StarSelectorIsotropic

class ctapointing.observation.StarSelectorIsotropic(location, altitude_limits=<Quantity [10., 70.] deg>, magnitude_limits=(-3, 4))

Bases: object

A class for selecting stellar targets for pointing calibration observations

Targets are selected based on maximum isotropic coverage of the sky based on - previously visited targets (history) - planned start time of the observation within the provided azimuth and altitude limits (if requested).

Parameters:

location: astropy.coordinates.EarthLocation

earth location of the telescope

altitude limits: None or tuple of astropy.Angle

tuple of two angles representing the altitude range in which targets get selected

magnitude limits: None or tuple of float

tuple representing minimum and maximum magnitude of catalog stars used as targets

TODO: Make target history work. This requires generating a random selection of targets outside the altitude range, as otherwise the resulting distribution will be biased.

Methods Summary

select_target(start_time, duration)

Select the next best target, based on observation history.

Methods Documentation

select_target(start_time, duration)

Select the next best target, based on observation history. Target is selected such that the resulting AltAz distribution is as isotropic as possible (within the limits of the star distribution)

Parameters:

  • start_time (astropy.Time) – Time at which the observation of the target will start

  • duration (astropy.units.Quantity) – duration of the observation

Return type:

PointingObservation or list of PointingObservation

__init__(location, altitude_limits=<Quantity [10., 70.] deg>, magnitude_limits=(-3, 4))
select_target(start_time, duration)

Select the next best target, based on observation history. Target is selected such that the resulting AltAz distribution is as isotropic as possible (within the limits of the star distribution)

Parameters:

  • start_time (astropy.Time) – Time at which the observation of the target will start

  • duration (astropy.units.Quantity) – duration of the observation

Return type:

PointingObservation or list of PointingObservation