EFTE-Rocks, a framework to discriminate fast optical transient phenomena from orbital debris

Alan Vasquez Soto; Nicholas Law; Hank Corbett; Nathan Galliher; Amy Glazier; Ramses Gonzalez; Ward Howard

doi:10.1117/12.2630473

29 August 2022 EFTE-Rocks, a framework to discriminate fast optical transient phenomena from orbital debris

Alan Vasquez Soto, Nicholas Law, Hank Corbett, Nathan Galliher, Amy Glazier, Ramses Gonzalez, Ward Howard

Proceedings Volume 12189, Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy VII; 121891S (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2630473
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Conference Poster

Abstract

Wide-field telescopes like the Evryscope enable all-sky searches for fast optical transient events such as kilonovae, optical counterparts to fast-radio-bursts and other exotic events. To further understand these phenomena, we need infrastructure with the capability to monitor and quickly analyze these events. The Evryscopes are an allsky system with a total field of view of 16,512 sq. deg. that, coupled with the Evryscope Fast Transient Engine (EFTE), can catalogue fast optical transients down to g=16. In the past two years, EFTE has seen millions of transients across the sky including hundreds of flaring events from cool stars and a population of millisecond glints produced by Earth-orbiting objects that appear morphologically similar to transient astrophysical phenomena. In order to further characterize these events, the Evryscope and other all-sky optical surveys, such as the upcoming Argus Pathfinder and Argus Optical Array, require a framework to discriminate between this fog of imposter transients and real astrophysics. EFTE-Rocks is an automated orbit determination pipeline that takes short-duration transients from EFTE and associates them into tracklets based on an initial trajectory. Here we present a framework to characterize which orbital debris produce glints seen by fast, wide-field telescopes; lessons learned; and future software improvements. We also discuss its applications to upcoming surveys that are capable of probing for fainter objects at faster cadences.

Citation Download Citation

Alan Vasquez Soto, Nicholas Law, Hank Corbett, Nathan Galliher, Amy Glazier, Ramses Gonzalez, and Ward Howard "EFTE-Rocks, a framework to discriminate fast optical transient phenomena from orbital debris", Proc. SPIE 12189, Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy VII, 121891S (29 August 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2630473

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