Publications
Science Cases and Survey Design
Low-Cost Access to the Deep, High-Cadence Sky: the Argus Optical Array
PASP, Volume 134, Issue 1033, id.035003
Nicholas M. Law, Hank Corbett, Nathan W. Galliher, Ramses Gonzalez, Alan Vasquez, Glenn Walters, Lawrence Machia, Jeff Ratzloff, Kendall Ackley, Chris Bizon, Christopher Clemens, Steven Cox, Steven Eikenberry, Ward S. Howard, Amy Glazier, Andrew W. Mann, Robert Quimby, Daniel Reichart, David Trilling
New mass-produced, wide-field, small-aperture telescopes have the potential to revolutionize ground-based astronomy by greatly reducing the cost of collecting area. In this paper, we introduce a new class of large telescope based on these advances: an all-sky, arcsecond-resolution, 1000-telescope array which builds a simultaneously high-cadence and deep survey by observing the entire sky all night. As a concrete example, we describe the Argus Array, a 5m-class telescope with an all-sky field of view and the ability to reach extremely high cadences using low-noise CMOS detectors. Each 55 GPix Argus exposure covers 20% of the entire sky to g=19.6 each minute and g=21.9 each hour; a high-speed mode will allow sub-second survey cadences for short times. Deep coadds will reach g=23.6 every five nights over 47% of the sky; a larger-aperture array telescope, with an étendue close to the Rubin Observatory, could reach g=24.3 in five nights. These arrays can build two-color, million-epoch movies of the sky, enabling sensitive and rapid searches for high-speed transients, fast-radio-burst counterparts, gravitational-wave counterparts, exoplanet microlensing events, occultations by distant solar system bodies, and myriad other phenomena. An array of O(1,000) telescopes, however, would be one of the most complex astronomical instruments yet built. Standard arrays with hundreds of tracking mounts entail thousands of moving parts and exposed optics, and maintenance costs would rapidly outpace the mass-produced-hardware cost savings compared to a monolithic large telescope. We discuss how to greatly reduce operations costs by placing all optics in a thermally controlled, sealed dome with a single moving part. Coupled with careful software scope control and use of existing pipelines, we show that the Argus Array could become the deepest and fastest Northern sky survey.
Technology Development and Prototyping
-
The inside-out upside-down telescope: the Argus Array’s new pseudofocal design
2022, Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 12182 -
The sky at one terabit per second: Architecture and implementation of the Argus Array Hierarchical Data Processing System
2022, Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 12189 -
The Argus Array Technology Demonstrator: Rapid prototyping of core technologies for an all-sky multiplexed survey telescope
2022, Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 12182 -
Packing the sky: coverage optimization and evaluation for large telescope arrays
2022, Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 12182 -
How to pamper your optics: climate control for the Argus Optical Array
2022, Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 12182 -
The Hercules Mount: Shouldering the Weight of the Argus Array Technology Demonstrator
2022, Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 12182 -
ArgusSpec: rapid, autonomous spectroscopic follow-up of bright transients
-
Argus Optical Array motion control: tracking the entire sky with a large monolithic array telescope
Evryscope and Wide-Field-Survey Publications
ApJ Letters
Orbital Foregrounds for Ultra-short Duration Transients (2020 ApJ Letters)
Hank Corbett, Nicholas M. Law, Alan Vasquez Soto, Ward S. Howard, Amy Glazier, Ramses Gonzalez, Jeffrey K. Ratzloff, Nathan Galliher, Octavi Fors, and Robert Quimby
The First Naked-eye Superflare Detected from Proxima Centauri (ApJL 2018 860L 30H)
