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C. D. Keyes

Publications and source records attributed to C. D. Keyes.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

The Pan-STARRS1 Surveys

Pan-STARRS1 has carried out a set of distinct synoptic imaging sky surveys including the $3\pi$ Steradian Survey and the Medium Deep Survey in 5 bands ($grizy_{P1}$). The mean 5$\sigma$ point source limiting sensitivities in the stacked 3$\pi$ Steradian Survey in $grizy_{P1}$ are (23.3, 23.2, 23.1, 22.3, 21.4) respectively. The upper bound on the systematic uncertainty in the photometric calibration across the sky is 7-12 millimag depending on the bandpass. The systematic uncertainty of the astrometric calibration using the Gaia frame comes from a comparison of the results with Gaia: the standard deviation of the mean and median residuals ($ \Delta ra, \Delta dec $) are (2.3, 1.7) milliarcsec, and (3.1, 4.8) milliarcsec respectively. The Pan-STARRS system and the design of the PS1 surveys are described and an overview of the resulting image and catalog data products and their basic characteristics are described together with a summary of important results. The images, reduced data products, and derived data products from the Pan-STARRS1 surveys are available to the community from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) at STScI.

astro-ph.IM

A New Kind of Nova

We performed extensive, multi-wavelength observations of the prototypical symbiotic star Z Andromedae between 2000 and 2003, during a large eruption. The rise to optical maximum occurred in three distinct stages. During the first stage, the rise was very similar to an earlier, small outburst which we determined was due to an accretion-disk instability. In the second stage, an optically thick shell of material was ejected, and in the third stage, the shell cleared to reveal a white dwarf whose luminosity was roughly 10^4 Lsun. We suggest that the outburst was powered by an increase in the rate of nuclear burning on the white-dwarf surface, triggered by a sudden burst of accretion. This outburst thus combined elements of both dwarf novae and classical novae.

astro-ph

Outbursts of Classical Symbiotics: Multi-Wavelength Observations of the 2000-2001 Outburst of Z Andromedae

We describe the first results from a program of multi-wavelength monitoring of symbiotic binary stars in outburst. The prototypical symbiotic star Z Andromedae was observed extensively at radio, optical, far-UV, and X-ray wavelengths during its current (ongoing) outburst. These observations provide evidence for an initial obscuration or the source of ionizing radiation by an optically thick shell of material, outflow with velocities of 100s of km/s, plus collisional excitation and shock heating of the red-giant wind. In addition, the optical light curve reveals variability on time scales as short as days on both the rise to and decline from optical maximum.

astro-ph