UCAC2 Research Articles

Galactic Kinematics Derived From Data in the RAVE5, UCAC4, PPMXL, and Gaia TGAS Catalogs

The spatial velocities of the stars with high-precision positions, proper motions and parallaxes from the Gaia TGAS catalog and line-of-sight velocities from the RAVE5 catalog are considered. From the sample of 92395 stars with the age estimates we have obtained the following kinematic parameters: (U,V,W)=(9.42,20.34,7.21)+/-0.12,0.10,0.09) km/s, \Omega=26.29+/-0.39 km/s/kpc and \Omega'=-3.89+/-0.08 km/s/kpc^2, where V0=210+/-6 km/s (for adopted R0=8.0+/-0.2 kpc), and the Oort constants A=15.57+/-0.31 km/s/kpc and B=-10.72+/-0.50 km/s/kpc. It is shown that the parameters \Omega and \Omega' are stable to the star age. A comparative analysis of the Bottlinger model parameters obtained separately from the RAVE5 catalog line-of-sight velocities and the Gaia TGAS, UCAC4 and PPMXL catalogs proper motion has been made. It is shown that these parameters are in good agreement with each other when derived from the proper motions of both the terrestrial catalogs and catalog Gaia TGAS. At the same time, it was established that the values of the Bottlinger model parameters obtained from the line-of-sight velocities can differ from the corresponding parameters obtained from the proper motions. The reduction of the line-of-sight velocities from the RAVE5 catalog is proposed for eliminating these differences.

Identification of Stellar Sequences in Various Stellar Systems: ESO65-SC03, Teutsch 106, Turner 6

The spatial morphological study of studied clusters is carried out through the identified probable members within them. The field stars decontamination is performed by the statistical cleaning approach (depends on the magnitude and colour of stars within the field and cluster regions). The CMRD (colour magnitude ratio diagram) approach is used to separate stellar sequences of the cluster systems. The age, distance and reddening of each cluster are estimated through the visual inspection of best fitted isochrone in colour magnitude diagrams(CMDs). The mean proper motion values of clusters are obtained through the extracted data from PPMXL and UCAC4 catalogs. Moreover, these values are varying according to the extracted data-set from these catalogues. This variation is occurred due to their different estimation efficiency of proper motions. The TCR (two colour ratio) and TCMR (two colour magnitude ratio) values of each cluster are determined by utilizing the WISE and PPMXL catalogues, these values are found abnormal for TEUTSCH 106. In addition, the TCMR values are similar to TCR values at longer wavelength, whereas both values are far away to each other at shorter wavelength. The fraction of young stellar objects (YSOs) is also computed for each cluster.

Catalog of equatorial coordinates and B-magnitudes of stars of the Kitab part of the FON project

The processing of the plates of the Kitab part of the FON project has been completed. In total, 1963 plates were processed. The catalog of equatorial coordinates α, δ, and B-magnitudes for 13 413268 stars and galaxies up to B ≤ 17.5 m for the epoch 1984.97 is compiled. The Epson Expression 10000XL scanner with a 1200 dpi scanning mode and a plate size of 30 × 30 cm or 13000 × 13000 pel was used to digitize astronegatives. Coordinates of stars and galaxies are obtained in the Tycho-2 catalog system and B-magnitudes are obtained in the photovoltaic system. The catalog internal accuracy for all objects is σα,δ = 0.23" and σ B = 0.15 m (for stars in the range B = 5 m …14 m , errors are σα,δ = 0.085" and σ B = 0.054 m ) for equatorial coordinates and stellar B-magnitudes, respectively. Convergence between the calculated and reference positions is σα,δ = 0.042", and convergence between photoelectric B-magnitudes is σ B = 0.16 m . Coordinate errors with respect to the UCAC-4 catalog are σα,δ = 0.26" (9892697 or 73.75% of stars and galaxies were identified).

