Abstract
The structure of the electronics of the two-head, high-speed photometer operating on the 152-cm G.D. Cassini telescope of Bologna University has been fully redesigned for high-time-resolution observations of fast variable sources, in particular, of the optical counterparts of X-ray binary systems. The fast photometer now permits sampling times from 0.1 ms to 100 s. The handling of the system clock and I/O configuration have been modified to provide rigorous synchronization of the sampling time with an external high-stability clock and the continuous acquisition of an uninterrupted data stream. The continuous data-acquisition process, which is driven by an external clock, is limited only by the capacity of the hard disk and is supported by a double-buffer SRAM memory designed to overcome any discontinuity in the asynchronous communication with the computer. Real-time monitoring of the data enables continuous evaluation of the weather conditions, and the directly displayed light curve can be used to determine the optimal management of the observations.
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Translated from Astronomicheski\(\overset{\lower0.5em\hbox{$\smash{\scriptscriptstyle\smile}$}}{l}\) Zhurnal, Vol. 79, No. 12, 2002, pp. 1140–1152.
Original Russian Text Copyright © 2002 by Piccioni, Giovanelli, Bartolini, Bruni, Frutti, Guarnieri.
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Piccioni, A., Giovanelli, F., Bartolini, K. et al. A double-head photon-counting photometer for fast timing observations. Astron. Rep. 46, 1030–1041 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1529261
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1529261