Exploring the solar system with the NoirLab source catalog

Abstract

Millions of objects, from micrometer-sized grains of dust to the largest main planets, orbit and interact with the sun and each other. Their relative proximity makes them important topics of study, but their relative size and complex apparent motion makes them difficult to find. Further calculations of SSO motion, magnitude, size, color, and rotation are needed for a complete and accurate model of the solar system in order to reveal how such a large number of objects interact and evolve together. The National Science Foundation's Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) hosts a collaboration of ground-based observatories which have been imaging the sky for years. All public images are combined periodically in the NOIRLab Source Catalog, a multi-billionrow amalgamation of independent datasets which currently cover over 80% of the sky with nine years of observations. The NSC's seven photometric filters and extensive spatial and temporal coverage make it an excellent resource for exploring our solar system. Two methods, CANFind and the Tough Transform, were developed to identify measurements of solar system objects in the NSC. 4 million observations of SSOs were found in the latest data release of the NSC; over three million of these detections represent objects unknown before the NSC was searched. Initial determination of object orbits reveals that objects across the inner and outer solar system are represented in the catalog. The colors of unknown objects are explored, showing that the phase angle of an observed object may impact blue surfaces more so than red surfaces. Furthermore, source measurement of over 500,000 exposures for the third data release of the NSC is in progress; a new method of measurement has been implemented, and tests are performed to establish a new set of reference catalogs for source calibration. These improvements will undoubtedly positively affect the quality and quantity of SSO measurements represented in the NSC.