Catalogs of celestial bodies from digitized photographic plates of the Ukrainian Virtual Observatory Archive

Abstract

The Ukrainian Virtual Observatory (UkrVO, http://ukr-vo.org) database is compiled from observations conducted in 1898-2018 at observational sites of 8 Ukrainian observatories with about 50 instruments. Now the UkrVO archive covers data of about 40,000 astroplates, from which 15,000 are digitized at three observatories: Main Astronomical Observatory of the NAS of Ukraine (MAO NASU), Research Institute 'Mykolaiv Astronomical Observatory' (RI MAO), and Astronomical Observatory of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (AO TSNU). Astroplates were digitized using EpsonTM and MicrotekTM commercial scanners with 16-bit gray levels and resolution of 1200-1600 dpi. Images of all objects registered on plates were processed using the advanced software complex for CCD images' treatment MIDAS/ROMAFOT in the LINUX environment. Additional software modules developed and implemented at the MAO NASU and RI MAO provide both the digitized images' processing and the final products as the catalogs of positions and stellar magnitudes of all the registered objects. The processing of the digitized Northern Sky Survey observations (the FON project) resulted in a few catalogs of coordinates and B-magnitudes for more than 19 million stars and galaxies from the FON-Kyiv part and more than 13 million objects from the FON-Kitab part. Besides, based on these data, two catalogs for more than 5,000 positions and B-magnitudes of asteroids were compiled. Now, in cooperation with Hissar Astronomical Observatory (Dushanbe, Tajikistan), we are preparing similar catalogs based on digitized observations of the third part (1985-1992) of the FON project. The digitized data of open star clusters in UBVR color bands obtained at the Baldone observatory (Latvia) were used to enhance the photometric content of the resulted catalogs. The developed methods of digitization, image processing, and reduction with the latest reference catalogs allowed us to achieve good positional and photometric accuracy of objects. Other digitized data of photographic observations stored in UkrVO archives formed the basis of several Solar System Bodies positional catalogs. The compiled catalogs of 90 positions and B-values of Pluto, 1500 positions of satellites of outer planets are available on the UkrVO website and in the Strasbourg Data Center.