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Astronomy is rapidly approaching an impasse: very large datasets require remote or cloud-based parallel processing, yet many astronomers still try to download the data and develop serial code locally. Astronomers understand the need for change, but the hurdles remain high. We are developing a data archive designed from the ground up to simplify and encourage cloud-based parallel processing. While the volume of data we host remains modest by some standards, it is still large enough that download and processing times are measured in days and even weeks. We plan to implement a python based, notebook-like interface that automatically parallelises execution. Our goal is to provide an interface sufficiently familiar and user-friendly that it encourages the astronomer to run their analysis on our system in the cloud—astroinformatics as a service. We describe how our system addresses the approaching impasse in astronomy using the SAMI Galaxy Survey as an example.

The majority of extra-solar planets have been discovered by measuring the Doppler velocities of the host star. Like all exoplanet detection methods, the Doppler method is rife with observational biases. Before any robust comparison of mass, orbital period and eccentricity distributions can be made with theory, a detailed understanding of these selection effects is required, something which up to now is lacking. We present here a progress report on our analysis of the selection effects present in Anglo-Australian Planet Search data, including the methodology used and some preliminary results.

We present the first results from the MultiSite Spectroscopic Telescope (MSST) observations of the sdBV star PG 1605+072. Pulsating sdB stars (V361 Hya stars) offer the chance to gain new insights into the formation and evolution of extreme Horizontal Branch stars using the tools of asteroseismology. PG 1605+072 is an outstanding object in its class, with the richest frequency spectrum, the longest periods, and the largest variations. The MSST campaign took place in 2002 May/June and we present here the massive data set, made up of 399 hr of photometry and 151 hr of spectroscopy. The overall aims of the project are to examine light/velocity amplitude ratios and phase differences, changes in equivalent width/line index, and λ-dependence of photometric amplitudes, and to use these properties for mode identification.

Velocity measurements of the G2 subgiant β Hyi with both UCLES and CORALIE show a clear excess of power centred at 1.0 mHz. In the UCLES data we find evidence for a short-lived, high-amplitude oscillation event. If confirmed as a feature of subgiants, such ‘starquakes’ would make it harder to measure accurate mode frequencies and perform asteroseismology.

We present analysis of rapid spectroscopy of PG 1605+072, a pulsating sdB star that is believed to have evolved off the extreme horizontal branch. Using a cross-correlation technique on five Balmer lines (Hβ to H8), we have been able to study the Doppler variations in this star over one year. Preliminary results for about 25% of the time-series were presented by O’Toole et al. (2000). We find evidence for amplitude variation between 1999 and 2000. We have also examined of equivalent widths of the Balmer lines looking for variation. Preliminary results are intriguing, with the amplitude of the equivalent width oscillations strongly dependent on wavelength.

We are finally entering an era where radial velocity and direct imaging parameter spaces are starting to overlap. Radial velocity measurements provide us with a minimum mass for an orbiting companion (the mass as a function of the inclination of the system). By following up these long period radial velocity detections with direct imaging we can determine whether a trend seen is due to an orbiting planet at low inclination or an orbiting brown dwarf at high inclination. In the event of a non-detection we are still able to put a limit on the maximum mass of the orbiting body. The Anglo-Australian Planet Search is one of the longest baseline radial velocity planet searches in existence, amongst its targets are many that show long period trends in the data. Here we present our direct imaging survey of these objects with our results to date. ADI Observations have been made using NICI (Near Infrared Coronagraphic Imager) on Gemini South and analysed using an in house, LOCI-like, post processing. Copyright © 2013, International Astronomical Union.

We have obtained time-series spectra for the pulsating hot subdwarf (sdB) PG1605+072. Previous time-series photometry of this star has shown maximum amplitude variations of ∼0.1 mag and at least 50 periods. The pulsator has the largest amplitude and longest periods of all the pulsating sdBs (or EC 14026 stars) discovered so far, and appears to be unusual in its class. Preliminary results of a search for velocity variations are presented here. With these variations, along with equivalent width measurements, oscillation mode identification should be possible.