PlateUNLP: An Open-Source Solution for Automating the Digitization of Historical Astronomical Plates
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Date
2024
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Eurographics Association
Abstract
The Observatorio Astronómico de La Plata belonging to the Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas (FCAG) of the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) is among the oldest astronomical institutions in South America. Its extensive collection includes thousands of spectroscopic and photographic glass plates, which were collected between the early 1900s and the 1980s by eminent Argentine astronomers. These plates represent a unique and valuable record that remains largely unpublished. In 2019, the Recuperation of Historical Observational Work (ReTrOH, for its initials in Spanish) project initiated a digitization programme to convert over 15,000 plates from the collection into digital format. Given that the manual processing of these plates is intricate, error-prone, and time-consuming, a multidisciplinary team of astronomers and computer scientists was assembled to create a software tool called PlateUNLP. This tool was specifically designed to streamline the digitization process, enhancing efficiency and reducing the potential for errors. PlateUNLP utilizes advanced signal processing and computer vision techniques to automatically identify and isolate each spectrum captured on the plates, attaching the relevant metadata and thus limiting the need for manual intervention. The system is released as open-source software, allowing for broad accessibility. While PlateUNLP was tailored to meet the demands of the ReTrOH project, its adaptable design makes it suitable for digitizing many other plate collections around the world.
Description
CCS Concepts: Applied computing → Astronomy; Physics
@inproceedings{10.2312:gch.20241243,
booktitle = {Eurographics Workshop on Graphics and Cultural Heritage},
editor = {Corsini, Massimiliano and Ferdani, Daniele and Kuijper, Arjan and Kutlu, Hasan},
title = {{PlateUNLP: An Open-Source Solution for Automating the Digitization of Historical Astronomical Plates}},
author = {Ponte Ahón, Santiago Andres and Aidelman, Yael and Cidale, Lydia and Gamen, Roberto and Seery, Juan Martín and Quiroga, Facundo and Ronchetti, Franco and Hasperué, Waldo and Iannuzzi, M. and Peralta, R. and López, M. and Bariviera, Aurelio F.},
year = {2024},
publisher = {The Eurographics Association},
ISSN = {2312-6124},
ISBN = {978-3-03868-248-6},
DOI = {10.2312/gch.20241243}
}