Howard, Ward S.; Tilley, Matt A.; Corbett, Hank; Youngblood, Allison; Loyd, R. O. Parke; Ratzloff, Jeffrey K.; Law, Nicholas M.; Fors, Octavi; del Ser, Daniel; Shkolnik, Evgenya L.; Ziegler, Carl; Goeke, Erin E.; Pietraallo, Aaron D.; Haislip, Joshua
Refereed Journal Papers
Mysterious Dust-emitting Object Orbiting TIC 400799224 (2021 AJ 162 60)
Powell, Brian P. ; Kostov, Veselin ; Rappaport, Saul ; Tokovinin, Andrei ; Shporer, Avi ; Collins, Karen ; Corbett, Hank ; Borkovits, Tamas ; Gary, Bruce ; Chiang, Eugene ; Rodriguez, Joseph ; Law, Nicholas ; Barclay, Thomas ; Gagliano, Robert search by orcid ; Vanderburg, Andrew ; Olmschenk, Greg ; Kruse, Ethan ; Schlieder, Joshua ; Soto, Alan ; Goeke, Erin Jacobs, Thomas; Kristiansen, Martti; LaCourse, Daryll ; Omohundro, Mark ; Schwengeler, Hans ; Terentev, Ivan ; Schmitt, Allan
Rotation periods of TESS Objects of Interest from the Magellan-TESS Survey with multiband photometry from Evryscope and TESS (2021 AJ, in press)
Howard, Ward S. ; Teske, Johanna ; Corbett, Hank ; Law, Nicholas M. ; Xuesong Wang, Sharon ; Ratzloff, Jeffrey K. ; Galliher, Nathan W. ; Gonzalez, Ramses ; Vasquez Soto, Alan ; Glazier, Amy L. ; Haislip, Joshua
Low-Cost Access to the Deep, High-Cadence Sky: the Argus Optical Array (2021 PASP, in press)
Law, Nicholas M. ; Corbett, Hank ; Galliher, Nathan W. ; Gonzalez, Ramses ; Vasquez, Alan ; Walters, Glenn ; Machia, Lawrence ; Ratzloff, Jeff ; Ackley, Kendall ; Bizon, Chris ; Clemens, Christopher ; Cox, Steven ; Eikenberry, Steven ; Howard, Ward S. ; Glazier, Amy ; Mann, Andrew W. ; Quimby, Robert ; Reichart, Daniel ; Trilling, David
Discovery of an Extremely Short Duration Flare from Proxima Centauri Using Millimeter through FUV Observations
Meredith A. MacGregor, Alycia J. Weinberger, R. O. Parke Loyd, Evgenya Shkolnik, Thomas Barclay, Ward S. Howard, Andrew Zic, Rachel A. Osten, Steven R. Cranmer, Adam F. Kowalski, Emil Lenc, Allison Youngblood, Anna Estes, David J. Wilner, Jan Forbrich, Anna Hughes, Nicholas M. Law, Tara Murphy, Aaron Boley, Jaymie Matthews
Revisiting the HD 21749 planetary system with stellar activity modelling
Gan, Tianjun; Wang, Sharon Xuesong; Teske, Johanna K.; Mao, Shude; Howard, Ward S.; Law, Nicholas M.; Batalha, Natasha E.; Vanderburg, Andrew; Dragomir, Diana, et al.
EvryFlare III: Temperature Evolution and Habitability Impacts of Dozens of Superflares Observed Simultaneously by Evryscope and TESS (2020 ApJ, in press)
Ward S. Howard, Hank Corbett, Nicholas M. Law, Jeffrey K. Ratzloff, Nathan Galliher, Amy L. Glazier, Ramses Gonzalez, Alan Vasquez Soto, Octavi Fors, Daniel del Ser, Joshua Haislip
EVR-CB-004: An Inflated Hot Subdwarf O star + Unseen WD Companion in a Compact Binary Discovered with the Evryscope (2020 ApJ, in press)
Ratzloff, Jeffrey K.; Kupfer, Thomas; Barlow, Brad N.; Schneider, David; Marsh, Thomas R.; Heber, Ulrich; Corcoran, Kyle A.; Bauer, Evan; Hammerich, Steven; Corbett, Henry T.; Glazier, Amy; Howard, Ward S.; Law, Nicholas M.
Evryscope-South Survey of Upper- and Pre-main Sequence Solar Neighborhood Stars (2020 PASP, in press)
Galliher, Nathan W.; Ratzloff, Jeffrey K.; Corbett, Henry; Law, Nicholas M.; Howard, Ward S.; Glazier, Amy L.; Vasquez Soto, Alan; Gonzalez, Ramses
Evryscope and K2 Constraints on TRAPPIST-1 Superflare Occurrence and Planetary Habitability (2020, AJ, in press)
Amy Glazier, Ward Howard, Hank Corbett, Nicholas Law, Jeffrey Ratzloff, Octavi Fors, Daniel del Ser
Multi-wavelength Photometry and Progenitor Analysis of the Nova V906 Car (2020, ApJ, in press)
Jerrick Wee, Nadejda Blagorodnova, Bryan Edward Penprase, Jett Pierce Facey, Taiga Morioka, Hank Corbett, Brad N. Barlow, Thomas Kupfer, Nicholas M. Law, Jeffrey K. Ratzloff, Ward S. Howard, Ramses Gonzalez Chavez, Amy Glazier, Alan Vasquez Soto, Takashi Horiuchi
Hot Subdwarf All Southern Sky Fast Transit Survey with the Evryscope (2020ApJ 890 126R)
Ratzloff, Jeffrey K.; Barlow, Brad N.; Nemeth, Peter; Corbett, Henry T.; Walser, Stephen; Galliher, Nathan W.; Glazier, Amy; Howard, Ward S.; Law, Nicholas M.
