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Sample records for caltech atacama telescope

  1. OVERVIEW OF THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: RECEIVER, INSTRUMENTATION, AND TELESCOPE SYSTEMS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swetz, D. S.; Devlin, M. J.; Dicker, S. R.; Ade, P. A. R.; Amiri, M.; Battistelli, E. S.; Burger, B.; Halpern, M.; Hasselfield, M.; Appel, J. W.; Essinger-Hileman, T.; Fisher, R. P.; Fowler, J. W.; Hincks, A. D.; Jarosik, N.; Chervenak, J.; Doriese, W. B.; Hilton, G. C.; Irwin, K. D.; Duenner, R.

    2011-01-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope was designed to measure small-scale anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background and detect galaxy clusters through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. The instrument is located on Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert, at an altitude of 5190 m. A 6 m off-axis Gregorian telescope feeds a new type of cryogenic receiver, the Millimeter Bolometer Array Camera. The receiver features three 1000-element arrays of transition-edge sensor bolometers for observations at 148 GHz, 218 GHz, and 277 GHz. Each detector array is fed by free space millimeter-wave optics. Each frequency band has a field of view of approximately 22' x 26'. The telescope was commissioned in 2007 and has completed its third year of operations. We discuss the major components of the telescope, camera, and related systems, and summarize the instrument performance.

  2. Overview of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Receiver, Instrumentation, and Telescope Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swetz, D. S.; Ade, P. A. R.; Amiri, M.; Appel, J. W.; Battistelli, E. S.; Burger, B.; Chervenak, J.; Devlin, M. J.; Dicker, S. R.; Doriese, W. B.; Dünner, R.; Essinger-Hileman, T.; Fisher, R. P.; Fowler, J. W.; Halpern, M.; Hasselfield, M.; Hilton, G. C.; Hincks, A. D.; Irwin, K. D.; Jarosik, N.; Kaul, M.; Klein, J.; Lau, J. M.; Limon, M.; Marriage, T. A.; Marsden, D.; Martocci, K.; Mauskopf, P.; Moseley, H.; Netterfield, C. B.; Niemack, M. D.; Nolta, M. R.; Page, L. A.; Parker, L.; Staggs, S. T.; Stryzak, O.; Switzer, E. R.; Thornton, R.; Tucker, C.; Wollack, E.; Zhao, Y.

    2011-06-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope was designed to measure small-scale anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background and detect galaxy clusters through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. The instrument is located on Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert, at an altitude of 5190 m. A 6 m off-axis Gregorian telescope feeds a new type of cryogenic receiver, the Millimeter Bolometer Array Camera. The receiver features three 1000-element arrays of transition-edge sensor bolometers for observations at 148 GHz, 218 GHz, and 277 GHz. Each detector array is fed by free space millimeter-wave optics. Each frequency band has a field of view of approximately 22' × 26'. The telescope was commissioned in 2007 and has completed its third year of operations. We discuss the major components of the telescope, camera, and related systems, and summarize the instrument performance.

  3. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: The Receiver and Instrumentation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swetz, D. S.; Ade, P. A. R.; Amiri, M.; Appel, J. W.; Burger, B.; Devlin, M. J.; Dicker, S. R.; Doriese, W. B.; Essinger-Hileman, T.; Fisher, R. P.; hide

    2010-01-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope was designed to measure small-scale anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background and detect galaxy clusters through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. The instrument is located on Cerro Taco in the Atacama Desert, at an altitude of 5190 meters. A six-met.er off-axis Gregorian telescope feeds a new type of cryogenic receiver, the Millimeter Bolometer Array Camera. The receiver features three WOO-element arrays of transition-edge sensor bolometers for observations at 148 GHz, 218 GHz, and 277 GHz. Each detector array is fed by free space mm-wave optics. Each frequency band has a field of view of approximately 22' x 26'. The telescope was commissioned in 2007 and has completed its third year of operations. We discuss the major components of the telescope, camera, and related systems, and summarize the instrument performance.

  4. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Instrument

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thornton, Robert J.; Atacama Cosmology Telescope Team

    2010-01-01

    The 6-meter Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) is making detailed maps of the Cosmic Microwave Background at Cerro Toco in northern Chile. In this talk, I focus on the design and operation of the telescope and its commissioning instrument, the Millimeter Bolometer Array Camera. The camera contains three independent sets of optics that operate at 148 GHz, 217 GHz, and 277 GHz with arcminute resolution, each of which couples to a 1024-element array of Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers. I will report on the camera performance, including the beam patterns, optical efficiencies, and detector sensitivities. Under development for ACT is a new polarimeter based on feedhorn-coupled TES devices that have improved sensitivity and are planned to operate at 0.1 K.

  5. Detectors for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marriage, Tobias Andrew

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) will make measurements of the brightness temperature anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) on degree to arcminute angular scales. The ACT observing site is located 5200 m near the top of Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. This thesis presents research on the detectors which capture the image of the CMB formed at ACT's focal plane. In the first chapter, the primary brightness temperature fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background are reviewed. In Chapter 2, a calculation shows how the CMB brightness is translated by ACT to an input power to the detectors. Chapter 3 describes the ACT detectors in detail and presents the response and sensitivity of the detectors to the input power computed in Chapter 2. Chapter 4 describes the detector fabrication at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Chapter 5 summarizes experiments which characterize the ACT detector performance.

  6. ACTPol: Status and preliminary CMB polarization results from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koopman, Brian

    2014-03-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol) is a polarization sensitive upgrade for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, located at an elevation of 5190 m on Cerro Toco in Chile. In summer 2013, ACTPol achieved first light with one third of the final detector configuration. The remaining two thirds of the detector array will be installed during spring 2014, enabling full sensitivity, high resolution, observations at both 90 GHz and 150 GHz. Using approximately 3,000 transition-edge sensor bolometers, ACTPol will enable measurements of small angular scale polarization anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). I will present a status update for the ACTPol receiver and some preliminary results. ACTPol measurements will allow us to probe the spectral index of inflation as well as to constrain early dark energy and the sum of neutrino masses.

  7. Far Sidelobes Measurement of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duenner, Rolando; Gallardo, Patricio; Wollack, Ed; Henriquez, Fernando; Jerez-Hanckes, Carlos

    2012-01-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) is a 6m telescope designed to map the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) simultaneously at 145GHz, 220 GHz and 280 GHz. Its off-axis Gregorian design is intended to minimize and control the off-axis sidelobe response, which is critical for scientific purposes. The expected sidelobe level for this kind of design is less than -50 dB and can be challenging to measure. Here we present a measurement of the 145 GHz far sidelobes of ACT done on the near-field of the telescope. We used a 1 mW microwave source placed 13 meters away from the telescope and a chopper wheel to produce a varying signal that could be detected by the camera for different orientations of the telescope. The source feed was designed to produce a wide beam profile. Given that the coupling is expected to be dominated by diffraction over the telescope shielding structure, when combined with a measurements of the main beam far field response, these measurement can be used to validate elements of optical design and constrain the level of spurious coupling at large angles. Our results show that the diffractive coupling beyond the ground screen is consistently below -75 dB, satisfying the design expectations.

  8. Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Polarization calibration analysis for CMB measurements with ACTPol and Advanced ACTPol

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koopman, Brian; ACTPol Collaboration

    2015-04-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol) is a polarization sensitive upgrade for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, located at an elevation of 5190 m on Cerro Toco in Chile. Achieving first light in 2013, ACTPol is entering its third observation season. Advanced ACTPol is a next generation upgrade for ACTPol, with additional frequencies, polarization modulation, and new detector arrays, that will begin in 2016. I will first present an overview of the two projects and then focus on describing the methods used for polarization angle calibration of the ACTPol detectors. These methods utilize polarization ray tracing in the optical design software CODEV together with detector positions determined from planet observations and represent a critical input for mapping the polarization of the CMB.

  9. The Atacama Large Aperture Submm/mm Telescope (AtLAST) Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertoldi, Frank

    2018-01-01

    In the past decade a strong case has been made for the construction of a next generation, 25 to 40-meter large submillimeter telescope, most notably through the CCAT and the Japanese LST projects. Although much effort had been spent on detailed science cases and technological studies, none of these projects have yet secured funding to advance to construction. We invite the interested community to join a study of the scientific merit, technical implementation, and financial path toward what we coin the "Atacama Large Submillimeter Telescope" (AtLAST). Through this community workshop, working groups, and a final report to be released in early 2019, we hope to motivate the global astronomy community to value and support the realization of such a facility.

  10. The First Multichroic Polarimeter Array on the Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Characterization and Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, S. P.; Pappas, C. G.; Austermann, J.; Beall, J. A.; Becker, D.; Choi, S. K.; Datta, R.; Duff, S. M.; Gallardo, P. A.; Grace, E.; hide

    2016-01-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol) is a polarization sensitive receiver for the 6-meter Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and measures the small angular scale polarization anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The full focal plane is composed of three detector arrays, containing over 3000 transition edge sensors (TES detectors) in total. The first two detector arrays, observing at 146 gigahertz, were deployed in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The third and final array is composed of multichroic pixels sensitive to both 90 and 146 gigahertz and saw first light in February 2015. Fabricated at NIST, this dichroic array consists of 255 pixels, with a total of 1020 polarization sensitive bolometers and is coupled to the telescope with a monolithic array of broad-band silicon feedhorns. The detectors are read out using time-division SQUID multiplexing and cooled by a dilution refrigerator at 110 meter Kelvins. We present an overview of the assembly and characterization of this multichroic array in the lab, and the initial detector performance in Chile. The detector array has a TES detector electrical yield of 85 percent, a total array sensitivity of less than 10 microns Kelvin root mean square speed, and detector time constants and saturation powers suitable for ACT CMB observations.

  11. The First Multichroic Polarimeter Array on the Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Characterization and Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, S. P.; Pappas, C. G.; Austermann, J.; Beall, J. A.; Becker, D.; Choi, S. K.; Datta, R.; Duff, S. M.; Gallardo, P. A.; Grace, E.; Hasselfield, M.; Henderson, S. W.; Hilton, G. C.; Hubmayr, J.; Koopman, B. J.; Lanen, J. V.; Li, D.; McMahon, J.; Nati, F.; Niemack, M. D.; Niraula, P.; Salatino, M.; Schillaci, A.; Schmitt, B. L.; Simon, S. M.; Staggs, S. T.; Stevens, J. R.; Ward, J. T.; Wollack, E. J.; Vavagiakis, E. M.

    2016-08-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol) is a polarization sensitive receiver for the 6-m Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and measures the small angular scale polarization anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The full focal plane is composed of three detector arrays, containing over 3000 transition edge sensors (TES detectors) in total. The first two detector arrays, observing at 146 GHz, were deployed in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The third and final array is composed of multichroic pixels sensitive to both 90 and 146 GHz and saw first light in February 2015. Fabricated at NIST, this dichroic array consists of 255 pixels, with a total of 1020 polarization sensitive bolometers and is coupled to the telescope with a monolithic array of broad-band silicon feedhorns. The detectors are read out using time-division SQUID multiplexing and cooled by a dilution refrigerator at 110 mK. We present an overview of the assembly and characterization of this multichroic array in the lab, and the initial detector performance in Chile. The detector array has a TES detector electrical yield of 85 %, a total array sensitivity of less than 10 \\upmu K√{ {s}}, and detector time constants and saturation powers suitable for ACT CMB observations.

  12. Sunyaev-Zeldovich Predictions for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menanteau, Felipe; Hughes, J. P.; Jimenez, R.; Barkhouse, W.; Berta, Z.; Hansen, S.; Hernandez-Monteagudo, C.; Kosowsky, A.; Lin, Y. T.; Moodley, K.; Ngeow, C.; Roche, N.; Spergel, D.; Tucker, D.; Verde, L.

    2007-05-01

    We present predictions for the microwave sky in a low-extinction region centered near RA = 23:00 and Dec = -55:12, which will be surveyed in the coming year at 145 GHz by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT, PI: Lyman Page) and in the X-ray band by XMM-Newton (PI: Hans Boehringer). The predictions are based on Sunyaev-Zeldovich distortions drawn from optical data collected by the Blanco Cosmology Survey (BCS). We also compare the predictions with X-ray data from the ROSAT All Sky Survey. The BCS (PI: Joe Mohr) is a NOAO large, wide-field survey project that has been awarded 45 nights on the CTIO Blanco 4-meter telescope to image two 50 square-degree patches of the southern sky in four bands (griz). The survey began in 2005 and has completed two (out of three) years of data taking. A preliminary automated image reduction and analysis pipeline for the BCS data is briefly summarized. Financial support was provided by the NSF under the PIRE program (OISE-0530095).

  13. Design and Deployment of a Multichroic Polarimeter Array on the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Datta, R.; Austermann, J.; Beall, J. A.; Becker, D.; Coughlin, K. P.; Duff, S. M.; Gallardo, P.A.; Grace, E.; Hasselfield, M.; Henderson, S. W.; hide

    2016-01-01

    We present the design and the preliminary on-sky performance with respect to beams and pass bands of a multichroic polarimeter array covering the 90 and 146 GHz cosmic microwave background bands and its enabling broad-band optical system recently deployed on the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). The constituent pixels are feedhorn-coupled multichroic polarimeters fabricated at NIST. This array is coupled to the ACT telescope via a set of three silicon lenses incorporating novel broad-band metamaterial anti-reflection coatings. This receiver represents the first multichroic detector array deployed for a CMB experiment and paves the way for the extensive use of multichroic detectors and broad-band optical systems in the next generation of CMB experiments.

  14. Design and Deployment of a Multichroic Polarimeter Array on the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Datta, R.; Austermann, J.; Beall, J. A.; Becker, D.; Coughlin, K. P.; Duff, S. M.; Gallardo, P. A.; Grace, E.; Hasselfield, M.; Henderson, S. W.; Hilton, G. C.; Ho, S. P.; Hubmayr, J.; Koopman, B. J.; Lanen, J. V.; Li, D.; McMahon, J.; Munson, C. D.; Nati, F.; Niemack, M. D.; Page, L.; Pappas, C. G.; Salatino, M.; Schmitt, B. L.; Schillaci, A.; Simon, S. M.; Staggs, S. T.; Stevens, J. R.; Vavagiakis, E. M.; Ward, J. T.; Wollack, E. J.

    2016-08-01

    We present the design and the preliminary on-sky performance with respect to beams and passbands of a multichroic polarimeter array covering the 90 and 146 GHz cosmic microwave background bands and its enabling broad-band optical system recently deployed on the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). The constituent pixels are feedhorn-coupled multichroic polarimeters fabricated at NIST. This array is coupled to the ACT telescope via a set of three silicon lenses incorporating novel broad-band metamaterial anti-reflection coatings. This receiver represents the first multichroic detector array deployed for a CMB experiment and paves the way for the extensive use of multichroic detectors and broad-band optical systems in the next generation of CMB experiments.

  15. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope : Physical Properties of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Clusters on the Celestial Equator

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Menanteau, F.; Sifon, Andalaft C.J.; Barrientos, L.; Battaglia, N.; Bond, J.; Crichton, D.; Das, S.; Devlin, M.; Dicker, S.; Dünner, R.; Gralla, M.; Hajian, A.; Hasselfield, M.; Hilton, M.; Hincks, A.; Hughes, J.; Infante, L.; Kosowsky, A.; Marriage, T.; Marsden, D.; Moodley, K.; Niemack, M.; Nolta, M.; Page, L.; Partridge, B.; Reese, E.; Schmitt, B.; Sievers, J.; Spergel, D.; Staggs, S.; Switzer, E.; Wollack, E.

    2013-01-01

    We present the optical and X-ray properties of 68 galaxy clusters selected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect at 148 GHz by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). Our sample, from an area of 504 deg$^{2}$ centered on the celestial equator, is divided into two regions. The main region uses 270

  16. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: cross correlation with Planck maps

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Louis, Thibaut; Calabrese, Erminia; Dunkley, Joanna; Næss, Sigurd [Department of Astrophysics, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Addison, Graeme E.; Hincks, Adam D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Hasselfield, Matthew; Hlozek, Renée [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Bond, J. Richard; Hajian, Amir [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Das, Sudeep [Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Ave., Lemont, IL 60439 (United States); Devlin, Mark J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, U.S.A (United States); Dünner, Rolando; Infante, Leopoldo [Departamento de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 306, Santiago 22 (Chile); Gralla, Megan; Marriage, Tobias A. [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-2686 (United States); Huffenberger, Kevin [Department of Physics, Florida State University, Keen Physics Building, 77 Chieftan Way, Tallahassee, Florida (United States); Kosowsky, Arthur [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260 (United States); Moodley, Kavilan [Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Unit, School of Mathematical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4041 (South Africa); Niemack, Michael D., E-mail: Thibaut.Louis@astro.ox.ac.uk [Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Jadwin Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); and others

    2014-07-01

    We present the temperature power spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background obtained by cross-correlating maps from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) at 148 and 218 GHz with maps from the Planck satellite at 143 and 217 GHz, in two overlapping regions covering 592 square degrees. We find excellent agreement between the two datasets at both frequencies, quantified using the variance of the residuals between the ACT power spectra and the ACT × Planck cross-spectra. We use these cross-correlations to measure the calibration of the ACT data at 148 and 218 GHz relative to Planck, to 0.7% and 2% precision respectively. We find no evidence for anisotropy in the calibration parameter. We compare the Planck 353 GHz power spectrum with the measured amplitudes of dust and cosmic infrared background (CIB) of ACT data at 148 and 218 GHz. We also compare planet and point source measurements from the two experiments.

  17. Far Sidelobe Effects from Panel Gaps of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fluxa, Pedro R.; Duenner, Rolando; Maurin, Loiec; Choi, Steve K.; Devlin, Mark J.; Gallardo, Patricio A.; Shuay-Pwu, P. Ho; Koopman, Brian J.; Louis, Thibaut; Wollack, Edward J.

    2016-01-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope is a 6 meter diameter CMB telescope located at 5200 meters in the Chilean desert. ACT has made arc-minute scale maps of the sky at 90 and 150 GHz which have led to precise measurements of the fine angular power spectrum of the CMB fluctuations in temperature and polarization. One of the goals of ACT is to search for the B-mode polarization signal from primordial gravity waves, and thus extending ACT's data analysis to larger angular scales. This goal introduces new challenges in the control of systematic effects, including better understanding of far sidelobe effects that might enter the power spectrum at degree angular scales. Here we study the effects of the gaps between panels of the ACT primary and secondary reflectors in the worst case scenario in which the gaps remain open. We produced numerical simulations of the optics using GRASP up to 8 degrees away from the main beam and simulated timestreams for observations with this beam using real pointing information from ACT data. Maps from these simulated timestreams showed leakage from the sidelobes, indicating that this effect must be taken into consideration at large angular scales.

  18. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Likelihood for Small-Scale CMB Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunkley, J.; Calabrese, E.; Sievers, J.; Addison, G. E.; Battaglia, N.; Battistelli, E. S.; Bond, J. R.; Das, S.; Devlin, M. J.; Dunner, R.; hide

    2013-01-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope has measured the angular power spectra of microwave fluctuations to arcminute scales at frequencies of 148 and 218 GHz, from three seasons of data. At small scales the fluctuations in the primordial Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) become increasingly obscured by extragalactic foregounds and secondary CMB signals. We present results from a nine-parameter model describing these secondary effects, including the thermal and kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ and kSZ) power; the clustered and Poisson-like power from Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB) sources, and their frequency scaling; the tSZ-CIB correlation coefficient; the extragalactic radio source power; and thermal dust emission from Galactic cirrus in two different regions of the sky. In order to extract cosmological parameters, we describe a likelihood function for the ACT data, fitting this model to the multi-frequency spectra in the multipole range 500 cosmological parameter estimation

  19. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: The Polarization-Sensitive ACTPol Instrument

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thornton, R. J.; Ade, P. A. R.; Aiola, S.; Angile, F. E.; Amiri, M.; Beall, J. A.; Becker, D. T.; Cho, H.-M.; Choi, S. K.; Corlies, P.; hide

    2016-01-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) makes high angular resolution measurements of anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at millimeter wavelengths. We describe ACTPol, an upgraded receiver for ACT, which uses feedhorn-coupled, polarization-sensitive detector arrays, a 3deg field of view, 100 mK cryogenics with continuous cooling, and meta material antireflection coatings. ACTPol comprises three arrays with separate cryogenic optics: two arrays at a central frequency of 148 GHz and one array operating simultaneously at both 97 GHz and 148 GHz. The combined instrument sensitivity, angular resolution, and sky coverage are optimized for measuring angular power spectra, clusters via the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) and kinetic SZ signals, and CMB lensing due to large-scale structure. The receiver was commissioned with its first 148 GHz array in 2013, observed with both 148 GHz arrays in 2014, and has recently completed its first full season of operations with the full suite of three arrays. This paper provides an overview of the design and initial performance of the receiver and related systems.

  20. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: The Polarization-sensitive ACTPol Instrument

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thornton, R. J.; Ade, P. A. R.; Aiola, S.; Angilè, F. E.; Amiri, M.; Beall, J. A.; Becker, D. T.; Cho, H.-M.; Choi, S. K.; Corlies, P.; Coughlin, K. P.; Datta, R.; Devlin, M. J.; Dicker, S. R.; Dünner, R.; Fowler, J. W.; Fox, A. E.; Gallardo, P. A.; Gao, J.; Grace, E.; Halpern, M.; Hasselfield, M.; Henderson, S. W.; Hilton, G. C.; Hincks, A. D.; Ho, S. P.; Hubmayr, J.; Irwin, K. D.; Klein, J.; Koopman, B.; Li, Dale; Louis, T.; Lungu, M.; Maurin, L.; McMahon, J.; Munson, C. D.; Naess, S.; Nati, F.; Newburgh, L.; Nibarger, J.; Niemack, M. D.; Niraula, P.; Nolta, M. R.; Page, L. A.; Pappas, C. G.; Schillaci, A.; Schmitt, B. L.; Sehgal, N.; Sievers, J. L.; Simon, S. M.; Staggs, S. T.; Tucker, C.; Uehara, M.; van Lanen, J.; Ward, J. T.; Wollack, E. J.

    2016-12-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) makes high angular resolution measurements of anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at millimeter wavelengths. We describe ACTPol, an upgraded receiver for ACT, which uses feedhorn-coupled, polarization-sensitive detector arrays, a 3° field of view, 100 mK cryogenics with continuous cooling, and meta material antireflection coatings. ACTPol comprises three arrays with separate cryogenic optics: two arrays at a central frequency of 148 GHz and one array operating simultaneously at both 97 GHz and 148 GHz. The combined instrument sensitivity, angular resolution, and sky coverage are optimized for measuring angular power spectra, clusters via the thermal Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) and kinetic SZ signals, and CMB lensing due to large-scale structure. The receiver was commissioned with its first 148 GHz array in 2013, observed with both 148 GHz arrays in 2014, and has recently completed its first full season of operations with the full suite of three arrays. This paper provides an overview of the design and initial performance of the receiver and related systems.

  1. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Calibration with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Using Cross-Correlations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hajian, Amir; Acquaviva, Viviana; Ade, Peter A. R.; Aguirre, Paula; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John William; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Battistelli, Elia S.; Bond, John R.; Brown, Ben; hide

    2011-01-01

    We present a new calibration method based on cross-correlations with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) and apply it to data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). ACT's observing strategy and mapmaking procedure allows an unbiased reconstruction of the modes in the maps over a wide range of multipoles. By directly matching the ACT maps to WMAP observations in the multipole range of 400 cosmological parameters estimated from the ACT power spectra. We also present a combined map based on ACT and WMAP data that has a high signal-to-noise ratio over a wide range of multipoles.

  2. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: two-season ACTPol spectra and parameters

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Louis, Thibaut [UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR7095, Institut d' Astrophysique de Paris, F-75014, Paris (France); Grace, Emily; Aiola, Simone; Choi, Steve K. [Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Jadwin Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Hasselfield, Matthew [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Lungu, Marius; Angile, Elio [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Maurin, Loïc [Instituto de Astrofísica and Centro de Astro-Ingeniería, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Macul, Santiago (Chile); Addison, Graeme E. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-2686 (United States); Ade, Peter A. R. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, The Parade, Cardiff, Wales, CF24 3AA (United Kingdom); Allison, Rupert; Calabrese, Erminia [Sub-Department of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Amiri, Mandana [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Battaglia, Nicholas [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Beall, James A.; Britton, Joe; Cho, Hsiao-mei [NIST Quantum Devices Group, 325 Broadway Mailcode 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); De Bernardis, Francesco [Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Bond, J Richard, E-mail: louis@iap.fr [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3H8 (Canada); and others

    2017-06-01

    We present the temperature and polarization angular power spectra measured by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol). We analyze night-time data collected during 2013–14 using two detector arrays at 149 GHz, from 548 deg{sup 2} of sky on the celestial equator. We use these spectra, and the spectra measured with the MBAC camera on ACT from 2008–10, in combination with planck and wmap data to estimate cosmological parameters from the temperature, polarization, and temperature-polarization cross-correlations. We find the new ACTPol data to be consistent with the ΛCDM model. The ACTPol temperature-polarization cross-spectrum now provides stronger constraints on multiple parameters than the ACTPol temperature spectrum, including the baryon density, the acoustic peak angular scale, and the derived Hubble constant. The new ACTPol data provide information on damping tail parameters. The joint uncertainty on the number of neutrino species and the primordial helium fraction is reduced by 20% when adding ACTPol to Planck temperature data alone.

  3. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Two-Season ACTPol Spectra and Parameters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Louis, Thibaut; Grace, Emily; Hasselfield, Matthew; Lungu, Marius; Maurin, Loic; Addison, Graeme E.; Adem Peter A. R.; Aiola, Simone; Allison, Rupert; Amiri, Mandana; hide

    2017-01-01

    We present the temperature and polarization angular power spectra measuredby the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol). We analyze night-time datacollected during 2013-14 using two detector arrays at 149 GHz, from 548 deg(exp. 2) of sky onthe celestial equator. We use these spectra, and the spectra measured with the MBAC camera on ACT from 2008-10, in combination with Planck and WMAP data to estimate cosmological parameters from the temperature, polarization, and temperature-polarization cross-correlations. We find the new ACTPol data to be consistent with the CDM model. The ACTPol temperature-polarization cross-spectrum now provides stronger constraints on multiple parameters than the ACTPol temperature spectrum, including the baryon density, the acoustic peak angular scale, and the derived Hubble constant. The new ACTPol dataprovide information on damping tail parameters. The joint uncertainty on the number of neutrino species and the primordial helium fraction is reduced by 20% when adding ACTPol to Planck temperature data alone.

  4. Survey Strategy Optimization for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Bernardis, F.; Stevens, J. R.; Hasselfield, M.; Alonso, D.; Bond, J. R.; Calabrese, E.; Choi, S. K.; Crowley, K. T.; Devlin, M.; Wollack, E. J.

    2016-01-01

    In recent years there have been significant improvements in the sensitivity and the angular resolution of the instruments dedicated to the observation of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). ACTPol is the first polarization receiver for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and is observing the CMB sky with arcmin resolution over approximately 2000 square degrees. Its upgrade, Advanced ACTPol (AdvACT), will observe the CMB in five frequency bands and over a larger area of the sky. We describe the optimization and implementation of the ACTPol and AdvACT surveys. The selection of the observed fields is driven mainly by the science goals, that is, small angular scale CMB measurements, B-mode measurements and cross-correlation studies. For the ACTPol survey we have observed patches of the southern galactic sky with low galactic foreground emissions which were also chosen to maximize the overlap with several galaxy surveys to allow unique cross-correlation studies. A wider field in the northern galactic cap ensured significant additional overlap with the BOSS spectroscopic survey. The exact shapes and footprints of the fields were optimized to achieve uniform coverage and to obtain cross-linked maps by observing the fields with different scan directions. We have maximized the efficiency of the survey by implementing a close to 24-hour observing strategy, switching between daytime and nighttime observing plans and minimizing the telescope idle time. We describe the challenges represented by the survey optimization for the significantly wider area observed by AdvACT, which will observe roughly half of the low-foreground sky. The survey strategies described here may prove useful for planning future ground-based CMB surveys, such as the Simons Observatory and CMB Stage IV surveys.

  5. Millimeter and submillimeter observations from the Atacama plateau and high altitude balloons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devlin, Mark

    2002-05-01

    A new generation of ground-based and sub-orbital platforms will be operational in the next few years. These telescopes will operate from high sites in Chile and Antarctica, and airborne platforms where the atmosphere is transparent enough to allow sensitive measurements in the millimeter and submillimeter bands. The telescopes will employ state-of-the-art instrumentation including large format bolometer arrays and spectrometers. I will discuss the results of our observations in the Atacama region of Chile (MAT/TOCO), our future observations on the Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) now under construction, and our proposed Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). .

  6. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Measurement of the Primordial Power Spectrum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hlozek, Renee; Dunkley, Joanna; Addison, Graeme; Appel, John William; Bond, J. Richard; Carvalho, C. Sofia; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Duenner, Rolando; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; hide

    2011-01-01

    We present constraints on the primordial power spectrum of adiabatic fluctuations using data from the 2008 Southern Survey of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). The angular resolution of ACT provides sensitivity to scales beyond l = 1000 for resolution of multiple peaks in the primordial temperature power spectrum, which enables us to probe the primordial power spectrum of adiabatic scalar perturbations with wavenumbers up to k approx. = 0.2 Mp/c. We find no evidence for deviation from power-law fluctuations over two decades in scale. Matter fluctuations inferred from the primordial temperature power spectrum evolve over cosmic time and can be used to predict the matter power spectrum at late times; we illustrate the overlap of the matter power inferred from CMB measurements (which probe the power spectrum in thc linear regime) with existing probes of galaxy clustering, cluster abundances and weak lensing constraints on the primordial power. This highlights the range of scales probed by current measurement.s of the matter power spectrum.

  7. THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: DATA CHARACTERIZATION AND MAPMAKING

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Duenner, Rolando; Aguirre, Paula; Barrientos, L. Felipe [Departamento de Astronomia y Astrofisica, Facultad de Fisica, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Casilla 306, Santiago 22 (Chile); Hasselfield, Matthew; Amiri, Mandana; Battistelli, Elia S.; Burger, Bryce [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Marriage, Tobias A.; Acquaviva, Viviana; Das, Sudeep [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Sievers, Jon; Appel, John William [Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Jadwin Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Addison, Graeme E.; Calabrese, Erminia [Department of Astrophysics, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Ade, Peter A. R. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA (United Kingdom); Bond, J. Richard [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Brown, Ben [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Chervenak, Jay [Code 553/665, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon R. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); and others

    2013-01-01

    We present a description of the data reduction and mapmaking pipeline used for the 2008 observing season of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). The data presented here at 148 GHz represent 12% of the 90 TB collected by ACT from 2007 to 2010. In 2008 we observed for 136 days, producing a total of 1423 hr of data (11 TB for the 148 GHz band only), with a daily average of 10.5 hr of observation. From these, 1085 hr were devoted to an 850 deg{sup 2} stripe (11.2 hr by 9. Degree-Sign 1) centered on a declination of -52. Degree-Sign 7, while 175 hr were devoted to a 280 deg{sup 2} stripe (4.5 hr by 4. Degree-Sign 8) centered at the celestial equator. The remaining 163 hr correspond to calibration runs. We discuss sources of statistical and systematic noise, calibration, telescope pointing, and data selection. For the 148 GHz band, out of 1260 survey hours and 1024 detectors in the array, 816 hr and 593 effective detectors remain after data selection, yielding a 38% survey efficiency. The total sensitivity in 2008, determined from the noise level between 5 Hz and 20 Hz in the time-ordered data stream (TOD), is 32 {mu}K{radical}s in cosmic microwave background units. Atmospheric brightness fluctuations constitute the main contaminant in the data and dominate the detector noise covariance at low frequencies in the TOD. The maps were made by solving the least-squares problem using the Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient method, incorporating the details of the detector and noise correlations. Simulations, as well as cross-correlations with Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe sky maps on large angular scales, reveal that our maps are unbiased at multipoles l > 300. This paper accompanies the public release of the 148 GHz southern stripe maps from 2008. The techniques described here will be applied to future maps and data releases.

  8. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Data Characterization and Map Making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duenner, Rolando; Hasselfield, Matthew; Marriage, Tobias A.; Sievers, Jon; Acquaviva, Viviana; Addison, Graeme E.; Ade, Peter A. R.; Aguirre, Paula; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John William; hide

    2012-01-01

    We present a description of the data reduction and mapmaking pipeline used for the 2008 observing season of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). The data presented here at 148 GHz represent 12% or the 90 TB collected by ACT from 2007 to 2010. In 2008 we observed for 136 days, producing a total of 142h of data (11 TB for the 148 GHz band only), with a daily average of 10.5 h of observation. From these, 108.5 h were devoted to 850 sq deg stripe (11.2 h by 9 deg.1) centered on a declination of -52 deg.7, while 175 h were devoted to a 280 square deg stripe (4.5 h by 4 deg.8) centered at the celestial equator. We discuss sources of statistical and systematic noise, calibration, telescope pointing and data selection. Out of 1260 survey hours and 1024 detectors per array, 816 h and 593 effective detectors remain after data selection for this frequency band, yielding a 38 % survey efficiency. The total sensitivity in 2008, determined from the noise level between 5 Hz and 20 Hz in the time-ordered data stream (TOD), is 32 muK square root of s in CMB units. Atmospheric brightness fluctuations constitute the main contaminant in the data and dominate the detector and noise covariance at low frequencies in the TOD. The maps were made by solving the lease squares problem using the Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient method, incorporating the details of the detector and noise correlations. Cross-correlation with WMAP sky maps as well as analysis from simulations reveal the our maps are unbiased at l > 300. This paper accompanies the public release of the 148 GHz southern stripe maps from 2008. The techniques described here will be applied to future maps and data releases.

  9. Weak-lensing mass calibration of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope equatorial Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster sample with the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope stripe 82 survey

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Battaglia, N.; Miyatake, H.; Hasselfield, M.; Calabrese, E.; Ferrara, S.; Hložek, R. [Dept. of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Leauthaud, A. [Kavli IPMU (WPI), UTIAS, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583 (Japan); Gralla, M.B.; Crichton, D. [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Allison, R.; Dunkley, J. [Dept. of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Bond, J.R. [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Devlin, M.J. [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Dünner, R. [Dept. de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago (Chile); Erben, T. [Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, University of Bonn, 53121 Bonn (Germany); Halpern, M.; Hincks, A.D. [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Hilton, M. [Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Unit, School of Mathematical, Statistics and Computer Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4041 (South Africa); Hill, J.C. [Dept. of Astronomy, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Huffenberger, K.M., E-mail: nbatta@astro.princeton.edu [Dept. of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306 (United States); and others

    2016-08-01

    Mass calibration uncertainty is the largest systematic effect for using clusters of galaxies to constrain cosmological parameters. We present weak lensing mass measurements from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Stripe 82 Survey for galaxy clusters selected through their high signal-to-noise thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) signal measured with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). For a sample of 9 ACT clusters with a tSZ signal-to-noise greater than five the average weak lensing mass is (4.8±0.8) ×10{sup 14} M{sub ⊙}, consistent with the tSZ mass estimate of (4.70±1.0) ×10{sup 14} M{sub ⊙} which assumes a universal pressure profile for the cluster gas. Our results are consistent with previous weak-lensing measurements of tSZ-detected clusters from the Planck satellite. When comparing our results, we estimate the Eddington bias correction for the sample intersection of Planck and weak-lensing clusters which was previously excluded.

  10. Weak-Lensing Mass Calibration of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Equatorial Sunyaev-Zeldovich Cluster Sample with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Stripe 82 Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Battaglia, N.; Leauthaud, A.; Miyatake, H.; Hasseleld, M.; Gralla, M. B.; Allison, R.; Bond, J. R.; Calabrese, E.; Crichton, D.; Devlin, M. J.; hide

    2016-01-01

    Mass calibration uncertainty is the largest systematic effect for using clustersof galaxies to constrain cosmological parameters. We present weak lensing mass measurements from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Stripe 82 Survey for galaxy clusters selected through their high signal-to-noise thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) signal measured with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). For a sample of 9 ACT clusters with a tSZ signal-to-noise greater than five, the average weak lensing mass is (4.8 plus or minus 0.8) times 10 (sup 14) solar mass, consistent with the tSZ mass estimate of (4.7 plus or minus 1.0) times 10 (sup 14) solar mass, which assumes a universal pressure profile for the cluster gas. Our results are consistent with previous weak-lensing measurements of tSZ-detected clusters from the Planck satellite. When comparing our results, we estimate the Eddington bias correction for the sample intersection of Planck and weak-lensing clusters which was previously excluded.

  11. Weak-lensing mass calibration of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope equatorial Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster sample with the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope stripe 82 survey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Battaglia, N.; Miyatake, H.; Hasselfield, M.; Calabrese, E.; Ferrara, S.; Hložek, R.; Leauthaud, A.; Gralla, M.B.; Crichton, D.; Allison, R.; Dunkley, J.; Bond, J.R.; Devlin, M.J.; Dünner, R.; Erben, T.; Halpern, M.; Hincks, A.D.; Hilton, M.; Hill, J.C.; Huffenberger, K.M.

    2016-01-01

    Mass calibration uncertainty is the largest systematic effect for using clusters of galaxies to constrain cosmological parameters. We present weak lensing mass measurements from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Stripe 82 Survey for galaxy clusters selected through their high signal-to-noise thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) signal measured with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). For a sample of 9 ACT clusters with a tSZ signal-to-noise greater than five the average weak lensing mass is (4.8±0.8) ×10 14 M ⊙ , consistent with the tSZ mass estimate of (4.70±1.0) ×10 14 M ⊙ which assumes a universal pressure profile for the cluster gas. Our results are consistent with previous weak-lensing measurements of tSZ-detected clusters from the Planck satellite. When comparing our results, we estimate the Eddington bias correction for the sample intersection of Planck and weak-lensing clusters which was previously excluded.

  12. Mirror Illumination and Spillover Measurements of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallardo, Patricio; Dunner, Rolando; Wollack, Ed; Jerez-Hanckes, Carlos

    2012-01-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) is a 6 m telescope designed to map the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) simultaneously at 145 GHz, 220GHz and 280GHz, The receiver in ACT, the Millimeter Bolometer Array Camera, features 1000 TES bolometers in each band, The detector performance depends critically on the total optical loading, requiring the spmover contributions from the optics to be minimal. This inspired the use of a cold Lyot stop to limit the illumination of the primary and the use of guard rings surrounding the primary and secondary reflectors. Here, we present a direct measurement of the illumination aperture for both reflectors and of the attenuation level outside the main optical path. We used a 145 GHz, 1 m W source and a chopper wheel to produce a time-varying signal with a broad heam proflle, We sampled the response of the camera for different locations of the source, placed in front and beside the primary and secondary mirrors. The aperture of the primary was measured to be 5,72 plus or minus 0,17m in diameter (95 plus or minus 3% of its geometrical size), while the aperture of the secondary yielded 2 plus or minus 0.12m in diameter. Both apertures are consistent with the optical design. Comparing to previous measurements of the beam solid angle from planet observations, we estimate an optical efficiency of 72.3 plus or minus 4,8%. We found that the attenuation outside the primary aperture was -16 plus or minus 2dB, which is below the theoretical expectations, and -22 plus or minus 1 dB outside the secondary aperture, which is consistent with simulations. These results motivated the extension of the baffles surrounding the secondary mirror, with the following reduction in detector optical loading from 2,24 pW to 188pW.

  13. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Dusty Star-Forming Galaxies and Active Galactic Nuclei in the Southern Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marsden, Danica; Gralla, Megan; Marriage, Tobias A.; Switzer, Eric R.; Partridge, Bruce; Massardi, Marcella; Morales, Gustavo; Addison, Graeme; Bond, J. Richard; Crighton, Devin; hide

    2014-01-01

    We present a catalogue of 191 extragalactic sources detected by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) at 148 and/or 218 GHz in the 2008 Southern survey. Flux densities span 14 -1700 mJy, and we use source spectral indices derived using ACT-only data to divide our sources into two subpopulations: 167 radio galaxies powered by central active galactic nuclei (AGN) and 24 dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs). We cross-identify 97 per cent of our sources (166 of the AGN and 19 of the DSFGs) with those in currently available catalogues. When combined with flux densities from the Australia Telescope 20 GHz survey and follow-up observations with the Australia Telescope Compact Array, the synchrotron-dominated population is seen to exhibit a steepening of the slope of the spectral energy distribution from 20 to 148 GHz, with the trend continuing to 218 GHz. The ACT dust-dominated source population has a median spectral index, A(sub 148-218), of 3.7 (+0.62 or -0.86), and includes both local galaxies and sources with redshift around 6. Dusty sources with no counterpart in existing catalogues likely belong to a recently discovered subpopulation of DSFGs lensed by foreground galaxies or galaxy groups.

  14. Simultaneous seeing measurements at Atacama

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uraguchi, Fumihiro; Motohara, Kentaro; Doi, Mamoru; Takato, Naruhisa; Miyashita, Akihiko; Tanabe, Toshihiko; Oyabu, Shinki; Soyano, Takao

    2004-10-01

    Institute of Astronomy, University of Tokyo is now planning to build a 6.5-m optical-infrared telescope in Atacama, Chile. This project is called "Univ. Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO)", and the site evaluation is now under way. As a part of this evaluation process, we started an investigation to compare the astronomical seeing at Atacama with that at Mauna Kea. Here, we report preliminary results of seeing measurements at several sites in Atacama, carried out on October 2003. In order to separate the temporal and site-to-site variation of the seeing, we used two sets of Differential Image Motion Monitors (DIMMs), each of which has two pairs of 7.4 cm sub-apertures with 20.5 cm separation. Three sites were investigated; the point near the TAO weather station (4,950m), the summit of Cello Chico (5,150m) and the point at 5,430m altitude on Cello Toco. Simultaneous measurements were carried out for three half nights out of four half nights measurements. Although the amount of our data is very limited, the results suggest following: 1) Seeing becomes better and more stable as time passing to midnight (eg. From 0."7 to 0."4 at V-band). 2) Higher altitude sites show better seeing than lower altitude sites.

  15. Evidence for Dark Energy from the Cosmic Microwave Background Alone Using the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Lensing Measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherwin, Blake D.; Dunkley, Joanna; Das, Sudeep; Appel, John W.; Bond, J. Richard; Carvalho, C. Sofia; Devlin, Mark J.; Duenner, Rolando; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Fowler, Joesph J.; hide

    2011-01-01

    For the first time, measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) alone favor cosmologies with w = -1 dark energy over models without dark energy at a 3.2-sigma level. We demonstrate this by combining the CMB lensing deflection power spectrum from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope with temperature and polarization power spectra from the "Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. The lensing data break the geometric degeneracy of different cosmological models with similar CMB temperature power spectra. Our CMB-only measurement of the dark energy density Omega(delta) confirms other measurements from supernovae, galaxy clusters and baryon acoustic oscillations, and demonstrates the power of CMB lensing as a new cosmological tool.

  16. Evidence for dark energy from the cosmic microwave background alone using the Atacama Cosmology Telescope lensing measurements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherwin, Blake D; Dunkley, Joanna; Das, Sudeep; Appel, John W; Bond, J Richard; Carvalho, C Sofia; Devlin, Mark J; Dünner, Rolando; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Fowler, Joseph W; Hajian, Amir; Halpern, Mark; Hasselfield, Matthew; Hincks, Adam D; Hlozek, Renée; Hughes, John P; Irwin, Kent D; Klein, Jeff; Kosowsky, Arthur; Marriage, Tobias A; Marsden, Danica; Moodley, Kavilan; Menanteau, Felipe; Niemack, Michael D; Nolta, Michael R; Page, Lyman A; Parker, Lucas; Reese, Erik D; Schmitt, Benjamin L; Sehgal, Neelima; Sievers, Jon; Spergel, David N; Staggs, Suzanne T; Swetz, Daniel S; Switzer, Eric R; Thornton, Robert; Visnjic, Katerina; Wollack, Ed

    2011-07-08

    For the first time, measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) alone favor cosmologies with w = -1 dark energy over models without dark energy at a 3.2-sigma level. We demonstrate this by combining the CMB lensing deflection power spectrum from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope with temperature and polarization power spectra from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. The lensing data break the geometric degeneracy of different cosmological models with similar CMB temperature power spectra. Our CMB-only measurement of the dark energy density Ω(Λ) confirms other measurements from supernovae, galaxy clusters, and baryon acoustic oscillations, and demonstrates the power of CMB lensing as a new cosmological tool.

  17. THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: A MEASUREMENT OF THE PRIMORDIAL POWER SPECTRUM

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hlozek, Renee; Dunkley, Joanna; Addison, Graeme [Department of Astrophysics, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Appel, John William; Das, Sudeep; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Fowler, Joseph W.; Hajian, Amir; Hincks, Adam D. [Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Jadwin Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Bond, J. Richard [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Carvalho, C. Sofia [IPFN, IST, Av. RoviscoPais, 1049-001Lisboa, Portugal and RCAAM, Academy of Athens, Soranou Efessiou 4, 11-527 Athens (Greece); Devlin, Mark J.; Klein, Jeff [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Duenner, Rolando; Gallardo, Patricio [Departamento de Astronomia y Astrofisica, Facultad de Fisica, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Casilla 306, Santiago 22 (Chile); Halpern, Mark; Hasselfield, Matthew [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Hilton, Matt [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); Hughes, John P. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8019 (United States); Irwin, Kent D. [NIST Quantum Devices Group, 325 Broadway Mailcode 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); and others

    2012-04-10

    We present constraints on the primordial power spectrum of adiabatic fluctuations using data from the 2008 Southern Survey of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) in combination with measurements from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and a prior on the Hubble constant. The angular resolution of ACT provides sensitivity to scales beyond l = 1000 for resolution of multiple peaks in the primordial temperature power spectrum, which enables us to probe the primordial power spectrum of adiabatic scalar perturbations with wavenumbers up to k {approx_equal} 0.2 Mpc{sup -1}. We find no evidence for deviation from power-law fluctuations over two decades in scale. Matter fluctuations inferred from the primordial temperature power spectrum evolve over cosmic time and can be used to predict the matter power spectrum at late times; we illustrate the overlap of the matter power inferred from cosmic microwave background measurements (which probe the power spectrum in the linear regime) with existing probes of galaxy clustering, cluster abundances, and weak-lensing constraints on the primordial power. This highlights the range of scales probed by current measurements of the matter power spectrum.

  18. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: temperature and gravitational lensing power spectrum measurements from three seasons of data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Das, Sudeep [Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Ave., Lemont, IL 60439 (United States); Louis, Thibaut; Calabrese, Erminia; Dunkley, Joanna [Sub-department of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Nolta, Michael R.; Bond, J Richard; Hajian, Amir; Hincks, Adam D. [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3H8 Canada (Canada); Addison, Graeme E.; Halpern, Mark [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 Canada (Canada); Battistelli, Elia S. [Department of Physics, University of Rome ' ' La Sapienza' ' , Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, I-00185 Rome (Italy); Crichton, Devin; Gralla, Megan [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-2686 (United States); Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104 (United States); Dünner, Rolando [Departamento de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Facultad de Física, Pontificía Universidad Católica, Casilla 306, Santiago 22 (Chile); Fowler, Joseph W. [NIST Quantum Devices Group, 325 Broadway Mailcode 817.03, Boulder, CO, 80305 (United States); Hasselfield, Matthew; Hlozek, Renée [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Hilton, Matt, E-mail: sudeepphys@gmail.com [Centre for Astronomy and Particle Theory, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); and others

    2014-04-01

    We present the temperature power spectra of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) derived from the three seasons of data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) at 148 GHz and 218 GHz, as well as the cross-frequency spectrum between the two channels. We detect and correct for contamination due to the Galactic cirrus in our equatorial maps. We present the results of a number of tests for possible systematic error and conclude that any effects are not significant compared to the statistical errors we quote. Where they overlap, we cross-correlate the ACT and the South Pole Telescope (SPT) maps and show they are consistent. The measurements of higher-order peaks in the CMB power spectrum provide an additional test of the ΛCDM cosmological model, and help constrain extensions beyond the standard model. The small angular scale power spectrum also provides constraining power on the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects and extragalactic foregrounds. We also present a measurement of the CMB gravitational lensing convergence power spectrum at 4.6σ detection significance.

  19. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Temperature and Gravitational Lensing Power Spectrum Measurements from Three Seasons of Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Das, Sudeep; Louis, Thibaut; Nolta, Michael R.; Addison, Graeme E.; Battisetti, Elia S.; Bond, J. Richard; Calabrese, Erminia; Crichton, Devin; Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon; hide

    2014-01-01

    We present the temperature power spectra of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) derived from the three seasons of data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) at 148 GHz and 218 GHz, as well as the cross-frequency spectrum between the two channels. We detect and correct for contamination due to the Galactic cirrus in our equatorial maps. We present the results of a number of tests for possible systematic error and conclude that any effects are not significant compared to the statistical errors we quote. Where they overlap, we cross-correlate the ACT and the South Pole Telescope (SPT) maps and show they are consistent. The measurements of higher-order peaks in the CMB power spectrum provide an additional test of the ?CDM cosmological model, and help constrain extensions beyond the standard model. The small angular scale power spectrum also provides constraining power on the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects and extragalactic foregrounds. We also present a measurement of the CMB gravitational lensing convergence power spectrum at 4.6s detection significance.

  20. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: temperature and gravitational lensing power spectrum measurements from three seasons of data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Das, Sudeep; Louis, Thibaut; Calabrese, Erminia; Dunkley, Joanna; Nolta, Michael R.; Bond, J Richard; Hajian, Amir; Hincks, Adam D.; Addison, Graeme E.; Halpern, Mark; Battistelli, Elia S.; Crichton, Devin; Gralla, Megan; Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon; Dünner, Rolando; Fowler, Joseph W.; Hasselfield, Matthew; Hlozek, Renée; Hilton, Matt

    2014-01-01

    We present the temperature power spectra of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) derived from the three seasons of data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) at 148 GHz and 218 GHz, as well as the cross-frequency spectrum between the two channels. We detect and correct for contamination due to the Galactic cirrus in our equatorial maps. We present the results of a number of tests for possible systematic error and conclude that any effects are not significant compared to the statistical errors we quote. Where they overlap, we cross-correlate the ACT and the South Pole Telescope (SPT) maps and show they are consistent. The measurements of higher-order peaks in the CMB power spectrum provide an additional test of the ΛCDM cosmological model, and help constrain extensions beyond the standard model. The small angular scale power spectrum also provides constraining power on the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects and extragalactic foregrounds. We also present a measurement of the CMB gravitational lensing convergence power spectrum at 4.6σ detection significance

  1. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT): Beam Profiles and First SZ Cluster Maps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hincks, A. D.; Acquaviva, V.; Ade, P. A.; Aguirre, P.; Amiri, M.; Appel, J. W.; Barrientos, L. F.; Battistelli, E. S.; Bond, J. R.; Brown, B.; hide

    2010-01-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) is currently observing the cosmic microwave background with arcminute resolution at 148 GHz, 218 GHz, and 277 GHz, In this paper, we present ACT's first results. Data have been analyzed using a maximum-likelihood map-making method which uses B-splines to model and remove the atmospheric signal. It has been used to make high-precision beam maps from which we determine the experiment's window functions, This beam information directly impacts all subsequent analyses of the data. We also used the method to map a sample of galaxy clusters via the Sunyaev-Ze1'dovich (SZ) effect, and show five clusters previously detected with X-ray or SZ observations, We provide integrated Compton-y measurements for each cluster. Of particular interest is our detection of the z = 0.44 component of A3128 and our current non-detection of the low-redshift part, providing strong evidence that the further cluster is more massive as suggested by X-ray measurements. This is a compelling example of the redshift-independent mass selection of the SZ effect.