Astrometric Reduction of Cassini ISS Images of Enceladus in 2015 Based on Gaia DR1

AbstractThe Gaia DR1 catalogue stars are taken as reference ones to reduce the Cassini ISS images of Enceladus in 2015, and a total of 494 Cassini-centered astrometric observation are obtained in right ascension(α) and declination (δ) in the international Celestial Reference Frame(ICRF). Compared with JPL ephemerides SAT367, we derive that their mean residuals are a few tens meters in α*cos(δ) and a few kilometers in δ, and their standard deviation is not over 2 kilometers. Compared with the results from UCAC4 catalogue stars, The Gaia DR1 has the equivalent precision of reduction.

UCAC5: New Proper Motions Using Gaia DR1

Abstract New astrometric reductions of the US Naval Observatory CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC) all-sky observations were performed from first principles using the TGAS stars in the 8–11 mag range as the reference star catalog. Significant improvements in the astrometric solutions were obtained, and the UCAC5 catalog of mean positions at a mean epoch near 2001 was generated. By combining UCAC5 with Gaia DR1 data, new proper motions were obtained for over 107 million stars on the Gaia coordinate system, with typical accuracies of 1–2 mas yr−1 (R = 11–15 mag) and about 5 mas yr−1 at 16th mag. Proper motions of most TGAS stars are improved over their Gaia data and the precision level of TGAS proper motions is extended to many millions more, fainter stars. External comparisons were made using stellar cluster fields and extragalactic sources. The TGAS data allow us to derive the limiting precision of the UCAC x, y data, which is significantly better than1/100 pixel.

Image Subtraction Reduction of Open Clusters M35 & NGC 2158 in the K2 Campaign 0 Super Stamp

We observed the open clusters M35 and NGC 2158 during the initial K2 campaign (C0). Reducing these data to high-precision photometric timeseries is challenging due to the wide point-spread function (PSF) and the blending of stellar light in such dense regions. We developed an image-subtraction-based K2 reduction pipeline that is applicable to both crowded and sparse stellar fields. We applied our pipeline to the data-rich C0 K2 super stamp, containing the two open clusters, as well as to the neighboring postage stamps. In this paper, we present our image subtraction reduction pipeline and demonstrate that this technique achieves ultra-high photometric precision for sources in the C0 super stamp. We extract the raw light curves of 3960 stars taken from the UCAC4 and EPIC catalogs and de-trend them for systematic effects. We compare our photometric results with the prior reductions published in the literature. For de-trended TFA-corrected sources in the 12–12.25 magnitude range, we achieve a best 6.5-hour window running rms of 35 ppm, falling to 100 ppm for fainter stars in the 14–14.25 magnitude range. For stars with , our de-trended and 6.5-hour binned light curves achieve the highest photometric precision. Moreover, all our TFA-corrected sources have higher precision on all timescales investigated. This work represents the first published image subtraction analysis of a K2 super stamp. This method will be particularly useful for analyzing the Galactic bulge observations carried out during K2 campaign 9. The raw light curves and the final results of our de-trending processes are publicly available at http://k2.hatsurveys.org/archive/.

CCD astrometric observations of Amalthea and Thebe in the Gaia era

In the framework of the 2014-2015 campaign of mutual events, we observed Jupiter's inner satellites Amalthea (JV) and Thebe (JXIV). We focused on estimating whether the positioning accuracy determined from direct astrometry could compete with that derived from photometric observations of eclipses, for dynamical purposes. We present the analysis of 35 observations of Amalthea and 19 observations of Thebe realized with the 1-m telescope at Pic du Midi observatory during three nights in 2015, January and April. The images were reduced through an optimal process that includes image and spherical corrections using the Gaia-DR1 catalog to provide the most accurate equatorial (RA, Dec) positions. We compared the observed positions of both satellites with the theoretical positions from JPL JUP310 satellite ephemerides and from IMCCE INPOP13c planetary ephemeris. The rms (O-C) in equatorial positions are ±112 mas for the Amalthea observations, or 330 km at Jupiter, and ±90 mas for the Thebe observations, or 270 km at Jupiter. Using the Gaia-DR1 catalog allowed us to eliminate systematic errors due to the star references up to 120 mas, or 350 km at Jupiter, by comparison with the UCAC4 catalog.