The Robotilter: An Automated Lens / CCD Alignment System for the Evryscope (JATIS, 2020, 6a 8002R)
Jeffrey K. Ratzloff, Nicholas M. Law, Henry T. Corbett, Octavi Fors, Daniel del Ser
EVR-CB-001: An Evolving, Progenitor, White Dwarf Compact Binary Discovered with the Evryscope (ApJ 2019, 883 51R)
Ratzloff, Jeffrey K.; Barlow, Brad N.; Kupfer, Thomas; Corcoran, Kyle A.; Geier, Stephan; Bauer, Evan; Corbett, Henry T.; Howard, Ward S.; Glazier, Amy; Law, Nicholas M.
EvryFlare II: Rotation Periods and Starspot Coverage of Cool Active Stars Throughout the Spin-down Process (ApJ, in press)
Ward S. Howard, Hank Corbett, Nicholas M. Law, Jeffrey K. Ratzloff, Amy Glazier, Octavi Fors, Daniel del Ser, Joshua Haislip
EvryFlare I: Long-term Evryscope Monitoring of Flares from the Cool Stars Across Half the Southern Sky (ApJ 2019, 881 9H)
Howard, Ward S.; Corbett, Hank; Law, Nicholas M.; Ratzloff, Jeffrey K.; Glazier, Amy L.; Fors, Octavi; del Ser, Daniel; Haislip, Joshua
Variables in the Southern Polar Region Evryscope 2016 Dataset (PASP 2019, 131 1002)
Ratzloff, Jeffrey K.; Corbett, Henry T.; Law, Nicholas M.; Barlow, Brad N.; Glazier, Amy; Howard, Ward S.; Fors, Octavi; del Ser, Daniel; Trifonov, Trifon
Building the Evryscope: Hardware Design and Performance (PASP 2019 131 1001)
Jeffrey K. Ratzloff, Nicholas M. Law, Octavi Fors, Henry T. Corbett, Ward S. Howard, Daniel del Ser, Joshua Haislip
Young and Eccentric: The Quadruple System HD 86588 (AJ 156 120T)
Tokovinin, Andrei; Corbett, Hank; Fors, Octavi; Howard, Ward; Law, Nicholas M.; Moe, Maxwell; Ratzloff, Jeffrey; Walter, Frederick M.
Bright Opportunities for Atmospheric Characterization of Small Planets: Masses and Radii of K2-3 b, c, and d and GJ3470 b from Radial Velocity Measurements and Spitzer Transits (AJ 2018 157 97K)
Kosiarek, Molly; Crossfield, Ian., et al
Evryscope Science: Exploring the Potential of All-Sky Gigapixel-Scale Telescopes (PASP 127 234L)
Law, Nicholas M.; Fors, Octavi; Ratzloff, Jeffrey; Wulfken, Philip; Kavanaugh, Dustin; Sitar, David J.; Pruett, Zachary; Birchard, Mariah N.; Barlow, Brad N.; Cannon, Kipp; Cenko, S. Bradley; Dunlap, Bart; Kraus, Adam; Maccarone, Thomas J.
PhD Thesis (more to come!)
Designing and Building the Evryscopes, Fast Transit Search Results Dr. Jeffrey Ratzloff (UNC)
Research notes, conference proceedings, ATels, etc.
The Detailed Light Curve Evolution of V1674 Her (Nova Her 2021) (AAS Research Note)
Quimby, R. M.; Shafter, A. W.; Corbett, H.
A missing piece of the habitability puzzle: the first statistical sample of M-dwarf superflare temperatures observed with multi-facility, multi-wavelength monitoring (Cool Stars 20.5)
Howard, Ward S.; Corbett, Hank T.; Law, Nicholas M.; Ratzloff, Jeffrey K.; Galliher, Nathan; Glazier, Amy L.; Gonzalez, Ramses; Vasquez, Alan
Constraints on Post-Superflare Exo-Auroral Emission with SOAR and the Evryscope Fast Transient Engine (AASTCS8 Habitable Worlds 2021)
Glazier, Amy L.; Law, Nicholas M.; Corbett, Hank; Howard, Ward S.; Vasquez Soto, Alan; Gonzalez, Ramses; Galliher, Nathan W.; Ratzloff, Jeffrey K.