  2. Detection of the power spectrum of cosmic microwave background lensing by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Das, Sudeep; Sherwin, Blake D; Aguirre, Paula; Appel, John W; Bond, J Richard; Carvalho, C Sofia; Devlin, Mark J; Dunkley, Joanna; Dünner, Rolando; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Fowler, Joseph W; Hajian, Amir; Halpern, Mark; Hasselfield, Matthew; Hincks, Adam D; Hlozek, Renée; Huffenberger, Kevin M; Hughes, John P; Irwin, Kent D; Klein, Jeff; Kosowsky, Arthur; Lupton, Robert H; Marriage, Tobias A; Marsden, Danica; Menanteau, Felipe; Moodley, Kavilan; Niemack, Michael D; Nolta, Michael R; Page, Lyman A; Parker, Lucas; Reese, Erik D; Schmitt, Benjamin L; Sehgal, Neelima; Sievers, Jon; Spergel, David N; Staggs, Suzanne T; Swetz, Daniel S; Switzer, Eric R; Thornton, Robert; Visnjic, Katerina; Wollack, Ed

    2011-07-08

    We report the first detection of the gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background through a measurement of the four-point correlation function in the temperature maps made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. We verify our detection by calculating the levels of potential contaminants and performing a number of null tests. The resulting convergence power spectrum at 2° angular scales measures the amplitude of matter density fluctuations on comoving length scales of around 100 Mpc at redshifts around 0.5 to 3. The measured amplitude of the signal agrees with Lambda cold dark matter cosmology predictions. Since the amplitude of the convergence power spectrum scales as the square of the amplitude of the density fluctuations, the 4σ detection of the lensing signal measures the amplitude of density fluctuations to 12%.

  3. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Development and preliminary results of point source observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, Ryan P.

    2009-06-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) is a six meter diameter telescope designed to measure the millimeter sky with arcminute angular resolution. The instrument is currently conducting its third season of observations from Cerro Toco in the Chilean Andes. The primary science goal of the experiment is to expand our understanding of cosmology by mapping the temperature fluctuations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at angular scales corresponding to multipoles up to [cursive l] ~ 10000. The primary receiver for current ACT observations is the Millimeter Bolometer Array Camera (MBAC). The instrument is specially designed to observe simultaneously at 148 GHz, 218 GHz and 277 GHz. To accomplish this, the camera has three separate detector arrays, each containing approximately 1000 detectors. After discussing the ACT experiment in detail, a discussion of the development and testing of the cold readout electronics for the MBAC is presented. Currently, the ACT collaboration is in the process of generating maps of the microwave sky using our first and second season observations. The analysis used to generate these maps requires careful data calibration to produce maps of the arcminute scale CMB temperature fluctuations. Tests and applications of several elements of the ACT calibrations are presented in the context of the second season observations. Scientific exploration has already begun on preliminary maps made using these calibrations. The final portion of this thesis is dedicated to discussing the point sources observed by the ACT. A discussion of the techniques used for point source detection and photometry is followed by a presentation of our current measurements of point source spectral indices.

  4. Assembly and Integration Process of the First High Density Detector Array for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yaqiong; Choi, Steve; Ho, Shuay-Pwu; Crowley, Kevin T.; Salatino, Maria; Simon, Sara M.; Staggs, Suzanne T.; Nati, Federico; Wollack, Edward J.

    2016-01-01

    The Advanced ACTPol (AdvACT) upgrade on the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) consists of multichroicTransition Edge Sensor (TES) detector arrays to measure the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization anisotropies in multiple frequency bands. The first AdvACT detector array, sensitive to both 150 and 230 GHz, is fabricated on a 150 mm diameter wafer and read out with a completely different scheme compared to ACTPol. Approximately 2000 TES bolometers are packed into the wafer leading to both a much denser detector density and readout circuitry. The demonstration of the assembly and integration of the AdvACT arrays is important for the next generation CMB experiments, which will continue to increase the pixel number and density. We present the detailed assembly process of the first AdvACT detector array.

  5. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cross-Correlation of Cosmic Microwave Background Lensing and Quasars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherwin, Blake D; Das, Sudeep; Haijian, Amir; Addison, Graeme; Bond, Richard; Crichton, Devin; Devlin, Mark J.; Dunkley, Joanna; Gralla, Megan B.; Halpern, Mark; hide

    2012-01-01

    We measure the cross-correlation of Atacama cosmology telescope cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing convergence maps with quasar maps made from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR8 SDSS-XDQSO photometric catalog. The CMB lensing quasar cross-power spectrum is detected for the first time at a significance of 3.8 sigma, which directly confirms that the quasar distribution traces the mass distribution at high redshifts z > 1. Our detection passes a number of null tests and systematic checks. Using this cross-power spectrum, we measure the amplitude of the linear quasar bias assuming a template for its redshift dependence, and find the amplitude to be consistent with an earlier measurement from clustering; at redshift z ap 1.4, the peak of the distribution of quasars in our maps, our measurement corresponds to a bias of b = 2.5 +/- 0.6. With the signal-to-noise ratio on CMB lensing measurements likely to improve by an order of magnitude over the next few years, our results demonstrate the potential of CMB lensing crosscorrelations to probe astrophysics at high redshifts.

  6. Astronomers Break Ground on Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) - World's Largest Millimeter Wavelength Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    2003-11-01

    Scientists and dignitaries from Europe, North America and Chile are breaking ground today (Thursday, November 6, 2003) on what will be the world's largest, most sensitive radio telescope operating at millimeter wavelengths . ALMA - the "Atacama Large Millimeter Array" - will be a single instrument composed of 64 high-precision antennas located in the II Region of Chile, in the District of San Pedro de Atacama, at the Chajnantor altiplano, 5,000 metres above sea level. ALMA 's primary function will be to observe and image with unprecedented clarity the enigmatic cold regions of the Universe, which are optically dark, yet shine brightly in the millimetre portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) is an international astronomy facility. ALMA is an equal partnership between Europe and North America, in cooperation with the Republic of Chile, and is funded in North America by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), and in Europe by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and Spain. ALMA construction and operations are led on behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), which is managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), and on behalf of Europe by ESO. " ALMA will be a giant leap forward for our studies of this relatively little explored spectral window towards the Universe" , said Dr. Catherine Cesarsky , Director General of ESO. "With ESO leading the European part of this ambitious and forward-looking project, the impact of ALMA will be felt in wide circles on our continent. Together with our partners in North America and Chile, we are all looking forward to the truly outstanding opportunities that will be offered by ALMA , also to young scientists and engineers" . " The U.S. National Science Foundation joins today with our North American partner, Canada, and with the European Southern Observatory, Spain, and Chile to prepare

  7. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Beam Measurements and the Microwave Brightness Temperatures of Uranus and Saturn

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasselfield, Matthew; Moodley, Kavilan; Bond, J. Richard; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Dunkley, Joanna; Dunner, Rolando; Fowler, Joseph W.; Gallardo, Patricio; Gralla, Megan B.; hide

    2013-01-01

    We describe the measurement of the beam profiles and window functions for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), which operated from 2007 to 2010 with kilopixel bolometer arrays centered at 148, 218, and 277 GHz. Maps of Saturn are used to measure the beam shape in each array and for each season of observations. Radial profiles are transformed to Fourier space in a way that preserves the spatial correlations in the beam uncertainty to derive window functions relevant for angular power spectrum analysis. Several corrections are applied to the resulting beam transforms, including an empirical correction measured from the final cosmic microwave background (CMB) survey maps to account for the effects of mild pointing variation and alignment errors. Observations of Uranus made regularly throughout each observing season are used to measure the effects of atmospheric opacity and to monitor deviations in telescope focus over the season. Using the WMAP-based calibration of the ACT maps to the CMB blackbody, we obtain precise measurements of the brightness temperatures of the Uranus and Saturn disks at effective frequencies of 149 and 219 GHz. For Uranus we obtain thermodynamic brightness temperatures T(149/U) = 106.7 +/- 2.2 K and T(219/U) = 100.1 +/- 3.1 K. For Saturn, we model the effects of the ring opacity and emission using a simple model and obtain resulting (unobscured) disk temperatures of T(149/S) = 137.3 +/- 3.2 K and T(219/S) = 137.3 +/- 4.7 K.

  8. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Extragalactic Sources at 148 GHz in the 2008 Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marriage, T. A.; Juin, J. B.; Lin, Y. T.; Marsden, D.; Nolta, M. R.; Partridge, B.; Ade, P. A. R.; Aguirre, P.; Amiri, M.; Appel, J. W.; hide

    2011-01-01

    We report on extragalactic sources detected in a 455 square-degree map of the southern sky made with data at a frequency of 148 GHz from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope 2008 observing season. We provide a catalog of 157 sources with flux densities spanning two orders of magnitude: from 15 mJy to 1500 mJy. Comparison to other catalogs shows that 98% of the ACT detections correspond to sources detected at lower radio frequencies. Three of the sources appear to be associated with the brightest cluster galaxies of low redshift X-ray selected galaxy clusters. Estimates of the radio to mm-wave spectral indices and differential counts of the sources further bolster the hypothesis that they are nearly all radio sources, and that their emission is not dominated by re-emission from warm dust. In a bright (> 50 mJy) 148 GHz-selected sample with complete cross-identifications from the Australia Telescope 20 GHz survey, we observe an average steepening of the spectra between .5, 20, and 148 GHz with median spectral indices of alp[ha (sub 5-20) = -0.07 +/- 0.06, alpha (sub 20-148) -0.39 +/- 0.04, and alpha (sub 5-148) = -0.20 +/- 0.03. When the measured spectral indices are taken into account, the 148 GHz differential source counts are consistent with previous measurements at 30 GHz in the context of a source count model dominated by radio sources. Extrapolating with an appropriately rescaled model for the radio source counts, the Poisson contribution to the spatial power spectrum from synchrotron-dominated sources with flux density less than 20 mJy is C(sup Sync) = (2.8 +/- 0.3) x 1O (exp-6) micro K(exp 2).

  9. THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: BEAM MEASUREMENTS AND THE MICROWAVE BRIGHTNESS TEMPERATURES OF URANUS AND SATURN

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hasselfield, Matthew [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Moodley, Kavilan [Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Unit, School of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041 (South Africa); Bond, J. Richard; Hajian, Amir; Hincks, Adam D.; Nolta, Michael R. [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Das, Sudeep [High Energy Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL 60439 (United States); Devlin, Mark J.; Marsden, Danica; Schmitt, Benjamin L. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Dunkley, Joanna [Department of Astrophysics, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Dünner, Rolando; Gallardo, Patricio [Departamento de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Facultad de Física, Pontificía Universidad Católica, Casilla 306, Santiago 22 (Chile); Fowler, Joseph W.; Niemack, Michael D. [NIST Quantum Devices Group, 325 Broadway Mailcode 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); Gralla, Megan B.; Marriage, Tobias A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218-2686 (United States); Halpern, Mark [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Page, Lyman A. [Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Jadwin Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Partridge, Bruce [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041 (United States); and others

    2013-11-01

    We describe the measurement of the beam profiles and window functions for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), which operated from 2007 to 2010 with kilopixel bolometer arrays centered at 148, 218, and 277 GHz. Maps of Saturn are used to measure the beam shape in each array and for each season of observations. Radial profiles are transformed to Fourier space in a way that preserves the spatial correlations in the beam uncertainty to derive window functions relevant for angular power spectrum analysis. Several corrections are applied to the resulting beam transforms, including an empirical correction measured from the final cosmic microwave background (CMB) survey maps to account for the effects of mild pointing variation and alignment errors. Observations of Uranus made regularly throughout each observing season are used to measure the effects of atmospheric opacity and to monitor deviations in telescope focus over the season. Using the WMAP-based calibration of the ACT maps to the CMB blackbody, we obtain precise measurements of the brightness temperatures of the Uranus and Saturn disks at effective frequencies of 149 and 219 GHz. For Uranus we obtain thermodynamic brightness temperatures T{sub U}{sup 149}= 106.7 ± 2.2 K and T{sub U}{sup 219}= 100.1 ± 3.1 K. For Saturn, we model the effects of the ring opacity and emission using a simple model and obtain resulting (unobscured) disk temperatures of T{sub S}{sup 149}= 137.3 ± 3.2 K and T{sub S}{sup 219}= 137.3 ± 4.7 K.

  10. The Caltech physics/engineering network

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Melvin, J.D.

    1985-01-01

    The California Institute of Technology Physics/Engineering network (referred to as the ''Caltech network'' in this paper) is a software system which has been developed over the last four years for high-speed data acquisition, graphics, and distributed computer resource communications. This paper presents: a brief history of past and current development of the network software; features currently implemented; current speed performance; and applications of the network to research and education at Caltech and at other institutions

  11. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmological Parameters from the 2008 Power Spectrum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunkley, J.; Hlozek, R.; Sievers, J.; Acquaviva, V.; Ade, P. A. R.; Aguirre, P.; Amiri, M.; Appel, J. W.; Barrientos, L. F.; Battistelli, E. S.; hide

    2011-01-01

    We present cosmological parameters derived from the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation observed at 148 GHz and 218 GHz over 296 deg(exp 2) with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) during its 2008 season. ACT measures fluctuations at scales 500 cosmological parameters from the less contaminated 148 GHz spectrum, marginalizing over SZ and source power. The ACDM cosmological model is a good fit to the data (chi square/dof = 29/46), and ACDM parameters estimated from ACT+Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) are consistent with the seven-year WMAP limits, with scale invariant n(sub s) = 1 excluded at 99.7% confidence level (CL) (3 sigma). A model with no CMB lensing is disfavored at 2.8 sigma. By measuring the third to seventh acoustic peaks, and probing the Silk damping regime, the ACT data improve limits on cosmological parameters that affect the small-scale CMB power. The ACT data combined with WMAP give a 6 sigma detection of primordial helium, with Y(sub p) = 0.313 +/- 0.044, and a 4 sigma detection of relativistic species, assumed to be neutrinos, with N(sub eff) = 5.3 +/- 1.3 (4.6 +/- 0.8 with BAO+H(sub 0) data). From the CMB alone the running of the spectral index is constrained to be d(sub s) / d ln k = -0,034 +/- 0,018, the limit on the tensor-to-scalar ratio is r < 0,25 (95% CL), and the possible contribution of Nambu cosmic strings to the power spectrum is constrained to string tension G(sub mu) < 1.6 x 10(exp -7) (95% CL),

  12. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: cosmological parameters from three seasons of data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sievers, Jonathan L.; Appel, John William; Hlozek, Renée A.; Nolta, Michael R.; Battaglia, Nick; Bond, J. Richard; Acquaviva, Viviana; Addison, Graeme E.; Amiri, Mandana; Battistelli, Elia S.; Burger, Bryce; Ade, Peter A. R.; Aguirre, Paula; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Brown, Ben; Calabrese, Erminia; Chervenak, Jay; Crichton, Devin; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.

    2013-01-01

    We present constraints on cosmological and astrophysical parameters from high-resolution microwave background maps at 148 GHz and 218 GHz made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) in three seasons of observations from 2008 to 2010. A model of primary cosmological and secondary foreground parameters is fit to the map power spectra and lensing deflection power spectrum, including contributions from both the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) effect and the kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect, Poisson and correlated anisotropy from unresolved infrared sources, radio sources, and the correlation between the tSZ effect and infrared sources. The power ℓ 2 C ℓ /2π of the thermal SZ power spectrum at 148 GHz is measured to be 3.4±1.4  μK 2 at ℓ = 3000, while the corresponding amplitude of the kinematic SZ power spectrum has a 95% confidence level upper limit of 8.6  μK 2 . Combining ACT power spectra with the WMAP 7-year temperature and polarization power spectra, we find excellent consistency with the LCDM model. We constrain the number of effective relativistic degrees of freedom in the early universe to be N eff = 2.79±0.56, in agreement with the canonical value of N eff = 3.046 for three massless neutrinos. We constrain the sum of the neutrino masses to be Σm ν < 0.39 eV at 95% confidence when combining ACT and WMAP 7-year data with BAO and Hubble constant measurements. We constrain the amount of primordial helium to be Y p = 0.225±0.034, and measure no variation in the fine structure constant α since recombination, with α/α 0 = 1.004±0.005. We also find no evidence for any running of the scalar spectral index, dn s /dln k = −0.004±0.012

  13. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Detection or Sunyaev-Zel'Dovich Decrement in Groups and Clusters Associated with Luminous Red Galaxies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hand, Nick; Appel, John William; Battaglia, Nick; Bond, J. Richard; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Dunkley, Joanna; Dunner, Rolando; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Fowler, Joseph W.; hide

    2010-01-01

    We present a detection of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) decrement associated with the Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The SZ data come from 148 GHz maps of the equatorial region made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). The LRG sample is divided by luminosity into four bins, and estimates for the central Sunyaev-Zel'dovich temperature decrement are calculated through a stacking process. We detect and account for a bias of the SZ signal due to weak radio sources. We use numerical simulations to relate the observed decrement to Y(sub 200) and clustering properties to relate the galaxy luminosity bins to mass. We also use a relation between BCG luminosity and cluster mass based on stacked gravitational lensing measurements to estimate the characteristic halo masses. The masses are found to be in the range approx.10(exp 13) - 10(exp 14)/h Stellar Mass, a lower range than has been previously probed.

  14. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Sunyaev-Zel'dovich-Selected Galaxy Clusters AT 148 GHz in the 2008 Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marriage, Tobias A.; Acquaviva, Viviana; Ade, Peter A. R.; Aguirre, Paula; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John William; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Battistelli, Elia S.; Bond, J. Richard; Brown, Ben; hide

    2011-01-01

    We report on 23 clusters detected blindly as Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) decrements in a 148 GHz, 455 deg (exp 2) map of the southern sky made with data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope 2008 observing season. All SZ detections announced in this work have confirmed optical counterparts. Ten of the clusters are new discoveries. One newly discovered cluster, ACT-CL 10102-4915, with a redshift of 0.75 (photometric), has an SZ decrement comparable to the most massive systems at lower redshifts. Simulations of the cluster recovery method reproduce the sample purity measured by optical follow-up. In particular, for clusters detected with a signal-to-noise ratio greater than six, simulations are consistent with optical follow-up that demonstrated this subsample is 100% pure, The simulations further imply that the total sample is 80% complete for clusters with mass in excess of 6 x 10(exp 14) solar masses referenced to the cluster volume characterized by 500 times the critical density. The Compton gamma-X-ray luminosity mass comparison for the 11 best-detected clusters visually agrees with both self-similar and non-adiabatic, simulation-derived scaling laws,

  15. TERRAscope and CUBE project at Caltech

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kanamori, Hiroo; Hauksson, , Egill; Heaton, Tom

    The TERRAscope project of the California Institute of Technology began in 1988 and now has six very broadband seismic stations (PAS, GSC, PFO, SBC, ISA, and SVD) in southern California (Figure 1). The goal of TERRAscope is to provide high-quality broadband data needed for significant advances in both regional and global seismology. TERRAscope will replace the old Caltech seismographic network in southern California, which dates back to the 1920s. In many cases, new stations are deployed in cooperation with local institutions. The goal is to encourage involvement of both students and researchers in the operation of the stations and analysis of new data. The station PAS is a joint project between Caltech, the University of Southern California, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS). The station SBC was deployed in cooperation with the University of California at Santa Barbara. The station PFO is operated jointly with the University of California at San Diego, and the station SVD was installed and is operated by the USGS. Except for SVD, all of the stations are equipped with a broadband Streckeisen STS-1 seismometer and Quanterra data logger with a 24-bit digitizer and a Kinemetrics FBA-23 strong-motion sensor. The station SVD has a Streckeisen STS-2 seismometer and a Guralp CMG-5 accelerograph. The project is funded mainly by grants from the L. K. Whittier Foundation and the Arco Foundation. In addition to the automatic dial-up data retrieving system called Caltech Gopher (adapted from the IRIS Gopher system) has been implemented. The Caltech Gopher receives mail from NEIC for teleseisms and the SCSN with origin time, location, and magnitude for regional events. The Gopher retrieves data from all six TERRAscope stations for these events. The TERRAscope data reside in an FTP anonymous account (seismo.gps.caltech.edu; password: “your e-mail address”) at the Caltech Seismological Laboratory, and are

  16. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Dynamical Masses for 44 SZ-Selected Galaxy Clusters over 755 Square Degrees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sifon, Cristobal; Battaglia, Nick; Hasselfield, Matthew; Menanteau, Felipe; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Bond, J. Richard; Crichton, Devin; Devlin, Mark J.; Dunner, Rolando; Hilton, Matt; hide

    2016-01-01

    We present galaxy velocity dispersions and dynamical mass estimates for 44 galaxy clusters selected via the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. Dynamical masses for 18 clusters are reported here for the first time. Using N-body simulations, we model the different observing strategies used to measure the velocity dispersions and account for systematic effects resulting from these strategies. We find that the galaxy velocity distributions may be treated as isotropic, and that an aperture correction of up to 7 per cent in the velocity dispersion is required if the spectroscopic galaxy sample is sufficiently concentrated towards the cluster centre. Accounting for the radial profile of the velocity dispersion in simulations enables consistent dynamical mass estimates regardless of the observing strategy. Cluster masses M200 are in the range (1 - 15) times 10 (sup 14) Solar Masses. Comparing with masses estimated from the SZ distortion assuming a gas pressure profile derived from X-ray observations gives a mean SZ-to-dynamical mass ratio of 1:10 plus or minus 0:13, but there is an additional 0.14 systematic uncertainty due to the unknown velocity bias; the statistical uncertainty is dominated by the scatter in the mass-velocity dispersion scaling relation. This ratio is consistent with previous determinations at these mass scales.

  17. Southern California Seismic Network: Caltech/USGS Element of TriNet 1997-2001

    OpenAIRE

    Hauksson, Egill; Small, Patrick; Hafner, Katrin; Busby, Robert; Clayton, Robert; Goltz, James; Heaton, Tom; Hutton, Kate; Kanamori, Hiroo; Polet, Jascha

    2001-01-01

    The California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and the California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology (CDMG) are completing the implementation of TriNet, a modern seismic information system for southern California. TriNet consists of two elements, the Caltech-USGS element and the CDMG element (Mori et al., 1998). The Caltech-USGS element (Caltech-USGS TriNet) concentrates on rapid notification and archiving...

  18. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmological Parameters from Three Seasons of Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seivers, Jonathan L.; Hlozek, Renee A.; Nolta, Michael R.; Acquaviva, Viviana; Addison, Graeme E.; Ade, Peter A. R.; Aguirre, Paula; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John W.; Barrientos, L. Felipe; hide

    2013-01-01

    We present constraints on cosmological and astrophysical parameters from highresolution microwave background maps at 148 GHz and 218 GHz made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) in three seasons of observations from 2008 to 2010. A model of primary cosmological and secondary foreground parameters is fit to the map power spectra and lensing deflection power spectrum, including contributions from both the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) effect and the kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect, Poisson and correlated anisotropy from unresolved infrared sources, radio sources, and the correlation between the tSZ effect and infrared sources. The power l(sup 2)C(sub l)/2pi of the thermal SZ power spectrum at 148 GHz is measured to be 3.4 +/- 1.4 micro-K(sup 2) at l = 3000, while the corresponding amplitude of the kinematic SZ power spectrum has a 95% confidence level upper limit of 8.6 micro-K(sup 2). Combining ACT power spectra with the WMAP 7-year temperature and polarization power spectra, we find excellent consistency with the LCDM model. We constrain the number of effective relativistic degrees of freedom in the early universe to be N(sub eff) = 2.79 +/- 0.56, in agreement with the canonical value of N(sub eff) = 3.046 for three massless neutrinos. We constrain the sum of the neutrino masses to be sigma(m?) is less than 0.39 eV at 95% confidence when combining ACT and WMAP 7-year data with BAO and Hubble constant measurements. We constrain the amount of primordial helium to be Y(sub p) = 0.225 +/- 0.034, and measure no variation in the fine structure constant alpha since recombination, with alpha/alpha(sub 0) = 1.004 +/- 0.005. We also find no evidence for any running of the scalar spectral index, derivative(n(sub s))/derivative(ln k) = -0.004 +/- 0.012.

  19. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Power Spectrum at 148 AND 218 GHz from the 2008 Southern Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Das, Sudeep; Marriage, Tobias A.; Ade, Peter A. R.; Aguirre, Paula; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John W.; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Battistelli, Elia A.; Bond, J. Richard; Brown, Ben; hide

    2010-01-01

    We present measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectrum made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope at 148 GHz and 218 GHz, as well as the cross-frequency spectrum between the two channels. Our results dearly show the second through the seventh acoustic peaks in the CMB power spectrum. The measurements of these higher-order peaks provide an additional test of the ACDM cosmological model. At l > 3000, we detect power in excess of the primary anisotropy spectrum of the CMB. At lower multipoles 500 < l < 3000, we find evidence for gravitational lensing of the CMB in the power spectrum at the 2.8(sigma) level. We also detect a low level of Galactic dust in our maps, which demonstrates that we can recover known faint, diffuse signals.

  20. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: CMB polarization at 200 < ℓ < 9000

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Naess, Sigurd; Allison, Rupert; Calabrese, Erminia [Sub-Department of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Hasselfield, Matthew [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); McMahon, Jeff; Coughlin, Kevin; Datta, Rahul [Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48103 (United States); Niemack, Michael D.; De Bernardis, Francesco [Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Addison, Graeme E.; Amiri, Mandana [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Ade, Peter A. R. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, The Parade, Cardiff, Wales CF24 3AA (United Kingdom); Battaglia, Nick [McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Physics, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh PA 15213 (United States); Beall, James A.; Britton, Joe; Cho, Hsiao-mei [NIST Quantum Devices Group, 325 Broadway Mailcode 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); Bond, J Richard [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Crichton, Devin [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-2686 (United States); Das, Sudeep [Department of High Energy Physics, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Ave, Lemont, IL 60439 (United States); Devlin, Mark J., E-mail: sigurd.naess@astro.ox.ac.uk [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); and others

    2014-10-01

    We report on measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and celestial polarization at 146 GHz made with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol) in its first three months of observing. Four regions of sky covering a total of 270 square degrees were mapped with an angular resolution of 1.3'. The map noise levels in the four regions are between 11 and 17 μK-arcmin. We present TT, TE, EE, TB, EB, and BB power spectra from three of these regions. The observed E-mode polarization power spectrum, displaying six acoustic peaks in the range 200 < ℓ < 3000, is an excellent fit to the prediction of the best-fit cosmological models from WMAP9+ACT and Planck data. The polarization power spectrum, which mainly reflects primordial plasma velocity perturbations, provides an independent determination of cosmological parameters consistent with those based on the temperature power spectrum, which results mostly from primordial density perturbations. We find that without masking any point sources in the EE data at ℓ < 9000, the Poisson tail of the EE power spectrum due to polarized point sources has an amplitude less than 2.4 μ {sup 2} at ℓ = 3000 at 95% confidence. Finally, we report that the Crab Nebula, an important polarization calibration source at microwave frequencies, has 8.7% polarization with an angle of 150.7{sup o} ± 0.6{sup o} when smoothed with a 5' Gaussian beam.

  1. Radio continuum observations of local star-forming galaxies using the Caltech Continuum Backend on the green bank telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rabidoux, Katie; Pisano, D. J.; Kepley, Amanda A.; Johnson, Kelsey E.; Balser, Dana S.

    2014-01-01

    We observed radio continuum emission in 27 local (D < 70 Mpc) star-forming galaxies with the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope between 26 GHz and 40 GHz using the Caltech Continuum Backend. We obtained detections for 22 of these galaxies at all four sub-bands and four more marginal detections by taking the average flux across the entire bandwidth. This is the first detection (full or marginal) at these frequencies for 22 of these galaxies. We fit spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for all of the four sub-band detections. For 14 of the galaxies, SEDs were best fit by a combination of thermal free-free and nonthermal synchrotron components. Eight galaxies with four sub-band detections had steep spectra that were only fit by a single nonthermal component. Using these fits, we calculated supernova rates, total number of equivalent O stars, and star formation rates within each ∼23'' beam. For unresolved galaxies, these physical properties characterize the galaxies' recent star formation on a global scale. We confirm that the radio-far-infrared correlation holds for the unresolved galaxies' total 33 GHz flux regardless of their thermal fractions, though the scatter on this correlation is larger than that at 1.4 GHz. In addition, we found that for the unresolved galaxies, there is an inverse relationship between the ratio of 33 GHz flux to total far-infrared flux and the steepness of the galaxy's spectral index between 1.4 GHz and 33 GHz. This relationship could be an indicator of the timescale of the observed episode of star formation.

  2. Life through a lens: visitors to the space centre can see a giant telescope

    CERN Multimedia

    Dawson, A

    2002-01-01

    The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, Great Britain, decided in a meeting in December to join the European Southern Observatory. Membership will give UK astronomers access to the four 8.2-metre and several 1.8-metre telescopes which comprise the Very Large Telescope at Atacama in Chile.

  3. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmology from Galaxy Clusters Detected via the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sehgal, N.

    2011-01-01

    We present constraints on cosmological parameters based on a sample of Sunyaev-Zeldovich-selected galaxy clusters detected in a millimeter-wave survey by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. The cluster sample used in this analysis consists of 9 optically-confirmed high-mass clusters comprising the high-significance end of the total cluster sample identified in 455 square degrees of sky surveyed during 2008 at 148GHz. We focus on the most massive systems to reduce the degeneracy between unknown cluster astrophysics and cosmology derived from SZ surveys. We describe the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal with a 4-parameter fit. Marginalizing over the values of the parameters in this fit with conservative priors gives σ 8 = 0.851 ± 0.115 and w = -1.14 ± 0.35 for a spatially-flat wCDM cosmological model with WMAP 7-year priors on cosmological parameters. This gives a modest improvement in statistical uncertainty over WMAP 7-year constraints alone. Fixing the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal to a fiducial relation obtained from numerical simulations and calibrated by X-ray observations, we find σ 8 = 0.821 ± 0.044 and w = -1.05 ± 0.20. These results are consistent with constraints from WMAP 7 plus baryon acoustic oscillations plus type Ia supernoava which give σ 8 = 0.802 ± 0.038 and w = -0.98 ± 0.053. A stacking analysis of the clusters in this sample compared to clusters simulated assuming the fiducial model also shows good agreement. These results suggest that, given the sample of clusters used here, both the astrophysics of massive clusters and the cosmological parameters derived from them are broadly consistent with current models.

  4. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmology from Galaxy Clusters Detected Via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sehgal, Neelima; Trac, Hy; Acquaviva, Viviana; Ade, Peter A. R.; Aguirre, Paula; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John W.; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Battistelli, Elia S.; Bond, J. Richard; hide

    2010-01-01

    We present constraints on cosmological parameters based on a sample of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich-selected galaxy clusters detected in a millimeter-wave survey by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. The cluster sample used in this analysis consists of 9 optically-confirmed high-mass clusters comprising the high-significance end of the total cluster sample identified in 455 square degrees of sky surveyed during 2008 at 148 GHz. We focus on the most massive systems to reduce the degeneracy between unknown cluster astrophysics and cosmology derived from SZ surveys. We describe the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal with a 4-parameter fit. Marginalizing over the values of the parameters in this fit with conservative priors gives (sigma)8 = 0.851 +/- 0.115 and w = -1.14 +/- 0.35 for a spatially-flat wCDM cosmological model with WMAP 7-year priors on cosmological parameters. This gives a modest improvement in statistical uncertainty over WMAP 7-year constraints alone. Fixing the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal to a fiducial relation obtained from numerical simulations and calibrated by X-ray observations, we find (sigma)8 + 0.821 +/- 0.044 and w = -1.05 +/- 0.20. These results are consistent with constraints from WMAP 7 plus baryon acoustic oscillations plus type Ia supernova which give (sigma)8 = 0.802 +/- 0.038 and w = -0.98 +/- 0.053. A stacking analysis of the clusters in this sample compared to clusters simulated assuming the fiducial model also shows good agreement. These results suggest that, given the sample of clusters used here, both the astrophysics of massive clusters and the cosmological parameters derived from them are broadly consistent with current models.

  5. THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT CLUSTERS ON THE CELESTIAL EQUATOR ,

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Menanteau, Felipe; Hughes, John P.; Sifón, Cristóbal; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Dünner, Rolando; Infante, Leopoldo; Battaglia, Nicholas; Bond, J. Richard; Hajian, Amir; Hincks, Adam D.; Crichton, Devin; Gralla, Megan; Marriage, Tobias A.; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon; Hasselfield, Matthew; Hilton, Matt; Kosowsky, Arthur; Marsden, Danica

    2013-01-01

    We present the optical and X-ray properties of 68 galaxy clusters selected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect at 148 GHz by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). Our sample, from an area of 504 deg 2 centered on the celestial equator, is divided into two regions. The main region uses 270 deg 2 of the ACT survey that overlaps with the co-added ugriz imaging from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) over Stripe 82 plus additional near-infrared pointed observations with the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 m telescope. We confirm a total of 49 clusters to z ≈ 1.3, of which 22 (all at z > 0.55) are new discoveries. For the second region, the regular-depth SDSS imaging allows us to confirm 19 more clusters up to z ≈ 0.7, of which 10 systems are new. We present the optical richness, photometric redshifts, and separation between the SZ position and the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). We find no significant offset between the cluster SZ centroid and BCG location and a weak correlation between optical richness and SZ-derived mass. We also present X-ray fluxes and luminosities from the ROSAT All Sky Survey which confirm that this is a massive sample. One of the newly discovered clusters, ACT-CL J0044.4+0113 at z = 1.1 (photometric), has an integrated XMM-Newton X-ray temperature of kT X = 7.9 ± 1.0 keV and combined mass of M 200a = 8.2 +3.3 –2.5 × 10 14 h –1 70 M ☉ , placing it among the most massive and X-ray-hot clusters known at redshifts beyond z = 1. We also highlight the optically rich cluster ACT-CL J2327.4–0204 (RCS2 2327) at z = 0.705 (spectroscopic) as the most significant detection of the whole equatorial sample with a Chandra-derived mass of M 200a = 1.9 +0.6 –0.4 × 10 15 h –1 70 M ☉ , placing it in the ranks of the most massive known clusters like El Gordo and the Bullet Cluster.

  6. Detection of the pairwise kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect with BOSS DR11 and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bernardis, F. De; Vavagiakis, E.M.; Niemack, M.D.; Gallardo, P.A. [Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Aiola, S. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Center, 3941 O' Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Battaglia, N. [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Beall, J.; Becker, D.T.; Cho, H.; Fox, A. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); Bond, J.R. [CITA, University of Toronto, 60 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Calabrese, E.; Dunkley, J. [Sub-Department of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Coughlin, K.; Datta, R. [Department of Physics, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Devlin, M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Dunner, R. [Instituto de Astrofísica and Centro de Astro-Ingeniería, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Macul, Santiago (Chile); Ferraro, S. [Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Halpern, M. [University of British Columbia, Department of Physics and Astronomy, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver BC V6T 1Z1 (Canada); Hand, N., E-mail: fdeberna@gmail.com [Astronomy Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); and others

    2017-03-01

    We present a new measurement of the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect using data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). Using 600 square degrees of overlapping sky area, we evaluate the mean pairwise baryon momentum associated with the positions of 50,000 bright galaxies in the BOSS DR11 Large Scale Structure catalog. A non-zero signal arises from the large-scale motions of halos containing the sample galaxies. The data fits an analytical signal model well, with the optical depth to microwave photon scattering as a free parameter determining the overall signal amplitude. We estimate the covariance matrix of the mean pairwise momentum as a function of galaxy separation, using microwave sky simulations, jackknife evaluation, and bootstrap estimates. The most conservative simulation-based errors give signal-to-noise estimates between 3.6 and 4.1 for varying galaxy luminosity cuts. We discuss how the other error determinations can lead to higher signal-to-noise values, and consider the impact of several possible systematic errors. Estimates of the optical depth from the average thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signal at the sample galaxy positions are broadly consistent with those obtained from the mean pairwise momentum signal.

  7. Repurposing the Caltech Robinson Hall Coelostat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Treffers, Richard R.; Loisos, G.; Ubbelohde, M.; Douglas, S.; Martinez, M.

    2013-01-01

    We describe the repurposing of the historic coelostat atop Caltech’s Robinson Hall for building lighting, public education and scientific research. The coelostat was originally part of George Ellery Hale’s vision of the Astrophysical Laboratory on the Caltech campus in 1932. The coelostat, designed by Russell Porter, has a 36 inch diameter primary mirror a 30 inch diameter secondary mirror and provides a 24 inch un-vignetted beam of sunlight into the building. Although constructed in the 1930s, due to wartime pressures and other projects, it was used only briefly in the 1970s and never fully realized. Recently Robinson Hall has been fully renovated to house the Ronald and Maxine Linde Center for Global Environmental Science. The coelostat operation was modernized replacing the old motors and automating all the motions. Each morning, if the weather cooperates, the dome slit opens, the mirrors configured and sunlight pours into the building. The beam of sunlight is divided into three parts. One part goes into a refracting telescope which projects a ten inch diameter of the sun onto a ground glass screen visible to the public. A second fraction is distributed to fiber optic fixtures that illuminate some of the basement rooms. The final fraction goes into two laboratories where it is used in experiments monitoring trace constituents of our atmosphere and for solar catalysis experiments. The instrument as originally conceived required at least two human operators. Now it is fully automatic and doing real science

  8. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Measurement of the Thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Using the Skewness of the CMB Temperature Distribution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Michael J.; Sherwin, Blake D.; Hill, J. Collin; Addison, Graeme; Battaglia, Nick; Bond, J. Richard; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Dunkley, Joanna; Duenner, Rolando; hide

    2012-01-01

    We present a detection of the unnormalized skewness (T(sup )(sup 2)(n(circumflex)) induced by the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect in filtered Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) 148 GHz cosmic microwave background temperature maps. Contamination due to infrared and radio sources is minimized by template subtraction of resolved sources and by constructing a mask using outlying values in the 218 GHz (tSZ-null) ACT maps. We measure (T(sup )(sup 3) (n(circumflex)) = -31 plus or minus 6 micro-K(sup 3) (measurement error only) or plus or minus 14 micro-K(sup 3) (including cosmic variance error) in the filtered ACT data, a 5sigma detection. We show that the skewness is a sensitive probe of sigma(sub 8), and use analytic calculations and tSZ simulations to obtain cosmological constraints from this measurement. From this signal alone we infer a value of sigma(sub 8) = 0.78 sup +0.03 sub -0.04 (68% C.L.) sup +0.05 sub -0.16. Our results demonstrate that measurements of nonGaussianity can be a useful method for characterizing the tSZ effect and extracting the underlying cosmological information.

  9. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Physical Properties and Purity of a Galaxy Cluster Sample Selected Via the Sunyaev-Zel'Dovich Effect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menanteau, Felipe; Gonzalez, Jorge; Juin, Jean-Baptiste; Marriage, Tobias; Reese, Erik D.; Acquaviva, Viviana; Aguirre, Paula; Appel, John Willam; Baker, Andrew J.; Barrientos, L. Felipe; hide

    2010-01-01

    We present optical and X-ray properties for the first confirmed galaxy cluster sample selected by the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect from 148 GHz maps over 455 square degrees of sky made with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. These maps. coupled with multi-band imaging on 4-meter-class optical telescopes, have yielded a sample of 23 galaxy clusters with redshifts between 0.118 and 1.066. Of these 23 clusters, 10 are newly discovered. The selection of this sample is approximately mass limited and essentially independent of redshift. We provide optical positions, images, redshifts and X-ray fluxes and luminosities for the full sample, and X-ray temperatures of an important subset. The mass limit of the full sample is around 8.0 x 10(exp 14) Stellar Mass. with a number distribution that peaks around a redshift of 0.4. For the 10 highest significance SZE-selected cluster candidates, all of which are optically confirmed, the mass threshold is 1 x 10(exp 15) Stellar Mass and the redshift range is 0.167 to 1.066. Archival observations from Chandra, XMM-Newton. and ROSAT provide X-ray luminosities and temperatures that are broadly consistent with this mass threshold. Our optical follow-up procedure also allowed us to assess the purity of the ACT cluster sample. Eighty (one hundred) percent of the 148 GHz candidates with signal-to-noise ratios greater than 5.1 (5.7) are confirmed as massive clusters. The reported sample represents one of the largest SZE-selected sample of massive clusters over all redshifts within a cosmologically-significant survey volume, which will enable cosmological studies as well as future studies on the evolution, morphology, and stellar populations in the most massive clusters in the Universe.

  10. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: High-Resolution Sunyaev-Zeldovich Array Observations of ACT SZE-Selected Clusters from the Equatorial Strip

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reese, Erik; Mroczkowski, Tony; Menateau, Felipe; Hilton, Matt; Sievers, Jonathan; Aguirre, Paula; Appel, John William; Baker, Andrew J.; Bond, J. Richard; Das, Sudeep; hide

    2011-01-01

    We present follow-up observations with the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array (SZA) of optically-confirmed galaxy clusters found in the equatorial survey region of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT): ACT-CL J0022-0036, ACT-CL J2051+0057, and ACT-CL J2337+0016. ACT-CL J0022-0036 is a newly-discovered, massive ( approximately equals 10(exp 15) Solar M), high-redshift (z = 0.81) cluster revealed by ACT through the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (SZE). Deep, targeted observations with the SZA allow us to probe a broader range of cluster spatial scales, better disentangle cluster decrements from radio point source emission, and derive more robust integrated SZE flux and mass estimates than we can with ACT data alone. For the two clusters we detect with the SZA we compute integrated SZE signal and derive masses from the SZA data only. ACT-CL J2337+0016, also known as Abell 2631, has archival Chandra data that allow an additional X-ray-based mass estimate. Optical richness is also used to estimate cluster masses and shows good agreement with the SZE and X-ray-based estimates. Based on the point sources detected by the SZA in these three cluster fields and an extrapolation to ACT's frequency, we estimate that point sources could be contaminating the SZE decrement at the approx < 20% level for some fraction of clusters.

  11. NUST-CERN-CALTECH jointly present showcase demo

    CERN Multimedia

    2003-01-01

    A demonstration of the Grid for physics analysis will be presented by a collective team comprising Caltech (USA), CERN (Switzerland), KEK (Japan), Sinica (Taiwan), UERJ (Rio De Janiro), PUB (Bucharestand) and NUST (Pakistan) at the ITU Telecom World 2003 Youth Forum & Exhibition in Geneva (1/2 page).

  12. Mechanical Designs and Developement of Advanced ACT: A Transfomative Upgrade to the ACTPol Receiver on the Atacama Cosmology Telescope.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ward, Jonathan; Advanced ACT Collaboration, NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship

    2017-06-01

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope is a six-meter diameter telescope located at 17,000 feet (5,200 meters) on Cerro Toco in the Andes Mountains of northern Chile. The next generation Advanced ACT (AdvACT) experiment is currently underway and will consist of three multichroic TES bolometer arrays operating together, totaling 5800 detectors on the sky. Each array will be sensitive to two frequency bands: a high frequency (HF) array at 150 and 230 GHz, two middle frequency (MF) arrays at 90 and 150 GHz, and a low frequency (LF) array at 28 and 41 GHz. The AdACT detector arrays will feature a revamped design when compared to ACTPol, including a transition to 150mm wafers equipped with multichroic pixels, allowing for a more densely packed focal plane. Each set of detectors consists of a feedhorn array of stacked silicon wafers which form a corrugated profile leading to each pixel. This is then followed by a four-piece detector stack assembly of silicon wafers which includes a waveguide interface plate, detector wafer, backshort cavity plate, and backshort cap. Each array is housed in a custom designed structure manufactured out of gold-plated, high purity copper. In addition to the detector array assembly, the array package also encloses the majority of our readout electronics. We present the full mechanical design of the AdvACT HF and MF detector array packages along with a detailed look at the detector array assemblies. We also highlight the use of continuously rotating warm half-wave plates (HWPs) at the front of the AdvACT receiver. We review the design of the rotation system and also early pipeline data analysis results. This experiment will also make use of extensive hardware and software previously developed for ACT, which will be modified to incorporate the new AdvACT instruments. Therefore, we discuss the integration of all AdvACT instruments with pre-existing ACTPol infrastructure.

  13. The NASA Spitzer Space Telescope.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gehrz, R D; Roellig, T L; Werner, M W; Fazio, G G; Houck, J R; Low, F J; Rieke, G H; Soifer, B T; Levine, D A; Romana, E A

    2007-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility) is the fourth and final facility in the Great Observatories Program, joining Hubble Space Telescope (1990), the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (1991-2000), and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory (1999). Spitzer, with a sensitivity that is almost three orders of magnitude greater than that of any previous ground-based and space-based infrared observatory, is expected to revolutionize our understanding of the creation of the universe, the formation and evolution of primitive galaxies, the origin of stars and planets, and the chemical evolution of the universe. This review presents a brief overview of the scientific objectives and history of infrared astronomy. We discuss Spitzer's expected role in infrared astronomy for the new millennium. We describe pertinent details of the design, construction, launch, in-orbit checkout, and operations of the observatory and summarize some science highlights from the first two and a half years of Spitzer operations. More information about Spitzer can be found at http://spitzer.caltech.edu/.

  14. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmology from Galaxy Clusters Detected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sehgal, Neelima; Trac, Hy; Acquaviva, Viviana; Ade, Peter A.R.; Aguirre, Paula; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John W.; Barrientos, L.Felipe; Battistelli, Elia S.; Bond, J.Richard; Brown, Ben; Burger, Bryce; Chervenak, Jay; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon R.; Doriese, W.Bertrand; Dunkley, Joanna; Dunner, Rolando; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Fisher, Ryan P.

    2011-08-18

    We present constraints on cosmological parameters based on a sample of Sunyaev-Zeldovich-selected galaxy clusters detected in a millimeter-wave survey by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. The cluster sample used in this analysis consists of 9 optically-confirmed high-mass clusters comprising the high-significance end of the total cluster sample identified in 455 square degrees of sky surveyed during 2008 at 148GHz. We focus on the most massive systems to reduce the degeneracy between unknown cluster astrophysics and cosmology derived from SZ surveys. We describe the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal with a 4-parameter fit. Marginalizing over the values of the parameters in this fit with conservative priors gives {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.851 {+-} 0.115 and w = -1.14 {+-} 0.35 for a spatially-flat wCDM cosmological model with WMAP 7-year priors on cosmological parameters. This gives a modest improvement in statistical uncertainty over WMAP 7-year constraints alone. Fixing the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal to a fiducial relation obtained from numerical simulations and calibrated by X-ray observations, we find {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.821 {+-} 0.044 and w = -1.05 {+-} 0.20. These results are consistent with constraints from WMAP 7 plus baryon acoustic oscillations plus type Ia supernoava which give {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.802 {+-} 0.038 and w = -0.98 {+-} 0.053. A stacking analysis of the clusters in this sample compared to clusters simulated assuming the fiducial model also shows good agreement. These results suggest that, given the sample of clusters used here, both the astrophysics of massive clusters and the cosmological parameters derived from them are broadly consistent with current models.

  15. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: High-Resolution Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array Observations of ACT SZE-Selected Clusters from the Equatorial Strip

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reese, Erik D.; Mroczkowski, Tony; Menanteau, Felipe; Hilton, Matt; Sievers, Jonathan; Aguirre, Paula; Appel, John William; Baker, Andrew J.; Bond, J. Richard; Das, Sudeep; hide

    2011-01-01

    We present follow-up observations with the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array (SZA) of optically-confirmed galaxy clusters found in the equatorial survey region of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT): ACT-CL J0022-0036, ACT-CL J2051+0057, and ACT-CL J2337+0016. ACT-CL J0022-0036 is a newly-discovered, massive (10(exp 15) Msun), high-redshift (z=0.81) cluster revealed by ACT through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE). Deep, targeted observations with the SZA allow us to probe a broader range of cluster spatial scales, better disentangle cluster decrements from radio point source emission, and derive more robust integrated SZE flux and mass estimates than we can with ACT data alone. For the two clusters we detect with the SZA we compute integrated SZE signal and derive masses from the SZA data only. ACT-CL J2337+0016, also known as Abell 2631, has archival Chandra data that allow an additional X-ray-based mass estimate. Optical richness is also used to estimate cluster masses and shows good agreement with the SZE and X-ray-based estimates. Based on the point sources detected by the SZA in these three cluster fields and an extrapolation to ACT's frequency, we estimate that point sources could be contaminating the SZE decrement at the less than = 20% level for some fraction of clusters.

  16. Origins Space Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooray, Asantha; Origins Space Telescope Study Team

    2018-01-01

    The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is the mission concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor, a study in development by NASA in preparation for the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey. Origins is planned to be a large aperture, actively-cooled telescope covering a wide span of the mid- to far-infrared spectrum. Its spectrographs will enable 3D surveys of the sky that will discover and characterize the most distant galaxies, Milky-Way, exoplanets, and the outer reaches of our Solar system. Origins will enable flagship-quality general observing programs led by the astronomical community in the 2030s. The Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) would like to hear your science needs and ideas for this mission. The team can be contacted at firsurveyor_info@lists.ipac.caltech.edu. This presentation will provide a summary of the OST STDT, our completed first mission concept and an introduction to the second concept that will be studied at the study center in 2018. This presentation will also summarize key science drivers and the key study milestones between 2018 and 2020.

  17. Seeing in 4D with electrons: development of ultrafast electron microscopy at Caltech

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baskin, J.S.; Zewail, A.H.

