there is the "Belerofont" Observatory. In Ni, at the close of the sixties and the start of the seventies, there was operating a branch of the Astronomical Society "Rudjer Bokovic", while at the Faculty of Philosophy there existed in the period 1976-1980 the "Astro-Geophysical Society". In the year 1996 there was founded Astronomical Society

Preservation and maintenance of the astronomical sites in Armenia

Science.gov (United States)

Mickaelian, A. M.

2008-01-01

Astronomy in Armenia was popular since ancient times. There are signs of astronomical observations coming from a few thousands years ago. Two ancient observatories, Karahunge and Metzamor are especially well known. Karahunge is the Armenian twin of the Stonehenge and is even older. However, there is no proper attention from the state authorities and efforts are needed for preservation of such historical-astronomical monuments. The Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO) is the modern famous Armenian observatory founded in 1946 by the outstanding scientist Victor Ambartsumian. It was one of the world astronomical centres in 1950-s to 1970-s, and at present is the largest observatory in the Middle East area. As the ancient astronomical sites, Byurakan also needs a proper attitude from the state authorities and corresponding international organizations to preserve its values and importance for the present and future astronomical activities in the region, including its rich observational archive, telescopes, and human resources. Despite all the difficulties, the Armenian astronomers keep high international level of research and display various activities organizing international meetings and schools, preparing new young generation for the future research. The Armenian Astronomical Society (ArAS) is an affiliated member of EAS. Armenia has its Virtual Observatory project (ArVO) as well. The next Joint European and National Astronomy Meeting (JENAM-2007) will be held in Yerevan, Armenia, in August 2007. There are plans to organize astronomical tours to Armenia for making observations from various sites, including the ancient observatories. The future of astronomy in Armenia strongly depends on all of this activities and the proper attention both from state authorities and society.

Basic Optics for the Astronomical Sciences

CERN Document Server

Breckinridge, James

2012-01-01

This text was written to provide students of astronomy and engineers an understanding of optical science - the study of the generation, propagation, control, and measurement of optical radiation - as it applies to telescopes and instruments for astronomical research in the areas of astrophysics, astrometry, exoplanet characterization, and planetary science. The book provides an overview of the elements of optical design and physical optics within the framework of the needs of the astronomical community.

Information seeking behavior of Greek astronomers

OpenAIRE

Brindesi, Hara; Kapidakis, Sarantos

2011-01-01

This study examines three aspects of information seeking behaviour of astronomers in Greece including a) the importance they place in keeping up- to-date with current developments b) the methods they depend on for keeping up-to-date and c) the information sources they mostly use. We adopted an intradisciplinary approach in order to investigate similarities and differences in information seeking behaviour among astronomers when examining them as groups bearing different characteristics, includ...

New astronomical references in two Catalonian late medieval documents.

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez, María José; Marco, Francisco J

2014-01-01

In 2008, after 13 years of preparation, the Generalitat of Catalunya finished the publication of the 10 volumes of the Dietaris de la Generalitat de Catalunya. The Dietaris, as well as a closely related source, the llibre de Jornades 1411/1484 de Jaume Safont, cover the period of 1411 to 1539. In this article, we examine astronomical references contained in these two sources, and place them in their historical context. Our main focus lies on astronomical phenomena that have not previously been published in the astronomical literature. In fact, relatively few astronomical records are accessible in Spanish medieval and early modern history, and our paper intends to fill this gap partially.

Astronomical Books and Charts in the Book of Bibliographie Coreenne

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ki-Won Lee

2008-06-01

Full Text Available We investigate astronomical materials listed in the book of Bibliographie Coreenne written by Maurice Courant. He classified ancient Korean books into nine Divisions (部 and thirty six Classes (類, and published them as three volumes (ranging from 1894 to 1896 and one supplement (in 1901. In total, 3,821 books including astronomical ones are listed together with information on physical size, possessional place, bibliographical note, and so forth. Although this book is an essential one in the field of Korea bibliography and contains many astronomical materials such as Cheon-Mun-Ryu-Cho 天文類抄, Si-Heon-Seo 時憲書, and Cheon-Sang-Yeol-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do 天象列次分野之圖, it has not been well known to the public nor to astronomical society. Of 3,821 catalogues, we found that about 50 Items (種 are related to astronomy or astrology, and verified that most of them are located in the Kyujanggak Royal Library 奎章閣. We also found an unknown astronomical chart, Hon-Cheon-Chong-Seong-Yeol-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do 渾天總星列次分野之圖. Because those astronomical materials are not well known to international astronomical community and there have been few studies on the materials in Korea, we here introduce and review them, particularly with the astronomical viewpoint.

Ticking Stellar Time Bomb Identified - Astronomers find prime suspect for a Type Ia supernova

Science.gov (United States)

2009-11-01

it will eventually become heavy enough to explode as a supernova. Combining the NACO images with data obtained with several other telescopes [5] the astronomers could determine the distance of the system - about 25 000 light-years from the Sun - and its intrinsic brightness - over 10 000 times brighter than the Sun. This implies that the vampire white dwarf in this system has a high mass that is near its fatal limit and is still simultaneously being fed by its companion at a high rate. "Whether V445 Puppis will eventually explode as a supernova, or if the current nova outburst has pre-empted that pathway by ejecting too much matter back into space is still unclear," says Woudt. "But we have here a pretty good suspect for a future Type Ia supernova!" Notes [1] White dwarfs represent the evolutionary end product of stars with initial masses up to a few solar masses. A white dwarf is the burnt-out stellar core that is left behind when a star like the Sun sheds its outer layers towards the end of its active life. It is composed essentially of carbon and oxygen. This process normally also leads to the formation of a surrounding planetary nebula. [2] Adaptive optics is a technique that allows astronomers to obtain an image of an object free from the blurring effect of the atmosphere. See the adaptive optics page at ESO: http://www.eso.org/public/astronomy/technology/adaptive_optics.html [3] See for example http://www.eso.org/~bleibund/papers/EPN/epn.html [4] This Chandrasekhar limit, named after the Indian physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, is nearly 1.4 times the mass of the Sun. When a white dwarf reaches a mass above this limit, either by sucking matter from a companion or merging with another white dwarf, it will turn itself into a thermonuclear bomb that will burn carbon and oxygen explosively. [5] The team also used the SOFI instrument on ESO's New Technology Telescope, the IMACS spectrograph on the 6.5-metre Magellan Baade telescope, and the Infrared Survey

Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade from 1924 to 1955

Science.gov (United States)

Radovanac, M.

2014-12-01

History of the Astronomical Observatory in Belgrade, as the presentation is done here, become the field of interest to the author of the present monograph in early 2002. Then, together with Luka C. Popovic, during the Conference "Development of Astronomy among Serbs II" held in early April of that year, he prepared a paper entitled "Astronomska opservatorija tokom Drugog Svetskog rata" (Astronomical Observatory in the Second World War). This paper was based on the archives material concerning the Astronomical Observatory which has been professionally bearing in mind the author's position the subject of his work.

Novel Algorithms for Astronomical Plate Analyses

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hudec, René; Hudec, L.

2011-01-01

Roč. 32, 1-2 (2011), s. 121-123 ISSN 0250-6335. [Conference on Multiwavelength Variability of Blazars. Guangzhou, 22,09,2010-24,09,2010] R&D Projects: GA ČR GA205/08/1207 Grant - others:GA ČR(CZ) GA102/09/0997; MŠMT(CZ) ME09027 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10030501 Keywords : astronomical plates * plate archives archives * astronomical algorithms Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 0.400, year: 2011

using fuzzy logic in image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ashabrawy, M.A.F.

2002-01-01

due to the unavoidable merge between computer and mathematics, the signal processing in general and the processing in particular have greatly improved and advanced. signal processing deals with the processing of any signal data for use by a computer, while image processing deals with all kinds of images (just images). image processing involves the manipulation of image data for better appearance and viewing by people; consequently, it is a rapidly growing and exciting field to be involved in today . this work takes an applications - oriented approach to image processing .the applications; the maps and documents of the first egyptian research reactor (ETRR-1), the x-ray medical images and the fingerprints image. since filters, generally, work continuous ranges rather than discrete values, fuzzy logic techniques are more convenient.thee techniques are powerful in image processing and can deal with one- dimensional, 1-D and two - dimensional images, 2-D images as well

An Astronomer In The Classroom: Observatoire de Paris's Partnership Between Teachers and Astronomers

Science.gov (United States)

Doressoundiram, A.; Barban, C.

2006-08-01

The Observatoire de Paris is offering a partnership between teachers and astronomers. The principle is simple: any teacher wishing to undertake a pedagogical project in astronomy, in the classroom or involving the entire school, can request the help of a mentor. An astronomer from the Observatoire de Paris will then follow the teacher's project progress and offer advice and scientific support throughout the school year. The projects may take different forms: construction projects (models, instruments), lectures, posters, exhibitions, etc. The type of assistance offered is as varied as the projects: lecture(s) in class, telephone and e-mail exchanges, visits to the Observatoire; an almost made-to-measure approach that delighted the thirty or so groups that benefited such partnership in the 2005-2006 academic year. And this number is continuously growing. There was a rich variety of projects undertaken, from mounting a show and building a solar clock to visiting a high altitude observatory, or resolving the mystery of Jupiter's great red spot. The Universe and its mysteries fascinate the young (and the not so- young) and provide a multitude of scientific topics that can be exploited in class. Astronomy offers the added advantage of being a multidisciplinary field. Thus, if most projects are generally initiated by a motivated teacher, they are often taken over by teachers in other subjects: Life and Earth Sciences (SVT), history, mathematics, French, and so forth. The project may consist in an astronomy workshop or be part of the school curriculum. Whatever the case, the astronomer's task is not to replace the teacher or the textbooks, but to propose activities or experiments that are easy to implement. Representing the Solar system on a school-yard scale, for instance, is a perfect way to make youngsters realize that the Universe consists mostly of empty space. There is no shortage of topics, and the students' enthusiasm, seldom absent, is the best reward for the

Methods of digital image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doeler, W.

1985-01-01

Increasing use of computerized methods for diagnostical imaging of radiological problems will open up a wide field of applications for digital image processing. The requirements set by routine diagnostics in medical radiology point to picture data storage and documentation and communication as the main points of interest for application of digital image processing. As to the purely radiological problems, the value of digital image processing is to be sought in the improved interpretability of the image information in those cases where the expert's experience and image interpretation by human visual capacities do not suffice. There are many other domains of imaging in medical physics where digital image processing and evaluation is very useful. The paper reviews the various methods available for a variety of problem solutions, and explains the hardware available for the tasks discussed. (orig.) [de

Astronomical Data and Information Visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Goodman, Alyssa A.

2010-01-01

As the size and complexity of data sets increases, the need to "see" them more clearly increases as well. In the past, many scientists saw "fancy" data and information visualization as necessary for "outreach," but not for research. In this talk, I wlll demonstrate, using specific examples, why more and more scientists--not just astronomers--are coming to rely upon the development of new visualization strategies not just to present their data, but to understand it. Principal examples will be drawn from the "Astronomical Medicine" project at Harvard's Initiative in Innovative Computing, and from the "Seamless Astronomy" effort, which is co-sponsored by the VAO (NASA/NSF) and Microsoft Research.

The South African Astronomical Observatory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-01-01

The research work discussed in this report covers a wide range, from work on the nearest stars to studies of the distant quasars, and the astronomers who have carried out this work come from universities and observatories spread around the world as well as from South African universities and from the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) staff itself. A characteristic of much of this work has been its collaborative character. SAAO studies in 1989 included: supernovae 1987A; galaxies; ground-based observations of celestial x-ray sources; the Magellanic Clouds; pulsating variables; galactic structure; binary star phenomena; the provision of photometric standards; nebulous matter; stellar astrophysics, and astrometry

Stable image acquisition for mobile image processing applications

Science.gov (United States)

Henning, Kai-Fabian; Fritze, Alexander; Gillich, Eugen; Mönks, Uwe; Lohweg, Volker

2015-02-01

Today, mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) are widespread and of high importance for their users. Their performance as well as versatility increases over time. This leads to the opportunity to use such devices for more specific tasks like image processing in an industrial context. For the analysis of images requirements like image quality (blur, illumination, etc.) as well as a defined relative position of the object to be inspected are crucial. Since mobile devices are handheld and used in constantly changing environments the challenge is to fulfill these requirements. We present an approach to overcome the obstacles and stabilize the image capturing process such that image analysis becomes significantly improved on mobile devices. Therefore, image processing methods are combined with sensor fusion concepts. The approach consists of three main parts. First, pose estimation methods are used to guide a user moving the device to a defined position. Second, the sensors data and the pose information are combined for relative motion estimation. Finally, the image capturing process is automated. It is triggered depending on the alignment of the device and the object as well as the image quality that can be achieved under consideration of motion and environmental effects.

Development of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) techniques in New Zealand: Array simulation, image synthesis and analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Weston, S. D.

2008-04-01

This thesis presents the design and development of a process to model Very Long Base Line Interferometry (VLBI) aperture synthesis antenna arrays. In line with the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Institute for Radiophysics and Space Research (IRSR) aims to develop the knowledge, skills and experience within New Zealand, extensive use of existing radio astronomical software has been incorporated into the process namely AIPS (Astronomical Imaging Processing System), MIRIAD (a radio interferometry data reduction package) and DIFMAP (a program for synthesis imaging of visibility data from interferometer arrays of radio telescopes). This process has been used to model various antenna array configurations for two proposed New Zealand sites for antenna in a VLBI array configuration with existing Australian facilities and a passable antenna at Scott Base in Antarctica; and the results are presented in an attempt to demonstrate the improvement to be gained by joint trans-Tasman VLBI observation. It is hoped these results and process will assist the planning and placement of proposed New Zealand radio telescopes for cooperation with groups such as the Australian Long Baseline Array (LBA), others in the Pacific Rim and possibly globally; also potential future involvement of New Zealand with the SKA. The developed process has also been used to model a phased building schedule for the SKA in Australia and the addition of two antennas in New Zealand. This has been presented to the wider astronomical community via the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand Journal, and is summarized in this thesis with some additional material. A new measure of quality ("figure of merit") for comparing the original model image and final CLEAN images by utilizing normalized 2-D cross correlation is evaluated as an alternative to the existing subjective visual operator image comparison undertaken to date by other groups. This new unit of measure is then used ! in the presentation of the

The New Amateur Astronomer

Science.gov (United States)

Mobberley, Martin

Amateur astronomy has changed beyond recognition in less than two decades. The reason is, of course, technology. Affordable high-quality telescopes, computer-controlled 'go to' mountings, autoguiders, CCD cameras, video, and (as always) computers and the Internet, are just a few of the advances that have revolutionized astronomy for the twenty-first century. Martin Mobberley first looks at the basics before going into an in-depth study of what’s available commercially. He then moves on to the revolutionary possibilities that are open to amateurs, from imaging, through spectroscopy and photometry, to patrolling for near-earth objects - the search for comets and asteroids that may come close to, or even hit, the earth. The New Amateur Astronomer is a road map of the new astronomy, equally suitable for newcomers who want an introduction, or old hands who need to keep abreast of innovations. From the reviews: "This is one of several dozen books in Patrick Moore's "Practical Astronomy" series. Amid this large family, Mobberley finds his niche: the beginning high-tech amateur. The book's first half discusses equipment: computer-driven telescopes, CCD cameras, imaging processing software, etc. This market is changing every bit as rapidly as the computer world, so these details will be current for only a year or two. The rest of the book offers an overview of scientific projects that serious amateurs are carrying out these days. Throughout, basic formulas and technical terms are provided as needed, without formal derivations. An appendix with useful references and Web sites is also included. Readers will need more than this book if they are considering a plunge into high-tech amateur astronomy, but it certainly will whet their appetites. Mobberley's most valuable advice will save the book's owner many times its cover price: buy a quality telescope from a reputable dealer and install it in a simple shelter so it can be used with as little set-up time as possible. A poor

Fast processing of foreign fiber images by image blocking

OpenAIRE

Yutao Wu; Daoliang Li; Zhenbo Li; Wenzhu Yang

2014-01-01

In the textile industry, it is always the case that cotton products are constitutive of many types of foreign fibers which affect the overall quality of cotton products. As the foundation of the foreign fiber automated inspection, image process exerts a critical impact on the process of foreign fiber identification. This paper presents a new approach for the fast processing of foreign fiber images. This approach includes five main steps, image block, image pre-decision, image background extra...

Biomedical Image Processing

CERN Document Server

Deserno, Thomas Martin

2011-01-01

In modern medicine, imaging is the most effective tool for diagnostics, treatment planning and therapy. Almost all modalities have went to directly digital acquisition techniques and processing of this image data have become an important option for health care in future. This book is written by a team of internationally recognized experts from all over the world. It provides a brief but complete overview on medical image processing and analysis highlighting recent advances that have been made in academics. Color figures are used extensively to illustrate the methods and help the reader to understand the complex topics.

Astronomers Get Closest Look Yet At Milky Way's Mysterious Core

Science.gov (United States)

2005-11-01

Astronomers have gotten their deepest glimpse into the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy, peering closer to the supermassive black hole at the Galaxy's core then ever before. Using the National Science Foundation's continent-wide Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), they found that a radio-wave-emitting object at the Galaxy's center would nearly fit between the Earth and the Sun. This is half the size measured in any previous observation. "We're getting tantalizingly close to being able to see an unmistakable signature that would provide the first concrete proof of a supermassive black hole at a galaxy's center," said Zhi-Qiang Shen, of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. A black hole is a concentration of mass so dense that not even light can escape its powerful gravitational pull. Milky Way Nucleus The Milky Way's nucleus, as seen with the VLA. Sagittarius A* is the bright white dot at center. CREDIT: NRAO/AUI/NSF, Jun-Hui Zhao, W.M. Goss (Click on Image for Larger Version) The astronomers used the VLBA to measure the size of an object called Sagittarius A* (pronounced "A-star") that marks the exact center of our Galaxy. Last year, a different team announced that their measurements showed the object would fit inside the complete circle of Earth's orbit around the Sun. Shen and his team, by observing at a higher radio frequency, measured Sagittarius A* as half that size. A mass equal to four million Suns is known to lie within Sagittarius A*, and the new measurement makes the case for a black hole even more compelling than it was previously. Scientists simply don't know of any long-lasting object other than a black hole that could contain this much mass in such a small area. However, they would like to see even stronger proof of a black hole. "The extremely strong gravitational pull of a black hole has several effects that would produce a distinctive 'shadow' that we think we could see if we can image details about half as small as

Astronomical theory of climate change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berger, A.; Loutre, M.F. [Universite Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium). Inst. d' Astronomie et de Geophysique G. Lemaitre

2004-12-01

The astronomical theory of paleo-climates aims to explain the climatic variations occurring with quasi-periodicities lying between tens and hundreds of thousands of years. The origin of these quasi-cycles lies in the astronomically driven changes in the latitudinal and seasonal distributions of the energy that the Earth receives from the Sun. These changes are then amplified by the feedback mechanisms which characterize the natural behaviour of the climate system like those involving the albedo-, the water vapor-, and the vegetation- temperature relationships. Climate models of different complexities are used to explain the chain of processes which finally link the long-term variations of three astronomical parameters to the long-term climatic variations at time scale of tens to hundreds of thousands of years. In particular, sensitivity analysis to the astronomically driven insolation changes and to the CO{sub 2} atmospheric concentrations have been performed with the 2-dimension climate model of Louvain-la-Neuve. It could be shown that this model simulates more or less correctly the entrance into glaciation around 2.75 million year (Myr) BP (before present), the late Pliocene-early Pleistocene 41-kyr (thousand years) cycle, the emergence of the 100-kyr cycle around 850 kyr BP and the glacial-interglacial cycles of the last 600 kyr. During the Late Pliocene (in an ice-free - warm world) ice sheets can only develop during times of sufficiently low summer insolation. This occurs during large eccentricity times when climatic precession and obliquity combine to obtain such low values, leading to the 41-kyr period between 3 and 1 million years BP. On the contrary in a glacial world, ice sheets persist most of the time except when insolation is very high in polar latitudes, requiring large eccentricity again, but leading this time to interglacial and finally to the 100-kyr period of the last 1 Myr. Using CO{sub 2} scenarios, it has been shown that stage 11 and stage 1

Image perception and image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wackenheim, A.

1987-01-01

The author develops theoretical and practical models of image perception and image processing, based on phenomenology and structuralism and leading to original perception: fundamental for a positivistic approach of research work for the development of artificial intelligence that will be able in an automated system fo 'reading' X-ray pictures. (orig.) [de

Image perception and image processing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wackenheim, A.

1987-01-01

The author develops theoretical and practical models of image perception and image processing, based on phenomenology and structuralism and leading to original perception: fundamental for a positivistic approach of research work for the development of artificial intelligence that will be able in an automated system fo 'reading' X-ray pictures.

Optoelectronic imaging of speckle using image processing method

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jinjiang; Wang, Pengfei

2018-01-01

A detailed image processing of laser speckle interferometry is proposed as an example for the course of postgraduate student. Several image processing methods were used together for dealing with optoelectronic imaging system, such as the partial differential equations (PDEs) are used to reduce the effect of noise, the thresholding segmentation also based on heat equation with PDEs, the central line is extracted based on image skeleton, and the branch is removed automatically, the phase level is calculated by spline interpolation method, and the fringe phase can be unwrapped. Finally, the imaging processing method was used to automatically measure the bubble in rubber with negative pressure which could be used in the tire detection.

Astronomers gossip about the (cosmic) neighborhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Jayawardhana, R

1994-09-09

The Hague, Netherlands, last month welcomed 2000 astronomers from around the world for the 22nd General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). From 15 to 27 August, they participated in symposia and discussions on topics ranging from the down-to-Earth issue of light and radio-frequency pollution to the creation of elements at the farthest reaches of time and space, in the big bang. Some of the most striking news, however, came in new findings from our galaxy and its immediate surroundings.

Introduction to digital image processing

CERN Document Server

Pratt, William K

2013-01-01

CONTINUOUS IMAGE CHARACTERIZATION Continuous Image Mathematical Characterization Image RepresentationTwo-Dimensional SystemsTwo-Dimensional Fourier TransformImage Stochastic CharacterizationPsychophysical Vision Properties Light PerceptionEye PhysiologyVisual PhenomenaMonochrome Vision ModelColor Vision ModelPhotometry and ColorimetryPhotometryColor MatchingColorimetry ConceptsColor SpacesDIGITAL IMAGE CHARACTERIZATION Image Sampling and Reconstruction Image Sampling and Reconstruction ConceptsMonochrome Image Sampling SystemsMonochrome Image Reconstruction SystemsColor Image Sampling SystemsImage QuantizationScalar QuantizationProcessing Quantized VariablesMonochrome and Color Image QuantizationDISCRETE TWO-DIMENSIONAL LINEAR PROCESSING Discrete Image Mathematical Characterization Vector-Space Image RepresentationGeneralized Two-Dimensional Linear OperatorImage Statistical CharacterizationImage Probability Density ModelsLinear Operator Statistical RepresentationSuperposition and ConvolutionFinite-Area Superp...

Astronomical optics

CERN Document Server

Schroeder, Daniel J

1988-01-01

Written by a recognized expert in the field, this clearly presented, well-illustrated book provides both advanced level students and professionals with an authoritative, thorough presentation of the characteristics, including advantages and limitations, of telescopes and spectrographic instruments used by astronomers of today.Key Features* Written by a recognized expert in the field* Provides both advanced level students and professionals with an authoritative, thorough presentation of the characteristics, including advantages and limitations, of telescopes and spectrographic i

Astronomers' Do-It-Yourself Project Opening A New Window on the Universe

Science.gov (United States)

1999-05-01

-it-yourself project." In the first observing session using the new equipment, astronomers from four continents studied a wide range of celestial objects, and the results "were a spectacular success. We proved that you can make good images with the VLA at this frequency. The problem always was the difficulty in processing data to correct for ionospheric effects on the incoming radio waves. New computing techniques now have solved that problem." "We have shattered the ionospheric barrier and solved the wide- field imaging problem," Kassim said. The research results presented at the AAS meeting "show the great value of this new capability," Kassim said. "In addition to our work on supernova remnants, active galaxies and galaxy clusters, other papers presented at this meeting show that this frequency range is extremely valuable for solar research," Kassim added. "In fact, the success of the VLA at this frequency shows that we could learn even more from this new window on the universe by building a much larger and more sensitive instrument dedicated to long-wavelength radio astronomy -- the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR). An international consortium, initially involving NRL, NRAO, and the Netherlands Foundation for Radio Astronomy, currently is forming to develop LOFAR, an instrument which would see more detail and fainter objects than we can today," Kassim said. The VLA is an instrument of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. Basic research in radio astronomy at the Naval Research Laboratory is supported by the Office of Naval Research.

Performance evaluation of spot detection algorithms in fluorescence microscopy images

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mabaso, M

2012-10-01

Full Text Available triggered the development of a highly sophisticated imaging tool known as fluorescence microscopy. This is used to visualise and study intracellular processes. The use of fluorescence microscopy and a specific staining method make biological molecules... was first used in astronomical applications [2] to detect isotropic objects, and was then introduced to biological applications [3]. Olivio-Marin[3] approached the problem of feature extraction based on undecimated wavelet representation of the image...

The Panchasiddhhantika : The Astronomical Work of Varaha Mihira

Science.gov (United States)

Thibaut, G.; Dvivedi, Mahamahopadhyaya Sudhakara

The lamentable state of the text as appearing in the two original manuscripts (of Varah Mihira) at the disposal of the authors, was a lesser problem then the greater disadvantage under which they laboured with the absence of a commentary. Commentaries can be hardly done without in the case of any Sanskrit astronomical work; much less so, when the text, as that of the Panchasiddhantika, describes many mathematical processes more or less diverging from those commonly employed.

Effectiveness of Amateur Astronomers as Informal Science Educators

Science.gov (United States)

Gibbs, Michael G.; Berendsen, Margaret

2007-01-01

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) conducted a national survey of in-service teachers participating in Project ASTRO. The survey results document (1) the value that teachers place on supplemental astronomy education provided by professional and amateur astronomers, and (2) the difference that teachers perceive in the value provided by…

Hera: High Energy Astronomical Data Analysis via the Internet

Science.gov (United States)

Valencic, Lynne A.; Chai, P.; Pence, W.; Snowden, S.

2011-09-01

The HEASARC at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has developed Hera, a data processing facility for analyzing high energy astronomical data over the internet. Hera provides all the software packages, disk space, and computing resources needed to do general processing of and advanced research on publicly available data from High Energy Astrophysics missions. The data and data products are kept on a server at GSFC and can be downloaded to a user's local machine. This service is provided for free to students, educators, and researchers for educational and research purposes.

The Future is Hera! Analyzing Astronomical Over the Internet

Science.gov (United States)

Valencic, L. A.; Chai, P.; Pence, W.; Shafer, R.; Snowden, S.

2008-01-01

Hera is the data processing facility provided by the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for analyzing astronomical data. Hera provides all the pre-installed software packages, local disk space, and computing resources need to do general processing of FITS format data files residing on the users local computer, and to do research using the publicly available data from the High ENergy Astrophysics Division. Qualified students, educators and researchers may freely use the Hera services over the internet of research and educational purposes.

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

CERN Document Server

Haubold, Hans J; UN/ESA/NASA Workshop on the International Heliophysical Year 2007 and Basic Space Science, hosted by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

2010-01-01

This book represents Volume II of the Proceedings of the UN/ESA/NASA Workshop on the International Heliophysical Year 2007 and Basic Space Science, hosted by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo, 18 - 22 June, 2007. It covers two programme topics explored in this and past workshops of this nature: (i) non-extensive statistical mechanics as applicable to astrophysics, addressing q-distribution, fractional reaction and diffusion, and the reaction coefficient, as well as the Mittag-Leffler function and (ii) the TRIPOD concept, developed for astronomical telescope facilities. The companion publication, Volume I of the proceedings of this workshop, is a special issue in the journal Earth, Moon, and Planets, Volume 104, Numbers 1-4, April 2009.

Fundamentals of electronic image processing

CERN Document Server

Weeks, Arthur R

1996-01-01

This book is directed to practicing engineers and scientists who need to understand the fundamentals of image processing theory and algorithms to perform their technical tasks. It is intended to fill the gap between existing high-level texts dedicated to specialists in the field and the need for a more practical, fundamental text on image processing. A variety of example images are used to enhance reader understanding of how particular image processing algorithms work.

Image processing technology for nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jong Min; Lee, Yong Beom; Kim, Woong Ki; Park, Soon Young

1993-05-01

Digital image processing technique is being actively studied since microprocessors and semiconductor memory devices have been developed in 1960's. Now image processing board for personal computer as well as image processing system for workstation is developed and widely applied to medical science, military, remote inspection, and nuclear industry. Image processing technology which provides computer system with vision ability not only recognizes nonobvious information but processes large information and therefore this technique is applied to various fields like remote measurement, object recognition and decision in adverse environment, and analysis of X-ray penetration image in nuclear facilities. In this report, various applications of image processing to nuclear facilities are examined, and image processing techniques are also analysed with the view of proposing the ideas for future applications. (Author)

[Imaging center - optimization of the imaging process].

