1

The Future of Astrometric EducationThe Future of Astrometric Education

William van AltenaYale University

and

Magda StavinschiAstronomical Institute of the

Romanian Academyand

Chair of IAU Division I Working Group on:"Future Development of Ground-Based Astrometry"

Presented at IAU Jont Discussion !6, Prague, 23 August 2006

2

Future Opportunities in AstrometryFuture Opportunities in Astrometry• SIM - 2010-2015 launch - several thousand stars

– 5 to 10 µ arcsec positions, parallaxes and proper motions.

• GAIA - 2011 launch - 109 stars– 20 µ arcsec positions, parallaxes and proper motions.

• Other space missions: HST, Spitzer, JWT, SNAP– potential for milliarcsec positions, parallaxes and proper motions.

• Ground-based telescopes– milliarcsec position, parallax and proper motion potential.– Medium telescopes: 3 to 4-m telescopes with Gigapixel cameras.– Large telescopes: Keck, Gemini, VLT, GTC, Magellan, MMT, LBT, …– Future telescopes: Pan-STARRS (now), LSST and large-scale surveys.

3

A look-back at Astrometric successesA look-back at Astrometric successes• Hipparcos and the HST

– Hipparcos failed to achieve its proper orbit and mostthought that it was “lost”.

– HST launched with severe spherical aberration thatseriously degraded all observations.

• Both were eventually successful, but why?– Employed full-time astrometric specialists dedicated

to optimizing and maintaining the instrumentation anddata pipelines for astrometry.

4

A Problem for AstronomyA Problem for Astronomy• The US is:

– Not educating students in Astrometry.– Not employing astrometrists in teaching positions.– Not using astrometrists talents in major research

facilities.

• Europe, Asia and Latin America:– Most countries have vital educational programs in

Astrometry, but in nearly all cases, with a decreasingemphasis on Astrometry;

– All hire astrometrists into faculty positions, and keyinstitute positions, but with decreasing frequency.

5

Planning for the FuturePlanning for the Future• Lessons need to be learned

– Leaving instrument design and calibration to externalindividuals is a waste of an expensive resource and ofcommunity time.

• Current practice is to delegate astrometric tasks to whoever isleast busy.

– Learning astrometry when needed is a very wasteful process!

– Someone with astrometric education and skills needs to beplaced in charge of these complex instruments.

• When has the design of a spectrograph been left to anastrometrist?

• When has the photometric calibration of an instrument been leftto an astrometrist?

6

Examples of Wasted Resources• The Gigapixel cameras

– Wide-field correctors result in an OFAD that isextraordinarily difficult to model.

• even for the small fov HST ACS the OFAD providedby the STScI is inadequate.

– Multi-CCD cameras must be modeled with great accuracy.• NOAO Mosaic camera chip-to-chip parameters are

inaccurate.– Determined outside NOAO, but not even used by them.

7

• Top panel: residuals using NOAOchip-to-chip coefficients.

• Bottom panel: residuals usingPlatais coefficients. (Platais, etal. 2002, AJ, 124, 601)

• Not used in NOAO fits headers,why?

– There is no astrometrist atNOAO.

– There is no astrometrist atSTScI.

– There is no astrometrist atKeck.

– There is no astrometrist atMMT.

– There is no astrometrist atLBT.

– There is no astrometrist atMagellan.

– Etc.!

8

Meeting the CommunityMeeting the Community’’s Needss Needs

• Decadal Astronomy Priority Reports– Space Interferometry Mission (SIM)– Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)– Billion dollar projects with Astrometry as major

components.• European Space Agency priority

– GAIA is a billion dollar project with Astrometry as themajor component.

• Infrared, x-ray and gamma-ray satellites all needaccurate star catalogs for the identification oftheir optical counterparts.