    2014-01-01

    The vision to develop 4D electron microscopy, a union of the capabilities of electron microscopy with ultrafast techniques to capture clearly defined images of the nano-scale structure of a material at each step in the course of its chemical or physical transformations, has been pursued at Caltech for the last decade. In this contribution, we will give a brief overview of the capabilities of three currently active Caltech 4D microscopy laboratories. Ongoing work is illustrated by a description of the most recent application of photon-induced near-field electron microscopy (PINEM), a field made possible only by the development of the 4D ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM). An appendix gives the various applications made so far and the historic roots of the development at Caltech. (authors)

  18. THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT CLUSTERS ON THE CELESTIAL EQUATOR {sup ,}

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Menanteau, Felipe; Hughes, John P. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, 136 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (United States); Sifon, Cristobal; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Duenner, Rolando; Infante, Leopoldo [Departamento de Astronomia y Astrofisica, Facultad de Fisica, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Casilla 306, Santiago 22 (Chile); Battaglia, Nicholas [McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States); Bond, J. Richard; Hajian, Amir; Hincks, Adam D. [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Crichton, Devin; Gralla, Megan; Marriage, Tobias A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218-2686 (United States); Das, Sudeep [High Energy Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL 60439 (United States); Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Hasselfield, Matthew [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Hilton, Matt [Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Unit, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban (South Africa); Kosowsky, Arthur [Physics and Astronomy Department, University of Pittsburgh, 100 Allen Hall, 3941 O' Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Marsden, Danica [Department of Physics, University of California Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); and others

    2013-03-01

    We present the optical and X-ray properties of 68 galaxy clusters selected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect at 148 GHz by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). Our sample, from an area of 504 deg{sup 2} centered on the celestial equator, is divided into two regions. The main region uses 270 deg{sup 2} of the ACT survey that overlaps with the co-added ugriz imaging from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) over Stripe 82 plus additional near-infrared pointed observations with the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 m telescope. We confirm a total of 49 clusters to z Almost-Equal-To 1.3, of which 22 (all at z > 0.55) are new discoveries. For the second region, the regular-depth SDSS imaging allows us to confirm 19 more clusters up to z Almost-Equal-To 0.7, of which 10 systems are new. We present the optical richness, photometric redshifts, and separation between the SZ position and the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). We find no significant offset between the cluster SZ centroid and BCG location and a weak correlation between optical richness and SZ-derived mass. We also present X-ray fluxes and luminosities from the ROSAT All Sky Survey which confirm that this is a massive sample. One of the newly discovered clusters, ACT-CL J0044.4+0113 at z = 1.1 (photometric), has an integrated XMM-Newton X-ray temperature of kT{sub X} = 7.9 {+-} 1.0 keV and combined mass of M {sub 200a} = 8.2{sup +3.3} {sub -2.5} Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 14} h {sup -1} {sub 70} M {sub Sun }, placing it among the most massive and X-ray-hot clusters known at redshifts beyond z = 1. We also highlight the optically rich cluster ACT-CL J2327.4-0204 (RCS2 2327) at z = 0.705 (spectroscopic) as the most significant detection of the whole equatorial sample with a Chandra-derived mass of M {sub 200a} = 1.9{sup +0.6} {sub -0.4} Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 15} h {sup -1} {sub 70} M {sub Sun }, placing it in the ranks of the most massive known clusters like El Gordo and the Bullet Cluster.

  19. THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: HIGH-RESOLUTION SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH ARRAY OBSERVATIONS OF ACT SZE-SELECTED CLUSTERS FROM THE EQUATORIAL STRIP

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reese, Erik D.; Mroczkowski, Tony; Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon R. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Menanteau, Felipe; Baker, Andrew J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8019 (United States); Hilton, Matt [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); Sievers, Jonathan; Bond, J. Richard; Hajian, Amir [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Aguirre, Paula; Duenner, Rolando [Departamento de Astronomia y Astrofisica, Facultad de Fisica, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Casilla 306, Santiago 22 (Chile); Appel, John William; Das, Sudeep; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Hincks, Adam D. [Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Jadwin Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Fowler, Joseph W.; Hill, J. Colin [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Halpern, Mark; Hasselfield, Matthew [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 (Canada); and others

    2012-05-20

    We present follow-up observations with the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array (SZA) of optically confirmed galaxy clusters found in the equatorial survey region of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT): ACT-CL J0022-0036, ACT-CL J2051+0057, and ACT-CL J2337+0016. ACT-CL J0022-0036 is a newly discovered, massive ({approx_equal} 10{sup 15} M{sub Sun }), high-redshift (z = 0.81) cluster revealed by ACT through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE). Deep, targeted observations with the SZA allow us to probe a broader range of cluster spatial scales, better disentangle cluster decrements from radio point-source emission, and derive more robust integrated SZE flux and mass estimates than we can with ACT data alone. For the two clusters we detect with the SZA we compute integrated SZE signal and derive masses from the SZA data only. ACT-CL J2337+0016, also known as A2631, has archival Chandra data that allow an additional X-ray-based mass estimate. Optical richness is also used to estimate cluster masses and shows good agreement with the SZE and X-ray-based estimates. Based on the point sources detected by the SZA in these three cluster fields and an extrapolation to ACT's frequency, we estimate that point sources could be contaminating the SZE decrement at the {approx}< 20% level for some fraction of clusters.

  20. Developing an Education and Public Outreach (EPO) program for Caltech's Tectonics Observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovalenko, L.; Jain, K.; Maloney, J.

    2012-12-01

    The Caltech Tectonics Observatory (TO) is an interdisciplinary center, focused on geological processes occurring at the boundaries of Earth's tectonic plates (http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu). Over the past four years, the TO has made a major effort to develop an Education and Public Outreach (EPO) program. Our goals are to (1) inspire students to learn Earth Sciences, particularly tectonic processes, (2) inform and educate the general public about science in the context of TO discoveries, and (3) provide opportunities for graduate students, postdocs, and faculty to do outreach in the local K-12 schools and community colleges. Our work toward these goals includes hosting local high school teachers and students each summer for six weeks of research experience (as part of Caltech's "Summer Research Connection"); organizing and hosting an NAGT conference aimed at Geoscience teachers at community colleges; participating in teacher training workshops (organized by the local school district); hosting tours for K-12 students from local schools as well as from China; and bringing hands-on activities into local elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. We also lead local school students and teachers on geology field trips through nearby canyons; develop education modules for undergraduate classes (as part of MARGINS program); write educational web articles on TO research (http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/outreach/highlights/), and regularly give presentations to the general public. This year, we started providing content expertise for the development of video games to teach Earth Science, being created by GameDesk Institute. And we have just formed a scientist/educator partnership with a 6th grade teacher, to help in the school district's pilot program to incorporate new national science standards (NSTA's Next Generation Science Standards, current draft), as well as use Project-Based Learning. This presentation gives an overview of these activities.

  1. Caltech computer scientists develop FAST protocol to speed up Internet

    CERN Multimedia

    2003-01-01

    "Caltech computer scientists have developed a new data transfer protocol for the Internet fast enough to download a full-length DVD movie in less than five seconds. The protocol is called FAST, standing for Fast Active queue management Scalable Transmission Control Protocol" (1 page).

  2. An integrated analysis of the March 2015 Atacama floods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilcox, Andrew C.; Escauriaza, Cristian; Agredano, Roberto; Mignot, Emmanuel; Zuazo, Vicente; Otárola, Sebastián.; Castro, Lina; Gironás, Jorge; Cienfuegos, Rodrigo; Mao, Luca

    2016-08-01

    In March 2015 unusual ocean and atmospheric conditions produced many years' worth of rainfall in a 48 h period over northern Chile's Atacama Desert, one of Earth's driest regions, resulting in catastrophic flooding. Here we describe the hydrologic and geomorphic drivers of and responses to the 2015 Atacama floods. In the Salado River, we estimated a flood peak discharge of approximately 1000 m3/s, which caused widespread damage and high sediment loads that were primarily derived from valley-fill erosion; hillslopes remained surprisingly intact despite their lack of vegetation. In the coastal city of Chañaral, flooding of the Salado River produced maximum water depths over 4.5 m, meters thick mud deposition in buildings and along city streets, and coastal erosion. The Atacama flooding has broad implications in the context of hazard reduction, erosion of contaminated legacy mine tailings, and the Atacama's status as a terrestrial analog for Mars.

  3. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Relation Between Galaxy Cluster Optical Richness and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sehgal, Neelima; Addison, Graeme; Battaglia, Nick; Battistelli, Elia S.; Bond, J. Richard; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Dunkley, Joanna; Duenner, Rolando; Gralla, Megan; hide

    2012-01-01

    We present the measured Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) flux from 474 optically-selected MaxBCG clusters that fall within the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Equatorial survey region. The ACT Equatorial region used in this analysis covers 510 square degrees and overlaps Stripe 82 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We also present the measured SZ flux stacked on 52 X-ray-selected MCXC clusters that fall within the ACT Equatorial region and an ACT Southern survey region covering 455 square degrees. We find that the measured SZ flux from the X-ray-selected clusters is consistent with expectations. However, we find that the measured SZ flux from the optically-selected clusters is both significantly lower than expectations and lower than the recovered SZ flux measured by the Planck satellite. Since we find a lower recovered SZ signal than Planck, we investigate the possibility that there is a significant offset between the optically-selected brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) and the SZ centers, to which ACT is more sensitive due to its finer resolution. Such offsets can arise due to either an intrinsic physical separation between the BCG and the center of the gas concentration or from misidentification of the cluster BCG. We find that the entire discrepancy for both ACT and Planck can be explained by assuming that the BCGs are offset from the SZ maxima with a uniform random distribution between 0 and 1.5 Mpc. In contrast, the physical separation between BCGs and X-ray peaks for an X-ray-selected subsample of MaxBCG clusters shows a much narrower distribution that peaks within 0.2 Mpc. We conclude that while offsets between BCGs and SZ peaks may be an important component in explaining the discrepancy, it is likely that a combination of factors is responsible for the ACT and Planck measurements. Several effects that can lower the SZ signal equally for both ACT and Planck, but not explain the difference in measured signals, include a larger percentage of false detections in the

  4. The readout and control system of the mid-size telescope prototype of the Cherenkov telescope array

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oya, I; Anguner, O; Birsin, E; Schwanke, U; Behera, B; Melkumyan, D; Schmidt, T; Sternberger, R; Wegner, P; Wiesand, S; Fuessling, M

    2014-01-01

    The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is one of the major ground-based astronomy projects being pursued and will be the largest facility for ground-based y-ray observations ever built. CTA will consist of two arrays: one in the Northern hemisphere composed of about 20 telescopes, and the other one in the Southern hemisphere composed of about 100 telescopes, both arrays containing telescopes of different type and size. A prototype for the Mid-Size Telescope (MST) with a diameter of 12 m has been installed in Berlin and is currently being commissioned. This prototype is composed of a mechanical structure, a drive system and mirror facets mounted with powered actuators to enable active control. Five Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) cameras, and a wide set of sensors allow the evaluation of the performance of the instrument. The design of the control software is following concepts and tools under evaluation within the CTA consortium in order to provide a realistic test-bed for the middleware: 1) The readout and control system for the MST prototype is implemented with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Common Software (ACS) distributed control middleware; 2) the OPen Connectivity-Unified Architecture (OPC UA) is used for hardware access; 3) the document oriented MongoDB database is used for an efficient storage of CCD images, logging and alarm information: and 4) MySQL and MongoDB databases are used for archiving the slow control monitoring data and for storing the operation configuration parameters. In this contribution, the details of the implementation of the control system for the MST prototype telescope are described.

  5. The readout and control system of the mid-size telescope prototype of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oya, I.; Anguner, O.; Behera, B.; Birsin, E.; Fuessling, M.; Melkumyan, D.; Schmidt, T.; Schwanke, U.; Sternberger, R.; Wegner, P.; Wiesand, S.; Cta Consortium,the

    2014-06-01

    The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is one of the major ground-based astronomy projects being pursued and will be the largest facility for ground-based y-ray observations ever built. CTA will consist of two arrays: one in the Northern hemisphere composed of about 20 telescopes, and the other one in the Southern hemisphere composed of about 100 telescopes, both arrays containing telescopes of different type and size. A prototype for the Mid-Size Telescope (MST) with a diameter of 12 m has been installed in Berlin and is currently being commissioned. This prototype is composed of a mechanical structure, a drive system and mirror facets mounted with powered actuators to enable active control. Five Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) cameras, and a wide set of sensors allow the evaluation of the performance of the instrument. The design of the control software is following concepts and tools under evaluation within the CTA consortium in order to provide a realistic test-bed for the middleware: 1) The readout and control system for the MST prototype is implemented with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Common Software (ACS) distributed control middleware; 2) the OPen Connectivity-Unified Architecture (OPC UA) is used for hardware access; 3) the document oriented MongoDB database is used for an efficient storage of CCD images, logging and alarm information: and 4) MySQL and MongoDB databases are used for archiving the slow control monitoring data and for storing the operation configuration parameters. In this contribution, the details of the implementation of the control system for the MST prototype telescope are described.

  6. Origins Space Telescope: Study Plan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nayyeri, Hooshang; Cooray, Asantha; Origins Space Telescope Study Team

    2018-01-01

    The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is the mission concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor, a study in development by NASA in preparation for the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey. Origins is planned to be a large aperture, actively-cooled telescope covering a wide span of the mid- to far-infrared spectrum. Its spectrographs will enable 3D surveys of the sky that will discover and characterize the most distant galaxies, Milky-Way, exoplanets, and the outer reaches of our Solar system. Origins will enable flagship-quality general observing programs led by the astronomical community in the 2030s. The Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) would like to hear your science needs and ideas for this mission. The team can be contacted at firsurveyor_info@lists.ipac.caltech.edu. This presentation will provide a summary of the OST STDT, the OST Study Team based at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, study partners, and the advisory panel to the study. This presentation will also summarize recent activities, including the process used to reach a decision on the mission architecture, the identification of key science drivers, and the key study milestones between 2017 and 2020.

  7. Lithobiontic life: "Atacama rocks are well and alive".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gómez-Silva, Benito

    2018-02-01

    Our knowledge on the Microbiology of the Atacama Desert has increased steadily and substantially during the last two decades. This information now supports a paradigmatic change on the Atacama Desert from a sterile, uninhabitable territory to a hyperarid region colonized by a rich microbiota that includes extremophiles and extreme-tolerant microorganisms. Also, extensive reports are available on the prevalent physical and chemical environmental conditions, ecological niches and, the abundance, diversity and organization of the microbial life in the Atacama Desert. This territory is a highly desiccated environment due to the absence of regular rain events. Liquid water scarcity is the most serious environmental factor affecting the Atacama Desert microorganisms. The intense solar irradiation in this region contributes, in a synergistic fashion with desiccation, to limit the survival and growth of the microbial life. In order to overcome these two extreme conditions, successful microorganisms, organized as microbial consortia, take advantage of (a) the physical characteristics of lithic habitats, which provide sites for colonization on, within or below the rock substrate, the attenuation and filtration of the intense solar irradiation and, the collection of liquid water from incoming fog formations and by water vapour condensation and deliquescence on or within their surfaces, and (b) the biological adaptations of members of the microbial communities that allow them to synthesize hydrophilic macromolecules, antioxidants and UV-light absorbents. Lithic habitats have been considered specialized shelters where life forms can reach protection at environments subjected to extremes of desiccation and solar irradiation, here on Earth or elsewhere. This review is an overview of part of the scientific information collected on lithobionts from the Atacama Desert, their rock substrates and their strategies to cope with extremes of desiccation and intense photosynthetic active

  8. 350 μm POLARIMETRY FROM THE CALTECH SUBMILLIMETER OBSERVATORY

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dotson, Jessie L.; Vaillancourt, John E.; Kirby, Larry; Hildebrand, Roger H.; Dowell, C. Darren; Davidson, Jacqueline A.

    2010-01-01

    We present a summary of data obtained with the 350 μm polarimeter, Hertz, at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. We give tabulated results and maps showing polarization vectors and intensity contours. The summary includes over 4300 individual measurements in 56 Galactic sources and two galaxies. Of these measurements, 2153 have P ≥ 3σ p statistical significance. The median polarization of the entire data set is 1.46%.

  9. THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: RELATION BETWEEN GALAXY CLUSTER OPTICAL RICHNESS AND SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sehgal, Neelima; Hlozek, Renee [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Addison, Graeme; Dunkley, Joanna; Louis, Thibaut [Department of Astrophysics, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Battaglia, Nick [Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States); Battistelli, Elia S. [Department of Physics, University of Rome ' La Sapienza' , Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, I-00185 Rome (Italy); Bond, J. Richard; Hajian, Amir; Hincks, Adam D. [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Das, Sudeep [Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, LBL and Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Devlin, Mark J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Duenner, Rolando [Departamento de Astronomia y Astrofisica, Facultad de Fisica, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Casilla 306, Santiago 22 (Chile); Gralla, Megan [Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-2686 (United States); Halpern, Mark; Hasselfield, Matthew [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Hilton, Matt [Centre for Astronomy and Particle Theory, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); Hughes, John P. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8019 (United States); Kosowsky, Arthur [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Lin, Yen-Ting [Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan (China); and others

    2013-04-10

    We present the measured Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) flux from 474 optically selected MaxBCG clusters that fall within the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Equatorial survey region. The ACT Equatorial region used in this analysis covers 510 deg{sup 2} and overlaps Stripe 82 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We also present the measured SZ flux stacked on 52 X-ray-selected MCXC clusters that fall within the ACT Equatorial region and an ACT Southern survey region covering 455 deg{sup 2}. We find that the measured SZ flux from the X-ray-selected clusters is consistent with expectations. However, we find that the measured SZ flux from the optically selected clusters is both significantly lower than expectations and lower than the recovered SZ flux measured by the Planck satellite. Since we find a lower recovered SZ signal than Planck, we investigate the possibility that there is a significant offset between the optically selected brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) and the SZ centers, to which ACT is more sensitive due to its finer resolution. Such offsets can arise due to either an intrinsic physical separation between the BCG and the center of the gas concentration or from misidentification of the cluster BCG. We find that the entire discrepancy for both ACT and Planck can be explained by assuming that the BCGs are offset from the SZ maxima with a uniform random distribution between 0 and 1.5 Mpc. Such large offsets between gas peaks and BCGs for optically selected cluster samples seem unlikely given that we find the physical separation between BCGs and X-ray peaks for an X-ray-selected subsample of MaxBCG clusters to have a much narrower distribution that peaks within 0.2 Mpc. It is possible that other effects are lowering the ACT and Planck signals by the same amount, with offsets between BCGs and SZ peaks explaining the remaining difference between ACT and Planck measurements. Several effects that can lower the SZ signal equally for both ACT and Planck, but not

  10. Atmospheric origins of perchlorate on Mars and in the Atacama

    Science.gov (United States)

    Catling, D. C.; Claire, M. W.; Zahnle, K. J.; Quinn, R. C.; Clark, B. C.; Hecht, M. H.; Kounaves, S.

    2010-01-01

    Isotopic studies indicate that natural perchlorate is produced on Earth in arid environments by the oxidation of chlorine species through pathways involving ozone or its photochemical products. With this analogy, we propose that the arid environment on Mars may have given rise to perchlorate through the action of atmospheric oxidants. A variety of hypothetical pathways can be proposed including photochemical reactions, electrostatic discharge, and gas-solid reactions. Because perchlorate-rich deposits in the Atacama desert are closest in abundance to perchlorate measured at NASA's Phoenix Lander site, we made a preliminary study of the means to produce Atacama perchlorate to help shed light on the origin of Martian perchlorate. We investigated gas phase pathways using a 1-D photochemical model. We found that perchlorate can be produced in sufficient quantities to explain the abundance of perchlorate in the Atacama from a proposed gas phase oxidation of chlorine volatiles to perchloric acid. The feasibility of gas phase production for the Atacama provides justification for future investigations of gas phase photochemistry as a possible source for Martian perchlorate.

  11. THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: ACT-CL J0102–4915 'EL GORDO', A MASSIVE MERGING CLUSTER AT REDSHIFT 0.87

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Menanteau, Felipe; Hughes, John P.; Baker, Andrew J.; Sifón, Cristóbal; González, Jorge; Infante, Leopoldo; Felipe Barrientos, L.; Hilton, Matt; Bond, John R.; Hajian, Amir; Nolta, Michael R.; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Marsden, Danica; Dunkley, Joanna; Hincks, Adam D.; Kosowsky, Arthur; Marriage, Tobias A.; Moodley, Kavilan; Niemack, Michael D.

    2012-01-01

    We present a detailed analysis from new multi-wavelength observations of the exceptional galaxy cluster ACT-CL J0102–4915, likely the most massive, hottest, most X-ray luminous and brightest Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect cluster known at redshifts greater than 0.6. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) collaboration discovered ACT-CL J0102–4915 as the most significant SZ decrement in a sky survey area of 755 deg 2 . Our Very Large Telescope (VLT)/FORS2 spectra of 89 member galaxies yield a cluster redshift, z = 0.870, and velocity dispersion, σ gal = 1321 ± 106 km s –1 . Our Chandra observations reveal a hot and X-ray luminous system with an integrated temperature of T X = 14.5 ± 0.1 keV and 0.5-2.0 keV band luminosity of L X = (2.19 ± 0.11) × 10 45 h –2 70 erg s –1 . We obtain several statistically consistent cluster mass estimates; using empirical mass scaling relations with velocity dispersion, X-ray Y X , and integrated SZ distortion, we estimate a cluster mass of M 200a = (2.16 ± 0.32) × 10 15 h –1 70 M ☉ . We constrain the stellar content of the cluster to be less than 1% of the total mass, using Spitzer IRAC and optical imaging. The Chandra and VLT/FORS2 optical data also reveal that ACT-CL J0102–4915 is undergoing a major merger between components with a mass ratio of approximately 2 to 1. The X-ray data show significant temperature variations from a low of 6.6 ± 0.7 keV at the merging low-entropy, high-metallicity, cool core to a high of 22 ± 6 keV. We also see a wake in the X-ray surface brightness and deprojected gas density caused by the passage of one cluster through the other. Archival radio data at 843 MHz reveal diffuse radio emission that, if associated with the cluster, indicates the presence of an intense double radio relic, hosted by the highest redshift cluster yet. ACT-CL J0102–4915 is possibly a high-redshift analog of the famous Bullet cluster. Such a massive cluster at this redshift is rare, although consistent

  12. Geology and geochemistry of the Atacama Desert.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tapia, J; González, R; Townley, B; Oliveros, V; Álvarez, F; Aguilar, G; Menzies, A; Calderón, M

    2018-02-14

    The Atacama Desert, the driest of its kind on Earth, hosts a number of unique geological and geochemical features that make it unlike any other environment on the planet. Considering its location on the western border of South America, between 17 and 28 °S, its climate has been characterized as arid to hyperarid for at least the past 10 million years. Notably dry climatic conditions of the Atacama Desert have been related to uplift of the Andes and are believed to have played an important role in the development of the most distinctive features of this desert, including: (i) nitrates and iodine deposits in the Central Depression, (ii) secondary enrichment in porphyry copper deposits in the Precordillera, (iii) Li enrichment in salt flats of the Altiplano, and (iv) life in extreme habitats. The geology and physiography of the Atacama Desert have been largely shaped by the convergent margin present since the Mesozoic era. The geochemistry of surface materials is related to rock geochemistry (Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, V, and Zn), salt flats, and evaporite compositions in endorheic basins (As, B, and Li), in addition to anthropogenic activities (Cu, Mo, and Pb). The composition of surface water is highly variable, nonetheless in general it presents a circumneutral pH with higher conductivity and total dissolved solids in brines. Major water constituents, with the exception of HCO 3 - , are generally related to the increase of salinity, and despite the fact that trace elements are not well-documented, surface waters of the Atacama Desert are enriched in As, B, and Li when compared to the average respective concentrations in rivers worldwide.

  13. dc readout experiment at the Caltech 40m prototype interferometer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ward, R L; Adhikari, R; Abbott, B; Abbott, R; Bork, R; Fricke, T; Heefner, J; Ivanov, A; Miyakawa, O; Smith, M; Taylor, R; Vass, S; Waldman, S; Weinstein, A; Barron, D; Frolov, V; McKenzie, K; Slagmolen, B

    2008-01-01

    The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) operates a 40m prototype interferometer on the Caltech campus. The primary mission of the prototype is to serve as an experimental testbed for upgrades to the LIGO interferometers and for gaining experience with advanced interferometric techniques, including detuned resonant sideband extraction (i.e. signal recycling) and dc readout (optical homodyne detection). The former technique will be employed in Advanced LIGO, and the latter in both Enhanced and Advanced LIGO. Using dc readout for gravitational wave signal extraction has several technical advantages, including reduced laser and oscillator noise couplings as well as reduced shot noise, when compared to the traditional rf readout technique (optical heterodyne detection) currently in use in large-scale ground-based interferometric gravitational wave detectors. The Caltech 40m laboratory is currently prototyping a dc readout system for a fully suspended interferometric gravitational wave detector. The system includes an optical filter cavity at the interferometer's output port, and the associated controls and optics to ensure that the filter cavity is optimally coupled to the interferometer. We present the results of measurements to characterize noise couplings in rf and dc readout using this system

  14. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Sunyaev-Zel'dovich selected galaxy clusters at 148 GHz from three seasons of data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hasselfield, Matthew; Hlozek, Renée; Hilton, Matt; Marriage, Tobias A.; Crichton, Devin; Gralla, Megan B.; Addison, Graeme E.; Halpern, Mark; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Dünner, Rolando; Battaglia, Nicholas; Battistelli, Elia S.; Bond, J. Richard; Hajian, Amir; Hincks, Adam D.; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon R.; Dunkley, Joanna; Fowler, Joseph W.

    2013-01-01

    We present a catalog of 68 galaxy clusters, of which 19 are new discoveries, detected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZ) at 148 GHz in the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) survey on the celestial equator. With this addition, the ACT collaboration has reported a total of 91 optically confirmed, SZ detected clusters. The 504 square degree survey region includes 270 square degrees of overlap with SDSS Stripe 82, permitting the confirmation of SZ cluster candidates in deep archival optical data. The subsample of 48 clusters within Stripe 82 is estimated to be 90% complete for M 500c > 4.5 × 10 14 M s un and redshifts 0.15 500 = 5.'9 angular scale. This new approach incorporates the cluster redshift along with prior information on the cluster pressure profile to fix the relationship between the cluster characteristic size (R 500 ) and the integrated Compton parameter (Y 500 ). We adopt a one-parameter family of ''Universal Pressure Profiles'' (UPP) with associated scaling laws, derived from X-ray measurements of nearby clusters, as a baseline model. Three additional models of cluster physics are used to investigate a range of scaling relations beyond the UPP prescription. Assuming a concordance cosmology, the UPP scalings are found to be nearly identical to an adiabatic model, while a model incorporating non-thermal pressure better matches dynamical mass measurements and masses from the South Pole Telescope. A high signal to noise ratio subsample of 15 ACT clusters with complete optical follow-up is used to obtain cosmological constraints. We demonstrate, using fixed scaling relations, how the constraints depend on the assumed gas model if only SZ measurements are used, and show that constraints from SZ data are limited by uncertainty in the scaling relation parameters rather than sample size or measurement uncertainty. We next add in seven clusters from the ACT Southern survey, including their dynamical mass measurements, which are based on galaxy velocity

  15. THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: DYNAMICAL MASSES AND SCALING RELATIONS FOR A SAMPLE OF MASSIVE SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT SELECTED GALAXY CLUSTERS ,

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sifón, Cristóbal; Barrientos, L. Felipe; González, Jorge; Infante, Leopoldo; Dünner, Rolando; Menanteau, Felipe; Hughes, John P.; Baker, Andrew J.; Hasselfield, Matthew; Marriage, Tobias A.; Crichton, Devin; Gralla, Megan B.; Addison, Graeme E.; Dunkley, Joanna; Battaglia, Nick; Bond, J. Richard; Hajian, Amir; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Hilton, Matt

    2013-01-01

    We present the first dynamical mass estimates and scaling relations for a sample of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) selected galaxy clusters. The sample consists of 16 massive clusters detected with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) over a 455 deg 2 area of the southern sky. Deep multi-object spectroscopic observations were taken to secure intermediate-resolution (R ∼ 700-800) spectra and redshifts for ≈60 member galaxies on average per cluster. The dynamical masses M 200c of the clusters have been calculated using simulation-based scaling relations between velocity dispersion and mass. The sample has a median redshift z = 0.50 and a median mass M 200c ≅12×10 14 h 70 -1 M sun with a lower limit M 200c ≅6×10 14 h 70 -1 M sun , consistent with the expectations for the ACT southern sky survey. These masses are compared to the ACT SZE properties of the sample, specifically, the match-filtered central SZE amplitude y 0 -tilde, the central Compton parameter y 0 , and the integrated Compton signal Y 200c , which we use to derive SZE-mass scaling relations. All SZE estimators correlate with dynamical mass with low intrinsic scatter (∼< 20%), in agreement with numerical simulations. We explore the effects of various systematic effects on these scaling relations, including the correlation between observables and the influence of dynamically disturbed clusters. Using the three-dimensional information available, we divide the sample into relaxed and disturbed clusters and find that ∼50% of the clusters are disturbed. There are hints that disturbed systems might bias the scaling relations, but given the current sample sizes, these differences are not significant; further studies including more clusters are required to assess the impact of these clusters on the scaling relations

  16. Optical design of CCAT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cortés-Medellín, Germán; Herter, Terry

    2006-06-01

    The Cornell Caltech Atacama Telescope (CCAT) is a 25m-class sub-millimeter radio telescope capable of operating from 300GHz up to 1.5 THz. The CCAT optical design is an f/8 Ritchey-Chretien (RC) system in a dual Nasmyth focus configuration and a 20 arc-min FOV (diffraction limited imaging performance better than 0.31" at the edge of the field). The large FOV is capable to accommodate up to 1200x1200 (Nyquist Sampled) Pixels at 200 microns, with better than 96% Strehl ratio. The telescope pedestal assembly is a counterbalanced elevation over azimuth design. The main reflector surface is segmented and actively controlled to attain diffraction-limited operation up to 200 microns. A flat Mirror located behind the main reflector vertex provides the optical path relay to either of the two Nasmyth platforms and to a bent-Cassegrain focus for surface calibration. We present the imaging characteristics of the CCAT over the 20arc-min FOV at 200 microns at the Nasmyth focal plane, as well as the positioning sensitivity analysis of CCAT's 3.2m-diameter sub-reflector given in terms of the telescope optical performance, antenna pointing requirements and sub-reflector chopping characteristics.

  17. No Bursts Detected from FRB121102 in Two 5 hr Observing Campaigns with the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price, Danny C.; Gajjar, Vishal; Rosenthal, Lee; Hallinan, Gregg; Croft, Steve; DeBoer, David; Hellbourg, Greg; Isaacson, Howard; Lebofsky, Matt; Lynch, Ryan; MacMahon, David H. E.; Men, Yunpeng; Xu, Yonghua; Liu, Zhiyong; Lee, Kejia; Siemion, Andrew

    2018-02-01

    Here, we report non-detection of radio bursts from Fast Radio Burst FRB 121102 during two 5-hour observation sessions on the Robert C. Byrd 100-m Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, USA, on December 11, 2017, and January 12, 2018. In addition, we report non-detection during an abutting 10-hour observation with the Kunming 40-m telescope in China, which commenced UTC 10:00 January 12, 2018. These are among the longest published contiguous observations of FRB 121102, and support the notion that FRB 121102 bursts are episodic. These observations were part of a simultaneous optical and radio monitoring campaign with the the Caltech HIgh- speed Multi-color CamERA (CHIMERA) instrument on the Hale 5.1-m telescope.

  18. Late Quaternary history of the Atacama Desert

    Science.gov (United States)

    Latorre, Claudio; Betancourt, Julio L.; Rech, Jason A.; Quade, Jay; Holmgren, Camille; Placzek, Christa; Maldonado, Antonio; Vuille, Mathias; Rylander, Kate A.; Smith, Mike; Hesse, Paul

    2005-01-01

    Of the major subtropical deserts found in the Southern Hemisphere, the Atacama Desert is the driest. Throughout the Quaternary, the most pervasive climatic influence on the desert has been millennial-scale changes in the frequency and seasonality of the scant rainfall, and associated shifts in plant and animal distributions with elevation along the eastern margin of the desert. Over the past six years, we have mapped modern vegetation gradients and developed a number of palaeoenvironmental records, including vegetation histories from fossil rodent middens, groundwater levels from wetland (spring) deposits, and lake levels from shoreline evidence, along a 1200-kilometre transect (16–26°S) in the Atacama Desert. A strength of this palaeoclimate transect has been the ability to apply the same methodologies across broad elevational, latitudinal, climatic, vegetation and hydrological gradients. We are using this transect to reconstruct the histories of key components of the South American tropical (summer) and extratropical (winter) rainfall belts, precisely at those elevations where average annual rainfall wanes to zero. The focus has been on the transition from sparse, shrubby vegetation (known as the prepuna) into absolute desert, an expansive hyperarid terrain that extends from just above the coastal fog zone (approximately 800 metres) to more than 3500 metres in the most arid sectors in the southern Atacama.

  19. Ancient photosynthetic eukaryote biofilms in an Atacama Desert coastal cave

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azua-Bustos, A.; Gonzalez-Silva, C.; Mancilla, R.A.; Salas, L.; Palma, R.E.; Wynne, J.J.; McKay, C.P.; Vicuna, R.

    2009-01-01

    Caves offer a stable and protected environment from harsh and changing outside prevailing conditions. Hence, they represent an interesting habitat for studying life in extreme environments. Here, we report the presence of a member of the ancient eukaryote red algae Cyanidium group in a coastal cave of the hyperarid Atacama Desert. This microorganism was found to form a seemingly monospecific biofilm growing under extremely low photon flux levels. Our work suggests that this species, Cyanidium sp. Atacama, is a new member of a recently proposed novel monophyletic lineage of mesophilic "cave" Cyanidium sp., distinct from the remaining three other lineages which are all thermo-acidophilic. The cave described in this work may represent an evolutionary island for life in the midst of the Atacama Desert. ?? Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009.

  20. Galaxies 800 million years after the Big Bang seen with the Atacama Large Millimetre Array

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smit, Renske

    2018-01-01

    The identification of galaxies in the first billion years after the Big Bang presents a challenge for even the largest optical telescopes. When the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) started science operations in 2011 it presented a tantalising opportunity to identify and characterise these first sources of light in a new window of the electromagnetic spectrum. I will present new sources successfully identified at z=6.8 using ALMA; the first spectroscopic confirmations of typical star-forming galaxies during the Epoch or Reionization using a sub-millimetre telescope. Moreover, these observations reveal the gas kinematics of such distant sources for the first time. The velocity gradient in these galaxies indicate that these galaxies likely have similar dynamical properties as the turbulent, yet rotation-dominated disks that have been observed for Hα emitting galaxies 2 billion years later at cosmic noon. This novel approach for confirming galaxies during Reionization paves the way for larger studies of distant galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts. Particularly important, this opens up opportunities for the measurement of high angular-resolution dynamics in galaxies less than one billion years after the Big Bang.

  1. THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: ACT-CL J0102-4915 'EL GORDO', A MASSIVE MERGING CLUSTER AT REDSHIFT 0.87

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Menanteau, Felipe; Hughes, John P.; Baker, Andrew J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, 136 Frelinghuysen Rd, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (United States); Sifon, Cristobal; Gonzalez, Jorge; Infante, Leopoldo; Felipe Barrientos, L. [Departamento de Astronomia y Astrofisica, Facultad de Fisica, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Casilla 306, Santiago 22 (Chile); Hilton, Matt [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); Bond, John R.; Hajian, Amir; Nolta, Michael R. [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Das, Sudeep [Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, LBL and Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Devlin, Mark J.; Marsden, Danica [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Dunkley, Joanna [Department of Astrophysics, Oxford University, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Hincks, Adam D. [Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Jadwin Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Kosowsky, Arthur [Physics and Astronomy Department, University of Pittsburgh, 100 Allen Hall, 3941 O' Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Marriage, Tobias A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218-2686 (United States); Moodley, Kavilan [Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Unit, School of Mathematical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041 (South Africa); Niemack, Michael D. [NIST Quantum Devices Group, 325 Broadway Mailcode 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); and others

    2012-03-20

    We present a detailed analysis from new multi-wavelength observations of the exceptional galaxy cluster ACT-CL J0102-4915, likely the most massive, hottest, most X-ray luminous and brightest Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect cluster known at redshifts greater than 0.6. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) collaboration discovered ACT-CL J0102-4915 as the most significant SZ decrement in a sky survey area of 755 deg{sup 2}. Our Very Large Telescope (VLT)/FORS2 spectra of 89 member galaxies yield a cluster redshift, z = 0.870, and velocity dispersion, {sigma}{sub gal} = 1321 {+-} 106 km s{sup -1}. Our Chandra observations reveal a hot and X-ray luminous system with an integrated temperature of T{sub X} = 14.5 {+-} 0.1 keV and 0.5-2.0 keV band luminosity of L{sub X} = (2.19 {+-} 0.11) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 45} h{sup -2}{sub 70} erg s{sup -1}. We obtain several statistically consistent cluster mass estimates; using empirical mass scaling relations with velocity dispersion, X-ray Y{sub X}, and integrated SZ distortion, we estimate a cluster mass of M{sub 200a} = (2.16 {+-} 0.32) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 15} h{sup -1}{sub 70} M{sub Sun }. We constrain the stellar content of the cluster to be less than 1% of the total mass, using Spitzer IRAC and optical imaging. The Chandra and VLT/FORS2 optical data also reveal that ACT-CL J0102-4915 is undergoing a major merger between components with a mass ratio of approximately 2 to 1. The X-ray data show significant temperature variations from a low of 6.6 {+-} 0.7 keV at the merging low-entropy, high-metallicity, cool core to a high of 22 {+-} 6 keV. We also see a wake in the X-ray surface brightness and deprojected gas density caused by the passage of one cluster through the other. Archival radio data at 843 MHz reveal diffuse radio emission that, if associated with the cluster, indicates the presence of an intense double radio relic, hosted by the highest redshift cluster yet. ACT-CL J0102-4915 is possibly a high

  2. Science with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array A New Era for Astrophysics

    CERN Document Server

    Bachiller, Rafael

    2008-01-01

    Currently under construction in the Andean Altiplano, Northern Chile, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) is the most ambitious astronomy facility under construction. ALMA is a radio interferometer composed of 54 antennas of 12 m diameter, and twelve 7 m antennas with about 6600 square meters of total collecting area. Initially covering the most interesting spectral wavelength ranges from 3 to 0.3 mm, ALMA will be a revolutionary telescope aimed to unveil the details of star and planet formation and to provide astronomy with the first exhaustive view of the dark and youngest objects of the Universe. This book describes the enormous capabilities of ALMA, the state of the project, and most notably the scientific prospects with such a unique facility. The book includes comprehensive reviews and recent results on most hot topics of modern Astronomy (the formation and evolution of galaxies, the physics and chemistry of the interstellar medium, and the processes of star and planet formation) with prospects to...

  3. Next-generation Event Horizon Telescope developments: new stations for enhanced imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palumbo, Daniel; Johnson, Michael; Doeleman, Sheperd; Chael, Andrew; Bouman, Katherine

    2018-01-01

    The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a multinational Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) network of dishes joined to resolve general relativistic behavior near a supermassive black hole. The imaging quality of the EHT is largely dependent upon the sensitivity and spatial frequency coverage of the many baselines between its constituent telescopes. The EHT already contains many highly sensitive dishes, including the crucial Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA), making it viable to add smaller, cheaper telescopes to the array, greatly improving future capabilities of the EHT. We develop tools for optimizing the positions of new dishes in planned arrays. We also explore the feasibility of adding small orbiting dishes to the EHT, and develop orbital optimization tools for space-based VLBI imaging. Unlike the Millimetron mission planned to be at L2, we specifically treat near-earth orbiters, and find rapid filling of spatial frequency coverage across a large range of baseline lengths. Finally, we demonstrate significant improvement in image quality when adding small dishes to planned arrays in simulated observations.

  4. Pi of the Sky Telescopes in Spain and Chile

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Siudek

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Pi of the Sky is a system of robotic telescopes designed for observations of short timescale astrophysical phenomena, e.g. prompt optical GRB emissions. The apparatus is designed to monitor a large fraction of the sky with 12–13 m range and time resolution of the order of 1–10 seconds. In October 2010 the first unit of the new Pi of the Sky detector system was successfully installed in the INTA El Arenosillo Test Centre in Spain. We also moved our prototype detector from Las Campanas Observatory to San Pedro de Atacama Observatory in March 2011. The status and performance of both detectors is presented.

  5. Overview of the Education and Public Outreach (EPO) program of the Caltech Tectonics Observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovalenko, L.; Jain, K.; Maloney, J.

    2009-12-01

    The Caltech Tectonics Observatory (TO) is an interdisciplinary center, focused on geological processes occurring at the boundaries of Earth's tectonic plates (http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu). Over the past year, the TO has made a major effort to develop an Education and Public Outreach (EPO) program. Our goals are to (1) stimulate the interest of students and the general public in Earth Sciences, particularly in the study of tectonic processes, (2) inform and educate the general public about science in the context of TO discoveries and advancements, and (3) provide opportunities for graduate students, postdocs, and faculty to do outreach in the local K-12 schools. We have hosted local high school students and teachers to provide them with research experience (as part of Caltech’s “Summer Research Connection”); participated in teacher training workshops (organized by the local school district); hosted tours for local elementary school students; and brought hands-on activities into local elementary and middle school classrooms, science clubs, and science nights. We have also led local school students and teachers on geology field trips through nearby parks. In addition, we have developed education modules for undergraduate classes (as part of MARGINS program), and have written educational web articles on TO research (http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/outreach). The presentation will give an overview of these activities and their impact on our educational program.

  6. Evidence for the Kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and Velocity Reconstruction from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaan, Emmanuel S.; Ferraro, Simone; Vargas-Magana, Mariana; Smith, Kendrick M.; Ho, Shirley; Aiola, Simone; Battaglia, Nicholas; Bond, J. Richard; De Bernardis, Francesco; Calabrese, Erminia; hide

    2016-01-01

    We use microwave temperature maps from two seasons of data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope at 146 GHz, together with the "Constant Mass" CMASS galaxy sample from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey to measure the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect over the redshift range z1/4 0.4-0.7. We use galaxy positions and the continuity equation to obtain a reconstruction of the line-of-sight velocity field. We stack the microwave temperature at the location of each halo, weighted by the corresponding reconstructed velocity. We vary the size of the aperture photometry filter used, thus probing the free electron profile of these halos from within the virial radius out to three virial radii, on the scales relevant for investigating the missing baryons problem. The resulting best fit kSZ model is preferred over the no-kSZ hypothesis at 3.3 and 2.9 sigma for two independent velocity reconstruction methods, using 25,537 galaxies over 660 square degrees. The data suggest that the baryon profile is shallower than the dark matter in the inner regions of the halos probed here, potentially due to energy injection from active galactic nucleus or supernovae. Thus, by constraining the gas profile on a wide range of scales, this technique will be useful for understanding the role of feedback in galaxy groups and clusters. The effect of foregrounds that are uncorrelated with the galaxy velocities is expected to be well below our signal, and residual thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich contamination is controlled by masking the most massive clusters. Finally, we discuss the systematics involved in converting our measurement of the kSZ amplitude into the mean free electron fraction of the halos in our sample.

  7. Evidence for the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and velocity reconstruction from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaan, Emmanuel; Ferraro, Simone; Vargas-Magaña, Mariana; Smith, Kendrick M.; Ho, Shirley; Aiola, Simone; Battaglia, Nicholas; Bond, J. Richard; De Bernardis, Francesco; Calabrese, Erminia; Cho, Hsiao-Mei; Devlin, Mark J.; Dunkley, Joanna; Gallardo, Patricio A.; Hasselfield, Matthew; Henderson, Shawn; Hill, J. Colin; Hincks, Adam D.; Hlozek, Renée; Hubmayr, Johannes; Hughes, John P.; Irwin, Kent D.; Koopman, Brian; Kosowsky, Arthur; Li, Dale; Louis, Thibaut; Lungu, Marius; Madhavacheril, Mathew; Maurin, Loïc; McMahon, Jeffrey John; Moodley, Kavilan; Naess, Sigurd; Nati, Federico; Newburgh, Laura; Niemack, Michael D.; Page, Lyman A.; Pappas, Christine G.; Partridge, Bruce; Schmitt, Benjamin L.; Sehgal, Neelima; Sherwin, Blake D.; Sievers, Jonathan L.; Spergel, David N.; Staggs, Suzanne T.; van Engelen, Alexander; Wollack, Edward J.; ACTPol Collaboration

    2016-04-01

    We use microwave temperature maps from two seasons of data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope at 146 GHz, together with the "Constant Mass" CMASS galaxy sample from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey to measure the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect over the redshift range z =0.4 - 0.7 . We use galaxy positions and the continuity equation to obtain a reconstruction of the line-of-sight velocity field. We stack the microwave temperature at the location of each halo, weighted by the corresponding reconstructed velocity. We vary the size of the aperture photometry filter used, thus probing the free electron profile of these halos from within the virial radius out to three virial radii, on the scales relevant for investigating the missing baryons problem. The resulting best fit kSZ model is preferred over the no-kSZ hypothesis at 3.3 and 2.9 σ for two independent velocity reconstruction methods, using 25,537 galaxies over 660 square degrees. The data suggest that the baryon profile is shallower than the dark matter in the inner regions of the halos probed here, potentially due to energy injection from active galactic nucleus or supernovae. Thus, by constraining the gas profile on a wide range of scales, this technique will be useful for understanding the role of feedback in galaxy groups and clusters. The effect of foregrounds that are uncorrelated with the galaxy velocities is expected to be well below our signal, and residual thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich contamination is controlled by masking the most massive clusters. Finally, we discuss the systematics involved in converting our measurement of the kSZ amplitude into the mean free electron fraction of the halos in our sample.

  8. Natural product diversity of actinobacteria in the Atacama Desert.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rateb, Mostafa E; Ebel, Rainer; Jaspars, Marcel

    2018-02-14

    The Atacama Desert of northern Chile is considered one of the most arid and extreme environment on Earth. Its core region was described as featuring "Mars-like" soils that were at one point deemed too extreme for life to exist. However, recent investigations confirmed the presence of diverse culturable actinobacteria. In the current review, we discuss a total of 46 natural products isolated to date representing diverse chemical classes characterized from different actinobacteria isolated from various locations in the Atacama Desert. Their reported biological activities are also discussed.

  9. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Measurement of the 600 less than l less than 8000 Cosmic Microwave Background Power Spectrum at 148 GHz

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fowler, J. W.; Acquaviva, V.; Ade, P. A. R.; Aguirre, P.; Amiri, M.; Appel, J. W.; Barrientos, L. F.; Bassistelli, E. S.; Bond, J. R.; Brown, B.; hide

    2010-01-01

    We present a measurement of the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation observed at 148 GHz. The measurement uses maps with 1.4' angular resolution made with data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). The observations cover 228 deg(sup 2) of the southern sky, in a 4 deg. 2-wide strip centered on declination 53 deg. South. The CMB at arc minute angular scales is particularly sensitive to the Silk damping scale, to the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect from galaxy dusters, and to emission by radio sources and dusty galaxies. After masking the 108 brightest point sources in our maps, we estimate the power spectrum between 600 less than l less than 8000 using the adaptive multi-taper method to minimize spectral leakage and maximize use of the full data set. Our absolute calibration is based on observations of Uranus. To verify the calibration and test the fidelity of our map at large angular scales, we cross-correlate the ACT map to the WMAP map and recover the WMAP power spectrum from 250 less than l less than 1150. The power beyond the Silk damping tail of the CMB (l approximately 5000) is consistent with models of the emission from point sources. We quantify the contribution of SZ clusters to the power spectrum by fitting to a model normalized to sigma 8 = 0.8. We constrain the model's amplitude A(sub sz) less than 1.63 (95% CL). If interpreted as a measurement of as, this implies sigma (sup SZ) (sub 8) less than 0.86 (95% CL) given our SZ model. A fit of ACT and WMAP five-year data jointly to a 6-parameter ACDM model plus point sources and the SZ effect is consistent with these results.

  10. The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA)

    Science.gov (United States)

    1999-06-01

    The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) is the new name [2] for a giant millimeter-wavelength telescope project. As described in the accompanying joint press release by ESO and the U.S. National Science Foundation , the present design and development phase is now a Europe-U.S. collaboration, and may soon include Japan. ALMA may become the largest ground-based astronomy project of the next decade after VLT/VLTI, and one of the major new facilities for world astronomy. ALMA will make it possible to study the origins of galaxies, stars and planets. As presently envisaged, ALMA will be comprised of up to 64 12-meter diameter antennas distributed over an area 10 km across. ESO PR Photo 24a/99 shows an artist's concept of a portion of the array in a compact configuration. ESO PR Video Clip 03/99 illustrates how all the antennas will move in unison to point to a single astronomical object and follow it as it traverses the sky. In this way the combined telescope will produce astronomical images of great sharpness and sensitivity [3]. An exceptional site For such observations to be possible the atmosphere above the telescope must be transparent at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. This requires a site that is high and dry, and a high plateau in the Atacama desert of Chile, probably the world's driest, is ideal - the next best thing to outer space for these observations. ESO PR Photo 24b/99 shows the location of the chosen site at Chajnantor, at 5000 meters altitude and 60 kilometers east of the village of San Pedro de Atacama, as seen from the Space Shuttle during a servicing mission of the Hubble Space Telescope. ESO PR Photo 24c/99 and ESO PR Photo 24d/99 show a satellite image of the immediate vicinity and the site marked on a map of northern Chile. ALMA will be the highest continuously operated observatory in the world. The stark nature of this extreme site is well illustrated by the panoramic view in ESO PR Photo 24e/99. High sensitivity and sharp images ALMA

  11. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Sunyaev-Zel'dovich selected galaxy clusters at 148 GHz from three seasons of data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hasselfield, Matthew; Hlozek, Renée [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Hilton, Matt [Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Unit, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4041 (South Africa); Marriage, Tobias A.; Crichton, Devin; Gralla, Megan B. [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-2686 (United States); Addison, Graeme E.; Halpern, Mark [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Barrientos, L. Felipe; Dünner, Rolando [Departamento de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Facultad de Física, Pontificía Universidad Católica, Casilla 306, Santiago 22 (Chile); Battaglia, Nicholas [Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States); Battistelli, Elia S. [Department of Physics, University of Rome ' ' La Sapienza' ' , Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, I-00185 Rome (Italy); Bond, J. Richard; Hajian, Amir; Hincks, Adam D. [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3H8 (Canada); Das, Sudeep [High Energy Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL 60439 (United States); Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon R. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Dunkley, Joanna [Department of Astrophysics, Oxford University, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Fowler, Joseph W., E-mail: mhasse@astro.princeton.edu, E-mail: hiltonm@ukzn.ac.za, E-mail: marriage@pha.jhu.edu [NIST Quantum Devices Group, 325 Broadway Mailcode 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); and others

    2013-07-01

    We present a catalog of 68 galaxy clusters, of which 19 are new discoveries, detected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZ) at 148 GHz in the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) survey on the celestial equator. With this addition, the ACT collaboration has reported a total of 91 optically confirmed, SZ detected clusters. The 504 square degree survey region includes 270 square degrees of overlap with SDSS Stripe 82, permitting the confirmation of SZ cluster candidates in deep archival optical data. The subsample of 48 clusters within Stripe 82 is estimated to be 90% complete for M{sub 500c} > 4.5 × 10{sup 14}M{sub s}un and redshifts 0.15 < z < 0.8. While a full suite of matched filters is used to detect the clusters, the sample is studied further through a ''Profile Based Amplitude Analysis'' using a statistic derived from a single filter at a fixed θ{sub 500} = 5.'9 angular scale. This new approach incorporates the cluster redshift along with prior information on the cluster pressure profile to fix the relationship between the cluster characteristic size (R{sub 500}) and the integrated Compton parameter (Y{sub 500}). We adopt a one-parameter family of ''Universal Pressure Profiles'' (UPP) with associated scaling laws, derived from X-ray measurements of nearby clusters, as a baseline model. Three additional models of cluster physics are used to investigate a range of scaling relations beyond the UPP prescription. Assuming a concordance cosmology, the UPP scalings are found to be nearly identical to an adiabatic model, while a model incorporating non-thermal pressure better matches dynamical mass measurements and masses from the South Pole Telescope. A high signal to noise ratio subsample of 15 ACT clusters with complete optical follow-up is used to obtain cosmological constraints. We demonstrate, using fixed scaling relations, how the constraints depend on the assumed gas model if only SZ measurements are used, and

  12. Hydrogeomorphic Investigation of the 2015 Atacama Floods, Northern Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilcox, A. C.; Escauriaza, C. R.; Agredano, R., Jr.; Mignot, E.; Gironas, J. A.; Cienfuegos, R.; Mao, L.

