A Heliocentric-orbiting Objects Processing System (HOPS) for the Wide Field Survey Telescope: Architecture, Processing Workflow, and Preliminary Results
Abstract
Wide-field surveys have markedly enhanced the discovery and study of solar system objects (SSOs). The 2.5-meter Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST) represents the foremost facility dedicated to optical time-domain surveys in the northern hemisphere. To fully exploit WFST's capabilities for SSO detection, we have developed a heliocentric-orbiting objects processing system (HOPS) tailored for identifying these objects. This system integrates HelioLinC3D, an algorithm well suited for the WFST survey cadence, characterized by revisiting the same sky field twice on the majority of nights. In this paper, we outline the architecture and processing flow of our SSO processing system. The application of the system to the WFST pilot survey data collected between March and May 2024 demonstrates exceptional performance in terms of both temporal efficiency and completeness. A total of 658,489 observations encompassing 38,520 known asteroids have been documented, and 241 newly discovered asteroids have been assigned provisional designations. In particular, 27% of these new discoveries were achieved using merely two observations per night on three nights. The preliminary results not only illuminate the effectiveness of integrating HelioLinC3D within the SSO processing system, but also emphasize the considerable potential contributions of WFST to the field of solar system science.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2501.17472,
title = {A Heliocentric-orbiting Objects Processing System (HOPS) for the Wide Field Survey Telescope: Architecture, Processing Workflow, and Preliminary Results},
author = {Shao-Han Wang and Bing-Xue Fu and Jun-Qiang Lu and LuLu Fan and Min-Xuan Cai and Ze-Lin Xu and Xu Kong and Haibin Zhao and Bin Li and Ya-Ting Liu and Qing-feng Zhu and Xu Zhou and Zhen Wan and Jingquan Cheng and Ji-an Jiang and Feng Li and Ming Liang and Hao Liu and Wentao Luo and Zhen Lou and Hairen Wang and Jian Wang and Tinggui Wang and Yongquan Xue and Hongfei Zhang and Wen Zhao},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.17472},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
23 pages, 6 figures, submitted to AAS journal