VISTA science exploitation
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Institute of Astronomy
Abstract
Observational astronomy in the UK is in a strong position with the advent of the pioneering near-infrared (NIR) survey facilities of VISTA and WFCAM and the opportunities for detailed followup provided by membership of ESO. Significant advances in astronomy have always relied heavily on surveys of the sky from radio, through optical to X-ray wavelengths and the new era of deep NIR surveys is the latest stage in this progression. It is also one where the UK has both a substantial lead and the requisite expertise in the Cambridge and Edinburgh survey units to exploit this advance in wide field astronomy. Recognising the benefits of this, ESO are now also heavily committed to public surveys through the VST and VISTA telescopes and to wider exploitation of expertly processed and archived science data products. In the modern era wide-field digital survey cameras produce enormous volumes of data that are way beyond the resource capacity and analysis skills of non-specialist astronomers. Systematic pipeline processing, calibration and legacy curation of observational data are a fundamental requirement of an end-to-end integrated observing strategy and a crucial component of a global Virtual Observatory. The Vista Data Flow System (VDFS) has been developed to allow an optimal ergonomic solution to this avalanche of data, through access to multi-Tbyte data storage systems, expert pipeline processing systems and science user support. Continuing development of the VDFS processing and analysis pipelines will not only benefit the UK astronomy community now, but will also be relevant in the era of Extremely Large Telescopes and the radio Square Kilometer Array, by further developing the infrastructure to analyse the data from these facilities. This standard grant proposal is a bid for resource to complete the full development of the VDFS and thereby provide fully integrated data processing support for the UK-led VISTA public surveys. This also includes the operational equipment necessary to carry out the data processing and store the data products. By building on the tremendous advances already made at CASU this will enable a cost-effective and optimal solution to the problem of converting the enormous quantities of VISTA data to fully calibrated science-ready products ripe for exploitation.
People |
ORCID iD |
Michael Irwin (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Bayliss K
(2012)
[O ii ] emitters at z ~ 4.6 in the GOODS field: a homogeneous measure of evolving star formation [O ii ] emitters at z ~ 4.6 in the GOODS field
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bayliss K
(2011)
[O ii] emitters in the GOODS field at z~ 1.85: a homogeneous measure of evolving star formation [O ii] emitters in the GOODS field at z ~ 1.85
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Conn A
(2011)
A BAYESIAN APPROACH TO LOCATING THE RED GIANT BRANCH TIP MAGNITUDE. I.
in The Astrophysical Journal
Conn A
(2012)
A BAYESIAN APPROACH TO LOCATING THE RED GIANT BRANCH TIP MAGNITUDE. II. DISTANCES TO THE SATELLITES OF M31
in The Astrophysical Journal
Broos P
(2011)
A CATALOG OF CHANDRA X-RAY SOURCES IN THE CARINA NEBULA
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Brasseur C
(2011)
A DEEP PHOTOMETRIC LOOK AT TWO OF ANDROMEDA'S DWARF SPHEROIDALS: X AND XVII
in The Astrophysical Journal
Rossi A
(2012)
A deep search for the host galaxies of gamma-ray bursts with no detected optical afterglow
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Bernard E
(2012)
A deep, wide-field study of Holmberg II with Suprime-Cam: evidence for ram pressure stripping A wide-field study of Holmberg II
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Verbeek K
(2012)
A first catalogue of automatically selected ultraviolet-excess sources from the UVEX survey A first catalogue of UVEX UV-excess sources
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Letarte B
(2010)
A high-resolution VLT/FLAMES study of individual stars in the centre of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Letarte B
(2009)
A Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopic survey of the faint Mâ??31 satellites Andâ??XV and Andâ??XVI
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Collins M
(2010)
A Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopic survey of the faint M31 satellites And IX, And XI, And XII and And XIII?† The faint dSphs of M31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mortlock DJ
(2011)
A luminous quasar at a redshift of z = 7.085.
in Nature
Mislis D
(2012)
A massive exoplanet candidate around KOI-13: independent confirmation by ellipsoidal variations A massive exoplanet candidate around KOI-13
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gauza B
(2012)
A new L dwarf member of the moderately metal poor triple system HD 221356 A new L dwarf member of the HD 221356 system
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Casewell S
(2012)
A photometric and astrometric investigation of the brown dwarfs in Blanco 1 Blanco 1 brown dwarfs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cucchiara A
(2011)
A PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFT OF z ~ 9.4 FOR GRB 090429B
in The Astrophysical Journal
Wesson R
(2008)
A Planetary Nebula around Nova V458 Vulpeculae Undergoing Flash Ionization
in The Astrophysical Journal
Thompson M
(2010)
A search for debris disks in the Herschel -ATLAS
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Koch A
(2009)
A SPECTROSCOPIC CONFIRMATION OF THE BOOTES II DWARF SPHEROIDAL
in The Astrophysical Journal
Collins M
(2009)
A spectroscopic survey of EC4, an extended cluster in Andromeda's halo
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McConnachie A
(2008)
A Trio of New Local Group Galaxies with Extreme Properties
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ibata RA
(2013)
A vast, thin plane of corotating dwarf galaxies orbiting the Andromeda galaxy.