Science.gov (United States)

Busch, H-P

2013-04-01

Hospitals around the world are under increasing pressure to optimize the economic efficiency of treatment processes. Imaging is responsible for a great part of the success but also of the costs of treatment. In routine work an excessive supply of imaging methods leads to an "as well as" strategy up to the limit of the capacity without critical reflection. Exams that have no predictable influence on the clinical outcome are an unjustified burden for the patient. They are useless and threaten the financial situation and existence of the hospital. In recent years the focus of process optimization was exclusively on the quality and efficiency of performed single examinations. In the future critical discussion of the effectiveness of single exams in relation to the clinical outcome will be more important. Unnecessary exams can be avoided, only if in addition to the optimization of single exams (efficiency) there is an optimization strategy for the total imaging process (efficiency and effectiveness). This requires a new definition of processes (Imaging Pathway), new structures for organization (Imaging Center) and a new kind of thinking on the part of the medical staff. Motivation has to be changed from gratification of performed exams to gratification of process quality (medical quality, service quality, economics), including the avoidance of additional (unnecessary) exams. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Astronomers Detect Powerful Bursting Radio Source Discovery Points to New Class of Astronomical Objects

Science.gov (United States)

2005-03-01

Astronomers at Sweet Briar College and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have detected a powerful new bursting radio source whose unique properties suggest the discovery of a new class of astronomical objects. The researchers have monitored the center of the Milky Way Galaxy for several years and reveal their findings in the March 3, 2005 edition of the journal, “Nature”. This radio image of the central region of the Milky Way Galaxy holds a new radio source, GCRT J1745-3009. The arrow points to an expanding ring of debris expelled by a supernova. CREDIT: N.E. Kassim et al., Naval Research Laboratory, NRAO/AUI/NSF Principal investigator, Dr. Scott Hyman, professor of physics at Sweet Briar College, said the discovery came after analyzing some additional observations from 2002 provided by researchers at Northwestern University. “"We hit the jackpot!” Hyman said referring to the observations. “An image of the Galactic center, made by collecting radio waves of about 1-meter in wavelength, revealed multiple bursts from the source during a seven-hour period from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1, 2002 — five bursts in fact, and repeating at remarkably constant intervals.” Hyman, four Sweet Briar students, and his NRL collaborators, Drs. Namir Kassim and Joseph Lazio, happened upon transient emission from two radio sources while studying the Galactic center in 1998. This prompted the team to propose an ongoing monitoring program using the National Science Foundation’s Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope in New Mexico. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which operates the VLA, approved the program. The data collected, laid the groundwork for the detection of the new radio source. “Amazingly, even though the sky is known to be full of transient objects emitting at X- and gamma-ray wavelengths,” NRL astronomer Dr. Joseph Lazio pointed out, “very little has been done to look for radio bursts, which are often easier for astronomical objects to produce

Thirteenth Joint European and National Astronomical Meeting

CERN Document Server

Iniesta, J C

2006-01-01

The book gathers the invited talks to the XIII JENAM conference, organized this time by the European Astronomical Society (EAS) and the Spanish Astronomical Society (SEA), and hosted by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC). All branches of astrophysics are encompassed from the largest scales and cosmology to the solar system and the Sun, through the galaxies and the stars, including a section on astronomical instrumentation. Very relevant experts from all over the world speak in a single book about the most recent, exciting results from their fields in a way which is useful for both researchers in these fields and colleagues working in other disciplines. The book is accompanied by a CD-ROM including the remaining contributions of the meeting in PDF format, hence opening a wide panorama of what is going on in astrophysics nowadays.

Elizabeth Brown (1830-1899), solar astronomer

Science.gov (United States)

Creese, M.

1998-08-01

Were it not for the fact that she was a woman, Elizabeth Brown might well be thought of as a fairly typical nineteenth-century British amateur astronomer. She has a place, although a relatively modest one, in the distinguished group of people who, with their own fortunes, carried out much of the astronomical research being done in the country at a time before extensive government support was forthcoming for the work.1 Her career in fact follows a pattern common to several of the nineteenth-century men astronomers in that her full productive period came only after she was freed from her primary responsibilities; she did not have to amass the necessary financial resources as did many of the men,2 but she had the time-consuming responsibility, not unusual for a Victorian woman, of caring for a parent through a lengthy old age. Only after her father died at the age of ninety-one, did Elizabeth, then in her early fifties, begin her sixteen years of remarkable public activity in astronomy.

Fast processing of foreign fiber images by image blocking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yutao Wu

2014-08-01

Full Text Available In the textile industry, it is always the case that cotton products are constitutive of many types of foreign fibers which affect the overall quality of cotton products. As the foundation of the foreign fiber automated inspection, image process exerts a critical impact on the process of foreign fiber identification. This paper presents a new approach for the fast processing of foreign fiber images. This approach includes five main steps, image block, image pre-decision, image background extraction, image enhancement and segmentation, and image connection. At first, the captured color images were transformed into gray-scale images; followed by the inversion of gray-scale of the transformed images ; then the whole image was divided into several blocks. Thereafter, the subsequent step is to judge which image block contains the target foreign fiber image through image pre-decision. Then we segment the image block via OSTU which possibly contains target images after background eradication and image strengthening. Finally, we connect those relevant segmented image blocks to get an intact and clear foreign fiber target image. The experimental result shows that this method of segmentation has the advantage of accuracy and speed over the other segmentation methods. On the other hand, this method also connects the target image that produce fractures therefore getting an intact and clear foreign fiber target image.

The Russian-Ukrainian Observatories Network for the European Astronomical Observatory Route Project

Science.gov (United States)

Andrievsky, S. M.; Bondar, N. I.; Karetnikov, V. G.; Kazantseva, L. V.; Nefedyev, Y. A.; Pinigin, G. I.; Pozhalova, Zh. A.; Rostopchina-Shakhovskay, A. N.; Stepanov, A. V.; Tolbin, S. V.

2011-09-01

In 2004,the Center of UNESCO World Heritage has announced a new initiative "Astronomy & World Heritage" directed for search and preserving of objects,referred to astronomy,its history in a global value,historical and cultural properties. There were defined a strategy of thematic programme "Initiative" and general criteria for selecting of ancient astronomical objects and observatories. In particular, properties that are situated or have significance in relation to celestial objects or astronomical events; representations of sky and/or celestial bodies and astronomical events; observatories and instruments; properties closely connected with the history of astronomy. In 2005-2006,in accordance with the program "Initiative", information about outstanding properties connected with astronomy have been collected.In Ukraine such work was organized by astronomical expert group in Nikolaev Astronomical Observatory. In 2007, Nikolaev observatory was included to the Tentative List of UNESCO under # 5116. Later, in 2008, the network of four astronomical observatories of Ukraine in Kiev,Crimea, Nikolaev and Odessa,considering their high authenticities and integrities,was included to the Tentative List of UNESCO under # 5267 "Astronomical Observatories of Ukraine". In 2008-2009, a new project "Thematic Study" was opened as a successor of "Initiative". It includes all fields of astronomical heritage from earlier prehistory to the Space astronomy (14 themes in total). We present the Ukraine-Russian Observatories network for the "European astronomical observatory Route project". From Russia two observatories are presented: Kazan Observatory and Pulkovo Observatory in the theme "Astronomy from the Renaissance to the mid-twentieth century".The description of astronomical observatories of Ukraine is given in accordance with the project "Thematic study"; the theme "Astronomy from the Renaissance to the mid-twentieth century" - astronomical observatories in Kiev,Nikolaev and Odessa; the

How to Make the Dream Come True: The Astronomers' Data Manifesto

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ray P Norris

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Astronomy is one of the most data-intensive of the sciences. Data technology is accelerating the quality and effectiveness of its research, and the rate of astronomical discovery is higher than ever. As a result, many view astronomy as being in a "Golden Age," and projects such as the Virtual Observatory are amongst the most ambitious data projects in any field of science. But these powerful tools will be impotent unless the data on which they operate are of matching quality. Astronomy, like other fields of science, therefore needs to establish and agree on a set of guiding principles for the management of astronomical data. To focus this process, we are constructing a "data manifesto," which proposes guidelines to maximise the rate and cost-effectiveness of scientific discovery.

AUTOMATION OF IMAGE DATA PROCESSING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Preuss Ryszard

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the current capabilities of automate processing of the image data on the example of using PhotoScan software by Agisoft . At present, image data obtained by various registration systems (metric and non - metric cameras placed on airplanes , satellites , or more often on UAVs is used to create photogrammetric products. Multiple registrations of object or land area (large groups of photos are captured are usually performed in order to eliminate obscured area as well as to raise the final accuracy of the photogrammetric product. Because of such a situation t he geometry of the resulting image blocks is far from the typical configuration of images . For fast images georeferencing automatic image matching algorithms are currently applied . They can create a model of a block in the local coordinate system or using initial exterior orientation and measured control points can provide image georeference in an external reference frame. In the case of non - metric image application, it is also possible to carry out self - calibration process at this stage . Image matching algorithm is also used in generation of dense point clouds reconstructing spatial shape of the object ( area. In subsequent processing steps it is possible to obtain typical photogrammetric products such as orthomosaic , DSM or DTM and a photorealistic solid model of an object . All aforementioned processing steps are implemented in a single program in contrary to standard commercial software dividing all steps into dedicated modules . I mage processing leading to final geo referenced products can be fully automated including sequential implementation of the processing steps at predetermined control parameters . The paper presents the practical results of the application fully automatic generation of othomosaic for both images obtained by a metric Vexell camera and a block of images acquired by a non - metric UAV system.

Decoding the mechanisms of Antikythera astronomical device

CERN Document Server

Lin, Jian-Liang

2016-01-01

This book presents a systematic design methodology for decoding the interior structure of the Antikythera mechanism, an astronomical device from ancient Greece. The historical background, surviving evidence and reconstructions of the mechanism are introduced, and the historical development of astronomical achievements and various astronomical instruments are investigated. Pursuing an approach based on the conceptual design of modern mechanisms and bearing in mind the standards of science and technology at the time, all feasible designs of the six lost/incomplete/unclear subsystems are synthesized as illustrated examples, and 48 feasible designs of the complete interior structure are presented. This approach provides not only a logical tool for applying modern mechanical engineering knowledge to the reconstruction of the Antikythera mechanism, but also an innovative research direction for identifying the original structures of the mechanism in the future. In short, the book offers valuable new insights for all...

Filling the Astronomical Void - A Visual Medium for a Visual Subject

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, J.

1996-12-01

Astronomy is fundamentally a visual subject. The modern science of astronomy has at its foundation the ancient art of observing the sky visually. The visual elements of astronomy are arguably the most important. Every person in the entire world is affected by visually-observed astronomical phenomena such as the seasonal variations in daylight. However, misconceptions abound and the average person cannot recognize the simple signs in the sky that point to the direction, the hour and the season. Educators and astronomy popularizers widely lament that astronomy is not appreciated in our society. Yet, there is a remarkable dearth of popular literature for teaching the visual elements of astronomy. This is what I refer to as *the astronomical void.* Typical works use illustrations sparsely, relying most heavily on text-based descriptions of the visual astronomical phenomena. Such works leave significant inferential gaps to the inexperienced reader, who is unequipped for making astronomical observations. Thus, the astronomical void remains unfilled by much of the currently available literature. I therefore propose the introduction of a visually-oriented medium for teaching the visual elements of Astronomy. To this end, I have prepared a series of astronomy "comic strips" that are intended to fill the astronomical void. By giving the illustrations the central place, the comic strip medium permits the depiction of motion and other sequential activity, thus effectively representing astronomical phenomena. In addition to the practical advantages, the comic strip is a "user friendly" medium that is inviting and entertaining to a reader. At the present time, I am distributing a monthly comic strip entitled *Starman*, which appears in the newsletters of over 120 local astronomy organizations and on the web at http://www.cyberdrive.net/ starman. I hope to eventually publish a series of full-length books and believe that astronomical comic strips will help expand the perimeter of

Motion-compensated processing of image signals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2010-01-01

In a motion-compensated processing of images, input images are down-scaled (scl) to obtain down-scaled images, the down-scaled images are subjected to motion- compensated processing (ME UPC) to obtain motion-compensated images, the motion- compensated images are up-scaled (sc2) to obtain up-scaled

Radio and Optical Telescopes for School Students and Professional Astronomers

Science.gov (United States)

Hosmer, Laura; Langston, G.; Heatherly, S.; Towner, A. P.; Ford, J.; Simon, R. S.; White, S.; O'Neil, K. L.; Haipslip, J.; Reichart, D.

2013-01-01

The NRAO 20m telescope is now on-line as a part of UNC's Skynet worldwide telescope network. The NRAO is completing integration of radio astronomy tools with the Skynet web interface. We present the web interface and astronomy projects that allow students and astronomers from all over the country to become Radio Astronomers. The 20 meter radio telescope at NRAO in Green Bank, WV is dedicated to public education and also is part of an experiment in public funding for astronomy. The telescope has a fantastic new web-based interface, with priority queuing, accommodating priority for paying customers and enabling free use of otherwise unused time. This revival included many software and hardware improvements including automatic calibration and improved time integration resulting in improved data processing, and a new ultra high resolution spectrometer. This new spectrometer is optimized for very narrow spectral lines, which will allow astronomers to study complex molecules and very cold regions of space in remarkable detail. In accordance with focusing on broader impacts, many public outreach and high school education activities have been completed with many confirmed future activities. The 20 meter is now a fully automated, powerful tool capable of professional grade results available to anyone in the world. Drop by our poster and try out real-time telescope control!

Development of a digital astronomical intensity interferometer: laboratory results with thermal light

Science.gov (United States)

Matthews, Nolan; Kieda, David; LeBohec, Stephan

2018-06-01

We present measurements of the second-order spatial coherence function of thermal light sources using Hanbury-Brown and Twiss interferometry with a digital correlator. We demonstrate that intensity fluctuations between orthogonal polarizations, or at detector separations greater than the spatial coherence length of the source, are uncorrelated but can be used to reduce systematic noise. The work performed here can readily be applied to existing and future Imaging Air-Cherenkov Telescopes used as star light collectors for stellar intensity interferometry to measure spatial properties of astronomical objects.

Astronomical publications of Melbourne Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Andropoulos, Jenny Ioanna

2014-05-01

During the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, four well-equipped government observatories were maintained in Australia - in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. These institutions conducted astronomical observations, often in the course of providing a local time service, and they also collected and collated meteorological data. As well, some of these observatories were involved at times in geodetic surveying, geomagnetic recording, gravity measurements, seismology, tide recording and physical standards, so the term "observatory" was being used in a rather broad sense! Despite the international renown that once applied to Williamstown and Melbourne Observatories, relatively little has been written by modern-day scholars about astronomical activities at these observatories. This research is intended to rectify this situation to some extent by gathering, cataloguing and analysing the published astronomical output of the two Observatories to see what contributions they made to science and society. It also compares their contributions with those of Sydney, Adelaide and Perth Observatories. Overall, Williamstown and Melbourne Observatories produced a prodigious amount of material on astronomy in scientific and technical journals, in reports and in newspapers. The other observatories more or less did likewise, so no observatory of those studied markedly outperformed the others in the long term, especially when account is taken of their relative resourcing in staff and equipment.

AESoP: Astronomical Extinction Spectrophotometer

Science.gov (United States)

Linford, Justin; McGraw, J.; Zimmer, P.; Ackermann, M.; Fitch, J.

2009-01-01

The Earth's atmosphere is a major obstruction to the precision and accuracy of ground-based photometry. The atmosphere removes light from astronomical objects both by absorption and scattering by constituent molecules, aerosols and clouds. These effects can change significantly over short time periods and over modest angles on the sky. To further understand these effects, the UNM Measurement Astrophysics Group has designed, built and recently deployed the Astronomical Extinction Spectrophotometer (AESoP), a 100mm objective grating spectrometer. By monitoring bright stars in sensibly the same direction as a larger photometric telescope is observing, AESoP will measure the wavelength-dependent extinction due to the Earth's atmosphere from 450nm to 900nm on time scales of approximately one minute. The collocated Astronomical LIDAR for Extinction (ALE) provides a high-precision monochromatic extinction measurement at 527nm. Knowing the extinction at a single wavelength allows us to pin the relative spectra generated by AESoP. These extinction spectra can then be integrated over the bandpass of the photometric telescope system to create real time corrections of observations. We present the design and construction of AESoP along with the preliminary results of our first combined observing campaign. This effort is our first step toward breaking the 1% photometry barrier. This project is funded by AFRL Grant FA9451-04-2-0355

Medical image processing

CERN Document Server

Dougherty, Geoff

2011-01-01

This book is designed for end users in the field of digital imaging, who wish to update their skills and understanding with the latest techniques in image analysis. This book emphasizes the conceptual framework of image analysis and the effective use of image processing tools. It uses applications in a variety of fields to demonstrate and consolidate both specific and general concepts, and to build intuition, insight and understanding. Although the chapters are essentially self-contained they reference other chapters to form an integrated whole. Each chapter employs a pedagogical approach to e

Algorithms for classification of astronomical object spectra

Science.gov (United States)

Wasiewicz, P.; Szuppe, J.; Hryniewicz, K.

2015-09-01

Obtaining interesting celestial objects from tens of thousands or even millions of recorded optical-ultraviolet spectra depends not only on the data quality but also on the accuracy of spectra decomposition. Additionally rapidly growing data volumes demands higher computing power and/or more efficient algorithms implementations. In this paper we speed up the process of substracting iron transitions and fitting Gaussian functions to emission peaks utilising C++ and OpenCL methods together with the NOSQL database. In this paper we implemented typical astronomical methods of detecting peaks in comparison to our previous hybrid methods implemented with CUDA.

Image-based query-by-example for big databases of galaxy images

Science.gov (United States)

Shamir, Lior; Kuminski, Evan

2017-01-01

Very large astronomical databases containing millions or even billions of galaxy images have been becoming increasingly important tools in astronomy research. However, in many cases the very large size makes it more difficult to analyze these data manually, reinforcing the need for computer algorithms that can automate the data analysis process. An example of such task is the identification of galaxies of a certain morphology of interest. For instance, if a rare galaxy is identified it is reasonable to expect that more galaxies of similar morphology exist in the database, but it is virtually impossible to manually search these databases to identify such galaxies. Here we describe computer vision and pattern recognition methodology that receives a galaxy image as an input, and searches automatically a large dataset of galaxies to return a list of galaxies that are visually similar to the query galaxy. The returned list is not necessarily complete or clean, but it provides a substantial reduction of the original database into a smaller dataset, in which the frequency of objects visually similar to the query galaxy is much higher. Experimental results show that the algorithm can identify rare galaxies such as ring galaxies among datasets of 10,000 astronomical objects.

Image quality dependence on image processing software in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Image quality dependence on image processing software in computed radiography. ... Agfa CR readers use MUSICA software, and an upgrade with significantly different image ... Full Text: EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT

Astronomical optics and elasticity theory

CERN Document Server

Lemaitre, Gerard Rene

2008-01-01

Astronomical Optics and Elasticity Theory provides a very thorough and comprehensive account of what is known in this field. After an extensive introduction to optics and elasticity, the book discusses variable curvature and multimode deformable mirrors, as well as, in depth, active optics, its theory and applications. Further, optical design utilizing the Schmidt concept and various types of Schmidt correctors, as well as the elasticity theory of thin plates and shells are elaborated upon. Several active optics methods are developed for obtaining aberration corrected diffraction gratings. Further, a weakly conical shell theory of elasticity is elaborated for the aspherization of grazing incidence telescope mirrors. The very didactic and fairly easy-to-read presentation of the topic will enable PhD students and young researchers to actively participate in challenging astronomical optics and instrumentation projects.

Preserving and Archiving Astronomical Photographic Plates

Science.gov (United States)

Castelaz, M. W.; Cline, J. D.

2005-05-01

Astronomical objects change with time. New observations complement past observations recorded on photographic plates. Analyses of changes provide essential routes to information about an object's formation, constitution and evolution. Preserving a century of photographic plate observations is thus of paramount importance. Plate collections are presently widely dispersed; plates may be stored in poor conditions, and are effectively inaccessible to both researchers and historians. We describe a planned project at Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute to preserve the collections of astronomical plates in the United States by gathering them into a single storage location. Collections will be sorted, cleaned, and cataloged on-line so as to provide access to researchers. Full scientific and historic use of the material then requires the observations themselves to be accessible digitally. The project's goal will be the availability of these data as a unique, fully-maintained scientific and educational resource. The new archive will support trans-disciplinary research such as the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere, library information science, trends in local weather patterns, and impacts of urbanization on telescope use, while the hand-written observatory logs will be a valuable resource for science historians and biographers.

A convergent blind deconvolution method for post-adaptive-optics astronomical imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prato, M; Camera, A La; Bertero, M; Bonettini, S

2013-01-01

In this paper, we propose a blind deconvolution method which applies to data perturbed by Poisson noise. The objective function is a generalized Kullback–Leibler (KL) divergence, depending on both the unknown object and unknown point spread function (PSF), without the addition of regularization terms; constrained minimization, with suitable convex constraints on both unknowns, is considered. The problem is non-convex and we propose to solve it by means of an inexact alternating minimization method, whose global convergence to stationary points of the objective function has been recently proved in a general setting. The method is iterative and each iteration, also called outer iteration, consists of alternating an update of the object and the PSF by means of a fixed number of iterations, also called inner iterations, of the scaled gradient projection (SGP) method. Therefore, the method is similar to other proposed methods based on the Richardson–Lucy (RL) algorithm, with SGP replacing RL. The use of SGP has two advantages: first, it allows one to prove global convergence of the blind method; secondly, it allows the introduction of different constraints on the object and the PSF. The specific constraint on the PSF, besides non-negativity and normalization, is an upper bound derived from the so-called Strehl ratio (SR), which is the ratio between the peak value of an aberrated versus a perfect wavefront. Therefore, a typical application, but not a unique one, is to the imaging of modern telescopes equipped with adaptive optics systems for the partial correction of the aberrations due to atmospheric turbulence. In the paper, we describe in detail the algorithm and we recall the results leading to its convergence. Moreover, we illustrate its effectiveness by means of numerical experiments whose results indicate that the method, pushed to convergence, is very promising in the reconstruction of non-dense stellar clusters. The case of more complex astronomical targets

Astronomers Without Borders: A Global Astronomy Community

Science.gov (United States)

Simmons, M.

2011-10-01

Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) brings together astronomy enthusiasts of all types - amateur astronomers, educators, professionals and "armchair" astronomers for a variety of online and physicalworld programs. The AWB web site provides social networking and a base for online programs that engage people worldwide in astronomy activities that transcend geopolitical and cultural borders. There is universal interest in astronomy, which has been present in all cultures throughout recorded history. Astronomy is also among the most accessible of sciences with the natural laboratory of the sky being available to people worldwide. There are few other interests for which people widely separated geographically can engage in activities involving the same objects. AWB builds on those advantages to bring people together. AWB also provides a platform where projects can reach a global audience. AWB also provides unique opportunities for multidisciplinary collaboration in EPO programs. Several programs including The World at Night, Global Astronomy Month and others will be described along with lessons learned.

ASURV: Astronomical SURVival Statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Feigelson, E. D.; Nelson, P. I.; Isobe, T.; LaValley, M.

2014-06-01

ASURV (Astronomical SURVival Statistics) provides astronomy survival analysis for right- and left-censored data including the maximum-likelihood Kaplan-Meier estimator and several univariate two-sample tests, bivariate correlation measures, and linear regressions. ASURV is written in FORTRAN 77, and is stand-alone and does not call any specialized libraries.

Every photon counts: improving low, mid, and high-spatial frequency errors on astronomical optics and materials with MRF

Science.gov (United States)

Maloney, Chris; Lormeau, Jean Pierre; Dumas, Paul

2016-07-01

Many astronomical sensing applications operate in low-light conditions; for these applications every photon counts. Controlling mid-spatial frequencies and surface roughness on astronomical optics are critical for mitigating scattering effects such as flare and energy loss. By improving these two frequency regimes higher contrast images can be collected with improved efficiency. Classically, Magnetorheological Finishing (MRF) has offered an optical fabrication technique to correct low order errors as well has quilting/print-through errors left over in light-weighted optics from conventional polishing techniques. MRF is a deterministic, sub-aperture polishing process that has been used to improve figure on an ever expanding assortment of optical geometries, such as planos, spheres, on and off axis aspheres, primary mirrors and freeform optics. Precision optics are routinely manufactured by this technology with sizes ranging from 5-2,000mm in diameter. MRF can be used for form corrections; turning a sphere into an asphere or free form, but more commonly for figure corrections achieving figure errors as low as 1nm RMS while using careful metrology setups. Recent advancements in MRF technology have improved the polishing performance expected for astronomical optics in low, mid and high spatial frequency regimes. Deterministic figure correction with MRF is compatible with most materials, including some recent examples on Silicon Carbide and RSA905 Aluminum. MRF also has the ability to produce `perfectly-bad' compensating surfaces, which may be used to compensate for measured or modeled optical deformation from sources such as gravity or mounting. In addition, recent advances in MRF technology allow for corrections of mid-spatial wavelengths as small as 1mm simultaneously with form error correction. Efficient midspatial frequency corrections make use of optimized process conditions including raster polishing in combination with a small tool size. Furthermore, a novel MRF

The South African astronomical observatory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feast, M.

1985-01-01

A few examples of the activities of the South African Astronomical Observatory are discussed. This includes the studying of stellar evolution, dust around stars, the determination of distances to galaxies and collaboration with space experiments

European astronomers' successes with the Hubble Space Telescope*

Science.gov (United States)

1997-02-01

[Figure: Laguna Nebula] Their work spans all aspects of astronomy, from the planets to the most distant galaxies and quasars, and the following examples are just a few European highlights from Hubble's second phase, 1994-96. A scarcity of midget stars Stars less massive and fainter than the Sun are much numerous in the Milky Way Galaxy than the big bright stars that catch the eye. Guido De Marchi and Francesco Paresce of the European Southern Observatory as Garching, Germany, have counted them. With the wide-field WFPC2 camera, they have taken sample censuses within six globular clusters, which are large gatherings of stars orbiting independently in the Galaxy. In every case they find that the commonest stars have an output of light that is only one-hundredth of the Sun's. They are ten times more numerous than stars like the Sun. More significant for theories of the Universe is a scarcity of very faint stars. Some astronomers have suggested that vast numbers of such stars could account for the mysterious dark matter, which makes stars and galaxies move about more rapidly than expected from the mass of visible matter. But that would require an ever-growing count of objects at low brightnesses, and De Marchi and Paresce find the opposite to be the case -- the numbers diminish. There may be a minimum size below which Nature finds starmaking difficult. The few examples of very small stars seen so far by astronomers may be, not the heralds of a multitude of dark-matter stars, but rareties. Unchanging habits in starmaking Confirmation that very small stars are scarce comes from Gerry Gilmore of the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge (UK). He leads a European team that analyses long-exposure images in the WFPC2 camera, obtained as a by-product when another instrument is examining a selected object. The result is an almost random sample of well-observed stars and galaxies. The most remarkable general conclusion is that the make-up of stellar populations never seems to

A new technique of characterization of intrapixel response dedicated to astronomical detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ketchazo, C.; Viale, T.; Boulade, O.; Druart, G.; Moreau, V.; Mugnier, L.; Dubrueil, D.; Derelle, S.; Ronayette, S.; Guérineau, N.; Berthé, M.

2015-01-01

This paper is devoted to the presentation of a new technique of characterization of the intra-pixel sensitivity variations (IPSVs) of astronomical detectors. The IPSV is the spatial variation of the pixel response function (PRF). In the case of under-sampled instruments for high quality imaging and accurate photometry, IPSV can contribute to the instrument global error and it should be considered carefully. Our measurement technique is based in the Fourier transform (FT) approach. It consists into the sampling of the pixel transfer function (PTF) by projecting high-resolution periodic patterns onto the whole sensor without classic optics but using the self-imaging property (the Talbot effect) of a continuously self imaging grating (CSIG) illuminated by a plane wave. The PRF is determined by computing the inverse FT. Our measurement technique permits to determine the PRF with a resolution of pixel/10 (10 times Nyquist frequency)

Image Processing and Features Extraction of Fingerprint Images ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

To demonstrate the importance of the image processing of fingerprint images prior to image enrolment or comparison, the set of fingerprint images in databases (a) and (b) of the FVC (Fingerprint Verification Competition) 2000 database were analyzed using a features extraction algorithm. This paper presents the results of ...