Membership Determination of van den Bergh Open Clusters vdB92, vdB146 (NGC 7129) and vdB150

In this paper we study some van den Bergh open clusters combining photometry and astrometry. A model which analyses the proper motion distribution and the stellar density is applied to find the kinematic parameters and stellar membership in the region of the open clusters vdB92, vdB146 (NGC 7129) and vdB150. The astrometric data are obtained from UCAC4 catalogue. The centre coordinates, the components of mean proper motion, the angular diameter and the astrometric members are reported, taking the following values: for vdB92: α=105.97281°±0.13113°, δ=−11.57814°±0.10575°, μαcosδ=−3.46±0.19mas/yr,μδ=1.27±0.19mas/yr, 34', 60 members; for vdB146: α=325.78423°±0.15297°, δ=66.13575°±0.02907°, μαcosδ=−2.71±0.25mas/yr, μδ=−3.32±0.25mas/yr, 9', 5 members; and for vdB150: α=332.22519°±0.06074°, δ=73.40232°±0.0.07789°, μαcosδ=3.07±0.90mas/yr, μδ=4.65±0.90mas/yr, 15', 7 members. The incidence of the proper motion errors in the determination of the cluster parameters and of the stellar membership is analysed and it is found that they do not significantly change. We finally compare the astrometric members with the photometric ones given in the literature.

New astrometric measurement and reduction of USNO photographic observations of the main Saturnian satellites: 1974−1998

Context. Accurate positional measurements of planets and satellites are used to improve our knowledge of their orbits and dynamics, and to infer the accuracy of the planet and satellite ephemerides.Aims. In the framework of the European FP7 ESPaCE program, we provide the positions of Saturn and its main satellites taken with the US Naval Observatory 26-inch refractor from 1974 to 1998.Methods. We measured 526 astrophotographic plates with the digitizer of the Royal Observatory of Belgium and reduced them through an optimal process that includes image, instrumental, and spherical corrections using the UCAC4 catalog to provide the most accurate equatorial (RA, Dec) positions.Results. We compared the observed positions of the satellites with the theoretical positions from INPOP13c and DE432 planetary ephemerides and from NOE-6-2015-SAT and SAT375 satellite ephemerides. The mean post-fit rms residuals in equatorial positions range from ±68 mas for the Titan observations or 400 km at Saturn, to ±100 mas for the Hyperion observations or 600 km at Saturn. The mean post-fit rms intersatellite residuals range from ±46 mas for the Rhea-Titan observations or 280 km at Saturn, to ±72 mas for the Hyperion-Titan observations or 430 km at Saturn.

Astrometric observations of the main Uranian satellites at the Pulkovo Observatory in 2007–2016

In this paper we present the results of the observations of the Uranian satellites made with the 26-in. refractor at the Pulkovo Observatory in 2007–2016. Almost 7000 CCD frames were analyzed and reduced using the UCAC4 catalog. Coordinates of Uranus were determined indirectly using the satellite positions and their ephemeris relative to the planet. The (O-C) differences were calculated for each object using the INPOP13c planetary theory and Lainey's theory of the satellites' motion. The positioning accuracy is better than 0.5arcsec. The mean values of (O-C) do not exceed 0″.1 in RA and DEC correspondingly (Ariel: 0″.043 and −0″.074; Umbriel: 0.″025 and −0.″069; Titania: −0.″009 and −0.″014; Oberon: −0.″001 and −0″.019; Uranus: 0.″002 and −0.″016). They are in a good agreement with the ephemeris.

