A Center for Archiving and A Center for Archiving and Digitization of Photographic Digitization of Photographic

Plates at the Pisgah Astronomical Plates at the Pisgah Astronomical Research InstituteResearch Institute

J. D. Cline, M. W. Castelaz (Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute)

E. Griffin (Dominion Astrophysical Observatory) W. Osborn (Central Michigan University)

AAS 203rd Meeting. 5 January 2004. Session 20.01 Accessing Data Bases

One-Minute OverviewOne-Minute Overview Observations in digital form have become an essential element of

modern astronomical research.

At present, generally only recent observations are available digitally - the rich older collections of observations are largely available only on archived photographic plates.

These photographs constitute an enormously important and, for the large part, unrepeatable resource for research, but many plate archives are currently being neglected and their information may be lost.

International concurrence is mounting to rescue, preserve and catalog the plates, and to preserve their information through digitization. Digitization would also permit development of an easily-accessible public database of images and spectra for worldwide retrieval and use.

The task of digitizing the photographic material is large but uncomplicated, and is fully feasible with modern technology.

We propose to establish a center for plate preservation and digitization.

Is digitizing old plates worth the effort? Is digitizing old plates worth the effort? A few examples of research based on A few examples of research based on

archived plate collectionsarchived plate collections

Gamma Ray Bursts Historical Data

Long-term Star Variability

Re-analysis of old observations of currently interesting object that include:

• Near-Earth Asteroids

• BL Lac Objects

• Novae

What is being done to preserve and What is being done to preserve and digitize astronomical platesdigitize astronomical plates

• A number of projects of plate preservation and digitization are currently active. These are summarized in Table 1.

• The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) is establishing a new initiative, called the Center of Astronomical Plate Preservation (CAPP). The intention is to develop CAPP into

- A long-term repository for unwanted plate collections, in particular of direct and objective prism plates currently stored in North American observatories

- A center for digitizing plates and plate collections

- A center for providing digitized plate images to the astronomical community via the internet.

Project URL Location

IAU Preservation & Digitization of Photographic Plates Working Group

www.inasan.rssi.ru/iau/iau5/tgpdpp.html

Uccle Direct Astronomical Plate Archive Centre

udapac.oma.be/~fido/ovid.html Royal Observatory of Belgium Av. Circulaire, 3 - Ringlaan 3  1180 BRUXELLES - BRUSSEL

Wide-Field Plate Database www.skyarchive.org Institute of AstronomyBulgarian Academy of Sciences72 Tsarigradsko Shosse Blvd.BG-1784 SOFIA, Bulgaria

Spectroscopic Virtual Observatory

www.spectraheritage.org/details.html Dr. Elizabeth GriffinDominion Astrophysical ObservatoryVictoria, British Columbia, Canada

The Plate Collection of theNantucket Maria Mitchell Association

www.aas.org/%7Epboyce/mma/plates.htm Maria Mitchell Association4 Vestal St., Nantucket, MA 02554

Table 1. Some Plate Preservation & Digitization ProjectsTable 1. Some Plate Preservation & Digitization Projects

Why a Center at PARI?Why a Center at PARI?

• PARI is a natural home for a plates archive, offering physically secure and abundant environmentally controlled space

• PARI is well suited to serve as a distribution center for digitized images, having available space and Internet 2 infrastructure.

• CAPP at PARI will concentrate on direct and objective prism plates, thus complementing the work of the Spectroscopic Virtual Observatory (DAO, Canada), whose focus is digitizing slit spectra plates from archives worldwide

Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute

PARI is a not-for-profit public foundation dedicated to providing research and educational access to radio and optical astronomy for a broad cross-section of users.

PARI is located on 200 acres in the Pisgah National Forest in western North Carolina

The PARI Campus is relatively free of light and radio interference.