Brightness Variations of Sun-like Stars: The Mystery Deepens - Astronomers facing Socratic "ignorance"

Science.gov (United States)

2009-12-01

An extensive study made with ESO's Very Large Telescope deepens a long-standing mystery in the study of stars similar to the Sun. Unusual year-long variations in the brightness of about one third of all Sun-like stars during the latter stages of their lives still remain unexplained. Over the past few decades, astronomers have offered many possible explanations, but the new, painstaking observations contradict them all and only deepen the mystery. The search for a suitable interpretation is on. "Astronomers are left in the dark, and for once, we do not enjoy it," says Christine Nicholls from Mount Stromlo Observatory, Australia, lead author of a paper reporting the study. "We have obtained the most comprehensive set of observations to date for this class of Sun-like stars, and they clearly show that all the possible explanations for their unusual behaviour just fail." The mystery investigated by the team dates back to the 1930s and affects about a third of Sun-like stars in our Milky Way and other galaxies. All stars with masses similar to our Sun become, towards the end of their lives, red, cool and extremely large, just before retiring as white dwarfs. Also known as red giants, these elderly stars exhibit very strong periodic variations in their luminosity over timescales up to a couple of years. "Such variations are thought to be caused by what we call 'stellar pulsations'," says Nicholls. "Roughly speaking, the giant star swells and shrinks, becoming brighter and dimmer in a regular pattern. However, one third of these stars show an unexplained additional periodic variation, on even longer timescales - up to five years." In order to find out the origin of this secondary feature, the astronomers monitored 58 stars in our galactic neighbour, the Large Magellanic Cloud, over two and a half years. They acquired spectra using the high resolution FLAMES/GIRAFFE spectrograph on ESO's Very Large Telescope and combined them with images from other telescopes [1

Biomedical signal and image processing

CERN Document Server

Najarian, Kayvan

2012-01-01

INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL SIGNAL AND IMAGE PROCESSINGSignals and Biomedical Signal ProcessingIntroduction and OverviewWhat is a ""Signal""?Analog, Discrete, and Digital SignalsProcessing and Transformation of SignalsSignal Processing for Feature ExtractionSome Characteristics of Digital ImagesSummaryProblemsFourier TransformIntroduction and OverviewOne-Dimensional Continuous Fourier TransformSampling and NYQUIST RateOne-Dimensional Discrete Fourier TransformTwo-Dimensional Discrete Fourier TransformFilter DesignSummaryProblemsImage Filtering, Enhancement, and RestorationIntroduction and Overview

Industrial Applications of Image Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Ciora, Radu Adrian; Simion, Carmen Mihaela

2014-11-01

The recent advances in sensors quality and processing power provide us with excellent tools for designing more complex image processing and pattern recognition tasks. In this paper we review the existing applications of image processing and pattern recognition in industrial engineering. First we define the role of vision in an industrial. Then a dissemination of some image processing techniques, feature extraction, object recognition and industrial robotic guidance is presented. Moreover, examples of implementations of such techniques in industry are presented. Such implementations include automated visual inspection, process control, part identification, robots control. Finally, we present some conclusions regarding the investigated topics and directions for future investigation

A Brief History of Manchester Astronomical Society

Science.gov (United States)

Kilburn, K. J.

Manchester Astronomical Society celebrated its centenary in September 2003. But that centenary was of a hundred years as the MAS: the history of the society goes back much further, and can be traced directly to that great era of.public awareness of astronomy and amateur interest in Victorian England in the last half of the nineteenth century. Allan Chapman has discussed this period in detail, so the present paper concentrates on the MAS's particular influence on Manchester astronomers and recent work on the history of the society.

The Organization and Management of the Virtual Astronomical Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Berriman, G. Bruce; Hanisch, Robert J.; Lazio, T. Joseph W.; Szalay, Alexander; Fabbiano, Giussepina

2012-01-01

The U.S. Virtual Astronomical Observatory (VAO; http://www.us-vao.org/) has been in operation since May 2010. Its goal is to enable new science through efficient integration of distributed multi-wavelength data. This paper describes the management and organization of the VAO, and emphasizes the techniques used to ensure efficiency in a distributed organization. Management methods include using an annual program plan as the basis for establishing contracts with member organizations, regular communication, and monitoring of processes.

A Test Facility For Astronomical X-Ray Optics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lewis, R. A.; Bordas, J.; Christensen, Finn Erland

1989-01-01

Grazing incidence x-ray optics for x-ray astronomical applications are used outside the earths atmosphere. These devices require a large collection aperture and the imaging of an x-ray source which is essentially placed at infinity. The ideal testing system for these optical elements has...... to approximate that encountered under working conditions, however the testing of these optical elements is notoriously difficult with conventional x-ray generators. Synchrotron Radiation (SR) sources are sufficiently brilliant to produce a nearly perfect parallel beam over a large area whilst still retaining...... a flux considerably higher than that available from conventional x-ray generators. A facility designed for the testing of x-ray optics, particularly in connection with x-ray telescopes is described below. It is proposed that this facility will be accommodated at the Synchrotron Radiation Source...

Professional- Amateur Astronomer Partnerships in Scientific Research: The Re-emergence of Jupiter's 5-Micron Hot Spots

Science.gov (United States)

Yanamandra-Fisher, P. A.

2012-12-01

The night sky, with all its delights and mysteries, enthrall professional and amateur astronomers alike. The discrete data sets acquired by professional astronomers via their approved observing programs at various national facilities are supplemented by the nearly daily observations of the same celestial object by amateur astronomers around the world. The emerging partnerships between professional and dedicated amateur astronomers rely on creating a niche for long timeline of multispectral remote sensing. "Citizen Astronomy" can be thought of as the paradigm shift transforming the nature of observational astronomy. In the past decade, it is the collective observations and their analyses by the ever-increasing global network of amateur astronomers that has discovered interesting phenomena and provided the reference backdrop for observations by ground-based professional astronomers and spacecraft missions. We shall present results from our collaborations to observe the recent global upheaval on Jupiter for the past five years and illustrate the strong synergy between the two groups. Global upheavals on Jupiter involve changes in the albedo of entire axisymmetric regions, lasting several years, with the last two occurring in 1989 and 2006. Against this backdrop of planetary-scale changes, discrete features such as the Great Red Spot (GRS), and other vortices exhibit changes on shorter spatial- and time-scales. One set of features we are currently tracking is the variability of the discrete equatorial 5-μm hot spots, semi-evenly spaced in longitude and confined to a narrow latitude band centered at 6.5°N (southern edge of the North Equatorial Belt, NEB), abundant in Voyager images (1980-1981). Tantalizingly similar patterns were observed in the visible (bright plumes and blue-gray regions), where reflectivity in the red is anti-correlated with 5-μm thermal radiance. During the recent NEB fade (2011 - early 2012), however, these otherwise ubiquitous features were

Image processing in radiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dammann, F.

2002-01-01

Medical imaging processing and analysis methods have significantly improved during recent years and are now being increasingly used in clinical applications. Preprocessing algorithms are used to influence image contrast and noise. Three-dimensional visualization techniques including volume rendering and virtual endoscopy are increasingly available to evaluate sectional imaging data sets. Registration techniques have been developed to merge different examination modalities. Structures of interest can be extracted from the image data sets by various segmentation methods. Segmented structures are used for automated quantification analysis as well as for three-dimensional therapy planning, simulation and intervention guidance, including medical modelling, virtual reality environments, surgical robots and navigation systems. These newly developed methods require specialized skills for the production and postprocessing of radiological imaging data as well as new definitions of the roles of the traditional specialities. The aim of this article is to give an overview of the state-of-the-art of medical imaging processing methods, practical implications for the ragiologist's daily work and future aspects. (orig.) [de

Astronomical databases of Nikolaev Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Protsyuk, Y.; Mazhaev, A.

2008-07-01

Several astronomical databases were created at Nikolaev Observatory during the last years. The databases are built by using MySQL search engine and PHP scripts. They are available on NAO web-site http://www.mao.nikolaev.ua.

Microprocessor based image processing system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirza, M.I.; Siddiqui, M.N.; Rangoonwala, A.

1987-01-01

Rapid developments in the production of integrated circuits and introduction of sophisticated 8,16 and now 32 bit microprocessor based computers, have set new trends in computer applications. Nowadays the users by investing much less money can make optimal use of smaller systems by getting them custom-tailored according to their requirements. During the past decade there have been great advancements in the field of computer Graphics and consequently, 'Image Processing' has emerged as a separate independent field. Image Processing is being used in a number of disciplines. In the Medical Sciences, it is used to construct pseudo color images from computer aided tomography (CAT) or positron emission tomography (PET) scanners. Art, advertising and publishing people use pseudo colours in pursuit of more effective graphics. Structural engineers use Image Processing to examine weld X-rays to search for imperfections. Photographers use Image Processing for various enhancements which are difficult to achieve in a conventional dark room. (author)

Strategies for personnel sustainable lifecycle at astronomical observatories and local industry development

Science.gov (United States)

Bendek, Eduardo A.; Leatherbee, Michael; Smith, Heather; Strappa, Valentina; Zinnecker, Hans; Perez, Mario

2014-08-01

Specialized manpower required to efficiently operate world-class observatories requires large investments in time and resources to train personnel in very specific areas of engineering. Isolation and distances to mayor cities pose a challenge to retain motivated and qualified personnel on the mountain. This paper presents strategies that we believe may be effective for retaining this specific know-how in the astronomy field; while at the same time develop a local support industry for observatory operations and astronomical instrumentation development. For this study we choose Chile as a research setting because it will host more than 60% of the world's ground based astronomical infrastructure by the end of the decade, and because the country has an underdeveloped industry for astronomy services. We identify the astronomical infrastructure that exists in the country as well as the major research groups and industrial players. We further identify the needs of observatories that could be outsourced to the local economy. As a result, we suggest spin-off opportunities that can be started by former observatory employees and therefore retaining the knowhow of experienced people that decide to leave on-site jobs. We also identify tools to facilitate this process such as the creation of a centralized repository of local capabilities and observatory needs, as well as exchange programs within astronomical instrumentation groups. We believe that these strategies will contribute to a positive work environment at the observatories, reduce the operation and development costs, and develop a new industry for the host country.

Image Processing: Some Challenging Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, T. S.; Aizawa, K.

1993-11-01

Image processing can be broadly defined as the manipulation of signals which are inherently multidimensional. The most common such signals are photographs and video sequences. The goals of processing or manipulation can be (i) compression for storage or transmission; (ii) enhancement or restoration; (iii) analysis, recognition, and understanding; or (iv) visualization for human observers. The use of image processing techniques has become almost ubiquitous; they find applications in such diverse areas as astronomy, archaeology, medicine, video communication, and electronic games. Nonetheless, many important problems in image processing remain unsolved. It is the goal of this paper to discuss some of these challenging problems. In Section I, we mention a number of outstanding problems. Then, in the remainder of this paper, we concentrate on one of them: very-low-bit-rate video compression. This is chosen because it involves almost all aspects of image processing.

An application of image processing techniques in computed tomography image analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

McEvoy, Fintan

2007-01-01

number of animals and image slices, automation of the process was desirable. The open-source and free image analysis program ImageJ was used. A macro procedure was created that provided the required functionality. The macro performs a number of basic image processing procedures. These include an initial...... process designed to remove the scanning table from the image and to center the animal in the image. This is followed by placement of a vertical line segment from the mid point of the upper border of the image to the image center. Measurements are made between automatically detected outer and inner...... boundaries of subcutaneous adipose tissue along this line segment. This process was repeated as the image was rotated (with the line position remaining unchanged) so that measurements around the complete circumference were obtained. Additionally, an image was created showing all detected boundary points so...

Astronomical dating in the 19th century

Science.gov (United States)

Hilgen, Frederik J.

2010-01-01

Today astronomical tuning is widely accepted as numerical dating method after having revolutionised the age calibration of the geological archive and time scale over the last decades. However, its origin is not well known and tracing its roots is important especially from a science historic perspective. Astronomical tuning developed in consequence of the astronomical theory of the ice ages and was repeatedly used in the second half of the 19th century before the invention of radio-isotopic dating. Building upon earlier ideas of Joseph Adhémar, James Croll started to formulate his astronomical theory of the ice ages in 1864 according to which precession controlled ice ages occur alternatingly on both hemispheres at times of maximum eccentricity of the Earth's orbit. The publication of these ideas compelled Charles Lyell to revise his Principles of Geology and add Croll's theory, thus providing an alternative to his own geographical cause of the ice ages. Both Croll and Lyell initially tuned the last glacial epoch to the prominent eccentricity maximum 850,000 yr ago. This age was used as starting point by Lyell to calculate an age of 240 million years for the beginning of the Cambrium. But Croll soon revised the tuning to a much younger less prominent eccentricity maximum between 240,000 and 80,000 yr ago. In addition he tuned older glacial deposits of late Miocene and Eocene ages to eccentricity maxima around 800,000 and 2,800,000 yr ago. Archibald and James Geikie were the first to recognize interglacials during the last glacial epoch, as predicted by Croll's theory, and attempted to tune them to precession. Soon after Frank Taylor linked a series of 15 end-moraines left behind by the retreating ice sheet to precession to arrive at a possible age of 300,000 yr for the maximum glaciation. In a classic paper, Axel Blytt (1876) explained the scattered distribution of plant groups in Norway to precession induced alternating rainy and dry periods as recorded by the

Division B Commission 6: Astronomical Telegrams

Science.gov (United States)

Yamaoka, H.; Green, D. W. E.; Samus, N. N.; Aksnes, K.; Gilmore, A. C.; Nakano, S.; Sphar, T.; Tichá, J.; Williams, G. V.

2016-04-01

IAU Commission 6 ``Astronomical Telegrams'' had a single business meeting during Honolulu General Assembly of the IAU. It took place on Tuesday, 11 August 2015. The meeting was attended by Hitoshi Yamaoka (President), Daniel Green (Director of the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams, CBAT, via Skype), Steven Chesley (JPL), Paul Chodas (JPL), Alan Gilmore (Canterbury University), Shinjiro Kouzuma (Chukyo University), Paolo Mazzali (Co-Chair of the Supernova Working Group), Elena Pian (Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa), Marion Schmitz (chair IAU Working Group Designations + NED), David Tholen (University of Hawaii), Jana Ticha (Klet Observatory), Milos Tichy (Klet Observatory), Giovanni Valsecchi (INAF\\slash Italy), Gareth Williams (Minor Planet Center). Apologies: Nikolai Samus (General Catalogue of Variable Stars, GCVS).

Astronomers Gain Clues About Fundamental Physics

Science.gov (United States)

2005-12-01

An international team of astronomers has looked at something very big -- a distant galaxy -- to study the behavior of things very small -- atoms and molecules -- to gain vital clues about the fundamental nature of our entire Universe. The team used the National Science Foundation's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to test whether the laws of nature have changed over vast spans of cosmic time. The Green Bank Telescope The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope CREDIT: NRAO/AUI/NSF (Click on image for GBT gallery) "The fundamental constants of physics are expected to remain fixed across space and time; that's why they're called constants! Now, however, new theoretical models for the basic structure of matter indicate that they may change. We're testing these predictions." said Nissim Kanekar, an astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), in Socorro, New Mexico. So far, the scientists' measurements show no change in the constants. "We've put the most stringent limits yet on some changes in these constants, but that's not the end of the story," said Christopher Carilli, another NRAO astronomer. "This is the exciting frontier where astronomy meets particle physics," Carilli explained. The research can help answer fundamental questions about whether the basic components of matter are tiny particles or tiny vibrating strings, how many dimensions the Universe has, and the nature of "dark energy." The astronomers were looking for changes in two quantities: the ratio of the masses of the electron and the proton, and a number physicists call the fine structure constant, a combination of the electron charge, the speed of light and the Planck constant. These values, considered fundamental physical constants, once were "taken as time independent, with values given once and forever" said German particle physicist Christof Wetterich. However, Wetterich explained, "the viewpoint of modern particle theory has changed in recent years," with ideas such as

TECHNOLOGIES OF BRAIN IMAGES PROCESSING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O.M. Klyuchko

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of present research was to analyze modern methods of processing biological images implemented before storage in databases for biotechnological purposes. The databases further were incorporated into web-based digital systems. Examples of such information systems were described in the work for two levels of biological material organization; databases for storing data of histological analysis and of whole brain were described. Methods of neuroimaging processing for electronic brain atlas were considered. It was shown that certain pathological features can be revealed in histological image processing. Several medical diagnostic techniques (for certain brain pathologies, etc. as well as a few biotechnological methods are based on such effects. Algorithms of image processing were suggested. Electronic brain atlas was conveniently for professionals in different fields described in details. Approaches of brain atlas elaboration, “composite” scheme for large deformations as well as several methods of mathematic images processing were described as well.

Image processing in medical ultrasound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hemmsen, Martin Christian

This Ph.D project addresses image processing in medical ultrasound and seeks to achieve two major scientific goals: First to develop an understanding of the most significant factors influencing image quality in medical ultrasound, and secondly to use this knowledge to develop image processing...... multiple imaging setups. This makes the system well suited for development of new processing methods and for clinical evaluations, where acquisition of the exact same scan location for multiple methods is important. The second project addressed implementation, development and evaluation of SASB using...... methods for enhancing the diagnostic value of medical ultrasound. The project is an industrial Ph.D project co-sponsored by BK Medical ApS., with the commercial goal to improve the image quality of BK Medicals scanners. Currently BK Medical employ a simple conventional delay-and-sum beamformer to generate...

Astronomical Virtual Observatories Through International Collaboration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masatoshi Ohishi

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Astronomical Virtual Observatories (VOs are emerging research environment for astronomy, and 16 countries and a region have funded to develop their VOs based on international standard protocols for interoperability. The 16 funded VO projects have established the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (http://www.ivoa.net/ to develop the standard interoperable interfaces such as registry (meta data, data access, query languages, output format (VOTable, data model, application interface, and so on. The IVOA members have constructed each VO environment through the IVOA interfaces. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ started its VO project (Japanese Virtual Observatory - JVO in 2002, and developed its VO system. We have succeeded to interoperate the latest JVO system with other VOs in the USA and Europe since December 2004. Observed data by the Subaru telescope, satellite data taken by the JAXA/ISAS, etc. are connected to the JVO system. Successful interoperation of the JVO system with other VOs means that astronomers in the world will be able to utilize top-level data obtained by these telescopes from anywhere in the world at anytime. System design of the JVO system, experiences during our development including problems of current standard protocols defined in the IVOA, and proposals to resolve these problems in the near future are described.

Design and Implementation of CNEOST Image Database Based on NoSQL System

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xin

2014-04-01

The China Near Earth Object Survey Telescope is the largest Schmidt telescope in China, and it has acquired more than 3 TB astronomical image data since it saw the first light in 2006. After the upgrade of the CCD camera in 2013, over 10 TB data will be obtained every year. The management of the massive images is not only an indispensable part of data processing pipeline but also the basis of data sharing. Based on the analysis of requirement, an image management system is designed and implemented by employing the non-relational database.

Automatic detection of solar features in HSOS full-disk solar images using guided filter

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Fei; Lin, Jiaben; Guo, Jingjing; Wang, Gang; Tong, Liyue; Zhang, Xinwei; Wang, Bingxiang

2018-02-01

A procedure is introduced for the automatic detection of solar features using full-disk solar images from Huairou Solar Observing Station (HSOS), National Astronomical Observatories of China. In image preprocessing, median filter is applied to remove the noises. Guided filter is adopted to enhance the edges of solar features and restrain the solar limb darkening, which is first introduced into the astronomical target detection. Then specific features are detected by Otsu algorithm and further threshold processing technique. Compared with other automatic detection procedures, our procedure has some advantages such as real time and reliability as well as no need of local threshold. Also, it reduces the amount of computation largely, which is benefited from the efficient guided filter algorithm. The procedure has been tested on one month sequences (December 2013) of HSOS full-disk solar images and the result shows that the number of features detected by our procedure is well consistent with the manual one.

Astronomical discoveries you can make, too! replicating the work of the great observers

CERN Document Server

Buchheim, Robert K

2015-01-01

You too can follow in the steps of the great astronomers such as Hipparchus, Galileo, Kepler and Hubble, who all contributed so much to our modern understanding of the cosmos. This book gives the student or amateur astronomer the following tools to replicate some of these seminal observations from their own homes:   With your own eyes: Use your own observations and measurements to discover and confirm the phenomena of the seasons, the analemma and the equation of time, the logic behind celestial coordinates, and even the precession of the equinoxes.   With a consumer-grade digital camera: Record the changing brightness of an eclipsing binary star and show that a pulsating star changes color as it brightens and dims. Add an inexpensive diffraction grating to your camera and see the variety of spectral features in the stars, and demonstrate that the Sun’s spectrum is similar to one particular type of stellar spectrum.   With a backyard telescope: Add a CCD imager and you can measure the scale of the Solar ...

Different Categories of Astronomical Heritage: Issues and Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Ruggles, Clive

2012-09-01

Since 2008 the AWHWG has, on behalf of the IAU, been working with UNESCO and its advisory bodies to help identify, safeguard and promote cultural properties relating to astronomy and, where possible, to try to facilitate the eventual nomination of key astronomical heritage sites onto the World Heritage List. Unfortunately, the World Heritage Convention only covers fixed sites (i.e., the tangible immovable heritage of astronomy), and a key question for the UNESCO-IAU Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative (AWHI) is the extent to which the tangible moveable and intangible heritage of astronomy (e.g. moveable instruments; ideas and theories) influence the assessment of the tangible immovable heritage. Clearly, in an ideal world we should be concerned not only with tangible immovable heritage but, to quote the AWHWG's own Terms of Reference, ``to help ensure that cultural properties and artefacts significant in the development of astronomy, together with the intangible heritage of astronomy, are duly studied, protected and maintained, both for the greater benefit of humankind and to the potential benefit of future historical research''. With this in mind, the IAU/INAF symposium on ``Astronomy and its Instruments before and after Galileo'' held in Venice in Sep-Oct 2009 recommended that urgent steps should be taken 1. to sensitise astronomers and the general public, and particularly observatory directors and others with direct influence and control over astronomical resources, to the importance of identifying, protecting and preserving the various material products of astronomical research and discovery that already have, or have significant potential to acquire, universal value; (N.B. National or regional interests and concerns have no relevance in the assessment of ``universal value'', which, by definition, extends beyond cultural boundaries and, by reasonable expectation, down the generations into the future. 2. to identify modes of interconnectivity between

Astronomical Surveys and Big Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mickaelian Areg M.

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Recent all-sky and large-area astronomical surveys and their catalogued data over the whole range of electromagnetic spectrum, from γ-rays to radio waves, are reviewed, including such as Fermi-GLAST and INTEGRAL in γ-ray, ROSAT, XMM and Chandra in X-ray, GALEX in UV, SDSS and several POSS I and POSS II-based catalogues (APM, MAPS, USNO, GSC in the optical range, 2MASS in NIR, WISE and AKARI IRC in MIR, IRAS and AKARI FIS in FIR, NVSS and FIRST in radio range, and many others, as well as the most important surveys giving optical images (DSS I and II, SDSS, etc., proper motions (Tycho, USNO, Gaia, variability (GCVS, NSVS, ASAS, Catalina, Pan-STARRS, and spectroscopic data (FBS, SBS, Case, HQS, HES, SDSS, CALIFA, GAMA. An overall understanding of the coverage along the whole wavelength range and comparisons between various surveys are given: galaxy redshift surveys, QSO/AGN, radio, Galactic structure, and Dark Energy surveys. Astronomy has entered the Big Data era, with Astrophysical Virtual Observatories and Computational Astrophysics playing an important role in using and analyzing big data for new discoveries.

A novel data processing technique for image reconstruction of penumbral imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Hongwei; Li, Hongyun; Xu, Zeping; Song, Guzhou; Zhang, Faqiang; Zhou, Lin

2011-06-01

CT image reconstruction technique was applied to the data processing of the penumbral imaging. Compared with other traditional processing techniques for penumbral coded pinhole image such as Wiener, Lucy-Richardson and blind technique, this approach is brand new. In this method, the coded aperture processing method was used for the first time independent to the point spread function of the image diagnostic system. In this way, the technical obstacles was overcome in the traditional coded pinhole image processing caused by the uncertainty of point spread function of the image diagnostic system. Then based on the theoretical study, the simulation of penumbral imaging and image reconstruction was carried out to provide fairly good results. While in the visible light experiment, the point source of light was used to irradiate a 5mm×5mm object after diffuse scattering and volume scattering. The penumbral imaging was made with aperture size of ~20mm. Finally, the CT image reconstruction technique was used for image reconstruction to provide a fairly good reconstruction result.

You Can Touch This! Bringing HST images to life as 3-D models

Science.gov (United States)

Christian, Carol A.; Nota, A.; Grice, N. A.; Sabbi, E.; Shaheen, N.; Greenfield, P.; Hurst, A.; Kane, S.; Rao, R.; Dutterer, J.; de Mink, S. E.

2014-01-01

We present the very first results of an innovative process to transform Hubble images into tactile 3-D models of astronomical objects. We have created a very new, unique tool for understanding astronomical phenomena, especially designed to make astronomy accessible to visually impaired children and adults. From the multicolor images of stellar clusters, we construct 3-D computer models that are digitally sliced into layers, each featuring touchable patterning and Braille characters, and are printed on a 3-D printer. The slices are then fitted together, so that the user can explore the structure of the cluster environment with their fingertips, slice-by-slice, analogous to a visual fly-through. Students will be able to identify and spatially locate the different components of these complex astronomical objects, namely gas, dust and stars, and will learn about the formation and composition of stellar clusters. The primary audiences for the 3D models are middle school and high school blind students and, secondarily, blind adults. However, we believe that the final materials will address a broad range of individuals with varied and multi-sensory learning styles, and will be interesting and visually appealing to the public at large.

How to COAAD Images. II. A Coaddition Image that is Optimal for Any Purpose in the Background-dominated Noise Limit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zackay, Barak; Ofek, Eran O. [Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot (Israel)

2017-02-20

Image coaddition is one of the most basic operations that astronomers perform. In Paper I, we presented the optimal ways to coadd images in order to detect faint sources and to perform flux measurements under the assumption that the noise is approximately Gaussian. Here, we build on these results and derive from first principles a coaddition technique that is optimal for any hypothesis testing and measurement (e.g., source detection, flux or shape measurements, and star/galaxy separation), in the background-noise-dominated case. This method has several important properties. The pixels of the resulting coadded image are uncorrelated. This image preserves all the information (from the original individual images) on all spatial frequencies. Any hypothesis testing or measurement that can be done on all the individual images simultaneously, can be done on the coadded image without any loss of information. The PSF of this image is typically as narrow, or narrower than the PSF of the best image in the ensemble. Moreover, this image is practically indistinguishable from a regular single image, meaning that any code that measures any property on a regular astronomical image can be applied to it unchanged. In particular, the optimal source detection statistic derived in Paper I is reproduced by matched filtering this image with its own PSF. This coaddition process, which we call proper coaddition, can be understood as the maximum signal-to-noise ratio measurement of the Fourier transform of the image, weighted in such a way that the noise in the entire Fourier domain is of equal variance. This method has important implications for multi-epoch seeing-limited deep surveys, weak lensing galaxy shape measurements, and diffraction-limited imaging via speckle observations. The last topic will be covered in depth in future papers. We provide an implementation of this algorithm in MATLAB.

Image quality and dose differences caused by vendor-specific image processing of neonatal radiographs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sensakovic, William F.; O'Dell, M.C.; Letter, Haley; Kohler, Nathan; Rop, Baiywo; Cook, Jane; Logsdon, Gregory; Varich, Laura

2016-01-01

Image processing plays an important role in optimizing image quality and radiation dose in projection radiography. Unfortunately commercial algorithms are black boxes that are often left at or near vendor default settings rather than being optimized. We hypothesize that different commercial image-processing systems, when left at or near default settings, create significant differences in image quality. We further hypothesize that image-quality differences can be exploited to produce images of equivalent quality but lower radiation dose. We used a portable radiography system to acquire images on a neonatal chest phantom and recorded the entrance surface air kerma (ESAK). We applied two image-processing systems (Optima XR220amx, by GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI; and MUSICA"2 by Agfa HealthCare, Mortsel, Belgium) to the images. Seven observers (attending pediatric radiologists and radiology residents) independently assessed image quality using two methods: rating and matching. Image-quality ratings were independently assessed by each observer on a 10-point scale. Matching consisted of each observer matching GE-processed images and Agfa-processed images with equivalent image quality. A total of 210 rating tasks and 42 matching tasks were performed and effective dose was estimated. Median Agfa-processed image-quality ratings were higher than GE-processed ratings. Non-diagnostic ratings were seen over a wider range of doses for GE-processed images than for Agfa-processed images. During matching tasks, observers matched image quality between GE-processed images and Agfa-processed images acquired at a lower effective dose (11 ± 9 μSv; P < 0.0001). Image-processing methods significantly impact perceived image quality. These image-quality differences can be exploited to alter protocols and produce images of equivalent image quality but lower doses. Those purchasing projection radiography systems or third-party image-processing software should be aware that image processing

MYRaf: A new Approach with IRAF for Astronomical Photometric Reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Kilic, Y.; Shameoni Niaei, M.; Özeren, F. F.; Yesilyaprak, C.

2016-12-01

In this study, the design and some developments of MYRaf software for astronomical photometric reduction are presented. MYRaf software is an easy to use, reliable, and has a fast IRAF aperture photometry GUI tools. MYRaf software is an important step for the automated software process of robotic telescopes, and uses IRAF, PyRAF, matplotlib, ginga, alipy, and Sextractor with the general-purpose and high-level programming language Python and uses the QT framework.