    2015-12-01

    In March 2015 unusual atmospheric conditions over the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, the driest area on Earth outside of Antarctica, produced many years worth of rainfall in a 24-hour period. The resulting sediment-rich floods caused dozens of deaths and/or disappearances, over $1 billion in estimated damage, and widespread geomorphic change. Here we describe the hydrologic and geomorphic drivers and responses to the 2015 Atacama floods, including characterization of the hydrologic forcing, water and sediment routing from source areas in the upper watershed to the outlet at the Pacific Ocean, and urban flooding impacts of this event. In a region where few direct measurements of precipitation and discharge during these events are available, we combined hydrologic and hydraulic modeling with field and aerial photograph interpretation of sediment sources and geomorphic change. A remarkable element of the flood, particularly with respect to its effects on urban areas, was its high sediment load. Despite widespread hillslope erosion in the form of rilling and gullying initiated by overland flow, sediment from these sources typically did not reach valley bottoms, and only limited, small-scale mass wasting was observed. Field observations indicated that the sediment load was primarily derived from dramatic erosion of channel bed, bank, and floodplain material (i.e., valley fill). In the coastal city of Chañaral, flooding of the Salado River produced maximum water depths over 6 m, meters-thick mud deposition in buildings and along city streets, flow velocities larger than 8 m/s, and coastal erosion. Broader implications of studying the Atacama flooding include hazard reduction, the history of copper mining and more than five decades of contamination in many of the affected watersheds, and the Atacama's status as a terrestrial analog for Mars.

  13. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: ACT-CL J0102-4215 "El Gordo," a Massive Merging Cluster at Redshift 0.87

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menanteau, Felipe; Hughes, John Pl; Baker, Andrew J.; Sifon, Cristobal; Gonzalez, Jorge; Infante, Leopoldo; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Hilton, Matt; Das, Sudeep; Spergel, David N.; hide

    2011-01-01

    We present a detailed analysis from new multi-wavelength observations of the exceptional galaxy cluster ACT-CL J0102-4915, likely the most massive, hottest, most X-ray luminous and brightest Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect cluster known at redshifts greater than 0.6. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) collaboration discovered ACT-CL J0102-4915 as the most significant Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) decrement in a sky survey area of 755 square degrees. Our VLT/FORS2 spectra of 89 member galaxies yield a cluster redshift, z = 0.870, and velocity dispersion, sigma(gal) +/- 1321 106 km s-1. Our Chandra observations reveal a hot and X-ray luminous system with an integrated temperature of T(X) = 14:5 +/- 0:1 keV and 0.5 2.0 keV band luminosity of L(X) = (2:19 0:11) 1045 h(exp -2)70erg s-1. We obtain several statistically consistent cluster mass estimates; using empirical mass scaling relations with velocity dispersion, X-ray Y(X) , and integrated SZ distortion, we estimate a cluster mass of M(200) = (2:16 +/- 0:32) 10(exp 15) h(exp-1) 70M compared to the Sun. We constrain the stellar content of the cluster to be less than 1% of the total mass, using Spitzer IRAC and optical imaging. The Chandra and VLT/FORS2 optical data also reveal that ACT-CL J0102-4915 is undergoing a major merger between components with a mass ratio of approximately 2 to 1. The X-ray data show significant temperature variations from a low of 6:6 +/- 0:7 keV at the merging low-entropy, high-metallicity, cool core to a high of 22 +/- 6 keV. We also see a wake in the X-ray surface brightness and deprojected gas density caused by the passage of one cluster through the other from which we estimate a merger speed of around 1300 km s(exp -1) for an assumed merger timescale of 1 Gyr. ACTCL J0102-4915 is possibly a high-redshift analog of the famous Bullet Cluster. Such a massive cluster at this redshift is rare, although consistent with the standard CDM cosmology in the lower part of its allowed mass range. Massive

  14. The Caltech Concurrent Computation Program - Project description

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fox, G.; Otto, S.; Lyzenga, G.; Rogstad, D.

    1985-01-01

    The Caltech Concurrent Computation Program wwhich studies basic issues in computational science is described. The research builds on initial work where novel concurrent hardware, the necessary systems software to use it and twenty significant scientific implementations running on the initial 32, 64, and 128 node hypercube machines have been constructed. A major goal of the program will be to extend this work into new disciplines and more complex algorithms including general packages that decompose arbitrary problems in major application areas. New high-performance concurrent processors with up to 1024-nodes, over a gigabyte of memory and multigigaflop performance are being constructed. The implementations cover a wide range of problems in areas such as high energy and astrophysics, condensed matter, chemical reactions, plasma physics, applied mathematics, geophysics, simulation, CAD for VLSI, graphics and image processing. The products of the research program include the concurrent algorithms, hardware, systems software, and complete program implementations.

  15. The Simons Array: expanding POLARBEAR to three multi-chroic telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnold, K.; Stebor, N.; Ade, P. A. R.; Akiba, Y.; Anthony, A. E.; Atlas, M.; Barron, D.; Bender, A.; Boettger, D.; Borrill, J.; Chapman, S.; Chinone, Y.; Cukierman, A.; Dobbs, M.; Elleflot, T.; Errard, J.; Fabbian, G.; Feng, C.; Gilbert, A.; Goeckner-Wald, N.; Halverson, N. W.; Hasegawa, M.; Hattori, K.; Hazumi, M.; Holzapfel, W. L.; Hori, Y.; Inoue, Y.; Jaehnig, G. C.; Jaffe, A. H.; Katayama, N.; Keating, B.; Kermish, Z.; Keskitalo, R.; Kisner, T.; Le Jeune, M.; Lee, A. T.; Leitch, E. M.; Linder, E.; Matsuda, F.; Matsumura, T.; Meng, X.; Miller, N. J.; Morii, H.; Myers, M. J.; Navaroli, M.; Nishino, H.; Okamura, T.; Paar, H.; Peloton, J.; Poletti, D.; Raum, C.; Rebeiz, G.; Reichardt, C. L.; Richards, P. L.; Ross, C.; Rotermund, K. M.; Schenck, D. E.; Sherwin, B. D.; Shirley, I.; Sholl, M.; Siritanasak, P.; Smecher, G.; Steinbach, B.; Stompor, R.; Suzuki, A.; Suzuki, J.; Takada, S.; Takakura, S.; Tomaru, T.; Wilson, B.; Yadav, A.; Zahn, O.

    2014-08-01

    The Simons Array is an expansion of the POLARBEAR cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment currently observing from the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile. This expansion will create an array of three 3.5m telescopes each coupled to a multichroic bolometric receiver. The Simons Array will have the sensitivity to produce a >= 5σ detection of inationary gravitational waves with a tensor-to-scalar ratio r >= 0:01, detect the known minimum 58 meV sum of the neutrino masses with 3σ confidence when combined with a next-generation baryon acoustic oscillation measurement, and make a lensing map of large-scale structure over the 80% of the sky available from its Chilean site. These goals require high sensitivity and the ability to extract the CMB signal from contaminating astrophysical foregrounds; these requirements are met by coupling the three high-throughput telescopes to novel multichroic lenslet-coupled pixels each measuring CMB photons in both linear polarization states over multiple spectral bands. We present the status of this instrument already under construction, and an analysis of its capabilities.

  16. THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: DYNAMICAL MASSES AND SCALING RELATIONS FOR A SAMPLE OF MASSIVE SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT SELECTED GALAXY CLUSTERS {sup ,}

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sifon, Cristobal; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Gonzalez, Jorge; Infante, Leopoldo; Duenner, Rolando [Departamento de Astronomia y Astrofisica, Facultad de Fisica, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Casilla 306, Santiago 22 (Chile); Menanteau, Felipe; Hughes, John P.; Baker, Andrew J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, 136 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (United States); Hasselfield, Matthew [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Marriage, Tobias A.; Crichton, Devin; Gralla, Megan B. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218-2686 (United States); Addison, Graeme E.; Dunkley, Joanna [Sub-department of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Battaglia, Nick; Bond, J. Richard; Hajian, Amir [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Das, Sudeep [Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, LBL and Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Devlin, Mark J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Hilton, Matt [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); and others

    2013-07-20

    We present the first dynamical mass estimates and scaling relations for a sample of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) selected galaxy clusters. The sample consists of 16 massive clusters detected with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) over a 455 deg{sup 2} area of the southern sky. Deep multi-object spectroscopic observations were taken to secure intermediate-resolution (R {approx} 700-800) spectra and redshifts for Almost-Equal-To 60 member galaxies on average per cluster. The dynamical masses M{sub 200c} of the clusters have been calculated using simulation-based scaling relations between velocity dispersion and mass. The sample has a median redshift z = 0.50 and a median mass M{sub 200c}{approx_equal}12 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 14} h{sub 70}{sup -1} M{sub sun} with a lower limit M{sub 200c}{approx_equal}6 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 14} h{sub 70}{sup -1} M{sub sun}, consistent with the expectations for the ACT southern sky survey. These masses are compared to the ACT SZE properties of the sample, specifically, the match-filtered central SZE amplitude y{sub 0}-tilde, the central Compton parameter y{sub 0}, and the integrated Compton signal Y{sub 200c}, which we use to derive SZE-mass scaling relations. All SZE estimators correlate with dynamical mass with low intrinsic scatter ({approx}< 20%), in agreement with numerical simulations. We explore the effects of various systematic effects on these scaling relations, including the correlation between observables and the influence of dynamically disturbed clusters. Using the three-dimensional information available, we divide the sample into relaxed and disturbed clusters and find that {approx}50% of the clusters are disturbed. There are hints that disturbed systems might bias the scaling relations, but given the current sample sizes, these differences are not significant; further studies including more clusters are required to assess the impact of these clusters on the scaling relations.

  17. Colonization patterns of soil microbial communities in the Atacama Desert.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crits-Christoph, Alexander; Robinson, Courtney K; Barnum, Tyler; Fricke, W Florian; Davila, Alfonso F; Jedynak, Bruno; McKay, Christopher P; Diruggiero, Jocelyne

    2013-11-20

    The Atacama Desert is one of the driest deserts in the world and its soil, with extremely low moisture, organic carbon content, and oxidizing conditions, is considered to be at the dry limit for life. Analyses of high throughput DNA sequence data revealed that bacterial communities from six geographic locations in the hyper-arid core and along a North-South moisture gradient were structurally and phylogenetically distinct (ANOVA test for observed operating taxonomic units at 97% similarity (OTU0.03), P microbial communities' diversity metrics (least squares linear regression for observed OTU0.03 and air RH and soil conductivity, P PCoA Spearman's correlation for air RH and soil conductivity, P <0.0001), indicating that water availability and salt content are key factors in shaping the Atacama soil microbiome. Mineralization studies showed communities actively metabolizing in all soil samples, with increased rates in soils from the southern locations. Our results suggest that microorganisms in the driest soils of the Atacama Desert are in a state of stasis for most of the time, but can potentially metabolize if presented with liquid water for a sufficient duration. Over geological time, rare rain events and physicochemical factors potentially played a major role in selecting micro-organisms that are most adapted to extreme desiccating conditions.

  18. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: ACT-CL J0102-4915 'EL GORDO', A Massive Merging Cluster at Redshift 0.87

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menanteau, Felipe; Hughes, John P.; Sifon, Cristobal; Hilton, Matt; Gonzalez, Jorge; Infante, Leopoldo; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Baker, Andrew J.; Bond, John R.; Das, Sudeep; hide

    2012-01-01

    We present a detailed analysis from new multi-wavelength observations of the exceptional galaxy cluster ACT-CL J0102-4915, likely the most massive, hottest, most X-ray luminous and brightest Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect cluster known at redshifts greater than 0.6. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) collaboration discovered ACT-CL J0102-4915 as the most significant Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) decrement in a sky survey area of 755 square degrees. Our VLT/FORS2 spectra of 89 member galaxies yield a cluster redshift, z = 0.870, and velocity dispersion, sigma(sub gal) = 1321+/-106 km s-1. Our Chandra observations reveal a hot and X-ray luminous system with an integrated temperature of T(sub X) = 14.5+/-1.0 keV and 0.5-2.0 keV band luminosity of L(sub X) = (2.19+/-0.11)×10(sup 45) h(sup -2)(sub 70) erg s-1. We obtain several statistically consistent cluster mass estimates; using empirical mass scaling relations with velocity dispersion, X-ray Y(sub X), and integrated SZ distortion, we estimate a cluster mass of M(sub 200a) = (2.16+/-0.32)×1015 h(sup -1)(sub 70) solar mass. We constrain the stellar content of the cluster to be less than 1% of the total mass, using Spitzer IRAC and optical imaging. The Chandra and VLT/FORS2 optical data also reveal that ACT-CL J0102-4915 is undergoing a major merger between components with a mass ratio of approximately 2 to 1. The X-ray data show significant temperature variations from a low of 6.6+/-0.7 keV at the merging low-entropy, high-metallicity, cool core to a high of 22+/-6 keV. We also see a wake in the X-ray surface brightness and deprojected gas density caused by the passage of one cluster through the other. Archival radio data at 843 MHz reveal diffuse radio emission that, if associated with the cluster, indicates the presence of an intense double radio relic, hosted by the highest redshift cluster yet. ACT-CL J0102-4915 is possibly a high-redshift analog of the famous Bullet Cluster. Such a massive cluster at this redshift

  19. Atacama perchlorate as an agricultural contaminant in groundwater: Isotopic and chronologic evidence from Long Island, New York

    Science.gov (United States)

    Böhlke, J.K.; Hatzinger, P.B.; Sturchio, N.C.; Gu, B.; Abbene, I.; Mroczkowski, S.J.

    2009-01-01

    Perchlorate (ClO4-) is a common groundwater constituent with both synthetic and natural sources. A potentially important source of ClO4- is past agricultural application of ClO4--bearing natural NO3- fertilizer imported from the Atacama Desert, Chile, but evidence for this hasbeenlargely circumstantial. Here we report ClO4- stable isotope data (??37Cl, ??18O, and ??17O), along with other supporting chemical and isotopic environmental tracer data, to document groundwater ClO4- contamination sources and history in parts of Long Island, New York. Sampled groundwaters were oxic and ClO4- apparently was not affected by biodegradation within the aquifers. Synthetic ClO4- was indicated by the isotopic method in groundwater near a fireworks disposal site at a former missile base. Atacama ClO4- was indicated in agricultural and urbanizing areas in groundwaters with apparent ages >20 years. In an agricultural area, ClO4- concentrations and ClO4-/NO3- ratios increased withgroundwaterage, possiblybecauseof decreasing application rates of Atacama NO3- fertilizers and/or decreasing ClO4- concentrations in Atacama NO 3- fertilizers in recent years. Because ClO 4-/NO3- ratios of Atacama NO 3- fertilizers imported in the past (???2 ?? 10-3 mol mol-1) were much higher than the ClO 4-/NO3- ratio of recommended drinking-water limits (7 ?? 10-5 mol mol-1 in New York), ClO4- could exceed drinkingwater limits even where NO3- does not, and where Atacama NO3- was only a minor source of N. Groundwater ClO4- with distinctive isotopic composition was a sensitive indicator of past Atacama NO3- fertilizer use on Long Island and may be common in other areas that received NO3- fertilizers from the late 19th century through the 20th century. ?? 2009 American Chemical Society.

  20. IP Network Design and Implementation for the Caltech-USGS Element of TriNet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, M. L.; Busby, R.; Watkins, M.; Schwarz, S.; Hauksson, E.

    2001-12-01

    The new seismic network IP numbering scheme for the Caltech-USGS element of TriNet is designed to provide emergency response plans for computer outages and/or telemetry circuit failures so that data acquisition may continue with minimal interruption. IP numbers from the seismic stations through the Caltech acquisition machines are numbered using private, non-routable IP addresses, which allows the network administrator to create redundancy in the network design, more freedom in choosing IP numbers, and uniformity in the LAN and WAN network addressing. The network scheme used by the Caltech-USGS element of TriNet is designed to create redundancy and load sharing over three or more T1 circuits. A T1 circuit can support 80 dataloggers sending data at a design rate of 19.2 kbps or 120 dataloggers transmitting at a nominal rate of 12.8 kbps. During a circuit detour, the 80 dataloggers on the failed T1 are equally divided between the remaining two circuits. This increases the loads on the remaining two circuits to 120 dataloggers, which is the maximum load each T1 can handle at the nominal rate. Each T1 circuit has a router interface onto a LAN at Caltech with an independent subnet address. Some devices, such as Solaris computers, allow a single interface to be numbered with several IP addresses, a so called "multinetted" interface. This allows the central acquisition computers to appear with distinct addresses that are routable via different T1 circuits, but simplifies the physical cables between devices. We identify these T1 circuits as T1-1, T1-2, and T1-3. At the remote end, each Frame Relay Access Device (FRAD) and connected datalogger(s) is a subnetted LAN. The numbering is arranged so the second octet in the LAN IP address of the FRAD and datalogger identify the datalogger's primary and alternate T1 circuits. For example; a LAN with an IP address of 10.12.0.0/24 has T1-1 as its primary T1, and T1-2 as its alternate circuit. Stations with this number scheme are

  1. A 22,000-Year Record of Monsoonal Precipitation from Northern Chile's Atacama Desert.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Betancourt; Latorre; Rech; Quade; Rylander

    2000-09-01

    Fossil rodent middens and wetland deposits from the central Atacama Desert (22 degrees to 24 degrees S) indicate increasing summer precipitation, grass cover, and groundwater levels from 16.2 to 10.5 calendar kiloyears before present (ky B.P.). Higher elevation shrubs and summer-flowering grasses expanded downslope across what is now the edge of Absolute Desert, a broad expanse now largely devoid of rainfall and vegetation. Paradoxically, this pluvial period coincided with the summer insolation minimum and reduced adiabatic heating over the central Andes. Summer precipitation over the central Andes and central Atacama may depend on remote teleconnections between seasonal insolation forcing in both hemispheres, the Asian monsoon, and Pacific sea surface temperature gradients. A less pronounced episode of higher groundwater levels in the central Atacama from 8 to 3 ky B.P. conflicts with an extreme lowstand of Lake Titicaca, indicating either different climatic forcing or different response times and sensitivities to climatic change.

  2. Review of neutrino physics at Fermilab from the perspective of the Caltech--Fermilab experiment. Lecture 3

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barish, B.C.

    1976-01-01

    Neutrino-nucleon interactions which yield no final state muons (neutral current reactions) are discussed. The evidence from the Caltech--Fermilab experiment on the existence of neutral currents is detailed and a description is given of the present program to determine more about the nature of the neutral current interaction

  3. Origins Space Telescope: Cosmology and Reionization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vieira, Joaquin Daniel; Origins Space Telescope

    2018-01-01

    The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is the mission concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor, a study in development by NASA in preparation for the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey. Origins is planned to be a large aperture, actively-cooled telescope covering a wide span of the mid- to far-infrared spectrum. Its imagers and spectrographs will enable a variety of surveys of the sky that will discover and characterize the most distant galaxies, Milky-Way, exoplanets, and the outer reaches of our Solar system. Origins will enable flagship-quality general observing programs led by the astronomical community in the 2030s. The Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) would like to hear your science needs and ideas for this mission. The team can be contacted at firsurveyor_info@lists.ipac.caltech.edu.A core science goal of the OST mission is to study the the cosmological history of star, galaxy, and structure formation into the epoch of reionization (EoR). OST will probe the birth of galaxies through warm molecular hydrogen emission during the cosmic dark ages. Utilizing the unique power of the infrared fine-structure emission lines, OST will trace the rise of metals from the first galaxies until today. It will quantify the dust enrichment history of the Universe, uncover its composition and physical conditions, reveal the first cosmic sources of dust, and probe the properties of the earliest star formation. OST will provide a detailed astrophysical probe into the condition of the intergalactic medium at z > 6 and the galaxies which dominate the epoch of reionization.

  4. More than ten million years of hyper-aridity recorded in the Atacama Gravels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Tao; Bao, Huiming; Reich, Martin; Hemming, Sidney R.

    2018-04-01

    The Atacama Desert's hyper-aridity is closely linked to the development of world-class copper and nitrate/iodine ores and to regional tectonics and global paleoclimate changes in the Cenozoic era. The timing when the hyper-aridity commenced remains controversial, with proposed ages ranging from Late Oligocene to Pleistocene. In this study, we provide an independent constraint on the initiation of Atacama hyper-aridity utilizing a 100-m deep profile within the Atacama Gravels and underneath porphyry copper deposit in Spence, northern Chile. The overall high concentration of sulfate (up to 10 wt%) and a multimodal distribution of water soluble salt (sulfates, chlorides and nitrates) indicate multiple generations of sedimentation and salt accumulation events under semi-arid to hyper-arid climate conditions. The multiple sulfate isotope compositions (Δ17O, δ18O, δ34S) of the upper section (-15.0 to -34.5 m) are close to those of modern hyperarid surface sulfates, while the lower section (-34.5 to -65 m) displays a depth dependent isotope trend that is best interpreted as marking a period of climate change from semi-arid to hyper-arid. When these data are combined with new chronological 40Ar/39Ar dates obtained from a volcanic ash layer at depth of -28.0 m, our results show that hyper-arid condition in the Atacama Desert was prevailing at least prior to 9.47 Ma and may go back as old as the middle Miocene.

  5. Submillimeter heterodyne receiver for the CSO telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gulkis, S.

    1988-01-01

    This task is to build a cryogenically cooled 620 to 700 GHz astronomical receiver that will be used as a facility instrument at the CalTech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The receiver will have applications as a very high resolution spectrometer to investigate spectral lines in planetary and satellite atmospheres, and comets. The receiver will also be used to make continuum measurements of planets, satellites, and asteroids. During FY88, a scale model (200 GHz) SIS mixer radiometer was built and intrgrated into a cryostat designed for use on the CSO telescope. This system will serve as a model to guide the work on the higher frequency mixer. A solid state local oscillator source that covers two bands in the 600 to 700 GHz has been developed under contract JPL and will be delivered before the end of the year. Work has continued on the SIS materials needed for the 620 to 700 GHz mixer. Test hardware has been developed which allow the 1 to 5 curves for SIS material to be easily measured

  6. Estacionalidad de las muertes en la puna de Atacama

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bejarano, Ignacio

    2001-01-01

    Full Text Available En distintas culturas y geografías la mortalidad se distribuye de acuerdo a un patrón estacional variable según las poblaciones. El objetivo de este trabajo fue analizar la estacionalidad de las muertes en un medio ambiente extremo como lo es la Puna de Atacama (PA. Los datos de defunciones (1890-1950 corresponden a dos localidades de la PA: Susques y San Pedro de Atacama. En el análisis se consideraron, por sexo, tres grupos de edad: a prerreproductiva (0-15 años (PRE, reproductiva (16-44 años (REP y postreproductiva (<45 años (POS. Se calculo el coeficiente de estacionalidad de Henry y para identificar estadísticamente variaciones estacionales se aplicó una prueba de homogeneidad. Se utilizó la prueba de Edwards para detectar ciclos armónicos en la distribución de muertes. Independientemente de la edad y el sexo se observó un patron estacional diferencial significativo que responde a un modelo de variación armónica simple, los coeficientes de Henry mas altos se presentaron en verano e invierno. Cuando se analiza la estacionalidad por grupo de edad y sexo el patrón previamente descripto se mantiene sólo en las edades REP y POS y en el sexo masculino. Este estudio proporciona un indicio del comportamiento de la estacionalidad de las muertes en la Puna de Atacama. Sin embargo no difiere del observado en poblaciones contemporáneas de países desarrollados, por lo que se concluye que el patrón observado no sería consecuencia directa de las condiciones climáticas, culturales, etc. de este ambiente extremo.

  7. Origins Space Telescope: Nearby Galaxies, the Milky Way, and the Interstellar Medium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Battersby, Cara; Sandstrom, Karin; Origins Space Telescope Science and Technology Definition Team

    2018-01-01

    The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is the mission concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor, one of the four science and technology definition studies of NASA Headquarters for the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal survey. Origins will enable flagship-quality general observing programs led by the astronomical community in the 2030s. We welcome you to contact the Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) with your science needs and ideas by emailing us at ost_info@lists.ipac.caltech.eduThis presentation will summarize the science case related to Nearby Galaxies, the Milky Way, and the Interstellar Medium (Interstellar Medium). The Origins Space Telescope will enable a wealth of unprecedented scientific advances in this area, both those we know to expect, and the discovery space that lies unexplored. Origins will enable a comprehensive view of magnetic fields, turbulence, and the multiphase ISM; connecting these physics across scales of galaxies to protostellar cores. With unprecedented sensitivity, Origins will measure and characterize the mechanisms of feedback from star formation and Active Galactic Nuclei, and their interplay, over cosmic time. Origins will unveil the abundance and availability of water for habitable planets by allowing us to trace the trail of water from interstellar clouds to protoplanetary disks, to Earth itself.

  8. Caltech water-ice dusty plasma: preliminary results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bellan, Paul; Chai, Kilbyoung

    2013-10-01

    A water-ice dusty plasma laboratory experiment has begun operation at Caltech. As in Ref., a 1-5 watt parallel-plate 13.56 MHz rf discharge plasma has LN2-cooled electrodes that cool the neutral background gas to cryogenic temperatures. However, instead of creating water vapor by in-situ deuterium-oxygen bonding, here the neutral gas is argon and water vapor is added in a controlled fashion. Ice grains spontaneously form after a few seconds. Photography with a HeNe line filter of a sheet of HeNe laser light sheet illuminating a cross section of dust grains shows a large scale whorl pattern composed of concentric sub-whorls having wave-like spatially varying intensity. Each sub-whorl is composed of very evenly separated fine-scale stream-lines indicating that the ice grains move in self-organized lanes like automobiles on a multi-line highway. HeNe laser extinction together with an estimate of dust density from the intergrain spacing in photographs indicates a 5 micron nominal dust grain radius. HeNe laser diffraction patterns indicate the ice dust grains are large and ellipsoidal at low pressure (200 mT) but small and spheroidal at high pressure (>600 mT). Supported by USDOE.

  9. Mid-Holocene Climate and Culture Change in the Atacama Desert, Northern Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grosjean, Martin; Núñez, Lautaro; Cartajena, Isabel; Messerli, Bruno

    1997-09-01

    Twenty archaeological campsites intercalated between more than 30 debris flows caused by heavy rainfall events between 6200 and 3100 14C yr B.P. have recently been discovered at Quebrada Puripica in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. This record provides detailed information about extreme, short-lived climatic events during the hyperarid mid-Holocene period. For the first time, we found evidence of continuous human occupation in this area, filling the regional hiatus in the Atacama basin ("Silencio Arqueologico") between 8000 and 4800 14C yr B.P. The transformation of Early Archaic hunters into the complex Late Archaic cultural tradition was an adaptive process. During this time, the site was a local ecological refuge with abundant resources in a generally hostile environment.

  10. Biodiversity of nematode assemblages from deep-sea sediments of the Atacama Slope and Trench (South Pacific Ocean)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gambi, C.; Vanreusel, A.; Danovaro, R.

    2003-01-01

    Nematode assemblages were investigated (in terms of size spectra, sex ratio, Shannon diversity, trophic structure and diversity, rarefaction statistics, maturity index, taxonomic diversity and taxonomic distinctness) at bathyal and hadal depths (from 1050 to 7800 m) in the deepest trench of the South Pacific Ocean: the Trench of Atacama. This area, characterised by very high concentrations of nutritionally-rich organic matter also at 7800-m depth, displayed characteristics typical of eutrophic systems and revealed high nematode densities (>6000 ind. 10 cm -2). Nematode assemblages from the Atacama Trench displayed a different composition than at bathyal depths. At bathyal depths 95 genera and 119 species were found (Comesomatidae, Cyatholaimidae, Microlaimidae, Desmodoridae and Xyalidae being dominant), whereas in the Atacama Trench only 29 genera and 37 species were encountered (dominated by Monhysteridae, Chromadoridae, Microlaimidae, Oxystominidae and Xyalidae). The genus Monhystera (24.4%) strongly dominated at hadal depths and Neochromadora, and Trileptium were observed only in the Atacama Trench, but not at bathyal depths. A reduction of the mean nematode size (by ca. 67%) was observed between bathyal and hadal depths. Since food availability was not a limiting factor in the Atacama Trench sediments, other causes are likely to be responsible for the reduction of nematode species richness and body size. The presence of a restricted number of families and genera in the Atacama Trench might indicate that hadal sediments limited nematode colonisation. Most of the genera reaching very high densities in Trench sediments (e.g., Monhystera) are opportunistic and were responsible for the significant decrease of the maturity index. The dominance of opportunists, which are known to be characterised by small sizes, might have contributed to the reduced nematode size at hadal depths. Shannon diversity and species richness decreased in hadal water depth and this pattern

  11. Phase Synchronization for the Mid-Frequency Square Kilometre Array Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schediwy, Sascha; Gozzard, David; Stobie, Simon; Gravestock, Charles; Whitaker, Richard; Alachkar, Bassem; Malan, Sias; Boven, Paul; Grainge, Keith

    2018-01-01

    The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project is an international effort to build the world’s most sensitive radio telescope operating in the 50 MHz to 14 GHz frequency range. Construction of the SKA has been divided into phases, with the first phase (SKA1) accounting for the first 10% of the telescope's receiving capacity. During SKA1, a low-frequency aperture array comprising over a hundred thousand individual dipole antenna elements will be constructed in Western Australia (SKA1-low), while an array of 197 parabolic-dish antennas, incorporating the 64 dishes of MeerKAT, will be constructed in South Africa (SKA1-mid).Radio telescope arrays such as the SKA require phase-coherent reference signals to be transmitted to each antenna site in the array. In the case of the SKA1-mid, these reference signals will be generated at a central site and transmitted to the antenna sites via fiber-optic cables up to 175 km in length. Environmental perturbations affect the optical path length of the fiber and act to degrade the phase stability of the reference signals received at the antennas, which has the ultimate effect of reducing the fidelity and dynamic range of the data.Since 2011, researchers at the University of Western Australia (UWA) have led the development of an actively-stabilized phase-synchronization system designed specifically to meet the scientific needs and technical challenges of the SKA telescope. Recently this system has been select as the official phase synchronization system for the SKA1-mid telescope. The system is an evolution of Atacama Large Millimeter Array’s distributed ‘photonic local oscillator system’, incorporating key advances made by the international frequency metrology community over the last decade, as well as novel innovations developed by UWA researchers.In this presentation I will describe the technical details of the system; outline how the system's performance was tested using metrology techniques in a laboratory setting, on 186 km

  12. Are There High Meteorite Concentrations in the Atacama Desert/Chile?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scherer, P.; Delisle, G.

    1992-07-01

    We have visited numerous regions of the Atacama desert between Copiapo (27 degrees, 15'S) and Calama (22 degrees, 25'S) to assess their potential as a high-yield meteorite concentration surface, easily exploitable by search efforts within a reasonable time frame. According to our observations, this desert is characterized by the following features: a) A high percentage of the desert consists of sloping surfaces on which soil movement occurs, presumably by very infrequent, though heavy rain. b) Vast areas of the desert are covered by a dm-thick sand layer of dark colour. Since the sand is too coarse-grained to be transported by wind it presumably resulted from in-situ weathering of rock debris derived from nearby mountains. We suspect that impacting smaller objects can easily penetrate the sand layer. c) The sand layer is typically dotted by rocks, fist-size or smaller, that are covered by a thick layer of desert paint (reddish-brown to black colour). Most country rocks are of volcanic origin (rhyolite, andesite, basalt) and are typically of grey to black colour. A noticeable colour contrast in particular to potential stony meteorites is almost nonexistent. d) Soil salts with a potential to speed up weathering processes are ubiquitous near the surface. e) The Pampa de Mejillones, 45 km north of Antofagasta, is one of the few light-coloured areas in the Atacama desert. The surface, being of Mio-Pliocene age, consists of an almost continuous layer of light-brown fossil shells (bivalves and gastropodes). Fluvially transported dark rocks from adjacent outcrops rest on top. The latter material is covered again by desert paint. Few meteorite discoveries have been reported from this area (Pampa (a),(b),(c)). f) Numerous old tire tracks, in particular around mines in operation, crisscross most areas of the Atacama. Undetected objects such as large masses of iron bodies are not likely to have remained undiscovered in great numbers any more. We conclude that the potential of

  13. Distribution and Diversity of Organic and Biological Signatures in Soils From the Atacama Desert

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Aditi

    2005-01-01

    The Atacama Desert is amongst the driest places on Earth. It is considered to be a suitable analog for the Martian surface in which to conduct studies of life and life detection. Soil samples were collected in June 2005 from the Atacama Desert and analyzed in the lab for amino acid content. HPLC was the primary tool used to analyze samples. The amino acids of interest are aspartic acid, serine, glutamic acid, glycine, and alanine. D and L isomers of each amino acid (except for glycine) were separated through HPLC. The purpose of this study is to find correlations between location of the sample collection sites and amino acid content as well as D/L isomer ratios in order to formulate theories of how different types of environments may affect the abundance and distribution of life forms. Initial analysis of data shows a general lack of or slight correlation between location and amino acid content. Some data appears to contradict the hypothesis that harsher environments would have lower amino acid content than less harsh environments. Further analysis of data is needed to come up with a more conclusive report of the distribution of amino acids in the Atacama Desert.

  14. La restauración en comunidad de la iglesia de San Pedro de Atacama

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beatriz Yuste Miguel

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available En medio del gran desierto de Atacama caracterizado por una gran aridez y amplitud térmica, se ubica en un fértil oasis, la iglesia de San Pedro de Atacama. Su construcción original dataría del siglo XVI, la actual, del siglo XVIII, conserva el estilo arquitectónico barroco del ámbito sur andino. La obra está sorprendentemente adecuada a la ecología, sismicidad y materialidad del desierto. Destacan sus muros de adobe, techumbre de par y nudillo de chañar y entablado de cactus. La iglesia ha sufrido sucesivos incendios, sismos, inundaciones y sobrecargas en el techo que han ido provocando daños acumulativos graves en su estructura. El proyecto de restauración ejecutado por Fundación Altiplano buscó ajustarse a los criterios y técnicas vigentes para la conservación patrimonial de construcciones en tierra, como también a los de preservación del patrimonio y desarrollo sostenible, a través del fortalecimiento de la comunidad de San Pedro de Atacama.

  15. Tree establishment along an ENSO experimental gradient in the Atacama desert

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Squeo, F.A.; Holmgren, M.; Jimenez, L.; Alban, L.; Reyes, J.; Gutierrez, J.R.

    2007-01-01

    Questions: (1) What are the roles of regional climate and plant growth rate for seedling establishment during ENSO rainy pulses along the western coast of South America? (2) What is the water threshold for tree seedling establishment in these arid ecosystems? Location: Atacama Desert, western South

  16. Fog deposition to the Atacama desert

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westbeld, A.; Klemm, O.; Griessbaum, F.; Sträter, E.; Larrain, H.; Osses, P.; Cereceda, P.

    2010-07-01

    In the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth, fog deposition plays an important role for the water balance and for the survival of vulnerable ecosystems. The eddy covariance method, previously applied for the quantification of fog deposition to forests in various parts of the world, was used for the first time to measure deposition of fog water to a desert. We estimated the amount of water available for the ecosystem by deposition and determined the relevant processes driving fog deposition. This is especially important for the species Tillandsia landbecki living in coastal Atacama at the limit of plant existence with fog and dew being the only sources of liquid water. Between 31 July and 19 August, 2008, measurements were realized in a 31 ha large Tillandsia carpet at Cerro Guanaco, located 15 km south of Iquique, northern Chile. Several data quality assurance procedures were applied. For the values in compliance with the applied criteria, the mean total deposition per hour was determined (0.04 L per m2) for foggy periods. This number was applied to estimate the amount of water deposited during the measuring period, during the entire month of August 2008, and throughout a whole year. For August 2008, a frequency of fog of 16 %, as established during the measuring period, was assumed. The frequency for a whole year was estimated from the differences of the collected amount of water obtained with standard fog collectors installed at Cerro Guanaco in an earlier study. Calculations resulted in an amount of 2.5 L per m2 of deposited fog water for the measuring period. During the entire August, 4.4 L per m2 have likely been available, and for a whole year, a total of 25 L per m2 was estimated to have reached the surface. Inaccuracies could have been caused by the low amount of data applied, and by a possible underestimation of the deposition due to additional formation of radiation fog during the fog events. Three days were used for further analysis because

  17. 5@5 - A 5 GeV Energy Threshold Array of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes at 5 km Altitude

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aharonian, F. A.; Konopelko, A. K.; Voelk, H. J.; Quintana, H.

    2000-10-01

    We discuss the concept and the performance of 5@5 - a stereoscopic array of several large imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes installed at a very high mountain elevation of about 5 km a.s.l. or more - for the study of the gamma-ray sky at energies from several GeV to 100 GeV. With its capability to detect the ``standard'' EGRET sources with spectra extending up to 10 GeV in exposure times from 1 to 103 seconds, such a detector may serve as an ideal "Gamma-Ray Timing Explorer" for the study of transient non-thermal phenomena like gamma-radiation from AGN jets, synchrotron flares of microquasars, the high energy (GeV) counterparts of Gamma Ray Bursts, etc. Such an instrument would also allow detailed studies of the spectral characteristics of persistent gamma-ray sources like pulsars, supernova remnants, plerions, radiogalaxies, etc, in the energy region between 10 GeV and 100 GeV, where the capabilities of both the current space-based and ground-based gamma-ray projects are quite limited. The existing technological achievements in the design and construction of multi (1000) pixel, high resolution imagers, as well as of large, 20 m diameter class multi-mirror dishes with rather modest optical requirements, would allow the construction of the "5@5" in a foreseeable future. The Llano de Chajnantor (or the neighboring Cerro Toco) in the Atacama desert of Northern Chile seems an ideal site for such a ``post - CANGAROO/H.E.S.S./MAGIC/VERITAS'' era ground-based gamma-ray detector. The large flat area of that site, which was recently chosen for the installation of one of the most powerful future astronomical instruments - the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) - could accomodate also an additional Cherenkov telescope array which requires a relatively compact area with a radius of about 100 m.

  18. Centralized operations and maintenance planning at the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopez, Bernhard; Whyborn, Nicholas D.; Guniat, Serge; Hernandez, Octavio; Gairing, Stefan

    2016-07-01

    The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a joint project between astronomical organizations in Europe, North America, and East Asia, in collaboration with the Republic of Chile. ALMA consists of 54 twelve-meter antennas and 12 seven-meter antennas operating as an aperture synthesis array in the (sub)millimeter wavelength range. Since the inauguration of the observatory back in March 2013 there has been a continuous effort to establish solid operations processes for effective and efficient management of technical and administrative tasks on site. Here a key aspect had been the centralized maintenance and operations planning: input is collected from science stakeholders, the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) and from the technical teams spread around the world, then this information is analyzed and consolidated based on the established maintenance strategy, the observatory long-term plan and the short-term priorities definitions. This paper presents the high-level process that has been developed for the planning and scheduling of planned- and unplanned maintenance tasks, and for site operations like the telescope array reconfiguration campaigns. We focus on the centralized planning approach by presenting its genesis, its current implementation for the observatory operations including related planning products, and we explore the necessary next steps in order to fully achieve a comprehensive centralized planning approach for ALMA in steady-state operations.

  19. VEGETATIVE GROWTH AND EARLY PRODUCTION OF SIX OLIVE CULTIVARS, IN SOUTHERN ATACAMA DESERT, CHILE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Freddy MORA

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Tree survival, early fruit production, vegetative growth and alternate bearing were examined in six different olive cultivars (Barnea, Biancolilla, Coratina, Empeltre, Koroneiki and Leccino under intensive agronomic conditions i southern Atacama Desert, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. The cultivars were evaluated over four successive years and had a high survival rate (93% confi rming their potential for these dry-lands. Fruit production (recorded over the growing seasons 2002-2003, vegetative growth (2000-2003 and alternate bearing differed signifi cantly among cultivars. Olive selection in intensively managed planting at the southern part of the Atacama Desert depends on matching specifi c cultivars to sites on which they perform the best.

  20. Infrared Spectroscopic Analyses of Sulfate, Nitrate, and Carbonate-bearing Atacama Desert Soils: Analogs for the Interpretation of Infrared Spectra from the Martian Surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dalton, J. B.; Dalton, J. B.; Ewing, S. A.; Amundson, R.; McKay, C. P.

    2005-01-01

    The Atacama Desert of northern Chile is the driest desert on Earth, receiving only a few mm of rain per decade. The Mars climate may, in the past, have been punctuated by short-lived episodes of aqueous activity. The paleo-Martian environment may have had aqueous conditions similar to the current conditions that exist in the Atacama, and Mars soils may have formed with soil chemistry and mineralogy similar to those found in the Atacama. Remote and in-situ analysis of the Martian surface using infrared technology has a long heritage. Future investigations of the subsurface mineralogy are likely to build upon this heritage, and will benefit from real life lessons to be learned from terrestrial analog studies. To that end, preliminary results from a near- and mid-infrared spectroscopic study of Atacama soil profiled at a range of depths are presented.

  1. Origins Space Telescope: Breaking the Confusion Limit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Edward L.; Origins Space Telescope Science and Technology Definition Team

    2018-01-01

    The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is the mission concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor, one of the four science and technology definition studies of NASA Headquarters for the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal survey. Origins will enable flagship-quality general observing programs led by the astronomical community in the 2030s.OST will have a background-limited sensitivity for a background 27,000 times lower than the Herschel background caused by thermal emission from Herschel's warm telescope. For continuum observations the confusion limit in a diffraction-limited survey can be reached in very short integration times at longer far-infrared wavelengths. But the confusion limit can be pierced for both the nearest and the farthest objects to be observed by OST. For outer the Solar System the targets' motion across the sky will provide a clear signature in surveys repeated after an interval of days to months. This will provide a size-frequency distribution of TNOs that is not biased toward high albedo objects.For the distant Universe the first galaxies and the first metals will provide a third dimension of spectral information that can be measured with a long-slit, medium resolution spectrograph. This will allow 3Dmapping to measure source densities as a function of redshift. The continuum shape associated with sourcesat different redshifts can be derived from correlation analyses of these 3D maps.Fairly large sky areas can be scanned by moving the spacecraft at a constant angular rate perpendicular to the orientation of the long slit of the spectrograph, avoiding the high overhead of step-and-stare surveying with a large space observatory.We welcome you to contact the Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) with your science needs and ideas by emailing us at ost_info@lists.ipac.caltech.edu

  2. ALMA Telescope Reaches New Heights

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-09-01

    ball at a distance of nine miles, and to keep their smooth reflecting surfaces accurate to less than the thickness of a human hair. Once the transporter reached the high plateau it carried the antenna to a concrete pad -- a docking station with connections for power and fiber optics -- and positioned it with an accuracy of a small fraction of an inch. The transporter is guided by a laser steering system and, just like some cars, also has ultrasonic collision detectors. These sensors ensure the safety of the state-of-the-art antennas as the transporter drives them across what will soon be a rather crowded plateau. Ultimately, ALMA will have at least 66 antennas distributed over about 200 pads, spread over distances of up to 11.5 miles and operating as a single, giant telescope. Even when ALMA is fully operational, the transporters will be used to move the antennas between pads to reconfigure the telescope for different kinds of observations. This first ALMA antenna at the high site will soon be joined by others, and the ALMA team looks forward to making their first observations from the Chajnantor plateau. They plan to link three antennas by early 2010, and to make the first scientific observations with ALMA in the second half of 2011. ALMA will help astronomers answer important questions about our cosmic origins. The telescope will observe the Universe using light with millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, between infrared light and radio waves in the electromagnetic spectrum. Light at these wavelengths comes from some of the coldest, and from some of the most distant objects in the cosmos. These include cold clouds of gas and dust where new stars are being born, or remote galaxies towards the edge of the observable universe. The Universe is relatively unexplored at submillimeter wavelengths, as the telescopes need extremely dry atmospheric conditions, such as those at Chajnantor, and advanced detector technology. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array

  3. Transitory microbial habitat in the hyperarid Atacama Desert

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schulze-Makuch, Dirk; Wagner, Dirk; Kounaves, Samuel P.; Mangelsdorf, Kai; Devine, Kevin G.; de Vera, Jean-Pierre; Schmitt-Kopplin, Philippe; Grossart, Hans-Peter; Parro, Victor; Kaupenjohann, Martin; Galy, Albert; Schneider, Beate; Airo, Alessandro; Frösler, Jan; Davila, Alfonso F.; Arens, Felix L.; Cáceres, Luis; Solís Cornejo, Francisco; Carrizo, Daniel; Dartnell, Lewis; DiRuggiero, Jocelyne; Flury, Markus; Ganzert, Lars; Gessner, Mark O.; Grathwohl, Peter; Guan, Lisa; Heinz, Jacob; Hess, Matthias; Keppler, Frank; Maus, Deborah; McKay, Christopher P.; Meckenstock, Rainer U.; Montgomery, Wren; Oberlin, Elizabeth A.; Probst, Alexander J.; Sáenz, Johan S.; Sattler, Tobias; Schirmack, Janosch; Sephton, Mark A.; Schloter, Michael; Uhl, Jenny; Valenzuela, Bernardita; Vestergaard, Gisle; Wörmer, Lars; Zamorano, Pedro

    2018-03-01

    Traces of life are nearly ubiquitous on Earth. However, a central unresolved question is whether these traces always indicate an active microbial community or whether, in extreme environments, such as hyperarid deserts, they instead reflect just dormant or dead cells. Although microbial biomass and diversity decrease with increasing aridity in the Atacama Desert, we provide multiple lines of evidence for the presence of an at times metabolically active, microbial community in one of the driest places on Earth. We base this observation on four major lines of evidence: (i) a physico-chemical characterization of the soil habitability after an exceptional rain event, (ii) identified biomolecules indicative of potentially active cells [e.g., presence of ATP, phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs), metabolites, and enzymatic activity], (iii) measurements of in situ replication rates of genomes of uncultivated bacteria reconstructed from selected samples, and (iv) microbial community patterns specific to soil parameters and depths. We infer that the microbial populations have undergone selection and adaptation in response to their specific soil microenvironment and in particular to the degree of aridity. Collectively, our results highlight that even the hyperarid Atacama Desert can provide a habitable environment for microorganisms that allows them to become metabolically active following an episodic increase in moisture and that once it decreases, so does the activity of the microbiota. These results have implications for the prospect of life on other planets such as Mars, which has transitioned from an earlier wetter environment to today’s extreme hyperaridity.

  4. A neural network-based approach to noise identification of interferometric GW antennas: the case of the 40 m Caltech laser interferometer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Acernese, F [Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Universita di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte S Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Naples (Italy); Barone, F [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, sez. Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte S Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Naples (Italy); Rosa, M de [Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Universita di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte S Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Naples (Italy); Rosa, R De [Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Universita di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte S Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Naples (Italy); Eleuteri, A [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, sez. Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte S Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Naples (Italy); Milano, L [Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Universita di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte S Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Naples (Italy); Tagliaferri, R [Dipartimento di Matematica ed Informatica, Universita di Salerno, via S Allende, I-84081 Baronissi (Salerno) (Italy)

    2002-06-21

    In this paper, a neural network-based approach is presented for the real time noise identification of a GW laser interferometric antenna. The 40 m Caltech laser interferometer output data provide a realistic test bed for noise identification algorithms because of the presence of many relevant effects: violin resonances in the suspensions, main power harmonics, ring-down noise from servo control systems, electronic noises, glitches and so on. These effects can be assumed to be present in all the first interferometric long baseline GW antennas such as VIRGO, LIGO, GEO and TAMA. For noise identification, we used the Caltech-40 m laser interferometer data. The results we obtained are pretty good notwithstanding the high initial computational cost. The algorithm we propose is general and robust, taking into account that it does not require a priori information on the data, nor a precise model, and it constitutes a powerful tool for time series data analysis.

  5. A neural network-based approach to noise identification of interferometric GW antennas: the case of the 40 m Caltech laser interferometer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Acernese, F; Barone, F; Rosa, M de; Rosa, R De; Eleuteri, A; Milano, L; Tagliaferri, R

    2002-01-01

    In this paper, a neural network-based approach is presented for the real time noise identification of a GW laser interferometric antenna. The 40 m Caltech laser interferometer output data provide a realistic test bed for noise identification algorithms because of the presence of many relevant effects: violin resonances in the suspensions, main power harmonics, ring-down noise from servo control systems, electronic noises, glitches and so on. These effects can be assumed to be present in all the first interferometric long baseline GW antennas such as VIRGO, LIGO, GEO and TAMA. For noise identification, we used the Caltech-40 m laser interferometer data. The results we obtained are pretty good notwithstanding the high initial computational cost. The algorithm we propose is general and robust, taking into account that it does not require a priori information on the data, nor a precise model, and it constitutes a powerful tool for time series data analysis

  6. A neural network-based approach to noise identification of interferometric GW antennas: the case of the 40 m Caltech laser interferometer

    CERN Document Server

    Acernese, F; Rosa, M D; Rosa, R D; Eleuteri, A; Milano, L; Tagliaferri, R

    2002-01-01

    In this paper, a neural network-based approach is presented for the real time noise identification of a GW laser interferometric antenna. The 40 m Caltech laser interferometer output data provide a realistic test bed for noise identification algorithms because of the presence of many relevant effects: violin resonances in the suspensions, main power harmonics, ring-down noise from servo control systems, electronic noises, glitches and so on. These effects can be assumed to be present in all the first interferometric long baseline GW antennas such as VIRGO, LIGO, GEO and TAMA. For noise identification, we used the Caltech-40 m laser interferometer data. The results we obtained are pretty good notwithstanding the high initial computational cost. The algorithm we propose is general and robust, taking into account that it does not require a priori information on the data, nor a precise model, and it constitutes a powerful tool for time series data analysis.

  7. Weathering of ordinary chondrites from the Atacama Desert, Chile, by Mössbauer spectroscopy and synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munayco, Pablo; Munayco, Jimmy; Avillez, Roberto R.; Valenzuela, Millarca; Rochette, Pierre; Gattacceca, JéRôMe; Scorzelli, Rosa B.

    2013-03-01

    Some terrestrial areas have climatic and geomorphologic features that favor the preservation, and therefore, accumulation of meteorites. The Atacama Desert in Chile is among the most important of such areas, known as DCA. This desert is the driest on Earth, one of the most arid, uninhabitable localities with semiarid, arid, and hyper-arid conditions. The meteorites studied here were collected from within the DCA of San Juan and Pampa de Mejillones, located, respectively, in the Central Depression and the Coastal Range of the Atacama Desert. 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy was used for quantitative analysis of the degree of weathering of the meteorites, through the determination of the proportions of the various Fe-bearing phases and in particular the amount of oxidized iron in terrestrial alteration products. The abundance of ferric ions in weathered chondrites can be related to specific precursor compositions and to the level of terrestrial weathering. The aim of the study was the identification, quantification, and differentiation of the weathering products in the ordinary chondrites found in the San Juan and the Pampa de Mejillones areas of the Atacama Desert. The 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy study was complemented by synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The results allow a clear differentiation of the rate of weathering in meteorite samples collected from the San Juan versus the Pampa de Mejillones areas of the Atacama Desert.

