A Center for Archiving and Digitization of Photographic Plates at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute J. D. Cline, M. W. Castelaz (Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute) E. Griffin (Dominion Astrophysical Observatory) W. Osborn (Central Michigan University) AAS 203rd Meeting. 5 January Session Accessing Data Bases

One-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 would also permit 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.  We propose to establish a center for plate preservation and digitization.

Is digitizing old plates worth the effort? A few examples of research based on archived plate 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 preserve and digitize astronomical plates A number of projects of plate preservation and digitization are currently active. These are summarized in Table 1. The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) is establishing a new initiative, called the Center of Astronomical Plate Preservation (CAPP). The intention is to develop CAPP into -A long-term repository for unwanted plate collections, in particular of direct and objective prism plates currently stored in North American observatories -A center for digitizing plates and plate collections -A center for providing digitized plate images to the astronomical community via the internet.

ProjectURLLocation IAU Preservation & Digitization of Photographic Plates Working Group Uccle Direct Astronomical Plate Archive Centre udapac.oma.be/~fido/ovid.htmlRoyal Observatory of Belgium Av. Circulaire, 3 - Ringlaan BRUXELLES - BRUSSEL Wide-Field Plate Databasewww.skyarchive.orgInstitute of Astronomy Bulgarian Academy of Sciences 72 Tsarigradsko Shosse Blvd. BG-1784 SOFIA, Bulgaria Spectroscopic Virtual Observatory Elizabeth Griffin Dominion Astrophysical Observatory Victoria, British Columbia, Canada The Plate Collection of the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Mitchell Association 4 Vestal St., Nantucket, MA Table 1. Some Plate Preservation & Digitization Projects

Why a Center at PARI? PARI is a natural home for a plates archive, offering physically secure and abundant environmentally controlled space PARI is well suited to serve as a distribution center for digitized images, having available space and Internet 2 infrastructure. CAPP at PARI will concentrate on direct and objective prism plates, thus 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 Carolina The PARI Campus is relatively free of light and radio interference. N

PARI can provide the requirements for Long term preservation of plates Digitization of the photographic images Distribution of digital images to the astronomical community worldwide The infrastructure which is worth the equivalent of a university campus building and network

Plate Preservation Requirements Facility Requirements  A secure area with controlled access  Backup power for several hundred hours  Location with small probability of flood, earthquake, or fire.  Several thousand square feet of floor space Storage Area Requirements  A clean, relative dust-free environment.  Maintain selected humidity  Maintain selected temperature  Protect from sunlight  Storage containers protected from local environmental changes  Storage containers to provide vertical support and easy access

Plate Digitization Requirements Facility Requirements  Space for a high resolution scanner or densitometer  A solid foundation for the digitizing instrument  A secure area with controlled access 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 at 1 GB each Interactive Database Requirements  High speed internet access  Space for servers and storage media

Funding Requirements To fully function as a world-wide distribution center of digitized data from preserved astronomical plates, the Plate Center at PARI requires funding to support: Personnel Acquisition of plates A scanner Computer and data storage Electricity Network connection fees Heating 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.

Specifications of the PARI Building Available for the Plate Preservation and Digitization Center Two story, 20,400 square feet, building Approx. 3,400 square feet of office space Approx. 8,500 sq. ft. raised flooring on the upper level Approx. 3,600 sq. ft. warehouse area on lower level Approx. 4,900 sq. ft. of mechanicals and power distribution Upper floor ceiling height is 10 feet and 12 feet on lower level Five computer power conditioning control centers Telephone lines to the site consist of both copper and fiber cable. Six fibers can support OC192 to local telco

Two 75 ton water chillers, one 30 ton water chiller, one 10 ton water chiller, and one 129,000 BTU closed loop refrigerant system; two hot water boilers, oil-fired, 945,000 BTU/hour each; steam boiler, oil-fired, 460,000 BTU/hour; and underfloor climate control units Building 4 is equipped with an early warning fire detection and fire alarm system that is tied to a central system on the site, and is also equipped with an automatic sprinkler-fire protection system A local 235kw back-up generator can provide weeks of redundant power if required Adequate parking is available immediately adjacent to the building

 PARI's network consists of an ATM core network with connections to the various computers and equipment via ethernet and ATM OC-3, OC-12, and OC-48.  The ATM core features carrier-grade redundancy, including hot failover power supplies, switching engines, and network links. Power supplies, switching engines, and interface cards are hot swappable, providing faulty unit replacement without network downtime.  All core switches, servers, and critical equipment are protected from power failure using carrier-grade UPS with extended run-time.  Connections from the Internet or Internet 2 using the current system design. The PARI Networking and Internet Capability

First Year: Acquire plates that may be lost and establish the Center Scan plates with a high quality off-the-shelf scanner to produce an internet based thumbnail catalog. Build the website and database for the catalog. Employ one person to scan, catalog, and support requests to store plates or access plates requested from astronomers who have searched the catalog. Secure funding in start-up grants, long-term funding Three Year Goals Second Year: Begin Digitization Begin service of higher resolution scanning per astronomer request. Continue to acquire plates from other locations Increase center staff by one. Third Year: Achieve a goal of operation as a collection, preservation, and distribution center for digitized images.

The Current Process for Preserving Plates at PARI Contact PARI with the following information The number and size of plates. Cabinet size(s). Plates need to come with their storage cabinets. Approximate weight of the cabinets including the plates. Provide funding strategies for acquisition, transportation costs, and preservation. Contact Information: Dr. Michael Castelaz One PARI Drive Rosman, NC Ph: Fax: A Not-for-Profit Public Foundation