Many aspects of the design trade-off of a space-based instrument and its performance can best be tackled through simulations of the expected observations. The complex interplay of various noise sources in the course of the observations make such simu
lations an indispensable part of the assessment and design study of any space-based mission. We present a formalism to model and simulate photometric time series of CCD images by including models of the CCD and its electronics, the telescope optics, the stellar field, the jitter movements of the spacecraft, and all important natural noise sources. This formalism has been implemented in a versatile end-to-end simulation software tool, called PLATO Simulator, specifically designed for the PLATO space mission to be operated from L2, but easily adaptable to similar types of missions. We provide a detailed description of several noise sources and discuss their properties, in connection with the optical design, the allowable level of jitter, the quantum efficiency of the detectors, etc. The expected overall noise budget of generated light curves is computed as a function of the stellar magnitude, for different sets of input parameters describing the instrument properties. The simulator is offered to the scientific community for future use.
The preparation of a space-mission that carries out any kind of imaging to detect high-precision low-amplitude variability of its targets requires a robust model for the expected performance of its instruments. This model cannot be derived from simpl
e addition of noise properties due to the complex interaction between the various noise sources. While it is not feasible to build and test a prototype of the imaging device on-ground, realistic numerical simulations in the form of an end-to-end simulator can be used to model the noise propagation in the observations. These simulations not only allow studying the performance of the instrument, its noise source response and its data quality, but also the instrument design verification for different types of configurations, the observing strategy and the scientific feasibility of an observing proposal. In this way, a complete description and assessment of the objectives to expect from the mission can be derived. We present a high-precision simulation software package, designed to simulate photometric time-series of CCD images by including realistic models of the CCD and its electronics, the telescope optics, the stellar field, the jitter movements of the spacecraft, and all important natural noise sources. This formalism has been implemented in a software tool, dubbed ASTROID Simulator.
We present Kepler satellite photometry of KIC 10661783, a short-period binary star system which shows total eclipses and multi-periodic delta Scuti pulsations. A frequency analysis of the eclipse-subtracted light curve reveals at least 68 frequencies
of which 55 or more can be attributed to pulsation modes. The main limitation on this analysis is the frequency resolution within the 27-day short-cadence light curve. Most of the variability signal lies in the frequency range 18 to 31 c/d, with amplitudes between 0.1 and 4 mmag. One harmonic term (2.f) and a few combination frequencies (f_i+f_j) have been detected. From a plot of the residuals versus orbital phase we assign the pulsations to the primary star in the system. The pulsations were removed from the short-cadence data and the light curve was modelled using the Wilson-Devinney code. We are unable to get a perfect fit due to the residual effects of pulsations and also to the treatment of reflection and reprocessing in the light curve model. A model where the secondary star fills its Roche lobe is favoured, which means that KIC 10661783 can be classified as an oEA system. Further photometric and spectroscopic observations will allow the masses and radii of the two stars to be measured to high precision and hundreds of delta Scuti pulsation frequencies to be resolved. This could lead to unique constraints on theoretical models of delta Scuti stars, if the evolutionary history of KIC 10661783 can be accounted for.
The PLATO satellite mission project is a next generation ESA Cosmic Vision satellite project dedicated to the detection of exo-planets and to asteroseismology of their host-stars using ultra-high precision photometry. The main goal of the PLATO missi
on is to provide a full statistical analysis of exo-planetary systems around stars that are bright and close enough for detailed follow-up studies. Many aspects concerning the design trade-off of a space-based instrument and its performance can best be tackled through realistic simulations of the expected observations. The complex interplay of various noise sources in the course of the observations made such simulations an indispensable part of the assessment study of the PLATO Payload Consortium. We created an end-to-end CCD simulation software-tool, dubbed PLATOSim, which simulates photometric time-series of CCD images by including realistic models of the CCD and its electronics, the telescope optics, the stellar field, the pointing uncertainty of the satellite (or Attitude Control System [ACS] jitter), and all important natural noise sources. The main questions that were addressed with this simulator were the noise properties of different photometric algorithms, the selection of the optical design, the allowable jitter amplitude, and the expected noise budget of light-curves as a function of the stellar magnitude for different parameter conditions. The results of our simulations showed that the proposed multi-telescope concept of PLATO can fulfil the defined scientific goal of measuring more than 20000 cool dwarfs brighter than mV =11 with a precision better than 27 ppm/h which is essential for the study of earth-like exo-planetary systems using the transit method.
In this article we present a first discovery of non radial pulsations in both components of the Herbig Ae spectroscopic binary star RS Cha. The binary was monitored in quasi-continuous observations during 14 observing nights (Jan 2006) at the 1m Mt J
ohn (New Zealand) telescope with the Hercules high-resolution echelle spectrograph. The cumulated exposure time on the star was 44 hrs, corresponding to 255 individual high-resolution echelle spectra with $R = 45000$. Least square deconvolved spectra (LSD) were obtained for each spectrum representing the effective photospheric absorption profile modified by pulsations. Difference spectra were calculated by subtracting rotationally broadened artificial profiles; these residual spectra were analysed and non-radial pulsations were detected. A subsequent analysis with two complementary methods, namely Fourier Parameter Fit (FPF) and Fourier 2D (F2D) has been performed and first constraints on the pulsation modes have been derived. In fact, both components of the spectroscopic binary are Herbig Ae stars and both show NRPs. The FPF method identified 2 modes for the primary component with (degree l, azimuthal number m) couples ordered by decreasing probability: f_1 = 21.11 c/d with (l,m) = (11,11), (11,9) or (10,6) and f_2 = 30.38 c/d with (l,m) = (10,6) or (9,5). The F2D analysis indicates for f_1 a degree l = 8-10. For the secondary component, the FPF method identified 3 modes with (l,m) ordered by decreasing probability: f_1 = 12.81 c/d with (l,m) = (2,1) or (2,2), f_2b = 19.11 c/d with (l,m) = (13,5) or (10,5) and f_3 = 24.56 c/d with (l,m) = (6,3) or (6,5). The F2D analysis indicates for f_1 a degree l = 2 or 3, but proposes a contradictory identification of f_2 as a radial pulsation (l = 0).
