Elements: Enabling High Precision Citizen Science Photometry from Wide Field Color Images

这个项目正在开发免费的开源软件和一个网络界面，用于从公民科学家用彩色数码相机收集的观测数据中提取高精度的恒星亮度测量值。与专业天文学家通常使用的单色探测器相比，这种相机的批量生产使其价格便宜得多；消费类相机也有许多内置功能，使它们比专业探测器更容易操作和自动化。然而，彩色图像对于现有的工具来说尤其具有挑战性，因为在检测器像素上应用了交错的微滤光片，从而实现了色彩灵敏度。这个项目将极大地扩大能够为前沿科学做出贡献的公民科学家的数量：使用这些工具，公众可以追求许多额外的系外行星和变星项目，使用高节奏、高精度的明亮恒星测光技术，在大部分或所有的天空中，以专业调查的一小部分成本。该项目与三个通过公民观测来追求系外行星科学的主要项目合作：PANOPTES、系外行星观察和恒星网络。该软件将成为PANOPTES的数据处理管道，并集成到系外行星观察和恒星管道中，确保其被三个大型全球公民科学家社区采用。公民科学数据将用于搜索TESS卫星单次过境识别的候选行星的其他过境，来自已知短周期系外行星系统和TESS过境候选者的其他较长轨道周期行星的过境，以及已知径向速度行星的过境。任何被发现的行星都将围绕着那些从地球上看格外明亮的恒星运行，产生深凌日，并且远离它们的恒星。前两个特性使得使用最先进的空间和地面设施来研究这类行星特别容易，而且这些行星的行星-恒星相互作用将比目前在类似明亮的恒星周围进行深凌日的行星的典型数量弱得多。该奖项由美国国家科学基金会高级网络基础设施办公室颁发，并由美国国家科学基金会天文科学部联合支持。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project is developing free and open-source software and a web interface for extracting high-precision brightness measurements of stars from citizen scientist observations collected with color digital cameras. Mass production makes such cameras much more affordable than the monochrome detectors typically used by professional astronomers; consumer cameras also come with a host of built-in features which make them much simpler to operate and automate than professional detectors. However, color images are particularly challenging for existing tools due to the staggered microfilters applied to detector pixels which enable color sensitivity. This project will greatly expand the pool of citizen scientists able to contribute to cutting edge science: using these tools, the public can pursue numerous additional exoplanet and variable star projects using high-cadence, high-precision photometry of bright stars over much or all of the sky at a fraction of the cost of professional surveys.This project is collaborating with three of the leading projects pursuing exoplanet science through citizen observations: PANOPTES, Exoplanet Watch, and the Unistellar network. This software will become the data processing pipeline of PANOPTES and be integrated into the Exoplanet Watch and Unistellar pipelines, ensuring its adoption by three large global communities of citizen scientists. The citizen science data will be used to search for additional transits of candidates identified by the TESS satellite with only a single transit, transits from additional longer orbital period planets in both known short period exoplanet systems and TESS transit candidates, and transits of known radial velocity planets. Any identified planets will orbit stars that appear exceptionally bright from Earth, produce deep transits, and reside far away from their stars. The first two properties makes such planets particularly easy to study using state of the art space and ground facilities, and the planet-star interactions will be much weaker for these planets than is typical for the current population of planets with deep transits around similarly bright stars.This award by the NSF Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure is jointly supported by the NSF Division of Astronomical Sciences.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.