Observations of the Galilean moons of Jupiter in 2013–2015 at Pulkovo

Observational results are presented for Jupiter and its Galilean moons from the Normal Astrograph at Pulkovo Observatory in 2013–2015. The following data are obtained: 154 positions of the Galilean satellites and 47 calculated positions of Jupiter in the system of the UCAC4 (ICRS, J2000.0) catalogue; the differential coordinates of the satellites relative to one another are determined. The mean errors of the satellites’ normal places in right ascension and declination over the entire observational period are, respectively: eα = 0.0065″ and eδ = 0.0068″, and their standard deviations are σα = 0.0804″ and σδ = 0.0845″. The equatorial coordinates are compared with planetary and satellite motion theories. The average (O–C) residuals in the two coordinates relative to the motion theories are 0.05″ or less. The best agreement with the observations is achieved by a combination of the EPM2011m and V. Lainey-V.2.0|V1.1 motion theories; the average (O–C) residuals are 0.03″ or less. The (O–C) residuals for the features of the positions of Io and Ganymede are comparable with measurement errors. Jupiter’s positions calculated from the observations of the satellites and their theoretical jovicentric coordinates are in good agreement with the motion theories. The (О–С) residuals for Jupiter’s coordinates are, on average, 0.027″ and–0.025″ in the two coordinates.

New orbits of irregular satellites designed for the predictions of stellar occultations up to 2020, based on thousands of new observations

Gomes-J\'unior et al. (2015) published 3613 positions for the 8 largest irregular satellites of Jupiter and 1787 positions for the largest irregular satellite of Saturn, Phoebe. These observations were made between 1995 and 2014 and have an estimated error of about 60 to 80 mas. Based on this set of positions, we derived new orbits for the eight largest irregular satellites of Jupiter: Himalia, Elara, Pasiphae, Carme, Lysithea, Sinope, Ananke and Leda. For Phoebe we updated the ephemeris from Desmars et al. (2013) using 75% more positions than the previous one. Due to their orbital characteristics, it is common belief that the irregular satellites were captured by the giant planets in the early Solar System, but there is no consensus for a single model explaining where they were formed. Size, shape, albedo and composition would help to trace back their true origin, but these physical parameters are yet poorly known for irregular satellites. The observation of stellar occultations would allow for the determination of such parameters. Indeed Jupiter will cross the galactic plane in 2019-2020 and Saturn in 2018, improving a lot the chances of observing such events in the near future. Using the derived ephemerides and the UCAC4 catalogue we managed to identify 5442 candidate stellar occultations between January 2016 and December 2020 for the 9 satellites studied here. We discussed how the successful observation of a stellar occultation by these objects is possible and present some potential occultations.

Improved proper motion determinations for 15 open clusters based on the UCAC4 catalog

The proper motions of 15 nearby (d > 1 kpc) open clusters (OCs) were recalculated using data from the UCAC4 catalog. Only evolved or main sequence stars inside a certain radius from the center of the cluster were used. The results significantly differ from the ones presented by Dias et al. (2014). This could be explained by a different approach in which we take the field star contamination into account. The present work aims to emphasize the importance of applying photometric criteria for the calculation of OC proper motions.

NGC 2548: clumpy spatial and kinematic structure in an intermediate-age Galactic cluster

NGC 2548 is a 400-500 Myr old open cluster with evidence of spatial substructures likely caused by its interaction with the Galactic disk. In this work we use precise astrometric data from the Carte du Ciel - San Fernando (CdC-SF) catalogue to study the clumpy structure in this cluster. We confirm the fragmented structure of NGC 2548 but, additionally, the relatively high precision of our kinematic data lead us to the first detection of substructures in the proper motion space of a stellar cluster. There are three spatially separated cores each of which has its own counterpart in the proper motion distribution. The two main cores lie nearly parallel to the Galactic plane whereas the third one is significantly fainter than the others and it moves toward the Galactic plane separating from the rest of the cluster. We derive core positions and proper motions, as well as the stars belonging to each core.

