The Zwicky Transient Facility: Surveys and Scheduler. (29th April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bellm, Eric C.; Kulkarni, Shrinivas R.; Barlow, Tom; Feindt, Ulrich; Graham, Matthew J.; Goobar, Ariel; Kupfer, Thomas; Ngeow, Chow-Choong; Nugent, Peter; Ofek, Eran; Prince, Thomas A.; Riddle, Reed; Walters, Richard; Ye 葉泉, Quan-Zhi 志
• Is Part Of: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Volume 131:Number 1000(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-04-29
• Subjects: methods: observational -- surveys; Astronomy -- Periodicals; Astronomy; Periodicals; Periodicals; 520.5
• DOI: 10.1088/1538-3873/ab0c2a
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0004-6280

Abstract

Abstract: We present a novel algorithm for scheduling the observations of time-domain imaging surveys. Our integer linear programming approach optimizes an observing plan for an entire night by assigning targets to temporal blocks, enabling strict control of the number of exposures obtained per field and minimizing filter changes. A subsequent optimization step minimizes slew times between each observation. Our optimization metric self-consistently weights contributions from time-varying airmass, seeing, and sky brightness to maximize the transient discovery rate. We describe the implementation of this algorithm on the surveys of the Zwicky Transient Facility and present its on-sky performance.