Bayesian multi-scale smoothing of photon-limited images with applications to astronomy and medicine

Science.gov (United States)

White, John

Multi-scale models for smoothing Poisson signals or images have gained much attention over the past decade. A new Bayesian model is developed using the concept of the Chinese restaurant process to find structures in two-dimensional images when performing image reconstruction or smoothing. This new model performs very well when compared to other leading methodologies for the same problem. It is developed and evaluated theoretically and empirically throughout Chapter 2. The newly developed Bayesian model is extended to three-dimensional images in Chapter 3. The third dimension has numerous different applications, such as different energy spectra, another spatial index, or possibly a temporal dimension. Empirically, this method shows promise in reducing error with the use of simulation studies. A further development removes background noise in the image. This removal can further reduce the error and is done using a modeling adjustment and post-processing techniques. These details are given in Chapter 4. Applications to real world problems are given throughout. Photon-based images are common in astronomical imaging due to the collection of different types of energy such as X-Rays. Applications to real astronomical images are given, and these consist of X-ray images from the Chandra X-ray observatory satellite. Diagnostic medicine uses many types of imaging such as magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography that can also benefit from smoothing techniques such as the one developed here. Reducing the amount of radiation a patient takes will make images more noisy, but this can be mitigated through the use of image smoothing techniques. Both types of images represent the potential real world use for these methods.

Astronomía Mocoví

Science.gov (United States)

López, A.; Giménez Benitez, S.; Fernández, L.

El presente trabajo, es una revisión crítica de la astronomía en la cultura Mocoví, aportando a lo realizado previamente por Lehmann Nistche (Lehmann Nistche, 1924 y 1927) el resultado de nuestro trabajo de campo. Un mayor conocimiento de las cosmovisiones de las etnias de esta área es fundamental para una mejor comprensión de la dispersión de las ideas cosmológicas entre los pueblos aborígenes americanos, dada la importancia del corredor chaqueño como conexión entre las altas culturas andinas, la mesopotamia y la región pampeana (Susnik, 1972). Para ello se realiza una comparación con otras cosmovisiones del área americana. Nuestro aporte se enmarca dentro de las actuales líneas de trabajo mundialmente en desarrollo en Astronomía en la Cultura.

ISO Results Presented at International Astronomical Union

Science.gov (United States)

1997-08-01

Some of the work being presented is collected in the attached ESA Information Note N 25-97, ISO illuminates our cosmic ancestry. A set of six colour images illustrating various aspects have also been released and are available at http://www.estec.esa.nl/spdwww/iso1808.htm or in hard copy from ESA Public Relations Paris (fax:+33.1.5369.7690). These pictures cover: 1. Distant but powerful infrared galaxies 2. A scan across the milky way 3. Helix nebula: the shroud of a dead star 4. Supernova remnant Cassiopeia A 5. Trifid nebula: a dusty birthplace of stars 6. Precursors of stars and planets The International Astronomical Union provides a forum where astronomers from all over the world can develop astronomy in all its aspects through international co-operation. General Assemblies are held every three years. It is expected that over 1600 astronomers will attend this year's meeting, which is being held in Kyoto, Japan from 18-30 August. Further information on the meeting can be found at: www.tenmon.or.jp/iau97/ . ISO illuminates our cosmic ancestry The European Space Agency's Infrared Space Observatory, ISO, is unmatched in its ability to explore and analyse many of the universal processes that made our existence possible. We are children of the stars. Every atom in our bodies was created in cosmic space and delivered to the Sun's vicinity in time for the Earth's formation, during a ceaseless cycle of birth, death and rebirth among the stars. The most creative places in the sky are cool and dusty, and opaque even to the Hubble Space Telescope. Infrared rays penetrating the dust reveal to ISO hidden objects, and the atoms and molecules of cosmic chemistry. "ISO is reading Nature's recipe book," says Roger Bonnet, ESA's director of science. "As the world's only telescope capable of observing the Universe over a wide range of infrared wavelengths, ISO plays an indispensable part in astronomical discoveries that help to explain how we came to exist." This Information Note

Use of personal computer image for processing a magnetic resonance image (MRI)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, Tetsuo; Tanaka, Hitoshi

1988-01-01

Image processing of MR imaging was attempted by using a popular personal computer as 16-bit model. The computer processed the images on a 256 x 256 matrix and 512 x 512 matrix. The softwer languages for image-processing were those of Macro-Assembler performed by (MS-DOS). The original images, acuired with an 0.5 T superconducting machine (VISTA MR 0.5 T, Picker International) were transfered to the computer by the flexible disket. Image process are the display of image to monitor, other the contrast enhancement, the unsharped mask contrast enhancement, the various filter process, the edge detections or the color histogram was obtained in 1.6 sec to 67 sec, indicating that commercialzed personal computer had ability for routine clinical purpose in MRI-processing. (author)

Introduction to computer image processing

Science.gov (United States)

Moik, J. G.

1973-01-01

Theoretical backgrounds and digital techniques for a class of image processing problems are presented. Image formation in the context of linear system theory, image evaluation, noise characteristics, mathematical operations on image and their implementation are discussed. Various techniques for image restoration and image enhancement are presented. Methods for object extraction and the problem of pictorial pattern recognition and classification are discussed.

Statistical image processing and multidimensional modeling

CERN Document Server

Fieguth, Paul

2010-01-01

Images are all around us! The proliferation of low-cost, high-quality imaging devices has led to an explosion in acquired images. When these images are acquired from a microscope, telescope, satellite, or medical imaging device, there is a statistical image processing task: the inference of something - an artery, a road, a DNA marker, an oil spill - from imagery, possibly noisy, blurry, or incomplete. A great many textbooks have been written on image processing. However this book does not so much focus on images, per se, but rather on spatial data sets, with one or more measurements taken over

Volumetric image processing: A new technique for three-dimensional imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fishman, E.K.; Drebin, B.; Magid, D.; St Ville, J.A.; Zerhouni, E.A.; Siegelman, S.S.; Ney, D.R.

1986-01-01

Volumetric three-dimensional (3D) image processing was performed on CT scans of 25 normal hips, and image quality and potential diagnostic applications were assessed. In contrast to surface detection 3D techniques, volumetric processing preserves every pixel of transaxial CT data, replacing the gray scale with transparent ''gels'' and shading. Anatomically, accurate 3D images can be rotated and manipulated in real time, including simulated tissue layer ''peeling'' and mock surgery or disarticulation. This pilot study suggests that volumetric rendering is a major advance in signal processing of medical image data, producing a high quality, uniquely maneuverable image that is useful for fracture interpretation, soft-tissue analysis, surgical planning, and surgical rehearsal

Laboratory Molecular Astrophysics as an Invaluable Tool in understanding Astronomical Observations.

Science.gov (United States)

Fraser, Helen Jane

2015-08-01

We are entering the decade of molecular astrochemistry: spectroscopic data pertaining to the interactions between baryonic matter and electromagnetic radiation are now at the forefront of astronomical observations. Elucidating such data is reliant on inputs from laboratory experiments, modeling, and theoretical chemistry / physics, a field that is intended to be a key focus for the proposed new commission in Laboratory Astrophysics.Here, we propose a “tour de force” review of some recent successes since the last GA in molecular astrophysics, particularly those that have been directly facilitated by laboratory data in Astrochemistry. It is vital to highlight to the astronomers that the absence of laboratory data from the literature would otherwise have precluded advances in our astronomical understanding, e.g:the detection of gas-phase water deep in pre-stellar cores,the detection of water and other molecular species in gravitationally lensed galaxies at z~6“Jumps” in the appearance or disappearance of molecules, including the very recent detection of the first branched organic molecule in the ISM, iso-propyl-cyanide,disentangling dense spectroscopic features in the sub-mm as measured by ALMA, Herschel and SOFIA, the so-called “weeds” and “flowers”,the first ''image'' of a CO snow-line in a protoplanetary disk.Looking forward, the advent of high spatial and spectral resolution telescopes, particularly ALMA, SKA E-ELT and JWST, will continue to drive forward the needs and interests of laboratory astrochemistry in the coming decade. We will look forward to five key areas where advances are expected, and both observational and laboratory techniques are evolving:-(a) understanding star forming regions at very high spatial and spectral senstivity and resolution(b) extragalactic astrochemistry(c) (exo-)planetary atmospheres, surfaces and Solar System sample return - linkinginterstellar and planetary chemistry(d) astrobiology - linking simple molecular

REMOTE SENSING IMAGE QUALITY ASSESSMENT EXPERIMENT WITH POST-PROCESSING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Jiang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This paper briefly describes the post-processing influence assessment experiment, the experiment includes three steps: the physical simulation, image processing, and image quality assessment. The physical simulation models sampled imaging system in laboratory, the imaging system parameters are tested, the digital image serving as image processing input are produced by this imaging system with the same imaging system parameters. The gathered optical sampled images with the tested imaging parameters are processed by 3 digital image processes, including calibration pre-processing, lossy compression with different compression ratio and image post-processing with different core. Image quality assessment method used is just noticeable difference (JND subject assessment based on ISO20462, through subject assessment of the gathered and processing images, the influence of different imaging parameters and post-processing to image quality can be found. The six JND subject assessment experimental data can be validated each other. Main conclusions include: image post-processing can improve image quality; image post-processing can improve image quality even with lossy compression, image quality with higher compression ratio improves less than lower ratio; with our image post-processing method, image quality is better, when camera MTF being within a small range.

Image processing based detection of lung cancer on CT scan images

Science.gov (United States)

Abdillah, Bariqi; Bustamam, Alhadi; Sarwinda, Devvi

2017-10-01

In this paper, we implement and analyze the image processing method for detection of lung cancer. Image processing techniques are widely used in several medical problems for picture enhancement in the detection phase to support the early medical treatment. In this research we proposed a detection method of lung cancer based on image segmentation. Image segmentation is one of intermediate level in image processing. Marker control watershed and region growing approach are used to segment of CT scan image. Detection phases are followed by image enhancement using Gabor filter, image segmentation, and features extraction. From the experimental results, we found the effectiveness of our approach. The results show that the best approach for main features detection is watershed with masking method which has high accuracy and robust.

Fundamental and applied aspects of astronomical seeing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coulman, C.E.

1985-01-01

It is pointed out that despite recent advances in the use of spacecraft as observatory platforms, much astronomy is still conducted from the surface of the earth. The literature on astronomical seeing and observatory site selection is widely scattered throughout journals and conference reports concerned with various disciplines. This survey has the objective to represent the state of the subject up to 1982. A description of the history and prospects of the considered subject is presented, and the optics of seeing are examined. The meteorology of seeing is discussed, taking into account aspects of micrometeorology and small-scale turbulence near the surface, the diurnal cycle in the planetary boundary layer, the temperature structure above the planetary boundary layer, and the effects of terrain. Attention is given to the calculation of system performance from microthermal data, optical methods for the measurement of seeing, and techniques for minimizing image-degrading effects of the atmosphere. 279 references

Image quality and dose differences caused by vendor-specific image processing of neonatal radiographs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sensakovic, William F.; O' Dell, M.C.; Letter, Haley; Kohler, Nathan; Rop, Baiywo; Cook, Jane; Logsdon, Gregory; Varich, Laura [Florida Hospital, Imaging Administration, Orlando, FL (United States)

2016-10-15

Image processing plays an important role in optimizing image quality and radiation dose in projection radiography. Unfortunately commercial algorithms are black boxes that are often left at or near vendor default settings rather than being optimized. We hypothesize that different commercial image-processing systems, when left at or near default settings, create significant differences in image quality. We further hypothesize that image-quality differences can be exploited to produce images of equivalent quality but lower radiation dose. We used a portable radiography system to acquire images on a neonatal chest phantom and recorded the entrance surface air kerma (ESAK). We applied two image-processing systems (Optima XR220amx, by GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI; and MUSICA{sup 2} by Agfa HealthCare, Mortsel, Belgium) to the images. Seven observers (attending pediatric radiologists and radiology residents) independently assessed image quality using two methods: rating and matching. Image-quality ratings were independently assessed by each observer on a 10-point scale. Matching consisted of each observer matching GE-processed images and Agfa-processed images with equivalent image quality. A total of 210 rating tasks and 42 matching tasks were performed and effective dose was estimated. Median Agfa-processed image-quality ratings were higher than GE-processed ratings. Non-diagnostic ratings were seen over a wider range of doses for GE-processed images than for Agfa-processed images. During matching tasks, observers matched image quality between GE-processed images and Agfa-processed images acquired at a lower effective dose (11 ± 9 μSv; P < 0.0001). Image-processing methods significantly impact perceived image quality. These image-quality differences can be exploited to alter protocols and produce images of equivalent image quality but lower doses. Those purchasing projection radiography systems or third-party image-processing software should be aware that image

Image quality and dose differences caused by vendor-specific image processing of neonatal radiographs.

Science.gov (United States)

Sensakovic, William F; O'Dell, M Cody; Letter, Haley; Kohler, Nathan; Rop, Baiywo; Cook, Jane; Logsdon, Gregory; Varich, Laura

2016-10-01

Image processing plays an important role in optimizing image quality and radiation dose in projection radiography. Unfortunately commercial algorithms are black boxes that are often left at or near vendor default settings rather than being optimized. We hypothesize that different commercial image-processing systems, when left at or near default settings, create significant differences in image quality. We further hypothesize that image-quality differences can be exploited to produce images of equivalent quality but lower radiation dose. We used a portable radiography system to acquire images on a neonatal chest phantom and recorded the entrance surface air kerma (ESAK). We applied two image-processing systems (Optima XR220amx, by GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI; and MUSICA(2) by Agfa HealthCare, Mortsel, Belgium) to the images. Seven observers (attending pediatric radiologists and radiology residents) independently assessed image quality using two methods: rating and matching. Image-quality ratings were independently assessed by each observer on a 10-point scale. Matching consisted of each observer matching GE-processed images and Agfa-processed images with equivalent image quality. A total of 210 rating tasks and 42 matching tasks were performed and effective dose was estimated. Median Agfa-processed image-quality ratings were higher than GE-processed ratings. Non-diagnostic ratings were seen over a wider range of doses for GE-processed images than for Agfa-processed images. During matching tasks, observers matched image quality between GE-processed images and Agfa-processed images acquired at a lower effective dose (11 ± 9 μSv; P < 0.0001). Image-processing methods significantly impact perceived image quality. These image-quality differences can be exploited to alter protocols and produce images of equivalent image quality but lower doses. Those purchasing projection radiography systems or third-party image-processing software should be aware that image

Scilab and SIP for Image Processing

OpenAIRE

Fabbri, Ricardo; Bruno, Odemir Martinez; Costa, Luciano da Fontoura

2012-01-01

This paper is an overview of Image Processing and Analysis using Scilab, a free prototyping environment for numerical calculations similar to Matlab. We demonstrate the capabilities of SIP -- the Scilab Image Processing Toolbox -- which extends Scilab with many functions to read and write images in over 100 major file formats, including PNG, JPEG, BMP, and TIFF. It also provides routines for image filtering, edge detection, blurring, segmentation, shape analysis, and image recognition. Basic ...

Enhancement of image contrast in linacgram through image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suh, Hyun Suk; Shin, Hyun Kyo; Lee, Re Na

2000-01-01

Conventional radiation therapy portal images gives low contrast images. The purpose of this study was to enhance image contrast of a linacgram by developing a low--cost image processing method. Chest linacgram was obtained by irradiating humanoid phantom and scanned using Diagnostic-Pro scanner for image processing. Several types of scan method were used in scanning. These include optical density scan, histogram equalized scan, linear histogram based scan, linear histogram independent scan, linear optical density scan, logarithmic scan, and power square root scan. The histogram distribution of the scanned images were plotted and the ranges of the gray scale were compared among various scan types. The scanned images were then transformed to the gray window by pallette fitting method and the contrast of the reprocessed portal images were evaluated for image improvement. Portal images of patients were also taken at various anatomic sites and the images were processed by Gray Scale Expansion (GSE) method. The patient images were analyzed to examine the feasibility of using the GSE technique in clinic. The histogram distribution showed that minimum and maximum gray scale ranges of 3192 and 21940 were obtained when the image was scanned using logarithmic method and square root method, respectively. Out of 256 gray scale, only 7 to 30% of the steps were used. After expanding the gray scale to full range, contrast of the portal images were improved. Experiment performed with patient image showed that improved identification of organs were achieved by GSE in portal images of knee joint, head and neck, lung, and pelvis. Phantom study demonstrated that the GSE technique improved image contrast of a linacgram. This indicates that the decrease in image quality resulting from the dual exposure, could be improved by expanding the gray scale. As a result, the improved technique will make it possible to compare the digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRR) and simulation image for

Digital Data Processing of Images

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Digital data processing was investigated to perform image processing. Image smoothing and restoration were explored and promising results obtained. The use of the computer, not only as a data management device, but as an important tool to render quantitative information, was illustrated by lung function determination.

Image processing in diabetic related causes

CERN Document Server

Kumar, Amit

2016-01-01

This book is a collection of all the experimental results and analysis carried out on medical images of diabetic related causes. The experimental investigations have been carried out on images starting from very basic image processing techniques such as image enhancement to sophisticated image segmentation methods. This book is intended to create an awareness on diabetes and its related causes and image processing methods used to detect and forecast in a very simple way. This book is useful to researchers, Engineers, Medical Doctors and Bioinformatics researchers.

Top astronomers head to the city. Experts to talk on exciting quasar discoveries.

CERN Multimedia

Grant, S

2002-01-01

The UK National Astronomy Meeting - NAM 2002 - is at Bristol University this week. The meeting is one of the most important regular gatherings of astronomers in the UK. Sponsored by the Royal Astronomical Society and PPARC, it should attract about 300 astronomers from the UK and beyond.

Space astronomical telescopes and instruments; Proceedings of the Meeting, Orlando, FL, Apr. 1-4, 1991

Science.gov (United States)

Bely, Pierre Y.; Breckinridge, James B.

The present volume on space astronomical telescopes and instruments discusses lessons from the HST, telescopes on the moon, future space missions, and mirror fabrication and active control. Attention is given to the in-flight performance of the Goddard high-resolution spectrograph of the HST, the initial performance of the high-speed photometer, results from HST fine-guidance sensors, and reconstruction of the HST mirror figure from out-of-focus stellar images. Topics addressed include system concepts for a large UV/optical/IR telescope on the moon, optical design considerations for next-generation space and lunar telescopes, the implications of lunar dust for astronomical observatories, and lunar liquid-mirror telescopes. Also discussed are space design considerations for the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, the Hubble extrasolar planet interferometer, Si:Ga focal-plane arrays for satellite and ground-based telescopes, microchannel-plate detectors for space-based astronomy, and a method for making ultralight primary mirrors.

Fuzzy image processing and applications with Matlab

CERN Document Server

Chaira, Tamalika

2009-01-01

In contrast to classical image analysis methods that employ ""crisp"" mathematics, fuzzy set techniques provide an elegant foundation and a set of rich methodologies for diverse image-processing tasks. However, a solid understanding of fuzzy processing requires a firm grasp of essential principles and background knowledge.Fuzzy Image Processing and Applications with MATLAB® presents the integral science and essential mathematics behind this exciting and dynamic branch of image processing, which is becoming increasingly important to applications in areas such as remote sensing, medical imaging,

Processing of medical images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Restrepo, A.

1998-01-01

Thanks to the innovations in the technology for the processing of medical images, to the high development of better and cheaper computers, and, additionally, to the advances in the systems of communications of medical images, the acquisition, storage and handling of digital images has acquired great importance in all the branches of the medicine. It is sought in this article to introduce some fundamental ideas of prosecution of digital images that include such aspects as their representation, storage, improvement, visualization and understanding

High-contrast imaging in the cloud with klipReduce and Findr

Science.gov (United States)

Haug-Baltzell, Asher; Males, Jared R.; Morzinski, Katie M.; Wu, Ya-Lin; Merchant, Nirav; Lyons, Eric; Close, Laird M.

2016-08-01

Astronomical data sets are growing ever larger, and the area of high contrast imaging of exoplanets is no exception. With the advent of fast, low-noise detectors operating at 10 to 1000 Hz, huge numbers of images can be taken during a single hours-long observation. High frame rates offer several advantages, such as improved registration, frame selection, and improved speckle calibration. However, advanced image processing algorithms are computationally challenging to apply. Here we describe a parallelized, cloud-based data reduction system developed for the Magellan Adaptive Optics VisAO camera, which is capable of rapidly exploring tens of thousands of parameter sets affecting the Karhunen-Loève image processing (KLIP) algorithm to produce high-quality direct images of exoplanets. We demonstrate these capabilities with a visible wavelength high contrast data set of a hydrogen-accreting brown dwarf companion.

Providing comprehensive and consistent access to astronomical observatory archive data: the NASA archive model

Science.gov (United States)

McGlynn, Thomas; Fabbiano, Giuseppina; Accomazzi, Alberto; Smale, Alan; White, Richard L.; Donaldson, Thomas; Aloisi, Alessandra; Dower, Theresa; Mazzerella, Joseph M.; Ebert, Rick; Pevunova, Olga; Imel, David; Berriman, Graham B.; Teplitz, Harry I.; Groom, Steve L.; Desai, Vandana R.; Landry, Walter

2016-07-01

Since the turn of the millennium a constant concern of astronomical archives have begun providing data to the public through standardized protocols unifying data from disparate physical sources and wavebands across the electromagnetic spectrum into an astronomical virtual observatory (VO). In October 2014, NASA began support for the NASA Astronomical Virtual Observatories (NAVO) program to coordinate the efforts of NASA astronomy archives in providing data to users through implementation of protocols agreed within the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA). A major goal of the NAVO collaboration has been to step back from a piecemeal implementation of IVOA standards and define what the appropriate presence for the US and NASA astronomy archives in the VO should be. This includes evaluating what optional capabilities in the standards need to be supported, the specific versions of standards that should be used, and returning feedback to the IVOA, to support modifications as needed. We discuss a standard archive model developed by the NAVO for data archive presence in the virtual observatory built upon a consistent framework of standards defined by the IVOA. Our standard model provides for discovery of resources through the VO registries, access to observation and object data, downloads of image and spectral data and general access to archival datasets. It defines specific protocol versions, minimum capabilities, and all dependencies. The model will evolve as the capabilities of the virtual observatory and needs of the community change.

POST WWII Astronomy and Rebuilding U.S. Astronomical Institutions--The U.S. Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, W. E.

1993-12-01

A belief that technology contributed substantially to the winning of World War II spurred the formation of ONR, then NSF which was formed in ONR's image. NASA's space support, cold war competition, and ARPA's funding of high risk, high payoff technologies led to state-of-the-art instrumentation in astronomy. Limits on funding for instrumentation at individual institutions led to the concept and growth of national astronomy observatories that made observing time available to the best ideas from astronomers who had no access to big telescopes at home. Success of these major observatories lay also in their treatment of visitors who were made to feel a part of the institution. As federal funding became available, several issues were heavily debated, among which were overhead costs on grant awards, what the breakdown of responsibility should be for institutional vs. federal funding, spreading vs. concentrating the available funding, the role of the AAS and advisory groups, federal vs. researcher specification of the research program, and the roots of the modern debate concerning research relevance. U.S. astronomers are unique because of our eclecticism, our development of a winning system of workplaces, our peer review system, our united front presented by our projective planning and our periodic decade reviews, our international orientation, all in the context of national support that is preeminent in the world. These features operate within an economic system that enables us to communicate and travel easily, and scientific and academic administrations that permit astronomers to concentrate on their research without excess internal or external politics.

Spot restoration for GPR image post-processing

Science.gov (United States)

Paglieroni, David W; Beer, N. Reginald

2014-05-20

A method and system for detecting the presence of subsurface objects within a medium is provided. In some embodiments, the imaging and detection system operates in a multistatic mode to collect radar return signals generated by an array of transceiver antenna pairs that is positioned across the surface and that travels down the surface. The imaging and detection system pre-processes the return signal to suppress certain undesirable effects. The imaging and detection system then generates synthetic aperture radar images from real aperture radar images generated from the pre-processed return signal. The imaging and detection system then post-processes the synthetic aperture radar images to improve detection of subsurface objects. The imaging and detection system identifies peaks in the energy levels of the post-processed image frame, which indicates the presence of a subsurface object.

Imaging the Southern Sky An Amateur Astronomer's Guide

CERN Document Server

Chadwick, Stephen

2012-01-01

"If you're looking for a handy reference guide to help you image and explore the many splendors of the southern sky, Imaging the Southern Sky is the book for you. The work features not only stunning color images, all taken by Stephen Chadwick, of the best galaxies, nebulae, and clusters available to astrophotographers, but also lesser-known objects, some of which have gone largely unexplored! Beginners and experienced observers alike should appreciate the book's remarkable imagery and simple text, which provides concise and accurate information on each object and its epoch 2000.0 position, and also expert testimony on its visual nature. Each object essay also includes a section on technical information that should help astrophotographers in their planning, including telescope aperture, focal length and ratio, camera used, exposure times, and field size. As a charming bonus, the authors have taken the liberty to name many of the lesser-known objects to reflect their New Zealand heritage. Constellation by con...

Intelligent medical image processing by simulated annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohyama, Nagaaki

1992-01-01

Image processing is being widely used in the medical field and already has become very important, especially when used for image reconstruction purposes. In this paper, it is shown that image processing can be classified into 4 categories; passive, active, intelligent and visual image processing. These 4 classes are explained at first through the use of several examples. The results show that the passive image processing does not give better results than the others. Intelligent image processing, then, is addressed, and the simulated annealing method is introduced. Due to the flexibility of the simulated annealing, formulated intelligence is shown to be easily introduced in an image reconstruction problem. As a practical example, 3D blood vessel reconstruction from a small number of projections, which is insufficient for conventional method to give good reconstruction, is proposed, and computer simulation clearly shows the effectiveness of simulated annealing method. Prior to the conclusion, medical file systems such as IS and C (Image Save and Carry) is pointed out to have potential for formulating knowledge, which is indispensable for intelligent image processing. This paper concludes by summarizing the advantages of simulated annealing. (author)

A website for astronomical news in Spanish

Science.gov (United States)

Ortiz-Gil, A.

2008-06-01

Noticias del Cosmos is a collection of web pages within the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Valencia's website where we publish short daily summaries of astronomical press releases. Most, if not all of, the releases are originally written in English, and often Spanish readers may find them difficult to understand because not many people are familiar with the scientific language employed in these releases. Noticias del Cosmos has two principal aims. First, we want to communicate the latest astronomical news on a daily basis to a wide Spanish-speaking public who would otherwise not be able to read them because of the language barrier. Second, daily news can be used as a tool to introduce the astronomical topics of the school curriculum in a more immediate and relevant way. Most of the students at school have not yet reached a good enough level in their knowledge of English to fully understand a press release, and Noticias del Cosmos offers them and their teachers this news in their mother tongue. During the regular programme of school visits at the Observatory we use the news as a means of showing that there is still a lot to be discovered. So far the visits to the website have been growing steadily. Between June 2003 and June 2007 we had more than 30,000 visits (excluding 2006). More than 50% of the visits come from Spain, followed by visitors from South and Central America. The feedback we have received from teachers so far has been very positive, showing the usefulness of news items in the classroom when teaching astronomy.

Invitation to medical image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitasaka, Takayuki; Suenaga, Yasuhito; Mori, Kensaku

2010-01-01

This medical essay explains the present state of CT image processing technology about its recognition, acquisition and visualization for computer-assisted diagnosis (CAD) and surgery (CAS), and future view. Medical image processing has a series of history of its original start from the discovery of X-ray to its application to diagnostic radiography, its combination with the computer for CT, multi-detector raw CT, leading to 3D/4D images for CAD and CAS. CAD is performed based on the recognition of normal anatomical structure of human body, detection of possible abnormal lesion and visualization of its numerical figure into image. Actual instances of CAD images are presented here for chest (lung cancer), abdomen (colorectal cancer) and future body atlas (models of organs and diseases for imaging), a recent national project: computer anatomy. CAS involves the surgical planning technology based on 3D images, navigation of the actual procedure and of endoscopy. As guidance to beginning technological image processing, described are the national and international community like related academic societies, regularly conducting congresses, textbooks and workshops, and topics in the field like computed anatomy of an individual patient for CAD and CAS, its data security and standardization. In future, protective medicine is in authors' view based on the imaging technology, e.g., daily life CAD of individuals ultimately, as exemplified in the present body thermometer and home sphygmometer, to monitor one's routine physical conditions. (T.T.)

A generalized measurement equation and van Cittert-Zernike theorem for wide-field radio astronomical interferometry

Science.gov (United States)

Carozzi, T. D.; Woan, G.

2009-05-01

We derive a generalized van Cittert-Zernike (vC-Z) theorem for radio astronomy that is valid for partially polarized sources over an arbitrarily wide field of view (FoV). The classical vC-Z theorem is the theoretical foundation of radio astronomical interferometry, and its application is the basis of interferometric imaging. Existing generalized vC-Z theorems in radio astronomy assume, however, either paraxiality (narrow FoV) or scalar (unpolarized) sources. Our theorem uses neither of these assumptions, which are seldom fulfiled in practice in radio astronomy, and treats the full electromagnetic field. To handle wide, partially polarized fields, we extend the two-dimensional (2D) electric field (Jones vector) formalism of the standard `Measurement Equation' (ME) of radio astronomical interferometry to the full three-dimensional (3D) formalism developed in optical coherence theory. The resulting vC-Z theorem enables full-sky imaging in a single telescope pointing, and imaging based not only on standard dual-polarized interferometers (that measure 2D electric fields) but also electric tripoles and electromagnetic vector-sensor interferometers. We show that the standard 2D ME is easily obtained from our formalism in the case of dual-polarized antenna element interferometers. We also exploit an extended 2D ME to determine that dual-polarized interferometers can have polarimetric aberrations at the edges of a wide FoV. Our vC-Z theorem is particularly relevant to proposed, and recently developed, wide FoV interferometers such as Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) and Square Kilometer Array (SKA), for which direction-dependent effects will be important.

