Related papers: Relativistic Astronomy
It is widely believed that adaptive optics only has a role in correcting turbulent wavefronts on large telescopes using very bright reference stars. Unfortunately these are very scarce and many astronomical targets require wavefront…
Submillimeter observations are a key for answering many of the big questions in modern-day astrophysics, such as how stars and planets form, how galaxies evolve, and how material cycles through stars and the interstellar medium. With the…
The Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) will gather unprecedented spectro-photometric data on galaxies out to the highest redshifts. It is therefore crucial to identify the spectro-photometric diagnostics within reach of NGST, which will…
I provide an incomplete inventory of the astronomical variability that will be found by next-generation time-domain astronomical surveys. These phenomena span the distance range from near-Earth satellites to the farthest Gamma Ray Bursts.…
Star trackers are primarily optical devices that are used to estimate the attitude of a spacecraft by recognising and tracking star patterns. Currently, most star trackers use conventional optical sensors. In this application paper, we…
Over the next decade, we can expect time domain astronomy to flourish at optical and radio wavelengths. In parallel with these efforts, a dedicated transient "machine" operating at higher energies (X-ray band through soft gamma-rays) is…
The relativistic LambdaCDM cosmological model has passed a demanding network of tests that convincingly demonstrate it is a useful approximation to what happened back to high redshift. But there are anomalies in its application to structure…
In recent years the possibility of measuring the temporal change of radial and transverse position of sources in the sky in real time have become conceivable thanks to the thoroughly improved technique applied to new astrometric and…
The Rapid Telescopes for Optical Response (RAPTOR) experiment is a spatially distributed system of autonomous robotic telescopes that is designed to monitor the sky for optical transients. The core of the system is composed of two telescope…
Gravitational microlensing has proved to be a versatile astrophysical tool. Recently, the question of whether higher order relativistic corrections can influence the observable properties of microlensing has been addressed. This letter…
We investigate the effects of the relativistic movement of an optical medium on the conditions of constructive and destructive interference, reflection and transmission pattern, and performance of spectroscopes. First, we consider the case…
Transverse redshift effects are sometimes presented as being unique to special relativity (the "transverse Doppler effect"). We argue that if the detector is aimed at 90 degrees in the laboratory frame, most theories will predict a…
Large area surveys will dominate the next decade of astronomy, and the main limitation to science will be the thorough followup and characterization of their extremely numerous discoveries. The deployment of robotic laser adaptive optics on…
After a short review of experimental foundations of metric theories of gravity, the choice of general relativity as a theory to be used for the routine modeling of Gaia observations is justified. General principles of relativistic modeling…
Hyperspectral cameras provide numerous advantages in terms of the utility of the data captured. They capture hundreds of data points per sample (pixel) instead of only the few of RGB or multispectral camera systems. Aerial systems sense…
Pulsars seen at gamma-ray energies offer insight into particle acceleration to very high energies, along with information about the geometry and interaction processes in the magnetospheres of these rotating neutron stars. During the next…
Gamma-ray observations give us a direct view into the most extreme environments of the universe. They help us to study astronomical particle accelerators as supernovae remnants, pulsars, active galaxies or gamma-ray bursts and help us to…
The propagation of $\gamma$ rays over very large distances provides new insights on the intergalactic medium and on fundamental physics. On their path to the Earth, $\gamma$ rays can annihilate with diffuse infrared or optical photons of…
The ongoing optical time-domain astronomy surveys are routinely reporting fifty transient candidates per night. Here, I investigate the demographics of astronomical transients and supernova classifications reported to the Transient Name…
Recent theoretical works on alternative metric theories of gravity give greater significance to solar-system tests of General Relativity. In particular, it is suggested that the post-Newtonian parameter $\gamma$ ought to be determined with…