Related papers: S-DIMM+ height characterization of day-time seeing…
Adaptive optics (AO) restore the angular resolution of ground-based telescopes, but at the cost of delivering a time- and space-varying point spread function (PSF) with a complex shape. PSF knowledge is crucial for breaking existing limits…
The use of Adaptive Optics in Extremely Large Telescopes brings new challenges, one of which is the treatment of Shack-Hartmann Wavefront sensors images. When using this type of sensors in conjunction with laser guide stars for sampling the…
The use of laser guide stars in astronomical adaptive optics results in elongated Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor image patterns. Image correlation techniques can be used to determine local wavefront slope by correlating each sub-aperture…
Ground-based whole sky cameras are extensively used for localized monitoring of clouds nowadays. They capture hemispherical images of the sky at regular intervals using a fisheye lens. In this paper, we propose a framework for estimating…
Conventional ground-based optical telescopes, even those with large apertures, primarily observe stars, close binaries, and multiple systems as unresolved point sources through photometric measurements. Spectroscopy can identify multiple…
We describe phase-retrieval holography measurements of the 100-m diameter Green Bank Telescope using astronomical sources and an astronomical receiver operating at a wavelength of 7 mm. We use the technique with parameterization of the…
The surface granularity of small Solar System bodies is diverse through the different types of planetary bodies and even for specific objects it is often not known in detail. One of the physical properties that strongly depends on the…
When a telescope doesn't reach a reasonable point spread function on the detector or detectable wavefront quality after initial assembly, a coarse phase alignment on-sky is crucial. Before utilizing a closed loop adaptive optics system, the…
To explore capabilities of moderate-size optical telescopes in surveys, the set of 9 new wide-field designs having apertures up to 1 m is considered. All but one systems have angular field of view in a range 3.5-10 degrees and flat focal…
The weak, turbulent magnetic fields that supposedly permeate most of the solar photosphere are difficult to observe, because the Zeeman effect is virtually blind to them. The Hanle effect, acting on the scattering polarization in suitable…
Selene is the attempt to implement a new scheme for high-intensity specular reflectometry. Instead of a highly collimated beam one uses a convergent beam covering a large angular range. The angular resolution is then performed by a…
Measurements of the optical turbulence profile above Siding Spring Observatory were conducted during 2005 and 2006. This effort was largely motivated by the need to predict the statistical performance of adaptive optics at Siding Spring.…
Over the last few years, several interesting observations were obtained with the help of solar Adaptive Optics (AO). In this paper, few observations made using the solar AO are enlightened and briefly discussed. A list of disadvantages with…
The detectability of exoplanets and the determination of their projected mass in radial velocity are affected by stellar magnetic activity and photospheric dynamics. The effect of granulation, and even more so of supergranulation, has been…
ALMA will open a new chapter in the study of the Sun by providing a leap in spatial resolution and sensitivity compared to currently available mm wave- length observations. In preparation of ALMA, we have carried out a large number of…
The brightness of faculae and network depends on the angle at which they are observed and the magnetic flux density. Close to the limb, assessment of this relationship has until now been hindered by the increasingly lower signal in…
The effects of acoustic wave absorption, mode conversion and transmission by a sunspot on the helioseismic inferences are widely discussed, but yet accounting for them has proved difficult for lack of a consistent framework within…
This paper investigates an autonomous navigation method for spacecraft operating in the outer solar system, up to 250 AU from the Sun, using the parallactic shifts of nearby stars. These measurements enable estimation of the spacecraft…
Optical fibres constitute an exceptional sensing platform. However, standard fibres present an inherent sensing challenge: they confine light by design to an inner core. Consequently, nearly all distributed fibre sensors are restricted to…
Observational tests of ground layer wavefront recovery have been made in open loop using a constellation of four natural guide stars at the 1.55 m Kuiper telescope in Arizona. Such tests explore the effectiveness of wide-field seeing…