open book test

project write up

End of module Test

1 Astronomical units
2 Fundamentals of radiometry: Intensity, Flux, Luminosity; Blackbody radiation; Wien and Stefan-Boltzman Laws; Wien and Rayleigh-Jeans approximations; Radiative transfer; Magnitudes; Earth’s atmosphere
3. Basic statistics and error analysis of astronomical data: Measurement, precision, accuracy; Errors; Probability distributions (binomial, Poisson, Gaussian)
4. Telescopes: Basic optics and definitions; diffraction, Fourier transforms (definition, convolution, resolution theorem,
sampling, aliasing); Aberrations; Telescope designs and mounts
5. Detectors: Important properties; Infrared detectors and arrays; CCDs; Digitization; Noise; the Orrey Equation
6. Imaging: Optical and infrared imagers; Imaging techniques: dithering, drizzling; CCD image reduction (bias, flat field, fringing)
7. Photometry: Aperture photometry; PSF photometry; Photometric systems; Photometric calibration
8. Spectroscopy: Principles of spectroscopy; Spectrographs; Resolving power; Long slit, Echelle, MOS, fibre-fed spectroscopy; spectroscopic data reduction
9. Adaptive Optics; Important concepts; Fried model, isoplanatic angle, Strehl ratio; Wavefront sensors; Basic layout of AO systems; NGS, LGS, MCAO
10. Submm, Radio, Interferometry; Radio telescopes; Submm and radio detectors: bolometers, polarimetry, antennas, superheterodyne receivers; Two aperture interferometer; Optical and radio interferometers; Aperture synthesis

Astronomical Techniques - 7013ASTPHY

Astronomical Techniques

Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of fundamental concepts of observational astrophysics (e.g., radiometry, statistics and error analysis, telescopes, detectors)

Conduct a literature review and describe results and conclusions in a scientific report.

Discuss and demonstrate the techniques involved in research in observational astrophysics (imaging, photometry, spectroscopy, adaptive optics, radio and sub mm astronomy)