Digitization and reduction of old astronomical plates of natural satellites

Old astrophotographic plates are precious sources of historical data for astronomical studies, especially regarding the improvement of natural satellite orbits. Today, with the advent of new, accurate techniques, these old data can be re-processed so as to give positions that are much more accurate than those initially obtained. Various recent projects, including our Chinese project, have involved measuring and reducing these old plates again. Here we present a method for measurement and reduction that involves the digitization of plates using an advanced commercial scanner, namely the EPSON 10000 XL. We selected a set of 27 plates of the satellites of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus taken from 1987 to 1990. A total of 125 satellite positions were derived from the new measurement and reduction of these plates using the UCAC4 catalogue. A comparison of the new observed positions with recent ephemerides has shown a general consistency with satellite theory of about 100 mas. The new positions present an accuracy equivalent to the most recent CCD observations, and better than the original positions. Moreover, nearly 30 per cent of the 125 positions obtained in this work are published for the first time here. This paper is a preliminary contribution to the larger project of new measurements and reductions of all the old Chinese plates of natural satellites, which should allow further improvements in the knowledge of the orbits of these satellites.

Observations of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter with Pulkovo Normal Astrograph during 2009–2011

The paper presents the results of observations of Jupiter and its Galilean moons, performed with the Normal Astrograph (D/F=0.33 m/3.5 m, CCD S2C, FOV 18′ × 16′) at Pulkovo observatory during 2009–2011. We obtained 140 positions of the Galilean satellites and 42 calculated positions of Jupiter in the system of UCAC4 (ICRS, J2000.0) catalogue. The equatorial coordinates of satellites have been compared to eight most current theories of planetary and satellite motion. The average residuals between the observed and calculated coordinates (O–C) using the selected theories of motion do not exceed 0.08″. The behavior and magnitudes of the (O–C) residuals in the positions of Ganymede and Callisto satellites show that the theory of their motion was elaborated worse than in the case of Io and Europa satellites. Distribution of the (O-C) residuals for Callisto differs from a normal distribution. Comparison of the calculated equatorial coordinates of Jupiter, based on the observed positions of satellites and their theoretical Jovi-centric coordinates calculated using the INPOP10 theory of planetary motion revealed satisfactory results. The average residuals are, respectively, (O–C)α = 0.040″ and (O–C)δ =–0.053″ assuming the normal distribution law.

High-precision photometry forK2Campaign 1

The two reaction wheel K2 mission promises and has delivered new discoveries in the stellar and exoplanet fields. However, due to the loss of accurate pointing, it also brings new challenges for the data reduction processes. In this paper, we describe a new reduction pipeline for extracting high precision photometry from the K2 dataset, and present public light curves for the K2 Campaign 1 target pixel dataset. Key to our reduction is the derivation of global astrometric solutions from the target stamps, from which accurate centroids are passed on for high precision photometry extraction. We extract target light curves for sources from a combined UCAC4 and EPIC catalogue -- this includes not only primary targets of the K2 campaign 1, but also any other stars that happen to fall on the pixel stamps. We provide the raw light curves, and the products of various detrending processes aimed at removing different types of systematics. Our astrometric solutions achieve a median residual of ~ 0.13". For bright stars, our best 6.5 hour precision for raw light curves is ~20 parts per million (ppm). For our detrended light curves, the best 6.5 hour precisions achieved is ~15 ppm. We show that our detrended light curves have fewer systematic effects (or trends, or red-noise) than light curves produced by other groups from the same observations. Example light curves of transiting planets and a Cepheid variable candidate, are also presented. We make all light curves public, including the raw and de-trended photometry, at http://k2.hatsurveys.org.

The astrometricGaia-FUN-SSO observation campaign of 99942 Apophis

Astrometric observations performed by the Gaia Follow-Up Network for Solar System Objects (Gaia-FUN-SSO) play a key role in ensuring that moving objects first detected by ESA's Gaia mission remain recoverable after their discovery. An observation campaign on the potentially hazardous asteroid (99 942) Apophis was conducted during the asteroid's latest period of visibility, from 12/21/2012 to 5/2/2013, to test the coordination and evaluate the overall performance of the Gaia-FUN-SSO . The 2732 high quality astrometric observations acquired during the Gaia-FUN-SSO campaign were reduced with the Platform for Reduction of Astronomical Images Automatically (PRAIA), using the USNO CCD Astrograph Catalogue 4 (UCAC4) as a reference. The astrometric reduction process and the precision of the newly obtained measurements are discussed. We compare the residuals of astrometric observations that we obtained using this reduction process to data sets that were individually reduced by observers and accepted by the Minor Planet Center. We obtained 2103 previously unpublished astrometric positions and provide these to the scientific community. Using these data we show that our reduction of this astrometric campaign with a reliable stellar catalog substantially improves the quality of the astrometric results. We present evidence that the new data will help to reduce the orbit uncertainty of Apophis during its close approach in 2029. We show that uncertainties due to geolocations of observing stations, as well as rounding of astrometric data can introduce an unnecessary degradation in the quality of the resulting astrometric positions. Finally, we discuss the impact of our campaign reduction on the recovery process of newly discovered asteroids.