Constraints on Post-Superflare Exo-Auroral Emission with SOAR and the Evryscope Fast Transient Engine (Cool Stars 20.5)
Glazier, Amy L.; Law, Nicholas M.; Corbett, Hank; Howard, Ward S.; Vasquez Soto, Alan; Gonzalez, Ramses; Galliher, Nathan W.; Ratzloff, Jeffrey K.
LIGO/Virgo S191110af: Evryscope observation report (GCN 26227)
Hank Corbett (University of North Carolina), Kendall Ackley (Monash), Nicholas Law, Ramses Gonzalez Chavez, Alan Vasquez, Jeffrey Ratzloff (UNC), Stephen S. Eikenberry (University of Florida), Ward Howard, Amy Glazier, Nathan Galliher, Dan Reichart, Josh Haislip, and Vladimir Kouprianov (UNC), Robert Quimby (San Diego State University)
Evryscopes North and South: hardware to science (2018SPIE10702E..5KR)
Ratzloff, Jeff K.; Law, Nicholas M.; Corbett, Henry T.; Fors, Octavi; Howard, Ward S.
Pre-Discovery Detection of ASASSN-18fv by Evryscope (2018ATel11467….1C)
Corbett, H.; Law, N.; Goeke, E.; Ratzloff, J.; Howard, W.; Fors, O.; del Ser, D.; Quimby, R. M.
Evryscope Detection of the First Proxima Superflare: Impacts on the Atmosphere and Habitability of Proxima b (2018LPICo2065.2039H)
Howard, W. S.; Tilley, M. A.; Corbett, H. T.; Youngblood, A. A.; Loyd, R. O. P.; Ratzloff, J. K.; Law, N. M.; Fors, O.; del Ser, D.; Shkolnik, E. L.; and 4 coauthors
EvryFlare: Flare rates and intensities for every 10 < g’ < 15 solar-type and red dwarf star in the Southern sky (2017reph.conf20205H)
Howard, Ward; Fors, Octavi; Ratzloff, Jeff; Corbett, Hank; del Ser, Daniel; Law, Nicholas
EVA: Evryscopes for the Arctic and Antarctic (2017ASPC..510..538R)
Richichi, A.; Law, N.; Tasuya, O.; Fors, O.; Dennihy, E.; Carlberg, R.; Tuthill, P.; Ashley, M.; Soonthornthum, B.
Evryscope Robotilter automated camera / ccd alignment system (2016SPIE.9908E..0WR)
Ratzloff, Jeff K.; Law, Nicholas M.; Fors, Octavi; Ser, Daniel d.; Corbett, Henry T.
The Evryscope: design and performance of the first full-sky gigapixel-scale telescope (2016SPIE.9906E..1ML)
Law, Nicholas M.; Fors, Octavi; Ratzloff, Jeffrey; Corbett, Henry; del Ser, Daniel; Wulfken, Philip
The Evryscope: the first full-sky gigapixel-scale telescope (2014SPIE.9145E..0ZL)
Law, Nicholas M.; Fors, Octavi; Wulfken, Philip; Ratzloff, Jeffrey; Kavanaugh, Dustin
New Exoplanet Surveys in the Canadian High Arctic at 80 Degrees North (2012SPIE.8444E..5CL)
Law, Nicholas M.; Sivanandam, Suresh; Murowinski, Richard; Carlberg, Raymond; Ngan, Wayne; Salbi, Pegah; Ahmadi, Aida; Steinbring, Eric; Halman, Mark; Graham, James
AAS-Meeting Student Presentations
Constraints on Post-Superflare Exo-Auroral Emission with SOAR and the Evryscope Fast Transient Engine (2021AAS…23751505G)
Glazier, A. L., Law, N. M., and 6 colleagues
Chasing Young Star Superflares Using the Evryscopes (2021AAS…23751504G)
Galliher, N., Howard, W., and 5 colleagues
Investigating exoplanet habitability and the stellar magnetism of cool stars across half the Southern sky via superflares, starspots, and stellar rotation. (2021AAS…23751503H)
Howard, W. S., Law, N., and 8 colleagues
Orbital Foregrounds for Ultra-Short Duration Transients (2021AAS…23750908C)
Corbett, H., Law, N., and 8 colleagues
A First Look at Earth’s Orbital Space Measured with the Evryscopes (2021AAS…23740509V)
Vasquez Soto, A. F., Corbett, H., and 5 colleagues
Automating Superflare Spectroscopy with Evryscope and SOAR (2021AAS…23712408G)
Gonzalez, R., Corbett, H., and 5 colleagues
