Observation Strategy Optimization for Distributed Telescope Arrays with Deep Reinforcement Learning

Time-domain astronomy is an active research area now, which requires frequent observations of the whole sky to capture celestial objects with temporal variations. In the optical band, several telescopes in different locations could form a distributed telescope array to capture images of celestial ob...

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Main Authors: Peng Jia, Qiwei Jia, Tiancheng Jiang, Jifeng Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2023-01-01
Series:The Astronomical Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/accceb
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author Peng Jia
Qiwei Jia
Tiancheng Jiang
Jifeng Liu
author_facet Peng Jia
Qiwei Jia
Tiancheng Jiang
Jifeng Liu
author_sort Peng Jia
collection DOAJ
description Time-domain astronomy is an active research area now, which requires frequent observations of the whole sky to capture celestial objects with temporal variations. In the optical band, several telescopes in different locations could form a distributed telescope array to capture images of celestial objects continuously. However, there are millions of celestial objects to observe each night, and only limited telescopes could be used for observation. Besides, the observation capacity of these telescopes would be affected by different effects, such as the sky background or the seeing condition. It would be necessary to develop an algorithm to optimize the observation strategy of telescope arrays according to scientific requirements. In this paper, we propose a novel framework that includes a digital simulation environment and a deep reinforcement learning algorithm to optimize observation strategy of telescope arrays. Our framework could obtain effective observation strategies given predefined observation requirements and observation environment information. To test the performance of our algorithm, we simulate a scenario that uses distributed telescope arrays to observe space debris. Results show that our algorithm could obtain better results in both discovery and tracking of space debris. The framework proposed in this paper could be used as an effective strategy optimization framework for distributed telescope arrays, such as the Sitian project or the TIDO project.
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spelling doaj.art-ce2e551b26ee4757b5aa9f5bbc0d2e192023-09-03T09:44:03ZengIOP PublishingThe Astronomical Journal1538-38812023-01-01165623310.3847/1538-3881/acccebObservation Strategy Optimization for Distributed Telescope Arrays with Deep Reinforcement LearningPeng Jia0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6623-0931Qiwei Jia1Tiancheng Jiang2Jifeng Liu3College of Opto-electronic, Taiyuan University of Technology , Taiyuan, 030024, People's Republic of China ; robinmartin20@gmail.com; Peng Cheng Lab , Shenzhen, 518066, People's Republic of ChinaCollege of Opto-electronic, Taiyuan University of Technology , Taiyuan, 030024, People's Republic of China ; robinmartin20@gmail.comCollege of Opto-electronic, Taiyuan University of Technology , Taiyuan, 030024, People's Republic of China ; robinmartin20@gmail.comNational Astronomical Observatories , Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China ; jfliu@nao.cas.cnTime-domain astronomy is an active research area now, which requires frequent observations of the whole sky to capture celestial objects with temporal variations. In the optical band, several telescopes in different locations could form a distributed telescope array to capture images of celestial objects continuously. However, there are millions of celestial objects to observe each night, and only limited telescopes could be used for observation. Besides, the observation capacity of these telescopes would be affected by different effects, such as the sky background or the seeing condition. It would be necessary to develop an algorithm to optimize the observation strategy of telescope arrays according to scientific requirements. In this paper, we propose a novel framework that includes a digital simulation environment and a deep reinforcement learning algorithm to optimize observation strategy of telescope arrays. Our framework could obtain effective observation strategies given predefined observation requirements and observation environment information. To test the performance of our algorithm, we simulate a scenario that uses distributed telescope arrays to observe space debris. Results show that our algorithm could obtain better results in both discovery and tracking of space debris. The framework proposed in this paper could be used as an effective strategy optimization framework for distributed telescope arrays, such as the Sitian project or the TIDO project.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/acccebOptical observationNeural networksOptical telescopesAstronomical simulations
spellingShingle Peng Jia
Qiwei Jia
Tiancheng Jiang
Jifeng Liu
Observation Strategy Optimization for Distributed Telescope Arrays with Deep Reinforcement Learning
The Astronomical Journal
Optical observation
Neural networks
Optical telescopes
Astronomical simulations
title Observation Strategy Optimization for Distributed Telescope Arrays with Deep Reinforcement Learning
title_full Observation Strategy Optimization for Distributed Telescope Arrays with Deep Reinforcement Learning
title_fullStr Observation Strategy Optimization for Distributed Telescope Arrays with Deep Reinforcement Learning
title_full_unstemmed Observation Strategy Optimization for Distributed Telescope Arrays with Deep Reinforcement Learning
title_short Observation Strategy Optimization for Distributed Telescope Arrays with Deep Reinforcement Learning
title_sort observation strategy optimization for distributed telescope arrays with deep reinforcement learning
topic Optical observation
Neural networks
Optical telescopes
Astronomical simulations
url https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/accceb
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AT qiweijia observationstrategyoptimizationfordistributedtelescopearrayswithdeepreinforcementlearning
AT tianchengjiang observationstrategyoptimizationfordistributedtelescopearrayswithdeepreinforcementlearning
AT jifengliu observationstrategyoptimizationfordistributedtelescopearrayswithdeepreinforcementlearning