  8. Detectors for the Atacama B-mode Search experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Appel, John William

    Inflation is the leading theory for explaining the initial conditions that brought about our homogeneous and isotropic Universe. It predicts the presence of gravitational waves in the early Universe, which implant a characteristic B-mode polarization pattern on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The Atacama B-mode Search (ABS) experiment is a polarimeter observing from Cerro Toco (located in the Atacama desert of Chile at an altitude of 5190 m), searching for the yet undetected B-mode signal. ABS carries 480 superconducting Transition Edge Sensor (TES) Bolometers that couple 150 GHz radiation via planar Ortho-Mode Transducers (OMTs) mounted at the output of corrugated feedhorns. The feedhorn beam is projected onto the sky through crossed Dragonian reflectors, a set of reflective and absorptive filters, and a rotating Half Wave Plate (HWP) that modulates any polarized sky signal at 10.2 Hz. The bolometers are cooled to 300 mK by a He3-He4 adsorption fridge system backed by pulse tubes. The reflectors are located within the 4 K cavity of the cryostat, while the HWP is mounted on frictionless air bearings above the cryostat window. This thesis discusses the development and construction of the ABS detector focal plane, and presents results of its performance in the field through August 2012. The ABS detector array sensitivity of 31 μKs 1/2, together with the experiment's unique set of systematic controls, and expected multi-year integration time, could detect a B-mode signal with tensor to scalar ratio r ˜ 0.1.

  9. Expedition Atacama - project AMOS in Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tóth, J.; Kaniansky, S.

    2016-01-01

    The Slovak Video Meteor Network operates since 2009 (Tóth et al., 2011). It currently consists of four semi-automated all-sky video cameras, developed at the Astronomical Observatory in Modra, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. Two new generations of AMOS (All-sky Meteor Orbit System) cameras operate fully automatically at the Canary Islands, Tenerife and La Palma, since March 2015 (Tóth et al., 2015). As a logical step, we plan to cover the southern hemisphere from Chile. We present observational experiences in meteor astronomy from the Atacama Desert and other astronomical sites in Chile. This summary of the observations lists meteor spectra records (26) between Nov.5-13, 2015 mostly Taurid meteors, single and double station meteors as well as the first light from the permanent AMOS stations in Chile.

  10. Cryophenomena in the Cold Desert of Atacama

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buchroithner, Dr.; Trombotto, Dr.

    2012-04-01

    The study area of the Valle de Barrancas Blancas in the High Atacama Andes of Chile (68°39' W, 27°02' S), a kind of Patagonian "bajo sin salida", shows well preserved landforms resulting from a combination of slope, eolian, lacustrine/litoral, fluvial, glacial and periglacial regimes. They permit the reconstruction of geomorphological processes within this isolated catchment of approximately 160 km2. The mean annual air temperature varies between -2 and -4 °C and the precipitation is approximately 150 mm/a. Snowfall is frequent but the snow is quickly sublimated, redeposited and/or covered by cryosediments, i.e. mainly pumice pebbles. Water bodies present icings, even in summer. Regarding its climatic conditions the study area represents an extremely cold desertic region. Extremophile microfauna was also found. The area displays both in situ mountain permafrost and creeping permafrost. The active layer is 30 to 45 cm thick. It is a periglacial macro-environment where interdependent processes, and not only cryogenic processes but also erosion and eolian deposition and the action of fluvial washout mainly caused by precipitation, accumulation, retransportation/redeposition and melting of snow, play an important role. The cryogenic geomorphology of the Valle de Barrancas Blancas is varied and contains microforms such as patterned ground and microforms caused by cryoturbation, as well as mesoforms like rockglaciers and cryoplanation surfaces. Slopes are strongly affected by gelifluction. New cryoforms in South America and in the Southern Hemisphere like the Atacama Pingo (Pingo atacamensis) and Permafrosted Dunes ("Dunas heladas") were found. Intense niveo-eolian processes participate in the erosion of preexisting landforms, in the formation of subterraneous ice layers, and the retransportation/redeposition of snow and sediments. Studies of this periglacial environment are crucial for the understanding of Tundrean paleoenvironments and Martian conditions.

  11. `Site Testing' en la Puna de Atacama

    Science.gov (United States)

    Recabarren, P.; Mosconi, M.

    We present a report of the activities developed by the IATE group from the Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba and astronomers from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, from 14 till 22. of April of 2000. We have made seeing and meteorological measurements and a topographical prospecting in order to characterize the environmental conditions in Cerro Toco (5574m), in the region of the Puna de Atacama. The seeing measurements were made with a DIMM (Differential Image Motin Monitor) camera. The seeing measurements during 20. and 21. of April gave an average value of 0.85 arc seconds. We think that more places in the region should be studied.

  12. Iodine budget in surface waters from Atacama: Natural and anthropogenic iodine sources revealed by halogen geochemistry and iodine-129 isotopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Álvarez, Fernanda; Reich, Martin; Snyder, Glen; Pérez-Fodich, Alida; Muramatsu, Yasuyuki; Daniele, Linda; Fehn, Udo

    2016-01-01

    Iodine enrichment in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile is widespread and varies significantly between reservoirs, including nitrate-rich “caliche” soils, supergene Cu deposits and marine sedimentary rocks. Recent studies have suggested that groundwater has played a key role in the remobilization, transport and deposition of iodine in Atacama over scales of millions-of-years. However, and considering that natural waters are also anomalously enriched in iodine in the region, the relative source contributions of iodine in the waters and its extent of mixing remain unconstrained. In this study we provide new halogen data and isotopic ratios of iodine ("1"2"9I/I) in shallow seawater, rivers, salt lakes, cold and thermal spring water, rainwater and groundwater that help to constrain the relative influence of meteoric, marine and crustal sources in the Atacama waters. Iodine concentrations in surface and ground waters range between 0.35 μM and 26 μM in the Tarapacá region and between 0.25 μM and 48 μM in the Antofagasta region, and show strong enrichment when compared with seawater concentrations (I = ∼0.4 μM). In contrast, no bromine enrichment is detected (1.3–45.7 μM for Tarapacá and 1.7–87.4 μM for Antofagasta) relative to seawater (Br = ∼600 μM). These data, coupled to the high I/Cl and low Br/Cl ratios are indicative of an organic-rich sedimentary source (related with an “initial” fluid) that interacted with meteoric water to produce a mixed fluid, and preclude an exclusively seawater origin for iodine in Atacama natural waters. Iodine isotopic ratios ("1"2"9I/I) are consistent with halogen chemistry and confirm that most of the iodine present in natural waters derives from a deep initial fluid source (i.e., groundwater which has interacted with Jurassic marine basement), with variable influence of at least one atmospheric or meteoric source. Samples with the lowest isotopic ratios ("1"2"9I/I from ∼215 to ∼1000 × 10"

  13. Origins Space Telescope: Science Case and Design Reference Mission for Concept 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meixner, Margaret; Cooray, Asantha; Pope, Alexandra; Armus, Lee; Vieira, Joaquin Daniel; Milam, Stefanie N.; Melnick, Gary; Leisawitz, David; Staguhn, Johannes G.; Bergin, Edwin; Origins Space Telescope Science and Technology Definition Team

    2018-01-01

    The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is the mission concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor, one of the four science and technology definition studies of NASA Headquarters for the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal survey. The science case for OST covers four themes: Tracing the Signature of Life and the Ingredients of Habitable Worlds; Charting the Rise of Metals, Dust and the First Galaxies, Unraveling the Co-evolution of Black Holes and Galaxies and Understanding Our Solar System in the Context of Planetary System Formation. Using a set of proposed observing programs from the community, we estimate a design reference mission for OST mission concept 1. The mission will complete significant programs in these four themes and have time for other programs from the community. Origins will enable flagship-quality general observing programs led by the astronomical community in the 2030s. We welcome you to contact the Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) with your science needs and ideas by emailing us at ost_info@lists.ipac.caltech.edu.

  14. 57 Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy studies of chondritic meteorites from the Atacama Desert, Chile: Implications for weathering processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munayco, P.; Munayco, J.; Valenzuela, M.; Rochette, P.; Gattacceca, J.; Scorzelli, R. B.

    2014-01-01

    Some terrestrial areas have climatic and geomorphologic features that favor the preservation, and therefore, accumulation of meteorites. The Atacama Desert in Chile is among the most important of such areas, known as dense collection areas. This desert is the driest on Earth, one of the most arid, uninhabitable locals with semi-arid, arid and hyper-arid conditions. The meteorites studied here were collected from within the dense collection area of San Juan at the Central Depression and Coastal Range of Atacama Desert. 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy was used for quantitative analysis of the degree of weathering of the meteorites, through the determination of the proportions of the various Fe-bearing phases and in particular the amount of oxidized iron in the terrestrial alteration products. The abundance of ferric ions in weathered chondrites can be related to specific precursor compositions and to the level of terrestrial weathering. The aim of the study was the identification, quantification and differentiation of the weathering products in the ordinary chondrites found in the San Juan area of Atacama Desert.

  15. The Chemistry and Mineralogy of Atacama Desert soils: A Possible Analog for Mars Soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sutter, B.; Amundson, R.; Ewing, S.; Rhodes, K. W.; McKay, C.

    2002-12-01

    The Atacama Desert of northern Chile is the driest desert in the world, having experienced its present hyper-arid climate since the Miocene. While Mars is vastly more dry and cold than the Atacama, the Atacama environment may be one of the best terrestrial Mars analog environments accessible to researchers. Because of the long-term hyperaridity, the soils retain atmospherically-derived elements, which accumulate to economically valuable quantities. The objective of this work was to examine physical and chemical evolution of the soils of the hyper-arid Atacama Desert to provide insight as to what soil properties may be found on Mars. Three soils were excavated and examined on widely representative landforms along a south to north transect (Copiapo > Altimira > Yungay) that coincides with decreasing moisture levels (~15mm to ~2 mm yr-1, south to north). Total chemical analyses were used to calculate strain (i.e. volume change) and elemental gains or losses (\\tau). Relative to parent material values, the Yungay and Altimira soils have expanded over 400% in certain horizons, while the Copiapo soil has collapsed by as much as 48%. The expansions are driven by elemental gains; the collapse by weathering losses. Calculations of \\tau indicate a 380 000% enrichment in Cl (halite) in the lower horizons, and S enrichments (anhydrite, gypsum) as high as 50 000% in the upper horizons, of the Yungay soil. The Altimira soil had a 110 000% enrichment of S (gypsum) and a 16,000% enrichment of carbonate, reflecting the higher precipitation and the relative solubility of salts. The southern, higher rainfall Copiapo soil had small \\tau values for S (283%) and Cl (63%) in the middle horizons, but significant gains of CaCO3 (\\tau values as high as 4 000% in certain horizons). In general, the type and depth of Cl, S, and CaCO3 enrichment in the soils varied predictably with rainfall. The results of this work, which document enormous atmospherically-derived elemental gains and

  16. Modification of REE distribution of ordinary chondrites from Atacama (Chile) and Lut (Iran) hot deserts: Insights into the chemical weathering of meteorites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pourkhorsandi, Hamed; D'Orazio, Massimo; Rochette, Pierre; Valenzuela, Millarca; Gattacceca, Jérôme; Mirnejad, Hassan; Sutter, Brad; Hutzler, Aurore; Aboulahris, Maria

    2017-09-01

    The behavior of rare earth elements (REEs) during hot desert weathering of meteorites is investigated. Ordinary chondrites (OCs) from Atacama (Chile) and Lut (Iran) deserts show different variations in REE composition during this process. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) data reveal that hot desert OCs tend to show elevated light REE concentrations, relative to OC falls. Chondrites from Atacama are by far the most enriched in REEs and this enrichment is not necessarily related to their degree of weathering. Positive Ce anomaly of fresh chondrites from Atacama and the successive formation of a negative Ce anomaly with the addition of trivalent REEs are similar to the process reported from Antarctic eucrites. In addition to REEs, Sr and Ba also show different concentrations when comparing OCs from different hot deserts. The stability of Atacama surfaces and the associated old terrestrial ages of meteorites from this region give the samples the necessary time to interact with the terrestrial environment and to be chemically modified. Higher REE contents and LREE-enriched composition are evidence of contamination by terrestrial soil. Despite their low degrees of weathering, special care must be taken into account while working on the REE composition of Atacama meteorites for cosmochemistry applications. In contrast, chondrites from the Lut desert show lower degrees of REE modification, despite significant weathering signed by Sr content. This is explained by the relatively rapid weathering rate of the meteorites occurring in the Lut desert, which hampers the penetration of terrestrial material by forming voluminous Fe oxide/oxyhydroxides shortly after the meteorite fall.

  17. Fog deposition to a Tillandsia carpet in the Atacama Desert

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westbeld, A.; Klemm, O.; Grießbaum, F.; Sträter, E.; Larrain, H.; Osses, P.; Cereceda, P.

    2009-09-01

    In the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth, fog deposition plays an important role for the water balance and for the survival of vulnerable ecosystems. The eddy covariance method, previously applied for the quantification of fog deposition to forests in various parts of the world, was used for the first time to measure deposition of fog water to a desert. In this exploratory study we estimate the amount of water available for the ecosystem by deposition and determine the relevant processes driving fog deposition. This is especially important for the species Tillandsia landbecki living in coastal Atacama at the limit of plant existence with fog and dew being the only sources of water. Between 31 July and 19 August 2008 approximately 2.5 L m-2 of water were made available through deposition. Whole-year deposition was estimated as 25 L m-2. Turbulent upward fluxes occurred several times during the evenings and are explained by the formation of radiation fog. In connection with that, underestimates of the deposition are assumed. More detailed studies covering various seasons and all parameters and fluxes contributing to the local energy balance are suggested. This will help to further develop understanding about the processes of (i) deposition of water to the desert, and (ii) intensification of advection fog through additional formation of radiation fog.

  18. Fog deposition to a Tillandsia carpet in the Atacama Desert

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Westbeld, A.; Klemm, O.; Griessbaum, F.; Straeter, E. [Muenster Univ. (Germany). Inst. of Landscape Ecology; Larrain, H. [Pontificia Univ. Catolica de Chile (Chile). Atacama Desert Center ADC; Univ. Bolivariana, Iquique (Chile); Osses, P.; Cereceda, P. [Pontificia Univ. Catolica de Chile, Santiago de Chile (Chile). Inst. of Geography

    2009-07-01

    In the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth, fog deposition plays an important role for the water balance and for the survival of vulnerable ecosystems. The eddy covariance method, previously applied for the quantification of fog deposition to forests in various parts of the world, was used for the first time to measure deposition of fog water to a desert. In this exploratory study we estimate the amount of water available for the ecosystem by deposition and determine the relevant processes driving fog deposition. This is especially important for the species Tillandsia landbecki living in coastal Atacama at the limit of plant existence with fog and dew being the only sources of water. Between 31 July and 19 August 2008 approximately 2.5 L m{sup -2} of water were made available through deposition. Whole-year deposition was estimated as 25 L m{sup -2}. Turbulent upward fluxes occurred several times during the evenings and are explained by the formation of radiation fog. In connection with that, underestimates of the deposition are assumed. More detailed studies covering various seasons and all parameters and fluxes contributing to the local energy balance are suggested. This will help to further develop understanding about the processes of (i) deposition of water to the desert, and (ii) intensification of advection fog through additional formation of radiation fog. (orig.)

  19. Fog deposition to a Tillandsia carpet in the Atacama Desert

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Osses

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available In the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth, fog deposition plays an important role for the water balance and for the survival of vulnerable ecosystems. The eddy covariance method, previously applied for the quantification of fog deposition to forests in various parts of the world, was used for the first time to measure deposition of fog water to a desert. In this exploratory study we estimate the amount of water available for the ecosystem by deposition and determine the relevant processes driving fog deposition. This is especially important for the species Tillandsia landbecki living in coastal Atacama at the limit of plant existence with fog and dew being the only sources of water. Between 31 July and 19 August 2008 approximately 2.5 L m−2 of water were made available through deposition. Whole-year deposition was estimated as 25 L m−2. Turbulent upward fluxes occurred several times during the evenings and are explained by the formation of radiation fog. In connection with that, underestimates of the deposition are assumed. More detailed studies covering various seasons and all parameters and fluxes contributing to the local energy balance are suggested. This will help to further develop understanding about the processes of (i deposition of water to the desert, and (ii intensification of advection fog through additional formation of radiation fog.

  20. ESO takes the public on an astronomical journey "Around the World in 80 Telescopes"

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-03-01

    Year of Astronomy 2009. 100HA is on track to be the largest single science public outreach event ever, with more than 1500 events registered in over 130 countries. 100HA will take place over four days and nights, from 2-5 April 2009. It is a worldwide celebration composed of a broad range of activities aimed at involving the public. During this period, people from around the globe will share the experience and wonder of observing the sky. For many, it will be their first glimpse of the marvels of the heavens through a telescope. For others, it is the perfect opportunity to impart their knowledge and excitement, helping unveil the cosmos to fresh and eager eyes. Astronomers at ESO are also organising local public events near their headquarters in Garching, near Munich. In the Munich city centre, ESO astronomers, together with colleagues from the Excellence Cluster Universe, will share their views of the cosmos with members of the public. ESO in Chile is also participating in a series of events to celebrate the 100 Hours of Astronomy. In Antofagasta, an exhibition by international and local astrophotographers will be unveiled at the main mall in the city. Star parties will be organised for the public in the desert outside Antofagasta, in coordination with the local university UCN. In Santiago, ESO is offering, along with other international observatories and the Chilean astronomical community, a complete set of programmes, including public talks, night observations and interactive exhibitions. In San Pedro de Atacama, the ALMA project will install an inflatable planetarium for the local community, and astronomy workshops and star parties will be offered to the public. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United

  1. The control system of the 12-m medium-size telescope prototype: a test-ground for the CTA array control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oya, I.; Anguner, E. A.; Behera, B.; Birsin, E.; Fuessling, M.; Lindemann, R.; Melkumyan, D.; Schlenstedt, S.; Schmidt, T.; Schwanke, U.; Sternberger, R.; Wegner, P.; Wiesand, S.

    2014-07-01

    The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be the next generation ground-based very-high energy -ray observatory. CTA will consist of two arrays: one in the Northern hemisphere composed of about 20 telescopes, and the other one in the Southern hemisphere composed of about 100 telescopes, both arrays containing telescopes of different sizes and types and in addition numerous auxiliary devices. In order to provide a test-ground for the CTA array control, the steering software of the 12-m medium size telescope (MST) prototype deployed in Berlin has been implemented using the tools and design concepts under consideration to be used for the control of the CTA array. The prototype control system is implemented based on the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Common Software (ACS) control middleware, with components implemented in Java, C++ and Python. The interfacing to the hardware is standardized via the Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control Unified Architecture (OPC UA). In order to access the OPC UA servers from the ACS framework in a common way, a library has been developed that allows to tie the OPC UA server nodes, methods and events to the equivalents in ACS components. The front-end of the archive system is able to identify the deployed components and to perform the sampling of the monitoring points of each component following time and value change triggers according to the selected configurations. The back-end of the archive system of the prototype is composed by two different databases: MySQL and MongoDB. MySQL has been selected as storage of the system configurations, while MongoDB is used to have an efficient storage of device monitoring data, CCD images, logging and alarm information. In this contribution, the details and conclusions on the implementation of the control software of the MST prototype are presented.

  2. Hydroclimate variability in the low-elevation Atacama Desert over the last 2500 yr

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gayo, E. M.; Latorre, C.; Santoro, C. M.; Maldonado, A.; de Pol-Holz, R.

    2012-02-01

    Paleoclimate reconstructions reveal that Earth system has experienced sub-millennial scale climate changes over the past two millennia in response to internal/external forcing. Although sub-millennial hydroclimate fluctuations have been detected in the central Andes during this interval, the timing, magnitude, extent and direction of change of these events remain poorly defined. Here, we present a reconstruction of hydroclimate variations on the Pacific slope of the central Andes based on exceptionally well-preserved plant macrofossils and associated archaeological remains from a hyperarid drainage (Quebrada Maní, ∼21° S, 1000 m a.s.l.) in the Atacama Desert. During the late Holocene, riparian ecosystems and farming social groups flourished in the hyperarid Atacama core as surface water availability increased throughout this presently sterile landscape. Twenty-six radiocarbon dates indicate that these events occurred between 1050-680, 1615-1350 and 2500-2040 cal yr BP. Regional comparisons with rodent middens and other records suggest that these events were synchronous with pluvial stages detected at higher-elevations in the central Andes over the last 2500 yr. These hydroclimate changes also coincide with periods of pronounced SST gradients in the Tropical Pacific (La Niña-like mode), conditions that are conducive to significantly increased rainfall in the central Andean highlands and flood events in the low-elevation watersheds at inter-annual timescales. Our findings indicate that the positive anomalies in the hyperarid Atacama over the past 2500 yr represent a regional response of the central Andean climate system to changes in the global hydrological cycle at centennial timescales. Furthermore, our results provide support for the role of tropical Pacific sea surface temperature gradient changes as the primary mechanism responsible for climate fluctuations in the central Andes. Finally, our results constitute independent evidence for comprehending the

  3. Hydroclimate variability in the low-elevation Atacama Desert over the last 2500 years

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gayo, E. M.; Latorre, C.; Santoro, C. M.; Maldonado, A.; de Pol-Holz, R.

    2011-10-01

    Paleoclimate reconstructions reveal that Earth system has experienced sub-millennial scale climate changes over the past two millennia in response to internal/external forcing. Although sub-millennial hydroclimate fluctuations have been detected in the central Andes during this interval, the timing, magnitude, extent and direction of change of these events remain poorly defined. Here, we present a reconstruction of hydroclimate variations on the Pacific slope of the central Andes based on exceptionally well-preserved plant macrofossils and associated archaeological remains from a hyperarid drainage (Quebrada Maní, ~21° S, 1000 m a.s.l.) in the Atacama Desert. During the late Holocene, riparian ecosystems and farming social groups flourished in the hyperarid Atacama core as surface water availability increased throughout this presently sterile landscape. Twenty-six radiocarbon dates indicate that these events occurred between 1050-680, 1615-1350 and 2500-2040 cal yr BP. Regional comparisons with rodent middens and other records suggest that these events were synchronous with pluvial stages detected at higher-elevations in the central Andes over the last 2500 years. These hydroclimate changes also coincide with periods of pronounced SST gradients in the Tropical Pacific (La Niña-like mode), conditions that are conducive to significantly increased rainfall in the central Andean highlands and flood events in the low-elevation watersheds at inter-annual timescales. Our findings indicate that the positive anomalies in the hyperarid Atacama over the past 2500 years represent a regional response of the central Andean climate system to changes in the global hydrological cycle at centennial timescales. Furthermore, our results provide support for the role of tropical Pacific sea surface temperature gradient changes as the primary mechanism responsible for climate fluctuations in the central Andes. Finally, our results constitute independent evidence for comprehending the

  4. Rapid root extension during water pulses enhances establishment of shrub seedlings in the Atacama Desert

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Leon, M.F.; Squeo, F.A.; Gutierrez, J.R.; Holmgren, M.

    2011-01-01

    Questions: (1) What is the water threshold for shrub seedling establishment in arid scrubland? (2) How do seedling root growth morphological traits affect the water threshold required for seedling establishment? Location: Arid scrubland, Atacama Desert, north-central Chile. Methods: We conducted a

  5. Precipitation history of the central Atacama Desert since the Miocene as reconstructed from clay pan records of the Costal Cordillera/ N Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wennrich, V.; Melles, M.; Diederich, J. L.; Fernández Galego, E.; Ritter, B.; Brill, D.; Niemann, K.; Rolf, C.; Dunai, T. J.

    2017-12-01

    Hyperaridity is a major limitation of Earth-surface processes and biological activity in the Atacama Desert of N Chile, one of the oldest and the driest deserts on Earth. But even the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert of N Chile has experienced sever precipitation events, e.g., during the flash floods in 2015. On geological timescales, the overall aridity that is postulated to have lasted at least since the early Miocene was punctuated by distinct pluvial events. Such wetter conditions, e.g. during the Miocene, caused widespread lake-formation in the Central Depression and Coastal Cordillera, but also caused amplified surface processes, changes in vegetation dynamics, and enabled the dispersal of species. Unfortunately, due to the limited number and heterogeneous appearance of climate archives from the central Atacama, it's longer-scale precipitation history is still a matter of controversy. This study aims to study continuous longterm (Pleistocene-Miocene) paleoclimatic and environmental records from the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert covering the last >10 Ma. Therefor we investigate clay pans records from endorheic basins in the Coastal Cordillera mostly formed by blocking of drainage by tectonic movement. The clay pans under study are located along a latitudinal transect across the hyperarid core of the Atacama, and thus, are assumed to have recorded local and regional precipitation variations on different timescales. The investigated sequences exhibit significant changes in the sedimentological, geochemical, and mineralogical properties due to changes in precipitation, but also in the weathering and erosion in the catchments. Diatom and phytolith remains preserved in these records clearly point to significant water bodies during the wettest periods and a significant vegetation cover. The results shed a new light on the timing, frequency, and the driving mechanisms of the intervening pluvial phases.

  6. Liverpool Telescope and Liverpool Telescope 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Copperwheat, C. M.; Steele, I. A.; Barnsley, R. M.; Bates, S. D.; Clay, N. R.; Jermak, H.; Marchant, J. M.; Mottram, C. J.; Piascik, A.; Smith, R. J.

    2016-12-01

    The Liverpool Telescope is a fully robotic optical/near-infrared telescope with a 2-metre clear aperture, located at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the Canary Island of La Palma. The telescope is owned and operated by Liverpool John Moores University, with financial support from the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council. The telescope began routine science operations in 2004 and is a common-user facility with time available through a variety of committees via an open, peer reviewed process. Seven simultaneously mounted instruments support a broad science programme, with a focus on transient follow-up and other time domain topics well suited to the characteristics of robotic observing. Development has also begun on a successor facility, with the working title `Liverpool Telescope 2', to capitalise on the new era of time domain astronomy which will be brought about by the next generation of survey facilities such as LSST. The fully robotic Liverpool Telescope 2 will have a 4-metre aperture and an improved response time. In this paper we provide an overview of the current status of both facilities.

  7. Origins Space Telescope: The Far Infrared Imager and Polarimeter FIP

    Science.gov (United States)

    Staguhn, Johannes G.; Chuss, David; Howard, Joseph; Meixner, Margaret; Vieira, Joaquin; Amatucci, Edward; Bradley, Damon; Carter, Ruth; Cooray, Asantha; Flores, Anel; Leisawitz, David; Moseley, Samuel Harvey; Wollack, Edward; Origins Space Telescope Study Team

    2018-01-01

    The Origins Space Telescope (OST)* is the mission concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor, one of the four science and technology definition studies of NASA Headquarters for the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal survey. The current "concept 1", which envisions a cold (4K) 9m space telescope, includes 5 instruments, providing a wavelength coverage ranging from 6um and 667um. The achievable sensitivity of the observatory will provide three to four orders of magnitude of improvement in sensitivity over current observational capabilities, allowing to address a wide range of new and so far inaccessible scientific questions, ranging from bio-signatures on exo-planets to mapping primordial H_2 from the "dark ages" before the universe went through the phase of re-ionization.Here we present the Far Infrared Imager and Polarimeter (FIP) for OST. The cameral will cover four bands, 40um, 80um, 120um, and 240um. It will allow for differential polarimetry in those bands with the ability to observe two colors in polarimtery mode simultaneously, while all four bands can be observed simultaneously in total power mode. While the confusion limit will be reached in only 32ms at 240um, at 40um the source density on the sky is so low, that at the angular resolution of 1" of OST at this wavelength there will be no source confusion, even for the longest integration times. Science topics that can be addressed by FIP include but are not limited to galactic and extragalactic magnetic field studies, Deep Galaxy Surveys, and Outer Solar System objects..*Origins will enable flagship-quality general observing programs led by the astronomical community in the 2030s. We welcome you to contact the Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) with your science needs and ideas by emailing us at ost_info@lists.ipac.caltech.edu

  8. Ghost telescope and ghost Fourier telescope with thermal light

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gong Wenlin; Han Shensheng

    2011-01-01

    As important observation tools, telescopes are very useful in remote observations. We report a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration of ghost telescope scheme and show that, by measuring the intensity correlation of two light fields and only changing the position of the detector in the reference path, ghost telescope and ghost Fourier telescope can be obtained even if a single-pixel detector is fixed in Fresnel region of the object. Differences between conventional telescope and ghost telescope are also discussed.

  9. Robot Science Autonomy in the Atacama Desert and Beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, David R.; Wettergreen, David S.

    2013-01-01

    Science-guided autonomy augments rovers with reasoning to make observations and take actions related to the objectives of scientific exploration. When rovers can directly interpret instrument measurements then scientific goals can inform and adapt ongoing navigation decisions. These autonomous explorers will make better scientific observations and collect massive, accurate datasets. In current astrobiology studies in the Atacama Desert we are applying algorithms for science autonomy to choose effective observations and measurements. Rovers are able to decide when and where to take follow-up actions that deepen scientific understanding. These techniques apply to planetary rovers, which we can illustrate with algorithms now used by Mars rovers and by discussing future missions.

  10. In situ metabolism in halite endolithic microbial communities of the hyperarid Atacama Desert

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alfonso F Davila

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The Atacama Desert of northern Chile is one of the driest regions on Earth, with areas that exclude plants and where soils have extremely low microbial biomass. However, in the driest parts of the desert there are microorganisms that colonize the interior of halite nodules in fossil continental evaporites, where they are sustained by condensation of atmospheric water triggered by the salt substrate. Using a combination of in situ observations of variable chlorophyll fluorescence and controlled laboratory experiments, we show that this endolithic community is capable of carbon fixation both through oxygenic photosynthesis and potentially ammonia oxidation. We also present evidence that photosynthetic activity is finely tuned to moisture availability and solar insolation and can be sustained for days, and perhaps longer, after a wetting event. This is the first demonstration of in situ active metabolism in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert, and it provides the basis for proposing a self-contained, endolithic community that relies exclusively on non-rainfall sources of water. Our results contribute to an increasing body of evidence that even in hyperarid environments active metabolism, adaptation and growth can occur in highly specialized microhabitats.

  11. Thresholds of Detection and Identification of Halite Nodule Habitats in the Atacama Desert Using Remote Imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, M. S.; Moersch, J. E.; Cabrol, N. A.; Davila, A. F.

    2018-01-01

    The guiding theme of Mars exploration is shifting from global and regional habitability assessment to biosignature detection. To locate features likely to contain biosignatures, it is useful to focus on the reliable identification of specific habitats with high biosignature preservation potential. Proposed chloride deposits on Mars may represent evaporitic environments conducive to the preservation of biosignatures. Analogous chloride- bearing, salt-encrusted playas (salars) are a habitat for life in the driest parts of the Atacama Desert, and are also environments with a taphonomic window. The specific geologic features that harbor and preserve microorganisms in Atacama salars are sub- meter to meter scale salt protuberances, or halite nodules. This study focuses on the ability to recognize and map halite nodules using images acquired from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at spatial resolutions ranging from mm/pixel to that of the highest resolution orbital images available for Mars.

  12. ATST telescope mount: telescope of machine tool

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeffers, Paul; Stolz, Günter; Bonomi, Giovanni; Dreyer, Oliver; Kärcher, Hans

    2012-09-01

    The Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) will be the largest solar telescope in the world, and will be able to provide the sharpest views ever taken of the solar surface. The telescope has a 4m aperture primary mirror, however due to the off axis nature of the optical layout, the telescope mount has proportions similar to an 8 meter class telescope. The technology normally used in this class of telescope is well understood in the telescope community and has been successfully implemented in numerous projects. The world of large machine tools has developed in a separate realm with similar levels of performance requirement but different boundary conditions. In addition the competitive nature of private industry has encouraged development and usage of more cost effective solutions both in initial capital cost and thru-life operating cost. Telescope mounts move relatively slowly with requirements for high stability under external environmental influences such as wind buffeting. Large machine tools operate under high speed requirements coupled with high application of force through the machine but with little or no external environmental influences. The benefits of these parallel development paths and the ATST system requirements are being combined in the ATST Telescope Mount Assembly (TMA). The process of balancing the system requirements with new technologies is based on the experience of the ATST project team, Ingersoll Machine Tools who are the main contractor for the TMA and MT Mechatronics who are their design subcontractors. This paper highlights a number of these proven technologies from the commercially driven machine tool world that are being introduced to the TMA design. Also the challenges of integrating and ensuring that the differences in application requirements are accounted for in the design are discussed.

  13. Marine resource reliance in the human populations of the Atacama Desert, northern Chile - A view from prehistory

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Charlotte L.; Millard, Andrew R.; Gröcke, Darren R.; Standen, Vivien G.; Arriaza, Bernardo T.; Halcrow, Siân E.

    2018-02-01

    The Atacama Desert is one of the most inhospitable terrestrial environments on Earth, yet the upwelling of the Humboldt Current off the coast has resulted in the presence of a rich marine biota. It is this marine environment which first enabled the human settlement of the northern Atacama Desert, and continues to form the basis of regional economies today. In this paper we explore how the desert has shaped human dietary choices throughout prehistory, using carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human bone collagen (n = 80) to reconstruct the diets of the inhabitants of the Arica region of the northern Atacama. This area is one of the driest parts of the desert, but has been generally understudied in terms of dietary adaptation. Statistical analysis using FRUITS has allowed deconvolution of isotopic signals to create dietary reconstructions and highlight the continued importance of marine resources throughout the archaeological sequence. Location also appears to have played a role in dietary choices, with inland sites having 10-20% less calories from marine foods than coastal sites. We also highlight evidence for the increasing importance of maize consumption, coinciding with contact with highland polities. In all periods apart from the earliest Archaic, however, there is significant variability between individuals in terms of dietary resource use. We conclude that marine resource use, and broad-spectrum economies persisted throughout prehistory. We interpret these results as reflecting a deliberate choice to retain dietary diversity as a buffer against resource instability.

  14. Biotechnological Applications Derived from Microorganisms of the Atacama Desert

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Armando Azua-Bustos

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The Atacama Desert in Chile is well known for being the driest and oldest desert on Earth. For these same reasons, it is also considered a good analog model of the planet Mars. Only a few decades ago, it was thought that this was a sterile place, but in the past years fascinating adaptations have been reported in the members of the three domains of life: low water availability, high UV radiation, high salinity, and other environmental stresses. However, the biotechnological applications derived from the basic understanding and characterization of these species, with the notable exception of copper bioleaching, are still in its infancy, thus offering an immense potential for future development.

  15. The Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) - A Successful Three-Way International Partnership Without a Majority Stakeholder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanden Bout, Paul A.

    2013-04-01

    The Atacama Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) is the largest ground-based astronomical facility built to date. It's size and challenging site required an international effort. This talk presents the partnership structure, management challenges, current status, and examples of early scientific successes.

  16. Exploring the Limits to Photosynthetic Life in the Hyperarid Atacama (Chile) and Taklimakan (China) Deserts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warren-Rhodes, K.; Ewing, S.; McKay, C. P.; Rhodes, K. L.

    2003-12-01

    Photosynthetic microbes inhabiting the cracks or fissures (chasmoendoliths) and undersides (hypoliths) of translucent stones function as the sole primary producers in the world's driest deserts. This poster reports on our studies of the distribution and survival of these microorganisms in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert--an extreme environment previously considered too dry to support photosynthetic life--and the Taklimakan Desert in China--one of the oldest and driest deserts on the Earth. In both deserts, we measured colonization rates and microclimate variables across natural precipitation gradients in order to investigate the role of moisture in the ecology and survival of hypolithic and chasmoendolithic microorganisms. Our results show 1000-fold variations in colonization rates--from 12% in the wettest portions of the Taklimakan Desert to 3000 y. At slightly wetter sites in the Atacama, Δ 14C of hypolith soils was progressively more enriched in proportion to increased MAP, with corresponding turnover times of >600 y (Δ 14C = -73 ‰ at sites with ˜5-10 mm MAP and ˜1 y Δ 14C = +12 ‰ ) as annual rainfall increased to ˜25 mm. At all sites, Δ 14C signatures of non-hypolith soils corresponded to turnover times that were longer by an order of magnitude, indicating significantly slower OC cycling by non-hypoliths. In the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert, the prolonged lack of rainfall (decadal scales of a few millimeters) is responsible for possibly the lowest hypolithic and chasmoendolithic colonization rates observed in deserts on the Earth. Microclimate data for rock and soil surface moisture from rainfall, dew and frost suggest the particular form of moisture and its frequency may also explain observed differences in hypolithic versus chasmoendolithic colonization modes. These results hold theoretical and practical considerations for both terrestrial ecology and as analogs for possible life on Mars.

  17. Advances in Telescope and Detector Technologies - Impacts on the Study and Understanding of Binary Star and Exoplanet Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guinan, Edward F.; Engle, Scott; Devinney, Edward J.

    2012-04-01

    )), and space missions, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the possible NASA Explorer Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS - recently approved for further study) and Gaia (due for launch during 2013) will all be discussed. Also highlighted are advances in interferometers (both on the ground and from space) and imaging now possible at sub-millimeter wavelengths from the Extremely Long Array (ELVA) and Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). High precision Doppler spectroscopy, for example with HARPS, HIRES and more recently the Carnegie Planet Finder Spectrograph, are currently returning RVs typically better than ~2-m/s for some brighter exoplanet systems. But soon it should be possible to measure Doppler shifts as small as ~10-cm/s - sufficiently sensitive for detecting Earth-size planets. Also briefly discussed is the impact these instruments will have on the study of eclipsing binaries, along with future possibilities of utilizing methods from the emerging field of Astroinformatics, including: the Virtual Observatory (VO) and the possibilities of analyzing these huge datasets using Neural Network (NN) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies.

  18. Hawaii: a picture window on the Universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, I.; Redfern, M.

    1987-01-01

    The paper concerns the telescopes and associated studies of the astronomical observatory situated on Mauna Kea, Big Island, Hawaii. Mauna Kea is the home for ten telescopes, one of which is the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope used to look at the birth of the stars. The two newest telescopes - the Clerk Maxwell Telescope and the Caltech High Dish will study the birth in even more detail using submillimetre waves. Three more telescopes are planned - the Keck ten-metre telescope is due for completion in 1990, followed by the 7.5 metre Japenese National Large Telescope and then the 15-metre National New Technology Telescope. A brief description of the latter five telescopes is given. (U.K.)

  19. Estimating Net Photosynthesis of Biological Soil Crusts in the Atacama Using Hyperspectral Remote Sensing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lukas W. Lehnert

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Biological soil crusts (BSC encompassing green algae, cyanobacteria, lichens, bryophytes, heterotrophic bacteria and microfungi are keystone species in arid environments because of their role in nitrogen- and carbon-fixation, weathering and soil stabilization, all depending on the photosynthesis of the BSC. Despite their importance, little is known about the BSCs of the Atacama Desert, although especially crustose chlorolichens account for a large proportion of biomass in the arid coastal zone, where photosynthesis is mainly limited due to low water availability. Here, we present the first hyperspectral reflectance data for the most wide-spread BSC species of the southern Atacama Desert. Combining laboratory and field measurements, we establish transfer functions that allow us to estimate net photosynthesis rates for the most common BSC species. We found that spectral differences among species are high, and differences between the background soil and the BSC at inactive stages are low. Additionally, we found that the water absorption feature at 1420 nm is a more robust indicator for photosynthetic activity than the chlorophyll absorption bands. Therefore, we conclude that common vegetation indices must be taken with care to analyze the photosynthesis of BSC with multispectral data.

  20. Preservation of Lipid Biomarkers Under Prolonged and Extreme Hyperaridity in Atacama Desert Soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilhelm, M. B.; Davila, A. F.; Eigenbrode, J. L.; Parenteau, M. N.; Jahnke, L. L.; Summons, R. E.; Liu, X.; Wray, J. J.; Stamos, B.; O'Reilly, S. S.; Williams, A. J.

    2015-12-01

    Molecular biomarkers are the most direct biosignatures of life on early Earth and a key target in the search for life on Mars. Lipid biomarkers are of particular interest given their ability to survive oxidative degradation and record microbial presence and activity of microorganisms that occurred billions of years ago (Eigenbrode, 2008). Environmental conditions that suspend biotic and abiotic degradative processes prior to lithification can lead to enhanced biomolecular preservation over geological time-scales. The hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile offers a unique environment to investigate lipid biomarker taphonomy under extreme and prolonged dryness. We investigated the accumulation and degree of preservation of lipid biomarkers in million-year-old hyperarid soils where primarily abiotic conditions influence their taphonomy. Soils were extracted and free and membrane bound lipids were analyzed across a vertical profile of 2.5 meters in the Yungay hyper-arid core of the Atacama Desert. Due to the extremely low inventory of biomass in Atacama soils, samples were collected by scientists wearing cleanroom suits to minimize anthropogenic contamination during sampling. Fatty acids were found to be well preserved in Yungay soils, and were most abundant in the clay-rich soils at ~2 m depth (~750 ng of fatty acid methyl ester/g of soil). These buried clays layers were fluvially deposited approximately 2 million years ago, and have been excluded from exposure to rainwater and modern surficial processes since their emplacement (Ewing et al., 2008). Monocarboxylic fatty acid, monohydroxy fatty acid, glycerol tetraether, and n-alkane hydrocarbon content was found to change with depth. Lipid biomarker content in deeper soil layers is suggestive of soils having been formed at a time when environmental conditions were capable of supporting active microbial communities and plants. In short, total lipid extracts reveal a remarkable degree of lipid biomarker

  1. Preservation of Lipid Biomarkers Under Prolonged and Extreme Hyperaridity in Atacama Desert Soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilhelm, Mary Beth

    2015-01-01

    Molecular biomarkers are the most direct biosignatures of life on early Earth and a key target in the search for life on Mars. Lipid biomarkers are of particular interest given their ability to survive oxidative degradation and record microbial presence and activity of microorganisms that occurred billions of years ago (Eigenbrode, 2008). Environmental conditions that suspend biotic and abiotic degradative processes prior to lithification can lead to enhanced biomolecular preservation over geological time-scales. The hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile offers a unique environment to investigate lipid biomarker taphonomy under extreme and prolonged dryness. We investigated the accumulation and degree of preservation of lipid biomarkers in million-year-old hyperarid soils where primarily abiotic conditions influence their taphonomy. Soils were extracted and free and membrane bound lipids were analyzed across a vertical profile of 2.5 meters in the Yungay hyper-arid core of the Atacama Desert. Due to the extremely low inventory of biomass in Atacama soils, samples were collected by scientists wearing cleanroom suits to minimize anthropogenic contamination during sampling. Fatty acids were found to be well preserved in Yungay soils, and were most abundant in the clay-rich soils at approx.2 m depth (approx.750 ng of fatty acid methyl ester/g of soil). These buried clays layers were fluvially deposited approximately 2 million years ago, and have been excluded from exposure to rainwater and modern surficial processes since their emplacement (Ewing et al., 2008). Monocarboxylic fatty acid, monohydroxy fatty acid, glycerol tetraether, and n-alkane hydrocarbon content was found to change with depth. Lipid biomarker content in deeper soil layers is suggestive of soils having been formed at a time when environmental conditions were capable of supporting active microbial communities and plants. In short, total lipid extracts reveal a remarkable degree of

  2. A multi-scale approach to assess the effect of groundwater extraction on Prosopis tamarugo in the Atacama Desert

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Decuyper, M.; Chávez Oyanadel, R.O.; Copini, P.; Sass-Klaassen, U.G.W.

    2016-01-01

    Groundwater-dependent ecosystems occur in arid and semi-arid areas worldwide and are sensitive to changes in groundwater availability. Prosopis tamarugo Phil, endemic to the Atacama Desert, is threatened by groundwater overexploitation due to mining and urban consumption. The effect of groundwater

  3. The Bulimulidae (Mollusca: Pulmonata) from the Región de Atacama, northern Chile.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Araya, Juan Francisco

    2015-01-01

    The bulimulid genus Bostryx Troschel, 1847 is the most species-rich genus of land snails found in Chile, with the majority of its species found only in the northern part of the country, usually in arid coastal zones. This genus has been sparsely studied in Chile and there is little information on their distribution, diversity or ecology. Here, for the first time, a formal analysis of the diversity of bulimulids in the Región de Atacama, northern Chile, is reported. Of the seventeen species recorded for the area, most of them were efectively found in the field collections and one record was based on literature. Five taxa are described as new: Bostryx ancavilorum sp. nov., Bostryx breurei sp. nov., Bostryx calderaensis sp. nov., Bostryx ireneae sp. nov. and Bostryx valdovinosi sp. nov., and the known geographic distribution of seven species is extended. Results reveal that the Región de Atacama is the richest region in terrestrial snails in Chile, after the Juan Fernández Archipelago. All of the terrestrial molluscan species occurring in the area are endemic to Chile, most of them with restricted geographic distributions along the coastal zones, and none of them are currently protected by law. Further sampling in northern Chile will probably reveal more snail species to be discovered and described.

  4. Technology Advances at the NRAO Green Bank Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lockman, Felix James

    2015-08-01

    The 100 meter diameter Green Bank Telescope, with its large frequency coverage, great sensitivity, all-sky tracking, and location at a protected, radio-quiet site, offers a unique platform for technological advances in astronomical instrumentation that can yield an immediate scientific payoff.MUSTANG-1.5 is a feedhorn-coupled bolometer array for 3mm that has recently been installed on the telescope. It has 64 pixels (expandable to 223) and offers sensitivity to angular scales from 9" to more than 3' over a band from 75 GHz to 105 GHz. Its capabilities for science at 3mm are complimentary to, and in some cases superior to, those offered by ALMA. MUSTANG-1.5 is a collaboration between UPenn., NIST, NRAO, and other institutions.ARGUS is a 16-pixel focal plane array for millimeter spectroscopy that will be in use on the GBT in 2015. The array architecture is designed as a scalable technology pathfinder for larger arrays, but by itself it will provide major capabilities for spectroscopy from 75-107 GHz with 8" angular resolution over a wide field-of-view. It is a collaboration between Stanford Univ., Caltech, JPL, Univ. Maryland, Univ. Miami, and NRAO.FLAG is a prototype phased array receiver operating at 21cm wavelength that is under development for the GBT. It will produce multiple beams over a wide field of view with a sensitivity competitive with that of single-pixel receivers, allowing rapid astronomical surveys. FLAG is a collaboration between BYU, WVU, and NRAO.Also under development is a mm-wave phased array receiver for the GBT, designed to operate near 90 GHz as a prototype for very large format phased array receivers in the 3mm band. It is a collaboration between UMass and BYU.VEGAS is the new spectrometer for the GBT, offering multiple configurations well matched to GBT receivers from 1 to 100 GHz and suitable for use with focal plane arrays. It is a collaboration between UCal (Berkeley) and NRAO.The new receivers and spectrometers create extremely big data

  5. GALEX: a UV telescope to map the star formation history of the universe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milliard, Bruno; Grange, Robert; Martin, Christopher; Schiminovich, David

    2017-11-01

    The NASA Small Mission EXplorer GALEX (PI: C.Martin, Caltech) is under development at JPL for launch late 2001. It has been designed to map the history of star formation in the Universe over the redshift range 0-2, a major era where galaxies and gas content evolved dramatically. The expected depth and imaging quality matches the Palomar Observatory Surveys, allowing GALEX to provide the astronomical community with a database of FUV photometric and spectroscopic observations of several million galaxies in the nearby and distant Universe. The 1.24 degree FOV, 50 cm aperture compact Ritchey-Chrétien telescope is equipped with two 65 mm photon-counting detectors. It will perform several surveys of different coverage and depths, that will take advantage of a high throughput UV-transmissive Grism newly developed in France to easily switch between imagery and field spectroscopy modes. A thin aspherized fused silica dichroic component provides simultaneous observations in two UV bands (135-185 nm and 185-300 nm) as well as correction for field aberrations. We shall briefly present the mission science goals, and will describe the optical concept, along with the guidelines and compromises used for its optimization in the context of the "Faster, Better, Cheaper" NASA philosophy, and give a brief development status report.

  6. Hypolithic cyanobacteria, dry limit of photosynthesis, and microbial ecology in the hyperarid Atacama Desert.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warren-Rhodes, Kimberley A; Rhodes, Kevin L; Pointing, Stephen B; Ewing, Stephanie A; Lacap, Donnabella C; Gómez-Silva, Benito; Amundson, Ronald; Friedmann, E Imre; McKay, Christopher P

    2006-10-01

    The occurrence of hypolithic cyanobacteria colonizing translucent stones was quantified along the aridity gradient in the Atacama Desert in Chile, from less arid areas to the hyperarid core where photosynthetic life and thus primary production reach their limits. As mean rainfall declines from 21 to Mars, but may have existed in the past. If so, such microhabitats would probably be widely dispersed, difficult to detect, and millimeters away from virtually lifeless surroundings.

  7. Searching for Life with Rovers: Exploration Methods & Science Results from the 2004 Field Campaign of the "Life in the Atacama" Project and Applications to Future Mars Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabrol, N. A.a; Wettergreen, D. S.; Whittaker, R.; Grin, E. A.; Moersch, J.; Diaz, G. Chong; Cockell, C.; Coppin, P.; Dohm, J. M.; Fisher, G.

    2005-01-01

    The Life In The Atacama (LITA) project develops and field tests a long-range, solarpowered, automated rover platform (Zo ) and a science payload assembled to search for microbial life in the Atacama desert. Life is barely detectable over most of the driest desert on Earth. Its unique geological, climatic, and biological evolution have created a unique training site for designing and testing exploration strategies and life detection methods for the robotic search for life on Mars.

  8. Licancabur Volcano, Bolivia and life in the Atacama: Environmental physics and analogies to Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hock, Andrew Nelson

    Although there is no perfect environmental analog to Mars on Earth, quantitative study of relevant terrestrial field sites can serve as the basis for physical models and technology development to aid future exploration. This dissertation describes original field and laboratory research on two terrestrial analog sites: Licancabur Volcano, Bolivia, and the Atacama Desert, Chile. Atop Licancabur, at an elevation of nearly 6,000 meters above sea level, sits the highest volcanic lake on Earth. Prior to this work, little was known about the lake, its waters, the role of volcanism or its potential relationship to locales on Mars. In the first part of this work, I describe observations of the lake resulting from several years of field study, including data on meteorological conditions and solar irradiance. These and other measurements provide the basis for (1) the first quantitative mass and energy balance model of the lake, and (2) the first determination of the altitude effect on solar visible and ultraviolet flux from the high altitude summit. Under the observed conditions, model results indicate: lake waters are primarily meteoric in origin and evaporating rapidly; volcanic input is not required to explain observations of lake water temperature or year-end model results. Nearby, Chile's Atacama Desert is known to be one of the driest, most inhospitable environments on Earth. There, environmental similarities to Mars provide an apt testing ground for new astrobiological exploration technologies. In the latter part of this work, I present results from my work with the Life In The Atacama (LITA) Mars rover field experiment. In particular, I report on the development of a new data analysis tool named the LITA Data Scoring System (DSS). Subject to the user-defined constraints, the DSS was used to facilitate targeting, analysis and mapping of rover science results relevant to potential habitability and evidence for life at three desert field sites. Although experimental in

  9. Adaptation strategies of endolithic chlorophototrophs to survive the hyperarid and extreme solar radiation environment of the Atacama Desert

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Wierzchos, J.; DiRuggiero, J.; Vítek, Petr; Artieda, O.; Souza-Egipsy, V.; Škaloud, P.; Tisza, M.; Davilla, A. F.; Vilchez, C.; Garbayo, I.; Ascaso, C.