Differential morphology and image processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Maragos, P

1996-01-01

Image processing via mathematical morphology has traditionally used geometry to intuitively understand morphological signal operators and set or lattice algebra to analyze them in the space domain. We provide a unified view and analytic tools for morphological image processing that is based on ideas from differential calculus and dynamical systems. This includes ideas on using partial differential or difference equations (PDEs) to model distance propagation or nonlinear multiscale processes in images. We briefly review some nonlinear difference equations that implement discrete distance transforms and relate them to numerical solutions of the eikonal equation of optics. We also review some nonlinear PDEs that model the evolution of multiscale morphological operators and use morphological derivatives. Among the new ideas presented, we develop some general 2-D max/min-sum difference equations that model the space dynamics of 2-D morphological systems (including the distance computations) and some nonlinear signal transforms, called slope transforms, that can analyze these systems in a transform domain in ways conceptually similar to the application of Fourier transforms to linear systems. Thus, distance transforms are shown to be bandpass slope filters. We view the analysis of the multiscale morphological PDEs and of the eikonal PDE solved via weighted distance transforms as a unified area in nonlinear image processing, which we call differential morphology, and briefly discuss its potential applications to image processing and computer vision.

The Digital Image Processing And Quantitative Analysis In Microscopic Image Characterization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ardisasmita, M. Syamsa

2000-01-01

Many electron microscopes although have produced digital images, but not all of them are equipped with a supporting unit to process and analyse image data quantitatively. Generally the analysis of image has to be made visually and the measurement is realized manually. The development of mathematical method for geometric analysis and pattern recognition, allows automatic microscopic image analysis with computer. Image processing program can be used for image texture and structure periodic analysis by the application of Fourier transform. Because the development of composite materials. Fourier analysis in frequency domain become important for measure the crystallography orientation. The periodic structure analysis and crystal orientation are the key to understand many material properties like mechanical strength. stress, heat conductivity, resistance, capacitance and other material electric and magnetic properties. In this paper will be shown the application of digital image processing in microscopic image characterization and analysis in microscopic image

Making beautiful deep-sky images astrophotography with affordable equipment and software

CERN Document Server

Parker, Greg

2017-01-01

In this updated version of his classic on deep-sky imaging, astrophotographer Greg Parker describes how the latest technology can help amateur astronomers process their own beautiful images. Whether you are taking your own images from a backyard system or processing data from space telescopes, this book shows you how to enhance the visuals in the "electronic darkroom" for maximum beauty and impact. The wealth of options in the astrophotography realm has exploded in the recent past, and Parker proves an able guide for the interested imager to improve his or her comfort level against this exciting new technological backdrop. From addressing the latest DSLR equipment to updating the usage of Hyperstar imaging telescopes and explaining the utility of parallel imaging arrays, this edition brings the book fully up-to-date, and includes clear tutorials, helpful references, and gorgeous color astrophotography by one of the experts in the field.

South African Astronomical Observatory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-01-01

Work at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in recent years, by both staff and visitors, has made major contributions to the fields of astrophysics and astronomy. During 1986 the SAAO has been involved in studies of the following: galaxies; celestial x-ray sources; magellanic clouds; pulsating variables; galactic structure; binary star phenomena; nebulae and interstellar matter; stellar astrophysics; open clusters; globular clusters, and solar systems

Nuclear medicine imaging and data processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bell, P.R.; Dillon, R.S.

1978-01-01

The Oak Ridge Imaging System (ORIS) is a software operating system structure around the Digital Equipment Corporation's PDP-8 minicomputer which provides a complete range of image manipulation procedures. Through its modular design it remains open-ended for easy expansion to meet future needs. Already included in the system are image access routines for use with the rectilinear scanner or gamma camera (both static and flow studies); display hardware design and corresponding software; archival storage provisions; and, most important, many image processing techniques. The image processing capabilities include image defect removal, smoothing, nonlinear bounding, preparation of functional images, and transaxial emission tomography reconstruction from a limited number of views

On astronomical drawing [1846

Science.gov (United States)

Smyth, Charles Piazzi

Reprinted from the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society 15, 1846, pp. 71-82. With annotations and illustrations added by Klaus Hentschel. The activities of the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Charles Piazzi Smyth (1819-1900), include the triangulation of South African districts, landscape painting, day-to-day or tourist sketching, the engraving and lithographing of prominent architectural sites, the documentary photography of the Egyptian pyramids or the Tenerife Dragon tree, and `instant photographs' of the clouds above his retirement home in Clova, Ripon. His colorful records of the aurora polaris, and solar and terrestrial spectra all profited from his trained eye and his subtle mastery of the pen and the brush. As his paper on astronomical drawing, which we chose to reproduce in this volume, amply demonstrates, he was conversant in most of the print technology repertoire that the 19th century had to offer, and carefully selected the one most appropriate to each sujet. For instance, he chose mezzotint for the plates illustrating Maclear's observations of Halley's comet in 1835/36, so as to achieve a ``rich profundity of shadows, the deep obscurity of which is admirably adapted to reproduce those fine effects of chiaroscuro frequently found in works where the quantity of dark greatly predominates.'' The same expertise with which he tried to emulate Rembrandt's chiaroscuro effects he applied to assessing William and John Herschel's illustrations of nebulae, which appeared in print between 1811 and 1834. William Herschel's positive engraving, made partly by stippling and partly by a coarse mezzotint, receives sharp admonishment because of the visible ruled crossed lines in the background and the fact that ``the objects, which are also generally too light, [have] a much better definition than they really possess.'' On the other hand, John Herschel's illustration of nebulae and star clusters, given in negative, ``in which the lights are the darkest part of the

Image exploitation and dissemination prototype of distributed image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batool, N.; Huqqani, A.A.; Mahmood, A.

2003-05-01

Image processing applications requirements can be best met by using the distributed environment. This report presents to draw inferences by utilizing the existed LAN resources under the distributed computing environment using Java and web technology for extensive processing to make it truly system independent. Although the environment has been tested using image processing applications, its design and architecture is truly general and modular so that it can be used for other applications as well, which require distributed processing. Images originating from server are fed to the workers along with the desired operations to be performed on them. The Server distributes the task among the Workers who carry out the required operations and send back the results. This application has been implemented using the Remote Method Invocation (RMl) feature of Java. Java RMI allows an object running in one Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to invoke methods on another JVM thus providing remote communication between programs written in the Java programming language. RMI can therefore be used to develop distributed applications [1]. We undertook this project to gain a better understanding of distributed systems concepts and its uses for resource hungry jobs. The image processing application is developed under this environment

The Binary Offset Effect in CCDs: an Anomalous Readout Artifact Affecting Most Astronomical CCDs in Use

Science.gov (United States)

Boone, Kyle Robert; Aldering, Gregory; Copin, Yannick; Dixon, Samantha; Domagalski, Rachel; Gangler, Emmanuel; Pecontal, Emmanuel; Perlmutter, Saul; Nearby Supernova Factory Collaboration

2018-01-01

We discovered an anomalous behavior of CCD readout electronics that affects their use in many astronomical applications, which we call the “binary offset effect”. Due to feedback in the readout electronics, an offset is introduced in the values read out for each pixel that depends on the binary encoding of the previously read-out pixel values. One consequence of this effect is that a pathological local background offset can be introduced in images that only appears where science data are present on the CCD. The amplitude of this introduced offset does not scale monotonically with the amplitude of the objects in the image, and can be up to 4.5 ADU per pixel for certain instruments. Additionally, this background offset will be shifted by several pixels from the science data, potentially distorting the shape of objects in the image. We tested 22 instruments for signs of the binary offset effect and found evidence of it in 16 of them, including LRIS and DEIMOS on the Keck telescopes, WFC3-UVIS and STIS on HST, MegaCam on CFHT, SNIFS on the UH88 telescope, GMOS on the Gemini telescopes, HSC on Subaru, and FORS on VLT. A large amount of archival data is therefore affected by the binary offset effect, and conventional methods of reducing CCD images do not measure or remove the introduced offsets. As a demonstration of how to correct for the binary offset effect, we have developed a model that can accurately predict and remove the introduced offsets for the SNIFS instrument on the UH88 telescope. Accounting for the binary offset effect is essential for precision low-count astronomical observations with CCDs.

Digital image processing

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Gonzalez, Rafael C; Woods, Richard E

2008-01-01

Completely self-contained-and heavily illustrated-this introduction to basic concepts and methodologies for digital image processing is written at a level that truly is suitable for seniors and first...

Predictive images of postoperative levator resection outcome using image processing software

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mawatari Y

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Yuki Mawatari,1 Mikiko Fukushima2 1Igo Ophthalmic Clinic, Kagoshima, 2Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Life Science, Kumamoto University, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto, Japan Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of processed images to predict postoperative appearance following levator resection.Methods: Analysis involved 109 eyes from 65 patients with blepharoptosis who underwent advancement of levator aponeurosis and Müller’s muscle complex (levator resection. Predictive images were prepared from preoperative photographs using the image processing software (Adobe Photoshop®. Images of selected eyes were digitally enlarged in an appropriate manner and shown to patients prior to surgery.Results: Approximately 1 month postoperatively, we surveyed our patients using questionnaires. Fifty-six patients (89.2% were satisfied with their postoperative appearances, and 55 patients (84.8% positively responded to the usefulness of processed images to predict postoperative appearance.Conclusion: Showing processed images that predict postoperative appearance to patients prior to blepharoptosis surgery can be useful for those patients concerned with their postoperative appearance. This approach may serve as a useful tool to simulate blepharoptosis surgery. Keywords: levator resection, blepharoptosis, image processing, Adobe Photoshop® 

Predictive images of postoperative levator resection outcome using image processing software.

Science.gov (United States)

Mawatari, Yuki; Fukushima, Mikiko

2016-01-01

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of processed images to predict postoperative appearance following levator resection. Analysis involved 109 eyes from 65 patients with blepharoptosis who underwent advancement of levator aponeurosis and Müller's muscle complex (levator resection). Predictive images were prepared from preoperative photographs using the image processing software (Adobe Photoshop ® ). Images of selected eyes were digitally enlarged in an appropriate manner and shown to patients prior to surgery. Approximately 1 month postoperatively, we surveyed our patients using questionnaires. Fifty-six patients (89.2%) were satisfied with their postoperative appearances, and 55 patients (84.8%) positively responded to the usefulness of processed images to predict postoperative appearance. Showing processed images that predict postoperative appearance to patients prior to blepharoptosis surgery can be useful for those patients concerned with their postoperative appearance. This approach may serve as a useful tool to simulate blepharoptosis surgery.

Astronomers find distant planet like Jupiter

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

Astronomers searching for planetary systems like our solar system have found a planet similar to Jupiter orbiting a nearby star similar to our Sun, about 90 light-years from Earth, according to researchers (1/2 page).

Applied medical image processing a basic course

CERN Document Server

Birkfellner, Wolfgang

2014-01-01

A widely used, classroom-tested text, Applied Medical Image Processing: A Basic Course delivers an ideal introduction to image processing in medicine, emphasizing the clinical relevance and special requirements of the field. Avoiding excessive mathematical formalisms, the book presents key principles by implementing algorithms from scratch and using simple MATLAB®/Octave scripts with image data and illustrations on an accompanying CD-ROM or companion website. Organized as a complete textbook, it provides an overview of the physics of medical image processing and discusses image formats and data storage, intensity transforms, filtering of images and applications of the Fourier transform, three-dimensional spatial transforms, volume rendering, image registration, and tomographic reconstruction.

The Top Ten Astronomical 'breakthroughs' of the 20th century

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hughes, D. W.

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Astronomy was revolutionized in the 20th century. The electron was discovered in 1897 and this transformed spectroscopy and introduced plasma and magnetohydrodynamic physics and astro-chemistry. Einstein’s E = mc2, solved the problem of stellar energy generation and spawned the study of elemental nuclear synthesis. Large telescopes led to a boom in astronomical spectroscopic and photometric data collection, leading to such cornerstones as the Hertzprung-Russell diagram and the mass-luminosity relationship, and to the realization that the Universe contained a multitude of galaxies and was expanding. Radio astronomy was introduced and the advent of the space age saw the astronomical wavelength range expand into the ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma-ray regions, as well as the infrared and millimetre. We also startedwandering around roaming the Solar System instead of merely glimpsing its members from the bottom of our warm, turbulent atmosphere. Astronomical “breakthroughs” abounded. We have asked astronomers to select their “top ten” and these are listed and discussed in this paper.

Image processing for medical diagnosis using CNN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arena, Paolo; Basile, Adriano; Bucolo, Maide; Fortuna, Luigi

2003-01-01

Medical diagnosis is one of the most important area in which image processing procedures are usefully applied. Image processing is an important phase in order to improve the accuracy both for diagnosis procedure and for surgical operation. One of these fields is tumor/cancer detection by using Microarray analysis. The research studies in the Cancer Genetics Branch are mainly involved in a range of experiments including the identification of inherited mutations predisposing family members to malignant melanoma, prostate and breast cancer. In bio-medical field the real-time processing is very important, but often image processing is a quite time-consuming phase. Therefore techniques able to speed up the elaboration play an important rule. From this point of view, in this work a novel approach to image processing has been developed. The new idea is to use the Cellular Neural Networks to investigate on diagnostic images, like: Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Computed Tomography, and fluorescent cDNA microarray images

Dante, astrología y astronomía

OpenAIRE

Gangui, Alejandro

2017-01-01

En este artículo, los versos de Dante Alighieri nos llevan a reflexionar acerca de los diferentes métodos -cada vez más divergentes- con los que la ciencia y las creencias se aproximan a la realidad. Fil: Gangui, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Físi...

Corner-point criterion for assessing nonlinear image processing imagers

Science.gov (United States)

Landeau, Stéphane; Pigois, Laurent; Foing, Jean-Paul; Deshors, Gilles; Swiathy, Greggory

2017-10-01

Range performance modeling of optronics imagers attempts to characterize the ability to resolve details in the image. Today, digital image processing is systematically used in conjunction with the optoelectronic system to correct its defects or to exploit tiny detection signals to increase performance. In order to characterize these processing having adaptive and non-linear properties, it becomes necessary to stimulate the imagers with test patterns whose properties are similar to the actual scene image ones, in terms of dynamic range, contours, texture and singular points. This paper presents an approach based on a Corner-Point (CP) resolution criterion, derived from the Probability of Correct Resolution (PCR) of binary fractal patterns. The fundamental principle lies in the respectful perception of the CP direction of one pixel minority value among the majority value of a 2×2 pixels block. The evaluation procedure considers the actual image as its multi-resolution CP transformation, taking the role of Ground Truth (GT). After a spatial registration between the degraded image and the original one, the degradation is statistically measured by comparing the GT with the degraded image CP transformation, in terms of localized PCR at the region of interest. The paper defines this CP criterion and presents the developed evaluation techniques, such as the measurement of the number of CP resolved on the target, the transformation CP and its inverse transform that make it possible to reconstruct an image of the perceived CPs. Then, this criterion is compared with the standard Johnson criterion, in the case of a linear blur and noise degradation. The evaluation of an imaging system integrating an image display and a visual perception is considered, by proposing an analysis scheme combining two methods: a CP measurement for the highly non-linear part (imaging) with real signature test target and conventional methods for the more linear part (displaying). The application to

Astronomical random numbers for quantum foundations experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Calvin; Brown, Amy; Nguyen, Hien; Friedman, Andrew S.; Kaiser, David I.; Gallicchio, Jason

2018-04-01

Photons from distant astronomical sources can be used as a classical source of randomness to improve fundamental tests of quantum nonlocality, wave-particle duality, and local realism through Bell's inequality and delayed-choice quantum eraser tests inspired by Wheeler's cosmic-scale Mach-Zehnder interferometer gedanken experiment. Such sources of random numbers may also be useful for information-theoretic applications such as key distribution for quantum cryptography. Building on the design of an astronomical random number generator developed for the recent cosmic Bell experiment [Handsteiner et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 060401 (2017), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.060401], in this paper we report on the design and characterization of a device that, with 20-nanosecond latency, outputs a bit based on whether the wavelength of an incoming photon is greater than or less than ≈700 nm. Using the one-meter telescope at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Table Mountain Observatory, we generated random bits from astronomical photons in both color channels from 50 stars of varying color and magnitude, and from 12 quasars with redshifts up to z =3.9 . With stars, we achieved bit rates of ˜1 ×106Hz/m 2 , limited by saturation of our single-photon detectors, and with quasars of magnitudes between 12.9 and 16, we achieved rates between ˜102 and 2 ×103Hz /m2 . For bright quasars, the resulting bitstreams exhibit sufficiently low amounts of statistical predictability as quantified by the mutual information. In addition, a sufficiently high fraction of bits generated are of true astronomical origin in order to address both the locality and freedom-of-choice loopholes when used to set the measurement settings in a test of the Bell-CHSH inequality.

Maraghe Observatory and an Effort towards Retrieval of Architectural Design of Astronomical Units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javad Shekari Niri

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Maraghe observatory was built by such engineers as Moayiededdin Orozi etc. under supervision of Khaje Nasireddin Tousi in 7th century AH. The most significant feature associated with Maraghe observatory is the fact that architecture is employed to achieve astronomical purposes in this site. The reason for preferring observatory by astronomers was the fact that these units are superior to wooden and metal instruments with respect to accuracy, no size limitations, etc. Architectural design and function of astronomical units of Maraghe observatory site after discovery of its foundation in the course of explorations before Islamic Revolution remained unclear until recent years. After conducting required studies and investigations, the author managed to find significant cues and after some precise comparisons, he succeeded to recover the main design and function of some astronomical units of this international center. Based on these findings these astronomical structures can reliably be rebuilt. This research showed that every circular or polygonal building cannot be considered as an observatory. For example form and function of cemetery structures are completely different with astronomical ones. Following this research also valuable results were obtained in relation to stone architectural structures present on Maraghe observatory hill. In addition, claims about invention of astronomical units of Maraghe observatory by non-Iranian scientists are rejected and rights of Iranian scientists are rationally defended in this regard.

Processing computed tomography images by using personal computer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seto, Kazuhiko; Fujishiro, Kazuo; Seki, Hirofumi; Yamamoto, Tetsuo.

1994-01-01

Processing of CT images was attempted by using a popular personal computer. The program for image-processing was made with C compiler. The original images, acquired with CT scanner (TCT-60A, Toshiba), were transferred to the computer by 8-inch flexible diskette. Many fundamental image-processing, such as displaying image to the monitor, calculating CT value and drawing the profile curve. The result showed that a popular personal computer had ability to process CT images. It seemed that 8-inch flexible diskette was still useful medium of transferring image data. (author)

Astronomical Spectroscopy A Short History

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 3; Issue 5. Astronomical Spectroscopy A Short History. J C Bhattacharyya. General Article Volume 3 Issue 5 May 1998 pp 24-29. Fulltext. Click here to view fulltext PDF. Permanent link: https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/003/05/0024-0029 ...

Process perspective on image quality evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Leisti, Tuomas; Halonen, Raisa; Kokkonen, Anna; Weckman, Hanna; Mettänen, Marja; Lensu, Lasse; Ritala, Risto; Oittinen, Pirkko; Nyman, Göte

2008-01-01

The psychological complexity of multivariate image quality evaluation makes it difficult to develop general image quality metrics. Quality evaluation includes several mental processes and ignoring these processes and the use of a few test images can lead to biased results. By using a qualitative/quantitative (Interpretation Based Quality, IBQ) methodology, we examined the process of pair-wise comparison in a setting, where the quality of the images printed by laser printer on different paper grades was evaluated. Test image consisted of a picture of a table covered with several objects. Three other images were also used, photographs of a woman, cityscape and countryside. In addition to the pair-wise comparisons, observers (N=10) were interviewed about the subjective quality attributes they used in making their quality decisions. An examination of the individual pair-wise comparisons revealed serious inconsistencies in observers' evaluations on the test image content, but not on other contexts. The qualitative analysis showed that this inconsistency was due to the observers' focus of attention. The lack of easily recognizable context in the test image may have contributed to this inconsistency. To obtain reliable knowledge of the effect of image context or attention on subjective image quality, a qualitative methodology is needed.

Digital processing of radiographic images

Science.gov (United States)

Bond, A. D.; Ramapriyan, H. K.

1973-01-01

Some techniques are presented and the software documentation for the digital enhancement of radiographs. Both image handling and image processing operations are considered. The image handling operations dealt with are: (1) conversion of format of data from packed to unpacked and vice versa; (2) automatic extraction of image data arrays; (3) transposition and 90 deg rotations of large data arrays; (4) translation of data arrays for registration; and (5) reduction of the dimensions of data arrays by integral factors. Both the frequency and the spatial domain approaches are presented for the design and implementation of the image processing operation. It is shown that spatial domain recursive implementation of filters is much faster than nonrecursive implementations using fast fourier transforms (FFT) for the cases of interest in this work. The recursive implementation of a class of matched filters for enhancing image signal to noise ratio is described. Test patterns are used to illustrate the filtering operations. The application of the techniques to radiographic images of metallic structures is demonstrated through several examples.

Astronomical Photometry Past, Present, and Future

CERN Document Server

Milone, Eugene F

2011-01-01

This book brings together experts in the field of astronomical photometry to discuss how their subfields provide the precision and accuracy in astronomical energy flux measurements that are needed to permit tests of astrophysical theories. Differential photometers and photometry, improvements in infrared precision, the improvements in precision and accuracy of CCD photometry, the absolute calibration of flux, the development of the Johnson UBVRI photometric system and other passband systems to measure and precisely classify specific types of stars and astrophysical quantities, and the current capabilities of spectrophotometry and polarimetry to provide precise and accurate data, are all discussed in this volume. The discussion of `differential’ or `two-star’ photometers ranges from early experiments in visual photometry through the Harvard and Princeton polarizing photometers to the pioneering work of Walraven and differential photometers designed to minimize effects of atmospheric extinction and to count...

Isaac Newton and the astronomical refraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Lehn, Waldemar H

2008-12-01

In a short interval toward the end of 1694, Isaac Newton developed two mathematical models for the theory of the astronomical refraction and calculated two refraction tables, but did not publish his theory. Much effort has been expended, starting with Biot in 1836, in the attempt to identify the methods and equations that Newton used. In contrast to previous work, a closed form solution is identified for the refraction integral that reproduces the table for his first model (in which density decays linearly with elevation). The parameters of his second model, which includes the exponential variation of pressure in an isothermal atmosphere, have also been identified by reproducing his results. The implication is clear that in each case Newton had derived exactly the correct equations for the astronomical refraction; furthermore, he was the first to do so.

Global Vlasov simulation on magnetospheres of astronomical objects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Umeda, Takayuki; Ito, Yosuke; Fukazawa, Keiichiro

2013-01-01

Space plasma is a collisionless, multi-scale, and highly nonlinear medium. There are various types of self-consistent computer simulations that treat space plasma according to various approximations. We develop numerical schemes for solving the Vlasov (collisionless Boltzmann) equation, which is the first-principle kinetic equation for collisionless plasma. The weak-scaling benchmark test shows that our parallel Vlasov code achieves a high performance and a high scalability. Currently, we use more than 1000 cores for parallel computations and apply the present parallel Vlasov code to various cross-scale processes in space plasma, such as a global simulation on the interaction between solar/stellar wind and magnetospheres of astronomical objects

Astronomers Take the Measure of Dark Matter in the universe

Science.gov (United States)

2001-09-01

measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation, the large-scale distribution of galaxies, and the properties of distant supernovas. The Institute of Astronomy team minimized systematic errors in their work by placing independent constraints on the masses of the clusters using data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope atop Mauna Kea, HI. The new Chandra results also show how the average X-ray luminosity and temperature of the hot gas varies with the mass of a cluster. These findings should allow astronomers to use the data from large cluster catalogues, for which only X-ray luminosities are generally available, to get even more accurate measurements of the mean mass density of the universe, and to understand further the processes by which clusters form and grow. The Chandra observations were carried out using the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer, which was built for NASA by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, and Pennsylvania State University, University Park. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL, manages the Chandra program, and TRW, Inc., Redondo Beach, CA, is the prime contractor for the spacecraft. The Smithsonian's Chandra X-ray Center controls science and flight operations from Cambridge, MA. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. Images associated with this release are available on the World Wide Web at: http://chandra.harvard.edu AND http://chandra.nasa.gov

Image processing. Volumetric analysis with a digital image processing system. [GAMMA]. Bildverarbeitung. Volumetrie mittels eines digitalen Bildverarbeitungssystems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kindler, M; Radtke, F; Demel, G

1986-01-01

The book is arranged in seven sections, describing various applications of volumetric analysis using image processing systems, and various methods of diagnostic evaluation of images obtained by gamma scintigraphy, cardic catheterisation, and echocardiography. A dynamic ventricular phantom is explained that has been developed for checking and calibration for safe examination of patient, the phantom allowing extensive simulation of volumetric and hemodynamic conditions of the human heart: One section discusses the program development for image processing, referring to a number of different computer systems. The equipment described includes a small non-expensive PC system, as well as a standardized nuclear medical diagnostic system, and a computer system especially suited to image processing.

Grigor Narekatsi's astronomical insights

Science.gov (United States)

Poghosyan, Samvel

2015-07-01

What stand out in the solid system of Gr. Narekatsi's naturalistic views are his astronomical insights on the material nature of light, its high speed and the Sun being composed of "material air". Especially surprising and fascinating are his views on stars and their clusters. What astronomers, including great Armenian academician V. Ambartsumian (scattering of stellar associations), would understand and prove with much difficulty thousand years later, Narekatsi predicted in the 10th century: "Stars appear and disappear untimely", "You who gather and scatter the speechless constellations, like a flock of sheep". Gr. Narekatsti's reformative views were manifested in all the spheres of the 10th century social life; he is a reformer of church life, great language constructor, innovator in literature and music, freethinker in philosophy and science. His ideology is the reflection of the 10th century Armenian Renaissance. During the 9th-10th centuries, great masses of Armenians, forced to migrate to the Balkans, took with them and spread reformative ideas. The forefather of the western science, which originated in the period of Reformation, is considered to be the great philosopher Nicholas of Cusa. The study of Gr. Narekatsti's logic and naturalistic views enables us to claim that Gr. Narekatsti is the great grandfather of European science.

PySE: Python Source Extractor for radio astronomical images

Science.gov (United States)

Spreeuw, Hanno; Swinbank, John; Molenaar, Gijs; Staley, Tim; Rol, Evert; Sanders, John; Scheers, Bart; Kuiack, Mark

2018-05-01

PySE finds and measures sources in radio telescope images. It is run with several options, such as the detection threshold (a multiple of the local noise), grid size, and the forced clean beam fit, followed by a list of input image files in standard FITS or CASA format. From these, PySe provides a list of found sources; information such as the calculated background image, source list in different formats (e.g. text, region files importable in DS9), and other data may be saved. PySe can be integrated into a pipeline; it was originally written as part of the LOFAR Transient Detection Pipeline (TraP, ascl:1412.011).

Organization of bubble chamber image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gritsaenko, I.A.; Petrovykh, L.P.; Petrovykh, Yu.L.; Fenyuk, A.B.

1985-01-01

A programme of bubble chamber image processing is described. The programme is written in FORTRAN, it is developed for the DEC-10 computer and is designed for operation of semi-automation processing-measurement projects PUOS-2 and PUOS-4. Fornalization of the image processing permits to use it for different physical experiments

An Applied Image Processing for Radiographic Testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ratchason, Surasak; Tuammee, Sopida; Srisroal Anusara

2005-10-01

An applied image processing for radiographic testing (RT) is desirable because it decreases time-consuming, decreases the cost of inspection process that need the experienced workers, and improves the inspection quality. This paper presents the primary study of image processing for RT-films that is the welding-film. The proposed approach to determine the defects on weld-images. The BMP image-files are opened and developed by computer program that using Borland C ++ . The software has five main methods that are Histogram, Contrast Enhancement, Edge Detection, Image Segmentation and Image Restoration. Each the main method has the several sub method that are the selected options. The results showed that the effective software can detect defects and the varied method suit for the different radiographic images. Furthermore, improving images are better when two methods are incorporated

Quantitative image processing in fluid mechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Hesselink, Lambertus; Helman, James; Ning, Paul

1992-01-01

The current status of digital image processing in fluid flow research is reviewed. In particular, attention is given to a comprehensive approach to the extraction of quantitative data from multivariate databases and examples of recent developments. The discussion covers numerical simulations and experiments, data processing, generation and dissemination of knowledge, traditional image processing, hybrid processing, fluid flow vector field topology, and isosurface analysis using Marching Cubes.

Astronomers no longer in the dark

CERN Multimedia

MacMillan, L

2002-01-01

In a significant breakthrough, British and US astronomers have begun to pin down the most elusive material in the universe. They have made a map of dark matter - the heavy, invisible stuff that gives the galaxies their shape (1 page).