9

IAU WORKING GROUP on

"THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF GROUND-BASED ASTROMETRY"

M. Stavinschi, Chair.

Founded in 2000 (IAU GA, Manchester)

Renewed 2003 (IAU GA, Sydney)

10

-- Identify astrometric programs:Identify astrometric programs:--To promote those programs that could utilize under-usedTo promote those programs that could utilize under-usedinstruments, andinstruments, and

--To terminate those programs that have no significant valueTo terminate those programs that have no significant valueto modern astronomy.to modern astronomy.

-- Identify under-used instruments:Identify under-used instruments:--Upgrade instruments where it is not too expensive, andUpgrade instruments where it is not too expensive, and

--Teach students in astronomy how to use telescopes.Teach students in astronomy how to use telescopes.

--These activities could contribute significantly to astronomy.These activities could contribute significantly to astronomy.

Objectives for the Objectives for the FDGBAFDGBA::

11

Astrometric Education in the World

SemesterSemesterSemester

AstrometyAstrometyAstromety

Rama TeixeiraObs. NacionalU. Federal Rio d. J.U. Sao Paulo

Brazil

SemesterFundamental AstrometryMany specialized programs inastrometry and fundamentalreference systems.

Nicole CapitaineJean Arlot

Paris Observatory,Bordeaux, Lille,Nice & Strasbourg

France

SemesterSemesterSemesterSemesterSemester

AstrometryEarth RotationData AnalysisSpherical AstronomyAstron. Reference Systems

Winjing Jin

Zhu Zi

Shanghai Obs.

U. Nanking

China

PlannedAstrometry SeminarRene MendezU. De ChileChile

SemesterAstrometryDimitri PourbaixU. Libre BruxellesBelguim

3Semester2 Semesters

Spherical AstronomyAstrometry

Jesus CalderonU. CordobaArgentina

StudentsDurationCoursesResponderInstitutionCountry

12

Astrometric Education in the World

2 Semesters2 Semesters2 Semesters

Spherical AstronomyPractical AstronomyEphemeris Astronomy

Olga Atanackovic-Vukmanovic

Fac. Math, U.Belgrade

Serbia

52 Semesters1 SemesterMini-Courses

AstrometrySpherical AstronomyAdvanced Topics

Veniamin Vityazev& Irina Kumkova

St. Petersburg& Pulkova Obs.& Inst. Applied Ast.& Moscow St. U.

Russia

4/yr1 SemesterFundamental AstronomyMagda Stavinschi& Mircea Rusu

Romanian AcademyRomania

10103053020

1 Semester/yr1 Sem/5 yr1 Sem/5 yr1 Sem/5 yr1 Week Intens.1 Week Intens.

AstrometryRelativistic AstrometryNumerical AstronomyRotational DynamicsAstrometryAstrometry

Toshio Fukushima& MasanoriMiyamoto

Univ. Tokyo

Grad. U. AdvancedStudiesYamaguchi U.Kagoshima U.

Japan

10SemesterAstrometryMario LattanziTorinoItaly

30Semester2 SemestersSummer course

Space AstrometryFundamental AstronomyAstrometry (planned)

Hartmut JahreissSergei KlionerMichael Geffert

Heidelberg & BonnDresdenHoher List Obs.

Germany

StudentsDurationCoursesResponderInstitutionCountry

13

Astrometric Education in the World

Each yearAstrometry PracticeGennady PiniginKharkov & OdessaNational Univs.

Ukraine

Semester(on demand)

AstrometryLennart LindegrenLund Obs.Sweden

SemesterSpherical AstronomyZeki AsianIstanbul U.Ankara U.Ege U.

Turkey

244

5

1 Semester/2 yr1 Weekintensive3 Weeks/yr4 Weeks/yr1 Week/yr

AstrometryAstrometry WorkshopObservational TechniquesBinary Star SystemsLectures in Lab. CourseLectures in Gal. Str. Course

Bill van Altena

Wayne OsbornHal McAlister& Todd HenrySteven Majewski

Yale University

Central Michigan U.Georgia State U.

