arXiv subjects

Marco C Lam

Publications and source records attributed to Marco C Lam.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A new method to retrieve the star formation history from white dwarf luminosity functions -- an application to the Gaia catalogue of nearby stars

With the state-of-the-art Gaia astrometry, the number of confirmed white dwarfs has reached a few hundred thousand. We have reached the era where small features in the white dwarf luminosity function (WDLF) of the solar neighbourhood can be resolved. We demonstrate how to apply Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling on a set of pre-computed partial-WDLFs to derive the star formation history of their progenitor stellar populations. We compare the results against many well-accepted and established works using various types of stars, including white dwarfs, main sequence stars, sub-giants and the entire stellar population. We find convincing agreements among most of the methods, particularly at the intermediate age of 0.1-9 Gyr.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2020

An update on the development of ASPIRED

We are reporting the updates in version 0.2.0 of the Automated SpectroPhotometric REDuction (ASPIRED) pipeline, designed for common use on different instruments. The default settings support many typical long-slit spectrometer configurations, whilst it also offers a flexible set of functions for users to refine and tailor-make their automated pipelines to an instrument's individual characteristics. Such automation provides near real-time data reduction to allow adaptive observing strategies, which is particularly important in the Time Domain Astronomy. Over the course of last year, significant improvement was made in the internal data handling as well as data I/O, accuracy and repeatability in the wavelength calibration.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

RASCAL: Towards automated spectral wavelength calibration

Wavelength calibration is a routine and critical part of any spectral work-flow, but many astronomers still resort to matching detected peaks and emission lines by hand. We present RASCAL (RANSAC Assisted Spectral CALibration), a python library for automated wavelength calibration of astronomical spectrographs. RASCAL implements recent state-of-the-art methods for wavelength calibration and requires minimal input from a user. In this paper we discuss the implementation of the library and apply it to real-world calibration spectra.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Automated SpectroPhotometric Image REDuction (ASPIRED)

We aim to provide a suite of publicly available spectral data reduction software to facilitate rapid scientific outcomes from time-domain observations. For time resolved observations, an automated pipeline frees astronomers from performance of the routine data analysis tasks to concentrate on interpretation, planning future observations and communication with international collaborators. The project consists of two parts: data processing (ASPIRED) and a graphical user interface (gASPIRED).ASPIREDis written in python 3, and was intentionally developed as a self-consistent reduction pipeline with its own diagnostics and error handling. The pipeline can reduce2D spectral data from raw image to wavelength and flux calibrated 1D spectrum automatically without any user input.gASPIREDis a cross-platform software developedwithElectronon a single code base. It brings interactivity to the software with a well-maintained and user-friendly environment.

astro-ph.IM↗