AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, Digitising Historical Astronomical Data Iliya Nickelt (AIP/GAVO), Markus Demleitner (ZAH/GAVO) Milcho Tsvetkov, Katya Tsvetkova (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) Harry Enke, Petra Böhm (AIP)
AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, Carte du Ciel – a historic project first all sky photographic survey initiated 1887 by A. Mouchez, Obs. Paris 35 cm refractor (Henry), 2’x2’ plate observed stars of >14 th m, “Astrographic Catalogue” (AC): all stars down to 11 th m (~5-6 min exp) main work carried out
AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, Contributions by Observatory Hyderabad north ; 149,000 Uccle ; 117,000 Oxford 2 ; 117,000 Oxford 1 ; 277,000 Paris ; 253,000 Bordeaux ; 224,000 Toulouse ; 270,000 Algiers ; 200,000 Tacuba ; 312,000 Hyderabad south ; 293,000 Cordoba ; 309,000 Perth ; 229,000 Perth/Edinburgh ; 139,000 Cape Town ; 540,000 Sydney ; 430,000 Melbourne ; 218,000 Potsdam ; 108,000 Vatican ; 256,000 San Fernando ; 225,000 Greenwich ; 179,000 Catania ; 163,000 Helsingfors ; 159,000 Total: 5,167,000 Stars
AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, Potsdam participation “Potsdam Zone”: 32°-39° = 1232 areas Observations started 1893 ~400 plates observed and reduced by about 20 observers and computers until 1899 During and after wartime, observation were carried on by 4 observers, 1913 to 1924 ~1000 Plates were never reduced In 1932, the IAU decided to pass on the work for the zone to Oxford and Hyderabad : Scanning of the remaining plates 2009: VO publication Computer
AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, War & Science In WW I many astronomers joined the army Resources got scarce, such as plates Potsdam observation were carried on by 4 observers from 1913 to 1924 Multiple exposures Plates were never reduced In 1932, the IAU decided to pass on the work for the zone to Oxford and Hyderabad
AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, Completion of CdC : digitisation of the printed catalogues (Moskau) 1998: reduction at USNO with Hipparcos reference stars, resulting in absolute positions Potsdam: 2006: Scanning of the remaining 1000 plates in Potsdam 2009: VO publication
AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, Digitisation Off the shelf flatbed scanner, 2400 dpi FITS, TIFF, JPEG Log book snapshots About 12 PM of work Financed by DFG project 436 BUL 113/110 - Bulgarian academy of sciences, see also AN 330, No. 8, 840 ff. (2009) DOI /asna
AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam,
AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, Metadata Collect as much meta data as possible, redundancy Due to project history, different people involved, errors, software: meta data must be homogenised Of 977 plates, 955 (98%) exist as scans and 948 (97%) are published
AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, Publication Storage on a grid connected web server, mirror at the GAVO DC “Homepage” ( with complete listing and descriptions Search interface and VO connection via GAVO DC
AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, GAVO Data center Project description for registry entry Metadata extraction Astrometric determination via astrometry.net GAVO DC publication infrastructure delivers registration, cone search, image cutouts for SIAP, etc. Total: About 3 PMs of work
AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, Example
AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, Scientific results? Frost, E. B., ApJ 12, 297 (1900) Precision: ~1’’ ? Photometry not impossible, re-scanning suggested Multiple exposures make automatic extraction difficult However, historic material may still be useful for special cases … if data is detectable by VO A centralised approach (Europe?) is preferrable