A Multiband Generalization of the Analysis of Variance Period Estimation Algorithm and the Effect of Inter-band Observing Cadence on Period Recovery Rate

TL;DR

This paper introduces a multiband extension of the Analysis of Variance period estimation algorithm, demonstrating significant improvements in period recovery for low-observation scenarios and analyzing the impact of inter-band observing cadence.

Contribution

It presents a novel multiband period estimation method and evaluates how inter-band observation timing affects period recovery, guiding survey planning.

Findings

Up to 60% improvement in period recovery with multiband data.

Non-simultaneous observations between bands are optimal for the method.

Simultaneous multiband data offers marginal gains over single band data.

Abstract

We present a new method of extending the single band Analysis of Variance period estimation algorithm to multiple bands. We use SDSS Stripe 82 RR Lyrae to show that in the case of low number of observations per band and non-simultaneous observations, improvements in period recovery rates of up to $\approx$60\% are observed. We also investigate the effect of inter-band observing cadence on period recovery rates. We find that using non-simultaneous observation times between bands is ideal for the multiband method, and using simultaneous multiband data is only marginally better than using single band data. These results will be particularly useful in planning observing cadences for wide-field astronomical imaging surveys such as LSST. They also have the potential to improve the extraction of transient data from surveys with few ($\lesssim 30$) observations per band across several bands, such as the Dark Energy Survey.