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A.C. Becker (Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies)
This talk will present methods and results from the Deep Lens Survey (DLS) transient program. The DLS core science objectives require repeated visits to the same part of the sky to accumulate weak lensing shear signal. The detection of this effect requires a deep combination of these images, thus suppressing variability information. In our transient detection mode, we instead difference these images from each other, on the mountain top and in real-time, immediately revealing new and unknown optical transients.
We define our observing strategy to allow detection of transients on minute, day, month and year timescales. Using the NOAO 4-m telescopes, we are sensitive to transients between 15th and 25th mag. We distribute candidate supernovae to the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT), and moving objects to the Minor Planet Center (MPC). Time-critical events are also submitted to the Variable Star Network (VSNET) and the GRB Coordinates Network (GCN). All transients are immediately posted on the web at http://dls.bell-labs.com/transients.html. We plan on using the DLS techniques, and lessons learned, to develop and optimize operation of the LSST transient pipeline and distribution of data on transient objects. The LSST will cover over 10,000 square degrees of the sky, detecting and monitoring transients down to 24th mag on 20 sec timescales. On longer timescales, the LSST will be sensitive to known types of optical transients out to redshifts of about 5.
If you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to http://dls.bell-labs.com/transients.html. This link was provided by the author. When you follow it, you will leave the Web site for this meeting; to return, you should use the Back comand on your browser.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: acbecker@physics.bell-labs.com
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.