Abstract
To determine the precise positions of stars in CCD frames, various centering algorithms have been proposed for astrometry. The effective point spread function (ePSF) and the Gaussian centering algorithms are two representative centering algorithms. This paper compares in detail and investigates these two centering algorithms in performing data reduction. Specifically, synthetic star images in different conditions (i.e. profiles, fluxes, backgrounds and full width at half maximums) are generated and processed. We find that the difference in precision between the two algorithms is related to the profiles of the star images. Therefore, the precision comparison results using an ideal Gaussian-profile star image cannot be extended to other more specific experimental scenarios. Based on the simulation results, the most appropriate algorithm can be selected according to the image characteristics of observations, and the loss of precision of other algorithms can be estimated. The conclusions are verified using observations captured by the 1-m and 2.4-m telescopes at Yunnan Observatory.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11873026, 11273014), by the Joint Research Fund in Astronomy (Grant No. U1431227) under cooperative agreement between the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and Chinese Academy Sciences (CAS), and partly by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities. We would like to thank the chief scientist Qian S. B. of the 1-m telescope and his working group for their kindly support and help. We also thank the referee for the insightful review of our manuscript, and thank Dr. Nick Cooper from Queen Mary University of London for his linguistic assistance during the preparation of this manuscript. This work has made use of data from the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Gaia (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/gaia), processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC, https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/consortium). Funding for the DPAC has been provided by national institutions, in particular the institutions participating in the Gaia Multilateral Agreement.
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Lin, F.R., Peng, Q.Y., Zheng, Z.J. et al. Investigation and application of fitting models for centering algorithms in astrometry. Astrophys Space Sci 366, 59 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-021-03965-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-021-03965-z