Related papers: Extinction correction and on-sky calibration of SC…
Lyman-$\alpha$ transits provide an opportunity to test models of atmospheric escape directly. However, translating observations into constraints on the properties of the escaping atmosphere is challenging. The major reason for this is that…
We investigate a new scheme for astronomical spectrograph calibration using the laser frequency comb at the Solar Vacuum Tower Telescope on Tenerife. Our concept is based upon a single-mode fiber channel, that simultaneously feeds the…
With the commissioning of the refurbished adaptive secondary mirror (ASM) for the 6.5-meter MMT Observatory under way, special consideration had to be made to properly calibrate the mirror response functions to generate an interaction…
We describe an assembly of numerical tools to model the output data of the Planck satellite. These start with the generation of a CMB sky in a chosen cosmology, add in various foreground sources, convolve the sky signal with arbitrary, even…
We consider from a general point of view the problem of determining the extinction in dense molecular clouds. We use a rigorous statistical approach to characterize the properties of the most widely used optical and infrared techniques,…
While Euclid is an ESA mission specifically designed to investigate the nature of Dark Energy and Dark Matter, the planned unprecedented combination of survey area ($\sim15\,000$ deg$^2$), spatial resolution, low sky-background, and depth…
Astrophysics demands higher precision in measurements across photometry, spectroscopy, and astrometry. Several science cases necessitate not only precision but also a high level of accuracy. We highlight the challenges involved,…
We investigate the implications for the Planck Surveyor of the recent sub-millimetre number counts obtained using the SCUBA camera. Since it observes at the same frequency as one of the higher frequency science channels on Planck, SCUBA can…
We develop a new method of extracting simultaneous measurements of weak lensing shear and a local rotation of the plane of polarization using observations of resolved radio sources. We show that the direction of polarization is…
An observational program focused on the high redshift ($2<z<6$) Universe has the opportunity to dramatically improve over upcoming LSS and CMB surveys on measurements of both the standard cosmological model and its extensions. Using a…
We study the predicted sub-mm emission from massive galaxies in a Lambda-CDM universe, using hydrodynamic cosmological simulations. Assuming that most of the emission from newly formed stars is absorbed and reradiated in the rest-frame…
Uniform and accurate photometric calibration plays an important role in the current and next-generation wide-field imaging surveys. Herein, we review the modern photometric calibration methods, including the classic standard star method,…
Several site-testing programs and observatories currently use combined MASS-DIMM instruments for monitoring parameters of optical turbulence. The instrument is described here. After a short recall of the measured quantities and operational…
Current ground-based submillimeter instruments (e.g. SCUBA-2, SHARC-2 and LABOCA) have hundreds to thousands of detectors, sampled at tens to hundreds of hertz, generating up to hundreds of gigabytes per night. Since noise is correlated…
Laser frequency combs (LFCs) are well on their way to becoming the next-generation calibration sources for precision astronomical spectroscopy. This development is considered key in the hunt for low-mass rocky exoplanets around solar-type…
We present maps, source lists, and number counts from the largest, unbiassed, extragalactic sub-mm survey so far undertaken with the SCUBA camera on the JCMT. Our maps cover 260 sq. arcmin, to a noise level S(850)=2.5 mJy/beam. We have…
We consider the estimation of carbon dioxide flux at the ocean-atmosphere interface, given weighted averages of the mixing ratio in a vertical atmospheric column. In particular we examine the dependence of the posterior covariance on the…
The redshift of all cosmological sources drifts by a systematic velocity of order a few m/s over a century due to the deceleration of the Universe. The specific functional dependence of the predicted velocity shift on the source redshift…
We present the calibration of the \textit{Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array} (\nustar) X-ray satellite. We used the Crab as the primary effective area calibrator and constructed a piece-wise linear spline function to modify the…
Underflight maneuvers provide a unique opportunity to harmonize calibration of on-orbit sensors. Due to their similar sensor technologies, their near-identical transmission profiles, orbital properties and platform operations, the…