AAS 207th Meeting, 8-12 January 2006
Session 180 Supernovae and Cosmology
Poster, Thursday, 9:20am-4:00pm, January 12, 2006, Exhibit Hall

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[180.01] Improving the Image Simulations for SNAP

M.A. Ferry (UC Berkeley, Caltech, JPL), J. Rhodes (JPL, Caltech), R. Massey, F.W. High (Caltech), SNAP Collaboration

Dark energy has simultaneously been the most elusive and important phenomenon in the shaping of the universe. A case for a proposed space-telescope called SNAP (SuperNova Acceleration Probe) is being built, a cruicial component of which is image simulations. One method for this is "Shapelets," developed at Caltech. Shapelets form an orthonormal basis and are uniquely able to represent realistic space images and create new images based on real ones. Previously, simulations were created using the Hubble Deep Field (HDF) as a basis set in one band. In this project, image simulations are created using the 4 bands of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (UDF) as a basis set. This provides a better basis for simulations because: (1) the survey is deeper, (2) it has a higher resolution, and (3) this is a step closer to simulating the 9 bands of SNAP. Image simulations are achieved by detecting sources in the UDF, decomposing them into shapelets, tweaking their parameters in realistic ways, and recomposing them into new images. Morphological tests were also run to verify the realism of the simulations. These simulations have a wide variety of uses, including the ability to simulate weak gravitational lensing.


The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: mferry@astro.caltech.edu

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