LGBT Workplace Issues for Astronomers

Science.gov (United States)

Kay, Laura E.; Danner, R.; Sellgren, K.; Dixon, V.; GLBTQastro

2011-01-01

Federal Equal Employment Opportunity laws and regulations do not provide protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or gender expression. Sexual minority astronomers (including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people; LGBT) can face additional challenges at school and work. Studies show that LGBT students on many campuses report experiences of harassment. Cities, counties, and states may or may not have statutes to protect against such discrimination. There is wide variation in how states and insurance plans handle legal and medical issues for transgender people. Federal law does not acknowledge same-sex partners, including those legally married in the U.S. or in other countries. Immigration rules in the U.S. (and many other, but not all) countries do not recognize same-sex partners for visas, employment, etc. State `defense of marriage act' laws have been used to remove existing domestic partner benefits at some institutions, or benefits can disappear with a change in governor. LGBT astronomers who change schools, institutions, or countries during their career may experience significant differences in their legal, medical, and marital status.

One-Shot Color Astronomical Imaging In Less Time, For Less Money!

CERN Document Server

Kennedy, L A

2012-01-01

Anyone who has seen recent pictures of the many wondrous objects in space has surely been amazed by the stunning color images. Trying to capture images like these through your own telescope has always seemed too time-consuming, expensive, and complicated. However, with improvements in affordable, easy-to-use CCD imaging technology, you can now capture amazing images yourself. With today's improved "one-shot" color imagers, high-quality images can be taken in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost, right from your own backyard. This book will show you how to harness the power of today's computerized telescopes and entry-level imagers to capture spectacular images that you can share with family and friends. It covers such topics as - evaluating your existing equipment, choosing the right imager, finding targets to image, telescope alignment, focusing and framing the image, exposure times, aligning and stacking multiple frames, image calibration, and enhancement techniques! - how to expand the numb...

Preserving Astronomy's Photographic Legacy: Current State and the Future of North American Astronomical Plates

Science.gov (United States)

Osborn, W.; Robbins, L.

2009-08-01

This book contains articles on preserving astronomy's valuable heritage of photographic observations, most of which are on glass plates. It is intended to serve as a reference for institutions charged with preserving and managing plate archives and astronomers interested in using archival photographic plates in their research. The first portion of the book focuses on previous activities and recommendations related to plate archiving. These include actions taken by the International Astronomical Union, activities in Europe and a detailed account of a workshop on preserving astronomical photographic data held in 2007 at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, North Carolina. The workshop discussions covered a wide range of issues that must be considered in any effort to archive plates and culminated in a set of recommendations on preserving, cataloging and making publicly available these irreplaceable data. The second part of the book reports on some recent efforts to implement the recommendations. These include essays on the recently established Astronomical Photographic Data Archive, projects to make photographic collections available electronically, evaluations of commercial scanners for digitization of astronomical plates and the case for the continuing value of these data along with a report on the census of astronomical plate collections in North America carried out in 2008. The census cataloged the locations, numbers, and types of astronomical plates in the US and Canada. Comprehensive appendices identify all the significant collections in North America and detail the current contents, state and status of their holdings.

Digital image processing

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Gonzalez, Rafael C; Woods, Richard E

2008-01-01

...-year graduate students in almost any technical discipline. The leading textbook in its field for more than twenty years, it continues its cutting-edge focus on contemporary developments in all mainstream areas of image processing-e.g...

Hyperspectral image processing

CERN Document Server

Wang, Liguo

2016-01-01

Based on the authors’ research, this book introduces the main processing techniques in hyperspectral imaging. In this context, SVM-based classification, distance comparison-based endmember extraction, SVM-based spectral unmixing, spatial attraction model-based sub-pixel mapping, and MAP/POCS-based super-resolution reconstruction are discussed in depth. Readers will gain a comprehensive understanding of these cutting-edge hyperspectral imaging techniques. Researchers and graduate students in fields such as remote sensing, surveying and mapping, geosciences and information systems will benefit from this valuable resource.

A concise introduction to image processing using C++

CERN Document Server

Wang, Meiqing

2008-01-01

Image recognition has become an increasingly dynamic field with new and emerging civil and military applications in security, exploration, and robotics. Written by experts in fractal-based image and video compression, A Concise Introduction to Image Processing using C++ strengthens your knowledge of fundamentals principles in image acquisition, conservation, processing, and manipulation, allowing you to easily apply these techniques in real-world problems. The book presents state-of-the-art image processing methodology, including current industrial practices for image compression, image de-noi

Recent Advances for LGBT Astronomers in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, William V.; Rigby, Jane; Oppenheimer, Rebecca

2015-08-01

The legal environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) astronomers in the United States has changed dramatically in recent years. In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which had barred the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, was unconstitutional. This decision particularly affects astronomers, since astronomers in the U.S. are more likely than the general population to be foreign nationals, to have a foreign-born spouse, or to work for the federal government. In 2014, the Attorney General directed the Department of Justice to take the position in litigation that the protection of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 extends to claims of discrimination based on an individual’s gender identity, including transgender status. Title VII makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate in the employment of an individual “because of such individual’s... sex,” among other protected characteristics. As of March 2015, more than 70% of the population lives in states that recognize same-sex marriage, and the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the remaining same-sex marriage bans during the current term. In this poster, we discuss these advances and their implications for the personal and professional lives of LGBT astronomers across the United States.

On some applications of diffusion processes for image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morfu, S.

2009-01-01

We propose a new algorithm inspired by the properties of diffusion processes for image filtering. We show that purely nonlinear diffusion processes ruled by Fisher equation allows contrast enhancement and noise filtering, but involves a blurry image. By contrast, anisotropic diffusion, described by Perona and Malik algorithm, allows noise filtering and preserves the edges. We show that combining the properties of anisotropic diffusion with those of nonlinear diffusion provides a better processing tool which enables noise filtering, contrast enhancement and edge preserving.

How did the Supreme Court ruling on DOMA affect astronomers?

Science.gov (United States)

Rigby, Jane R.; The AAS Working Group on LGBTIQ Equality

2014-01-01

In June 2013, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional. Section 3 had barred the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. The decision in United States v. Windsor, made headlines around the world, and particularly affected astronomers, since astronomers in the US are more likely than the general population to be foreign nationals, to have a foreign-born spouse, or to work for the federal government. In this poster, we highlight some of the real-world ways that the Windsor case has affected US astronomers and our profession. Bi-national couples can now apply for green cards granting permanent residency. Scientists who work for the federal government, including NASA and the NSF, can now obtain health insurance for a same-sex spouse. From taxes to death benefits, health insurance to daycare, immigration to ethics laws, the end of S3 of DOMA has had profoundly improved the lives of US scientists who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). Here we, highlight several real-world examples of how DOMA's demise has improved the lives and careers of US astronomer.

Astronomers, Transits of Venus, and the Birth of Experimental Psychology

Science.gov (United States)

Sheehan, William; Thurber, S.

2012-01-01

The eighteenth century transits of Venus were regarded as the most important astronomical events of their era. Halley's expectation was that by observing the contact points between the limbs of Venus and the Sun, this distance could be determined to an accuracy of one part in 500. But in the event, it proved otherwise. But, as the British historian Agnes Clerke wrote in 1902: "A transit of Venus seems, at first sight, full of promise for solving the problem of the sun's distance. For nothing would appear easier than to determine exactly either the duration of the passage of a small, dark orb across a large brilliant disc, or the instant of its entry upon or exit from it". But in that word `exactly' what snares and pitfalls lie hid!” In the post-mortem analysis of the disappointing results, astronomers devoted a great deal of effort to understand the sources of errors. They rehearsed their observational techniques by observing, under strictly controlled conditions, transits of artificial planets across artificial Suns, and studied such parameters as attention and reflex reaction. In the process, the transits of Venus provided an important impetus to the early development of experimental psychology.

Surveying the skies how astronomers map the universe

CERN Document Server

Wynn-Williams, Gareth

2016-01-01

Since the time of Galileo, astronomy has been driven by technological innovation. With each major advance has come the opportunity and enthusiasm to survey the sky in a way that was not possible before. It is these surveys of discovery that are the subject of this book. In the first few chapters the author discusses what astronomers learned from visible-light surveys, first with the naked eye, then using telescopes in the seventeenth century, and photography in the nineteenth century. He then moves to the second half of the twentieth century when the skies started to be swept by radio, infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray and gamma ray telescopes, many of which had to be flown in satellites above the Earth’s atmosphere. These surveys led to the discovery of pulsars, quasars, molecular clouds, protostars, bursters, and black holes. He then returns to Earth to describe several currently active large-scale projects that methodically collect images, photometry and spectra that are then stored in vast publicly-accessibl...

Statistical methods for astronomical data analysis

CERN Document Server

Chattopadhyay, Asis Kumar

2014-01-01

This book introduces “Astrostatistics” as a subject in its own right with rewarding examples, including work by the authors with galaxy and Gamma Ray Burst data to engage the reader. This includes a comprehensive blending of Astrophysics and Statistics. The first chapter’s coverage of preliminary concepts and terminologies for astronomical phenomenon will appeal to both Statistics and Astrophysics readers as helpful context. Statistics concepts covered in the book provide a methodological framework. A unique feature is the inclusion of different possible sources of astronomical data, as well as software packages for converting the raw data into appropriate forms for data analysis. Readers can then use the appropriate statistical packages for their particular data analysis needs. The ideas of statistical inference discussed in the book help readers determine how to apply statistical tests. The authors cover different applications of statistical techniques already developed or specifically introduced for ...

Digital image processing mathematical and computational methods

CERN Document Server

Blackledge, J M

2005-01-01

This authoritative text (the second part of a complete MSc course) provides mathematical methods required to describe images, image formation and different imaging systems, coupled with the principle techniques used for processing digital images. It is based on a course for postgraduates reading physics, electronic engineering, telecommunications engineering, information technology and computer science. This book relates the methods of processing and interpreting digital images to the 'physics' of imaging systems. Case studies reinforce the methods discussed, with examples of current research

Trends in medical image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robilotta, C.C.

1987-01-01

The function of medical image processing is analysed, mentioning the developments, the physical agents, and the main categories, as conection of distortion in image formation, detectability increase, parameters quantification, etc. (C.G.C.) [pt

ARNICA, the Arcetri near-infrared camera: Astronomical performance assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunt, L. K.; Lisi, F.; Testi, L.; Baffa, C.; Borelli, S.; Maiolino, R.; Moriondo, G.; Stanga, R. M.

1996-01-01

The Arcetri near-infrared camera ARNICA was built as a users' instrument for the Infrared Telescope at Gornergrat (TIRGO), and is based on a 256x256 NICMOS 3 detector. In this paper, we discuss ARNICA's optical and astronomical performance at the TIRGO and at the William Herschel Telescope on La Palma. Optical performance is evaluated in terms of plate scale, distortion, point spread function, and ghosting. Astronomical performance is characterized by camera efficiency, sensitivity, and spatial uniformity of the photometry.

Image processing and analysis software development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shahnaz, R.

1999-01-01

The work presented in this project is aimed at developing a software 'IMAGE GALLERY' to investigate various image processing and analysis techniques. The work was divided into two parts namely the image processing techniques and pattern recognition, which further comprised of character and face recognition. Various image enhancement techniques including negative imaging, contrast stretching, compression of dynamic, neon, diffuse, emboss etc. have been studied. Segmentation techniques including point detection, line detection, edge detection have been studied. Also some of the smoothing and sharpening filters have been investigated. All these imaging techniques have been implemented in a window based computer program written in Visual Basic Neural network techniques based on Perception model have been applied for face and character recognition. (author)

Applying artificial intelligence to astronomical databases - a surveyof applicable technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenthal, D. A.

This paper surveys several emerging technologies which are relevant to astronomical database issues such as interface technology, internal database representation, and intelligent data reduction aids. Among the technologies discussed are natural language understanding, frame and object representations, planning, pattern analysis, machine learning and the nascent study of simulated neural nets. These techniques will become increasingly important for astronomical research, and in particular, for applications with large databases.

EDUCATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS ON REMOTE ACCESS TELESCOPES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan P. Kriachko

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to show the way of overcoming one of the major problems of astronomy teaching methods in upper secondary school – organization of educational astronomical observations. Nowadays it became possible to perform such observations on remote access telescopes. By using up-to-date informational and communicational technologies, having an opportunity to work with robotic telescopes allows us to organize a unique cognitive and research oriented activities for students while conducting their specialized astronomical studies. Below here is given a brief description of the most significant robotic telescopes and the way of the usage of open remote access telescopic network which was created by professors and scientists of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, USA.

How do astronomers share data? Reliability and persistence of datasets linked in AAS publications and a qualitative study of data practices among US astronomers.

Science.gov (United States)

Pepe, Alberto; Goodman, Alyssa; Muench, August; Crosas, Merce; Erdmann, Christopher

2014-01-01

We analyze data sharing practices of astronomers over the past fifteen years. An analysis of URL links embedded in papers published by the American Astronomical Society reveals that the total number of links included in the literature rose dramatically from 1997 until 2005, when it leveled off at around 1500 per year. The analysis also shows that the availability of linked material decays with time: in 2011, 44% of links published a decade earlier, in 2001, were broken. A rough analysis of link types reveals that links to data hosted on astronomers' personal websites become unreachable much faster than links to datasets on curated institutional sites. To gauge astronomers' current data sharing practices and preferences further, we performed in-depth interviews with 12 scientists and online surveys with 173 scientists, all at a large astrophysical research institute in the United States: the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in Cambridge, MA. Both the in-depth interviews and the online survey indicate that, in principle, there is no philosophical objection to data-sharing among astronomers at this institution. Key reasons that more data are not presently shared more efficiently in astronomy include: the difficulty of sharing large data sets; over reliance on non-robust, non-reproducible mechanisms for sharing data (e.g. emailing it); unfamiliarity with options that make data-sharing easier (faster) and/or more robust; and, lastly, a sense that other researchers would not want the data to be shared. We conclude with a short discussion of a new effort to implement an easy-to-use, robust, system for data sharing in astronomy, at theastrodata.org, and we analyze the uptake of that system to-date.

How Do Astronomers Share Data? Reliability and Persistence of Datasets Linked in AAS Publications and a Qualitative Study of Data Practices among US Astronomers

Science.gov (United States)

Pepe, Alberto; Goodman, Alyssa; Muench, August; Crosas, Merce; Erdmann, Christopher

2014-08-01

We analyze data sharing practices of astronomers over the past fifteen years. An analysis of URL links embedded in papers published by the American Astronomical Society reveals that the total number of links included in the literature rose dramatically from 1997 until 2005, when it leveled off at around 1500 per year. The analysis also shows that the availability of linked material decays with time: in 2011, 44% of links published a decade earlier, in 2001, were broken. A rough analysis of link types reveals that links to data hosted on astronomers' personal websites become unreachable much faster than links to datasets on curated institutional sites. To gauge astronomers' current data sharing practices and preferences further, we performed in-depth interviews with 12 scientists and online surveys with 173 scientists, all at a large astrophysical research institute in the United States: the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in Cambridge, MA. Both the in-depth interviews and the online survey indicate that, in principle, there is no philosophical objection to data-sharing among astronomers at this institution. Key reasons that more data are not presently shared more efficiently in astronomy include: the difficulty of sharing large data sets; over reliance on non-robust, non-reproducible mechanisms for sharing data (e.g. emailing it); unfamiliarity with options that make data-sharing easier (faster) and/or more robust; and, lastly, a sense that other researchers would not want the data to be shared. We conclude with a short discussion of a new effort to implement an easy-to-use, robust, system for data sharing in astronomy, at theastrodata.org, and we analyze the uptake of that system to-date.

How do astronomers share data? Reliability and persistence of datasets linked in AAS publications and a qualitative study of data practices among US astronomers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alberto Pepe

Full Text Available We analyze data sharing practices of astronomers over the past fifteen years. An analysis of URL links embedded in papers published by the American Astronomical Society reveals that the total number of links included in the literature rose dramatically from 1997 until 2005, when it leveled off at around 1500 per year. The analysis also shows that the availability of linked material decays with time: in 2011, 44% of links published a decade earlier, in 2001, were broken. A rough analysis of link types reveals that links to data hosted on astronomers' personal websites become unreachable much faster than links to datasets on curated institutional sites. To gauge astronomers' current data sharing practices and preferences further, we performed in-depth interviews with 12 scientists and online surveys with 173 scientists, all at a large astrophysical research institute in the United States: the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in Cambridge, MA. Both the in-depth interviews and the online survey indicate that, in principle, there is no philosophical objection to data-sharing among astronomers at this institution. Key reasons that more data are not presently shared more efficiently in astronomy include: the difficulty of sharing large data sets; over reliance on non-robust, non-reproducible mechanisms for sharing data (e.g. emailing it; unfamiliarity with options that make data-sharing easier (faster and/or more robust; and, lastly, a sense that other researchers would not want the data to be shared. We conclude with a short discussion of a new effort to implement an easy-to-use, robust, system for data sharing in astronomy, at theastrodata.org, and we analyze the uptake of that system to-date.

Application of Java technology in radiation image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng Weifeng; Li Zheng; Chen Zhiqiang; Zhang Li; Gao Wenhuan

2002-01-01

The acquisition and processing of radiation image plays an important role in modern application of civil nuclear technology. The author analyzes the rationale of Java image processing technology which includes Java AWT, Java 2D and JAI. In order to demonstrate applicability of Java technology in field of image processing, examples of application of JAI technology in processing of radiation images of large container have been given

Established Designs For Advanced Ground Based Astronomical Telescopes In The 1-meter To 4-meter Domain

Science.gov (United States)

Hull, Anthony B.; Barentine, J.; Legters, S.

2012-01-01

The same technology and analytic approaches that led to cost-effective unmitigated successes for the spaceborne Kepler and WISE telescopes are now being applied to meter-class to 4-meter-class ground telescopes, providing affordable solutions to ground astronomy, with advanced features as needed for the application. The range of optical and mechanical performance standards and features that can be supplied for ground astronomy shall be described. Both classical RC designs, as well as unobscured designs are well represented in the IOS design library, allowing heritage designs for both night time and day time operations, the latter even in the proximity of the sun. In addition to discussing this library of mature features, we will also describe a process for working with astronomers early in the definition process to provide the best-value solution. Solutions can include remote operation and astronomical data acquisition and transmission.

Halftoning processing on a JPEG-compressed image

Science.gov (United States)

Sibade, Cedric; Barizien, Stephane; Akil, Mohamed; Perroton, Laurent

2003-12-01

Digital image processing algorithms are usually designed for the raw format, that is on an uncompressed representation of the image. Therefore prior to transforming or processing a compressed format, decompression is applied; then, the result of the processing application is finally re-compressed for further transfer or storage. The change of data representation is resource-consuming in terms of computation, time and memory usage. In the wide format printing industry, this problem becomes an important issue: e.g. a 1 m2 input color image, scanned at 600 dpi exceeds 1.6 GB in its raw representation. However, some image processing algorithms can be performed in the compressed-domain, by applying an equivalent operation on the compressed format. This paper is presenting an innovative application of the halftoning processing operation by screening, to be applied on JPEG-compressed image. This compressed-domain transform is performed by computing the threshold operation of the screening algorithm in the DCT domain. This algorithm is illustrated by examples for different halftone masks. A pre-sharpening operation, applied on a JPEG-compressed low quality image is also described; it allows to de-noise and to enhance the contours of this image.

Deep architecture neural network-based real-time image processing for image-guided radiotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Mori, Shinichiro

2017-08-01

To develop real-time image processing for image-guided radiotherapy, we evaluated several neural network models for use with different imaging modalities, including X-ray fluoroscopic image denoising. Setup images of prostate cancer patients were acquired with two oblique X-ray fluoroscopic units. Two types of residual network were designed: a convolutional autoencoder (rCAE) and a convolutional neural network (rCNN). We changed the convolutional kernel size and number of convolutional layers for both networks, and the number of pooling and upsampling layers for rCAE. The ground-truth image was applied to the contrast-limited adaptive histogram equalization (CLAHE) method of image processing. Network models were trained to keep the quality of the output image close to that of the ground-truth image from the input image without image processing. For image denoising evaluation, noisy input images were used for the training. More than 6 convolutional layers with convolutional kernels >5×5 improved image quality. However, this did not allow real-time imaging. After applying a pair of pooling and upsampling layers to both networks, rCAEs with >3 convolutions each and rCNNs with >12 convolutions with a pair of pooling and upsampling layers achieved real-time processing at 30 frames per second (fps) with acceptable image quality. Use of our suggested network achieved real-time image processing for contrast enhancement and image denoising by the use of a conventional modern personal computer. Copyright © 2017 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Image processing in 60Co container inspection system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Zhifang; Zhou Liye; Wang Liqiang; Liu Ximing

1999-01-01

The authors analyzes the features of 60 Co container inspection image, the design of several special processing methods for container image and some normal processing methods for two-dimensional digital image, including gray enhancement, pseudo-enhancement, space filter, edge enhancement, geometry process, etc. It gives out the way to carry out the above mentioned process in Windows 95 or Win NT. It discusses some ways to improve the image processing speed on microcomputer and good results were obtained

Crack Detection by Digital Image Processing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lyngbye, Janus; Brincker, Rune

It is described how digital image processing is used for measuring the length of fatigue cracks. The system is installed in a Personal, Computer equipped with image processing hardware and performs automated measuring on plane metal specimens used in fatigue testing. Normally one can not achieve...... a resolution better than that of the image processing equipment. To overcome this problem an extrapolation technique is used resulting in a better resolution. The system was tested on a specimen loaded with different loads. The error σa was less than 0.031 mm, which is of the same size as human measuring...

Eliminating "Hotspots" in Digital Image Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Salomon, P. M.

1984-01-01

Signals from defective picture elements rejected. Image processing program for use with charge-coupled device (CCD) or other mosaic imager augmented with algorithm that compensates for common type of electronic defect. Algorithm prevents false interpretation of "hotspots". Used for robotics, image enhancement, image analysis and digital television.

How Digital Image Processing Became Really Easy

Science.gov (United States)

Cannon, Michael

1988-02-01

In the early and mid-1970s, digital image processing was the subject of intense university and corporate research. The research lay along two lines: (1) developing mathematical techniques for improving the appearance of or analyzing the contents of images represented in digital form, and (2) creating cost-effective hardware to carry out these techniques. The research has been very effective, as evidenced by the continued decline of image processing as a research topic, and the rapid increase of commercial companies to market digital image processing software and hardware.

A report on digital image processing and analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, B.; Alex, J.; Haridasan, G.

1989-01-01

This report presents developments in software, connected with digital image processing and analysis in the Centre. In image processing, one resorts to either alteration of grey level values so as to enhance features in the image or resorts to transform domain operations for restoration or filtering. Typical transform domain operations like Karhunen-Loeve transforms are statistical in nature and are used for a good registration of images or template - matching. Image analysis procedures segment grey level images into images contained within selectable windows, for the purpose of estimating geometrical features in the image, like area, perimeter, projections etc. In short, in image processing both the input and output are images, whereas in image analyses, the input is an image whereas the output is a set of numbers and graphs. (author). 19 refs

Processed images in human perception: A case study in ultrasound breast imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yap, Moi Hoon [Department of Computer Science, Loughborough University, FH09, Ergonomics and Safety Research Institute, Holywell Park (United Kingdom)], E-mail: M.H.Yap@lboro.ac.uk; Edirisinghe, Eran [Department of Computer Science, Loughborough University, FJ.05, Garendon Wing, Holywell Park, Loughborough LE11 3TU (United Kingdom); Bez, Helmut [Department of Computer Science, Loughborough University, Room N.2.26, Haslegrave Building, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU (United Kingdom)

2010-03-15

Two main research efforts in early detection of breast cancer include the development of software tools to assist radiologists in identifying abnormalities and the development of training tools to enhance their skills. Medical image analysis systems, widely known as Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CADx) systems, play an important role in this respect. Often it is important to determine whether there is a benefit in including computer-processed images in the development of such software tools. In this paper, we investigate the effects of computer-processed images in improving human performance in ultrasound breast cancer detection (a perceptual task) and classification (a cognitive task). A survey was conducted on a group of expert radiologists and a group of non-radiologists. In our experiments, random test images from a large database of ultrasound images were presented to subjects. In order to gather appropriate formal feedback, questionnaires were prepared to comment on random selections of original images only, and on image pairs consisting of original images displayed alongside computer-processed images. We critically compare and contrast the performance of the two groups according to perceptual and cognitive tasks. From a Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) analysis, we conclude that the provision of computer-processed images alongside the original ultrasound images, significantly improve the perceptual tasks of non-radiologists but only marginal improvements are shown in the perceptual and cognitive tasks of the group of expert radiologists.

Processed images in human perception: A case study in ultrasound breast imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yap, Moi Hoon; Edirisinghe, Eran; Bez, Helmut

2010-01-01

Two main research efforts in early detection of breast cancer include the development of software tools to assist radiologists in identifying abnormalities and the development of training tools to enhance their skills. Medical image analysis systems, widely known as Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CADx) systems, play an important role in this respect. Often it is important to determine whether there is a benefit in including computer-processed images in the development of such software tools. In this paper, we investigate the effects of computer-processed images in improving human performance in ultrasound breast cancer detection (a perceptual task) and classification (a cognitive task). A survey was conducted on a group of expert radiologists and a group of non-radiologists. In our experiments, random test images from a large database of ultrasound images were presented to subjects. In order to gather appropriate formal feedback, questionnaires were prepared to comment on random selections of original images only, and on image pairs consisting of original images displayed alongside computer-processed images. We critically compare and contrast the performance of the two groups according to perceptual and cognitive tasks. From a Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) analysis, we conclude that the provision of computer-processed images alongside the original ultrasound images, significantly improve the perceptual tasks of non-radiologists but only marginal improvements are shown in the perceptual and cognitive tasks of the group of expert radiologists.

A new astronomical dating of Odysseus return to Ithaca.

Science.gov (United States)

Papamarinopoulos, St. P.; Preka-Papadema, P.; Antonopoulos, P.; Mitropetrou, H.; Tsironi, A.; Mitropetros, P.

The annular solar eclipse, of 30 October 1207 B.C. (Julian Day-JD 1280869), calculated by NASA together with the analysis of the weather's and the environment's description (long nights, plants, animals and peoples' habits) and the astronomical data (guiding constellations and Venus in the east horizon) mentioned by Homer in the epic, constitute an autumn return of Odysseus to Ithaca five days before the above characterized day. The latter offers a precise astronomical dating of the event and dates the legendary Trojan War's end as well.

AAS Publishing News: Astronomical Software Citation Workshop

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Susanna

2015-07-01

Do you write code for your research? Use astronomical software? Do you wish there were a better way of citing, sharing, archiving, or discovering software for astronomy research? You're not alone! In April 2015, AAS's publishing team joined other leaders in the astronomical software community in a meeting funded by the Sloan Foundation, with the purpose of discussing these issues and potential solutions. In attendance were representatives from academic astronomy, publishing, libraries, for-profit software sharing platforms, telescope facilities, and grantmaking institutions. The goal of the group was to establish “protocols, policies, and platforms for astronomical software citation, sharing, and archiving,” in the hopes of encouraging a set of normalized standards across the field. The AAS is now collaborating with leaders at GitHub to write grant proposals for a project to develop strategies for software discoverability and citation, in astronomy and beyond. If this topic interests you, you can find more details in this document released by the group after the meeting: http://astronomy-software-index.github.io/2015-workshop/ The group hopes to move this project forward with input and support from the broader community. Please share the above document, discuss it on social media using the hashtag #astroware (so that your conversations can be found!), or send private comments to julie.steffen@aas.org.

Catching Stardust and Bringing it Home: The Astronomical Importance of Sample Return

Science.gov (United States)

Brownlee, D.

2002-12-01

The return of lunar samples by the Apollo program provided the first opportunity to perform detailed laboratory studies of ancient solid materials from a known astronomical body. The highly detailed study of the samples, using the best available laboratory instruments and techniques, revolutionized our understanding of the Moon and provided fundamental insight into the remarkable and violent processes that occur early in the history of moons and terrestrial planets. This type of astronomical paleontology is only possible with samples and yet the last US sample return was made by Apollo 17- over thirty years ago! The NASA Stardust mission, began a new era of sample missions with its 1999 launch to retrieve samples from the short period comet Wild 2. Genesis (a solar wind collector) was launched in 2001, the Japanese MUSES-C asteroid sample return mission will launch in 2003 and Mars sample return missions are under study. All of these missions will use sophisticated ground-based instrumentation to provide types of information that cannot be obtained by astronomical and spacecraft remote sensing methods. In the case of Stardust, the goal is to determine the fundamental nature of the initial solid building blocks of solar systems at atomic-scale spatial resolution. The samples returned by the mission will be samples from the Kuiper Belt region and they are probably composed of submicron silicate and organic materials of both presolar and nebular origin. Unlocking the detailed records contained in the elemental, chemical, isotopic and mineralogical composition of these tiny components can only be appropriately explored with full power, precision and flexibility of laboratory instrumentation. Laboratory instrumentation has the advantage that is state-of-the-art and is not limited by serious considerations of power, mass, cost or even reliability. The comparison of the comet sample, accumulated beyond Neptune, with asteroidal meteorites that accumulated just beyond the

Computational Intelligence in Image Processing

CERN Document Server

Siarry, Patrick

2013-01-01

Computational intelligence based techniques have firmly established themselves as viable, alternate, mathematical tools for more than a decade. They have been extensively employed in many systems and application domains, among these signal processing, automatic control, industrial and consumer electronics, robotics, finance, manufacturing systems, electric power systems, and power electronics. Image processing is also an extremely potent area which has attracted the atten­tion of many researchers who are interested in the development of new computational intelligence-based techniques and their suitable applications, in both research prob­lems and in real-world problems. Part I of the book discusses several image preprocessing algorithms; Part II broadly covers image compression algorithms; Part III demonstrates how computational intelligence-based techniques can be effectively utilized for image analysis purposes; and Part IV shows how pattern recognition, classification and clustering-based techniques can ...