Evryscope and K2 Constraints on TRAPPIST-1 Superflare Occurrence and Planetary Habitability (2020AAS…23632904G)
Glazier, A. L., Howard, W. S., and 5 colleagues
A Dense Foreground for Fast Optical Transients with Evryscope (2020AAS…23632208C)
Corbett, H., Law, N., and 6 colleagues
The EvryFlare Survey: High-cadence flare temperatures of a large sample of superflares and starspots observed simultaneously by Evryscope and TESS (2020AAS…23631905H)
Howard, W. S., Law, N., and 9 colleagues
The Evryscope White Dwarf Transit Survey (2020AAS…23623501G)
Galliher, N., Ratzloff, J., and 6 colleagues
A Solar System Moving Objects Survey Using the Evryscopes (2020AAS…23612904V)
Vasquez Soto, A. F., Law, N., and 6 colleagues
A New Near Earth Object Survey Using the Evryscopes (2020AAS…23527802V)
Vasquez Soto, A., Law, N., and 5 colleagues
Searching for Optical GRB Afterglows with the Evryscope (2020AAS…23520606G)
Gonzalez, R., Corbett, H., and 6 colleagues
Evryscope Searches for Circumbinary Planets (2020AAS…23517019G)
Glazier, A. L., Law, N. M., and 7 colleagues
Measurement of the Bright and Fast Transient Foreground with the Evryscope Fast Transient Engine (2020AAS…23515401C)
Corbett, H., Law, N., and 7 colleagues
Evryscope-South Survey of Young Upper-main and Pre-main Sequence Solar Neighborhood Stars (2020AAS…23511022G)
Galliher, N. W., Ratzloff, J. K., and 6 colleagues
Evryscope Photometry of the New Hot Subdwarf Reflection Effect Binary EC 01578-1743 (2019AAS…23346403W)
Walser, Stephen, Corcoran, Kyle A., and 8 colleagues
Fast Cadence Planet-searches with the All-sky, Gigapixel-scale Evryscope (2019AAS…23342201R)
Ratzloff, Jeff, Law, Nicholas, and 5 colleagues
All-sky rapid transient searches with the Evryscope network (2019AAS…23336311C)
Corbett, Henry T., Fors, Octavi, and 8 colleagues
Evryscope Observations of Post-Common-Envelope Hot Subdwarf Systems (2019AAS…23336016C)
Corcoran, Kyle A., Barlow, Brad, and 8 colleagues
Evryscope Constraints on TRAPPIST-1 Superflare Occurrence and Planetary Habitability (2019AAS…23324705G)
Glazier, Amy, Howard, Ward S., and 7 colleagues
Evryscope flares as probes of the space weather environments of Proxima b and the nearest rocky exoplanets (2019AAS…23320301H)
Howard, Ward S., Tilley, Matt A., and 15 colleagues
Stellar activity for every TESS star in the Southern sky (2018AAS…23131003H)
Howard, Ward S., Law, Nicholas, and 4 colleagues
Rapid All-Sky Transient Discovery and Analysis with Evryscope (2018AAS…23123106C)
Corbett, Henry T., Law, Nicholas, and 4 colleagues
Fast cadence planet-searches with the all-sky, gigapixel-scale Evryscope (2018AAS…23120405R)
Ratzloff, Jeff and Law, Nicholas
Updated O-C Diagrams for Several Bright HW Vir Binaries Observed with the Evryscope (2018AAS…23115023C)
Corcoran, Kyle A., Barlow, Brad, and 5 colleagues
Targeted-mode pipeline for the Evryscope: a minute cadence, 10,000-square-degree FoV, gigapixel-scale telescope (2015AAS…22533209F)
Fors, Octavi, Law, Nicholas M., Wulfken, Philip J., and Ratzloff, Jeffrey
Image Quality of the Evryscope: Method for On-Site Optical Alignment (2015AAS…22525807W)
Wulfken, Philip J., Law, Nicholas M., Ratzloff, Jeffrey, and Fors, Octavi
Mechanical design for the Evryscope: a minute cadence, 10,000-square-degree FoV, gigapixel-scale telescope (2015AAS…22525806R)
Ratzloff, Jeff, Law, Nicholas M., Fors, Octavi, and Wulfken, Philip J.