Instrumentation for Ground-Based Optical Astronomy

Instrumentation for Ground-Based Optical Astronomy
Author: Lloyd B. Robinson
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 769
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1461238803
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Historically, the discovery of tools, or evidence that tools have been used, has been taken as proof of human activity; certainly the invention and spread of new tools has been a critical marker of human progress and has increased our ability to observe, measure, and understand the physical world. In astronomy the tools are telescopes and the optical and electronic instruments that support them. The use of the telescope by Galileo marked the beginning of a new and productive way to study and understand the universe in which we live. The effects of this new tool on what we can see, and how we see ourselves, are well known. However, after almost four centuries of developing ever more sensitive and subtle instruments as tools for astronomy, it might have been expected that only a few minor improvements would remain to be made, or that possibly the law of diminishing returns would have taken effect. On the contrary, the new instruments and ideas for new instruments described in this book make it clear that the rate of progress has not diminished, and that this subject is still as exciting and productive as ever. Instrumentation for Ground-Based Optical Astronomy was chosen as the theme for the Ninth Santa Cruz Summer Workshop in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Instrumentation for Astronomy with Large Optical Telescopes

Instrumentation for Astronomy with Large Optical Telescopes
Author: C.M. Humphries
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9400977875
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Interest world-wide in the provision of new observational astro nomical facilities in the form of ground-based optical telescopes of large aperture has never been higher than exists at present. The benefits to be gained from increased aperture size, however, are only utilised effectively if efficient instrumentation is also available. There have been significant improvements recently in this area, part icularly in detector technology and data handling as well as in optical design, so that systems which are currently being developed have the capability of being vastly more powerful in terms of the efficient use of photons than those which existed only 5 years ago. The rationale for the decision by Commission 9 of the International Astronomical Union to hold IAU Colloquium 67, therefore, was to obtain reports on these developments with the emphasis placed upon overall efficiency of the complete observational system - from telescope aperture right through to detector output. A fitting venue for the meeting was the site of the 6 metre BTA (Bolshoi Azimuth Telescope) at Zelenchukskaya in the Caucasus mount ains, USSR. The BTA is operated by the Special Astrophysical Observatory located at Nizhnij Arkhyz, a few kilometres from the telescope itself.

Optimizing the U.S. Ground-Based Optical and Infrared Astronomy System

Optimizing the U.S. Ground-Based Optical and Infrared Astronomy System
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2015-06-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309371899
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New astronomical facilities, such as the under-construction Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and planned 30-meter-class telescopes, and new instrumentation on existing optical and infrared (OIR) telescopes, hold the promise of groundbreaking research and discovery. How can we extract the best science from these and other astronomical facilities in an era of potentially flat federal budgets for both the facilities and the research grants? Optimizing the U.S. Ground-Based Optical and Infrared Astronomy System provides guidance for these new programs that align with the scientific priorities and the conclusions and recommendations of two National Research Council (NRC) decadal surveys, New Worlds, New Horizons for Astronomy and Astrophysics and Vision and Voyages for Planetary Sciences in the Decade 2013-2022, as well as other NRC reports. This report describes a vision for a U.S. OIR System that includes a telescope time exchange designed to enhance science return by broadening access to capabilities for a diverse community, an ongoing planning process to identify and construct next generation capabilities to realize decadal science priorities, and near-term critical coordination, planning, and instrumentation needed to usher in the era of LSST and giant telescopes.

Instrumentation for Large Telescopes

Instrumentation for Large Telescopes
Author: José Miguel Rodríguez Espinosa
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 356
Release: 1997-10-09
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780521582919
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A new generation of large, ground-based telescopes are just coming into operation. They will take astronomical research well into the next century. These extremely powerful telescopes demand specially designed instruments and observing techniques. The VII Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics gathered together leading experts from around the world to review this technology. Based on the meeting, this timely volume presents eight specially written chapters covering all aspects of telescope instrumentation. This book provides an essential reference for all astronomers who will be the users of these large telescopes. It reviews both the challenges involved in designing successful instrumentation and the questions in astronomy they must address. We are taken from the fundamentals of astronomical imaging, low- and high-resolution spectroscopy, and polarimetry up to the state-of-the-art technology in adaptive optics and laser guide stars, interferometry, image pattern recognition, and optical, near and mid infrared arrays. This timely volume provides an excellent introduction for graduate students and an invaluable reference for researchers using the latest generation of large astronomical telescopes.

Spectroscopic Instrumentation

Spectroscopic Instrumentation
Author: Thomas Eversberg
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 677
Release: 2014-11-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3662445352
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In order to analyze the light of cosmic objects, particularly at extremely great distances, spectroscopy is the workhorse of astronomy. In the era of very large telescopes, long-term investigations are mainly performed with small professional instruments. Today they can be done using self-designed spectrographs and highly efficient CCD cameras, without the need for large financial investments. This book explains the basic principles of spectroscopy, including the fundamental optical constraints and all mathematical aspects needed to understand the working principles in detail. It covers the complete theoretical and practical design of standard and Echelle spectrographs. Readers are guided through all necessary calculations, enabling them to engage in spectrograph design. The book also examines data acquisition with CCD cameras and fiber optics, as well as the constraints of specific data reduction and possible sources of error. In closing it briefly highlights some main aspects of the research on massive stars and spectropolarimetry as an extension of spectroscopy. The book offers a comprehensive introduction to spectroscopy for students of physics and astronomy, as well as a valuable resource for amateur astronomers interested in learning the principles of spectroscopy and spectrograph design.

New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics

New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2011-02-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309157994
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Driven by discoveries, and enabled by leaps in technology and imagination, our understanding of the universe has changed dramatically during the course of the last few decades. The fields of astronomy and astrophysics are making new connections to physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science. Based on a broad and comprehensive survey of scientific opportunities, infrastructure, and organization in a national and international context, New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics outlines a plan for ground- and space- based astronomy and astrophysics for the decade of the 2010's. Realizing these scientific opportunities is contingent upon maintaining and strengthening the foundations of the research enterprise including technological development, theory, computation and data handling, laboratory experiments, and human resources. New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics proposes enhancing innovative but moderate-cost programs in space and on the ground that will enable the community to respond rapidly and flexibly to new scientific discoveries. The book recommends beginning construction on survey telescopes in space and on the ground to investigate the nature of dark energy, as well as the next generation of large ground-based giant optical telescopes and a new class of space-based gravitational observatory to observe the merging of distant black holes and precisely test theories of gravity. New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics recommends a balanced and executable program that will support research surrounding the most profound questions about the cosmos. The discoveries ahead will facilitate the search for habitable planets, shed light on dark energy and dark matter, and aid our understanding of the history of the universe and how the earliest stars and galaxies formed. The book is a useful resource for agencies supporting the field of astronomy and astrophysics, the Congressional committees with jurisdiction over those agencies, the scientific community, and the public.

Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy III

Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy III
Author: Ian S. McLean
Publisher: SPIE-International Society for Optical Engineering
Total Pages: 3206
Release: 2010
Genre: Astronomical instruments
ISBN: 9780819482259
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Proceedings of SPIE present the original research papers presented at SPIE conferences and other high-quality conferences in the broad-ranging fields of optics and photonics. These books provide prompt access to the latest innovations in research and technology in their respective fields. Proceedings of SPIE are among the most cited references in patent literature.