Related papers: Astronomical Optical Interferometry from the Lunar…
The prospect of mankind returning to the Moon has garnered a great amount of attention in recent years. Dozens of lunar missions are planned for the coming decade which will require the development of a sustainable communication…
Several commercial telecommunication ventures together with a well funded US military program make it a likely possibility that an autonomous, high-altitude, light-than-air (LTA) vehicle which could maneuver and station-keep for weeks to…
Antarctica provides a unique environment for astronomy. The cold, dry and stable air found above the high plateau, as well as the pure ice below, offers new opportunities across the photon & particle spectrum. The summits of the plateau…
A long-held astronomical vision is to realize diffraction-limited optical aperture synthesis over kilometer baselines. This will enable imaging of stellar surfaces and their environments, show their evolution over time, and reveal…
Modern radio astrometry has reached the limit of the resolution that is determined by the size of the Earth. The only way to overcome that limit is to create the radio telescopes outside our planet. It is proposed to build an autonomous…
Long range observations in the field of astronomy have opened up our understanding of the Solar System, the Galaxy and the wider Universe. In this paper we discuss the idea of direct in-situ reconnaissance of nearby stellar systems, using…
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…
Due to its absence of an atmosphere and relative geological inertness, the Moon's surface records past impacts of objects from the Solar system and beyond. We examine the prospects for discovering extrasolar material near the lunar surface…
The application of photonics to astronomy offers major advantages in the area of highly-multiplexed spectroscopy, especially when applied to extremely large telescopes. These include the suppression of the near-infrared night-sky spectrum…
The lunar geological record is expected to contain a rich record of the galactic environment of the Solar System, including records of nearby (i.e. less than a few tens of parsecs) supernova explosions. This record will be composed of two…
Ultrahigh accuracy time synchronization technique based on the optical frequency comb and the GHZ radio frequency spiral scanning deflector is suggested to install on the Moon during the ARTEMIS mission. The comparison with the parameters…
Radio telescopes observe extremely faint emission from astronomical objects, ranging from compact sources to large scale structures that can be seen across the whole sky. Satellites actively transmit at radio frequencies (particularly at…
High angular resolution holds the key to extending our knowledge in several domains of astronomical research. In addition to the development of new instruments, advancements in post-processing algorithms can enhance the performances…
Exploration of Mars has been made possible using a series of landers, rovers and orbiters. The HiRise camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has captured high-resolution images covering large tracts of the surface. However, orbital…
A close partnership between people and partially autonomous machines has enabled decades of space exploration. But to further expand our horizons, our systems must become more capable. Increasing the nature and degree of autonomy - allowing…
The present work describes a website designed for remote teaching of optical measurements using lasers. It enables senior undergraduate and postgraduate students to learn theoretical aspects of the subject and also have a means to perform…
Interferometric techniques are at the forefront of modern astronomical instrumentation. A new generation of instruments are either operating or nearing completion, including arrays of small telescopes as well as the ``big guns'' (VLTI and…
We have studied the feasibility and scientific potential of zenith observing liquid mirror telescopes having 20 to 100 m diameters located on the moon. They would carry out deep infrared surveys to study the distant universe and follow up…
This white paper recognizes gaps in observations that will, when addressed, much improve solar radiation hazard and geomagnetic storm forecasting. Radiation forecasting depends on observations of the entire "Solar Radiation Hemisphere" that…
Interferometry provides highly sensitive access to optical phase and is central to much of modern metrology and phase imaging methods. Conventional implementations, however, often face trade-offs between mechanical stability and…