U. Virginia

USA

5Semester

SemesterSemester

Fundamental Astronomy and Relativistic Astrometry

AstrometryFundamental Astronomy

Jorge Nunez,Claus Fabricius &Carme JordiMarta Folgueira

U. Barcelona

Madrid

Spain

StudentsDurationCoursesResponderInstitutionCountry

14

Educational Astrometric Workshops

65

40

84

44

3 Days

2 Days

1 Week

1 Week

Astrometry Workshop

Astrometry with SmallTelescopes

Discovering New Worlds Through Astrometry

Basic AstrometricMethods

Carlos Abad

Magda Stavinschi

Dawn Gelino

Bill van Altena

CIDA, Merida,Venezuela

Romanian AcademyBucharest, Romania

Jet Propulsion Lab.Pasadena, Calif. USA

Yale UniversityNew Haven, Conn.USA

AstrometryWorkshops2004/2005

StudentsDurationCoursesResponderInstitutionCountry

15

Summary for Education of Summary for Education of USAUSA AstrometristsAstrometrists

• The last decade– Few lectures on astrometry in an “Observational

Astronomy/Techniques” or “Stellar Populations” course• U. Chicago, Georgia St. U., U. Virginia and Central Michigan U.

– One-semester course every two years at Yale.– One-week educational Workshop at Yale in summer of

2005.• Does this educational effort warrant the expense

of billions of dollars by NASA & NSF on missionssuch as SIM & LSST?– Where will the next generation of astrometrists come

from to safeguard the astrometric integrity of thosemissions?

16

Astrometric Education Astrometric Education Outside the USAOutside the USA

• The last decade

– Universal complaints are voiced outside the USA aboutthe decline of Astrometric education.

• Is this due to the fixed faculty and institute staffing sizeand the growth of Astrophysics at the expense ofAstrometry?

• Decline in astrometric positions must be reversed.

– There is a serious risk of negative impact on Gaia, VLT,Canary Is., etc.

17

• Why do US Universities and Institutes refuse tohire scientists expert in SIM and LSST primarysubject matter?– IAU and AAS members lobbied vigorously for the

projects?– The science was universally regarded as excellent.

• It is time for the Universities andInstitutes in the US to acknowledge theirresponsibilities and make appointments ofqualified astrometrists to their teachingfaculties and to key positions in projects.

18

A ProposalA Proposal

1) The Universities hire qualified astrometrists totheir teaching faculties

– Astrometric science potential is outstanding asdocumented in the Decadal Reports.

2) The Institutes and Observatories hire qualifiedastrometrists to assist with the design,maintenance, upgrading and support oftelescopes and instrumentation.

19

Summer Schools on AstrometrySummer Schools on Astrometry• Jump start the preparation of young

astrometrists:– SIM, GAIA, JWT, OBSS, SNAP, LSST

• Use astrometry as a tool to solve problems at thefrontiers of astrophysics.

• Guiding the astrometric design.• Calibration and quality control.

• Recent summer schools:– Romania (2004) - 40 students.– CIDA, Venezuela (2004) - 65 students.– Yale, USA (2005) - 44 students.– JPL, USA (2005) - 84 students.

2020

July 18-22, 2005July 18-22, 2005Yale UniversityYale University

New Haven, CT, USANew Haven, CT, USA

Yale Summer Workshop onYale Summer Workshop onBasic Astrometric MethodsBasic Astrometric Methods

Supported by:USA NSFYale University Office of Provost Dept. Astronomy

2121

The goal... The goal... to provide an intensive to provide an intensive

introduction to the basic introduction to the basic methods needed to utilize methods needed to utilize

facilities with advanced facilities with advanced astrometric capabilitiesastrometric capabilities.

