The night sky is alive with fleeting cosmic events—stellar explosions, asteroid impacts, and mysterious transients that appear and vanish in moments. Rico serves as the digital nervous system for two pioneering wide-field survey instruments: the Evryscope and the upcoming Argus Optical Array, designed to catch these astronomical phantoms in real-time across vast swaths of sky.
Built in Python, Rico orchestrates the complex dance of data management for continuous sky monitoring, processing images into light curves and generating automated alerts when something extraordinary happens. The system integrates seamlessly with the Evryscope Fast Transient Engine (EFTE) and Argus Hierarchical Data Processing System (HDPS), transforming raw photons into actionable scientific intelligence. Currently in alpha testing with active Evryscope transient science programs, Rico handles the complete pipeline from data ingestion to alert distribution.
As astronomical surveys generate terabytes of data nightly, Rico represents the next generation of automated discovery systems. With the Argus Pathfinder integration planned for 2023, this toolkit will enable researchers to tap into one of the most comprehensive real-time views of our dynamic universe, making it an essential resource for time-domain astronomy and rapid-response observations.
⭐ Stars: 3
💻 Language: Python
🔗 Repository: argus-hdps/rico