Related papers: Spectroradiometry with Space Telescopes
Instruments for radio astronomical observations have come a long way. While the first telescopes were based on very large dishes and 2-antenna interferometers, current instruments consist of dozens of steerable dishes, whereas future…
Calibrating telescope data is one of the most important issues an observer faces. In this chapter we describe a number of the methods which are commonly used to calibrate radio telescope data in the centimeter wavelength regime. This…
The answers to fundamental science questions in astrophysics, ranging from the history of the expansion of the universe to the sizes of nearby stars, hinge on our ability to make precise measurements of diverse astronomical objects. As our…
A new method for absolute polarimetric calibration of large telescopes is presented. The proposed method is highly accurate and is based on the calibration of a small sub-aperture, which is then extended to the full system by means of…
The wavelength calibration of spectrographs is an essential but challenging task in many disciplines. Calibration is traditionally accomplished by imaging the spectrum of a light source containing features that are known to appear at…
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,…
Calibration is a key step in the signal processing pipeline of any radio astronomical instrument. The required sky, ionospheric and instrumental models for this step can suffer from various kinds of incompleteness. In this paper we analyze…
The development of sensitive large format imaging arrays for the infrared promises to provide revolutionary capabilities for space astronomy. For example, the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) on SIRTF will use four 256 x 256 arrays to provide…
The construction of the Cherenkov Telescope Array is expected to start soon. We will present the baseline methods and their extensions currently foreseen to calibrate the observatory. These are bound to achieve the strong requirements on…
Large sets of objects with spectroscopic redshift measurements will be needed for imaging dark energy experiments to achieve their full potential, serving two goals:_training_, i.e., the use of objects with known redshift to develop and…
We propose a tunable laser-based satellite-mounted spectrophotometric and absolute flux calibration system, to be utilized by ground- and space-based telescopes. As spectrophotometric calibration may play a significant role in the accuracy…
The quality of astronomical spectra is now so high that the accuracy of the laboratory data is getting more and more important for the analysis and interpretation. Both in astrophysics and cosmology the needs for accurate laboratory…
We present a technique-led review of the progression of precise radio astrometry, from the first demonstrations, half a century ago, until to date and into the future. We cover the developments that have been fundamental to allow high…
Space debris is a major threat to the satellite infrastructure. A collision with even small particle, e.g. 1 cm of size, can cause a catastrophic event when the parent body, spacecraft or upper stage, will break up into hundreds of…
Atmospheric remote spectrometry from space has become in the last 20 years a key component of the Earth monitoring system: their large coverage and deci-kelvin stability have demonstrated their usefulness for weather prediction, atmospheric…
This paper summarizes some of the major calibration and image reconstruction techniques used in radio interferometry and describes them in a common mathematical framework. The use of this framework has a number of benefits, ranging from…
The historical development of ground based astronomical telescopes leads us to expect that space-based astronomical telescopes will need to be operational for many decades. The exchange of scientific instruments in space will be a…
We review the systematic uncertainties that have plagued attempts to obtain high precision and high accuracy from ground-based photometric measurements using CCDs. We identify two main challenges in breaking through the 1% precision…
This paper investigates calibration of sensor arrays in the radio astronomy context. Current and future radio telescopes require computationally efficient algorithms to overcome the new technical challenges as large collecting area, wide…
Spectroscopy is one of the most important tools that an astronomer has for studying the universe. This chapter begins by discussing the basics, including the different types of optical spectrographs, with extension to the ultraviolet and…