Precise CCD positions of Apophis in 2013

298 CCD observations during the year 2013 have been reduced to derive the precise positions of near-Earth asteroid (99942) Apophis. The observations were made by the 2.4-m telescope at Yunnan Observatory over 10 nights. The position and proper motion errors of the reference stars in the USNO CCD Astrograph Catalogue 4 (UCAC4) star catalogue are corrected by using the newest correction table provided by Farnocchia et al. The geometric distortion of the field of view is also derived from the unbiased star positions in UCAC4 and removed. The theoretical position of Apophis was retrieved from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Horizons system. Our results show that the mean O-Cs (observed minus computed) are 0.016 and 0.034 arcsec in right ascension and declination, respectively. The dispersions of our observations are estimated at 0.041 and 0.045 arcsec in right ascension and declination, respectively.

Comparison of the XPM and UCAC4 catalogs

The systematic differences between the stellar positions and proper motions of the XPM and UCAC4 catalogs have been obtained in the form of decompositions into vector spherical harmonics by taking into account the magnitude equation. The systematic components have been extracted with a probability of at least 0.98 by dividing 41 316 676 stars into groups corresponding to 12 J magnitude bins with a width of 0.5m for mean values from 10m.25 to 15m.75. A study of the systematic differences between the equatorial coordinates suggests that the range of systematic differences between the XPM and UCAC4 positions exceeds the corresponding range of differences between PPMXL and UCAC4 by a factor of 5, especially for bright stars in the range being investigated. Analysis of the orientation of the XPM and UCAC4 reference frames has shown that their mutual rotation is 2–4 mas around the X axis and 7–10 mas around the Z axis. These angles depend on the magnitude of stars. Since two systems of proper motions are given in the XPM catalog, XPMx and XPMp, we have decomposed the proper motion differences XPMx–XPMp into vector spherical harmonics and found these differences to be free from the magnitude equation. An important fact is that the first-order zonal coefficients have turned out to be greatest in absolute value. The toroidal coefficient t1,0,1,0 found has shown that the XPMx and XPMp reference frames of proper motions rotate relative to each other around the Z axis with an angular velocity of 0.45 mas yr−1. It should be added that the range of systematic differences XPMx–XPMp is 2.1 mas yr−1 in right ascension and 1.7 mas yr−1 in declination. The angular velocities of mutual rotation of the XPMp and UCAC4 reference frames change within the range from 0.6 to 2.2 mas yr−1, while the analogous range for the XPMх and UCAC4 catalogs is 0.3–1.8 mas yr−1. The angular velocity and coordinates of the pole of the mutual rotation axis depend on the magnitude of stars. The parameters of the mutual rotation around the Z axis derived from the differences XPMx–UCAC4 and XPMp–UCAC4 change from 0.03 ± 0.06 to 1.73 ± 0.06 mas yr−1 and from 0.49 ± 0.06 to 2.19 ± 0.06 mas yr−1, respectively. Based on our analysis, we have shown that the XPMcatalog actually comprises two catalogs, XPM(XSC) and XPM(PSC), in which the stellar positions coincide at the standard epoch J2000 and differ at any other epoch. The decomposition coefficients of the systematic differences XPM–UCAC4 we obtained allow the stellar positions and proper motions from one catalog to be reduced to the system of the other catalog by taking into account this duality.