Simulating a dual beam combiner at SUSI for narrow-angle astrometry

The Sydney University Stellar Interferometer (SUSI) has two beam combiners, i.e. the Precision Astronomical Visible Observations (PAVO) and the Microarcsecond University of Sydney Companion Astrometry (MUSCA). The primary beam combiner, PAVO, can be operated independently and is typically used to me...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Kok, Yitping, Maestro, Vicente, Ireland, Michael J, Tuthill, Peter G, J Gordon Robertson
Format Paper Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 28.02.2013
Subjects
Astrometry
Beam combiners
Binary stars
Celestial bodies
Companion stars
Computer simulation
Data reduction
Performance evaluation
Physics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Space telescopes
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Summary:The Sydney University Stellar Interferometer (SUSI) has two beam combiners, i.e. the Precision Astronomical Visible Observations (PAVO) and the Microarcsecond University of Sydney Companion Astrometry (MUSCA). The primary beam combiner, PAVO, can be operated independently and is typically used to measure properties of binary stars of less than 50 milliarc- sec (mas) separation and the angular diameters of single stars. On the other hand, MUSCA was recently installed and must be used in tandem with the for- mer. It is dedicated for microarcsecond precision narrow-angle astrometry of close binary stars. The performance evaluation and development of the data reduction pipeline for the new setup was assisted by an in-house computer simulation tool developed for this and related purposes. This paper describes the framework of the simulation tool, simulations carried out to evaluate the performance of each beam combiner and the expected astrometric precision of the dual beam combiner setup, both at SUSI and possible future sites.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.1302.7139