Optimal Observational Scheduling Framework for Binary and Multiple Stellar Systems
Abstract
The optimal instant of observation of astrophysical phenomena for objects that vary on human timescales is an important problem, as it bears on the cost-effective use of usually scarce observational facilities. In this paper, we address this problem in the case of tight visual binary systems through a Bayesian framework based on the maximum entropy sampling principle. Our proposed information-driven methodology exploits the periodic structure of binary systems to provide a computationally efficient estimation of the probability distribution of the optimal observation time. We show the optimality of the proposed sampling methodology in the Bayes sense and its effectiveness through direct numerical experiments. We successfully apply our scheme to the study of two visual-spectroscopic binaries and one purely astrometric triple hierarchical system. We note that our methodology can be applied to any time-evolving phenomena, a particularly interesting application in the era of dedicated surveys, where a definition of the cadence of observations can have a crucial impact on achieving the science goals. *Based in part on observations obtained at the international Gemini Observatory, a program of NSF's NOIRLab, which is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation on behalf of the Gemini Observatory partnership: the National Science Foundation (United States), National Research Council (Canada), Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (Chile), Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (Argentina), Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovaçães e Comunicações (Brazil), and Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (Republic of Korea). Based also in part on observations obtained at the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope, which is a joint project of the Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, e Inovaçãoes (MCTI) da República Federativa do Brasil, the US National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and Michigan State University (MSU).
- Publication:
-
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
- Pub Date:
- January 2023
- DOI:
- 10.1088/1538-3873/acaebc
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2301.04162
- Bibcode:
- 2023PASP..135a4501V
- Keywords:
-
- Orbital elements;
- Orbital motion;
- Orbit determination;
- Astronomy data analysis;
- Astrostatistics techniques;
- Bayesian statistics;
- Maximum likelihood estimation;
- Astrometry;
- Binary stars;
- Trinary stars;
- 1177;
- 1179;
- 1175;
- 1858;
- 1886;
- 1900;
- 1901;
- 80;
- 154;
- 1714;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics;
- Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics;
- Physics - Data Analysis;
- Statistics and Probability
- E-Print:
- Accepted for publication to PASP. 23 pages, 2 Tables, 9 Figures, 2 Appendices