Related papers: Precision Calibration via Artificial Light Sources…
Precise polarisation measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) require accurate knowledge of the instrument orientation relative to the sky frame used to define the cosmological Stokes parameters. Suitable celestial calibration…
This paper discusses the science case for a sensitive spectro-polarimetric survey of the microwave sky. Such a survey would provide a tomographic and dynamic census of the three-dimensional distribution of hot gas, velocity flows, early…
Measurements of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies by interferometers offer several advantages over single-dish observations. The formalism for analyzing interferometer CMB data is well developed in the flat-sky approximation,…
Using the adaptive optics facilities at the 200-in Hale and 10-m Keck II, we observed in the near infrared a sample of 12 binary and multiple stars and one open cluster. We used the near diffraction limited images of these systems to…
Cosmic Microwave Background experiments need to measure polarization properties of the incoming radiation very accurately to achieve their scientific goals. As a result of that, it is necessary to properly characterize these instruments.…
We investigate the promise of the Ly-alpha forest for high precision cosmology in the era of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey using low order N-point statistics. We show that with the existing data one can determine the amplitude, slope and…
In this chapter we present a brief summary of methods, instruments and calibration techniques used in modern astronomical polarimetry in the optical wavelengths. We describe the properties of various polarization devices and detectors used…
The accuracy of photometric calibration has gradually become a limiting factor in various fields of astronomy, limiting the scientific output of a host of research. Calibration using artificial light sources in low Earth orbit remains…
Meeting the science goals for many current and future ground-based optical large-area sky surveys requires that the calibrated broadband photometry is stable in time and uniform over the sky to 1% precision or better. Past surveys have…
Observational cosmology has indeed made very rapid progress in recent years. The ability to quantify the universe has largely improved due to observational constraints coming from structure formation. The transition to precision cosmology…
Radiometry has been of fundamental importance in astronomy from the early beginnings. In this review, we provide an overview of how to achieve a valid laboratory calibration of space telescopes and discuss ways to reliably extend this…
Over the last decade, cosmological observations have attained a level of precision which allows for detailed comparison with theoretical predictions. In this paper, we briefly review some studies of the current and prospected constraints…
Fundamental information about the Universe is encoded in anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation. To make full use of this information, an experiment must image the entire sky with the angular resolution,…
Object detection in astronomical images, generically referred to as source finding, is often performed before the object characterisation stage in astrophysical processing work flows. In radio astronomy, source finding has historically been…
Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) provides the resolution needed to make precision measurements of a pulsar's parallax and proper motion. In making these measurements, the astronomer is faced with difficult calibration problems and a…
We investigate the weak lensing corrections to the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies considering effects beyond the Born approximation. To this aim, we use the small deflection angle approximation, to connect the lensed…
The objective of neutrino astronomy, born with the identification of thermonuclear fusion in the sun and the particle processes controlling the fate of a nearby supernova, is to build instruments which reach throughout and far beyond our…
Atomic dark matter is a simple but highly theoretically motivated possibility for an interacting dark sector that could constitute some or all of dark matter. We perform a comprehensive study of precision cosmological observables on minimal…
We present the design and characterization of a ground-based absolute polarization angle calibrator accurate to better than 0.1 degrees for use with polarization sensitive cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. The calibrator's…
Photometric instruments operating at far infrared to millimetre wavelengths often have broad spectral passbands (central wavelength/bandwidth ~ 3 or less), especially those operating in space. A broad passband can result in significant…