Disk Set 18

[Tom Droege <tdroege@veriomail.com>]

I have now sorted out what Disk Set 18 will contain.  There will be 9 CD 
Roms for the full set.  It covers +/- 2 degrees in declination and from 12 
hrs to 13 hrs 50 m in RA.  The set cover 9 evenings spread out over 17 
days.  The set contains WCS which improve somewhat over time.  All are 
within about 1/2 degree.

My guess it that one will find about 10,000 stars in the area covered.  The 
stars will each be measured 40 to 50 times each in two filters .  Seems to 
me that this set should contain a bunch of new short period variables.

One needs a full disk to get enough darks and images for sky flats.

My hope is that some of you will be able to load the nine disks to the hard 
drive, and then start a process that just runs until there is another file 
full of star measurements.  It will be interesting to compare the results 
of different pipelines.

This set is a little large to send out to everyone.  The purpose of this 
set is to find out if a pipeline can be constructed that processes these 
disks to star lists.  I hope that as a result of this work, you can tell me 
what needs to be added to the fits header to make the process smoother.

I will automatically sent out the full set to anyone that has demonstrated 
in the past that they process such things.  Others will receive a single 
disk.  I will be happy to supply additional disks to anyone that tires of 
the data on the first disk and wants more.  It is easier for me to sent out 
one mailing rather than two, so if you really plan to process the full set 
and are not sure that you are on my "good guys" list, send me a message 
pleading your case.

I observe that this data set contains real data.  There are a few clouds, 
there are ice crystals, and I changed a camera mid way in the run, so you 
will not be able to use one flat for the whole run.  I think this data is 
representative of what I might be able to take here in this suburban location.

The present status of this disk set is that I have disk images sorted out 
from the raw disks and have then stored on the hard drive.  I am awaiting 
more blank disks which should arrive early next week.  I will then be able 
to run the duplication process as a "background" task while I work on 
getting MIKE and GLENN ready to go.

Tom Droege