Related papers: The K correction
The wavelength dependence of atmospheric refraction causes differential chromatic refraction (DCR), whereby objects imaged at different optical/UV wavelengths are observed at slightly different positions in the plane of the detector. Strong…
Flux estimates for faint sources or transients are systematically biased high because there are far more truly faint sources than bright. Corrections which account for this effect are presented as a function of signal-to-noise ratio and the…
Many adaptive optics systems operate by measuring the distortion of the wavefront in one wavelength range and performing the scientific observations in a second, different wavelength range. One common technique is to measure wavefront…
When an oscillating line source is placed in front of a special mirror consisting of an array of flat uniformly spaced ferrite rods, half of the image disappeared at some frequency. We believe that this comes from the coupling to photonic…
This pedagogical document about stellar photometry - aimed at those for whom astronomical arcana seem arcane - endeavours to explain the concepts of magnitudes, color indices, absolute magnitudes, distance moduli, extinctions, attenuations,…
We extend previous analyses of wide-angle correlations in the galaxy power spectrum in redshift space to include all general relativistic effects. These general relativistic corrections to the standard approach become important on large…
A method of obtaining approximate redshifts and spectral types of galaxies using a photometric system of six broad-bandpass filters is developed. The technique utilizes a smallest maximum difference approach rather than a least-squares…
A theorem on subwavelength imaging with arrays of discrete sources is formulated. This theorem is analogous to the Kotelnikov (also named Nyquist-Shannon) sampling theorem as it represents the field at an arbitrary point of space in terms…
Photometric measurements allow the determination of an asteroid's absolute magnitude, which often represents the sole means to infer its size. Photometric observations can be obtained in a variety of filters that can be unique to a specific…
Frequency shifts of red- and blue-scattered (Stokes/anti-Stokes) side-bands in quantum optomechanics are shown to be counter-intuitively inequal, resulting in an unexpected symmetry breaking. This difference is referred to as Side-band…
The Smithsonian Hectospec Lensing Survey (SHELS) is a magnitude limited spectroscopically complete survey for R<=21.0 covering 4 square degrees. SHELS provides a large sample (15,513) of flux calibrated spectra. The wavelength range covered…
Accurate instrumental bandpass corrections are essential for the reliable interpretation of spectral lines from targeted and survey-mode observations with radio interferometers. Bandpass correction is typically performed by comparing…
The redshift of all cosmological sources drifts by a systematic velocity of order a few m/s over a century due to the deceleration of the Universe. The specific functional dependence of the predicted velocity shift on the source redshift…
Occultation and microlensing are different limits of the same phenomena of one body passing in front of another body. We derive a general exact analytic expression which describes both microlensing and occultation in the case of spherical…
Recent quasar spectroscopy from the VLT and Keck telescopes suggests that fundamental constants may not actually be constant. To better confirm or refute this result, systematic errors between telescopes must be minimized. We present a new…
The broad emission lines commonly seen in quasar spectra have velocity widths of a few per cent of the speed of light, so special- and general-relativistic effects have a significant influence on the line profile. We have determined the…
The Combined EIS-NVSS Survey Of Radio Sources (CENSORS) is a 1.4 GHz radio survey selected from the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) and complete to a flux-density of 7.2mJy. It targets the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) Patch D, which is a 3 by 2…
Bandwidth smearing is a chromatic aberration due to the finite frequency bandwidth. In long-baseline optical interferometry terms, it is when the angular extension of the source is greater than the coherence length of the interferogram. As…
An optical approach begins by interpreting the gravitational redshift resulting to a change in the relative velocity of light due to the medium of propagation in the gravitational field. The discussion continues by pointing out an agreement…
We present optical and/or near-IR images of 128 ultra steep spectrum (USS) radio sources. Roughly half of the objects are identified in the optical images (R <~ 24), while in the near-IR images, >94% are detected at K<~ 22. The mean…