Beobachtende Astronomie (MKEP5)
Summersemester, 2011
Andreas Quirrenbach, Roy van Boekel and Cornelis Dullemond
Important News:
- The continuation of the turbulence theory and seeing will be on Monday May 31
- The date for the examination (Klausur) is set! See below.
Topics:
This lecture gives an overview over methods of astronomical observations across the electromagnetic spectrum (gamma-rays, X-rays, UV/optical, infrared, millimeter and radio). We will discuss this from various perspectives:
- Practicalities of the methods and of observational astronomy as a whole
We will discuss the basics of time measurement, celestial coordinate systems (and their variations in time), aspects of absolute astrometry, catalogs of astronomical objects, web-based archives for catalogs and databases. For various observational techniques we will discuss the physical principles, data analysis, data reduction and calibration methods. - The theory and physics behind the methods
We will discuss issues like geometric optics, aberration, wave propagation, Fresnel/Fraunhofer diffraction, the theory of diffraction patters (point spead functions) of telescopes, atmospheric turbulence and seeing, atmospheric transmission and emission, coherence of light, stochastic signals, bias, van Cittert-Zernike theorem and the theory of interferometry. - The techniques used, including examples of actual telescopes and instruments
We will discuss telescope design and detector technology for the various wavelength domains, and, as a more in-depth topic, we will discuss adaptive optics. - A few example applications
During the course of the lecture we will also every now and then present an example of what kind of astrophysical observations are done with these techniques.
We will try to be as broad as possible, but naturally we will put some more emphasis on the wavelength domains of our own expertise.
You can have a look at last year's lecture for a preview of some of the lecture material.
Organization:
This lecture is a "Wahlpflicht" (="Kernbereich") course of the Master program. It has 8 Credit Points. It consists of:
- 2x2 Hours per week main lecture. Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:15-11:00, in the neue Hoersaal Philosophenweg 12.
- 2 Hours per week exercise class. There are two classes (starting
Thursday 28 April):
- Thursdays 11:15 - 13:00 in KIP, INF 227, SR 2.403
- Thursdays 14:15 - 16:00 in Phil.weg 12, neue Hörsaal (nHS)
- Lab course is no longer part of this module.
This lecture will have a "Klausur" (= written examination) which will be graded.
The Klausur will take place on Thursday 28.07.2011, 09:00 in the Philos.-weg 12 / gHS. The exam will have the usual 2 hour duration.
Schedule (tentative!):
Date | Lecturer | Topic | |
---|---|---|---|
Tuesday 12.04 | Roy van Boekel | Introduction slide show | |
Thursday 14.04 | Roy van Boekel | Coordinates and time | |
Tuesday 19.04 | Andreas Quirrenbach | Catalogs, archives and their web-based access | |
Thursday 21.04 | Andreas Quirrenbach | Geometric optics | |
Tuesday 26.04 | Andreas Quirrenbach | Telescope design + aberrations I | |
Thursday 28.04 | Andreas Quirrenbach | Telescope design + aberrations II | |
Tuesday 03.05 | Kees Dullemond | Diffraction Theory I | |
Thursday 05.05 | Kees Dullemond | Diffraction Theory II | |
Tuesday 10.05 | Kees Dullemond | Atmospheric turbulence effects + signal theory I | |
Thursday 12.05 | Kees Dullemond | Atmospheric turbulence effects + signal theory II | |
Tuesday 17.05 | Roy van Boekel | Atmospheric transmission | |
Thursday 19.05 | Roy van Boekel | CCDs and IR detectors I | |
Tuesday 24.05 | Roy van Boekel | Imaging + Photometry (+demos) I | |
Thursday 26.05 | Roy van Boekel | Imaging + Photometry (+demos) II | |
Tuesday 31.05 | Kees Dullemond | Atmospheric turbulence effects + signal theory III | |
Thursday 02.06 | --- Ascension day --- | --- No lecture --- | |
Tuesday 07.06 | Kees Dullemond | Radiative transfer: Interpretation of observed light | |
Thursday 09.06 | Kees Dullemond | Spectroscopy + spectrometers I | |
Tuesday 14.06 | Kees Dullemond | Spectroscopy + spectrometers II | |
Thursday 16.06 | Kees Dullemond | Question round | |
Tuesday 21.06 | Kees Dullemond | Interferometry I | |
Thursday 23.06 | --- Fronleichnam --- | --- No lecture --- | |
Tuesday 28.06 | Kees Dullemond | Interferometry II | |
Thursday 30.06 | Andreas Quirrenbach | Interferometry III | |
Tuesday 05.07 | Kees Dullemond | X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy | |
Thursday 07.07 | Roy van Boekel | Observational astronomy highlights | |
Tuesday 12.07 | Andreas Quirrenbach | Adaptive optics I | |
Thursday 14.07 | Andreas Quirrenbach | Adaptive optics II |
On-line material:
The material of this lecture will be somewhat diverse. It consists partly of Powerpoint presentations and partly (the more mathematical parts of the lecture) of LaTeX PDF documents. Also some references to material on the web will be posted. But this material will be posted as we go, and not all material will be posted in electronic form (and will instead be handed out during the lecture). The three lecturers will lecture at different dates, taking turns.
Again, see last year's lecture for a preview of some of the lecture material.
Lecture material of Dullemond's lecture hours:
- Diffraction theory (updated: fixed some errors)
- Atmospheric turbulence and effect of observations
- Introduction to radiative transfer (Powerpoint)
- Spectroscopy (Powerpoint)
- Interferometry
- Appendix: Fourier analysis (updated: fixed some errors)
- Appendix: Statistical quantities and signal theory
- Appendix: Noise and error propagation
Exercises:
- Exercise sheet 1
- Exercise sheet 2
- Exercise sheet 3
- Exercise sheet 4
- Exercise sheet 5
- Exercise sheet 6
- Exercise sheet 7
- Exercise sheet 8 (voluntary exercise)
- Exercise sheet 9
- Exercise sheet 10
- Trial Exam
A. Quirrenbach
Zentrum fuer Astronomie Heidelberg, Landessternwarte
Koenigstuhl
69117 Heidelberg
Tel: 06221-541792
Email: a.quirrenbach@lsw.uni-heidelberg.de
R. van Boekel
Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astronomie
Koenigstuhl 17
69117 Heidelberg
Tel: 06221-528-405
Email: boekel@mpia.de
C. Dullemond
Zentrum fuer Astronomie Heidelberg, Institut für theoretische Astrophysik
Albert Ueberle Str 2
69122 Heidelberg
Tel: 06221-544815
Email: dullemond@uni-heidelberg.de
Until August 2011 also:
Max Planck Institut fü Astronomie,
Email: dullemon@mpia.de,
Phone: 06221-528-395.