PCB Fault Detection Using Image Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Nayak, Jithendra P. R.; Anitha, K.; Parameshachari, B. D., Dr.; Banu, Reshma, Dr.; Rashmi, P.

2017-08-01

The importance of the Printed Circuit Board inspection process has been magnified by requirements of the modern manufacturing environment where delivery of 100% defect free PCBs is the expectation. To meet such expectations, identifying various defects and their types becomes the first step. In this PCB inspection system the inspection algorithm mainly focuses on the defect detection using the natural images. Many practical issues like tilt of the images, bad light conditions, height at which images are taken etc. are to be considered to ensure good quality of the image which can then be used for defect detection. Printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication is a multidisciplinary process, and etching is the most critical part in the PCB manufacturing process. The main objective of Etching process is to remove the exposed unwanted copper other than the required circuit pattern. In order to minimize scrap caused by the wrongly etched PCB panel, inspection has to be done in early stage. However, all of the inspections are done after the etching process where any defective PCB found is no longer useful and is simply thrown away. Since etching process costs 0% of the entire PCB fabrication, it is uneconomical to simply discard the defective PCBs. In this paper a method to identify the defects in natural PCB images and associated practical issues are addressed using Software tools and some of the major types of single layer PCB defects are Pattern Cut, Pin hole, Pattern Short, Nick etc., Therefore the defects should be identified before the etching process so that the PCB would be reprocessed. In the present approach expected to improve the efficiency of the system in detecting the defects even in low quality images

An Ibm PC/AT-Based Image Acquisition And Processing System For Quantitative Image Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Yongmin; Alexander, Thomas

1986-06-01

In recent years, a large number of applications have been developed for image processing systems in the area of biological imaging. We have already finished the development of a dedicated microcomputer-based image processing and analysis system for quantitative microscopy. The system's primary function has been to facilitate and ultimately automate quantitative image analysis tasks such as the measurement of cellular DNA contents. We have recognized from this development experience, and interaction with system users, biologists and technicians, that the increasingly widespread use of image processing systems, and the development and application of new techniques for utilizing the capabilities of such systems, would generate a need for some kind of inexpensive general purpose image acquisition and processing system specially tailored for the needs of the medical community. We are currently engaged in the development and testing of hardware and software for a fairly high-performance image processing computer system based on a popular personal computer. In this paper, we describe the design and development of this system. Biological image processing computer systems have now reached a level of hardware and software refinement where they could become convenient image analysis tools for biologists. The development of a general purpose image processing system for quantitative image analysis that is inexpensive, flexible, and easy-to-use represents a significant step towards making the microscopic digital image processing techniques more widely applicable not only in a research environment as a biologist's workstation, but also in clinical environments as a diagnostic tool.

Astronomical calibration of the geological timescale: closing the middle Eocene gap

Science.gov (United States)

Westerhold, T.; Röhl, U.; Frederichs, T.; Bohaty, S. M.; Zachos, J. C.

2015-09-01

To explore cause and consequences of past climate change, very accurate age models such as those provided by the astronomical timescale (ATS) are needed. Beyond 40 million years the accuracy of the ATS critically depends on the correctness of orbital models and radioisotopic dating techniques. Discrepancies in the age dating of sedimentary successions and the lack of suitable records spanning the middle Eocene have prevented development of a continuous astronomically calibrated geological timescale for the entire Cenozoic Era. We now solve this problem by constructing an independent astrochronological stratigraphy based on Earth's stable 405 kyr eccentricity cycle between 41 and 48 million years ago (Ma) with new data from deep-sea sedimentary sequences in the South Atlantic Ocean. This new link completes the Paleogene astronomical timescale and confirms the intercalibration of radioisotopic and astronomical dating methods back through the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, 55.930 Ma) and the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary (66.022 Ma). Coupling of the Paleogene 405 kyr cyclostratigraphic frameworks across the middle Eocene further paves the way for extending the ATS into the Mesozoic.

Optimizing hydroxyl airglow retrievals from long-slit astronomical spectroscopic observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Franzen

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Astronomical spectroscopic observations from ground-based telescopes contain background emission lines from the terrestrial atmosphere's airglow. In the near infrared, this background is composed mainly of emission from Meinel bands of hydroxyl (OH, which is produced in highly excited vibrational states by reduction of ozone near 90 km. This emission contains a wealth of information on the chemical and dynamical state of the Earth's atmosphere. However, observation strategies and data reduction processes are usually optimized to minimize the influence of these features on the astronomical spectrum. Here we discuss a measurement technique to optimize the extraction of the OH airglow signal itself from routine J-, H-, and K-band long-slit astronomical spectroscopic observations. As an example, we use data recorded from a point-source observation by the Nordic Optical Telescope's intermediate-resolution spectrograph, which has a spatial resolution of approximately 100 m at the airglow layer. Emission spectra from the OH vibrational manifold from v′  =  9 down to v′  =  3, with signal-to-noise ratios up to 280, have been extracted from 10.8 s integrations. Rotational temperatures representative of the background atmospheric temperature near 90 km, the mesosphere and lower thermosphere region, can be fitted to the OH rotational lines with an accuracy of around 0.7 K. Using this measurement and analysis technique, we derive a rotational temperature distribution with v′ that agrees with atmospheric model conditions and the preponderance of previous work. We discuss the derived rotational temperatures from the different vibrational bands and highlight the potential for both the archived and future observations, which are at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions, to contribute toward the resolution of long-standing problems in atmospheric physics.

The Impact of the Qur'anic Conception of Astronomical Phenomena on Islamic Civilization

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, I. A.

Discussions of astronomical phenomena in religious texts usually center around either their literal astronomical content or their symbolic significance. We shall instead consider the use of frequent references to astronomical phenomena in the Qur'an as exhortations to a worldview that ushered in the modern era. The Qur'anic conception of astronomical phenomena had a critical impact on Islamic civilization and the civilizations that followed because it introduced and mandated the adoption of certain attitudes. Among these were a greater respect for empirical data than was common in the preceding Greek civilization and an insistence that the Universe is ruled by a single set of laws. Both of these were rooted in the Islamic concept of tawhîd, the unity of God.

International Astronomical Union Sympoisum No.50

CERN Document Server

Westerlund, B

1973-01-01

Dr J. Landi Dessy, Director of the Astronomical Observatory, Cordoba, Argentina, invited the International Astronomical Union to hold a Symposium in Cordoba in connection with the celebration of the Centennial of the Cordoba Observatory; the date of foundation is October 24, 1871. He proposed that the Symposium should deal with Spectral Classification and Multicolour Photometry as seven years had elapsed since the Symposium No. 24 in Saltsj6baden, and much development had occurred in the field. The invitation and the proposal were accepted by the IAU, and the Symposium was held in Villa Carlos Paz, near Cordoba, between October 18 and October 24, 1971. It was attended by about 50 scientists representing Argentina, Canada, Chile, Den­ mark, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K., U.S.A., Vatican City State and Venezuela. The Symposium was divided into four sessions: 1. Classification of slit spectra, 2. Classification of objective-prism spectra, 3. Photometric classification, 4. Catalogues ...

Large Astronomical Surveys, Catalogs and Databases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mickaelian A. M.

2012-09-01

Full Text Available We review the status of all-sky and large astronomical surveys and their catalogued data over the whole range of electromagnetic spectrum, from gamma-ray to radio, such as ROSAT in X-ray, GALEX in UV, SDSS and several POSS1/2 based catalogs (APM, MAPS, USNO, GSC in optical, 2MASS and WISE in NIR, IRAS and AKARI in MIR/FIR, NVSS and FIRST in radio range and others. Present astronomical archives contain billions of objects, Galactic as well as extragalactic, and the vast amount of data in them permit new studies and discoveries. Cross-correlations result in revealing new objects and new samples. Very often, dozens of thousands of sources hide a few very interesting ones that are needed to be discovered by comparison of various physical characteristics. Most of the modern databases currently provide VO access to the stored information. This permits not only open access but also fast analysis and managing of these data.

Recruitment and Retention of LGBTIQ Astronomers

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, William Van Dyke

2012-01-01

While lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or questioning (LGBTIQ) astronomers face many of the same workplace challenges as women and racial/ethnic minorities, from implicit bias to overt discrimination, other challenges are unique to this group. An obvious example is the absence at many institutions of health insurance and other benefits for the same-sex domestic partners of their employees. More subtle is the psychological toll paid by LGBTIQ astronomers who remain "in the closet," self-censoring every statement about their personal lives. Paradoxically, the culture of the physical sciences, in which sexuality, gender identity, and gender expression are considered irrelevant, can discourage their discussion, further isolating LGBTIQ researchers. Addressing these challenges is not just a matter of fairness; it is an essential tool in the recruitment and retention of the brightest researchers and in assuring their productivity. We will discuss these issues and what individuals and departments can to make their institutions more welcoming to their LGBTIQ colleagues.

Cellular automata in image processing and geometry

CERN Document Server

Adamatzky, Andrew; Sun, Xianfang

2014-01-01

The book presents findings, views and ideas on what exact problems of image processing, pattern recognition and generation can be efficiently solved by cellular automata architectures. This volume provides a convenient collection in this area, in which publications are otherwise widely scattered throughout the literature. The topics covered include image compression and resizing; skeletonization, erosion and dilation; convex hull computation, edge detection and segmentation; forgery detection and content based retrieval; and pattern generation. The book advances the theory of image processing, pattern recognition and generation as well as the design of efficient algorithms and hardware for parallel image processing and analysis. It is aimed at computer scientists, software programmers, electronic engineers, mathematicians and physicists, and at everyone who studies or develops cellular automaton algorithms and tools for image processing and analysis, or develops novel architectures and implementations of mass...

High energy astrophysics in radio-astronomical form

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laan, H. van der

1980-01-01

The application of high energy astrophysics in observational astronomy, and in particular in radioastronomy, is considered. The current situation of extragalactic HEA, as brought to light by radio-astronomical techniques, is sketched. (C.F.)

VEGAS: VErsatile GBT Astronomical Spectrometer

Science.gov (United States)

Bussa, Srikanth; VEGAS Development Team

2012-01-01

The National Science Foundation Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation (NSF-ATI) program is funding a new spectrometer backend for the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). This spectrometer is being built by the CICADA collaboration - collaboration between the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and the Center for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronics Research (CASPER) at the University of California Berkeley.The backend is named as VErsatile GBT Astronomical Spectrometer (VEGAS) and will replace the capabilities of the existing spectrometers. This backend supports data processing from focal plane array systems. The spectrometer will be capable of processing up to 1.25 GHz bandwidth from 8 dual polarized beams or a bandwidth up to 10 GHz from a dual polarized beam.The spectrometer will be using 8-bit analog to digital converters (ADC), which gives a better dynamic range than existing GBT spectrometers. There will be 8 tunable digital sub-bands within the 1.25 GHz bandwidth, which will enhance the capability of simultaneous observation of multiple spectral transitions. The maximum spectral dump rate to disk will be about 0.5 msec. The vastly enhanced backend capabilities will support several science projects with the GBT. The projects include mapping temperature and density structure of molecular clouds; searches for organic molecules in the interstellar medium; determination of the fundamental constants of our evolving Universe; red-shifted spectral features from galaxies across cosmic time and survey for pulsars in the extreme gravitational environment of the Galactic Center.

Image processing unit with fall-back.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2011-01-01

An image processing unit ( 100,200,300 ) for computing a sequence of output images on basis of a sequence of input images, comprises: a motion estimation unit ( 102 ) for computing a motion vector field on basis of the input images; a quality measurement unit ( 104 ) for computing a value of a

An Overview of X-Ray Polarimetry of Astronomical Sources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin C. Weisskopf

2018-03-01

Full Text Available We review the history of astronomical X-ray polarimetry based on the author’s perspective, beginning with early sounding-rocket experiments by Robert Novick at Columbia University and his team, of which the author was a member. After describing various early techniques for measuring X-ray polarization, we discuss the polarimeter aboard the Orbiting Solar Observatory 8 (OSO-8 and its scientific results. Next, we describe the X-ray polarimeter to have flown aboard the ill-fated original Spectrum-X mission, which provided important lessons on polarimeter design, systematic effects, and the programmatics of a shared focal plane. We conclude with a description of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE and its prospective scientific return. IXPE, a partnership between NASA and ASI, has been selected as a NASA Astrophysics Small Explorers Mission and is currently scheduled to launch in April of 2021.

Tensors in image processing and computer vision

CERN Document Server

De Luis García, Rodrigo; Tao, Dacheng; Li, Xuelong

2009-01-01

Tensor signal processing is an emerging field with important applications to computer vision and image processing. This book presents the developments in this branch of signal processing, offering research and discussions by experts in the area. It is suitable for advanced students working in the area of computer vision and image processing.

Astroinformatics, data mining and the future of astronomical research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brescia, Massimo, E-mail: longo@na.infn.it [INAF, Astronomical Obs. of Capodimonte, Via Moiariello 16, I-80131 Napoli (Italy); Longo, Giuseppe [Department of Physics, University Federico II, Via Cintia 6, 80126 Napoli (Italy); Department of Astronomy, Caltech, Pasadena (United States)

2013-08-21

Astronomy, as many other scientific disciplines, is facing a true data deluge which is bound to change both the praxis and the methodology of every day research work. The emerging field of astroinformatics, while on the one end appears crucial to face the technological challenges, on the other is opening new exciting perspectives for new astronomical discoveries through the implementation of advanced data mining procedures. The complexity of astronomical data and the variety of scientific problems, however, call for innovative algorithms and methods as well as for an extreme usage of ICT technologies.

Astroinformatics, data mining and the future of astronomical research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brescia, Massimo; Longo, Giuseppe

2013-01-01

Astronomy, as many other scientific disciplines, is facing a true data deluge which is bound to change both the praxis and the methodology of every day research work. The emerging field of astroinformatics, while on the one end appears crucial to face the technological challenges, on the other is opening new exciting perspectives for new astronomical discoveries through the implementation of advanced data mining procedures. The complexity of astronomical data and the variety of scientific problems, however, call for innovative algorithms and methods as well as for an extreme usage of ICT technologies

Astronomer's new guide to the galaxy: largest map of cold dust revealed

Science.gov (United States)

2009-07-01

Astronomers have unveiled an unprecedented new atlas of the inner regions of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, peppered with thousands of previously undiscovered dense knots of cold cosmic dust -- the potential birthplaces of new stars. Made using observations from the APEX telescope in Chile, this survey is the largest map of cold dust so far, and will prove an invaluable map for observations made with the forthcoming ALMA telescope, as well as the recently launched ESA Herschel space telescope. ESO PR Photo 24a/09 View of the Galactic Plane from the ATLASGAL survey (annotated and in five sections) ESO PR Photo 24b/09 View of the Galactic Plane from the ATLASGAL survey (annotated) ESO PR Photo 24c/09 View of the Galactic Plane from the ATLASGAL survey (in five sections) ESO PR Photo 24d/09 View of the Galactic Plane from the ATLASGAL survey ESO PR Photo 24e/09 The Galactic Centre and Sagittarius B2 ESO PR Photo 24f/09 The NGC 6357 and NGC 6334 nebulae ESO PR Photo 24g/09 The RCW120 nebula ESO PR Video 24a/09 Annotated pan as seen by the ATLASGAL survey This new guide for astronomers, known as the APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL) shows the Milky Way in submillimetre-wavelength light (between infrared light and radio waves [1]). Images of the cosmos at these wavelengths are vital for studying the birthplaces of new stars and the structure of the crowded galactic core. "ATLASGAL gives us a new look at the Milky Way. Not only will it help us investigate how massive stars form, but it will also give us an overview of the larger-scale structure of our galaxy", said Frederic Schuller from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, leader of the ATLASGAL team. The area of the new submillimetre map is approximately 95 square degrees, covering a very long and narrow strip along the galactic plane two degrees wide (four times the width of the full Moon) and over 40 degrees long. The 16 000 pixel-long map was made with the LABOCA submillimetre

Automated synthesis of image processing procedures using AI planning techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Chien, Steve; Mortensen, Helen

1994-01-01

This paper describes the Multimission VICAR (Video Image Communication and Retrieval) Planner (MVP) (Chien 1994) system, which uses artificial intelligence planning techniques (Iwasaki & Friedland, 1985, Pemberthy & Weld, 1992, Stefik, 1981) to automatically construct executable complex image processing procedures (using models of the smaller constituent image processing subprograms) in response to image processing requests made to the JPL Multimission Image Processing Laboratory (MIPL). The MVP system allows the user to specify the image processing requirements in terms of the various types of correction required. Given this information, MVP derives unspecified required processing steps and determines appropriate image processing programs and parameters to achieve the specified image processing goals. This information is output as an executable image processing program which can then be executed to fill the processing request.

Musashi dynamic image processing system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murata, Yutaka; Mochiki, Koh-ichi; Taguchi, Akira

1992-01-01

In order to produce transmitted neutron dynamic images using neutron radiography, a real time system called Musashi dynamic image processing system (MDIPS) was developed to collect, process, display and record image data. The block diagram of the MDIPS is shown. The system consists of a highly sensitive, high resolution TV camera driven by a custom-made scanner, a TV camera deflection controller for optimal scanning, which adjusts to the luminous intensity and the moving speed of an object, a real-time corrector to perform the real time correction of dark current, shading distortion and field intensity fluctuation, a real time filter for increasing the image signal to noise ratio, a video recording unit and a pseudocolor monitor to realize recording in commercially available products and monitoring by means of the CRTs in standard TV scanning, respectively. The TV camera and the TV camera deflection controller utilized for producing still images can be applied to this case. The block diagram of the real-time corrector is shown. Its performance is explained. Linear filters and ranked order filters were developed. (K.I.)

Three-dimensional image signals: processing methods

Science.gov (United States)

Schiopu, Paul; Manea, Adrian; Craciun, Anca-Ileana; Craciun, Alexandru

2010-11-01

Over the years extensive studies have been carried out to apply coherent optics methods in real-time processing, communications and transmission image. This is especially true when a large amount of information needs to be processed, e.g., in high-resolution imaging. The recent progress in data-processing networks and communication systems has considerably increased the capacity of information exchange. We describe the results of literature investigation research of processing methods for the signals of the three-dimensional images. All commercially available 3D technologies today are based on stereoscopic viewing. 3D technology was once the exclusive domain of skilled computer-graphics developers with high-end machines and software. The images capture from the advanced 3D digital camera can be displayed onto screen of the 3D digital viewer with/ without special glasses. For this is needed considerable processing power and memory to create and render the complex mix of colors, textures, and virtual lighting and perspective necessary to make figures appear three-dimensional. Also, using a standard digital camera and a technique called phase-shift interferometry we can capture "digital holograms." These are holograms that can be stored on computer and transmitted over conventional networks. We present some research methods to process "digital holograms" for the Internet transmission and results.

Imaging sunlight using a digital spectroheliograph

CERN Document Server

Harrison, Ken M

2016-01-01

Ken M. Harrison's latest book is a complete guide for amateur astronomers who want to obtain detailed narrowband images of the Sun using a digital spectroheliograph (SHG). The SHG allows the safe imaging of the Sun without the expense of commercial ‘etalon’ solar filters. As the supporting software continues to be refined, the use of the digital spectroheliograph will become more and more mainstream and has the potential to replace the expensive solar filters currently in use. The early chapters briefly explain the concept of the SHG and how it can produce an image from the solar spectrum. A comparison of the currently available narrow band solar filters is followed by a detailed analysis of the critical design, construction and assembly features of the SHG. The design and optimum layout of the instrument is discussed to allow evaluation of performance. This information explains how to assemble a fully functional SHG using readily available components. The software required to process the images is exp...

Analysis of Variance in Statistical Image Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Kurz, Ludwik; Hafed Benteftifa, M.

1997-04-01

A key problem in practical image processing is the detection of specific features in a noisy image. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) techniques can be very effective in such situations, and this book gives a detailed account of the use of ANOVA in statistical image processing. The book begins by describing the statistical representation of images in the various ANOVA models. The authors present a number of computationally efficient algorithms and techniques to deal with such problems as line, edge, and object detection, as well as image restoration and enhancement. By describing the basic principles of these techniques, and showing their use in specific situations, the book will facilitate the design of new algorithms for particular applications. It will be of great interest to graduate students and engineers in the field of image processing and pattern recognition.

Image restoration and processing methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daniell, G.J.

1984-01-01

This review will stress the importance of using image restoration techniques that deal with incomplete, inconsistent, and noisy data and do not introduce spurious features into the processed image. No single image is equally suitable for both the resolution of detail and the accurate measurement of intensities. A good general purpose technique is the maximum entropy method and the basis and use of this will be explained. (orig.)

Cooperation for Common Use of SEE Astronomical Database as a Regional Virtual Observatory in Different Scientific Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Pinigin, Gennady; Protsyuk, Yuri; Shulga, Alexander

The activity of scientific collaborative and co-operative research between South-Eastern European (SEE) observatories is enlarged in the last time. The creation of a common database as a regional virtual observatory is very desirable. The creation of astronomical information resource with a capability of interactive access to databases and telescopes on the base of the general astronomical database of the SEE countries is presented. This resource may be connected with the European network. A short description of the NAO database is presented. The total amount of the NAO information makes about 90 GB, the one obtained from other sources - about 15 GB. The mean diurnal level of the new astronomical information produced with the NAO CCD instruments makes from 300 MB up to 2 GB, depending on the purposes and conditions of observations. The majority of observational data is stored in FITS format. Possibility of using of VO-table format for displaying these data in the Internet is studied. Activities on development and the further refinement of storage, exchange and data processing standards are conducted.

The Growth of Interest in Astronomical X-Ray Polarimetry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frédéric Marin

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Astronomical X-ray polarimetry was first explored in the end of the 1960s by pioneering rocket instruments. The craze arising from the first discoveries of stellar and supernova remnant X-ray polarization led to the addition of X-ray polarimeters to early satellites. Unfortunately, the inadequacy of the diffraction and scattering technologies required to measure polarization with respect to the constraints driven by X-ray mirrors and detectors, coupled with long integration times, slowed down the field for almost 40 years. Thanks to the development of new, highly sensitive, compact X-ray polarimeters in the beginning of the 2000s, observing astronomical X-ray polarization has become feasible, and scientists are now ready to explore our high-energy sky thanks to modern X-ray polarimeters. In the forthcoming years, several X-ray missions (rockets, balloons, and satellites will create new observational opportunities. Interest in astronomical X-ray polarimetry field has thus been renewed, and this paper presents for the first time a quantitative assessment, all based on scientific literature, of the growth of this interest.

Near-infrared spectral imaging Michelson interferometer for astronomical applications

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, C. W.; Potter, A. E.; Morgan, T. H.

1980-01-01

The design and operation of an imaging Michelson interferometer-spectrometer used for near-infrared (0.8 micron to 2.5 microns) spectral imaging are reported. The system employs a rapid scan interferometer modified for stable low resolution (250/cm) performance and a 42 element PbS linear detector array. A microcomputer system is described which provides data acquisition, coadding, and Fourier transformation for near real-time presentation of the spectra of all 42 scene elements. The electronic and mechanical designs are discussed and telescope performance data presented.

Early skin tumor detection from microscopic images through image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siddiqi, A.A.; Narejo, G.B.; Khan, A.M.

2017-01-01

The research is done to provide appropriate detection technique for skin tumor detection. The work is done by using the image processing toolbox of MATLAB. Skin tumors are unwanted skin growth with different causes and varying extent of malignant cells. It is a syndrome in which skin cells mislay the ability to divide and grow normally. Early detection of tumor is the most important factor affecting the endurance of a patient. Studying the pattern of the skin cells is the fundamental problem in medical image analysis. The study of skin tumor has been of great interest to the researchers. DIP (Digital Image Processing) allows the use of much more complex algorithms for image processing, and hence, can offer both more sophisticated performance at simple task, and the implementation of methods which would be impossibly by analog means. It allows much wider range of algorithms to be applied to the input data and can avoid problems such as build up of noise and signal distortion during processing. The study shows that few works has been done on cellular scale for the images of skin. This research allows few checks for the early detection of skin tumor using microscopic images after testing and observing various algorithms. After analytical evaluation the result has been observed that the proposed checks are time efficient techniques and appropriate for the tumor detection. The algorithm applied provides promising results in lesser time with accuracy. The GUI (Graphical User Interface) that is generated for the algorithm makes the system user friendly. (author)

Imaging Simulations for the Korean VLBI Network (KVN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tae-Hyun Jung

2005-03-01

Full Text Available The Korean VLBI Network (KVN will open a new field of research in astronomy, geodesy and earth science using the newest three 21m radio telescopes. This will expand our ability to look at the Universe in the millimeter regime. Imaging capability of radio interferometry is highly dependent upon the antenna configuration, source size, declination and the shape of target. In this paper, imaging simulations are carried out with the KVN system configuration. Five test images were used which were a point source, multi-point sources, a uniform sphere with two different sizes compared to the synthesis beam of the KVN and a Very Large Array (VLA image of Cygnus A. The declination for the full time simulation was set as +60 degrees and the observation time range was --6 to +6 hours around transit. Simulations have been done at 22GHz, one of the KVN observation frequency. All these simulations and data reductions have been run with the Astronomical Image Processing System (AIPS software package. As the KVN array has a resolution of about 6 mas (milli arcsecond at 22GHz, in case of model source being approximately the beam size or smaller, the ratio of peak intensity over RMS shows about 10000:1 and 5000:1. The other case in which model source is larger than the beam size, this ratio shows very low range of about 115:1 and 34:1. This is due to the lack of short baselines and the small number of antenna. We compare the coordinates of the model images with those of the cleaned images. The result shows mostly perfect correspondence except in the case of the 12mas uniform sphere. Therefore, the main astronomical targets for the KVN will be the compact sources and the KVN will have an excellent performance in the astrometry for these sources.

Algorithms for image processing and computer vision

CERN Document Server

Parker, J R

2010-01-01

A cookbook of algorithms for common image processing applications Thanks to advances in computer hardware and software, algorithms have been developed that support sophisticated image processing without requiring an extensive background in mathematics. This bestselling book has been fully updated with the newest of these, including 2D vision methods in content-based searches and the use of graphics cards as image processing computational aids. It's an ideal reference for software engineers and developers, advanced programmers, graphics programmers, scientists, and other specialists wh

The re-definition of the astronomical unit of length:reasons and consequences

Science.gov (United States)

Capitaine, Nicole; Klioner, Sergei; McCarthy, Dennis

2012-08-01

The astronomical unit (au) is a unit of length approximating the Sun - Earth distance that is used mainly to express the scale of the solar system. Its current definition is based on the value of the Gaussian gravitational constant, k. This conveniently provided accurate relative distances (expressed in astronomical units) when absolute distances could not be estimated with high accuracy. The huge improvement achieved in solar system ephemerides during the last decade provides an opportunity to re - consider the definition and status of the au. This issue was discussed recently by Klioner (2008), Capitaine & Guinot (2009) and Capitaine et al. (2011), as well as within the IAU Working Group on "Numerical Standards for Fundamental astronomy". This resulted in a proposed IAU Resolution recommending that the astronomical unit be re - defined as a fixed number of Système International d ’ Unités (SI) metres through a defining constant. For continuity that constant should be the value of the current best estimate in metres as adopted by IAU 2009 Resolution B2 (i.e. 149 597 870 700 m). After reviewing the properties of the IAU 1976 astronomical unit and its status in the IAU 2009 System of Astronomical Constants, we explain the main reasons for a change; we present and discuss the proposed new definition as well as the advantages over the historical definition. One important consequence is that the heliocentric gravitational constant, GM(Sun), would cease to have a fixed value in astronomical units and will have to be determined experimentally. This would be compliant with modern dynamics of the solar system as it would allow

Design for embedded image processing on FPGAs

CERN Document Server

Bailey, Donald G

2011-01-01

"Introductory material will consider the problem of embedded image processing, and how some of the issues may be solved using parallel hardware solutions. Field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are introduced as a technology that provides flexible, fine-grained hardware that can readily exploit parallelism within many image processing algorithms. A brief review of FPGA programming languages provides the link between a software mindset normally associated with image processing algorithms, and the hardware mindset required for efficient utilization of a parallel hardware design. The bulk of the book will focus on the design process, and in particular how designing an FPGA implementation differs from a conventional software implementation. Particular attention is given to the techniques for mapping an algorithm onto an FPGA implementation, considering timing, memory bandwidth and resource constraints, and efficient hardware computational techniques. Extensive coverage will be given of a range of image processing...

