Topic:SkyCam

From Wikiversity

Jump to: navigation, search
A view of the sky above Ladd Observatory showing a satellite flare from Iridium 39 (at left of center)

The SkyCam project is similar to The Night Sky Live which uses CONCAM (CONtinuous CAMera) all sky cameras to take images of the entire sky all night long. The images are then analyzed using this software and the data is made freely available for scientific and educational use. [2]

A camera with a wide-angle lens will be installed at Ladd Observatory in the spring of 2008. This project will use the Wikiveristy Sandbox Server to prototype the software to analyze the data, and the results can then be used in astronomy learning projects here. The sandbox server could then store the data for use in lessons or serve the data as webpages. Possible topics include meteorology (cloud cover), detecting meteors and orbiting satellites, and possibly measuring brightness changes of variable stars.

Contents

[edit] Camera system

The camera system is a commercial off-the-shelf model manufactured by Santa Barbara Instrument Group. It includes a weatherproof housing with a window that is heated to prevent condensation. The window is an optical filter that transmits light from 630 - 1000 nm (red to near infrared) and is used to block light pollution. Inside is an ST-402ME digital imaging camera which uses a monochrome 16 bit per pixel Kodak KAF-0402ME CCD chip with 9 micron pixel size. The camera body is mated to a Computar fisheye lens with 2.6mm focal length and a 1.6 focal ratio. The field of view is about 140 x 90 degrees.

[edit] Plan

This all-sky image from the CONCAM at Mauna Kea, Hawaii captured a bright fireball which was part of the 2001 Leonid meteor shower. [1]
  • Phase 0
  1. Create domain on sandbox server to host project: skycam.sandboxserver.org
  2. Start coordinating project page: Topic:SkyCam
  3. Start learning project page on Wikiversity to learn how to use and modify software to process astronomy images.
  4. Recruit participants to collaborate and develop project.
  • Phase 0.1
  1. Install binaries for wolf on sandbox server: skycam.sandboxserver.org/wolf.tar.gz
  2. Copy a few sky images from the Night Sky Live archive to use as samples: skycam.sandboxserver.org/concam
  3. Run wolf binaries on test imags: binaries do not run. Skip to next phase...
  • Phase 0.2
  1. Install source code for wolf on sandbox server: skycam.sandboxserver.org/wolf/
  2. Build wolf and test that it runs correctly: working on build.
  3. Output of wolf goes to webserver page.
  4. Experiment with customizing the software to solve new analysis problems.
  5. Include new analysis in webpage output.
  • Phase 0.3
  1. Use original data from Ladd Observatory sky camera.
  2. Modify wolf to do custom processing and analysis.
  3. Output to webpage in a format suitable for an astronomy learning project.
  • Phase 1.0
  1. Start another learning project on Wikiversity to learn astronomy from the processed images.

[edit] Participants

[edit] See also

[edit] External Links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Topic:SkyCam"
Personal tools