What's wrong with Pan-STARRS?

Is Pan-STARRS dead or what?

I can't find a single published result from Pan-STARRS despite the 1.4
Gigapixel CCD camera being in operation for over a year. Images taken
during commissioning show nasty defects - spurious artefacts in the
form of blue rings, butterfly shapes around stars, linear features,
dark blotches etc.

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o...Pan_STARRS.gif
which is a detail from:
http://pan-starrs.ifa.hawaii.edu/pub...lmes_Run1B.jpg

Two years ago when Pan-STARRS started there were claims that by the
end of 2007 Pan-STARRS would be the dominant asteroid finder - it
hasn't happened.

PS1 is definitely still up on Haleakala. GPC is a phenomenal camera.
The defects in those images taken Dec 07, 1 year ago, are due to poor
collimation of the optics (causing fat PSFs and halos around stars).
The ghost donuts are due to reflections. Dark blotches are in there
because those images are very raw--they need to be carefully corrected
for the natural sensitivity variations within the CCD sub arrays. My
understanding is that all those issues have been worked out.
Stay tuned in the next month for fresh press release images.

Ben



On Dec 3, 4:58*am, Dan Birchall nob...@imaginary-
host.danbirchall.com wrote:
) wrote:
*Is Pan-STARRS dead or what?

*I can't find a single published result from Pan-STARRS despite the 1..4
*Gigapixel CCD camera being in operation for over a year.

http://pan-starrs.ifa.hawaii.edu/pub...project-status...

After installing the GPC in August 2007, they had to "fully"
commission that camera, then do 3.5 years of tests and studies.

*Images taken during commissioning show nasty defects

...as do images straight off _every_ fully commissioned, production
astronomical imaging camera _I've_ ever seen. *If you want pretty
pictures, you spend a lot of time messing around in IRAF or IDL or
whatever, and in most cases ultimately break down and resort to
Photoshop.

*there were claims that by the end of 2007 Pan-STARRS would be
*the dominant asteroid finder - it hasn't happened.

I never heard those claims, but as I understand it, making pretty
pictures is entirely not what Pan-STARRS is about anyway. *Storing
so many raw images would be impractical, so reportedly they'll be
reducing the data and throwing the images away once they've got
coordinates or whatever.

"asteroid finder" and "asteroid pretty-picture-maker" are two very,
very different things.

But I don't know the status of PS1. *I do know that the planned PS4
system has been "2 years away," for the last 2 years while they work
out a new comprehensive management plan for Mauna Kea, and run the
permits, and all that stuff.

Since I work at the scope that PS4 would be replacing, this is all
fine and dandy as far as I'm concerned!

I do have a friend who's involved with Pan-STARRS, so I've forwarded
him a link to this thread in case he's able to provide more info.

--
Oh, wicked, bad, naughty, _evil_ Dan! *He is a _naughty_ person...

"asteroid finder" and "asteroid pretty-picture-maker" are two very, very different things.

Oh yes. I've been slightly concerned at the slowing rate at which KBOs
and SDOs have been found, so have eagerly been awaiting Pan-STARRS.
It was annoying to get a copy of the paper "Pan-STARRS: First Solar
System Results" from July, 2008 and find only simulations and
promises.

Since I work at the scope that PS4 would be replacing, this is all fine and dandy as far as I'm concerned!

My understanding is that all those issues have been worked out. Stay tuned in the next month for fresh press release images.

Thanks both, I will stay tuned.