The Palomar Testbed Interferometer Calibrator Catalog
Abstract
The Palomar Testbed Interferometer (PTI) archive of observations between 1998 and 2005 is examined for objects appropriate for calibration of optical long-baseline interferometer observations—stars that are predictably pointlike and single. Approximately 1400 nights of data on 1800 objects were examined for this investigation. We compare those observations to an intensively studied object that is a suitable calibrator, HD 217014, and statistically compare each candidate calibrator to that object by computing both a Mahalanobis distance and a principal component analysis. Our hypothesis is that the frequency distribution of visibility data associated with calibrator stars differs from noncalibrator stars such as binary stars. Spectroscopic binaries resolved by PTI, objects known to be unsuitable for calibrator use, are similarly tested to establish detection limits of this approach. From this investigation, we find more than 350 observed stars suitable for use as calibrators (with an additional ≈140 being rejected), corresponding to ≳95% sky coverage for PTI. This approach is noteworthy in that it rigorously establishes calibration sources through a traceable, empirical methodology, leveraging the predictions of spectral energy distribution modeling but also verifying it with the rich body of PTI's on-sky observations.
Additional Information
© 2008 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2007 April 9, accepted for publication 2007 November 15. This research has made use of NASA's Astrophysics Data System. This research has made use of the SIMBAD and VizieR databases, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France. Photometric data was obtained in part from the General Catalog of Photometric Data (Mermilliod et al.1997). This publication makes use of data products from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, which is a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation. Science operations with PTI are conducted through the efforts of the PTI Collaboration (http://msc.caltech.edu/missions/Palomar), and we acknowledge the invaluable contributions of our PTI colleagues. Funding for PTI was provided to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory under its TOPS (Towards Other Planetary Systems), ASEPS (Astronomical Studies of Extrasolar Planetary Systems), and Origins programs and from the JPL Director's Discretionary Fund. Portions of this work were performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.Attached Files
Published - BELapjss08.pdf
Files
| Name | Size | Download all |
|---|---|---|
|
md5:f06b8951450781a96335a63bf7ee992a
|
614.6 kB | Preview Download |
Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 16199
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20091006-190914568
- JPL Director's Discretionary Fund
- NASA/JPL/Caltech
- Created
-
2009-10-07Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-08Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)