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
Vaccari M
(2010)
The HerMES SPIRE submillimeter local luminosity function
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Starkenburg E
(2010)
The NIR Ca ii triplet at low metallicity Searching for extremely low-metallicity stars in classical dwarf galaxies
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
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
Letarte B
(2010)
A high-resolution VLT/FLAMES study of individual stars in the centre of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Eales S
(2010)
First results from HerMES on the evolution of the submillimetre luminosity function
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Mackey A
(2010)
EVIDENCE FOR AN ACCRETION ORIGIN FOR THE OUTER HALO GLOBULAR CLUSTER SYSTEM OF M31
in The Astrophysical Journal
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
Barrado D
(2010)
XMM- Newton investigations of the Lambda Orionis star-forming region (XILO) I. The young cluster Collinder 69?
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Belokurov V
(2010)
BIG FISH, LITTLE FISH: TWO NEW ULTRA-FAINT SATELLITES OF THE MILKY WAY
in The Astrophysical Journal
Niederste-Ostholt M
(2010)
The tidal tails of the ultrafaint globular cluster Palomar 1 Tidal tails of Palomar 1
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Sale S
(2010)
The structure of the outer Galactic disc as revealed by IPHAS early A stars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Peñarrubia J
(2010)
Was the progenitor of the Sagittarius stream a disc galaxy?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Hatziminaoglou E
(2010)
HerMES: Far infrared properties of known AGN in the HerMES fields
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Thompson M
(2010)
A search for debris disks in the Herschel -ATLAS
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Smart R
(2010)
The distance to the cool T9 brown dwarf ULAS J003402.77-005206.7
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Minniti D
(2010)
VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV): The public ESO near-IR variability survey of the Milky Way
in New Astronomy
Peñarrubia J
(2011)
NO EVIDENCE FOR INTERNAL ROTATION IN THE REMNANT CORE OF THE SAGITTARIUS DWARF
in The Astrophysical Journal
Minniti D.
(2011)
The VVV Survey of the Milky Way: first year results
in Boletin de la Asociacion Argentina de Astronomia La Plata Argentina
Casewell S
(2011)
Methane band and Spitzer mid-IR imaging of L and T dwarf candidates in the Pleiades Methane and Spitzer imaging of the Pleiades
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Richardson J
(2011)
PAndAS' PROGENY: EXTENDING THE M31 DWARF GALAXY CABAL
in The Astrophysical Journal
González-Solares E
(2011)
Wide-field optical imaging on ELAIS N1, ELAIS N2, First Look Survey and Lockman Hole: observations and source catalogues Wide-field optical imaging
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Collins M
(2011)
The scatter about the 'Universal' dwarf spheroidal mass profile: a kinematic study of the M31 satellites And V and And VI Scatter about Universal dwarf spheroidal mass
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
Preibisch T
(2011)
Detection of a large massive circumstellar disk around a high-mass young stellar object in the Carina Nebula
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Rossi A
(2011)
The Swift/ Fermi GRB 080928 from 1 eV to 150 keV
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Clemens C
(2011)
GRB 071028B, a burst behind large amounts of dust in an unabsorbed galaxy
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Cockcroft R
(2011)
THE M33 GLOBULAR CLUSTER SYSTEM WITH PAndAS DATA: THE LAST OUTER HALO CLUSTER?
in The Astrophysical Journal
Collins M
(2011)
The kinematic identification of a thick stellar disc in M31?† The thick disc in M31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Scholz A
(2011)
Rotation periods for very low mass stars in Praesepe Rotation periods in Praesepe
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Battaglia G
(2011)
Study of the Sextans dwarf spheroidal galaxy from the DART Ca ii triplet survey? The DART survey of the Sextans dSph
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Broos P
(2011)
A CATALOG OF CHANDRA X-RAY SOURCES IN THE CARINA NEBULA
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Gavazzi R
(2011)
MODELING OF THE HERMES SUBMILLIMETER SOURCE LENSED BY A DARK MATTER DOMINATED FOREGROUND GROUP OF GALAXIES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Filgas R
(2011)
The two-component jet of GRB 080413B
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Preibisch T
(2011)
NEAR-INFRARED PROPERTIES OF THE X-RAY-EMITTING YOUNG STELLAR OBJECTS IN THE CARINA NEBULA
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Krühler T
(2011)
Photometric redshifts for gamma-ray burst afterglows from GROND and Swift /UVOT
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Conn A
(2011)
A BAYESIAN APPROACH TO LOCATING THE RED GIANT BRANCH TIP MAGNITUDE. I.
in The Astrophysical Journal
Afonso P
(2011)
GRB 050502B optical afterglow: a jet-break at high redshift
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Brasseur C
(2011)
A DEEP PHOTOMETRIC LOOK AT TWO OF ANDROMEDA'S DWARF SPHEROIDALS: X AND XVII
in The Astrophysical Journal
Burgarella D
(2011)
HerMES: LYMAN BREAK GALAXIES INDIVIDUALLY DETECTED AT 0.7 ? z ? 2.0 IN GOODS-N WITH HERSCHEL /SPIRE
in The Astrophysical Journal
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
Cioni M
(2011)
The VMC survey I. Strategy and first data
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Falder J
(2011)
THE SPITZER EXTRAGALACTIC REPRESENTATIVE VOLUME SURVEY: THE ENVIRONMENTS OF HIGH- z SDSS QUASI-STELLAR OBJECTS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Tafelmeyer M
(2011)
Extremely metal-poor stars in classical dwarf spheroidal galaxies: Fornax, Sculptor, and Sextans ( Corrigendum )
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Sakari C
(2011)
DETAILED CHEMICAL ABUNDANCES OF FOUR STARS IN THE UNUSUAL GLOBULAR CLUSTER PALOMAR 1
in The Astrophysical Journal
Afonso J
(2011)
ULTRA STEEP SPECTRUM RADIO SOURCES IN THE LOCKMAN HOLE: SERVS IDENTIFICATIONS AND REDSHIFT DISTRIBUTION AT THE FAINTEST RADIO FLUXES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Barker M
(2011)
The star formation history in the far outer disc of M33 M33's outer disc star formation history
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
Brewer B
(2011)
Modelling of the complex CASSOWARY/SLUGS gravitational lenses Modelling of SLUGS gravitational lenses
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nardini M
(2011)
On the nature of the extremely fast optical rebrightening of the afterglow of GRB 081029
in Astronomy & 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 |