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 6, č. 934 (2015), s. 1-17 ISSN 1664-302X R&D Projects: GA MŠk EE2.3.20.0246 Institutional support: RVO:67179843 Keywords : Atacama Desert * carotenoids * endolithic chlorophototrophs * extreme environment * gypsum * scytonemin Subject RIV: EF - Botanics Impact factor: 4.165, year: 2015

  10. Examining the life history of an individual from Solcor 3, San Pedro de Atacama: Combining bioarchaeology and archaeological chemistry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Torres-Rouff, Cristina; Knudson, Kelly J

    2007-01-01

    Detailed life history information using multiple lines of evidence including the identification of geographic origins, health, and body use indicators, can be used to elucidate the complex process of acculturation in the San Pedro de Atacama oases of northern Chile during the Middle Horizon. This paper presents the results of bioarchaeological and archaeological chemical analyses of the skeletal remains of an adult male (tomb 50, catalog number 1948) from the cemetery of Solcor 3 (ca. AD 500-900). Strontium isotope ratios in human tooth enamel reveal information about where a person lived during their childhood, when enamel was being formed. Individual 1948 showed strontium isotope ratios decidedly outside the range of the local San Pedro de Atacama strontium isotope signature. Given these data implying that individual 1948 was originally from elsewhere, an examination of his health status, social role, and mortuary context provides insight into the treatment of foreigners in San Pedro de Atacama. Our data support the argument that individual 1948's foreign birth did not hinder his later assimilation into Atacameno society. He was buried in a local cemetery with a typical mortuary assemblage for a male of this time and no strong evidence of possible foreign origin. Skeletal indicators of diet and activity patterns do not distinguish individual 1948 from the local population, suggesting that his lifestyle was similar to that of other Atacamenos. Therefore, our analyses suggest that individual 1948's acculturation into Atacameno society during his adult life was nearly complete and he retained little to no indication of his probable foreign birth

  11. Observing the Sun with Coronado telescopes telescopes

    CERN Document Server

    Pugh, Philip

    2007-01-01

    The Sun provides amateur astronomers with one of the few opportunities for daytime astronomy. In order to see the major features of our nearest star, special telescopes that have a very narrow visible bandwidth are essential. The bandwidth has to be as narrow as 1 A- 10-10 m (1 Angstrom) and centred on the absorption line of neutral hydrogen. This makes many major features of the Suna (TM)s chromosphere visible to the observer. Such narrow-band "Fabry-Perot etalon filters" are high technology, and until the introduction of the Coronado range of solar telescopes, were too expensive for amateur use. The entry-level Coronado telescope, the PST (Personal Solar Telescope) costs under 500. Solar prominences (vast columns of plasma, best seen at the edge of the solar disk), filaments, flares, sunspots, plage and active regions are all visible and can be imaged to produce spectacular solar photographs. Philip Pugh has assembled a team of contributors who show just how much solar work can be done with Coronado telesco...

  12. Subcritical Water Extraction of Amino Acids from Atacama Desert Soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amashukeli, Xenia; Pelletier, Christine C.; Kirby, James P.; Grunthaner, Frank J.

    2007-01-01

    Amino acids are considered organic molecular indicators in the search for extant and extinct life in the Solar System. Extraction of these molecules from a particulate solid matrix, such as Martian regolith, will be critical to their in situ detection and analysis. The goals of this study were to optimize a laboratory amino acid extraction protocol by quantitatively measuring the yields of extracted amino acids as a function of liquid water temperature and sample extraction time and to compare the results to the standard HCl vapor- phase hydrolysis yields for the same soil samples. Soil samples from the Yungay region of the Atacama Desert ( Martian regolith analog) were collected during a field study in the summer of 2005. The amino acids ( alanine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, serine, and valine) chosen for analysis were present in the samples at concentrations of 1 - 70 parts- per- billion. Subcritical water extraction efficiency was examined over the temperature range of 30 - 325 degrees C, at pressures of 17.2 or 20.0 MPa, and for water- sample contact equilibration times of 0 - 30 min. None of the amino acids were extracted in detectable amounts at 30 degrees C ( at 17.2 MPa), suggesting that amino acids are too strongly bound by the soil matrix to be extracted at such a low temperature. Between 150 degrees C and 250 degrees C ( at 17.2 MPa), the extraction efficiencies of glycine, alanine, and valine were observed to increase with increasing water temperature, consistent with higher solubility at higher temperatures, perhaps due to the decreasing dielectric constant of water. Amino acids were not detected in extracts collected at 325 degrees C ( at 20.0 MPa), probably due to amino acid decomposition at this temperature. The optimal subcritical water extraction conditions for these amino acids from Atacama Desert soils were achieved at 200 degrees C, 17.2 MPa, and a water- sample contact equilibration time of 10 min.

  13. Spectral identification and quantification of salts in the Atacama Desert

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, J. K.; Cousins, C. R.; Claire, M. W.

    2016-10-01

    Salt minerals are an important natural resource. The ability to quickly and remotely identify and quantify salt deposits and salt contaminated soils and sands is therefore a priority goal for the various industries and agencies that utilise salts. The advent of global hyperspectral imagery from instruments such as Hyperion on NASA's Earth-Observing 1 satellite has opened up a new source of data that can potentially be used for just this task. This study aims to assess the ability of Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) spectroscopy to identify and quantify salt minerals through the use of spectral mixture analysis. The surface and near-surface soils of the Atacama Desert in Chile contain a variety of well-studied salts, which together with low cloud coverage, and high aridity, makes this region an ideal testbed for this technique. Two forms of spectral data ranging 0.35 - 2.5 μm were collected: laboratory spectra acquired using an ASD FieldSpec Pro instrument on samples from four locations in the Atacama desert known to have surface concentrations of sulfates, nitrates, chlorides and perchlorates; and images from the EO-1 satellite's Hyperion instrument taken over the same four locations. Mineral identifications and abundances were confirmed using quantitative XRD of the physical samples. Spectral endmembers were extracted from within the laboratory and Hyperion spectral datasets and together with additional spectral library endmembers fed into a linear mixture model. The resulting identification and abundances from both dataset types were verified against the sample XRD values. Issues of spectral scale, SNR and how different mineral spectra interact are considered, and the utility of VNIR spectroscopy and Hyperion in particular for mapping specific salt concentrations in desert environments is established. Overall, SMA was successful at estimating abundances of sulfate minerals, particularly calcium sulfate, from both hyperspectral image and laboratory sample spectra

  14. Obituary: James Adolph Westphal, 1930-2004

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danielson, G. Edward

    2004-12-01

    that allowed them to measure the volcano's expansion and help predict upcoming eruptions. Westphal also designed a way of creating a high-pressure aquarium for studies of deep-ocean animals as well as instruments for tracking glacial ice flows and capturing starlight. Caltech astronomers were pleased to discover that Westphal had an idea for an infrared camera for the historic 200-inch Hale Telescope--at the time the largest optical telescope in the world--that could measure the radiance of galaxies with greater precision and capture fainter galaxies than possible up to that time. He built various other instruments for the Hale Telescope, including a Silicon Intensified Target camera, which was a sort of transitional device between the photographic emulsion plates of the day and modern charged-coupled devices (CCDs) and which produced digital pictures with unparalleled clarity. The instrument is now in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum's collection. Westphal and Jim Gunn (now at Princeton) recognized early that CCDs would revolutionize astronomy, and in the process of obtaining them for Palomar, Westphal and Gunn decided to put a team of astronomers together and design a CCD camera for use on the Hubble Space Telescope. Westphal was named principal investigator of the proposal and Jim Gunn was his deputy. They teamed with JPL to design the main camera for Hubble Space Telescope. (The Wide-Field / Planetary Camera), which proved to be an enormously successful part of the telescope's scientific mission. Westphal's research came up with a CCD coating that absorbed the UV photons and fluoresced back in the visible thus allowing the instrument to be used in the UV (The engineers dubbed the coating "mouse milk"). He didn't reveal the composition of the coating until NASA announced that the Caltech/JPL proposal was selected to provide the WF/PC Investigation. During the Hubble first light operations Jim had to diagnose the spherical aberration in the main 2

  15. An All Silicon Feedhorn-Coupled Focal Plane for Cosmic Microwave Background Polarimetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hubmayr, J.; Appel, J. W.; Austermann, J. E.; Beall, J. A.; Becker, D.; Benson, B. A.; Bleem, L. E.; Carlstrom, J. E.; Chang, C. L.; Cho, H. M.; hide

    2011-01-01

    Upcoming experiments aim to produce high fidelity polarization maps of the cosmic microwave background. To achieve the required sensitivity, we are developing monolithic, feedhorn-coupled transition edge sensor polarimeter arrays operating at 150 GHz. We describe this focal plane architecture and the current status of this technology, focusing on single-pixel polarimeters being deployed on the Atacama B-mode Search (ABS) and an 84-pixel demonstration feedhorn array backed by four 10-pixel polarimeter arrays. The feedhorn array exhibits symmetric beams, cross-polar response less than -23 dB and excellent uniformity across the array. Monolithic polarimeter arrays, including arrays of silicon feedhorns, will be used in the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol) and the South Pole Telescope Polarimeter (SPTpol) and have been proposed for upcoming balloon-borne instruments.

  16. The potential of Tillandsia dune ecosystems for revealing past and present variations in advective fog along the coastal Atacama Desert, northern Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Latorre Hidalgo, C.; García, J. L.; Gonzalez, A. L.; Marquet, P. A.

    2015-12-01

    The coastal Atacama Desert is home to a complex geo-ecosystem supported by fog with multiple atmospheric and oceanic drivers. Fog collectors in place for the last 17 years reveal that monthly fog intensity and amount are significantly linked to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO 1+2) with cold (warm) anomalies correlated to increased (decreased) fog (R2 = 0.41). Rainfall, however, can occur during extreme positive ENSO anomalies. Tillandsia landbeckii is an epiarenitic plant common to the coastal Atacama where fog is intercepted by the coastal escarpment between 950-1250 m.a.s.l. These plants possess multiple adaptations to survive exclusively on fog, including the construction of "dune" ecosystems known as "tillandsiales". Buried T. landbeckii layers in such dunes contain a record of past variations of fog over time (dunes can top 3 m in height) and alternating plant and sand layers are readily visible in dune stratigraphy. Stable N isotopes on modern plants and fog indicate that these plants reflect δ15N values of total N dissolved in fog. We measured δ15N values from buried T. landbeckii layers from five different tillandsiales found across c. 50 km the coastal escarpment. The isotope values in these buried plants indicate a prominent c. 8.0 ‰ shift towards more negative δ15N values on average over the last 3,200 years. Based on differences in δ15N between modern and more extensive "paleo" tillandsiales at one of our lowest elevation study sites, we interpret this shift as an increase in available moisture due to increased fog input during the late Holocene. Increased variability in ENSO as well as increased upwelling and southerly winds along the coastal Atacama would explain in part this increase. Clearly, the Atacama tillandsiales have considerable potential for monitoring past and present change of these large-scale ocean-atmosphere systems.

  17. Room temperature 57Fe Moessbauer spectroscopy of ordinary chondrites from the Atacama Desert (Chile): constraining the weathering processes on desert meteorites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valenzuela, M.; Abdu, Y.; Scorzelli, R. B.; Duttine, M.; Morata, D.; Munayco, P.

    2007-01-01

    We report the results of a study on the weathering products of 21 meteorites found in the Atacama Desert (Chile) using room temperature 57 Fe Moessbauer spectroscopy (MS). The meteorites are weathered ordinary chondrites (OCs) with unknown terrestrial ages and include the three chemical groups (H, L, and LL). We obtained the percentage of all the Fe-bearing phases for the primary minerals: olivine, pyroxene, troilite and Fe-Ni metal, and for the ferric alteration products (composed of the paramagnetic Fe 3+ component and the magnetically ordered Fe 3+ components) which gives the percentage of oxidation of the samples. From the Moessbauer absorption areas of these oxides, the terrestrial oxidation of the Atacama OC was found in the range from ∼5% to ∼60%. The amount of silicates as well as the opaques decreases at a constant rate with increasing oxidation level.

  18. A VIRTUAL SKY WITH EXTRAGALACTIC H I AND CO LINES FOR THE SQUARE KILOMETRE ARRAY AND THE ATACAMA LARGE MILLIMETER/SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Obreschkow, D.; Kloeckner, H.-R.; Heywood, I.; Rawlings, S.; Levrier, F.

    2009-01-01

    We present a sky simulation of the atomic H I-emission line and the first 10 12 C 16 O rotational emission lines of molecular gas in galaxies beyond the Milky Way. The simulated sky field has a comoving diameter of 500 h -1 Mpc; hence, the actual field of view depends on the (user-defined) maximal redshift z max ; e.g., for z max = 10, the field of view yields ∼4 x 4 deg 2 . For all galaxies, we estimate the line fluxes, line profiles, and angular sizes of the H I and CO-emission lines. The galaxy sample is complete for galaxies with cold hydrogen masses above 10 8 M sun . This sky simulation builds on a semi-analytic model of the cosmic evolution of galaxies in a Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmology. The evolving CDM distribution was adopted from the Millennium Simulation, an N-body CDM simulation in a cubic box with a side length of 500 h -1 Mpc. This side length limits the coherence scale of our sky simulation: it is long enough to allow the extraction of the baryon acoustic oscillations in the galaxy power spectrum, yet the position and amplitude of the first acoustic peak will be imperfectly defined. This sky simulation is a tangible aid to the design and operation of future telescopes, such as the Square Kilometre Array, Large Millimeter Telescope, and Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array. The results presented in this paper have been restricted to a graphical representation of the simulated sky and fundamental dN/dz analyses for peak flux density limited and total flux limited surveys of H I and CO. A key prediction is that H I will be harder to detect at redshifts z ∼> 2 than predicted by a no-evolution model. The future verification or falsification of this prediction will allow us to qualify the semi-analytic models.

  19. Spectroscopic classification of the rebrightening of SNhunt151 in NGC 3165

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pastorello, A.; Ciabattari, A. Harutyunyan F.; Mazzoni, E.; Benetti, S.; Cappellaro, E.; Ochner, P.; Tartaglia, L.; Tomasella, L.; Turatto, M.; Elias-Rosa, N.; Moralez-Garoffolo, A.; Valenti, S.; Graham, M. L.; Howell, D. A.; Leonini, S.; Guerrini, G.; Rosi, P.; Tinjaca Ramirez, L. M.

    2013-09-01

    Recent photometry obtained with the Asiago Telescopes, the Las Cumbers Observatory Global telescope network (LCOGT) facilities and the Liverpool telescopes reveals that the transient SNhunt151 in NGC 3165 discovered by the Catalina Real Time Transient Survey (http://nesssi.cacr.caltech.edu/catalina/current.html) has significantly brightened (r=17.6 on Aug 30.17 UT). The object has been also detected in a number of past images of the Italian Supernova Search Program (ISSP;http://italiansupernovae.org/index.php) obtained since October 2012 with the 0.53m telescope of the Astronomical Observatory of Montarrenti (Siena) and the 0.5m Newton telescope of the Astronomical Observatory of Monte Agliale (Lucca).

  20. The DAG project, a 4m class telescope: the telescope main structure performances

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchiori, G.; Busatta, A.; Ghedin, L.; Marcuzzi, E.; Manfrin, C.; Battistel, C.; Pirnay, O.; Flebus, Carlo; Yeşilyaprak, C.; Keskin, O.; Yerli, S.

    2016-07-01

    Dogu Anatolu Gözlemevi (DAG-Eastern Anatolia Observatory) Project is a 4m class optical, near-infrared Telescope and suitable enclosure which will be located at an altitude of 3.170m in Erzurum, Turkey. The DAG telescope is a project fully funded by Turkish Ministry of Development and the Atatürk University of Astrophysics Research Telescope - ATASAM. The Project is being developed by the Belgian company AMOS (project leader), which is also the optics supplier and EIE GROUP, the Telescope Main Structure supplier and responsible for the final site integration. The design of the Telescope Main Structure fits in the EIE TBO Program which aims at developing a Dome/Telescope systemic optimization process for both performances and competitive costs based on previous project commitments like NTT, VLT, VST and ASTRI. The optical Configuration of the DAG Telescope is a Ritchey-Chretien with two Nasmyth foci and a 4m primary thin mirror controlled in shape and position by an Active Optic System. The main characteristics of the Telescope Main Structure are an Altitude-Azimuth light and rigid structure system with Direct Drive Systems for both axis, AZ Hydrostatic Bearing System and Altitude standard bearing system; both axes are equipped with Tape Encoder System. An innovative Control System characterizes the telescope performance.

  1. Terrestrial analogs for interpretation of infrared spectra from the Martian surface and subsurface: Sulfate, nitrate, carbonate, and phyllosilicate-bearing Atacama Desert soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sutter, B.; Dalton, J. B.; Ewing, S. A.; Amundson, R.; McKay, C. P.

    2007-10-01

    Hyperarid (Mars soils have similar sulfate concentrations; possess phyllosilicates (e.g., smectite) and minor carbonate. Nitrate has not been detected on Mars, but its presence has been proposed. The similar compositions of Atacama and Mars soils have prompted the visible-infrared (0.35-25 μm) investigation of Atacama soils as Mars analogs. Results from this work determined the best infrared features for detecting sulfate, nitrate, carbonate, and phyllosilicate on Mars. The fundamental region (>6.5 μm) was not suited for salt and phyllosilicate detection because of overlapping spectra from primary silicates (e.g., feldspar), water and carbon dioxide. The visible near-infrared (0.35-2.5 μm) region was suited for detecting carbonate, nitrate, gypsum water of hydration, and phyllosilicate hydroxyls without interference from primary silicates. However, gypsum water of hydration features can obscure phyllosilicate hydroxyl, carbonate and nitrate, features if gypsum levels are high. Overtone/combination absorption features in the midinfrared were determined to be the best indicators of sulfate (4.48-4.70 μm), nitrate (4.12 μm), and carbonate (3.98 μm) because interferences from overlapping primary silicate and water features are not present in this region. Interferences from CO2 and thermal emission effects in the overtone/combination region are possible but may be minimized by corrective techniques. Infrared analysis of Atacama Desert soils can provide insight into the spectral search of sulfate, nitrate, carbonate, and phyllosilicate containing soils on Mars.

  2. Recurrence of water bodies in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert - New insights into the Late Pleistocene paleoclimate history of Northern Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diederich, J. L.; Wennrich, V.; Fernández Galego, E.; Ritter, B.; Brill, D.; Niemann, K.; Rolf, C.; Melles, M.

    2017-12-01

    The Atacama Desert of northern Chile is regarded as the driest desert on Earth. Although still controversially discussed, overall arid to hyperarid conditions in the Atacama are thought to have persisted at least since the early Miocene, but were frequently punctuated by pluvial phases. The knowledge of past changes in humidity is strongly hampered by the fact that sediment records from the central Atacama Desert, which enable longer-scale precipitation reconstructions, are rare and mostly restricted to the Miocene/Pliocene or the late Pleistocene <50 kyrs. In this study, we focus on a sediment record from the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert, derived from a tectonically blocked clay pan in the Coastal Cordillera (20°04'33.64"S, 69°55'01.75"W). This clay pan `Huara' has been initially investigated by a geophysical survey in spring 2015, followed by drilling of a short core (HU-III) covering the uppermost 4 m of sediment. Initial results of the ground penetrating radar (GPR) and horizontal to vertical (H/V) spectral ratio measurements indicate well-stratified sediment bodies in the basin with a maximum sediment infill of 30 ± 4 m. The chronology of core HU-III was established by a combination of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and paleomagnetic dating. The sedimentological and geochemical data of core HU-III as well as it's sediment geophysical properties indicate the primary accumulation of fine-grained sediments over the past ca. 50 kyrs, interpreted to be deposited under arid conditions with only sporadic precipitation. Intercalated coarser horizons indicate several periods of semiarid climate conditions, causing multiple phases of local alluvial deposition from the interior catchment area into the clay pan. The results are in agreement with a cosmogenic nuclide study from an adjacent meander system, indicating that the whole sediment sequence of the Huara clay pan covers the regional climate history of the past 500 - 700 kyrs.

  3. Latest Miocene-Pliocene Tiliviche Paleolake, Atacama Desert, Northern Chile 19.5°S: Paleoclimatic and Paleohydrologic Implications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirk-Lawlor, N. E.; Jordan, T. E.; Rech, J.; Lehmann, S.

    2010-12-01

    Endorheic paleolake deposits of diatomite, mudstone, sandstone, and evaporites are exposed in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. This study focuses on a major latest Miocene-Pliocene paleolake system centered at 19.5°S, near Tiliviche. A diatiomite unit, up to 35m thick, composed of 0.2-1.5m thick beds of massive, white diatiomite, free of plant matter and root traces, is interpreted have formed from lacustrine diatom blooms. At its maximum extent, the lake would have had a surface area of roughly 200 km2, based on the extent of the diatomite unit, and might have been 50-100 m deep, as inferred by the relationship between the diatomite unit and modern topography. The Tiliviche paleolake initially formed before 6.4 Ma, and much of its sedimentary record formed under a wetter climatic and hydrologic regime than the present. Prior to 3.5 Ma, the lake had evolved into a groundwater-fed saltpan. Polygonally fractured efflorescent halite evaporite and bedded gypsum and gypsarenite evaporite deposits that overlie the diatomite unit are evidence of this saltpan environment. The modern Atacama Desert is hyperarid, with an average precipitation of 2 mm/yr in the driest areas. The paleosol record demonstrates that hyperarid conditions dominated this region since the middle Miocene, albeit with multiple fluctuations to less arid conditions of short to moderately long duration. This hyperaridity is due to the desert’s latitude, ocean currents and the rainshadow created by the Andes. There is no evidence that the rainshadow effect has diminished since the late Miocene, hence global climate changes affecting ocean temperatures and atmospheric patterns likely caused the wetter periods in the Atacama. In particular, prior workers noted wetter conditions in the region ~6-5 Ma, followed by a return to hyper-arid conditions. The regional Pliocene return to hyperaridity coincided with the desiccation of the Tiliviche endorheic lake system. During the late Miocene (~6-5 Ma) wetter

  4. The large binocular telescope.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, John M

    2010-06-01

    The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) Observatory is a collaboration among institutions in Arizona, Germany, Italy, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Virginia. The telescope on Mount Graham in Southeastern Arizona uses two 8.4 m diameter primary mirrors mounted side by side. A unique feature of the LBT is that the light from the two Gregorian telescope sides can be combined to produce phased-array imaging of an extended field. This cophased imaging along with adaptive optics gives the telescope the diffraction-limited resolution of a 22.65 m aperture and a collecting area equivalent to an 11.8 m circular aperture. This paper describes the design, construction, and commissioning of this unique telescope. We report some sample astronomical results with the prime focus cameras. We comment on some of the technical challenges and solutions. The telescope uses two F/15 adaptive secondaries to correct atmospheric turbulence. The first of these adaptive mirrors has completed final system testing in Firenze, Italy, and is planned to be at the telescope by Spring 2010.

  5. Submillimeter and millimeter observations of solar system objects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muhleman, D.O.

    1988-01-01

    Planetary atmospheres and satellite surfaces are observed with the three element array at Caltech's Owens Valley Radio Observatory, Caltech's submillimeter telescope on Mauna Kea and at the 12-meter telescope at Kitt Peak. Researchers are primarily interested in spectroscopy of the atmospheres of Venus, Mars and Titan and the continuum structure of Saturn Rings, Galilean satellites, Neptune and Uranus. During the last year researchers completed a supersynthesis of the Saturn system at 2.8 mm with spatial resolution of 3 arc sec. They just completed a 4-confuguration synthesis of Venus in the CO absorption line. They hope to recover the wind patterns in the altitude range from 60 to 100 km where winds have never been measured. Two important questions are being investigated: (1) how high in the Venus atmosphere do 4-day winds extend, and (2) can we produce experiment proof (or disproof) of the subsolar-to-anti-solar flow (Dickenson winds) predicted by general circulation models

  6. Freshwater-Brine Mixing Zone Hydrodynamics in Salt Flats (Salar de Atacama)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marazuela, M. A.; Vázquez-Suñé, E.; Custodio, E.; Palma, T.; García-Gil, A.

    2017-12-01

    The increase in the demand of strategic minerals for the development of medicines and batteries require detailed knowledge of the salt flats freshwater-brine interface to make its exploitation efficient. The interface zone is the result of a physical balance between the recharged and evaporated water. The sharp interface approach assumes the immiscibility of the fluids and thus neglects the mixing between them. As a consequence, for miscible fluids it is more accurate and often needed to use the mixing zone concept, which results from the dynamic equilibrium of flowing freshwater and brine. In this study, we consider two and three-dimensional scale approaches for the management of the mixing zone. The two-dimensional approach is used to understand the dynamics and the characteristics of the salt flat mixing zone, especially in the Salar de Atacama (Atacama salt flat) case. By making use of this model we analyze and quantify the effects of the aquitards on the mixing zone geometry. However, the understanding of the complex physical processes occurring in the salt flats and the management of these environments requires the adoption of three-dimensional regional scale numerical models. The models that take into account the effects of variable density represent the best management tool, but they require large computational resources, especially in the three-dimensional case. In order to avoid these computational limitations in the modeling of salt flats and their valuable ecosystems, we propose a three-step methodology, consisting of: (1) collection, validation and interpretation of the hydrogeochemical data, (2) identification and three-dimensional mapping of the mixing zone on the land surface and in depth, and (3) application of a water head correction to the freshwater and mixed water heads in order to compensate the density variations and to transform them to brine water heads. Finally, an evaluation of the sensibility of the mixing zone to anthropogenic and

  7. Streptomyces asenjonii sp. nov., isolated from arid Atacama Desert soils and emended description of Streptomyces viridosporus Pridham et al. 1958

    Science.gov (United States)

    A polyphasic study was undertaken to establish the taxonomic status of Streptomyces strains isolated from arid Atacama Desert soils. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences of the isolates showed that they formed a well-defined lineage that was loosely associated with the type strains of several Str...

  8. Optics for MUSIC: a new (sub)millimeter camera for the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sayers, Jack; Czakon, Nicole G.; Day, Peter K.; Downes, Thomas P.; Duan, Ran P.; Gao, Jiansong; Glenn, Jason; Golwala, Sunil R.; Hollister, Matt I.; LeDuc, Henry G.; Mazin, Benjamin A.; Maloney, Philip R.; Noroozian, Omid; Nguyen, Hien T.; Schlaerth, James A.; Siegel, Seth; Vaillancourt, John E.; Vayonakis, Anastasios; Wilson, Philip R.; Zmuidzinas, Jonas

    2010-07-01

    We will present the design and implementation, along with calculations and some measurements of the performance, of the room-temperature and cryogenic optics for MUSIC, a new (sub)millimeter camera we are developing for the Caltech Submm Observatory (CSO). The design consists of two focusing elements in addition to the CSO primary and secondary mirrors: a warm off-axis elliptical mirror and a cryogenic (4K) lens. These optics will provide a 14 arcmin field of view that is diffraction limited in all four of the MUSIC observing bands (2.00, 1.33, 1.02, and 0.86 mm). A cold (4K) Lyot stop will be used to define the primary mirror illumination, which will be maximized while keeping spillover at the sub 1% level. The MUSIC focal plane will be populated with broadband phased antenna arrays that efficiently couple to factor of (see manuscript) 3 in bandwidth,1, 2 and each pixel on the focal plane will be read out via a set of four lumped element filters that define the MUSIC observing bands (i.e., each pixel on the focal plane simultaneously observes in all four bands). Finally, a series of dielectric and metal-mesh low pass filters have been implemented to reduce the optical power load on the MUSIC cryogenic stages to a quasi-negligible level while maintaining good transmission in-band.

  9. A 16-m Telescope for the Advanced Technology Large Aperture Telescope (ATLAST) Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lillie, Charles F.; Dailey, D. R.; Polidan, R. S.

    2010-01-01

    Future space observatories will require increasingly large telescopes to study the earliest stars and galaxies, as well as faint nearby objects. Technologies now under development will enable telescopes much larger than the 6.5-meter diameter James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to be developed at comparable costs. Current segmented mirror and deployable optics technology enables the 6.5 meter JWST telescope to be folded for launch in the 5-meter diameter Ariane 5 payload fairing, and deployed autonomously after reaching orbit. Late in the next decade, when the Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle payload fairing becomes operational, even larger telescope can be placed in orbit. In this paper we present our concept for a 16-meter JWST derivative, chord-fold telescope which could be stowed in the 10-m diameter Ares V fairing, plus a description of the new technologies that enable ATLAST to be developed at an affordable price.

  10. Operating performance of the gamma-ray Cherenkov telescope: An end-to-end Schwarzschild–Couder telescope prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dournaux, J.L., E-mail: jean-laurent.dournaux@obspm.fr [GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Diderot, Place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon (France); De Franco, A. [Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Laporte, P. [GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Diderot, Place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon (France); White, R. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Greenshaw, T. [University of Liverpool, Oliver Lodge Laboratory, P.O. Box 147, Oxford Street, Liverpool L69 3BX (United Kingdom); Sol, H. [LUTH, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon (France); Abchiche, A. [CNRS, Division technique DT-INSU, 1 Place Aristide Briand, 92190 Meudon (France); Allan, D. [Department of Physics and Centre for Advanced Instrumentation, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom); Amans, J.P. [GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Diderot, Place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon (France); Armstrong, T.P. [Department of Physics and Centre for Advanced Instrumentation, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom); Balzer, A.; Berge, D. [GRAPPA, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam (Netherlands); Boisson, C. [LUTH, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon (France); and others

    2017-02-11

    The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) consortium aims to build the next-generation ground-based very-high-energy gamma-ray observatory. The array will feature different sizes of telescopes allowing it to cover a wide gamma-ray energy band from about 20 GeV to above 100 TeV. The highest energies, above 5 TeV, will be covered by a large number of Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs) with a field-of-view of around 9°. The Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope (GCT), based on Schwarzschild–Couder dual-mirror optics, is one of the three proposed SST designs. The GCT is described in this contribution and the first images of Cherenkov showers obtained using the telescope and its camera are presented. These were obtained in November 2015 in Meudon, France.

  11. CALTECH CORE-COLLAPSE PROJECT (CCCP) OBSERVATIONS OF TYPE II SUPERNOVAE: EVIDENCE FOR THREE DISTINCT PHOTOMETRIC SUBTYPES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arcavi, Iair; Gal-Yam, Avishay; Yaron, Ofer [Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100 (Israel); Cenko, S. Bradley; Becker, Adam B. [Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States); Fox, Derek B. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Leonard, Douglas C. [Department of Astronomy, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182 (United States); Moon, Dae-Sik [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 (Canada); Sand, David J. [Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Santa Barbara, CA 93117 (United States); Soderberg, Alicia M. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Kiewe, Michael [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Scheps, Raphael [King' s College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1ST (United Kingdom); Birenbaum, Gali [12 Amos St, Ramat Chen, Ramat Gan 52233 (Israel); Chamudot, Daniel [20 Chen St, Petach Tikvah 49520 (Israel); Zhou, Jonathan, E-mail: iair.arcavi@weizmann.ac.il [101 Dunster Street, Box 398, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

    2012-09-10

    We present R-band light curves of Type II supernovae (SNe) from the Caltech Core-Collapse Project (CCCP). With the exception of interacting (Type IIn) SNe and rare events with long rise times, we find that most light curve shapes belong to one of three apparently distinct classes: plateau, slowly declining, and rapidly declining events. The last class is composed solely of Type IIb SNe which present similar light curve shapes to those of SNe Ib, suggesting, perhaps, similar progenitor channels. We do not find any intermediate light curves, implying that these subclasses are unlikely to reflect variance of continuous parameters, but rather might result from physically distinct progenitor systems, strengthening the suggestion of a binary origin for at least some stripped SNe. We find a large plateau luminosity range for SNe IIP, while the plateau lengths seem rather uniform at approximately 100 days. As analysis of additional CCCP data goes on and larger samples are collected, demographic studies of core-collapse SNe will likely continue to provide new constraints on progenitor scenarios.

  12. Factores determinantes del rendimiento académico de los estudiantes de la Universidad de Atacama

    OpenAIRE

    Barahona U,Planck

    2014-01-01

    El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar los factores asociados al rendimiento académico, para el año lectivo 2010-2011, de los estudiantes de primer año de las carreras de Trabajo Social, Ingeniería, Derecho y Humanidades de la Universidad de Atacama (UDA), para un total de 258 alumnos. El trabajo lo hemos dividido en dos partes; en la primera, hemos creído conveniente utilizar el modelo de Regresión Múltiple con datos de corte transversal para determinar las variables predictoras del rendi...

  13. An innovative telescope control system architecture for SST-GATE telescopes at the CTA Observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fasola, Gilles; Mignot, Shan; Laporte, Philippe; Abchiche, Abdel; Buchholtz, Gilles; Jégouzo, Isabelle

    2014-07-01

    SST-GATE (Small Size Telescope - GAmma-ray Telescope Elements) is a 4-metre telescope designed as a prototype for the Small Size Telescopes (SST) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), a major facility for the very high energy gamma-ray astronomy of the next three decades. In this 100-telescope array there will be 70 SSTs, involving a design with an industrial view aiming at long-term service, low maintenance effort and reduced costs. More than a prototype, SST-GATE is also a fully functional telescope that shall be usable by scientists and students at the Observatoire de Meudon for 30 years. The Telescope Control System (TCS) is designed to work either as an element of a large array driven by an array controller or in a stand-alone mode with a remote workstation. Hence it is built to be autonomous with versatile interfacing; as an example, pointing and tracking —the main functions of the telescope— are managed onboard, including astronomical transformations, geometrical transformations (e.g. telescope bending model) and drive control. The core hardware is a CompactRIO (cRIO) featuring a real-time operating system and an FPGA. In this paper, we present an overview of the current status of the TCS. We especially focus on three items: the pointing computation implemented in the FPGA of the cRIO —using CORDIC algorithms— since it enables an optimisation of the hardware resources; data flow management based on OPCUA with its specific implementation on the cRIO; and the use of an EtherCAT field-bus for its ability to provide real-time data exchanges with the sensors and actuators distributed throughout the telescope.

  14. Classic Telescopes A Guide to Collecting, Restoring, and Using Telescopes of Yesteryear

    CERN Document Server

    English, Neil

    2013-01-01

    Classic Telescopes explores the exciting world of telescopes past, as well as the possibilities involved in acquiring these instruments. What are classic telescopes? First, the book takes a look at the more traditional telescopes built by the great instrument makers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the dynastic houses founded by the likes of John Dollond, Alvan Clark, Thomas Cooke & Sons and Carl Zeiss, plus some lesser-known luminaries, including John Brashear, John Calver, and Henry Fitz. Instruments constructed from the 1950s until as recently as the early 1990s are now also considered 'classic.' There is thus a very active market for buying and selling these 'modern' classics. The author examines some of the most talked about instruments on the amateur Internet forums, including the Unitron refractors, the Questar 90, a classic 6-inch reflector, the RV-6; a 3-inch F/15 achromat by Fullerscopes; the time-honored AstroScan Richfield reflector; and many, many more. Classic telescopes are of...

  15. Draft Genome Sequence of Hymenobacter sp. Strain AT01-02, Isolated from a Surface Soil Sample in the Atacama Desert, Chile

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Anders Cai Holm; Paulino-Lima, Ivan Glaucio; Fujishima, Kosuke

    2016-01-01

    Here, we report the 5.09-Mb draft genome sequence of Hymenobacter sp. strain AT01-02, which was isolated from a surface soil sample in the Atacama Desert, Chile. The isolate is extremely resistant to UV-C radiation and is able to accumulate high intracellular levels of Mn/Fe....

  16. Δ17O Isotopic Investigation of Nitrate Salts Found in Co-Occurrence with Naturally Formed Perchlorate in the Mojave Desert, California, USA and the Atacama Desert, Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lybrand, R. A.; Parker, D.; Rech, J.; Prellwitz, J.; Michalski, G.

    2009-12-01

    Perchlorate is both a naturally occurring and manmade contaminant that has been identified in soil, groundwater and surface water. Perchlorate directly affects human health by interfering with iodide uptake in the thyroid gland, which may in turn lower the production of key hormones that are needed for proper growth and development. Until recently, the Atacama Desert, Chile was thought to be the only location where perchlorate salts formed naturally. Recent work has documented the occurrence of these salts in several semi-arid regions of the United States. This study identified putatively natural sources of perchlorate in the Mojave Desert of California. Soil samples were collected from six field sites varying in geologic age. The co-occurrence of perchlorate and nitrate in caliches from the Atacama Desert and soils from the Mojave Desert was also investigated. Although the former are richer in NO3-, near-ore-grade (~5%) deposits occur in the vicinity of Death Valley National Park. Weak but significant correlations exist between ClO4- and NO3- at both locations, but the perchlorate levels are much higher (up to 800 mg/kg) in the Chilean samples than in California (atmospheric origin for the Atacama nitrate salts, and a mixture between biological nitrate and atmospherically-derived nitrate for the Mojave samples. When corrected for the percentage of atmospheric nitrate measured in the Atacama samples, the Mojave samples still contain much lower perchlorate concentrations than would be expected if the occurrence of perchlorate correlated strictly with atmospherically derived nitrate. These results indicate that the variation in the origins of the nitrate salts is not the only factor influencing perchlorate distribution in these environments. These findings suggest that there are other geologic differences in landform age and stability that are crucial to understanding the co-occurrence of nitrate and perchlorate between the two locations.

  17. Alignment and phasing of deployable telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woolf, N. J.; Ulich, B. L.

    1983-01-01

    The experiences in coaligning and phasing the Multi-Mirror Telescope (MMT), together with studies in setting up radio telescopes, are presented. These experiences are discussed, and on the basis they furnish, schemes are suggested for coaligning and phasing four large future telescopes with complex primary mirror systems. These telescopes are MT2, a 15-m-equivalent MMT, the University of California Ten Meter Telescope, the 10 m sub-mm wave telescope of the University of Arizona and the Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy, and the Large Deployable Reflector, a future space telescope for far-IR and sub-mm waves.

  18. A microbial oasis in the hypersaline atacama subsurface discovered by a life detector chip : Implications for the search for life on mars

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Parro, Victor; De Diego-Castilla, Graciela; Moreno-Paz, Mercedes; Blanco, Yolanda; Cruz-Gil, Patricia; Rodríguez-Manfredi, José Antonio; Fernández-Remolar, David; Gómez, Felipe; Gómez, Manuel J.; Rivas, Luis A.; Demergasso, Cecilia; Echeverría, Alex; Urtuvia, Viviana N.; Ruiz-Bermejo, Marta; García-Villadangos, Miriam; Postigo, Marina; Sánchez-Román, Mónica; Chong-Díaz, Guillermo; Gómez-Elvira, Javier

    2011-01-01

    The Atacama Desert has long been considered a good Mars analogue for testing instrumentation for planetary exploration, but very few data (if any) have been reported about the geomicrobiology of its salt-rich subsurface. We performed a Mars analogue drilling campaign next to the Salar Grande

  19. New National Telescope at La Silla - TRAPPIST to Scout the Sky and Uncover Exoplanets and Comets

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-01

    A new robotic telescope has had first light at ESO's La Silla Observatory, in Chile. TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope) is devoted to the study of planetary systems through two approaches: the detection and characterisation of planets located outside the Solar System (exoplanets) and the study of comets orbiting around the Sun. The 60-cm telescope is operated from a control room in Liège, Belgium, 12 000 km away. "The two themes of the TRAPPIST project are important parts of an emerging interdisciplinary field of research - astrobiology - that aims at studying the origin and distribution of life in the Universe," explains Michaël Gillon, who is in charge of the exoplanet studies. "Terrestrial planets similar to our Earth are obvious targets for the search for life outside the Solar System, while comets are suspected to have played an important role in the appearance and development of life on our planet," adds his colleague Emmanuël Jehin, who leads the cometary part of the project. TRAPPIST will detect and characterise exoplanets by making high precision measurements of "brightness dips" that might possibly be caused by exoplanet transits. During such a transit, the observed brightness of the star decreases slightly because the planet blocks a part of the starlight. The larger the planet, the more of the light is blocked and the more the brightness of the star will decrease [1]. "ESO's La Silla Observatory on the outskirts of the Atacama Desert is certainly one of the best astronomical sites in the world," says Gillon. "And because it is already home to two superb exoplanet hunters, we couldn't have found a better place to install our robotic telescope." The astronomers behind the TRAPPIST initiative will work very closely with the teams using HARPS on the 3.6-metre telescope and CORALIE attached to the Swiss 1.2-metre Leonhard Euler Telescope, both at La Silla. TRAPPIST is a collaboration between the University of Liège and the

  20. Alt-Az Spacewatch Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gehrels, Tom

    1997-01-01

    This grant funded about one third of the cost of the construction of a telescope with an aperture 1.8 meters in diameter to discover asteroids and comets and investigate the statistics of their populations and orbital distributions. This telescope has been built to the PI's specifications and installed in a dome on Kitt Peak mountain in Arizona. Funds for the dome and building were provided entirely by private sources. The dome building and telescope were dedicated in a ceremony at the site on June 7, 1997. The attached abstract describes the parameters of the telescope. The telescope is a new item of capital property. It is permanently located in University of Arizona building number 910 in the Steward Observatory compound on Kitt Peak mountain in the Tohono O'odham Nation, Arizona. fts property tag number is A252107. This grant did not include funds for the coma corrector lens, instrument derotator, CCD detector, detector electronics, or computers to acquire or process the data. It also did not include funds to operate the telescope or conduct research with it. Funds for these items and efforts are pending from NASA and other sources.

  1. Dark matter dynamics in Abell 3827 : new data consistent with standard cold dark matter.

    OpenAIRE

    Massey, R.; Harvey, D.; Liesenborgs, J.; Richard, J.; Stach, S.; Swinbank, M.; Taylor, P.; Williams, L.; Clowe, D.; Courbin, F.; Edge, A.; Israel, H.; Jauzac, M.; Joseph, R.; Jullo, E.

    2018-01-01

    We present integral field spectroscopy of galaxy cluster Abell 3827, using Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) and Very Large Telescope/Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer. It reveals an unusual configuration of strong gravitational lensing in the cluster core, with at least seven lensed images of a single background spiral galaxy. Lens modelling based on Hubble Space Telescope imaging had suggested that the dark matter associated with one of the cluster's central galaxies may be offset. The ...

  2. The great Melbourne telescope

    CERN Document Server

    Gillespie, Richard

    2011-01-01

    Erected at Melbourne Observatory in 1869, the telescope was the second largest in the world, designed to explore the nature of the nebulae in the southern skies. Richard Gillespie, head of the History and Technology department at the Melbourne museum has written an entertaining account of the telescope's extraordinary history and tells the story through an amazing cast of characters whose lives intersected with the telescope.

  3. Scientific Performance Analysis of the SYZ Telescope Design versus the RC Telescope Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Donglin; Cai, Zheng

    2018-02-01

    Recently, Su et al. propose an innovative design, referred as the “SYZ” design, for China’s new project of a 12 m optical-infrared telescope. The SYZ telescope design consists of three aspheric mirrors with non-zero power, including a relay mirror below the primary mirror. SYZ design yields a good imaging quality and has a relatively flat field curvature at Nasmyth focus. To evaluate the science-compatibility of this three-mirror telescope, in this paper, we thoroughly compare the performance of SYZ design with that of Ritchey–Chrétien (RC) design, a conventional two-mirror telescope design. Further, we propose the Observing Information Throughput (OIT) as a metric for quantitatively evaluating the telescopes’ science performance. We find that although a SYZ telescope yields a superb imaging quality over a large field of view, a two-mirror (RC) telescope design holds a higher overall throughput, a better diffraction-limited imaging quality in the central field of view (FOV < 5‧) which is better for the performance of extreme Adaptive Optics (AO), and a generally better scientific performance with a higher OIT value. D. Ma & Z. Cai contributed equally to this paper.

  4. Dry limit to photosynthesis and cyanobacterial spatial pattern in the Atacama Desert

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warren-Rhodes, K. A.; Pointing, S. B.; Ewing, S.; Lacap, D.; Gomez-Silva, B.; Amundson, R.; Friedmann, E. I.; McKay, C. P.

    2005-12-01

    Hypolithic autotrophs inhabit translucent rocks in the world`'s most extreme hot and cold deserts. Across a rainfall gradient in the Atacama, we measured a three-fold decline in the molecular diversity of cyanobacterial communities and a drop in their abundance from 28% in relatively wet sites to 0.08% in the driest core. Like plants, hypoliths appear to exhibit traits of self-organized patchiness (aggregated spatial patterns) that tightly correlate with rainfall. Rare cyanobacteria in the core live slowly (3,200 y turnover times) and survive in spatially isolated patches of self-augmented fertility, with the dry limit to their survival occurring at ~Mars but may have existed in rare oases in the past. The spatial distributions of terrestrial desert microbes should be considered in the remote search for life on Mars.

  5. VizieR Online Data Catalog: UV and IR properties for galaxies (Mao+, 2014)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mao, Y.-W.; Kong, X.; Lin, L.

    2017-03-01

    Broadband FUV and NUV imaging data were obtained from GALEX observations and downloaded from the Multimission Archive at Space Telescope Science Institute (MAST) Web site (http://galex.stsci.edu/); 8um (dust-only) and 24um images were observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope (Spitzer) and retrieved from the SINGS data distribution service (http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/data/SPITZER/SINGS/). Hα narrowband imaging data are also employed in this work. The Hα narrowband image for NGC 3031 was observed by the 60/90 cm Schmidt telescope at Xing-Long station of the National Astronomical Observatories of China with the filter of transmission profile FWHM~120Å. (2 data files).

  6. Virtual Telescope Alignment System

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Next-generation space telescopes require two spacecraft to fly in a coordinated fashion in space forming a virtual telescope. Achieving and maintaining this precise...

  7. Application of PIXE to the characterization of vitreous dacites from archaeolgical sites in the Atacama region in northern Chile

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morales, J.R.; Cancino, S. [Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Nunoa, Santiago 1 (Chile); Miranda, P. [Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Nunoa, Santiago 1 (Chile)], E-mail: pjmirand@gmail.com; Dinator, M.I. [Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Nunoa, Santiago 1 (Chile); Seelenfreund, A. [Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano, Condell 343, Providencia, Santiago (Chile)

    2007-11-15

    Geochemical characterization studies using PIXE were carried out on 21 vitreous dacite artifacts from early formative archaeological sites in the Atacama region, in northern Chile, and on 13 samples taken from two potential volcanic sources located within the region. Performing statistical analyses it was possible to obtain elemental concentration patterns for the archaeological samples of this material and match some of these artifacts with the geological source samples.

  8. James Webb Space Telescope Optical Telescope Element Mirror Development History and Results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feinber, Lee D.; Clampin, Mark; Keski-Kuha, Ritva; Atkinson, Charlie; Texter, Scott; Bergeland, Mark; Gallagher, Benjamin B.

    2012-01-01

    In a little under a decade, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) program has designed, manufactured, assembled and tested 21 flight beryllium mirrors for the James Webb Space Telescope Optical Telescope Element. This paper will summarize the mirror development history starting with the selection of beryllium as the mirror material and ending with the final test results. It will provide an overview of the technological roadmap and schedules and the key challenges that were overcome. It will also provide a summary or the key tests that were performed and the results of these tests.

  9. Observing the Sun with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA): Fast-Scan Single-Dish Mapping

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, S. M.; Iwai, K.; Phillips, N. M.; Hills, R. E.; Hirota, A.; Yagoubov, P.; Siringo, G.; Shimojo, M.; Bastian, T. S.; Hales, A. S.; Sawada, T.; Asayama, S.; Sugimoto, M.; Marson, R. G.; Kawasaki, W.; Muller, E.; Nakazato, T.; Sugimoto, K.; Brajša, R.; Skokić, I.; Bárta, M.; Kim, S.; Remijan, A. J.; de Gregorio, I.; Corder, S. A.; Hudson, H. S.; Loukitcheva, M.; Chen, B.; De Pontieu, B.; Fleishmann, G. D.; Gary, D. E.; Kobelski, A.; Wedemeyer, S.; Yan, Y.

    2017-07-01

    The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope has commenced science observations of the Sun starting in late 2016. Since the Sun is much larger than the field of view of individual ALMA dishes, the ALMA interferometer is unable to measure the background level of solar emission when observing the solar disk. The absolute temperature scale is a critical measurement for much of ALMA solar science, including the understanding of energy transfer through the solar atmosphere, the properties of prominences, and the study of shock heating in the chromosphere. In order to provide an absolute temperature scale, ALMA solar observing will take advantage of the remarkable fast-scanning capabilities of the ALMA 12 m dishes to make single-dish maps of the full Sun. This article reports on the results of an extensive commissioning effort to optimize the mapping procedure, and it describes the nature of the resulting data. Amplitude calibration is discussed in detail: a path that uses the two loads in the ALMA calibration system as well as sky measurements is described and applied to commissioning data. Inspection of a large number of single-dish datasets shows significant variation in the resulting temperatures, and based on the temperature distributions, we derive quiet-Sun values at disk center of 7300 K at λ = 3 mm and 5900 K at λ = 1.3 mm. These values have statistical uncertainties of about 100 K, but systematic uncertainties in the temperature scale that may be significantly larger. Example images are presented from two periods with very different levels of solar activity. At a resolution of about 25'', the 1.3 mm wavelength images show temperatures on the disk that vary over about a 2000 K range. Active regions and plages are among the hotter features, while a large sunspot umbra shows up as a depression, and filament channels are relatively cool. Prominences above the solar limb are a common feature of the single-dish images.

  10. VizieR Online Data Catalog: APEX CO and HI observations of Lupus I (Gaczkowski+, 2017)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaczkowski, B.; Roccatagliata, V.; Flaischlen, S.; Kroell, D.; Krause, M. G. H. Burkert A.; Diehl, R.; Fierlinger, K.; Ngoumou, J.; Preibisch, T.

    2017-11-01

    The FITS files contain the data cubes corresponding to the 13C and C18O(3-2) lines. They were taken using the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) telescope, with an angular resolution of 30" and a velocity resolution of 0.1km/s. (2 data files).

