The AIROPA software package: milestones for testing general relativity in the strong gravity regime with AO

Gunther Witzel; Jessica R. Lu; Andrea M. Ghez; Gregory D. Martinez; Michael P. Fitzgerald; Matthew Britton; Breann N. Sitarski; Tuan Do; Randall D. Campbell; Maxwell Service; Keith Matthews; Mark R. Morris; E. E. Becklin; Peter L. Wizinowich; Sam Ragland; Greg Doppmann; Chris Neyman; James Lyke; Marc Kassis; Luca Rizzi; Scott Lilley; Rachel Rampy

doi:10.1117/12.2233872

2 September 2016 The AIROPA software package: milestones for testing general relativity in the strong gravity regime with AO

Gunther Witzel, Jessica R. Lu, Andrea M. Ghez, Gregory D. Martinez, Michael P. Fitzgerald, Matthew Britton, Breann N. Sitarski, Tuan Do, Randall D. Campbell, Maxwell Service, Keith Matthews, Mark R. Morris, E. E. Becklin, Peter L. Wizinowich, Sam Ragland, Greg Doppmann, Chris Neyman, James Lyke, Marc Kassis, Luca Rizzi, Scott Lilley, Rachel Rampy

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Proceedings Volume 9909, Adaptive Optics Systems V; 99091O (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2233872
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

General relativity can be tested in the strong gravity regime by monitoring stars orbiting the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center with adaptive optics. However, the limiting source of uncertainty is the spatial PSF variability due to atmospheric anisoplanatism and instrumental aberrations. The Galactic Center Group at UCLA has completed a project developing algorithms to predict PSF variability for Keck AO images. We have created a new software package (AIROPA), based on modified versions of StarFinder and Arroyo, that takes atmospheric turbulence profiles, instrumental aberration maps, and images as inputs and delivers improved photometry and astrometry on crowded fields. This software package will be made publicly available soon.

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Gunther Witzel, Jessica R. Lu, Andrea M. Ghez, Gregory D. Martinez, Michael P. Fitzgerald, Matthew Britton, Breann N. Sitarski, Tuan Do, Randall D. Campbell, Maxwell Service, Keith Matthews, Mark R. Morris, E. E. Becklin, Peter L. Wizinowich, Sam Ragland, Greg Doppmann, Chris Neyman, James Lyke, Marc Kassis, Luca Rizzi, Scott Lilley, and Rachel Rampy "The AIROPA software package: milestones for testing general relativity in the strong gravity regime with AO", Proc. SPIE 9909, Adaptive Optics Systems V, 99091O (2 September 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2233872

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