Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ORP (Opticon RadioNet Pilot)
Período documentado: 2022-06-01 hasta 2023-08-31
ORP, the OPTICON-RadioNet Pilot, brings together two mature communities which have supported optical/IR and radio astronomy infrastructures and users for the last two decades. The forefront mission of ORP is to build bridges between them, while delivering efficient and effective Trans-National Access for scientists to Europe’s excellent astronomical facilities, allowing Europe’s scientists to deliver world-leading advances irrespective of their national location.
ORP’s ambition for future enhancement is then minimizing wavelength and cultural barriers for Europe’s scientists, so they may access the full range of the most suitable and most competitive infrastructures for their research with minimal procedural difficulty. New processes and tools are being developed. This will lead to improved and simplified ways for Europe’s scientists to work together and to deliver globally competitive science.
One ORP activity is a collaboration between the ORP industrial partner Covestro AG and INAF, to provide a sustainable European supply of high-quality, high-performance dispersive volume-phase gratings. ORP has begun discussions with a range of infrastructure owners and operators, national agencies, and EC-funded Access projects in related and complementary subjects, to develop approaches for future interactions between our communities and EC funding opportunities.
ORP’s ambition for future enhancement is then minimizing wavelength and cultural barriers for Europe’s scientists, so they may access the full range of the most suitable and most competitive infrastructures for their research with minimal procedural difficulty. New processes and tools are being developed. This will lead to improved and simplified ways for Europe’s scientists to work together and to deliver globally competitive science.
One ORP activity is a collaboration between the ORP industrial partner Covestro AG and INAF, to provide a sustainable European supply of high-quality, high-performance dispersive volume-phase gratings. ORP has begun discussions with a range of infrastructure owners and operators, national agencies, and EC-funded Access projects in related and complementary subjects, to develop approaches for future interactions between our communities and EC funding opportunities.
ORP’s is delivering Trans National Access to Europe’s most competitive radio and optical infrastructures to all qualified users on science merit.
The calls for Transnational Access (TA) to the ORP radio astronomy arrays and single dishes continued in the second reporting period, typically 2 calls per year per infrastructure. A total of 101 TA projects with more than 3100 access hours have been supported and performed by 651 TA-users. 38% projects have been led by unique female PIs. Many of the radio astronomical infrastructures provided access exceeding the contractual obligation, the access to infrastructures will continue following the open skies policy.
Improvement has been made for the virtual access, some 2 million files have been added to the LOFAR archive and the total volume increased by ca 4,9 PB. Two Apertif data collections have been released during the reporting period: the first-time domain data collection, including the data from the 2019 observing campaign that resulted in the detection of 5 Fast Radio Bursts; and a small data release of a 26.5 square degrees image of the Boötes constellation.
Additionally, in radio astronomy, ORP provided global virtual access to the data archives of the upgraded Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (ALTA) and the international LOFAR facility (LTA). The main user interest has been in the fully processed science level data, and primarily in the multi-frequency synthesis beam images.
In the optical domain, ORP Time Domain Astronomy (TDA) provides virtual access (WP18) to a rapidly growing network of telescopes distributed worldwide, operating as a network using the BHTOM system developed for this project. Over 95000 observations have been obtained, and processed to science-ready with 99% reliability. The (virtual access) telescope network is being expanded bringing the total to 88. By working with Gaia real-time science alerts several high-interest gravitational microlensing events have been quantified, however, other sources of time-domain targets are also being observed with the network, in particular, quasars and cataclysmic variables, which are also being monitored in the radio-domain.
The optical Common Time Allocation (CTAC) process continued with great success. There are open Calls each semester, with the number of projects approved determined on science merit by independent review until the semester budget (uniform per semester throughout ORP) is exhausted. Given the order of magnitude range in unit costs between the infrastructures the number of projects is not a robust measure, however 63 projects have been supported through RP2 Oversubscription remains about a factor of 2.5-4.
Access support systems implemented include continuing support for users of the ALMA infrastructure, through the set of regional support centres (a total of 29 ALMA projects with 250 users have been supported), the new support centres network for Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) users (14 support requests from different users), and preparatory developments for VLTI hands-on instrument support and virtual access to adaptive optics control system data.
The calls for Transnational Access (TA) to the ORP radio astronomy arrays and single dishes continued in the second reporting period, typically 2 calls per year per infrastructure. A total of 101 TA projects with more than 3100 access hours have been supported and performed by 651 TA-users. 38% projects have been led by unique female PIs. Many of the radio astronomical infrastructures provided access exceeding the contractual obligation, the access to infrastructures will continue following the open skies policy.