The Amateur Astronomer's Introduction to the Celestial Sphere

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Millar, William

2005-12-01

This introduction to the night sky is for amateur astronomers who desire a deeper understanding of the principles and observations of naked-eye astronomy. It covers topics such as terrestrial and astronomical coordinate systems, stars and constellations, the relative motions of the sky, sun, moon and earth leading to an understanding of the seasons, phases of the moon, and eclipses. Topics are discussed and compared for observers located in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Written in a conversational style, only addition and subtraction are needed to understand the basic principles and a more advanced mathematical treatment is available in the appendices. Each chapter contains a set of review questions and simple exercises to reinforce the reader's understanding of the material. The last chapter is a set of self-contained observation projects to get readers started with making observations about the concepts they have learned. William Charles Millar, currently Professor of Astronomy at Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan, has been teaching the subject for almost twenty years and is very involved with local amateur astronomy groups. Millar also belongs to The Planetary Society and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and has traveled to Europe and South America to observe solar eclipses. Millar holds a Masters degree in Physics from Western Michigan University.

Astronomical sketching a step-by-step introduction

CERN Document Server

Handy, Richard; Perez, Jeremy; Rix, Erika; Robbins, Sol

2007-01-01

This book presents the amateur with fine examples of astronomical sketches and step-by-step tutorials in each medium, from pencil to computer graphics programs. This unique book can teach almost anyone to create beautiful sketches of celestial objects.

Short-course Astronomical Research Seminars for High School and College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Jolyon

2011-05-01

Since 2008, I have helped lead several short-course astronomical research seminars with Russell M. Genet. These seminars have ranged from semester-long courses at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, California to long weekends at the University of Oregon's Pine Mountain Observatory. Each seminar is led by an experienced observer or group of observers who guide high school and college students through the scientific process from observations to publication. The students (anywhere from half a dozen to twenty in number) participate in and contribute to every step. Being a coauthor on one or more research papers offers students an advantage on college and scholarship applications. Similarly, graduate schools often prefer students with research experience. Many topics of research are appropriate for these short-courses including variable star, exoplanet, and asteroid photometry. However, the most successful topic has been visual double stars because the observations required are straitforward and the equipment is relatively inexpensive. The Journal of Double Star Observations is also welcoming of student research and provides swift publication. A detailed description of the short-course seminars can be found in the recent Collins Foundation Press volume titled Small Telescopes and Astronomical Research.

Crack detection using image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moustafa, M.A.A

2010-01-01

This thesis contains five main subjects in eight chapters and two appendices. The first subject discus Wiener filter for filtering images. In the second subject, we examine using different methods, as Steepest Descent Algorithm (SDA) and the Wavelet Transformation, to detect and filling the cracks, and it's applications in different areas as Nano technology and Bio-technology. In third subject, we attempt to find 3-D images from 1-D or 2-D images using texture mapping with Open Gl under Visual C ++ language programming. The fourth subject consists of the process of using the image warping methods for finding the depth of 2-D images using affine transformation, bilinear transformation, projective mapping, Mosaic warping and similarity transformation. More details about this subject will be discussed below. The fifth subject, the Bezier curves and surface, will be discussed in details. The methods for creating Bezier curves and surface with unknown distribution, using only control points. At the end of our discussion we will obtain the solid form, using the so called NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline); which depends on: the degree of freedom, control points, knots, and an evaluation rule; and is defined as a mathematical representation of 3-D geometry that can accurately describe any shape from a simple 2-D line, circle, arc, or curve to the most complex 3-D organic free-form surface or (solid) which depends on finding the Bezier curve and creating family of curves (surface), then filling in between to obtain the solid form. Another representation for this subject is concerned with building 3D geometric models from physical objects using image-based techniques. The advantage of image techniques is that they require no expensive equipment; we use NURBS, subdivision surface and mesh for finding the depth of any image with one still view or 2D image. The quality of filtering depends on the way the data is incorporated into the model. The data should be treated with

The Hunt for Pristine Cretaceous Astronomical Rhythms at Demerara Rise (Cenomanian-Coniacian)

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, C.; Meyers, S. R.

2014-12-01

Rhythmic Upper Cretaceous strata from Demerara Rise (ODP leg 207) preserve a strong astronomical signature, and this attribute has facilitated the development of continuous astrochronologies to refine the geologic time scale and calibrate Late Cretaceous biogeochemical events. While the mere identification of astronomical rhythms is a crucial first step in many deep-time paleoceanographic investigations, accurate evaluation of often subtle amplitude and frequency modulations are required to: (1) robustly constrain the linkage between climate and sedimentation, and (2) evaluate the plausibility of different theoretical astrodynamical models. The availability of a wide range of geophysical, lithologic and geochemical data from multiple sites drilled at Demerara Rise - when coupled with recent innovations in the statistical analysis of cyclostratigraphic data - provides an opportunity to hunt for the most pristine record of Cretaceous astronomical rhythms at a tropical Atlantic location. To do so, a statistical metric is developed to evaluate the "internal" consistency of hypothesized astronomical rhythms observed in each data set, particularly with regard to the expected astronomical amplitude modulations. In this presentation, we focus on how the new analysis yields refinements to the existing astrochronologies, provides constraints on the linkages between climate and sedimentation (including the deposition of organic carbon-rich sediments at Demerara Rise), and allows a quantitative evaluation of the continuity of deposition across sites at multiple temporal scales.

Astronomical fire: Richard Carrington and the solar flare of 1859.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Stuart

2007-09-01

An explosion on the Sun in 1859, serendipitously witnessed by amateur astronomer Richard Carrington, plunged telegraphic communications into chaos and bathed two thirds of the Earth's skies in aurorae. Explaining what happened to the Sun and how it could affect Earth, 93 million miles away, helped change the direction of astronomy. From being concerned principally with charting the stars to aid navigation, astronomers became increasingly concerned with what the celestial objects were, how they behaved and how they might affect life on Earth.

JIP: Java image processing on the Internet

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Dongyan; Lin, Bo; Zhang, Jun

1998-12-01

In this paper, we present JIP - Java Image Processing on the Internet, a new Internet based application for remote education and software presentation. JIP offers an integrate learning environment on the Internet where remote users not only can share static HTML documents and lectures notes, but also can run and reuse dynamic distributed software components, without having the source code or any extra work of software compilation, installation and configuration. By implementing a platform-independent distributed computational model, local computational resources are consumed instead of the resources on a central server. As an extended Java applet, JIP allows users to selected local image files on their computers or specify any image on the Internet using an URL as input. Multimedia lectures such as streaming video/audio and digital images are integrated into JIP and intelligently associated with specific image processing functions. Watching demonstrations an practicing the functions with user-selected input data dramatically encourages leaning interest, while promoting the understanding of image processing theory. The JIP framework can be easily applied to other subjects in education or software presentation, such as digital signal processing, business, mathematics, physics, or other areas such as employee training and charged software consumption.

Multispectral image enhancement processing for microsat-borne imager

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Jianying; Tan, Zheng; Lv, Qunbo; Pei, Linlin

2017-10-01

With the rapid development of remote sensing imaging technology, the micro satellite, one kind of tiny spacecraft, appears during the past few years. A good many studies contribute to dwarfing satellites for imaging purpose. Generally speaking, micro satellites weigh less than 100 kilograms, even less than 50 kilograms, which are slightly larger or smaller than the common miniature refrigerators. However, the optical system design is hard to be perfect due to the satellite room and weight limitation. In most cases, the unprocessed data captured by the imager on the microsatellite cannot meet the application need. Spatial resolution is the key problem. As for remote sensing applications, the higher spatial resolution of images we gain, the wider fields we can apply them. Consequently, how to utilize super resolution (SR) and image fusion to enhance the quality of imagery deserves studying. Our team, the Key Laboratory of Computational Optical Imaging Technology, Academy Opto-Electronics, is devoted to designing high-performance microsat-borne imagers and high-efficiency image processing algorithms. This paper addresses a multispectral image enhancement framework for space-borne imagery, jointing the pan-sharpening and super resolution techniques to deal with the spatial resolution shortcoming of microsatellites. We test the remote sensing images acquired by CX6-02 satellite and give the SR performance. The experiments illustrate the proposed approach provides high-quality images.

Advanced Secure Optical Image Processing for Communications

Science.gov (United States)

Al Falou, Ayman

2018-04-01

New image processing tools and data-processing network systems have considerably increased the volume of transmitted information such as 2D and 3D images with high resolution. Thus, more complex networks and long processing times become necessary, and high image quality and transmission speeds are requested for an increasing number of applications. To satisfy these two requests, several either numerical or optical solutions were offered separately. This book explores both alternatives and describes research works that are converging towards optical/numerical hybrid solutions for high volume signal and image processing and transmission. Without being limited to hybrid approaches, the latter are particularly investigated in this book in the purpose of combining the advantages of both techniques. Additionally, pure numerical or optical solutions are also considered since they emphasize the advantages of one of the two approaches separately.

PARAGON-IPS: A Portable Imaging Software System For Multiple Generations Of Image Processing Hardware

Science.gov (United States)

Montelione, John

1989-07-01

Paragon-IPS is a comprehensive software system which is available on virtually all generations of image processing hardware. It is designed for an image processing department or a scientist and engineer who is doing image processing full-time. It is being used by leading R&D labs in government agencies and Fortune 500 companies. Applications include reconnaissance, non-destructive testing, remote sensing, medical imaging, etc.

Flame analysis using image processing techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Her Jie, Albert Chang; Zamli, Ahmad Faizal Ahmad; Zulazlan Shah Zulkifli, Ahmad; Yee, Joanne Lim Mun; Lim, Mooktzeng

2018-04-01

This paper presents image processing techniques with the use of fuzzy logic and neural network approach to perform flame analysis. Flame diagnostic is important in the industry to extract relevant information from flame images. Experiment test is carried out in a model industrial burner with different flow rates. Flame features such as luminous and spectral parameters are extracted using image processing and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Flame images are acquired using FLIR infrared camera. Non-linearities such as thermal acoustic oscillations and background noise affect the stability of flame. Flame velocity is one of the important characteristics that determines stability of flame. In this paper, an image processing method is proposed to determine flame velocity. Power spectral density (PSD) graph is a good tool for vibration analysis where flame stability can be approximated. However, a more intelligent diagnostic system is needed to automatically determine flame stability. In this paper, flame features of different flow rates are compared and analyzed. The selected flame features are used as inputs to the proposed fuzzy inference system to determine flame stability. Neural network is used to test the performance of the fuzzy inference system.

An integral design strategy combining optical system and image processing to obtain high resolution images

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jiaoyang; Wang, Lin; Yang, Ying; Gong, Rui; Shao, Xiaopeng; Liang, Chao; Xu, Jun

2016-05-01

In this paper, an integral design that combines optical system with image processing is introduced to obtain high resolution images, and the performance is evaluated and demonstrated. Traditional imaging methods often separate the two technical procedures of optical system design and imaging processing, resulting in the failures in efficient cooperation between the optical and digital elements. Therefore, an innovative approach is presented to combine the merit function during optical design together with the constraint conditions of image processing algorithms. Specifically, an optical imaging system with low resolution is designed to collect the image signals which are indispensable for imaging processing, while the ultimate goal is to obtain high resolution images from the final system. In order to optimize the global performance, the optimization function of ZEMAX software is utilized and the number of optimization cycles is controlled. Then Wiener filter algorithm is adopted to process the image simulation and mean squared error (MSE) is taken as evaluation criterion. The results show that, although the optical figures of merit for the optical imaging systems is not the best, it can provide image signals that are more suitable for image processing. In conclusion. The integral design of optical system and image processing can search out the overall optimal solution which is missed by the traditional design methods. Especially, when designing some complex optical system, this integral design strategy has obvious advantages to simplify structure and reduce cost, as well as to gain high resolution images simultaneously, which has a promising perspective of industrial application.

Entropy-Based Block Processing for Satellite Image Registration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ikhyun Lee

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Image registration is an important task in many computer vision applications such as fusion systems, 3D shape recovery and earth observation. Particularly, registering satellite images is challenging and time-consuming due to limited resources and large image size. In such scenario, state-of-the-art image registration methods such as scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT may not be suitable due to high processing time. In this paper, we propose an algorithm based on block processing via entropy to register satellite images. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated using different real images. The comparative analysis shows that it not only reduces the processing time but also enhances the accuracy.

The League of Astronomers: Outreach

Science.gov (United States)

Paat, Anthony; Brandel, A.; Schmitz, D.; Sharma, R.; Thomas, N. H.; Trujillo, J.; Laws, C. S.; Astronomers, League of

2014-01-01

The University of Washington League of Astronomers (LOA) is an organization comprised of University of Washington (UW) undergraduate students. Our main goal is to share our interest in astronomy with the UW community and with the general public. The LOA hosts star parties on the UW campus and collaborates with the Seattle Astronomical Society (SAS) on larger Seattle-area star parties. At the star parties, we strive to teach our local community about what they can view in our night sky. LOA members share knowledge of how to locate constellations and use a star wheel. The relationship the LOA has with members of SAS increases both the number of events and people we are able to reach. Since the cloudy skies of the Northwest prevent winter star parties, we therefore focus our outreach on the UW Mobile Planetarium, an inflatable dome system utilizing Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope (WWT) software. The mobile planetarium brings astronomy into the classrooms of schools unable to travel to the UW on-campus planetarium. Members of the LOA volunteer their time towards this project and we make up the majority of the Mobile Planetarium volunteers. Our outreach efforts allow us to connect with the community and enhance our own knowledge of astronomy.

Astronomers in the Chemist's War

Science.gov (United States)

Trimble, Virginia L.

2012-01-01

World War II, with radar, rockets, and "atomic" bombs was the physicists' war. And many of us know, or think we know, what our more senior colleagues did during it, with Hubble and Hoffleit at Aberdeen; M. Schwarzschild on active duty in Italy; Bondi, Gold, and Hoyle hunkered down in Dunsfeld, Surrey, talking about radar, and perhaps steady state; Greenstein and Henyey designing all-sky cameras; and many astronomers teaching navigation. World War I was The Chemists' War, featuring poison gases, the need to produce liquid fuels from coal on one side of the English Channel and to replace previously-imported dyesstuffs on the other. The talke will focus on what astronomers did and had done to them between 1914 and 1919, from Freundlich (taken prisoner on an eclipse expedition days after the outbreak of hostilities) to Edwin Hubble, returning from France without ever having quite reached the front lines. Other events bore richer fruit (Hale and the National Research Council), but very few of the stories are happy ones. Most of us have neither first nor second hand memories of The Chemists' War, but I had the pleasure of dining with a former Freundlich student a couple of weeks ago.

The Pan-STARRS PS1 Image Processing Pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Magnier, E.

The Pan-STARRS PS1 Image Processing Pipeline (IPP) performs the image processing and data analysis tasks needed to enable the scientific use of the images obtained by the Pan-STARRS PS1 prototype telescope. The primary goals of the IPP are to process the science images from the Pan-STARRS telescopes and make the results available to other systems within Pan-STARRS. It also is responsible for combining all of the science images in a given filter into a single representation of the non-variable component of the night sky defined as the "Static Sky". To achieve these goals, the IPP also performs other analysis functions to generate the calibrations needed in the science image processing, and to occasionally use the derived data to generate improved astrometric and photometric reference catalogs. It also provides the infrastructure needed to store the incoming data and the resulting data products. The IPP inherits lessons learned, and in some cases code and prototype code, from several other astronomy image analysis systems, including Imcat (Kaiser), the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (REF), the Elixir system (Magnier & Cuillandre), and Vista (Tonry). Imcat and Vista have a large number of robust image processing functions. SDSS has demonstrated a working analysis pipeline and large-scale databasesystem for a dedicated project. The Elixir system has demonstrated an automatic image processing system and an object database system for operational usage. This talk will present an overview of the IPP architecture, functional flow, code development structure, and selected analysis algorithms. Also discussed is the HW highly parallel HW configuration necessary to support PS1 operational requirements. Finally, results are presented of the processing of images collected during PS1 early commissioning tasks utilizing the Pan-STARRS Test Camera #3.

Galactic archaeology for amateur astronomers: RR Lyrae stars as tracers of the Milky Way formation

Science.gov (United States)

Carballo-Bello, Julio A.; Martínez-Delgado, David; Fliri, Jürgen

2011-06-01

Cosmological models predict that large galaxies like the Milky Way formed from the accretion of smaller stellar systems. The most spectacular of these merger events are stellar tidal streams, rivers of stars and dark matter that envelop the discs of spiral galaxies. We present a research project for a collaboration with amateur astronomers in the study of the formation process of our Galaxy. The main objective is the search for RR Lyrae variable stars in the known stellar streams (Sagitarius, Monoceros, Orphan, etc) a project that can be carried out using small telescopes. The catalogue of candidate variable stars were selected from SDSS data based in colour criteria and it will be sent to interested amateur astronomers who wish to participate in scientific research in one of the most active and competitive topics in Galactic astronomy.

A Document Imaging Technique for Implementing Electronic Loan Approval Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Manikandan

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The image processing is one of the leading technologies of computer applications. Image processing is a type of signal processing, the input for image processor is an image or video frame and the output will be an image or subset of image [1]. Computer graphics and computer vision process uses an image processing techniques. Image processing systems are used in various environments like medical fields, computer-aided design (CAD, research fields, crime investigation fields and military fields. In this paper, we proposed a document image processing technique, for establishing electronic loan approval process (E-LAP [2]. Loan approval process has been tedious process, the E-LAP system attempts to reduce the complexity of loan approval process. Customers have to login to fill the loan application form online with all details and submit the form. The loan department then processes the submitted form and then sends an acknowledgement mail via the E-LAP to the requested customer with the details about list of documents required for the loan approval process [3]. The approaching customer can upload the scanned copies of all required documents. All this interaction between customer and bank take place using an E-LAP system.

Automatic tissue image segmentation based on image processing and deep learning

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Zhenglun; Luo, Junyi; Xu, Shengpu; Li, Ting

2018-02-01

Image segmentation plays an important role in multimodality imaging, especially in fusion structural images offered by CT, MRI with functional images collected by optical technologies or other novel imaging technologies. Plus, image segmentation also provides detailed structure description for quantitative visualization of treating light distribution in the human body when incorporated with 3D light transport simulation method. Here we used image enhancement, operators, and morphometry methods to extract the accurate contours of different tissues such as skull, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) on 5 fMRI head image datasets. Then we utilized convolutional neural network to realize automatic segmentation of images in a deep learning way. We also introduced parallel computing. Such approaches greatly reduced the processing time compared to manual and semi-automatic segmentation and is of great importance in improving speed and accuracy as more and more samples being learned. Our results can be used as a criteria when diagnosing diseases such as cerebral atrophy, which is caused by pathological changes in gray matter or white matter. We demonstrated the great potential of such image processing and deep leaning combined automatic tissue image segmentation in personalized medicine, especially in monitoring, and treatments.

Digital image processing in neutron radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koerner, S.

2000-11-01

Neutron radiography is a method for the visualization of the macroscopic inner-structure and material distributions of various samples. The basic experimental arrangement consists of a neutron source, a collimator functioning as beam formatting assembly and of a plane position sensitive integrating detector. The object is placed between the collimator exit and the detector, which records a two dimensional image. This image contains information about the composition and structure of the sample-interior, as a result of the interaction of neutrons by penetrating matter. Due to rapid developments of detector and computer technology as well as deployments in the field of digital image processing, new technologies are nowadays available which have the potential to improve the performance of neutron radiographic investigations enormously. Therefore, the aim of this work was to develop a state-of-the art digital imaging device, suitable for the two neutron radiography stations located at the 250 kW TRIGA Mark II reactor at the Atominstitut der Oesterreichischen Universitaeten and furthermore, to identify and develop two and three dimensional digital image processing methods suitable for neutron radiographic and tomographic applications, and to implement and optimize them within data processing strategies. The first step was the development of a new imaging device fulfilling the requirements of a high reproducibility, easy handling, high spatial resolution, a large dynamic range, high efficiency and a good linearity. The detector output should be inherently digitized. The key components of the detector system selected on the basis of these requirements consist of a neutron sensitive scintillator screen, a CCD-camera and a mirror to reflect the light emitted by the scintillator to the CCD-camera. This detector design enables to place the camera out of the direct neutron beam. The whole assembly is placed in a light shielded aluminum box. The camera is controlled by a

Digital image processing in neutron radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koerner, S.

2000-11-01

Neutron radiography is a method for the visualization of the macroscopic inner-structure and material distributions of various materials. The basic experimental arrangement consists of a neutron source, a collimator functioning as beam formatting assembly and of a plane position sensitive integrating detector. The object is placed between the collimator exit and the detector, which records a two dimensional image. This image contains information about the composition and structure of the sample-interior, as a result of the interaction of neutrons by penetrating matter. Due to rapid developments of detector and computer technology as well as deployments in the field of digital image processing, new technologies are nowadays available which have the potential to improve the performance of neutron radiographic investigations enormously. Therefore, the aim of this work was to develop a state-of-the art digital imaging device, suitable for the two neutron radiography stations located at the 250 kW TRIGA Mark II reactor at the Atominstitut der Oesterreichischen Universitaeten and furthermore, to identify and develop two and three dimensional digital image processing methods suitable for neutron radiographic and tomographic applications, and to implement and optimize them within data processing strategies. The first step was the development of a new imaging device fulfilling the requirements of a high reproducibility, easy handling, high spatial resolution, a large dynamic range, high efficiency and a good linearity. The detector output should be inherently digitized. The key components of the detector system selected on the basis of these requirements consist of a neutron sensitive scintillator screen, a CCD-camera and a mirror to reflect the light emitted by the scintillator to the CCD-camera. This detector design enables to place the camera out of the direct neutron beam. The whole assembly is placed in a light shielded aluminum box. The camera is controlled by a

Astronomical chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Klemperer, William

2011-01-01

The discovery of polar polyatomic molecules in higher-density regions of the interstellar medium by means of their rotational emission detected by radioastronomy has changed our conception of the universe from essentially atomic to highly molecular. We discuss models for molecule formation, emphasizing the general lack of thermodynamic equilibrium. Detailed chemical kinetics is needed to understand molecule formation as well as destruction. Ion molecule reactions appear to be an important class for the generally low temperatures of the interstellar medium. The need for the intrinsically high-quality factor of rotational transitions to definitively pin down molecular emitters has been well established by radioastronomy. The observation of abundant molecular ions both positive and, as recently observed, negative provides benchmarks for chemical kinetic schemes. Of considerable importance in guiding our understanding of astronomical chemistry is the fact that the larger molecules (with more than five atoms) are all organic.

"She is an astronomer" in Spain; the International Year of Astronomy 2009 and beyond

Science.gov (United States)

Márquez, I.

2011-11-01

The work of the Spanish node for the IYA2009 Cornerstoneproject, "She is an Astronomer" is presented. Our team developedseveral projects with the common goal of promoting gender equality andwomen participation in professional and amateur astronomy, andsupporting the training of young women researchers andtechnologists. The main ones were: 1)Calendar "Women astronomerswho made history". We highlighted exceptional women, fromdifferent epochs and countries, whose contributions to theadvancement of science deserve to transcend anonymity and occupy aplace in history.2) "Women in the stars" was a series of 8 TV programsdevoted to the contribution of Spanish women astronomers, made incollaboration with the UNED.3) "Women in Spanish Astronomy: analysis of a peculiar situation: A universe to discover", was the first sociological study of this type, including quantitative and qualitative (individual and group interviews) analyses. 4) The exhibit "She Astronomer", was aimed at teaching astronomy from a new perspective: the relevant contributions by women astronomers from different times and places.The main aims of the "Commission for Women and Astronomy",recently created within the Spanish Astronomical Society (SEA), are alsodescribed.

The caracol tower at chichen itza: an ancient astronomical observatory?

Science.gov (United States)

Aveni, A F; Gibbs, S L; Hartung, H

1975-06-06

Although our investigations reveal a number of significant astronomical events coinciding with many of the measured alignments presented in Table 1, not every alignment appears to have an astronomical match which we can recognize. It may be that only some of the sighting possibilities we have discussed were actually functional. Moreover, our search of significant astronomical events to match the alignments has included only those which seem of obvious functional importance to us: sun, moon, and planetary extremes and the setting positions of the brightest stars. We have emphasized those celestial bodies which are documented in the literature as having been of importance. Perhaps hitherto unrecognized constellations were sighted in the windows, perhaps fainter stars, the heliacal rising and setting times of which could have served to mark important dates in the calendar. While we propose no grand cosmic scheme for the astronomical design of the Caracol it can be inferred that the building, apart from being a monument related to Quetzalcoatl, was erected primarily for the purpose of embodying in its architecture certain significant astronomical event alignments, in the same sense that a modern astronomical ephemeris exhibits information of importance to us in the keeping of the current calendar. There are examples in the Mesoamerican historical literature of deliberate attempts to align buildings with astronomical directions of importance. For example, Maudslay (33) quotes Father Motolinia, who tells us that in Tenochtitlan the festival called Tlacaxipeualistli "took place when the sun stood in the middle of Huicholobos, which was at the equinox, and because it was a little out of the straight, Montezuma wished to pull it down and set it right." According to Maudslay, worshipers were probably facing east to watch the sun rise between the two oratories on the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan at the time of the equinox. The directions of the faces of the Lower and Upper

Astronomical Research Institute Photometric Results

Science.gov (United States)

Linder, Tyler R.; Sampson, Ryan; Holmes, Robert

2013-01-01

The Astronomical Research Institute (ARI) conducts astrometric and photometric studies of asteroids with a concentration on near-Earth objects (NEOs). A 0.76-m autoscope was used for photometric studies of seven asteroids of which two were main-belt targets and five were NEOs, including one potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA). These objects are: 3122 Florence, 3960 Chaliubieju, 5143 Heracles, (6455) 1992 HE, (36284) 2000 DM8, (62128) 2000 SO1, and 2010 LF86.

Image Harvest: an open-source platform for high-throughput plant image processing and analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Knecht, Avi C.; Campbell, Malachy T.; Caprez, Adam; Swanson, David R.; Walia, Harkamal

2016-01-01

High-throughput plant phenotyping is an effective approach to bridge the genotype-to-phenotype gap in crops. Phenomics experiments typically result in large-scale image datasets, which are not amenable for processing on desktop computers, thus creating a bottleneck in the image-analysis pipeline. Here, we present an open-source, flexible image-analysis framework, called Image Harvest (IH), for processing images originating from high-throughput plant phenotyping platforms. Image Harvest is developed to perform parallel processing on computing grids and provides an integrated feature for metadata extraction from large-scale file organization. Moreover, the integration of IH with the Open Science Grid provides academic researchers with the computational resources required for processing large image datasets at no cost. Image Harvest also offers functionalities to extract digital traits from images to interpret plant architecture-related characteristics. To demonstrate the applications of these digital traits, a rice (Oryza sativa) diversity panel was phenotyped and genome-wide association mapping was performed using digital traits that are used to describe different plant ideotypes. Three major quantitative trait loci were identified on rice chromosomes 4 and 6, which co-localize with quantitative trait loci known to regulate agronomically important traits in rice. Image Harvest is an open-source software for high-throughput image processing that requires a minimal learning curve for plant biologists to analyzephenomics datasets. PMID:27141917

Image processing techniques for remote sensing data

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

RameshKumar, M.R.

interpretation and for processing of scene data for autonomous machine perception. The technique of digital image processing are used for' automatic character/pattern recognition, industrial robots for product assembly and inspection, military recognizance... and spatial co-ordinates into discrete components. The mathematical concepts involved are the sampling and transform theory. Two dimensional transforms are used for image enhancement, restoration, encoding and description too. The main objective of the image...

Integrating digital topology in image-processing libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamy, Julien

2007-01-01

This paper describes a method to integrate digital topology informations in image-processing libraries. This additional information allows a library user to write algorithms respecting topological constraints, for example, a seed fill or a skeletonization algorithm. As digital topology is absent from most image-processing libraries, such constraints cannot be fulfilled. We describe and give code samples for all the structures necessary for this integration, and show a use case in the form of a homotopic thinning filter inside ITK. The obtained filter can be up to a hundred times as fast as ITK's thinning filter and works for any image dimension. This paper mainly deals of integration within ITK, but can be adapted with only minor modifications to other image-processing libraries.

Astronomy textbook images: do they really help students?

Science.gov (United States)

Testa, Italo; Leccia, Silvio; Puddu, Emanuella

2014-05-01

In this paper we present a study on the difficulties secondary school students experience in interpreting textbook images of elementary astronomical phenomena, namely, the changing of the seasons, Sun and lunar eclipses and Moon phases. Six images from a commonly used textbook in Italian secondary schools were selected. Interviews of 45 min about the astronomical concepts related to the images were carried out with eighteen students attending the last year of secondary school (aged 17-18). Students’ responses were analyzed through a semiotic framework based on the different types of visual representation structures. We found that the wide range of difficulties shown by students come from naïve or alternative ideas due to incorrect or inadequate geometric models of the addressed phenomena. As a primary implication of this study, we suggest that teachers should pay attention to specific iconic features of the discussed images, e.g., the compositional structure and the presence of real/symbolic elements.

Advances in low-level color image processing