Related papers: Optimal slit orientation for long multi-object spe…
(Abridged) Atmospheric dispersion and field differential refraction impose severe constraints on widefield MOS observations. Flux reduction and spectral distortions must be minimised by a careful planning of the observations -- which is…
The price of instruments and observing time on modern telescopes is quickly increasing with the size of the primary mirror. Therefore, it is worth revisiting the data reduction algorithms to extract every bit of scientific information from…
This paper concerns a new optimization problem arising in the management of a multi-object spectrometer with a configurable slit unit. The field of view of the spectrograph is divided into contiguous and parallel spatial bands, each one…
Real-time seeing and outer scale estimation at the location of the focus of a telescope is fundamental for the adaptive optics systems dimensioning and performance prediction, as well as for the operational aspects of instruments. This…
The optical observations of wide fields of view encounter the problem of selection of best exposure time. As there are usually plenty of objects observed simultaneously, the quality of photometry of the brightest ones is always better than…
Observing a telluric standard star for correcting the telluric absorption lines of spectrum will take a significant amount of precious telescope time, especially in the long-term spectral monitoring project. Beyond that, it's difficult to…
Pseudoscopic (inverted depth) images that keep a continuous parallax were shown to be possible by use of a double diffraction process intermediated by a slit. One diffraction grating directing light to the slit acts as a wavelength encoder…
We derive an analytic expression for the instrument profile of a slit spectrograph, also known as the line spread function. While this problem is not new, our treatment relies on the operatorial approach to the description of diffractive…
The LSST survey will provide unprecedented statistical power for measurements of dark energy. Consequently, controlling systematic uncertainties is becoming more important than ever. The LSST observing strategy will affect the statistical…
Measuring the stellar position angle provides valuable information on binary stellar formation or stellar spin axis evolution. We aim to develop a method for determining the absolute stellar position angle using spectro-astrometric analysis…
We describe a new approach to obtaining very high surface densities of optical spectra in astronomical observations with extremely accurate subtraction of night sky emission. The observing technique requires that the telescope is nodded…
Large-format (sub)millimeter wavelength imaging arrays are best operated in scanning observing modes rather than traditional position-switched (chopped) modes. The choice of observing mode is critical for isolating source signals from…
The main scientific characteristic of VIMOS (VIsible Multi Object Spectrograph, to be placed on ESO Very Large Telescope) is its high multiplexing capability, allowing astronomers to obtain up to 800 spectra per exposure. To fully exploit…
The spectral resolution of a dispersive spectrograph is dependent on the width of the entrance slit. This means that astronomical spectrographs trade-off throughput with spectral resolving power. Recently, optical guided-wave transitions…
A novel method nicknamed ELASTIC is proposed for the alignment of multiple-aperture telescopes, in particular segmented telescopes. It only needs the acquisition of two diversity images of an unresolved source, and is based on the…
Optimal search strategies where targets are observed at several different angles are found. Targets are assumed to exhibit rectangular symmetry and have a uniformly-distributed orientation. By rectangular symmetry, it is meant that one side…
Slitless (or wide field) imaging spectroscopy provides simultaneous imaging and spectral information from a wide field of view, which allows for rapid spectroscopic data collection of extended sources. Depending on the size of the extended…
In biomedical optics, it is often of interest to statistically model the amplitude of the speckle using some distributional models with their parameters acting as biomarkers. In this paper, a paradigm shift is being advocated in which a…
Robotic telescopes present the opportunity for the sparse temporal placement of observations when period searching. We address the best way to place a limited number of observations to cover the dynamic range of frequencies required by an…
Several methods for identifying Be star candidates are reviewed for observational bias with respect to system inclination, that is the angle between the stellar/disk rotation axis and the observer's line of sight, with focus on two…