The online tool to create a complete star catalog for the upcoming TMT's Adaptive Optics (AO) system can enable this ground-based telescope.
India is a key partner in the TMT project, with the India TMT Center at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bengaluru leading the national collaboration.
"The AOS system at TMT, known as the Narrow Field Infrared Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS), will be enhanced by a Laser Guide Star (LGS) facility," said Dr Sarang Shah of the IIA.
This facility will project up to nine lasers into the sky to create artificial guide stars.
"However, atmospheric turbulence affects these laser beams, so measuring the tilt of the atmospheric tip is uncertain. To correct for these effects, the AO system requires feedback from three real stars, known as Natural Guide Stars (NGS)." Shah said in research published in Astronomical Magazine.
Telescopes on the Earth's surface face the challenge of atmospheric distortion, which affects the quality of images captured. The TMT will use an adaptive optics system that continuously detects and adjusts atmospheric changes to produce high-quality images. IIA researchers and their collaborators have developed automated code that can be used as an online tool to create a catalog of near-infrared (NIR) stars.
"The automated code can calculate the expected near-infrared magnitudes of stellar sources identified in various optical sky surveys using their optical magnitudes," said Dr. Smitha Subramanian, co-author and IIA professor.
Our method shows great promise in generating the all-sky NIR star catalog needed before the first TMT run in the next decade, Shah added.
India's participation in the TMT collaboration involves three institutes: the IIA, Bengaluru, the Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, and the Aryabhatta Research Institute for Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital.
India is a key partner in the TMT project, with the India TMT Center at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bengaluru leading the national collaboration.
"The AOS system at TMT, known as the Narrow Field Infrared Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS), will be enhanced by a Laser Guide Star (LGS) facility," said Dr Sarang Shah of the IIA.
This facility will project up to nine lasers into the sky to create artificial guide stars.
"However, atmospheric turbulence affects these laser beams, so measuring the tilt of the atmospheric tip is uncertain. To correct for these effects, the AO system requires feedback from three real stars, known as Natural Guide Stars (NGS)." Shah said in research published in Astronomical Magazine.
Telescopes on the Earth's surface face the challenge of atmospheric distortion, which affects the quality of images captured. The TMT will use an adaptive optics system that continuously detects and adjusts atmospheric changes to produce high-quality images. IIA researchers and their collaborators have developed automated code that can be used as an online tool to create a catalog of near-infrared (NIR) stars.
"The automated code can calculate the expected near-infrared magnitudes of stellar sources identified in various optical sky surveys using their optical magnitudes," said Dr. Smitha Subramanian, co-author and IIA professor.
Our method shows great promise in generating the all-sky NIR star catalog needed before the first TMT run in the next decade, Shah added.
India's participation in the TMT collaboration involves three institutes: the IIA, Bengaluru, the Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, and the Aryabhatta Research Institute for Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital.
