arXiv subjects

Emma Godden

Publications and source records attributed to Emma Godden.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Strategies for Accurate Effective Point Spread Function (ePSF) Modelling on Undersampled Images

Accurate modelling of the effective point spread function (ePSF) is essential for high-precision photometry and astrometry, particularly in undersampled imaging regimes. In this work, we build on a well-established ePSF modelling framework and its commonly used open-source Python implementation and demonstrate that several simple but effective modifications to existing ePSF modelling routines can significantly improve model accuracy. We use synthetic ePSFs to generate simulated datasets of stellar images, allowing us to evaluate the accuracy of ePSF models and determine the scale of the pixel-phase errors in resulting flux and position measurements. We systematically investigate how specific modelling choices affect ePSF accuracy, and evaluate the influence of oversampling, interpolation, gridpoint estimation, smoothing, star-sample distribution, and dithering on photometric precision. We apply our refined ePSF modelling routine to images from the Global Jet Watch observatories, demonstrating its improved ability to recover an accurate ePSF for real astronomical images. Our findings highlight the importance of tailoring the modelling approach to the specific characteristics of the instrument and detector, as well as to the nature of the available imaging data used to construct the ePSF model. These results provide practical guidance for optimising ePSF construction, thereby improving the reliability of photometric and astrometric measurements.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2023

Tracing the colliding winds of $\eta$ Carinae in He I

$\eta$ Carinae is an extremely luminous and energetic colliding-wind binary. The combination of its orbit and orientation, with respect to our line of sight, enables direct investigation of the conditions and geometry of the colliding winds. We analyse optical He I 5876 and 7065 $\unicode{x212B}$ line profiles from the Global Jet Watch observatories covering the last 1.3 orbital periods. The sustained coverage throughout apastron reveals the distinct dynamics of the emitting versus absorbing components: the emission lines follow orbital velocities whilst one of the absorption lines is detected only around apastron ($0.08 < \phi < 0.95$) and exhibits velocities that deviate substantially from the orbital motion. To interpret these deviations, we conjecture that this He I absorption component is formed in the post-shock primary wind, and is only detected when our line of sight intersects with the shock cone formed by the collision of the two winds. We formulate a geometrical model for the colliding winds in terms of a hyperboloid in which the opening angle and location of its apex are parameterised in terms of the ratio of the wind momentum of the primary star to that of companion. We fit this geometrical model to the absorption velocities, finding results that are concordant with the panchromatic observations and simulations of $\eta$ Carinae. The model presented here is an extremely sensitive probe of the exact geometry of the wind momentum balance of binary stars, and can be extended to probe the latitudinal dependence of mass loss.

astro-ph.SR↗