  11. High Resolution Imaging with MUSTANG-2 on the GBT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stanchfield, Sara; Ade, Peter; Aguirre, James; Brevik, Justus A.; Cho, Hsiao-Mei; Datta, Rahul; Devlin, Mark; Dicker, Simon R.; Dober, Bradley; Duff, Shannon M.; Egan, Dennis; Ford, Pam; Hilton, Gene; Hubmayr, Johannes; Irwin, Kent; Knowles, Kenda; Marganian, Paul; Mason, Brian Scott; Mates, John A. B.; McMahon, Jeff; Mello, Melinda; Mroczkowski, Tony; Romero, Charles; Sievers, Jonathon; Tucker, Carole; Vale, Leila R.; Vissers, Michael; White, Steven; Whitehead, Mark; Ullom, Joel; Young, Alexander

    2018-01-01

    We present early science results from MUSTANG-2, a 90 GHz feedhorn-coupled, microwave SQUID-multiplexed TES bolometer array operating on the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The feedhorn and waveguide-probe-coupled detector technology is a mature technology, which has been used on instruments such as the South Pole Telescope, the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, and the Atacama B-mode Search telescope. The microwave SQUID multiplexer-based readout system developed for MUSTANG-2 currently reads out 66 detectors with a single coaxial cable and will eventually allow thousands of detectors to be multiplexed. This microwave SQUID multiplexer combines the proven abilities of millimeter wave TES detectors with the multiplexing capabilities of KIDs with no degradation in noise performance of the detectors. Each multiplexing device is read out using warm electronics consisting of a commercially available ROACH board, a DAC/ADC card, and an Intermediate Frequency mixer circuit. The hardware was originally developed by the Collaboration for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronic Research (CASPER) group, whose primary goal is to develop scalable FPGA-based hardware with the flexibility to be used in a wide range of radio signal processing applications. MUSTANG-2 is the first on-sky instrument to use microwave SQUID multiplexing and is available as a shared-risk/PI instrument on the GBT. In MUSTANG-2’s first season 7 separate proposals were awarded a total of 230 hours of telescope time.

  12. Mechanical design of SST-GATE, a dual-mirror telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dournaux, Jean-Laurent; Huet, Jean-Michel; Amans, Jean-Philippe; Dumas, Delphine; Laporte, Philippe; Sol, Hélène; Blake, Simon

    2014-07-01

    The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project aims to create the next generation Very High Energy (VHE) gamma-ray telescope array. It will be devoted to the observation of gamma rays over a wide band of energy, from a few tens of GeV to more than 100 TeV. Two sites are foreseen to view the whole sky where about 100 telescopes, composed of three different classes, related to the specific energy region to be investigated, will be installed. Among these, the Small Size class of Telescopes, SSTs, are devoted to the highest energy region, to beyond 100 TeV. Due to the large number of SSTs, their unit cost is an important parameter. At the Observatoire de Paris, we have designed a prototype of a Small Size Telescope named SST-GATE, based on the dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder optical formula, which has never before been implemented in the design of a telescope. Over the last two years, we developed a mechanical design for SST-GATE from the optical and preliminary mechanical designs made by the University of Durham. The integration of this telescope is currently in progress. Since the early stages of mechanical design of SST-GATE, finite element method has been used employing shape and topology optimization techniques to help design several elements of the telescope. This allowed optimization of the mechanical stiffness/mass ratio, leading to a lightweight and less expensive mechanical structure. These techniques and the resulting mechanical design are detailed in this paper. We will also describe the finite element analyses carried out to calculate the mechanical deformations and the stresses in the structure under observing and survival conditions.

  13. The pre-Columbian introduction and dispersal of Algarrobo (Prosopis, Section Algarobia) in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gayo, Eugenia M.; Santoro, Calogero M.; De Pol-Holz, Ricardo; Latorre, Claudio

    2017-01-01

    Archaeological and palaeoecological studies throughout the Americas have documented widespread landscape and environmental transformation during the pre-Columbian era. The highly dynamic Formative (or Neolithic) period in northern Chile (ca. 3700–1550 yr BP) brought about the local establishment of agriculture, introduction of new crops (maize, quinoa, manioc, beans, etc.) along with a major population increase, new emergent villages and technological innovations. Even trees such as the Algarrobos (Prosopis section Algarobia) may have been part of this transformation. Here, we provide evidence that these species were not native to the Atacama Desert of Chile (18–27°S), appearing only in the late Holocene and most likely due to human actions. We assembled a database composed of 41 taxon specific AMS radiocarbon dates from archaeobotanical and palaeoecological records (rodent middens, leaf litter deposits), as well an extensive bibliographical review comprising archaeobotanical, paleoecological, phylogenetic and taxonomic data to evaluate the chronology of introduction and dispersal of these trees. Although Algarrobos could have appeared as early as 4200 yr BP in northernmost Chile, they only became common throughout the Atacama over a thousand years later, during and after the Formative period. Cultural and natural factors likely contributed to its spread and consolidation as a major silvicultural resource. PMID:28742126

  14. Trapping fresh sea breeze in desert? Health status of Camanchaca, Atacama's fog.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonnail, Estefanía; Cunha Lima, Ricardo; Martínez Turrieta, Gladys

    2018-05-24

    Water fog composition was investigated at a fog harvesting installation in the coast of Atacama (North Chile). Chañaral is historically affected by mining contamination discharges. Hydro-chemical characterization of fog water from top of the mountain (where capture installation is located) and at the bottom of the mountain (after vertical transportation where an aquaponic system is located) revealed many compositional differences that compromise the use of water. High acidity and high concentrations in Cu and As in water collected on top of the mountain were found; meanwhile, acidity and Cu decreased, and As levels overpassed the drinking water standards after the vertical transportation. Collected data was assessed according to national and international regulatory standards, neutralization factors (NF), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), and ion ratios to determine origin of contamination and suitability of destined for human consumption, irrigation, or aquaculture purposes.

  15. The first telescope of the HEGRA air Cherenkov imaging telescope array

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mirzoyan, R.; Kankanian, R.; Krennrich, F.; Mueller, N.; Sander, H.; Sawallisch, P.; Aharonian, F.; Akhperjanian, A.; Beglarian, A.; Fernandez, J.; Fonseca, V.; Grewe, W.; Heusler, A.; Konopelko, A.K.; Lorenz, E.; Merck, M.; Plyasheshnikov, A.V.; Renker, D.; Samorski, M.; Sauerland, K.; Smarsch, E.; Stamm, W.; Ulrich, M.; Wiedner, C.A.; Wirth, H.

    1994-01-01

    In search of VHE γ ray emission from cosmic point sources a system of imaging Cherenkov telescopes is constructed at present on the Canarian island of La Palma; the first telescope has been operational since 1992. The Cherenkov light from air shower particles is collected by a 5 m 2 reflector. The camera at the focus contains 37 photomultipliers which sample the images of the Cherenkov flashes. The subsequent image analysis allows the discrimination of γ ray induced events from the much more abundant charged cosmic ray induced showers. The telescope has an effective energy threshold for γ showers of about 1.5 TeV. During the first year of operation a signal from the Crab nebula was detected. ((orig.))

  16. Biodegradation of Tributyltin (TBT) by Extremophile Bacteria from Atacama Desert and Speciation of Tin By-products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yáñez, Jorge; Riffo, Paula; Santander, Paola; Mansilla, Héctor D; Mondaca, María Angélica; Campos, Víctor; Amarasiriwardena, Dulasiri

    2015-07-01

    Biodegradation of tributyltin (TBT) by four tin resistant Gram negative bacteria isolated from extremely contaminated river sediments in the Atacama Desert in Chile was studied. Moraxella osloensis showed the greatest resistance and degradation capability of TBT, producing less toxic by-products, such as dibutyltin (DBT) and inorganic tin. In 7 days, approximately 80 % of TBT degradation was achieved, generating close to 20 % of DBT as degradation product. The degradation rate constant (k) was 0.022 [day(-1)] and TBT half-life (t1/2) in culture was 4.3 days. Debutylation is stated a probable mechanism of TBT degradation.

  17. First results of the Test-Bed Telescopes (TBT) project: Cebreros telescope commissioning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ocaña, Francisco; Ibarra, Aitor; Racero, Elena; Montero, Ángel; Doubek, Jirí; Ruiz, Vicente

    2016-07-01

    The TBT project is being developed under ESA's General Studies and Technology Programme (GSTP), and shall implement a test-bed for the validation of an autonomous optical observing system in a realistic scenario within the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). The goal of the project is to provide two fully robotic telescopes, which will serve as prototypes for development of a future network. The system consists of two telescopes, one in Spain and the second one in the Southern Hemisphere. The telescope is a fast astrograph with a large Field of View (FoV) of 2.5 x 2.5 square-degrees and a plate scale of 2.2 arcsec/pixel. The tube is mounted on a fast direct-drive mount moving with speed up to 20 degrees per second. The focal plane hosts a 2-port 4K x 4K back-illuminated CCD with readout speeds up to 1MHz per port. All these characteristics ensure good survey performance for transients and fast moving objects. Detection software and hardware are optimised for the detection of NEOs and objects in high Earth orbits (objects moving from 0.1-40 arcsec/second). Nominal exposures are in the range from 2 to 30 seconds, depending on the observational strategy. Part of the validation scenario involves the scheduling concept integrated in the robotic operations for both sensors. Every night it takes all the input needed and prepares a schedule following predefined rules allocating tasks for the telescopes. Telescopes are managed by RTS2 control software, that performs the real-time scheduling of the observation and manages all the devices at the observatory.1 At the end of the night the observing systems report astrometric positions and photometry of the objects detected. The first telescope was installed in Cebreros Satellite Tracking Station in mid-2015. It is currently in the commissioning phase and we present here the first results of the telescope. We evaluate the site characteristics and the performance of the TBT Cebreros

  18. Multi-annual climate in Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar, Atacama Desert, Chile Clima multianual en el Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar, Desierto de Atacama, Chile

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MATTHEW V. THOMPSON

    2003-06-01

    Full Text Available The lomas formations of the Peruvian and Atacama deserts are characterized by both climatic and floristic spatial heterogeneity, as well as non-contiguous pockets of relatively distinct flora. We examined two distinct types of communities in Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar in Chile, the low-elevation arroyo and bajada community, and the high-elevation fog-zone community. We determined the distribution with elevation of the dominant perennial plant species in a single arroyo community, as well as the distribution of associated climatic characteristics. Climatic conditions (including air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed and direction were recorded from June, 1999, to March, 2001, for the arroyo, as well as for a medium-elevation inland site with little vegetation, and a high-elevation fog-zone site with copious vegetation. The fog layer, or camanchaca, derived from the marine inversion layer ubiquitous to the Peruvian and Atacama deserts was found to be more persistent, though weaker, during the summer months and somewhat more condensed and shallower in the winter months, with uncharacteristically dry air and high temperatures occurring at and above 400 m elevation during the late fall and early winter of 2000. The reduction or increase in the maximum elevation of the camanchaca or a change in the rainfall regime of the park may have broad implications for the distribution or even presence of certain species in Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar. Vegetation patterns appear to be strongly dependent on inversion layer development, and perhaps on its subsidence during the winter. A number of species prevalent at low-elevation sites may have little advantage at a high-elevation foggy site, whereas the consistently high humidity at low elevations would be a boon to any desert plant accustomed to low precipitation. If we are to successfully assess the effects of changes in southern Pacific weather patterns, it will become necessary to more

  19. Infrared up-conversion telescope

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2014-01-01

    There is presented to an up-conversion infrared telescope (110) arranged for imaging an associated scene (130), wherein the up-conversion infrared telescope (110) comprises a non-linear crystal (120) arranged for up-conversion of infrared electromagnetic radiation, and wherein a first optical...

  20. A comparison of two cloudwater/fogwater collectors: The rotating arm collector and the caltech active strand cloudwater collector

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collett, Jeffrey L.; Daube, Bruce C.; Munger, J. William; Hoffmann, Michael R.

    A side-by-side comparison of the Rotating Arm Collector (RAC) and the Caltech Active Strand Cloudwater Collector (CASCC) was conducted at an elevated coastal site near the eastern end of the Santa Barbara Channel in southern California. The CASCC was observed to collect cloudwater at rates of up to 8.5 ml min -1. The ratio of cloudwater collection rates was found to be close to the theoretical prediction of 4.2:1 (CASCC:RAC) over a wide range of liquid water contents (LWC). At low LWC, however, this ratio climbed rapidly, possibly reflecting a predominance of small droplets under these conditions, coupled with a greater collection efficiency of small droplets by the CASCC. Cloudwater samples collected by the RAC had significantly higher concentrations of Na +, Ca 2+, Mg 2+ and Cl - than those collected by the CASCC. These higher concentrations may be due to differences in the chemical composition of large vs small droplets. No significant differences were observed in concentrations of NO 3-, SO 42- or NH 4+ in samples collected by the two instruments.

  1. Parametric cost models for space telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stahl, H. Philip; Henrichs, Todd; Dollinger, Courtnay

    2017-11-01

    Multivariable parametric cost models for space telescopes provide several benefits to designers and space system project managers. They identify major architectural cost drivers and allow high-level design trades. They enable cost-benefit analysis for technology development investment. And, they provide a basis for estimating total project cost. A survey of historical models found that there is no definitive space telescope cost model. In fact, published models vary greatly [1]. Thus, there is a need for parametric space telescopes cost models. An effort is underway to develop single variable [2] and multi-variable [3] parametric space telescope cost models based on the latest available data and applying rigorous analytical techniques. Specific cost estimating relationships (CERs) have been developed which show that aperture diameter is the primary cost driver for large space telescopes; technology development as a function of time reduces cost at the rate of 50% per 17 years; it costs less per square meter of collecting aperture to build a large telescope than a small telescope; and increasing mass reduces cost.

  2. Parametric Cost Models for Space Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stahl, H. Philip; Henrichs, Todd; Dollinger, Courtney

    2010-01-01

    Multivariable parametric cost models for space telescopes provide several benefits to designers and space system project managers. They identify major architectural cost drivers and allow high-level design trades. They enable cost-benefit analysis for technology development investment. And, they provide a basis for estimating total project cost. A survey of historical models found that there is no definitive space telescope cost model. In fact, published models vary greatly [1]. Thus, there is a need for parametric space telescopes cost models. An effort is underway to develop single variable [2] and multi-variable [3] parametric space telescope cost models based on the latest available data and applying rigorous analytical techniques. Specific cost estimating relationships (CERs) have been developed which show that aperture diameter is the primary cost driver for large space telescopes; technology development as a function of time reduces cost at the rate of 50% per 17 years; it costs less per square meter of collecting aperture to build a large telescope than a small telescope; and increasing mass reduces cost.

  3. VLTI First Fringes with Two Auxiliary Telescopes at Paranal

    Science.gov (United States)

    2005-03-01

    ESO Video Newsreel 15, released on March 14, 2005. It provides an introduction to the VLT Interferometer (VLTI) and the two Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) now installed at Paranal. ESO PR Photo 07a/05 shows the impressive ensemble at the summit of Paranal. From left to right, the enclosure of VLT Antu, Kueyen and Melipal, AT1, the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) in the background, AT2 and VLT Yepun. Located at the summit of the 2,600-m high Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert (Chile), ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) is at the forefront of astronomical technology and is one of the premier facilities in the world for optical and near-infrared observations. The VLT is composed of four 8.2-m Unit Telescope (Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun). They have been progressively put into service together with a vast suite of the most advanced astronomical instruments and are operated every night in the year. Contrary to other large astronomical telescopes, the VLT was designed from the beginning with the use of interferometry as a major goal. The href="/instruments/vlti">VLT Interferometer (VLTI) combines starlight captured by two 8.2- VLT Unit Telescopes, dramatically increasing the spatial resolution and showing fine details of a large variety of celestial objects. The VLTI is arguably the world's most advanced optical device of this type. It has already demonstrated its powerful capabilities by addressing several key scientific issues, such as determining the size and the shape of a variety of stars (ESO PR 22/02, PR 14/03 and PR 31/03), measuring distances to stars (ESO PR 25/04), probing the innermost regions of the proto-planetary discs around young stars (ESO PR 27/04) or making the first detection by infrared interferometry of an extragalactic object (ESO PR 17/03). "Little Brothers" ESO PR Photo 07b/05 ESO PR Photo 07b/05 [Preview - JPEG: 597 x 400 pix - 47k] [Normal - JPEG: 1193 x 800 pix - 330k] [HiRes - JPEG: 5000 x 3354 pix - 10.0M] ESO PR Photo 07c/05 ESO PR Photo 07c/05

  4. Development of a mid-sized Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cameron, Robert A.

    2012-06-28

    The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a ground-based observatory for very high-energy (10 GeV to 100 TeV) gamma rays, planned for operation starting in 2018. It will be an array of dozens of optical telescopes, known as Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (ACTs), of 8 m to 24 m diameter, deployed over an area of more than 1 square km, to detect flashes of Cherenkov light from showers initiated in the Earth's atmosphere by gamma rays. CTA will have improved angular resolution, a wider energy range, larger fields of view and an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity over current ACT arrays such as H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS. Several institutions have proposed a research and development program to eventually contribute 36 medium-sized telescopes (9 m to 12 m diameter) to CTA to enhance and optimize its science performance. The program aims to construct a prototype of an innovative, Schwarzschild-Couder telescope (SCT) design that will allow much smaller and less expensive cameras and much larger fields of view than conventional Davies-Cotton designs, and will also include design and testing of camera electronics for the necessary advances in performance, reliability and cost. We report on the progress of the mid-sized SCT development program.

  5. A telescope with augmented reality functions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Qichao; Cheng, Dewen; Wang, Qiwei; Wang, Yongtian

    2016-10-01

    This study introduces a telescope with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) functions. In this telescope, information on the micro-display screen is integrated to the reticule of telescope through a beam splitter and is then received by the observer. The design and analysis of telescope optical system with AR and VR ability is accomplished and the opto-mechanical structure is designed. Finally, a proof-of-concept prototype is fabricated and demonstrated. The telescope has an exit pupil diameter of 6 mm at an eye relief of 19 mm, 6° field of view, 5 to 8 times visual magnification , and a 30° field of view of the virtual image.

  6. The Gemini 8-Meter Telescopes Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boroson, Todd A.

    1995-05-01

    The Gemini 8-Meter Telescopes Project is an international partnership to build and operate two 8-meter telescopes, one on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and one on Cerro Pachon, Chile. The telescopes will be international facilities, open to the scientific communities of the six member countries, the United States (50%), the United Kingdom (25%), Canada (15%), Chile (5%), Argentina (2.5%), and Brazil (2.5%). The telescopes are designed to exploit the best atmospheric conditions at these excellent sites. Near diffraction limited performance will be delivered at 2.2 microns and longward, with minimal degradation of the best seeing conditions at shorter wavelengths. The telescopes and facilities are designed to achieve emissivity opportunity. First light for the Mauna Kea telescope is expected in late 1998, and for the Cerro Pachon telescope in mid-2000. This talk will report on construction progress, the instrumental capabilities, and operations strategies being considered. The Gemini 8-meter Telescopes Project is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc. under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation which serves as executive agency for the Gemini partner countries. U.S. participation in the project is through the U.S. Gemini Program, a division of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories. NOAO is operated by AURA, Inc. under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.

  7. Pre-selecting muon events in the camera server of the ASTRI telescopes for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maccarone, Maria C.; Mineo, Teresa; Capalbi, Milvia; Conforti, Vito; Coffaro, Martina

    2016-08-01

    The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) represents the next generation of ground based observatories for very high energy gamma ray astronomy. The CTA will consist of two arrays at two different sites, one in the northern and one in the southern hemisphere. The current CTA design foresees, in the southern site, the installation of many tens of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes of three different classes, namely large, medium, and small, so defined in relation to their mirror area; the northern hemisphere array would consist of few tens of the two larger telescope types. The telescopes will be equipped with cameras composed either of photomultipliers or silicon photomultipliers, and with different trigger and read-out electronics. In such a scenario, several different methods will be used for the telescopes' calibration. Nevertheless, the optical throughput of any CTA telescope, independently of its type, can be calibrated analyzing the characteristic image produced by local atmospheric highly energetic muons that induce the emission of Cherenkov light which is imaged as a ring onto the focal plane if their impact point is relatively close to the telescope optical axis. Large sized telescopes would be able to detect useful muon events under stereo coincidence and such stereo muon events will be directly addressed to the central CTA array data acquisition pipeline to be analyzed. For the medium and small sized telescopes, due to their smaller mirror area and large inter-telescope distance, the stereo coincidence rate will tend to zero; nevertheless, muon events will be detected by single telescopes that must therefore be able to identify them as possible useful calibration candidates, even if no stereo coincidence is available. This is the case for the ASTRI telescopes, proposed as pre-production units of the small size array of the CTA, which are able to detect muon events during regular data taking without requiring any dedicated trigger. We present two fast

  8. Cost Modeling for Space Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stahl, H. Philip

    2011-01-01

    Parametric cost models are an important tool for planning missions, compare concepts and justify technology investments. This paper presents on-going efforts to develop single variable and multi-variable cost models for space telescope optical telescope assembly (OTA). These models are based on data collected from historical space telescope missions. Standard statistical methods are used to derive CERs for OTA cost versus aperture diameter and mass. The results are compared with previously published models.

  9. Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope [WFIRST]: telescope design and simulated performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goullioud, R.; Content, D. A.; Kuan, G. M.; Moore, J. D.; Chang, Z.; Sunada, E. T.; Villalvazo, J.; Hawk, J. P.; Armani, N. V.; Johnson, E. L.; Powell, C. A.

    2012-09-01

    The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission concept was ranked first in new space astrophysics missions by the Astro2010 Decadal Survey, incorporating the Joint Dark Energy Mission payload concept and multiple science white papers. This mission is based on a space telescope at L2 studying exoplanets [via gravitational microlensing], probing dark energy, and surveying the near infrared sky. Since the release of the Astro2010 Decadal Survey, the team has been working with the WFIRST Science Definition Team to refine mission and payload concepts. We present the current interim reference mission point design of the payload, based on the use of a 1.3m unobscured aperture three mirror anastigmat form, with focal imaging and slit-less spectroscopy science channels. We also present the first results of Structural/Thermal/Optical performance modeling of the telescope point design.

  10. Hartman Testing of X-Ray Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saha, Timo T.; Biskasch, Michael; Zhang, William W.

    2013-01-01

    Hartmann testing of x-ray telescopes is a simple test method to retrieve and analyze alignment errors and low-order circumferential errors of x-ray telescopes and their components. A narrow slit is scanned along the circumference of the telescope in front of the mirror and the centroids of the images are calculated. From the centroid data, alignment errors, radius variation errors, and cone-angle variation errors can be calculated. Mean cone angle, mean radial height (average radius), and the focal length of the telescope can also be estimated if the centroid data is measured at multiple focal plane locations. In this paper we present the basic equations that are used in the analysis process. These equations can be applied to full circumference or segmented x-ray telescopes. We use the Optical Surface Analysis Code (OSAC) to model a segmented x-ray telescope and show that the derived equations and accompanying analysis retrieves the alignment errors and low order circumferential errors accurately.

  11. SCIENTIFIC EFFICIENCY OF GROUND-BASED TELESCOPES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abt, Helmut A.

    2012-01-01

    I scanned the six major astronomical journals of 2008 for all 1589 papers that are based on new data obtained from ground-based optical/IR telescopes worldwide. Then I collected data on numbers of papers, citations to them in 3+ years, the most-cited papers, and annual operating costs. These data are assigned to four groups by telescope aperture. For instance, while the papers from telescopes with an aperture >7 m average 1.29 more citations than those with an aperture of 2 to 7 m) telescopes. I wonder why the large telescopes do so relatively poorly and suggest possible reasons. I also found that papers based on archival data, such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, produce 10.6% as many papers and 20.6% as many citations as those based on new data. Also, the 577.2 papers based on radio data produced 36.3% as many papers and 33.6% as many citations as the 1589 papers based on optical/IR telescopes.

  12. Robotic and Survey Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woźniak, Przemysław

    Robotic telescopes are revolutionizing the way astronomers collect their dataand conduct sky surveys. This chapter begins with a discussion of principles thatguide the process of designing, constructing, and operating telescopes andobservatories that offer a varying degree of automation, from instruments remotelycontrolled by observers to fully autonomous systems requiring no humansupervision during their normal operations. Emphasis is placed on designtrade-offs involved in building end-to-end systems intended for a wide range ofscience applications. The second part of the chapter contains descriptions ofseveral projects and instruments, both existing and currently under development.It is an attempt to provide a representative selection of actual systems thatillustrates state of the art in technology, as well as important ideas and milestonesin the development of the field. The list of presented instruments spans the fullrange in size starting from small all-sky monitors, through midrange robotic andsurvey telescopes, and finishing with large robotic instruments and surveys.Explosive growth of telescope networking is enabling entirely new modesof interaction between the survey and follow-up observing. Increasingimportance of standardized communication protocols and software is stressed.These developments are driven by the fusion of robotic telescope hardware,massive storage and databases, real-time knowledge extraction, and datacross-correlation on a global scale. The chapter concludes with examplesof major science results enabled by these new technologies and futureprospects.

  13. Amateur Telescope Making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tonkin, Stephen

    Many amateur astronomers make their own instruments, either because of financial considerations or because they are just interested. Amateur Telescope Making offers a variety of designs for telescopes, mounts and drives which are suitable for the home-constructor. The designs range from simple to advanced, but all are within the range of a moderately well-equipped home workshop. The book not only tells the reader what he can construct, but also what it is sensible to construct given what time is available commercially. Thus each chapter begins with reasons for undertaking the project, then looks at theoretical consideration before finishing with practical instructions and advice. An indication is given as to the skills required for the various projects. Appendices list reputable sources of (mail order) materials and components. The telescopes and mounts range from "shoestring" (very cheap) instruments to specialist devices that are unavailable commercially.

  14. Review of lunar telescope studies at MSFC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilchey, John D.; Nein, Max E.

    1993-09-01

    In the near future astronomers can take advantage of the lunar surface as the new 'high ground' from which to study the universe. Optical telescopes placed and operated on the lunar surface would be successors to NASA's Great Observatories. Four telescopes, ranging in aperture from a 16-m, IR/Vis/UV observatory down to a 1-m, UV 'transit' instrument, have been studied by the Lunar Telescope Working Group and the LUTE (lunar telescope ultraviolet experiment) Task Team of the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). This paper presents conceptual designs of the telescopes, provides descriptions of the telescope subsystem options selected for each concept, and outlines the potential evolution of their science capabilities.

  15. Taxonomic study of extreme halophilic archaea isolated from the "Salar de Atacama", Chile.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lizama, C; Monteoliva-Sánchez, M; Prado, B; Ramos-Cormenzana, A; Weckesser, J; Campos, V

    2001-11-01

    A large number of halophilic bacteria were isolated in 1984-1992 from the Atacama Saltern (North of Chile). For this study 82 strains of extreme halophilic archaea were selected. The characterization was performed by using the phenotypic characters including morphological, physiological, biochemical, nutritional and antimicrobial susceptibility test. The results, together with those from reference strains, were subjected to numerical analysis, using the Simple Matching (S(SM)) coefficient and clustered by the unweighted pair group method of association (UPGMA). Fifteen phena were obtained at an 70% similarity level. The results obtained reveal a high diversity among the halophilic archaea isolated. Representative strains from the phena were chosen to determine their DNA base composition and the percentage of DNA-DNA similarity compared to reference strains. The 16S rRNA studies showed that some of these strains constitutes a new taxa of extreme halophilic archaea.

  16. Battery-Powered RF Pre-Ionization System for the Caltech Magnetohydrodynamically-Driven Jet Experiment: RF Discharge Properties and MHD-Driven Jet Dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaplin, Vernon H.

    This thesis describes investigations of two classes of laboratory plasmas with rather different properties: partially ionized low pressure radiofrequency (RF) discharges, and fully ionized high density magnetohydrodynamically (MHD)-driven jets. An RF pre-ionization system was developed to enable neutral gas breakdown at lower pressures and create hotter, faster jets in the Caltech MHD-Driven Jet Experiment. The RF plasma source used a custom pulsed 3 kW 13.56 MHz RF power amplifier that was powered by AA batteries, allowing it to safely float at 4-6 kV with the cathode of the jet experiment. The argon RF discharge equilibrium and transport properties were analyzed, and novel jet dynamics were observed. Although the RF plasma source was conceived as a wave-heated helicon source, scaling measurements and numerical modeling showed that inductive coupling was the dominant energy input mechanism. A one-dimensional time-dependent fluid model was developed to quantitatively explain the expansion of the pre-ionized plasma into the jet experiment chamber. The plasma transitioned from an ionizing phase with depressed neutral emission to a recombining phase with enhanced emission during the course of the experiment, causing fast camera images to be a poor indicator of the density distribution. Under certain conditions, the total visible and infrared brightness and the downstream ion density both increased after the RF power was turned off. The time-dependent emission patterns were used for an indirect measurement of the neutral gas pressure. The low-mass jets formed with the aid of the pre-ionization system were extremely narrow and collimated near the electrodes, with peak density exceeding that of jets created without pre-ionization. The initial neutral gas distribution prior to plasma breakdown was found to be critical in determining the ultimate jet structure. The visible radius of the dense central jet column was several times narrower than the axial current channel

  17. Status of a Novel 4-Band Submm/mm Camera for the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noroozian, Omid; Day, P.; Glenn, J.; Golwala, S.; Kumar, S.; LeDuc, H. G.; Mazin, B.; Nguyen, H. T.; Schlaerth, J.; Vaillancourt, J. E.; Vayonakis, A.; Zmuidzinas, J.

    2007-12-01

    Submillimeter observations are important to the understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. Determination of the spectral energy distribution in the millimeter and submillimeter regimes allows important and powerful diagnostics. To this end, we are undertaking the construction of a 4-band (750, 850, 1100, 1300 microns) 8-arcminute field of view camera for the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. The focal plane will make use of three novel technologies: photolithographic phased array antennae, on-chip band-pass filters, and microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKID). The phased array antenna design obviates beam-defining feed horns. On-chip band-pass filters eliminate band-defining metal-mesh filters. Together, the antennae and filters enable each spatial pixel to observe in all four bands simultaneously. MKIDs are highly multiplexable background-limited photon detectors. Readout of the MKID array will be done with software-defined radio (See poster by Max-Moerbeck et al.). This camera will provide an order-of-magnitude larger mapping speed than existing instruments and will be comparable to SCUBA 2 in terms of the detection rate for dusty sources, but complementary to SCUBA 2 in terms of wavelength coverage. We present results from an engineering run with a demonstration array, the baseline design for the science array, and the status of instrument design, construction, and testing. We anticipate the camera will be available at the CSO in 2010. This work has been supported by NASA ROSES APRA grants NNG06GG16G and NNG06GC71G, the NASA JPL Research and Technology Development Program, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

  18. The Submillimeter Telescope (SMT) project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin, R.N.; Baars, J.W.M.

    1990-01-01

    To exploit the potential of submillimeter astronomy, the Submillimeter Telescope (SMT) will be located at an altitude of 3178 meters on Emerald Peak 75 miles northeast of Tucson in Southern Arizona. The instrument is an altazimuth mounted f/13.8 Cassegrain homology telescope with two Nasmyth and bent Cassegrain foci. It will have diffraction limited performance at a wavelength of 300 microns and an operating overall figure accuracy of 15 microns rms. An important feature of the SMT is the construction of the primary and secondary reflectors out of aluminum-core CFRP face sheet sandwich panels, and the reflector backup structure and secondary support out of CFRP structural elements. This modern technology provides both a means for reaching the required precision of the SMT for both night and day operation (basically because of the low coefficient of thermal expansion and high strength-to-weight ratio of CFRP) and a potential route for the realization of lightweight telescopes of even greater accuracy in the future. The SMT will be the highest accuracy radio telescope ever built (at least a factor of 2 more accurate than existing telescopes). In addition, the SMT will be the first 10 m-class submillimeter telescope with a surface designed for efficient measurements at the important 350 microns wavelength atmospheric window. 9 refs

  19. History of Robotic and Remotely Operated Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Genet, Russell M.

    2011-03-01

    While automated instrument sequencers were employed on solar eclipse expeditions in the late 1800s, it wasn't until the 1960s that Art Code and associates at Wisconsin used a PDP minicomputer to automate an 8-inch photometric telescope. Although this pioneering project experienced frequent equipment failures and was shut down after a couple of years, it paved the way for the first space telescopes. Reliable microcomputers initiated the modern era of robotic telescopes. Louis Boyd and I applied single board microcomputers with 64K of RAM and floppy disk drives to telescope automation at the Fairborn Observatory, achieving reliable, fully robotic operation in 1983 that has continued uninterrupted for 28 years. In 1985 the Smithsonian Institution provided us with a suburb operating location on Mt. Hopkins in southern Arizona, while the National Science Foundation funded additional telescopes. Remote access to our multiple robotic telescopes at the Fairborn Observatory began in the late 1980s. The Fairborn Observatory, with its 14 fully robotic telescopes and staff of two (one full and one part time) illustrates the potential for low operating and maintenance costs. As the information capacity of the Internet has expanded, observational modes beyond simple differential photometry opened up, bringing us to the current era of real-time remote access to remote observatories and global observatory networks. Although initially confined to smaller telescopes, robotic operation and remote access are spreading to larger telescopes as telescopes from afar becomes the normal mode of operation.

  20. Prospects for γ-ray imaging telescopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carter, J.N.; Dean, A.J.; Ramsden, D.

    1981-01-01

    Apart from the requirement for a new, high angular-resolution gamma-ray telescope for the more precise location of known COS-B gamma-ray sources, there is also a need for another instrument that can be used in a search for the gamma-ray emission from specific X-ray-emitting objects. If there is to be any hope of relating gamma ray emission to specific candidate X-ray objects, then an angular resolution of typically a few minutes of arc is required to resolve adjacent sources in crowded regions of the sky such as the galactic centre. Efforts to improve the angular resolution of track-chamber telescopes are compared. For energies close to 1 MeV telescopes have either used collimators to restrict the field of view or have made use of the kinematics of the Compton scattering process to determine the direction of the incident photon. The use of coded aperture techniques in high angular resolution X-ray astronomy telescopes is reviewed. A practical telescope for astronomy at high energies described by Carter is mentioned. At low energies an imaging telescope could be constructed by making use of position-sensitive detectors initially developed for use in medical physics. Such a telescope is outlined in general terms and its benefits and uses given. (U.K.)

  1. EVIDENCIA DE TEMPRANAS MANIFESTACIONES RUPESTRES EN LA COSTA DEL DESIERTO DE ATACAMA (25° S (Evidence of Early Rock Art on the Coast of the Atacama Desert (25° S

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Castelleti

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Los análisis llevados a cabo sobre pictografías rupestres de la comuna de Taltal, en la costa del desierto de Atacama en Chile, tradicionalmente descritas como «estilo El Médano», han permitido datarlas por AMS en 7882 ± 160 A. P. (7022-6509 a. C. 68 %, 7172-6412 a. C. 95 %, hacia el traslape Arcaico Temprano/Medio; información corroborada con la datación arqueomagnética llevada a cabo sobre muestras del mismo panel radiocarbónicamente fechado, la cual arroja rangos de 9132-9065 a. C., 6492-6426 a. C. y 5203-5114 a. C. (65 % de confianza. Las peculiaridades tecnoeconómicas que evidencian la conformación de la mezcla de las pinturas rupestres, permiten interpretar para la zona el desarrollo de un notable nodo ocupacional arcaico, plenamente adaptado al bioclima costero; conformado por grupos humanos que, si bien diferenciados localmente, también reprodujeron una identidad común centrada en la simbología del color rojo obtenido de la hematita, arcillas y, probablemente también, de arbustos locales como el churco, parte crucial en la materialización de metáforas de animales y escenas marinas socialmente compartidas y en la semantización del espacio. ENGLISH: AMS dating of cave art located in the Taltal district, on the coast of the Atacama desert in Chile, produced dates of 7882 ± 160 BP (7022-6509 BC 68%, 7172-6412 BC 95%, placing it in the Early/Middle Archaic period. This finding is further supported by archaeomagnetic dates on samples from the same panel, which produced three time intervals all consistent with the AMS dates: 9132-9065 BC, 6492-6426 BC, and 5203-5114 BC (65% confidence. Techno-economic analysis of the cave paintings suggests the Taltal area was an important Archaic settlement cluster, inhabited by different groups who were fully adapted to the coastal bioregion and who shared a common symbolic identity. The color red, produced from hematite, clays, and probably local shrubs such as churco, played a crucial

  2. Status of the MAGIC telescopes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Colin, Pierre; Carmona, Emiliano; Schweizer, Thomas; Sitarek, Julian [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik, Werner-Heisenberg Institut, Muenchen (Germany)

    2010-07-01

    MAGIC is a system of two 17-m Cherenkov telescopes located on La Palma (Canary islands),sensitive to gamma-rays above 30 GeV. It has been recently upgraded by a second telescope which strongly improves the sensitivity, particularly at low energy. Here we present the status of the MAGIC telescopes and an overview of the recent results obtained in single or stereoscopic mode. We also discuss the real performance of the new stereoscopic system based on Crab Nebula observations.

  3. Performance of the Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array. III - Optical characteristics of the Ritchey-Chretien and Cassegrain telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoover, Richard B.; Baker, Phillip C.; Hadaway, James B.; Johnson, R. B.; Peterson, Cynthia; Gabardi, David R.; Walker, Arthur B., Jr.; Lindblom, J. F.; Deforest, Craig; O'Neal, R. H.

    1991-12-01

    The Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array (MSSTA), which is a sounding-rocket-borne observatory for investigating the sun in the soft X-ray/EUV and FUV regimes of the electromagnetic spectrum, utilizes single reflection multilayer coated Herschelian telescopes for wavelengths below 100 A, and five doubly reflecting multilayer coated Ritchey-Chretien and two Cassegrain telescopes for selected wavelengths in the EUV region between 100 and 1000 A. The paper discusses the interferometric alignment, testing, focusing, visible light testing, and optical performance characteristics of the Ritchey-Chretien and Cassegrain telescopes of MSSTA. A schematic diagram of the MSSTA Ritchey-Chretien telescope is presented together with diagrams of the system autocollimation testing.

  4. Telescopes and Techniques

    CERN Document Server

    Kitchin, C R

    2013-01-01

    Telescopes and Techniques has proved itself in its first two editions, having become probably one of the most widely used astronomy texts, both for amateur astronomers and astronomy and astrophysics undergraduates. Both earlier editions of the book were widely used for introductory practical astronomy courses in many universities. In this Third Edition the author guides the reader through the mathematics, physics and practical techniques needed to use today's telescopes (from the smaller models to the larger instruments installed in many colleges) and how to find objects in the sky. Most of the physics and engineering involved is described fully and requires little prior knowledge or experience. Both visual and electronic imaging techniques are covered, together with an introduction to how data (measurements) should be processed and analyzed. A simple introduction to radio telescopes is also included. Brief coverage of the more advanced topics of photometry and spectroscopy are included, but mainly to enable ...

  5. The South Pole Telescope

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ruhl, J.E.; Ade, P.A.R.; Carlstrom, J.E.; Cho, H.M.; Crawford,T.; Dobbs, M.; Greer, C.H.; Halverson, N.W.; Holzapfel, W.L.; Lanting,T.M.; Lee, A.T.; Leitch, E.M.; Leong, J.; Lu, W.; Lueker, M.; Mehl, J.; Meyer, S.S.; Mohr, J.J.; Padin, S.; Plagge, T.; Pryke, C.; Runyan, M.C.; Schwan, D.; Sharp, M.K.; Spieler, H.; Staniszewski, Z.; Stark, A.A.

    2004-11-04

    A new 10 meter diameter telescope is being constructed for deployment at the NSF South Pole research station. The telescope is designed for conducting large-area millimeter and sub-millimeter wave surveys of faint, low contrast emission, as required to map primary and secondary anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background. To achieve the required sensitivity and resolution, the telescope design employs an off-axis primary with a 10 m diameter clear aperture. The full aperture and the associated optics will have a combined surface accuracy of better than 20 microns rms to allow precision operation in the submillimeter atmospheric windows. The telescope will be surrounded with a large reflecting ground screen to reduce sensitivity to thermal emission from the ground and local interference. The optics of the telescope will support a square degree field of view at 2mm wavelength and will feed a new 1000-element micro-lithographed planar bolometric array with superconducting transition-edge sensors and frequency-multiplexed readouts. The first key project will be to conduct a survey over 4000 degrees for galaxy clusters using the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect. This survey should find many thousands of clusters with a mass selection criteria that is remarkably uniform with redshift. Armed with redshifts obtained from optical and infrared follow-up observations, it is expected that the survey will enable significant constraints to be placed on the equation of state of the dark energy.

  6. Commissioning and first tests of the MAGIC telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baixeras, C.; Bastieri, D.; Bigongiari, C.; Blanch, O.; Blanchot, G.; Bock, R.; Bretz, T.; Chilingarian, A.; Coarasa, J. A.; Colombo, E.; Contreras, J. C.; Corti, D.; Cortina, J.; Domingo, C.; Domingo, E.; Ferenc, D.; Fernández, E.; Flix, J.; Fonseca, V.; Font, L.; Galante, N.; Gaug, M.; Garczarczyk, M.; Gebauer, J.; Giller, M.; Goebel, F.; Hengstebeck, T.; Jacone, P.; de Jager, O. C.; Kalekin, O.; Kestel, M.; Kneiske, T.; Laille, A.; López, M.; López, J.; Lorenz, E.; Mannheim, K.; Mariotti, M.; Martínez, M.; Mase, K.; Merck, M.; Meucci, M.; Miralles, L.; Mirzoyan, R.; Moralejo, A.; Wilhelmi, E. Oña; Orduña, R.; Paneque, D.; Paoletti, R.; Pascoli, D.; Pavel, N.; Pegna, R.; Peruzzo, L.; Piccioli, A.; Roberts, A.; Reyes, R.; Saggion, A.; Sánchez, A.; Sartori, P.; Scalzotto, V.; Schweizer, T.; Sillanpaa, A.; Sobczynska, D.; Stamerra, A.; Stepanian, A.; Stiehler, R.; Takalo, L.; Teshima, M.; Tonello, N.; Torres, A.; Turini, N.; Vitale, V.; Volkov, S.; Wagner, R. M.; Wibig, T.; Wittek, W.

    2004-02-01

    Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov telescope is starting its operations with a set of engineering runs to tune the telescope subsystem elements to be ready for the first physics campaign. Many technical improvements have been developed and implemented in several elements of the telescope to reach the lowest energy threshold ever obtained by an Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope. A general description of the telescope is presented. The commissioning of the telescope's elements is described and the expected performances are reviewed with the final detector set-up.

  7. European Extremely Large Telescope: progress report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamai, R.; Spyromilio, J.

    2014-07-01

    The European Extremely Large Telescope is a project of the European Southern Observatory to build and operate a 40-m class optical near-infrared telescope. The telescope design effort is largely concluded and construction contracts are being placed with industry and academic/research institutes for the various components. The siting of the telescope in Northern Chile close to the Paranal site allows for an integrated operation of the facility providing significant economies. The progress of the project in various areas is presented in this paper and references to other papers at this SPIE meeting are made.

  8. Preliminary Cost Model for Space Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stahl, H. Philip; Prince, F. Andrew; Smart, Christian; Stephens, Kyle; Henrichs, Todd

    2009-01-01

    Parametric cost models are routinely used to plan missions, compare concepts and justify technology investments. However, great care is required. Some space telescope cost models, such as those based only on mass, lack sufficient detail to support such analysis and may lead to inaccurate conclusions. Similarly, using ground based telescope models which include the dome cost will also lead to inaccurate conclusions. This paper reviews current and historical models. Then, based on data from 22 different NASA space telescopes, this paper tests those models and presents preliminary analysis of single and multi-variable space telescope cost models.

  9. Modernization of the Caltech/USGS Southern California Seismic Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhadha, R.; Devora, A.; Hauksson, E.; Johnson, D.; Thomas, V.; Watkins, M.; Yip, R.; Yu, E.; Given, D.; Cone, G.; Koesterer, C.

    2009-12-01

    The USGS/ANSS/ARRA program is providing Government Furnished Equipment (GFE), and two year funding for upgrading the Caltech/USGS Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN). The SCSN is the modern digital ground motion seismic network in southern California that monitors seismicity and provides real-time earthquake information products such as rapid notifications, moment tensors, and ShakeMap. The SCSN has evolved through the years and now consists of several well-integrated components such as Short-Period analog, TERRAscope, digital stations, and real-time strong motion stations, or about 300 stations. In addition, the SCSN records data from about 100 stations provided by partner networks. To strengthen the ability of SCSN to meet the ANSS performance standards, we will install GFE and carry out the following upgrades and improvements of the various components of the SCSN: 1) Upgrade of dataloggers at seven TERRAscope stations; 2) Upgrade of dataloggers at 131 digital stations and upgrade broadband sensors at 25 stations; 3) Upgrade of SCSN metadata capabilities; 4) Upgrade of telemetry capabilities for both seismic and GPS data; and 5) Upgrade balers at stations with existing Q330 dataloggers. These upgrades will enable the SCSN to meet the ANSS Performance Standards more consistently than before. The new equipment will improve station uptimes and reduce maintenance costs. The new equipment will also provide improved waveform data quality and consequently superior data products. The data gaps due to various outages will be minimized, and ‘late’ data will be readily available through retrieval from on-site storage. Compared to the outdated equipment, the new equipment will speed up data delivery by about 10 sec, which is fast enough for earthquake early warning applications. The new equipment also has about a factor of ten lower consumption of power. We will also upgrade the SCSN data acquisition and data center facilities, which will improve the SCSN

  10. Merz telescopes a global heritage worth preserving

    CERN Document Server

    2017-01-01

    This book comprises a fascinating collection of contributions on the Merz telescopes in Italy that collectively offer the first survey on historical large refracting telescopes in the country, drawing on original documents and photographs. It opens with a general introduction on the importance of Merz telescopes in the history of astronomy and analyses of the local and international contexts in which the telescopes were made. After examination of an example of the interaction between the maker and the astronomer in the construction and maintenance of these refractors, the history of the Merz telescopes at the main Italian observatories in the nineteenth century is described in detail. Expert testimony is also provided on how these telescopes were successfully used until the second half of the twentieth century for research purposes, thus proving their excellent optical qualities.

  11. REMOTE SENSING-BASED DETECTION AND SPATIAL PATTERN ANALYSIS FOR GEO-ECOLOGICAL NICHE MODELING OF TILLANDSIA SPP. IN THE ATACAMA, CHILE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Wolf

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In the coastal Atacama Desert in Northern Chile plant growth is constrained to so-called ‘fog oases’ dominated by monospecific stands of the genus Tillandsia. Adapted to the hyperarid environmental conditions, these plants specialize on the foliar uptake of fog as main water and nutrient source. It is this characteristic that leads to distinctive macro- and micro-scale distribution patterns, reflecting complex geo-ecological gradients, mainly affected by the spatiotemporal occurrence of coastal fog respectively the South Pacific Stratocumulus clouds reaching inlands. The current work employs remote sensing, machine learning and spatial pattern/GIS analysis techniques to acquire detailed information on the presence and state of Tillandsia spp. in the Tarapacá region as a base to better understand the bioclimatic and topographic constraints determining the distribution patterns of Tillandsia spp. Spatial and spectral predictors extracted from WorldView-3 satellite data are used to map present Tillandsia vegetation in the Tarapaca region. Regression models on Vegetation Cover Fraction (VCF are generated combining satellite-based as well as topographic variables and using aggregated high spatial resolution information on vegetation cover derived from UAV flight campaigns as a reference. The results are a first step towards mapping and modelling the topographic as well as bioclimatic factors explaining the spatial distribution patterns of Tillandsia fog oases in the Atacama, Chile.

  12. Remote Sensing-Based Detection and Spatial Pattern Analysis for Geo-Ecological Niche Modeling of Tillandsia SPP. In the Atacama, Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolf, N.; Siegmund, A.; del Río, C.; Osses, P.; García, J. L.

    2016-06-01

    In the coastal Atacama Desert in Northern Chile plant growth is constrained to so-called `fog oases' dominated by monospecific stands of the genus Tillandsia. Adapted to the hyperarid environmental conditions, these plants specialize on the foliar uptake of fog as main water and nutrient source. It is this characteristic that leads to distinctive macro- and micro-scale distribution patterns, reflecting complex geo-ecological gradients, mainly affected by the spatiotemporal occurrence of coastal fog respectively the South Pacific Stratocumulus clouds reaching inlands. The current work employs remote sensing, machine learning and spatial pattern/GIS analysis techniques to acquire detailed information on the presence and state of Tillandsia spp. in the Tarapacá region as a base to better understand the bioclimatic and topographic constraints determining the distribution patterns of Tillandsia spp. Spatial and spectral predictors extracted from WorldView-3 satellite data are used to map present Tillandsia vegetation in the Tarapaca region. Regression models on Vegetation Cover Fraction (VCF) are generated combining satellite-based as well as topographic variables and using aggregated high spatial resolution information on vegetation cover derived from UAV flight campaigns as a reference. The results are a first step towards mapping and modelling the topographic as well as bioclimatic factors explaining the spatial distribution patterns of Tillandsia fog oases in the Atacama, Chile.

