new topic: time domain bestiary

[Dick Shaw]

I think Rob is asking for the latest list of all the variable beasties in the 
zoo, along with parameters of the variability. The link says how to classify 
them once you have the list.

-Dick

On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 16:02:32 -0700
  Matthew Graham <mjg at cacr.caltech.edu> wrote:
> This is a good formal starting point:
> 
> http://www.ivoa.net/documents/Notes/AstrObjectOntology/
> 
> -- M.
> 
> On Apr 28, 2014, at 3:57 PM, Dick Shaw wrote:
> 
>> Understanding the nature of the variability (timescale, amplitude, 
>>regularity, etc.) is key to planning surveys that discover more of a given 
>>class, or to planning follow-up observations, or to planning a system to 
>>provide notifications. A relatively complete list of species and a good 
>>taxonomy are key to those endeavors.
>> 
>> Regards,
>> Dick
>> 
>> On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 15:26:31 -0700
>> Rob Seaman <seaman at noao.edu> wrote:
>>> A variety of purposes related to the evolving nature of astronomy in general 
>>>and my employer in particular.  The InterOp is coming up and those going will 
>>>be discussing (from a recent message from the TDIG jefe):
>>> 	- SimpleTimeSeries (Matthew)
>>> 	- VOEventRegExt (Matthew)
>>> 	- VOEvent Transport Protocol (John)
>>> 	- VOEventContainer
>>> These protocols/standards are in support of a mission to carry out diverse 
>>>programs of astronomical time domain science investigations.  IVOA 
>>>Recommendations are themselves purely philosophical until they are 
>>>instantiated in systems deployed around the astronomical community.  Systems 
>>>that themselves are of mostly philosophical interest unless they are 
>>>organized into a larger interoperating system of systems developed, operated 
>>>and maintained with enough support to keep them in the field.
>>> The resulting science may also be said to be purely philosophical, whatever 
>>>that says about the techniques, infrastructure and logistics of the practice 
>>>of astronomy, time domain or otherwise.
>>> Rob
>>> --
>>> On Apr 28, 2014, at 3:12 PM, Matthew Graham <mjg at cacr.caltech.edu> wrote:
>>>> Is there a purpose to this discussion or is it purely philosophical?
>>>> -- M.
>>>> On Apr 28, 2014, at 3:10 PM, Rob Seaman wrote:
>>>>> …or put it this way: on slide 5 of Steve Ridgway’s talk on the variable sky 
>>>>>at HTU III, bullet 1 says “bottom up approach not satisfactory”.  This can be 
>>>>>taken in several ways, but one issue is that the list of transient/variable 
>>>>>phenomena is incomplete.  Some things are so rare we’ve never seen them, or 
>>>>>our imagination does not yet extend to those classes of objects.  The unknown 
>>>>>unknowns.
>>>>> The literature contains a long list of knowns, however, of various classes. 
>>>>>Whether it’s top-down, bottom-up or sideways, one way to hedge in the 
>>>>>parameter space of Cosmos Incognita, is to consider the characteristics of 
>>>>>those classes.  This applies to the various aspects of classification, but 
>>>>>also to the workflow logistics of the transient follow-up (whatever we call 
>>>>>that).  The architecture of the larger system to respond to alerts (once 
>>>>>characterized, classified, prioritized, etc) depends on a sweet spot(s) of 
>>>>>phenomenological features shared by very diverse astrophysical phenomena.
>>>>> What’s our best guess of where the sweet spot lies?  What kind of system is 
>>>>>needed to be responsive to this?  Trying mightily to resist quoting Rumsfeld, 
>>>>>but maybe there’s no other way.  If we have to go to war with the army (or 
>>>>>telescopes/instruments) we have, how does that affect the strategic choice of 
>>>>>science to pursue now, and of facilities to plan to build later?
>>>>> Rob
>>>>> On Apr 28, 2014, at 2:09 PM, Rob Seaman <seaman at noao.edu> wrote:
>>>>>> There are additional classes such as microlensing and moving objects. 
>>>>>>Variability can be pulsations or eclipses, etc and so forth.  So is there a 
>>>>>>complete-ish list of the different classes?
>>>>>> On Apr 28, 2014, at 2:05 PM, Matthew Graham <mjg at cacr.caltech.edu> wrote:
>>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>> I think you need to distinguish between things that vary (basically 
>>>>>>>everything at some level) or things that are eruptive or explosive in some 
>>>>>>>fashion. Which do you want to catalog?
>>>>>>> 	Cheers,
>>>>>>> 	Matthew
>>>>>>> On Apr 28, 2014, at 2:00 PM, Rob Seaman wrote:
>>>>>>>> So at the first VOEvent meeting we spent some time scribbling down a time 
>>>>>>>>domain bestiary - a list of different astrophysical phenomena that vary.
>>>>>>>> What is the best version of this now?  Is there a review article(s), for 
>>>>>>>>instance, that includes a full or partial list of different classes of things 
>>>>>>>>that go bump in the night?
>> 
> 

#---
Dr. Richard A. Shaw, Scientist
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
950 N. Cherry Avenue
Tucson, AZ  85719
USA
520-318-8398
http://www.noao.edu/noao/staff/shaw/