arXiv subjects

Beth Fabinsky

Publications and source records attributed to Beth Fabinsky.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Tracing the Boundary of the South Atlantic Anomaly Region with SPHEREx Transient Flagging Rates

The NASA SPHEREx satellite was launched in 03/2025 to survey the full sky between 0.75 - 5.0 um. The image processing of SPHEREx H2RG detectors includes real-time flagging of transient events during integration. SPHEREx follows a polar orbit passing over the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) zone multiple times daily, where the transient counts reach as high as >80% of pixels, depleting the pixel inventory for further analysis. The science pipeline flags all exposures taken while in the SAA for re-observation, as well as any with >10% transients regardless of the spacecraft location. After six months, ~1.5% of the exposures outside of the pre-defined SAA zone were flagged. While some exposures are adjacent to the edge of the SAA, the majority appear to trace the geomagnetic field near the poles. Given the importance of the SAA to designing and operating space instruments, in this paper we present the SAA boundary traced by SPHEREx transient flags as a reference for future mission.

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arXiv2025

Optimized Observation Sequencing in Low-Earth Orbit with the SPHEREx Survey Planning Software

SPHEREx is a NASA infrared astronomy mission that launched on March 12th, 2025 and is operating successfully in low-Earth orbit (LEO). The mission is currently observing the entire sky in 102 spectral channels in four independent all-sky surveys and also achieves enhanced coverage in two deep fields. This data will resolve key science questions about the early universe, galaxy formation, and the origin of water and biogenic molecules. In this paper, we describe the survey planning software (SPS) that enables SPHEREx to observe efficiently while mitigating a range of operational challenges in LEO. Our optimal target selection algorithm achieves the required high coverage in both the All-Sky and Deep Surveys. The algorithm plans observations to stay within our time-varying allowable pointing zone, interleaves required data downlink passes, and mitigates outages due to the South Atlantic Anomaly and other events. As demonstrated by the sky coverage achieved in the first SPHEREx public data release, our approach is performing well in flight. The SPHEREx SPS is a key new capability that enables the mission to deliver groundbreaking science from LEO.

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arXiv2010

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE): Mission Description and Initial On-orbit Performance

The all sky surveys done by the Palomar Observatory Schmidt, the European Southern Observatory Schmidt, and the United Kingdom Schmidt, the InfraRed Astronomical Satellite and the 2 Micron All Sky Survey have proven to be extremely useful tools for astronomy with value that lasts for decades. The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is mapping the whole sky following its launch on 14 December 2009. WISE began surveying the sky on 14 Jan 2010 and completed its first full coverage of the sky on July 17. The survey will continue to cover the sky a second time until the cryogen is exhausted (anticipated in November 2010). WISE is achieving 5 sigma point source sensitivities better than 0.08, 0.11, 1 and 6 mJy in unconfused regions on the ecliptic in bands centered at wavelengths of 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 microns. Sensitivity improves toward the ecliptic poles due to denser coverage and lower zodiacal background. The angular resolution is 6.1, 6.4, 6.5 and 12.0 arc-seconds at 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 microns, and the astrometric precision for high SNR sources is better than 0.15 arc-seconds.

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