Improvement has been made for the virtual access, some 2 million files have been added to the LOFAR archive and the total volume increased by ca 4,9 PB. Two Apertif data collections have been released during the reporting period: the first-time domain data collection, including the data from the 2019 observing campaign that resulted in the detection of 5 Fast Radio Bursts; and a small data release of a 26.5 square degrees image of the Boötes constellation.
Additionally, in radio astronomy, ORP provided global virtual access to the data archives of the upgraded Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (ALTA) and the international LOFAR facility (LTA). The main user interest has been in the fully processed science level data, and primarily in the multi-frequency synthesis beam images.
In the optical domain, ORP Time Domain Astronomy (TDA) provides virtual access (WP18) to a rapidly growing network of telescopes distributed worldwide, operating as a network using the BHTOM system developed for this project. Over 95000 observations have been obtained, and processed to science-ready with 99% reliability. The (virtual access) telescope network is being expanded bringing the total to 88. By working with Gaia real-time science alerts several high-interest gravitational microlensing events have been quantified, however, other sources of time-domain targets are also being observed with the network, in particular, quasars and cataclysmic variables, which are also being monitored in the radio-domain.
The optical Common Time Allocation (CTAC) process continued with great success. There are open Calls each semester, with the number of projects approved determined on science merit by independent review until the semester budget (uniform per semester throughout ORP) is exhausted. Given the order of magnitude range in unit costs between the infrastructures the number of projects is not a robust measure, however 63 projects have been supported through RP2 Oversubscription remains about a factor of 2.5-4.
Access support systems implemented include continuing support for users of the ALMA infrastructure, through the set of regional support centres (a total of 29 ALMA projects with 250 users have been supported), the new support centres network for Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) users (14 support requests from different users), and preparatory developments for VLTI hands-on instrument support and virtual access to adaptive optics control system data.
ORP aims at developing and implementing a system which allows scientists to request, through a single application portal, access to the full wide range of facilities. The development of a proposal data model has continued at pace. A prototype version of the Proposal Submission Tool (PST) will be available for testing during late 2023 by an independent group of ORP participants representing different facilities and user groups. This will represent a key development milestone toward the final delivery.
Direct collaboration between emerging optical interferometry support networks (VLTI) and experienced mm/sub-mm (ALMA Regional Centres) continued.
ORP teams are developing innovative expansion of current global arrays of robotically-controlled telescopes dedicated to Time Domain Astronomy. Automated telescope scheduling software is being tested and adapted to facilitate its adoption on multiple infrastructures from both optical and radio domains. This work has already nearly doubled the number of new infrastructures delivering science through ORP Time Domain Astronomy.
The training activities implemented the agreed policy, lectures on optical/infrared interferometry, on dark- and quiet-sky protection awareness, and on equity and inclusion, are permanently offered.
Efforts to raise awareness of and activities on technical, political, and administrative level to mitigate the effects of large satellite constellations on partner observatories have continued. Members of ORP initiated a study with the LOFAR radio telescope to measure unintended electromagnetic ("leakage") radiation coming from a large satellite constellation and to demonstrate its potential impact, also in radio bands. ORP members works on the further improvement of public outreach activities to make the public and stakeholders aware of the worth of astronomy and the necessity of its protection.
Direct collaboration between emerging optical interferometry support networks (VLTI) and experienced mm/sub-mm (ALMA Regional Centres) continued.
ORP teams are developing innovative expansion of current global arrays of robotically-controlled telescopes dedicated to Time Domain Astronomy. Automated telescope scheduling software is being tested and adapted to facilitate its adoption on multiple infrastructures from both optical and radio domains. This work has already nearly doubled the number of new infrastructures delivering science through ORP Time Domain Astronomy.
The training activities implemented the agreed policy, lectures on optical/infrared interferometry, on dark- and quiet-sky protection awareness, and on equity and inclusion, are permanently offered.
Efforts to raise awareness of and activities on technical, political, and administrative level to mitigate the effects of large satellite constellations on partner observatories have continued. Members of ORP initiated a study with the LOFAR radio telescope to measure unintended electromagnetic ("leakage") radiation coming from a large satellite constellation and to demonstrate its potential impact, also in radio bands. ORP members works on the further improvement of public outreach activities to make the public and stakeholders aware of the worth of astronomy and the necessity of its protection.