Synoptic searches for the optical counterpart to a binary neutron star (BNS) or neutron star-black hole (NSBH) merger can pose significant challenges towards the discovery of kilonovae and performing multi-messenger science. In this work, we describe …
We present Cyclic-Permutation Invariant Neural Networks, a novel class of neural networks (NNs) designed to be invariant to phase shifts of period-folded periodic sequences by means of 'symmetry padding'. In the context of periodic variable star …
We present the volumetric rate of normal type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). Using strict data-quality cuts, and considering only periods when the PTF maintained a regular cadence, PTF discovered 90 SNe Ia …
We have obtained repeated images of six fields toward the Galactic bulge in five passbands (u, g, r, i, z) with the DECam imager on the Blanco 4 m telescope at CTIO. From more than 1.6 billion individual photometric measurements in the field centered …
A fundamental challenge for wide-field imaging surveys is obtaining follow-up spectroscopic observations: there are >10$^9$ photometrically cataloged sources, yet modern spectroscopic surveys are limited to åisebox-0.5ex few× 10$^6$ targets. As we …
Modern time-domain surveys continuously monitor large swaths of the sky to look for astronomical variability. Astrophysical discovery in such data sets is complicated by the fact that detections of real transient and variable sources are highly …
The direct detection of binary systems in wide-field surveys is limited by the size of the stars' point-spread functions (PSFs). A search for elongated objects can find closer companions, but is limited by the precision to which the PSF shape can be …
With growing data volumes from synoptic surveys, astronomers necessarily must become more abstracted from the discovery and introspection processes. Given the scarcity of follow-up resources, there is a particularly sharp onus on the frameworks that …
We present three new eclipsing white-dwarf/M-dwarf binary systems discovered during a search for transiting planets around M-dwarfs. Unlike most known eclipsing systems of this type, the optical and infrared emission is dominated by the M-dwarf …