Project description
The APPLAUSE project aims at digitizing photographic plates in the archives of Hamburg, Bamberg and Potsdam observatories. The plates are digitized with high-resolution flatbed scanners. In addition, the corresponding plate envelopes and observation logbooks are digitized, and further metadata are entered into the database. See this astroplate wiki page for descriptions of the workflow. Digitized plate images are processed and a catalogue of extracted sources with sky coordinates and photometry is published.
The project is not limited to the plate archives of the partner institutions, but will also integrate other archives, both national and international, that have been digitized already. Contracts with the Zentrum für Astronomie Heidelberg, the Landessternwarte Thüringen, the University of Jena and Tartu observatory (Estonia) have been signed. The goal of the project is not limited to extracting, calibrating and storing the data, but also to link them to other modern data sets from ground-based and spaceborne observatories, that is, to facilitate their use in modern research in astronomy. Therefore, the project was named Archives of Photographic PLates for Astronomical USE (APPLAUSE).
Three institutes were participating in the project phase I:
- Dr. Karl Remeis-Sternwarte Bamberg
- Hamburger Sternwarte
- Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP)
- We acknowledge contributions to the project from
Tartu Observatory, Estonia - We acknowledge for DR3 also contributions to the plate collection from
Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg - We acknowledge for DR4 also contributions to the plate collection from
Vatican Observatory
In February 2016, the project got an extension grant from DFG, to continue publishing plates, this time not only from the partnering institutes, but also from Observatories of Tautenburg and Jena, and other institutes. For project phase II the above mentioned observatories are included in the Data Release specific acknowledgements, if their plates are ingested.
The work has been carried out within the project "Digitalisierung astronomischer Fotoplatten und ihre Integration in das internationale Virtual Observatory", funded by the DFG
The project has been supported from work of many people.
The APPLAUSE project acknowledges hereby contributions from:
| Name | Institute | Contribution | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regina v. Berlepsch | Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) | Head of Library section, WFPDB contributor | ||
| Petra Boehm | Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) | Scanning + Metadata transcriptions, WFPDB contributor | ||
| Rainer Arlt | Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) | Scanning + Metadata transcriptions, WFPDB contributor | ||
| Sergei Schmalz | Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) | Scanning + Metadata transcriptions, APPLAUSE member, phase I | ||
| Norbert Jansen | Dr. Remeis Sternwarte Bamberg, U Erlangen | Scanning + Metadata transcription | ||
| Ingo Kreykenbohm & IT Team | Dr. Remeis Sternwarte Bamberg, U Erlangen | Technical Support | ||
| Jürgen Schmitt | Hamburger Sternwarte | Head of second DFG-Project | ||
| Anette Müller | Hamburger Sternwarte | Scanning + Meta-Data entry 2012-2019 | ||
| Kersten Polzin | Hamburger Sternwarte | Scanning + Meta-Data entry 2012-2018 | ||
| Sven Preller | Hamburger Sternwarte | Scanning 2012-2017 | ||
| André Wulff | Honorary | Scanning + Meta-Data entry 2012-2018 | ||
| Anke Vollersen | Hamburger Sternwarte | Scanning of observer motes 2013-2015 | ||
| Nicolaus Wassiliere | Trainee | Time-Data entry 2 months 2014 | ||
| Walter Fernandez | Trainee | Scanning 3 months 2014 | ||
| Norbert Engelhardt | Trainee + Honorary | Scanning + Meta-Data entry 2014-2019 | ||
| Helmut Gabriel | Honorary | Scanning 2015-2019 | ||
| Anne Che-Bohnenstengel | Honorary | Metadata check and completion Since 2019 | ||
| Horst-Dietrich Bohnenstengel | Honorary | Inventory Since 2019 | ||
| Cristian Offen | Free-Lancer | Web Presentation of plate-archives | ||
| Carolina von Essen | Honorary | Translation into Spanish | ||
| José Nicolás González-Pérez | Honorary | Translation into Spanish | ||
| Heidi + Nemo J. Niemann | Honorary | Translation into Spanish | ||
| IT-Group | Hamburger Sternwarte | Technical Support | ||