TESELA: a new Virtual Observatory tool to determine blank fields for astronomical observations
Abstract
The observation of blank fields, regions of the sky devoid of stars down to a given threshold magnitude, constitutes one of the typical important calibration procedures required for the proper reduction of astronomical data obtained in imaging mode. This work describes a method, based on the use of the Delaunay triangulation on the surface of a sphere, that allows for easy generation of blank-field catalogues. In addition to that, a new tool named TESELA, accessible through the Internet, has been created to facilitate the user to retrieve, and visualize using the Virtual Observatory tool ALADIN, the blank fields available near a given position in the sky.
- Publication:
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Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- November 2011
- DOI:
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1107.3949
- Bibcode:
- 2011MNRAS.417.3061C
- Keywords:
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- methods: data analysis;
- methods: numerical;
- catalogues;
- virtual observatory tools;
- Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 11 pages, 10 figures. Related Web tool accessible at http://sdc.cab.inta-csic.es/tesela