1. www.g-vo.org AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, 24.9.2009 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)

2. www.g-vo.org AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, 24.9.2009 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 1895-1920

3. www.g-vo.org AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, 24.9.2009 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

4. www.g-vo.org AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, 24.9.2009 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 2006-2009: Scanning of the remaining plates 2009: VO publication Computer

5. www.g-vo.org AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, 24.9.2009 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

6. www.g-vo.org AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, 24.9.2009 Completion of CdC 1987-1994: 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

7. www.g-vo.org AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, 24.9.2009 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 10.1002/asna.200911245

8. www.g-vo.org AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, 24.9.2009

9. www.g-vo.org AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, 24.9.2009 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

10. www.g-vo.org AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, 24.9.2009 Publication Storage on a grid connected web server, mirror at the GAVO DC “Homepage” (http://vo.aip.de/plates) with complete listing and descriptions Search interface and VO connection via GAVO DC

11. www.g-vo.org AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, 24.9.2009 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

12. www.g-vo.org AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, 24.9.2009 Example

13. www.g-vo.org AG Herbsttagung 2009 – e-Science Splinter Meeting Tools and Applications – Potsdam, 24.9.2009 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