High Speed, High Precision Photometry with Orthogonal Transfer CCDs

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• High Speed, High Precision Photometry with
  Orthogonal Transfer CCDs

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OPTIC Camera
Guide Regions

• OPTIC is the prototype OTCCD camera
• OPTIC contains two CCDs (2K x 4K)
• OPTIC uses a standard SDSU controller w/ modified
  software
• Readout is via 4 video channels
• 4e readnoise 0.15/pix

Used Guide Region
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Conventional Mode

• Photometric Time-Series Observations with OPTIC
  in conventional mode
• AO on provided improved seeing
• OPTIC performs as good or better than typical
  CCDs
• Reached 1 mmag precision

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Moving Object Tracking
Asteroid FC5 2003. V17, Both are 200 sec
exposures
S/N 6 times higher
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High Speed (Video) Mode

• Guide regions used for high speed (video) readout
• Rates up to 100 Hz supported
• Underlying bias not flat, but manageable
• New! - different integration times allowed

Guide regions FITS image
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U Gem
1 Second, R-Band light curve. R15 mag. 43,000e
/ image
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U Gem
Detail View of Eclipse. 1 sigma 0.01 mag.
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Sco X-1 - LMXB
Orbital per 18.9hr, V 14.1, ?t400 msec
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Sco X-1 - LMXB
400 msec exposures, 1 sigma0.005 mag
Science exp end
QPOs
Periodic? dip
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HD209458 Transit
OPTIC _at_ WIYN, R Band, 60 sec averages, 1
sigma6e-4
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PSF Shaping

• Theory - best shape is a top hat
• PSF Shaped 30 X 30 (4) pixel boxes
• 180 sec I exposures
• White Squares are charge traps

Variable Star - VVPup
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PSF Shaping
Mesa Shaped PSF with steep walls
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PSF Shaped Time-Series Photometry
New variable
VV Pup
I-Band time-series reaching 660 micro-mag
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The Next Step ?
A 100 sec exposure of a V8 star with the UH
2.2-m Telescope Photometric precision per
integration is near 4e-5 (Note An Earth transit
of a G star is 1e-5)
200 x 200 pixel box
False color image of star