# Selected astrometric catalogues [IMA]

A selection of astrometric catalogues are presented in three tables for respectively positions, proper motions and trigonometric parallaxes. The tables contain characteristics of each catalogue showing the evolution in optical astrometry, in fact the evolution during the past 2000 years for positions. The number of stars and the accuracy are summarized by the weight of a catalogue, proportional with the number of stars and the statistical weight. The present report originally from 2008 was revised in 2017 with much new information about the accuracy of catalogues before 1800 AD.

E. Hog
Tue, 27 Jun 17
2/58

Comments: 10 pages, update of report from 2008 contained as No.6 in arXiv:1104.4554v2

|

# The HAYSTAC Axion Search Analysis Procedure [IMA]

We describe in detail the analysis procedure used to derive the first limits from the Haloscope at Yale Sensitive to Axion CDM (HAYSTAC), a microwave cavity search for cold dark matter (CDM) axions with masses above $20\ \mu\text{eV}$. We have introduced several significant innovations to the axion search analysis pioneered by the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment (ADMX), including optimal filtering of the individual power spectra that constitute the axion search dataset and a consistent maximum likelihood procedure for combining and rebinning these spectra. These innovations enable us to obtain the axion-photon coupling $|g_\gamma|$ excluded at any desired confidence level directly from the statistics of the combined data.

B. Brubaker, L. Zhong, S. Lamoreaux, et. al.
Tue, 27 Jun 17
16/58

|

# A Solar Radio Dynamic Spectrograph with Flexible Temporal-spectral Resolution [IMA]

The observation and research of the solar radio emission have unique scientific values in solar and space physics and related space weather forecasting applications, since the observed spectral structures may carry important information about energetic electrons and underlying physical mechanisms. In this study, we present the design of a novel dynamic spectrograph that is installed at the Chashan solar radio station operated by Laboratory for Radio Technologies, Institute of Space Sciences at Shandong University. The spectrograph is characterized by the real-time storage of digitized radio intensity data in the time domain and its capability to perform off-line spectral analysis of the radio spectra. The analog signals received via antennas and amplified with a low-noise amplifier are converted into digital data at a speed reaching up to 32 k data points per millisecond. The digital data are then saved into a high-speed electronic disk for further off-line spectral analysis. Using different word length (1 k – 32 k) and time cadence (5 ms – 10 s) for the off-line fast Fourier transform analysis, we can obtain the dynamic spectrum of a radio burst with different (user-defined) temporal (5 ms – 10 s) and spectral (3 kHz ~ 320 kHz) resolution. This brings a great flexibility and convenience to data analysis of solar radio bursts, especially when some specific fine spectral structures are under study.

Q. Du, L. Chen, Y. Zhao, et. al.
Tue, 27 Jun 17
38/58

|

# Simulation chain and signal classification for acoustic neutrino detection in seawater [IMA]

Acoustic neutrino detection is a promising approach to extend the energy range of neutrino telescopes to energies beyond $10^{18}$\,eV. Currently operational and planned water-Cherenkov neutrino telescopes, most notably KM3NeT, include acoustic sensors in addition to the optical ones. These acoustic sensors could be used as instruments for acoustic detection, while their main purpose is the position calibration of the detection units. In this article, a Monte Carlo simulation chain for acoustic detectors will be presented, covering the initial interaction of the neutrino up to the signal classification of recorded events. The ambient and transient background in the simulation was implemented according to data recorded by the acoustic set-up AMADEUS inside the ANTARES detector. The effects of refraction on the neutrino signature in the detector are studied, and a classification of the recorded events is implemented. As bipolar waveforms similar to those of the expected neutrino signals are also emitted from other sound sources, additional features like the geometrical shape of the propagation have to be considered for the signal classification. This leads to a large improvement of the background suppression by almost two orders of magnitude, since a flat cylindrical “pancake” propagation pattern is a distinctive feature of neutrino signals. An overview of the simulation chain and the signal classification will be presented and preliminary studies of the performance of the classification will be discussed.

D. Kiessling, G. Anton, A. Enzenhofer, et. al.
Tue, 27 Jun 17
40/58

Comments: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to conference proceedings of the ARENA 2014

|

# The DArk Matter Particle Explorer mission [IMA]

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE), one of the four scientific space science missions within the framework of the Strategic Pioneer Program on Space Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is a general purpose high energy cosmic-ray and gamma-ray observatory, which was successfully launched on December 17th, 2015 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The DAMPE scientific objectives include the study of galactic cosmic rays up to $\sim 10$ TeV and hundreds of TeV for electrons/gammas and nuclei respectively, and the search for dark matter signatures in their spectra. In this paper we illustrate the layout of the DAMPE instrument, and discuss the results of beam tests and calibrations performed on ground. Finally we present the expected performance in space and give an overview of the mission key scientific goals.

DAMPE. collaboration
Tue, 27 Jun 17
46/58

Comments: 45 pages, including 29 figures and 6 tables

|

# Investigating prescriptions for artificial resistivity in smoothed particle magnetohydrodynamics [IMA]

In numerical simulations, artificial terms are applied to the evolution equations for stability. To prove their validity, these terms are thoroughly tested in test problems where the results are well known. However, they are seldom tested in production-quality simulations at high resolution where they interact with a plethora of physical and numerical algorithms. We test three artificial resistivities in both the Orszag-Tang vortex and in a star formation simulation. From the Orszag-Tang vortex, the Price et. al. (2017) artificial resistivity is the least dissipative thus captures the density and magnetic features; in the star formation algorithm, each artificial resistivity algorithm interacts differently with the sink particle to produce various results, including gas bubbles, dense discs, and migrating sink particles. The star formation simulations suggest that it is important to rely upon physical resistivity rather than artificial resistivity for convergence.

J. Wurster, M. Bate, D. Price, et. al.
Mon, 26 Jun 17
6/40

Comments: 8 pages, 7 figures. Proceedings of the “12th international SPHERIC workshop”, Ourense, Spain, 13-15 June 2017

|

# Is Flat Fielding Safe for Precision CCD Astronomy? [IMA]

The ambitious goals of precision cosmology with wide-field optical surveys such as the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) demand, as their foundation, precision CCD astronomy. This in turn requires an understanding of previously uncharacterized sources of systematic error in CCD sensors, many of which manifest themselves as static effective variations in pixel area. Such variation renders a critical assumption behind the traditional procedure of flat fielding–that a sensor’s pixels comprise a uniform grid–invalid. In this work, we present a method to infer a curl-free model of a sensor’s underlying pixel grid from flat field images, incorporating the superposition of all electrostatic sensor effects–both known and unknown–present in flat field data. We use these pixel grid models to estimate the overall impact of sensor systematics on photometry, astrometry, and PSF shape measurements in a representative sensor from the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) and a prototype LSST sensor. Applying the method to DECam data recovers known significant sensor effects for which corrections are currently being developed within DES. For an LSST prototype CCD with pixel-response non-uniformity (PRNU) of 0.4%, we find the impact of “improper” flat-fielding on these observables is negligible in nominal .7″ seeing conditions. These errors scale linearly with the PRNU, so for future LSST production sensors, which may have larger PRNU, our method provides a way to assess whether pixel-level calibration beyond flat fielding will be required.

M. Baumer, C. Davis and A. Roodman
Fri, 23 Jun 17
4/48

Comments: 9 pages, 11 figures, submitted to PASP. Code available at this https URL

|