Related papers: Simple demonstration experiments for astronomical …
Optics is an important subfield of physics required for instrument design and used in a variety of other disciplines, including materials science, physics, and life sciences such as developmental biology and cell biology. It is important to…
With contemporary infrared spectroscopic surveys like APOGEE, red-giant stars can be observed to distances and extinctions at which Gaia parallaxes are not highly informative. Yet the combination of effective temperature, surface gravity,…
We look at what astronomy from the Moon might be like in the visible over the next few decades. The Moon offers the possibility of installing large telescopes or interferometers with instruments larger than those on orbiting telescopes. We…
The question of annual stellar parallax is usually viewed as having been a "win-win situation" for seventeenth-century astronomers who subscribed to the Copernican view of universe in which the Earth orbits the Sun and the Sun is one of…
Space-based microlens parallax measurements are a powerful tool for understanding planet populations, especially their distribution throughout the Galaxy. However, if space-based observations of the microlensing events must be specifically…
During the 17th century the idea of an orbiting and rotating Earth became increasingly popular, but opponents of this view continued to point out that the theory had observable consequences that had never, in fact, been observed. Why, for…
In this work we present a simple way to get Macro photography (enlarged photographs) using a tablet or phone. We initially discuss the technique, which is essentially the accommodation of a drop of water on the camera lens. Next, we explore…
First part of a didactic sequence of activities on some topics of Astronomy, related mainly with the day and night cycle and the seasons, including the construction of a simplified solar system model and its use as a resource to discuss…
Accurate astrometry is crucial for determining orbits of near-Earth-asteroids (NEAs) and therefore better tracking them. This paper reports on a demonstration of 10 milliarcsecond-level astrometric precision on a dozen NEAs using the Pomona…
Large constellations of artificial satellites are beginning to interfere with astronomical observing. Visual magnitude measurements of these spacecraft are useful for monitoring and characterizing their brightness. This paper describes the…
The fields of occultation and microlensing are linked historically. Early this century, occultation of the Sun by the Moon allowed the apparent positions of background stars projected near the limb of the Sun to be measured and compared…
We report on the initial phase of an ongoing, multi-stage investigation of how to incorporate Virtual Reality (VR) technology in teaching introductory astronomy concepts. Our goal was to compare the efficacy of VR vs. conventional teaching…
The timing and duration of exoplanet transits has a dependency on observer position due to parallax. In the case of an Earth-bound observer with a 2 AU baseline the dependency is typically small and slightly beyond the limits of current…
To measure oscillation of a simple pendulum was probably a first idea coming to mind after appearance of smartphones with small but powerful acceleration sensors~: Simply attach the telephone to a playground swing or hang it on two string…
A basic telescope and a chronometer can be used to learn classical methods of spherical astronomy. The conjunction Venus-Saturn of July 2, 2007 has been observed through July 3 with a 50 mm telescope. Planetary daily motions and angular…
For the vast majority of stars in the second Gaia data release, reliable distances cannot be obtained by inverting the parallax. A correct inference procedure must instead be used to account for the nonlinearity of the transformation and…
The Planet Hunting and Asteroseismology Explorer Spectrophotometer, PHASES, is a concept for a space-borne instrument to obtain flux calibrated spectra and measure micro-magnitude photometric variations of nearby stars. The science drivers…
Nowadays many telescopes around the world are automated and some networks of robotic telescopes are active or planned as shown by the lists we draw up. Such equipment could be used for the training of students and for science in the…
Precision measurement of small separations between two atoms or molecules has been of interest since the early days of science. Here, we discuss a scheme which yields spatial information on a system of two identical atoms placed in a…
Astrometric measurements of microlensing events can in principle determine both the "parallax" \tilde r_E and the "proper motion" \mu of an individual event which (combined with the Einstein time scale t_E) in turn yield the mass, distance,…