N

PARI can provide the PARI can provide the requirements forrequirements for

• Long term preservation of plates

• Digitization of the photographic images

• Distribution of digital images to the astronomical community worldwide

• The infrastructure which is worth the equivalent of a university campus building and network

Plate Preservation RequirementsPlate Preservation Requirements

Facility RequirementsA secure area with controlled accessBackup power for several hundred hoursLocation with small probability of flood, earthquake, or fire.Several thousand square feet of floor space

Storage Area Requirements A clean, relative dust-free environment. Maintain selected humidity Maintain selected temperature Protect from sunlight Storage containers protected from local environmental changes Storage containers to provide vertical support and easy access

Plate Digitization RequirementsPlate Digitization RequirementsFacility Requirements Space for a high resolution scanner or densitometer A solid foundation for the digitizing instrument A secure area with controlled access

Digitizer Requirements Scanning resolution similar to resolution of a photographic plate Preserve astrometric precision of the plate Data Storage Requirements Potentially 3,000,000 plates at 1 GB each

Interactive Database RequirementsInteractive Database Requirements High speed internet access Space for servers and storage media

Funding RequirementsFunding RequirementsTo fully function as a world-wide distribution center of digitized data from preserved astronomical plates, the Plate Center at PARI requires funding to support:

• Personnel

• Acquisition of plates

• A scanner

• Computer and data storage

• Electricity

• Network connection fees

• Heating and air conditioning

Those preserving their plate collections at PARI are asked to work with the PARI staff to seek grants and donations for funding.

Specifications of the PARI Building Specifications of the PARI Building Available for the Plate Preservation and Available for the Plate Preservation and

Digitization CenterDigitization Center

• Two story, 20,400 square feet, building • Approx. 3,400 square feet of office space• Approx. 8,500 sq. ft. raised flooring on the upper level• Approx. 3,600 sq. ft. warehouse area on lower level• Approx. 4,900 sq. ft. of mechanicals and power distribution• Upper floor ceiling height is 10 feet and 12 feet on lower level • Five computer power conditioning control centers• Telephone lines to the site consist of both copper and fiber cable. • Six fibers can support OC192 to local telco

• Two 75 ton water chillers, one 30 ton water chiller, one 10 ton water chiller, and one 129,000 BTU closed loop refrigerant system; two hot water boilers, oil-fired, 945,000 BTU/hour each; steam boiler, oil-fired, 460,000 BTU/hour; and underfloor climate control units

• Building 4 is equipped with an early warning fire detection and fire alarm system that is tied to a central system on the site, and is also equipped with an automatic sprinkler-fire protection system

• A local 235kw back-up generator can provide weeks of redundant power if required

• Adequate parking is available immediately adjacent to the building

PARI's network consists of an ATM core network with connections to the various computers and equipment via ethernet and ATM OC-3, OC-12, and OC-48.

The ATM core features carrier-grade redundancy, including hot failover power supplies, switching engines, and network links. Power supplies, switching engines, and interface cards are hot swappable, providing faulty unit replacement without network downtime.

All core switches, servers, and critical equipment are protected from power failure using carrier-grade UPS with extended run-time.

Connections from the Internet or Internet 2 using the current system design.

The PARI Networking and Internet The PARI Networking and Internet CapabilityCapability

First Year: Acquire plates that may be lost and establish the Center• Scan plates with a high quality off-the-shelf scanner to

produce an internet based thumbnail catalog. Build the website and database for the catalog.

• Employ one person to scan, catalog, and support requests to store plates or access plates requested from astronomers who have searched the catalog.

• Secure funding in start-up grants, long-term funding

Three Year GoalsThree Year Goals

Second Year: Begin Digitization• Begin service of higher resolution scanning per astronomer

request.• Continue to acquire plates from other locations • Increase center staff by one.

Third Year: Achieve a goal of operation as a collection, preservation, and distribution center for digitized images.

The Current Process for Preserving The Current Process for Preserving Plates at PARIPlates at PARI

Contact PARI with the following information

• The number and size of plates.

• Cabinet size(s). Plates need to come with their storage cabinets.

• Approximate weight of the cabinets including the plates.

• Provide funding strategies for acquisition, transportation costs, and preservation.

Contact Information: Dr. Michael CastelazOne PARI DriveRosman, NC 28712mcastelaz@pari.eduPh: 828-862-5554Fax: 828-862-5877 A Not-for-Profit

Public Foundation