Syllabus and all lectures are available at:http://www.astro.yale.edu/workshop/2005/

22

Yale Workshop Syllabus (1/4)• Microarcsecond astrometry:

– Opportunities and challenges.• Stellar Positions:

– Primer on spherical astronomy, time and Earth rotation;reference frames and systems, Hipparcos and Gaia,refraction, precession, etc.

• Atmospheric limits to positional precision:– Tip-tilt and adaptive optics correction systems.

• Diffraction-limited imaging:– Speckle Interferometry.– HST and Hipparcos.

23

Yale Workshop Syllabus (2/4)

• Interferometry:– Optical– Radio

• Geometrical optics for Astrometry:– Astrographs, refractors and reflectors.– Aberrations relevant to optical astrometry.

• CCD detectors:– Characterstics.– Image centering algorithms.– Astrometry and photometry with CCD's.

• Time-delayed integration:– CTI, Sloan, and Quest.

24

Yale Workshop Syllabus (3/4)

• From measures to celestial coordinates:– Telescope-modeling techniques.– Extending astrometric calibration regions to fainter

objects and to different passbands.• Calibration of complex instrumental systems:

– HST Fine Guidance Sensors as an example.• Schmidt-based and other survey catalogues:

– GSC, STScI Digital Sky Survey, USNO A2.0 & B-1,UCAC, 2MASS, NPM, SPM, etc.

• HST imaging astrometry and photometry.• Image deconvolution.

25

Yale Workshop Syllabus (4/4)

• Trigonometric Parallaxes:– Calibration of luminosities.– Mass-Luminosity relation.

• Star clusters:– Membership determinations.– Internal motion determinations.

• Solar System astrometry.• Galactic Structure astrometry.• Cosmology astrometry:

– Constraining critical cosmological parameters.

26

A Proposed Syllabus for AstrometryA Proposed Syllabus for Astrometry

• Goal of one semester syllabus:– Expand on the Workshop Syllabus.– Meet the needs of Astronomy by educating

students in astrometric techniques most valuable intheir future careers.

• Syllabus is necessarily selective:– Integrate into the general Astronomy &

Astrophysics curriculum.– Follow by more specialized courses and seminars, if

requested.

27

Comments and Suggestions?Comments and Suggestions?

• Goals of this talk:– Provoke discussion on how we may counter the

disastrous slide of astrometric education.

– Identify methods to solve our common problems.

– Please send your suggestions to the authors at:• Bill van Altena: vanalten@astro.yale.edu, or• Magda Stavinschi: magda@aira.astro.ro

28

Acknowledgements• Colleagues who provided us with

information on the status of astrometriceducation in their institutions andcountries.

• NSF, NASA, ESA, & ESO, who provided uswith outstanding facilities for astrometricresearch.

2929

Astrometry in the Age of the Next Generation Astrometry in the Age of the Next Generation of Large Telescopesof Large Telescopesvan Altena, W. F., Stavinschi, M., 2005ASP Conference Serieseds. P. K. Seidelmann and Alice K. B. Monet

The Future of the Astrometric EducationThe Future of the Astrometric EducationStavinschi, M., van Altena, W.F.Stavinschi, M., van Altena, W.F.Astrometry with Small TelescopesAstrometry with Small Telescopes22 - 23 October 200422 - 23 October 2004Bucharest, RomaniaBucharest, RomaniaRom. Astron. J. 15 (2005), Suppl. Rom. Astron. J. 15 (2005), Suppl.

The Future of the Astrometric EducationThe Future of the Astrometric Educationvan Altena, W. F., Stavinschi, M., 2006van Altena, W. F., Stavinschi, M., 2006Third International Meeting of Dynamical Astronomy inThird International Meeting of Dynamical Astronomy inLatin America (ADeLA-2004)Latin America (ADeLA-2004)Rev. Rev. MexMex. de A&A 25, . de A&A 25, Serie Serie de de ConferenciasConferencias, 25, 61, 2006., 25, 61, 2006.

References