arXiv subjects

Thomas Culino

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas Culino.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A data processing pipeline for the WINTER near-infrared surveyor using the $\texttt{mirar}$ framework

We present the data reduction and transient detection pipeline for the Wide-field Infrared Transient Explorer (WINTER) surveyor and report its on-sky performance. The WINTER camera utilizes cost-effective InGaAs sensors as alternatives to traditional IR sensors, and is mounted on a dedicated 1-m robotic telescope at Palomar Observatory. The WINTER camera has six detectors producing a combined field-of-view of 1.2 sq. deg. equipped with y, J, and shortened-H bands. WINTER saw first light in June 2023 and has been operating robotically since. The WINTER data processing pipeline ($\texttt{winterdrp}$) has been implemented within the broader framework $\texttt{mirar}$: a modular, open-source $\texttt{python}$ package developed for realtime processing of images from time-domain surveys. $\texttt{winterdrp}$ performs end-to-end data processing implementing data reduction and image subtraction to go from raw dithered WINTER images to transient alerts in the $\texttt{avro}$ format, which are then sent to $\texttt{SkyPortal}$ for vetting and follow-up. During a year of observations in 2024, WINTER achieved J-band median 5-$\sigma$ depths ranging from $18.1-18.8$ mag (AB) on its six detectors in 960 second integrations as part of its survey, with an astrometric accuracy of $\approx0.2$ arcsec (a fifth of a pixel) and a detector-performance limited photometric accuracy ranging from $\approx0.09-0.18$ mag for its six detectors. We present early science results from WINTER, which include the identification of a stellar merger in M31, dust-enshrouded outbursting young stellar objects and classical novae in the Galactic plane, NIR followup of known supernovae, and multi-messenger follow-up of neutrinos, gravitational waves, fast X-ray transients and gamma-ray bursts.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

BOOM and Babamul: a real-time, multi-survey, optical alert broker system operating at scale

With the arrival of ever higher throughput wide-field surveys and a multitude of multi-messenger and multi-wavelength instruments to complement them, software capable of harnessing these associated data streams is urgently required. To meet these needs, a number of community supported alert brokers have been built, currently focused on processing of Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF; $\sim 10^5$-$10^6$ alerts per night) with an eye towards Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST; $\sim 2 \times 10^7$ alerts per night). Building upon the system that successfully ran in production for ZTF's first seven years of operation, we introduce BOOM (Burst & Outburst Observations Monitor), an analysis framework focused on real-time, joint brokering of these alert streams. BOOM harnesses the performance of a Rust-based software stack relying on a non-relational MongoDB database combined with a Valkey in-memory processing queue and a Kafka cluster for message sharing. With this system, we demonstrate feature parity with the existing ZTF system with a throughput $\sim 7 \times$ higher. We describe the workflow that enables the real-time processing as well as the results with custom filters we have built to demonstrate the system's capabilities. In conclusion, we present the development roadmap for both BOOM and Babamul - the public-facing LSST alert broker built atop BOOM - as we begin the Rubin era.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2023

A data science platform to enable time-domain astronomy

SkyPortal is an open-source software package designed to efficiently discover interesting transients, manage follow-up, perform characterization, and visualize the results. By enabling fast access to archival and catalog data, cross-matching heterogeneous data streams, and the triggering and monitoring of on-demand observations for further characterization, a SkyPortal-based platform has been operating at scale for 2 yr for the Zwicky Transient Facility Phase II community, with hundreds of users, containing tens of millions of time-domain sources, interacting with dozens of telescopes, and enabling community reporting. While SkyPortal emphasizes rich user experiences (UX) across common frontend workflows, recognizing that scientific inquiry is increasingly performed programmatically, SkyPortal also surfaces an extensive and well-documented API system. From backend and frontend software to data science analysis tools and visualization frameworks, the SkyPortal design emphasizes the re-use and leveraging of best-in-class approaches, with a strong extensibility ethos. For instance, SkyPortal now leverages ChatGPT large-language models (LLMs) to automatically generate and surface source-level human-readable summaries. With the imminent re-start of the next-generation of gravitational wave detectors, SkyPortal now also includes dedicated multi-messenger features addressing the requirements of rapid multi-messenger follow-up: multi-telescope management, team/group organizing interfaces, and cross-matching of multi-messenger data streams with time-domain optical surveys, with interfaces sufficiently intuitive for the newcomers to the field. (abridged)

astro-ph.IM↗