in Nature
Battaglia G
(2012)
A wide-area view of the Phoenix dwarf galaxy from Very Large Telescope/FORS imaging? Survey of the Phoenix transition type
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Barb
(2011)
Advances in the VVV-2MASS photometric transformations from Galactic disk CASU catalogues: Milky Way demographics with the VVV survey
in Boletin de la Asociacion Argentina de Astronomia La Plata Argentina
L. Cioni M
(2009)
AGB stars as tracers of metallicity and mean age across M 33
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Richardson J
(2009)
An HST /ACS view of the inhomogeneous outer halo of M31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Irwin M
(2008)
Andromeda XVII: A New Low-Luminosity Satellite of M31
in The Astrophysical Journal
Belokurov V
(2010)
BIG FISH, LITTLE FISH: TWO NEW ULTRA-FAINT SATELLITES OF THE MILKY WAY
in The Astrophysical Journal
Mapelli M
(2009)
Blue straggler stars in dwarf spheroidal galaxies - II. Sculptor and Fornax
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Viironen K
(2009)
Candidate planetary nebulae in the IPHAS photometric catalogue
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Aoki W
(2009)
Chemical composition of extremely metal-poor stars in the Sextans dwarf spheroidal galaxy
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Rowan-Robinson M
(2010)
Cold dust and young starbursts: spectral energy distributions of Herschel SPIRE sources from the HerMES survey? Cold dust and young starbursts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mackey A
(2010)
Deep Gemini/GMOS imaging of an extremely isolated globular cluster in the Local Group
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
De Boer T
(2011)
Deep wide-field imaging down to the oldest main sequence turn-offs in the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Preibisch T
(2011)
Deep wide-field near-infrared survey of the Carina Nebula
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Ibata R
(2009)
DENSITY AND KINEMATIC CUSPS IN M54 AT THE HEART OF THE SAGITTARIUS DWARF GALAXY: EVIDENCE FOR A 10 4 M ? BLACK HOLE?
in The Astrophysical Journal
Carlberg R
(2011)
DENSITY VARIATIONS IN THE NW STAR STREAM OF M31
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sakari C
(2011)
DETAILED CHEMICAL ABUNDANCES OF FOUR STARS IN THE UNUSUAL GLOBULAR CLUSTER PALOMAR 1
in The Astrophysical Journal
Preibisch T
(2011)
Detection of a large massive circumstellar disk around a high-mass young stellar object in the Carina Nebula
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Birkby J
(2012)
Discovery and characterization of detached M dwarf eclipsing binaries in the WFCAM Transit Survey WTS: masses and radii of M dwarf EBs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Conley A
(2011)
DISCOVERY OF A MULTIPLY LENSED SUBMILLIMETER GALAXY IN EARLY HerMES HERSCHEL/SPIRE * DATA
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Chapman S
(2013)
Dynamics in the satellite system of Triangulum: is And XXII a dwarf satellite of M33?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mislis D
(2012)
Estimating transiting exoplanet masses from precise optical photometry
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mackey A
(2010)
EVIDENCE FOR AN ACCRETION ORIGIN FOR THE OUTER HALO GLOBULAR CLUSTER SYSTEM OF M31
in The Astrophysical Journal
Deleuil M
(2009)
EXO-DAT : AN INFORMATION SYSTEM IN SUPPORT OF THE CoRoT /EXOPLANET SCIENCE
in The Astronomical Journal
Huxor A
(2011)
Exploring the properties of the M31 halo globular cluster system The M31 halo globular cluster system
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tafelmeyer M
(2010)
Extremely metal-poor stars in classical dwarf spheroidal galaxies: Fornax, Sculptor, and Sextans
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Tafelmeyer M
(2011)
Extremely metal-poor stars in classical dwarf spheroidal galaxies: Fornax, Sculptor, and Sextans ( Corrigendum )
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Eales S
(2010)
First results from HerMES on the evolution of the submillimetre luminosity function
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Description | This grant was awarded for completing the development of the Vista Data Flow System (VDFS). The VDFS has been developed to allow an optimal ergonomic solution to dealing with the avalanche of data (up to 1TB per night) generated on the VISTA survey telescope. Systematic pipeline processing, calibration and legacy curation of observational data are a fundamental requirement of an end-to-end integrated observing strategy and vital for exploiting the full science capabilities of this type of facility. The success of this programme is manifest in the range of science exploitation lead by UK PIs that it is supporting. Members of CASU have played a leading role in survey astronomy, not only by pioneering techniques to optimally extract knowledge from survey data, but also by taking a proactive role in exploiting this information to produce world-leading research. This synergy and feedback between data processing and exploitation has been crucial for the success of the programme. |
Exploitation Route | The infrastructure required for optimal exploitation of astronomical survey data has lead to many innovative solutions to data processing and analysis problems which have wide applicability across all image processing domains. As an example, we have been carrying out a collaborative medical imaging research project helping develop analysis tools applicable to Tissue Micro Arrays used for research into cancer diagnostic markers. |
Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Other |
URL | http://casu.ast.cam.ac.uk/surveys-projects/ |
Description | Science exploitation of the VISTA survey facility was contingent on delivery and refinement of a high throughput data processing pipeline, the VISTA Data Flow System (VDFS). The VDFS has been used to optimally process and calibrate ALL science data taken on the VISTA survey telescope located at ESO's Paranal observatory. CASU are responsible for the development, delivery, operational deployment and maintenance of the processing pipelines that constitute the VDFS. All of the UK-lead VISTA public surveys are completely dependent on the VDFS data products for their own science programmes and also for fulfilling the requirement on the survey PIs to deliver science grade products back to ESO in exchange for further telescope time allocations. |
First Year Of Impact | 2009 |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Other |
Impact Types | Cultural |
Description | Vista Data Flow System |
Organisation | Royal Observatory Edinburgh |
Department | Wide Field Astronomy Unit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Collaborative venture to process and archive ALL data obtained on the VISTA telescope run by ESO in Paranal. |
Collaborator Contribution | CASU handle all the data processing and calibration. |
Impact | All of the VISTA public survey programmes are dependent on this collaboration. |
Start Year | 2009 |