The North American Astronomical Photographic Plate Center

Session 57.03. Wednesday, June 2, 2004 204th Meeting

of the American Astronomical Society

A Not-for-Profit Public Foundation

www.pari.edu

J. D. Cline, M. W. Castelaz, T. Crowley (PARI)

E. Griffin (DAO)

W. Osborn (CMU)

One-Minute OverviewOne-Minute Overview Observations in digital form have become an

essential element of modern astronomical research.

At present, generally only recent observations are available digitally - the rich older collections of observations are largely available only on archived photographic plates.

These photographs constitute an enormously important and, for the large part, unrepeatable resource for research, but many plate archives are currently being neglected and their information may be lost.

International concurrence is mounting to rescue, preserve and catalog the plates, and to preserve their information through digitization. Digitization permits development of an easily accessible public database of images and spectra for worldwide retrieval and use.

The task of digitizing the photographic material is large but uncomplicated, and is fully feasible with modern technology.

Is digitizing old plates worth Is digitizing old plates worth the effort? A few examples of the effort? A few examples of research based on archived research based on archived

plate collectionsplate collections

Gamma Ray Bursts Historical Data

Long-term Star Variability

Re-analysis of old observations of currently interesting object that include:

• Near-Earth Asteroids

• BL Lac Objects

• Novae

What is being done to What is being done to preserve and digitize preserve and digitize astronomical platesastronomical plates

A number of projects of plate preservation and digitization are currently active. These are summarized in Table 1.

Project URL Location

IAU Preservation & Digitization of Photographic Plates Working Group

www.inasan.rssi.ru/iau/iau5/tgpdpp.html

UCCLE Direct Astronomical Plate Archive Centre

udapac.oma.be/~fido/ovid.html Royal Observatory of Belgium

Wide-Field Plate Database

www.skyarchive.org Institute of AstronomyBulgarian Academy of Sciences

Spectroscopic Virtual Observatory

www.spectraheritage.org/details.html

Dominion Astrophysical Observatory

The Plate Collection of theNantucket Maria Mitchell Association

www.aas.org/%7Epboyce/mma/plates.htm

Maria Mitchell Association4 Vestal St., Nantucket, MA 02554

Table 1. Some Examples of Plate Preservation & Table 1. Some Examples of Plate Preservation & Digitization ProjectsDigitization Projects

The Center is Being Developed in Four Phases:

I. Acquisition, Storage and Indexing

II. Local Measurements and Linking with Other Plate Libraries

III. Digitization

IV. Web Image Database

The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) is the home to a new initiative, called the North American Center of Astronomical Photographic Plate Preservation.

The goal is to be a collection, preservation, and distribution center for digitized images of astronomical plates

Why a Center at PARI?Why a Center at PARI?

• PARI is a natural home for a plate archive, offering physically secure and abundant environmentally controlled space

• PARI is well suited to serve as a distribution center for digitized images, provide available space and Internet 2 infrastructure.

• The Center at PARI is also a long-term repository for unwanted direct and objective prism plate collections currently stored in North America, complementing the work of the Spectroscopic Virtual Observatory (DAO, Canada), whose focus is digitizing slit spectra plates from archives worldwide.

Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute

PARI is a not-for-profit public foundation dedicated to providing research and educational access to radio and optical astronomy for a broad cross-section of users.PARI is located on 200 acres in the Pisgah National Forest in western North CarolinaThe PARI Campus is relatively free of light and radio interference.

N

PARI Meets the Requirements PARI Meets the Requirements for Facilities and Storage Areafor Facilities and Storage Area

A secure area with controlled access Backup power for the entire site Location with small probability of

flood, earthquake, or fire Several thousand square feet of floor

space A clean, relative dust-free environment

with control of humidity, temperature and protection from direct sunlight

Space for a high resolution scanner and densitometer

A solid foundation for the digitizing instrument

High speed internet access Space for servers and storage media

Funding RequirementsFunding Requirements

To fully function as a world-wide distribution center of digitized data from astronomical plates, the Plate Center at PARI requires funding for:

•Personnel

•Acquisition of plates

•A scanner

•Data storage and Network

•Electricity, Heating, Humidity and air conditioning

Those preserving their plate collections at PARI are asked to work with the PARI staff to seek grants and donations for funding to support effort.

1. Acquisition

A. Contact PARI (mcastelaz@pari.edu) with the following information:

1. Number of plates

2. Plate Dimensions

3. Type: Objective Prism or Direct

4. Observatory and Telescope used

5. Plate observer/author/log book

6. Sky Coverage

7. Storage for Plates

8. Coordination of shipping of plates:

a. Schedule for Shipping

b. Costs and Funding

PHASE I

B. Ship plates to PARI

1. Box Plates

a. Align plates neatly against each other within their box to eliminate side-to-side movement of individual plates

b. Insert corrugated cardboard filler to prevent side-to-side plate movement or end-to-end shifting

2. Transportation

a. Use trucks with air ride suspensions if at all possible

b. Stack boxes no more than two high

3. Items to be included with plates:

• Copy of Logs

• Cabinets/shelves

4. Plates will be stored at the Center in their original cabinets if available

2. Relevant information is catalogued and indexed on the Internet

Relevant Information for the Index

Observatory and telescope

Plate observer/author

Plate center coordinates (RA-DEC) from center of plate “Equinox”

Object/field name and Unique plate identifier Filter used

Date (yyyymmdd)

Beginning of exposure time in UTC

Continued…

Duration of the exposure in seconds

Emulsion type

Plate size

Multiplicity of the exposure

Object prism indicated

Temperature and humidity

Seeing and transparency

Plate quality

Image Quality

Notes/remarks

3. Secure Long Term Funding

To be an archival resource harnessed by present and future generations of astronomers

To be a resource for Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, as well as History of Science.

PHASE II Local Measurements and

Linking to Other Plate Libraries

Measuring machines currently at PARI include (Thanks to Vanderbilt University)

Grant Line Measuring Comparator

Becker Iris Diaphram Photometer

Acquire other measuring machines

Setup lab space to include

Internet connection

Table and desk space

Document scanner

Temperature and humidity control

Easy physical access to plates

PHASE III

Digitization

Plate Digitization RequirementsPlate Digitization Requirements

Digitizer Requirements• Scanning resolution similar to

resolution of a photographic plate• Preserve astrometric precision of

the plate

Data Storage Requirements• Potentially 3,000,000 plates

Subscribe to the Astronomical Photographic Plate Listerserver. Go tohttp://mail.pari.edu/mailman/listinfo/astro-plates

Funding will support

•Personnel•Acquisition of plates•A scanner•Computer and data storage•Electricity •Network connection fees•Heating and air conditioning

Phase IV will be digitization and development of a public web accessible database of images.

• Begin service of higher resolution scanning per astronomer request.

• Continue to acquire plates • Increase Center staff

PHASE IV