Related papers: Quantifying photometric observing conditions on Pa…
MISTRAL is the new Faint Object Spectroscopic Camera mounted at the folded Cassegrain focus of the 1.93m telescope of Haute-Provence Observatory. We describe the design and components of the instrument and give some details about its…
Ground-based solar observations are severely affected by Earth's turbulent atmosphere. As a consequence, observed image quality and prevailing seeing conditions are closely related. Partial correction of image degradation is nowadays…
In this paper we quantify the performances of an automated weather forecast system implemented on the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) site at Mt. Graham (Arizona) in forecasting the main atmospheric parameters close to the ground. The…
We present the main characteristics of the proposed location for the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory. The measurements have been obtained from spectrophotometric, photometric and seeing data obtained with different monitors and…
Atmospheric modeling of low-gravity (VL-G) young brown dwarfs remains a challenge. The presence of very thick clouds has been suggested because of their extremely red near-infrared (NIR) spectra, but no cloud models provide a good fit to…
The OmegaCAM wide-field optical imager is the sole instrument on the VLT Survey Telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory. The instrument, as well as the telescope, have been designed for surveys with very good, natural seeing-limited image…
In our solar system, the densely cloud-covered atmosphere of Venus stands out as an example of how polarimetry can be used to gain information on cloud composition and particle mean radius. With current interest running high on discovering…
The far-infrared (FIR) emissivity of dust is an important parameter characterizing the physical properties of the grains. With the availability of stellar databases and far-infrared data from Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) it is possible…
We describe a versatile apparatus for optical observations of experimental processes at temperatures down to 0.1 K. The cooling is achieved by a wet cryostat with a dilution refrigerator on a vibrationally-isolated platform, capable of…
Thanks to their wavelength diversity and to their excellent uniformity, Quantum Well Infrared Photodetectors (QWIP) emerge as potential candidates for astronomical or defense applications in the very long wavelength infrared (VLWIR)…
The science goals for ground-based large-area surveys, such as the Dark Energy Survey, Pan-STARRS, and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, require calibration of broadband photometry that is stable in time and uniform over the sky to…
On the basis of experience acquired at creation of the Pulkovo Spectrophotometric Catalog the method of investigation of a terrestrial atmospheric components (aerosols and water vapor) in night time are designed. For these purposes the…
A new dataset of summed neutral N2 and O number density profiles, spanning altitudes between 150 and 400 km, and observed during Northern Winter from 2010 through 2016 is presented. The neutral density profiles are derived from solar…
Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector (QWIP) usually suffer from a too moderate quantum efficiency and too large dark current which is often announced as crippling for low flux applications. Despite this reputation we demonstrate the ability…
X-ray and gamma-ray polarimetry is a promising tool to study the geometry and the magnetic configuration of various celestial objects, such as binary black holes or gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). However, statistically significant polarizations…
We present the measurements of sky surface brightness on Mount Graham International Observatory obtained during the first binocular-mode science runs at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). A total of 860 images obtained on 23 moonless…
With new generation spectrographs integral field spectroscopy is becoming a widely used observational technique. The Integral Field Unit of the VIsible Multi-Object Spectrograph on the ESO-VLT allows to sample a field as large as 54" x 54"…
Context. The advent of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will increase the collecting area by more than an order of magnitude compared to the individual Unit Telescopes of the Very Large Telescope (VLT). Fainter spectrophotometric…
Mini-EUSO (Multiwavelength Imaging New Instrument for the Extreme Universe Space Observatory) is a telescope observing the Earth from the International Space Station since 2019. The instrument employs a Fresnel-lens optical system and a…
Until now, the detailed interpretation of the observed microlensing events has suffered from the fact that the physical parameters of the phenomenon cannot be uniquely determined from the available astronomical measurements, i.e. the…