  13. The Origins Space Telescope: Tracing the Signatures of Life and the Ingredients of Habitable Worlds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pontoppidan, Klaus Martin; Bergin, Edwin; Kaltenegger, Lisa; Milam, Stefanie N.; Sandstrom, Karin; Stevenson, Kevin; Origins Space Telescope Science and Technology Definition Team

    2018-01-01

    The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is the mission concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor, one of the four science and technology definition studies of NASA Headquarters for the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal survey.Planet-hunting programs such as TRAPPIST, MEarth, and NASA's Kepler Space Observatory have confirmed the first Earth-sized planets orbiting within the habitable zones of their host stars. However, only once these planets' atmospheres have been characterized can their potential for supporting life be ascertained. Along with any detections of bio-relevant constituents of exoplanetary atmospheres, additional questions emerge. How are volatile elements - carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and the hydrogen in water - critical for life, delivered to habitable planets? This was an inefficient process for the Earth, but is it similarly difficult to deliver volatiles to Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone around other stars?The OST will have the power to reveal the formation, evolution and potential existence of biospheres, using the many unique tracers of water, organics and nitrogen-bearing species that dominate the infrared wavelength regions (5-600 micron). Using improved infrared detector stability and its large collecting area, OST will obtain infrared transmission and thermal emission spectra of transiting, potentially habitable, planets between 5.5-20 micron. This will allow for definitive measurements of atmospheric biosignatures and related species, such as CH4, O3, and CO2, and will measure planetary temperatures. An actively cooled, 4K telescope will vastly improve current sensitivities to far-infrared molecular lines by more than 3 orders of magnitude. OST will consequently be able to spectrally survey at least 1000 protoplanetary disks around stars down to the hydrogen-burning limit, map their content of water, and measure their total gas masses using HD as a tracer. Finally, OST will trace water back to its origin in the dense interstellar

  14. Gas Clouds in Whirlpool Galaxy Yield Important Clues Supporting Theory on Spiral Arms

    Science.gov (United States)

    2004-06-01

    Astronomers studying gas clouds in the famous Whirlpool Galaxy have found important clues supporting a theory that seeks to explain how the spectacular spiral arms of galaxies can persist for billions of years. The astronomers applied techniques used to study similar gas clouds in our own Milky Way to those in the spiral arms of a neighbor galaxy for the first time, and their results bolster a theory first proposed in 1964. M51 The spiral galaxy M51: Left, as seen with the Hubble Space Telescope; Right, radio image showing location of Carbon Monoxide gas. CREDIT: STScI, OVRO, IRAM (Click on image for larger version) Image Files Optical and Radio (CO) Views (above image) HST Optical Image with CO Contours Overlaid Radio/Optical Composite Image of M51 VLA/Effelsberg Radio Image of M51, With Panel Showing Magnetic Field Lines The Whirlpool Galaxy, about 31 million light-years distant, is a beautiful spiral in the constellation Canes Venatici. Also known as M51, it is seen nearly face-on from Earth and is familiar to amateur astronomers and has been featured in countless posters, books and magazine articles. "This galaxy made a great target for our study of spiral arms and how star formation works along them," said Eva Schinnerer, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro, NM. "It was ideal for us because it's one of the closest face-on spirals in the sky," she added. Schinnerer worked with Axel Weiss of the Institute for Millimeter Radio Astronomy (IRAM) in Spain, Susanne Aalto of the Onsala Space Observatory in Sweden, and Nick Scoville of Caltech. The astronomers presented their findings to the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Denver, Colorado. The scientists analyzed radio emission from Carbon Monoxide (CO) molecules in giant gas clouds along M51's spiral arms. Using telescopes at Caltech's Owens Valley Radio Observatory and the 30-meter radio telescope of IRAM, they were able to determine the temperatures and amounts of turbulence within the

  15. Issues of affinity: exploring population structure in the Middle and Regional Developments Periods of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torres-Rouff, Christina; Knudson, Kelly J; Hubbe, Mark

    2013-11-01

    The Middle Period (AD 400-1000) in northern Chile's Atacama oases is characterized by an increase in social complexity and regional interaction, much of which was organized around the power and impact of the Tiwanaku polity. Despite the strong cultural influence of Tiwanaku and numerous other groups evident in interactions with Atacameños, the role of immigration into the oases during this period is unclear. While archaeological and bioarchaeological research in the region has shown no evidence that clearly indicates large groups of foreign immigrants, the contemporary increase in interregional exchange networks connecting the oases to other parts of the Andes suggests residential mobility and the possibility that movement of people both into and out of the oases accompanied these foreign influences. Here, we analyze biodistance through cranial non-metric traits in a skeletal sample from prehistoric San Pedro de Atacama to elucidate the extent of foreign influence in the oases and discuss its implications. We analyzed 715 individuals from the Middle Period (AD 400-1000) and later Regional Developments Period (AD 1000-1450), and found greater phenotypic differences between Middle Period cemeteries than among cemeteries in the subsequent period. We argue that this greater diversity extends beyond the relationship between the oases and the renowned Tiwanaku polity and reflects the role of the oases and its different ayllus as a node and way station for the Middle Period's myriad interregional networks. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Open principle for large high-resolution solar telescopes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hammerschlag, R.H.; Bettonvil, F.C.M.; Jägers, A.P.L.; Sliepen, G.

    2009-01-01

    Vacuum solar telescopes solve the problem of image deterioration inside the telescope due to refractive index fluctuations of the air heated by the solar light. However, such telescopes have a practical diameter limit somewhat over 1 m. The Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) was the pioneering demonstrator

  17. Analysis of polarization introduced due to the telescope optics of the Thirty Meter Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anche, Ramya Manjunath; Sen, Asoke Kumar; Anupama, Gadiyara Chakrapani; Sankarasubramanian, Kasiviswanathan; Skidmore, Warren

    2018-01-01

    An analytical model has been developed to estimate the polarization effects, such as instrumental polarization (IP), crosstalk (CT), and depolarization, due to the optics of the Thirty Meter Telescope. These are estimated for the unvignetted field-of-view and the wavelengths of interest. The model estimates an IP of 1.26% and a CT of 44% at the Nasmyth focus of the telescope at the wavelength of 0.6 μm at field angle zero with the telescope pointing to zenith. Mueller matrices have been estimated for the primary, secondary, and Nasmyth mirrors. It is found that some of the Mueller matrix elements of the primary and secondary mirrors show a fourfold azimuthal antisymmetry, which indicates that the polarization at the Cassegrain focus is negligible. At the inclined Nasmyth mirror, there is no azimuthal antisymmetry in the matrix elements, and this results in nonzero values for IP and CT, which would negatively impact the polarization measurements at the telescope focus. The averaged Mueller matrix is estimated at the Nasmyth focus at different instrument ports and various zenith angles of the telescope. The variation in the Mueller matrix elements for different coatings is also estimated. The impact of this polarization effect on the science case requirements has been discussed. This analysis will help in achieving precise requirements for future instruments with polarimetric capability.

  18. Optical Design of the STAR-X Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saha, Timo T.; Zhang, William W.; McClelland, Ryan S.

    2017-01-01

    Top-level science goals of the Survey and Time-domain Astrophysical Research eXplorer (STAR-X) include: investigations of most violent explosions in the universe, study of growth of black holes across cosmic time and mass scale, and measure how structure formation heats majority of baryons in the universe. To meet these goals, the field-of-view of the telescope should be about 1 square-degree, the angular resolution should be 5 arc-seconds or below across large part of the field-of-view. The on-axis effective area at 1 KeV should be about 2,000 sq cm. Payload cost and launch considerations limit the outer diameter, focal length, and mass to 1.3 meters, 5 meters, and 250 kilograms, respectively. Telescope design is based on a segmented meta-shell approach we have developed at Goddard Space Flight Center for the STAR-X telescope. The telescope shells are divided into 30-degree segments. Individual telescopes and meta-shells are nested inside each other to meet the effective area requirements in 0.5 - 6.0 KeV range. We consider Wolter-Schwarzschild, and Modified-Wolter-Schwarzschild telescope designs as basic building blocks of the nested STAR-X telescope. These designs offer an excellent resolution over a large field of views. Nested telescopes are vulnerable to stray light problems. We have designed a multi-component baffle system to eliminate direct and single-reflection light paths inside the telescopes. Large number of internal and external baffle vane structures are required to prevent stray rays from reaching the focal plane. We have developed a simple ray-trace based tool to determine the dimensions and locations of the baffles. In this paper, we present the results of our trade studies, baffle design studies, and optical performance analyses of the STAR-X telescope.

  19. Technological Aspects of Creating Large-size Optical Telescopes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. V. Sychev

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A concept of the telescope creation, first of all, depends both on a choice of the optical scheme to form optical radiation and images with minimum losses of energy and information and on a choice of design to meet requirements for strength, stiffness, and stabilization characteristics in real telescope operation conditions. Thus, the concept of creating large-size telescopes, certainly, involves the use of adaptive optics methods and means.The level of technological capabilities to realize scientific and engineering ideas define a successful development of large-size optical telescopes in many respects. All developers pursue the same aim that is to raise an amount of information by increasing a main mirror diameter of the telescope.The article analyses the adaptive telescope designs developed in our country. Using a domestic ACT-25 telescope as an example, it considers creation of large-size optical telescopes in terms of technological aspects. It also describes the telescope creation concept features, which allow reaching marginally possible characteristics to ensure maximum amount of information.The article compares a wide range of large-size telescopes projects. It shows that a domestic project to create the adaptive ACT-25 super-telescope surpasses its foreign counterparts, and there is no sense to implement Euro50 (50m and OWL (100m projects.The considered material gives clear understanding on a role of technological aspects in development of such complicated optic-electronic complexes as a large-size optical telescope. The technological criteria of an assessment offered in the article, namely specific informational content of the telescope, its specific mass, and specific cost allow us to reveal weaknesses in the project development and define a reserve regarding further improvement of the telescope.The analysis of results and their judgment have shown that improvement of optical largesize telescopes in terms of their maximum

  20. Subsurface Halophilic Microbial Communities in the Hyperarid Core of the Atacama Desert: An Analog for Possible Subsurface Life in Regolith on Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oren, A.; Warren-Rhodes, K.; Rainey, F. T.; Ewing, S.; McKay, C. P.

    2003-12-01

    The Atacama Desert in its driest portion provides an interesting analog for possible past or present life in the Martian regolith. In the hyperarid core of the Atacama, surface soils are virtually abiotic, with no plants and "near sterile" concentrations of heterotrophic bacteria (i.e., exceedingly low densities of approximately 100 colony forming units per gram soil). The dearth of microbial life at the surface is likely maintained through extremely low water availability, low organic content and the highly oxidizing nature of the soil. In marked contrast to the surface, however, extremely halophilic microorganisms exist in salt layers 1.2-1.5m below the surface. Mineralogical analyses indicate the layers are predominantly halite (70% NaCl) but also contain sodium nitrate (5% NaNO3). Culturing and polar lipid analyses suggest the halophiles are archaeal Halobacterium-like motile rods. Microclimate monitoring at 1m indicates a soil relative humidity of 20% which is stable year-round even during decadal rain events such as that experienced in July 2002. This suggests the layers are isolated from even significant moisture influxes at the surface. Although further research is necessary, important parallels exist between this Earthly desert analog and the possible existence and detection of subsurface life on Mars despite harsh abiotic conditions at the surface.

  1. Neutrino telescopes in the World

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ernenwein, J.-P.

    2007-01-01

    Neutrino astronomy has rapidly developed these last years, being the only way to get specific and reliable information about astrophysical objects still poorly understood.Currently two neutrino telescopes are operational in the World: BAIKAL, in the lake of the same name in Siberia, and AMANDA, in the ices of the South Pole. Two telescopes of the same type are under construction in the Mediterranean Sea: ANTARES and NESTOR. All these telescopes belong to a first generation, with an instrumented volume smaller or equal to 0.02 km3. Also in the Mediterranean Sea, the NEMO project is just in its starting phase, within the framework of a cubic kilometer size neutrino telescope study. Lastly, the ICECUBE detector, with a volume reaching about 1 km3, is under construction on the site of AMANDA experiment, while an extension of the BAIKAL detector toward km3 is under study. We will present here the characteristics of these experiments, as well as the results of their observations

  2. The Liverpool Telescope: rapid follow-up observation of targets of opportunity with a 2 m robotic telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gomboc, Andreja; Bode, Michael F.; Carter, David; Mundell, Carol G.; Newsam, Andrew; Smith, Robert J.; Steele, Iain A.

    2004-01-01

    The Liverpool Telescope, situated at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma, Canaries, is the first 2-m, fully instrumented robotic telescope. It recently began observations. Among Liverpool Telescope's primary scientific goals is to monitor variable objects on all timescales from seconds to years. An additional benefit of its robotic operation is rapid reaction to unpredictable phenomena and their systematic follow up, simultaneous or coordinated with other facilities. The Target of Opportunity Programme of the Liverpool Telescope includes the prompt search for and observation of GRB and XRF counterparts. A special over-ride mode implemented for GRB/XRF follow-up enables observations commencing less than a minute after the alert, including optical and near infrared imaging and spectroscopy. In particular, the moderate aperture and rapid automated response make the Liverpool Telescope excellently suited to help solving the mystery of optically dark GRBs and for the investigation of currently unstudied short bursts and XRFs

  3. ANTARES: The first undersea neutrino telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ageron, M.; Aguilar, J. A.; Al Samarai, I.; Albert, A.; Ameli, F.; André, M.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Anvar, S.; Ardid, M.; Arnaud, K.; Aslanides, E.; Assis Jesus, A. C.; Astraatmadja, T.; Aubert, J.-J.; Auer, R.; Barbarito, E.; Baret, B.; Basa, S.; Bazzotti, M.; Becherini, Y.; Beltramelli, J.; Bersani, A.; Bertin, V.; Beurthey, S.; Biagi, S.; Bigongiari, C.; Billault, M.; Blaes, R.; Bogazzi, C.; de Botton, N.; Bou-Cabo, M.; Boudahef, B.; Bouwhuis, M. C.; Brown, A. M.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Caillat, L.; Calzas, A.; Camarena, F.; Capone, A.; Caponetto, L.; Cârloganu, C.; Carminati, G.; Carmona, E.; Carr, J.; Carton, P. H.; Cassano, B.; Castorina, E.; Cecchini, S.; Ceres, A.; Chaleil, Th.; Charvis, Ph.; Chauchot, P.; Chiarusi, T.; Circella, M.; Compère, C.; Coniglione, R.; Coppolani, X.; Cosquer, A.; Costantini, H.; Cottini, N.; Coyle, P.; Cuneo, S.; Curtil, C.; D'Amato, C.; Damy, G.; van Dantzig, R.; de Bonis, G.; Decock, G.; Decowski, M. P.; Dekeyser, I.; Delagnes, E.; Desages-Ardellier, F.; Deschamps, A.; Destelle, J.-J.; di Maria, F.; Dinkespiler, B.; Distefano, C.; Dominique, J.-L.; Donzaud, C.; Dornic, D.; Dorosti, Q.; Drogou, J.-F.; Drouhin, D.; Druillole, F.; Durand, D.; Durand, R.; Eberl, T.; Emanuele, U.; Engelen, J. J.; Ernenwein, J.-P.; Escoffier, S.; Falchini, E.; Favard, S.; Fehr, F.; Feinstein, F.; Ferri, M.; Ferry, S.; Fiorello, C.; Flaminio, V.; Folger, F.; Fritsch, U.; Fuda, J.-L.; Galatá, S.; Galeotti, S.; Gay, P.; Gensolen, F.; Giacomelli, G.; Gojak, C.; Gómez-González, J. P.; Goret, Ph.; Graf, K.; Guillard, G.; Halladjian, G.; Hallewell, G.; van Haren, H.; Hartmann, B.; Heijboer, A. J.; Heine, E.; Hello, Y.; Henry, S.; Hernández-Rey, J. J.; Herold, B.; Hößl, J.; Hogenbirk, J.; Hsu, C. C.; Hubbard, J. R.; Jaquet, M.; Jaspers, M.; de Jong, M.; Jourde, D.; Kadler, M.; Kalantar-Nayestanaki, N.; Kalekin, O.; Kappes, A.; Karg, T.; Karkar, S.; Karolak, M.; Katz, U.; Keller, P.; Kestener, P.; Kok, E.; Kok, H.; Kooijman, P.; Kopper, C.; Kouchner, A.; Kretschmer, W.; Kruijer, A.; Kuch, S.; Kulikovskiy, V.; Lachartre, D.; Lafoux, H.; Lagier, P.; Lahmann, R.; Lahonde-Hamdoun, C.; Lamare, P.; Lambard, G.; Languillat, J.-C.; Larosa, G.; Lavalle, J.; Le Guen, Y.; Le Provost, H.; Levansuu, A.; Lefèvre, D.; Legou, T.; Lelaizant, G.; Lévéque, C.; Lim, G.; Lo Presti, D.; Loehner, H.; Loucatos, S.; Louis, F.; Lucarelli, F.; Lyashuk, V.; Magnier, P.; Mangano, S.; Marcel, A.; Marcelin, M.; Margiotta, A.; Martinez-Mora, J. A.; Masullo, R.; Mazéas, F.; Mazure, A.; Meli, A.; Melissas, M.; Migneco, E.; Mongelli, M.; Montaruli, T.; Morganti, M.; Moscoso, L.; Motz, H.; Musumeci, M.; Naumann, C.; Naumann-Godo, M.; Neff, M.; Niess, V.; Nooren, G. J. L.; Oberski, J. E. J.; Olivetto, C.; Palanque-Delabrouille, N.; Palioselitis, D.; Papaleo, R.; Păvălaş, G. E.; Payet, K.; Payre, P.; Peek, H.; Petrovic, J.; Piattelli, P.; Picot-Clemente, N.; Picq, C.; Piret, Y.; Poinsignon, J.; Popa, V.; Pradier, T.; Presani, E.; Prono, G.; Racca, C.; Raia, G.; van Randwijk, J.; Real, D.; Reed, C.; Réthoré, F.; Rewiersma, P.; Riccobene, G.; Richardt, C.; Richter, R.; Ricol, J. S.; Rigaud, V.; Roca, V.; Roensch, K.; Rolin, J.-F.; Rostovtsev, A.; Rottura, A.; Roux, J.; Rujoiu, M.; Ruppi, M.; Russo, G. V.; Salesa, F.; Salomon, K.; Sapienza, P.; Schmitt, F.; Schöck, F.; Schuller, J.-P.; Schüssler, F.; Sciliberto, D.; Shanidze, R.; Shirokov, E.; Simeone, F.; Sottoriva, A.; Spies, A.; Spona, T.; Spurio, M.; Steijger, J. J. M.; Stolarczyk, Th.; Streeb, K.; Sulak, L.; Taiuti, M.; Tamburini, C.; Tao, C.; Tasca, L.; Terreni, G.; Tezier, D.; Toscano, S.; Urbano, F.; Valdy, P.; Vallage, B.; van Elewyck, V.; Vannoni, G.; Vecchi, M.; Venekamp, G.; Verlaat, B.; Vernin, P.; Virique, E.; de Vries, G.; van Wijk, R.; Wijnker, G.; Wobbe, G.; de Wolf, E.; Yakovenko, Y.; Yepes, H.; Zaborov, D.; Zaccone, H.; Zornoza, J. D.; Zúñiga, J.

    2011-11-01

    The ANTARES Neutrino Telescope was completed in May 2008 and is the first operational Neutrino Telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The main purpose of the detector is to perform neutrino astronomy and the apparatus also offers facilities for marine and Earth sciences. This paper describes the design, the construction and the installation of the telescope in the deep sea, offshore from Toulon in France. An illustration of the detector performance is given.

  4. ANTARES: The first undersea neutrino telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ageron, M.; Aguilar, J.A.; Al Samarai, I.; Albert, A.; Ameli, F.; Andre, M.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Anvar, S.; Ardid, M.; Arnaud, K.; Aslanides, E.; Assis Jesus, A.C.; Astraatmadja, T.; Aubert, J.-J.; Auer, R.; Barbarito, E.; Baret, B.

    2011-01-01

    The ANTARES Neutrino Telescope was completed in May 2008 and is the first operational Neutrino Telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The main purpose of the detector is to perform neutrino astronomy and the apparatus also offers facilities for marine and Earth sciences. This paper describes the design, the construction and the installation of the telescope in the deep sea, offshore from Toulon in France. An illustration of the detector performance is given.

  5. The Dutch Open Telescope: History, Status, Prospects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rutten, R.J.

    1999-01-01

    After many years of persistent telescope design and telescope construction, R.H. Hammerschlag has installed his Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) on La Palma. I brie y review its history and design. The future of optical solar physics at Utrecht hinges on a recently-funded three- year DOT science

  6. A virtual reality environment for telescope operation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez, Luis A.; Villarreal, José L.; Ángeles, Fernando; Bernal, Abel

    2010-07-01

    Astronomical observatories and telescopes are becoming increasingly large and complex systems, demanding to any potential user the acquirement of great amount of information previous to access them. At present, the most common way to overcome that information is through the implementation of larger graphical user interfaces and computer monitors to increase the display area. Tonantzintla Observatory has a 1-m telescope with a remote observing system. As a step forward in the improvement of the telescope software, we have designed a Virtual Reality (VR) environment that works as an extension of the remote system and allows us to operate the telescope. In this work we explore this alternative technology that is being suggested here as a software platform for the operation of the 1-m telescope.

  7. LSST telescope and site status

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gressler, William J.

    2016-07-01

    The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) Project1 received its construction authorization from the National Science Foundation in August 2014. The Telescope and Site (T and S) group has made considerable progress towards completion in subsystems required to support the scope of the LSST science mission. The LSST goal is to conduct a wide, fast, deep survey via a 3-mirror wide field of view optical design, a 3.2-Gpixel camera, and an automated data processing system. The summit facility is currently under construction on Cerro Pachón in Chile, with major vendor subsystem deliveries and integration planned over the next several years. This paper summarizes the status of the activities of the T and S group, tasked with design, analysis, and construction of the summit and base facilities and infrastructure necessary to control the survey, capture the light, and calibrate the data. All major telescope work package procurements have been awarded to vendors and are in varying stages of design and fabrication maturity and completion. The unique M1M3 primary/tertiary mirror polishing effort is completed and the mirror now resides in storage waiting future testing. Significant progress has been achieved on all the major telescope subsystems including the summit facility, telescope mount assembly, dome, hexapod and rotator systems, coating plant, base facility, and the calibration telescope. In parallel, in-house efforts including the software needed to control the observatory such as the scheduler and the active optics control, have also seen substantial advancement. The progress and status of these subsystems and future LSST plans during this construction phase are presented.

  8. Design and Performance of the Multiplexed SQUID/TES Array at Ninety Gigahertz

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stanchfield, Sara; Ade, Peter; Aguirre, James; Brevik, Justus A.; Cho, Hsiao-Mei; Datta, Rahul; Devlin, Mark; Dicker, Simon R.; Dober, Bradley; Duff, Shannon M.; Egan, Dennis; Ford, Pam; Hilton, Gene; Hubmayr, Johannes; Irwin, Kent; Knowles, Kenda; Marganian, Paul; Mason, Brian Scott; Mates, John A. B.; McMahon, Jeff; Mello, Melinda; Mroczkowski, Tony; Romero, Charles; Sievers, Jonathon; Tucker, Carole; Vale, Leila R.; Vissers, Michael; White, Steven; Whitehead, Mark; Ullom, Joel; Young, Alexander

    2018-01-01

    We present the array performance and astronomical images from early science results from MUSTANG-2, a 90 GHz feedhorn-coupled, microwave SQUID-multiplexed TES bolometer array operating on the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT). MUSTANG-2 was installed on the GBT on December 2, 2016 and immediately began commissioning efforts, followed by science observations, which are expected to conclude June 2017. The feedhorn and waveguide-probe-coupled detector technology is a mature technology, which has been used on instrument including the South Pole Telescope, the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, and the Atacama B-mode Search telescope. The microwave SQUID readout system developed for MUSTANG-2 currently reads out 66 detectors with a single coaxial cable and will eventually allow thousands of detectors to be multiplexed. This microwave SQUID multiplexer combines the proven abilities of millimeterwave TES detectors with the multiplexing capabilities of KIDs with no degradation in noise performance of the detectors. Each multiplexing device is read out using warm electronics consisting of a commercially available ROACH board, a DAC/ADC card, and an Intermediate Frequency mixer circuit. The hardware was originally developed by the UC Berkeley Collaboration for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronic Research (CASPER) group, whose primary goal is to develop scalable FPGA-based hardware with the flexibility to be used in a wide range of radio signal processing applications. MUSTANG-2 is the first on-sky instrument to use microwave SQUID multiplexing and is available as a shared-risk/PI instrument on the GBT. In MUSTANG-2's first season 7 separate proposals were awarded a total of 230 hours of telescope time.

  9. Automatic Photoelectric Telescope Service

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Genet, R.M.; Boyd, L.J.; Kissell, K.E.; Crawford, D.L.; Hall, D.S.; BDM Corp., McLean, VA; Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, AZ; Dyer Observatory, Nashville, TN)

    1987-01-01

    Automatic observatories have the potential of gathering sizable amounts of high-quality astronomical data at low cost. The Automatic Photoelectric Telescope Service (APT Service) has realized this potential and is routinely making photometric observations of a large number of variable stars. However, without observers to provide on-site monitoring, it was necessary to incorporate special quality checks into the operation of the APT Service at its multiple automatic telescope installation on Mount Hopkins. 18 references

  10. The ATHENA telescope and optics status

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bavdaz, Marcos; Wille, Eric; Ayre, Mark; Ferreira, Ivo; Shortt, Brian; Fransen, Sebastiaan; Collon, Maximilien; Vacanti, Giuseppe; Barriere, Nicolas; Landgraf, Boris; Haneveld, Jeroen; van Baren, Coen; Zuknik, Karl-Heintz; Della Monica Ferreira, Desiree; Massahi, Sonny; Christensen, Finn; Krumrey, Michael; Burwitz, Vadim; Pareschi, Giovanni; Spiga, Daniele; Valsecchi, Giuseppe; Vernani, Dervis; Oliver, Paul; Seidel, André

    2017-08-01

    The work on the definition and technological preparation of the ATHENA (Advanced Telescope for High ENergy Astrophysics) mission continues to progress. In parallel to the study of the accommodation of the telescope, many aspects of the X-ray optics are being evolved further. The optics technology chosen for ATHENA is the Silicon Pore Optics (SPO), which hinges on technology spin-in from the semiconductor industry, and uses a modular approach to produce large effective area lightweight telescope optics with a good angular resolution. Both system studies and the technology developments are guided by ESA and implemented in industry, with participation of institutional partners. In this paper an overview of the current status of the telescope optics accommodation and technology development activities is provided.

  11. Hard x-ray telescope mission

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gorenstein, P.; Worrall, D.; Joensen, K.D.

    1996-01-01

    The Hard X-Ray Telescope was selected for study as a possible new intermediate size mission for the early 21st century. Its principal attributes are: (1) multiwavelength observing with a system of focussing telescopes that collectively observe from the UV to over 1 MeV, (2) much higher sensitivity...

  12. 21 CFR 886.5870 - Low-vision telescope.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Low-vision telescope. 886.5870 Section 886.5870...) MEDICAL DEVICES OPHTHALMIC DEVICES Therapeutic Devices § 886.5870 Low-vision telescope. (a) Identification. A low-vision telescope is a device that consists of an arrangement of lenses or mirrors intended for...

  13. Hydrogeology of the lacustrine system of the eastern margin of the Salar the Atacama (Chile); Hidrogeologia del sistema lagunar del margen este del Salar de Atacama (Chile)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Salas, J.; Guimera, J.; Cornella, O.; Aravena, R.; Guzman, E.; Tore, C.; von Igel, W.; Moreno, R.

    2010-07-01

    A hydrogeological conceptual model of the Eastern margin of the Salar de Atacama (Chile) is proposed taking into account climatic, geological, geomorphological, piezometric, chemical and isotopic data. The study establishes the processes that explain the hydrochemical evolution of waters from salty groundwater in the alluvial aquifer located in eastern part of basin until brines at the saline aquifer of the Salar. The main processes associated with this hydrochemical evolution are evaporation and mixing, but water-crust interaction in the discharge areas of the alluvial aquifer associated with the saline wedge also modifies groundwater composition, and plays a role in the dynamics of the evaporitic crusts in the Salar. The existence of low permeability materials near the surface explains the existence of the permanent surface water bodies in the study area. Based on the data collected in the study three different mechanisms are proposed regarding the main sources of water to the lagoons: (1) discharge of saline groundwater from the detrital and volcanic aquifers of the E margin, (2) discharge of surface waters associated to the N area (Burro Muerto channel), and (3) a combination of both previous mechanisms. (Author).

  14. Scientific management of Space Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odell, C. R.

    1981-01-01

    A historical summay is given on the science management of the Space Telescope, the inception of which began in 1962, when scientists and engineers first recommended the development of a nearly diffraction limited substantial-size optical telescope. Phase A, the feasibility requirements generation phase, began in 1971 and consisted largely of NASA scientists and a NASA design. Phase B, the preliminary design phase, established a tiered structure of scientists, led by the Large Space Telescope operations and Management Work Group. A Mission Operations Working Group headed six instrument definition teams to develop the essential instrument definitions. Many changes took place during Phase B, before design and development, which began in 1978 and still continues today.

  15. Martian Habitability Studies in Two Field Earth Analogues: the Permafrost in the Imuruk Lake Basaltic Field (alaska) and the Atacama Desert

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gómez-Gómez, Felipe; Rodriguez-Manfredi, Jose-Antonio; Perez, Lidia; Prieto-Ballesteros, Olga; Amils, Ricardo; Gomez-Elvira, Javier

    We are developing a Universal Habitability Index for life prospection studies in space missions. Authors will present in this abstract the results of the application of the habitability index in two field case studies: Alaskan permafrost and Atacama Desert. We are using extreme envi-ronments as test facilities from an Astrobiological perspective, in order to reach three main objectives: 1) Define preservation patterns of biosignatures in extreme environments (cold, low water stress, high radiation. . . ) that may be used in future space exploration missions; 2) develop new instrumentation for detecting life in situ or remotely, and for new instrumenta-tion for detection and mapping of extreme niches where life (or biochemical tracers of past life) may be preserved and 3) develop an Universal Habitability Index for space astrobiolog-ical mission application (Mars or Europa life prospection). These aims will be achieved by selected site characterization using geophysical sounding and drilling, atmospheric characteri-zation by meteorological analysis, soil water and temperature profile analysis and, finally, by sampling different levels of the rock cores and analyzing their mineralogy, geochemistry and microbiology in laboratory. First case: studying the permafrost in the Imuruk lake volcanic field area (Alaska): In order to map the permafrost underground, electric tomography sounding was performed. Resulting tomographic data indicate that the permafrost of the studied area is at a mean depth of 0.50 meter from the surface, sometimes even shallower. Drilling points were selected depending on the permafrost depth known from the tomographic data analysis. Three perforations were done all along the hill. Samples were collected at several depths in the three holes for mineralogical, geochemical and biological analysis. They were in situ fixed with formaldehyde in order to be maintained till laboratory analysis was developed. Several growth fresh media were inoculated with

  16. Remote secure observing for the Faulkes Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Robert J.; Steele, Iain A.; Marchant, Jonathan M.; Fraser, Stephen N.; Mucke-Herzberg, Dorothea

    2004-09-01

    Since the Faulkes Telescopes are to be used by a wide variety of audiences, both powerful engineering level and simple graphical interfaces exist giving complete remote and robotic control of the telescope over the internet. Security is extremely important to protect the health of both humans and equipment. Data integrity must also be carefully guarded for images being delivered directly into the classroom. The adopted network architecture is described along with the variety of security and intrusion detection software. We use a combination of SSL, proxies, IPSec, and both Linux iptables and Cisco IOS firewalls to ensure only authenticated and safe commands are sent to the telescopes. With an eye to a possible future global network of robotic telescopes, the system implemented is capable of scaling linearly to any moderate (of order ten) number of telescopes.

  17. Single particle detecting telescope system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamamoto, I.; Tomiyama, T.; Iga, Y.; Komatsubara, T.; Kanada, M.; Yamashita, Y.; Wada, T.; Furukawa, S.

    1981-01-01

    We constructed the single particle detecting telescope system for detecting a fractionally charged particle. The telescope consists of position detecting counters, wall-less multi-cell chambers, single detecting circuits and microcomputer system as data I/0 processor. Especially, a frequency of double particle is compared the case of the single particle detecting with the case of an ordinary measurement

  18. Building the Hubble Space Telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'dell, C.R.

    1989-01-01

    The development of the design for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is discussed. The HST optical system is described and illustrated. The financial and policy issues related to the development of the HST are considered. The actual construction of the HST optical telescope is examined. Also, consideration is given to the plans for the HST launch

  19. Lee Sang Gak Telescope (LSGT): A Remotely Operated Robotic Telescope for Education and Research at Seoul National University

    Science.gov (United States)

    Im, Myungshin; Choi, Changsu; Kim, Kihyun

    2015-08-01

    We introduce the Lee Sang Gak Telescope (LSGT), a remotely operated, robotic 0.43-meter telescope. The telescope was installed at the Siding Spring Observatory, Australia, in 2014 October, to secure regular and exclusive access to the dark sky and excellent atmospheric conditions in the southern hemisphere from the Seoul National University (SNU) campus. Here, we describe the LSGT system and its performance, present example images from early observations, and discuss a future plan to upgrade the system. The use of the telescope includes (i) long-term monitoring observations of nearby galaxies, active galactic nuclei, and supernovae; (ii) rapid follow-up observations of transients such as gamma-ray bursts and gravitational wave sources; and (iii) observations for educational activities at SNU. Based on observations performed so far, we find that the telescope is capable of providing images to a depth of R=21.5 mag (point source detection) at 5-σ with 15 min total integration time under good obs-erving conditions.

  20. Measurement Results of the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory 230 GHz and 460 GHz Balanced Receivers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kooi, J. W.; Monje, R. R.; Force, B. L.; Rice, F.; Miller, D.; Phillips, T. G.

    2010-03-01

    The Caltech Submillimeter observatory (CSO) is located on top of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, at an altitude of 4.2km. The existing suite of heterodyne receivers covering the submillimeter band is rapidly aging, and in need of replacement. To this extend we have developed a family of balanced receivers covering the astrophysical important 180-720 GHz atmospheric windows. For the CSO, wide IF bandwidth receivers are implemented in a balanced receiver configuration with dual frequency observation capability. This arrangement was opted to be an optimal compromise between scientific merit and finite funding. In principle, the balanced receiver configuration has the advantage that common mode amplitude noise in the LO system is canceled, while at the same time utilizing all available LO power. Both of these features facilitate the use of commercially available synthesized LO system. In combination with a 4 GHz IF bandwidth, the described receiver layout allows for rapid high resolution spectral line surveys. Dual frequency observation is another important mode of operation offered by the new facility instrumentation. Two band observations are accomplished by separating the H and V polarizations of the incoming signal and routing them via folded optics to the appropriate polarization sensitive balanced mixer. Scientifically this observation mode facilitates pointing for the higher receiver band under mediocre weather conditions and a doubling of scientific throughput (2 x 4 GHz) under good weather conditions. Not only do these changes greatly enhance the spectroscopic capabilities of the CSO, they also enable the observatory to be integrated into the Harvard-Smithsonian Submillimeter Array (eSMA) as an additional baseline. The upgrade of the 345 GHz/650 GHz dual band balanced receivers is not far behind. All the needed hardware has been procured, and commissioning is expected the summer of 2010. The SIS junctions are capable of a 2-12 GHz bandwidth.

  1. Carbon Fiber Mirror for a CubeSat Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Young-Soo; Jang, Jeong Gyun; Kim, Jihun; Nam, Uk Won

    2017-08-01

    Telescope mirrors made by carbon fibers have been increasingly used especially for space applications, and they may replace the traditional glass mirrors. Glass mirrors are easy to fabricate, but needed to be carefully handled as they are brittle. Other materials have also been considered for telescope mirrors, such as metals, plastics, and liquids even. However glass and glass ceramics are still commonly and dominantly used.Carbon fiber has mainly been used for mechanical supports like truss structure and telescope tubes, as it is stiff and light-weight. It can also be a good material for telescope mirrors, as it has additional merits of non-brittle and very low thermal expansion. Therefore, carbon fiber mirror would be suitable for space telescopes which should endure the harsh vibration conditions during launch.A light-weight telescope made by carbon fiber has been designed for a small satellite which would have much less weight than conventional ones. In this poster, mirror materials are reviewed, and a design of carbon fiber telescope is presented and discussed.

  2. A free market in telescope time?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Etherton, Jason; Steele, Iain A.; Mottram, Christopher J.

    2004-09-01

    As distributed systems are becoming more and more diverse in application there is a growing need for more intelligent resource scheduling. eSTAR Is a geographically distributed network of Grid-enabled telescopes, using grid middleware to provide telescope users with an authentication and authorisation method, allowing secure, remote access to such resources. The eSTAR paradigm is based upon this secure, single sign-on, giving astronomers or their agent proxies direct access to these telescopes. This concept, however, involves the complex issue of how to schedule observations stored within physically distributed media, on geographically distributed resources. This matter is complicated further by the varying degrees of constraints placed upon observations such as timeliness, atmospheric and meteorological conditions, and sky brightness to name a few. This paper discusses a free market approach to this scheduling problem, where astronomers are given credit, instead of time, from their respective TAGs to spend on telescopes as they see fit. This approach will ultimately provide a community-driven schedule, genuine indicators of the worth of specific telescope time and promote a more efficient use of that time, as well as demonstrating a 'survival of the fittest' type selection.

  3. Ground-Based Telescope Parametric Cost Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stahl, H. Philip; Rowell, Ginger Holmes

    2004-01-01

    A parametric cost model for ground-based telescopes is developed using multi-variable statistical analysis, The model includes both engineering and performance parameters. While diameter continues to be the dominant cost driver, other significant factors include primary mirror radius of curvature and diffraction limited wavelength. The model includes an explicit factor for primary mirror segmentation and/or duplication (i.e.. multi-telescope phased-array systems). Additionally, single variable models based on aperture diameter are derived. This analysis indicates that recent mirror technology advances have indeed reduced the historical telescope cost curve.

  4. Care of astronomical telescopes and accessories a manual for the astronomical observer and amateur telescope maker

    CERN Document Server

    Pepin, M Barlow

    2005-01-01

    Commercially-made astronomical telescopes are better and less expensive than ever before, and their optical and mechanical performance can be superb. When a good-quality telescope fails to perform as well as it might, the reason is quite probably that it needs a little care and attention! Here is a complete guide for anyone who wants to understand more than just the basics of astronomical telescopes and accessories, and how to maintain them in the peak of condition. The latest on safely adjusting, cleaning, and maintaining your equipment is combined with thoroughly updated methods from the old masters. Here, too, are details of choosing new and used optics and accessories, along with enhancements you can make to extend their versatility and useful lifetime. This book is for you. Really. Looking after an astronomical telescope isn't only for the experts - although there are some things that only an expert should attempt - and every serious amateur astronomer will find invaluable information here, gleaned from ...

  5. GRANITE- A steroscopic imaging Chernkov telescope system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shubnell, M.; Akerlof, C.W.; Cawley, M.F.; Chantell, M.; Fegan, D.J.; Fennell, S.; O'Flaherty, K.S.; Freeman, S.; Frishman, D.; Gaidos, J.A.; Hagan, J.; Harris, K.; Hillas, A.M.; Kerrick, A.D.; Lamb, R.C.; Lappin, T.; Lawrence, M.A.; Levy, H.; Lewis, D.A.; Meyer, D.I.; Mohanty, G.; Punch, M.; Reynolds, P.T.; Rovero, A.C.; Sembroski, G.; Weaverdyck, C.; Weekes, T.C.; Whitaker, T.; Wilson, C.

    1993-01-01

    A second 10 meter class imaging telescope was constructed on Mt. Hopkins, Arizona, the site of the original 10 meter Whipple Cherenkov telescope. The twin telescope system with a 140 meter base line will allow both a reduction in the energy threshold and an improvement in the rejection of the hardonic background. The new telescope started operation in December 1991. With the final completion of the first installation stage (GRANITE I) during spring 92, it is now operating simultaneously with the orginal reflector. We describe in this paper design and construction of the new instrument and demonstrate the capability of the experiment to record coincident events

  6. Overdenture dengan Pegangan Telescopic Crown

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pambudi Santoso

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Kaitan presisi merupakan alat retensi mekanis yang menghubungkan antara satu atau lebih pegangan gigi tiruan, yang bertujuan untuk menambah retensi dan/atau stabilisasi. Kaitan presisi dapat digunakan secara luas pada gigi tiruan cekat, gigi tiruan sebagian lepasan, overdenture, implant untuk retensi overdenture, dan protesa maksilo fasial. Overdenture dengan kaitan presisi dapat membantu dalam pembagian beban kunyah, meminimalkan trauma pada gigi pegangan dan jaringan lunak, meminimalkan resorbsi tulang, dan meningkatkan estetik dan pengucapan suara. Salah satu jenis dari kaitan presisi adalah telescopic crown, terdiri dari 2 macam mahkota, yaitu mahkota primer yang melekat secara permanen pada gigi penyangga, dan mahkota sekunder yang melekat pada gigi tiruan. Tujuan pemaparan kasus ini adalah untuk memberikan informasi tentang rehabilitasi pasien edentulous sebagian rahang atas dengan telescopic crown..  Pasien wanita berusia 45 tahun datang ke klinik prostodonsia RSGM Prof.Soedomo dengan keluhan ingin dibuatkan gigi tiruan. Pasien kehilangan gigi 11 12 15 16 17 21 22 24 25 26 dan 27 yang diindikasikan untuk pembuatan overdenture gigi tiruan sebagian lepasan (GTS kerangka logam dengan pegangan telescopic crown pada gigi 13 dan 14 dengan sistem parallel-sided crown. Tahap-tahap pembuatan telescopic crown yaitu mencetak model study dengan catatan gigit pendahuluan. Perawatan saluran dilakukan pada akar gigi 13, dilanjutkan pemasangan pasak fiber serta rewalling dinding bukal. Gigi 13 dan 14 dilakukan preparasi mahkota penuh, dilanjutkan dengan pencetakan model kerja untuk coping primer dan kerangka logam dengan metode double impression. Coping primer disementasi pada gigi penyangga, dilanjutkan pasang coba coping sekunder beserta kerangka logam. Selanjutnya dilakukan pencatatan gigit, pencetakan model kerja, penyusunan gigi dan pasang coba penyusunan gigi pada pasien. Prosedur dilanjutkan dengan proses di laboratorium, serta insersi pada

  7. Trick or Treat and Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buratti, Bonnie J.; Meinke, Bonnie K.; Schmude, Richard W.

    2017-10-01

    Based on an activity that DPS member Richard Schmude Jr. has been doing for years, with over 5000 children reached, DPS initiated in 2016 a pilot program entitled “Trick-or-Treat and Telescopes.” DPS encouraged its members to put out their telescopes during trick-or-treat time on Halloween, in their own lawns or in a neighbor’s lawn with better viewing (or more traffic). The program will be continued in 2017. This year should offer good viewing with a waxing gibbous moon and Saturn visible. The program was also advertised though the Night Sky Network, a consortium of astronomy clubs. The following website gives advice and connections to resources.https://dps.aas.org/education/trick-or-treat-and-telescopes acknowledged.

  8. A decade of cost-reduction in very large telescopes - The SST as prototype of special-purpose telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Harlan J.

    1989-10-01

    Many design and technical innovations over the past ten or fifteen years have reduced the costs of very large telescopes by nearly an order of magnitude over those of classical designs. Still a further order of magnitude reduction is possible if the telescope is specialized for on-axis spectroscopy, giving up especially the luxuries of wide field, multiple focal positions, and access to all the sky at will. The SST (Spectroscopic Survey Telescope) will use eighty-five 1-m circular mirrors mounted in a steel frame composed of hundreds of interlocking tetrahedrons, keeping a fixed elevation angle of 60 deg with rotation only in azimuth. Using an optical fiber it will feed as much light to spectrographs as can be done by a conventional 8-m telescope, yet has a target basic completion cost of only $6 million.

  9. Eyeballing the universe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lintott, Chris; Land, Kate

    2008-09-01

    Modern astrophysics is a world dominated by large observatories, whether it is the Very Large Telescope in the Atacama desert in Chile or the Hubble Space Telescope orbiting high above the Earth. Access to these facilities is granted only as a result of fierce competition between astronomers, each of whom will have spent years gaining a first degree and a PhD just to be in the game. In the rarefied world of modern research, it may come as a surprise that our project, Galaxy Zoo, is producing science from the work of hundreds of thousands of Web users.

  10. Design and development of telescope control system and software for the 50/80 cm Schmidt telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, T. S.; Banavar, R. N.

    2012-09-01

    In this paper, we describe the details of telescope controller design for the 50/80 cm Schmidt telescope at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of observational sciencES. The GUI based software for commanding the telescope is developed in Visual C++. The hardware architecture features a distributed network of microcontrollers over CAN. The basic functionality can also be implemented using the dedicated RS232 port per board. The controller is able to perform with negligible rms velocity errors. At fine speeds limit cycles are exhibited due to nonlinear friction. At speeds over 3.90 × 10-02 radians/sec, the PI controller performs with peak errors less than 1%.

  11. Simulation and track reconstruction for beam telescopes

    CERN Document Server

    Maqbool, Salman

    2017-01-01

    Beam telescopes are used for testing new detectors under development. Sensors are placed and a particle beam is passed through them. To test these novel detectors and determine their properties, the particle tracks need to be reconstructed from the known detectors in the telescope. Based on the reconstructed track, it’s predicted hits on the Device under Test (DUT) are compared with the actual hits on the DUT. Several methods exist for track reconstruction, but most of them don’t account for the effects of multiple scattering. General Broken Lines is one such algorithm which incorporates these effects during reconstruction. The aim of this project was to simulate the beam telescope and extend the track reconstruction framework for the FE-I4 telescope, which takes these effects into account. Section 1 introduces the problem, while section 2 focuses on beam telescopes. This is followed by the Allpix2 simulation framework in Section 3. And finally, Section 4 introduces the Proteus track reconstruction framew...

  12. Habitable Exoplanet Imager Optical Telescope Concept Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stahl, H Philip

    2017-01-01

    The Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx) is one of four missions under study for the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Survey. Its goal is to directly image and spectroscopically characterize planetary systems in the habitable zone of Sun-like stars. Additionally, HabEx will perform a broad range of general astrophysics science enabled by 100 to 2500 nm spectral range and 3 x 3 arc-minute FOV. Critical to achieving the HabEx science goals is a large, ultra-stable UV/Optical/Near-IR (UVOIR) telescope. The baseline HabEx telescope is a 4-meter off-axis unobscured three-mirror-anastigmatic, diffraction limited at 400 nm with wavefront stability on the order of a few 10s of picometers. This paper summarizes the opto-mechanical design of the HabEx baseline optical telescope assembly, including a discussion of how science requirements drive the telescope's specifications, and presents analysis that the baseline telescope structure meets its specified tolerances.

  13. Simulation and Track Reconstruction for Beam Telescopes

    CERN Document Server

    Maqbool, Salman

    2017-01-01

    Beam telescopes are an important tool to test new detectors under development in a particle beam. To test these novel detectors and determine their properties, the particle tracks need to be reconstructed from the known detectors in the telescope. Based on the reconstructed track, its predicted position on the Device under Test (DUT) are compared with the actual hits on the DUT. Several methods exist for track reconstruction, but most of them do not account for the effects of multiple scattering. General Broken Lines is one such algorithm which incorporates these effects during reconstruction. The aim of this project was to simulate the beam telescope and extend the track reconstruction framework for the FE-I4 telescope, which takes these effects into account. Section 1 introduces the problem, while section 2 focuses on beam telescopes. This is followed by the Allpix2 simulation framework in Section 3. And finally, Section 4 introduces the Proteus track reconstruction framework along with the General Broken ...

  14. Habitable exoplanet imager optical telescope concept design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stahl, H. Philip

    2017-09-01

    The Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx) is one of four missions under study for the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Survey. Its goal is to directly image and spectroscopically characterize planetary systems in the habitable zone of Sunlike stars. Additionally, HabEx will perform a broad range of general astrophysics science enabled by 100 to 2500 nm spectral range and 3 x 3 arc-minute FOV. Critical to achieving the HabEx science goals is a large, ultra-stable UV/Optical/Near-IR (UVOIR) telescope. The baseline HabEx telescope is a 4-meter off-axis unobscured three-mirroranastigmatic, diffraction limited at 400 nm with wavefront stability on the order of a few 10s of picometers. This paper summarizes the opto-mechanical design of the HabEx baseline optical telescope assembly, including a discussion of how science requirements drive the telescope's specifications, and presents analysis that the baseline telescope structure meets its specified tolerances.

  15. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Infrastructure for the ASTRI SST-2M telescope prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gianotti, F.; Tacchini, A.; Leto, G.; Martinetti, E.; Bruno, P.; Bellassai, G.; Conforti, V.; Gallozzi, S.; Mastropietro, M.; Tanci, C.; Malaguti, G.; Trifoglio, M.

    2016-08-01

    The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) represents the next generation of ground-based observatories for very high energy gamma-ray astronomy. The CTA will consist of two arrays at two different sites, one in the northern and one in the southern hemisphere. The current CTA design foresees, in the southern site, the installation of many tens of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes of three different classes, namely large, medium and small, so defined in relation to their mirror area; the northern hemisphere array would consist of few tens of the two larger telescope types. The Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is developing the Cherenkov Small Size Telescope ASTRI SST- 2M end-to-end prototype telescope within the framework of the International Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project. The ASTRI prototype has been installed at the INAF observing station located in Serra La Nave on Mt. Etna, Italy. Furthermore a mini-array, composed of nine of ASTRI telescopes, has been proposed to be installed at the Southern CTA site. Among the several different infrastructures belonging the ASTRI project, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment is dedicated to operations of computing and data storage, as well as the control of the entire telescope, and it is designed to achieve the maximum efficiency for all performance requirements. Thus a complete and stand-alone computer centre has been designed and implemented. The goal is to obtain optimal ICT equipment, with an adequate level of redundancy, that might be scaled up for the ASTRI mini-array, taking into account the necessary control, monitor and alarm system requirements. In this contribution we present the ICT equipment currently installed at the Serra La Nave observing station where the ASTRI SST-2M prototype will be operated. The computer centre and the control room are described with particular emphasis on the Local Area Network scheme, the computing and data storage system, and the

  16. Space Telescope maintenance and refurbishment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trucks, H. F.

    1983-01-01

    The Space Telescope (ST) represents a new concept regarding spaceborne astronomical observatories. Maintenance crews will be brought to the orbital worksite to make repairs and replace scientific instruments. For major overhauls the telescope can be temporarily returned to earth with the aid of the Shuttle. It will, thus, be possible to conduct astronomical studies with the ST for two decades or more. The five first-generation scientific instruments used with the ST include a wide field/planetary camera, a faint object camera, a faint object spectrograph, a high resolution spectrograph, and a high speed photometer. Attention is given to the optical telescope assembly, the support systems module, aspects of mission and science operations, unscheduled maintenance, contingency orbital maintenance, planned on-orbit maintenance, ground maintenance, ground refurbishment, and ground logistics.

  17. Eyes on the sky a spectrum of telescopes

    CERN Document Server

    Graham-Smith, Francis

    2016-01-01

    Astronomy is experiencing a golden age, with a new generation of innovative telescopes yielding a flood of information on the Universe. This book traces the development of telescopes from Galileo to the present day, and explains the basic principles of telescopes that operate in different parts of electromagnetic spectrum.

  18. Optical Design for a Survey X-Ray Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saha, Timo T.; Zhang, William W.; McClelland, Ryan S.

    2014-01-01

    Optical design trades are underway at the Goddard Space Flight Center to define a telescope for an x-ray survey mission. Top-level science objectives of the mission include the study of x-ray transients, surveying and long-term monitoring of compact objects in nearby galaxies, as well as both deep and wide-field x-ray surveys. In this paper we consider Wolter, Wolter-Schwarzschild, and modified Wolter-Schwarzschild telescope designs as basic building blocks for the tightly nested survey telescope. Design principles and dominating aberrations of individual telescopes and nested telescopes are discussed and we compare the off-axis optical performance at 1.0 KeV and 4.0 KeV across a 1.0-degree full field-of-view.

  19. Cryogen-free dilution refrigerator for ACTPOL polarization- sensitive receiver

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shvarts, V.; Zhao, Z.; Devlin, M. J.; Klein, J.; Lungu, M.; Schmitt, B.; Thornton, R.

    2014-12-01

    We present a new cryogenic receiver for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), a six-meter diameter off-axis Gregorian telescope located at an altitude of 5,200 meters (17,000 ft.) on Cerro Toco, in Northern Chile. The focal plane contains 3000 polarization-sensitive transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers, and is cooled to below 100 mK with a removable pulse-tube based customised JDry-100 dilution refrigerator insert. The optical tubes and the rest of the receiver are cooled with a dedicated pulse tube to below 3 K. Details of the receiver- to-telescope integration and first season on-site operation are described, including detector base temperature stability in vertical and tilted position as well as remote operation via Ethernet link.

  20. Cryogen-free dilution refrigerator for ACTPOL polarization- sensitive receiver

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shvarts, V; Zhao, Z; Devlin, M J; Klein, J; Lungu, M; Schmitt, B; Thornton, R

    2014-01-01

    We present a new cryogenic receiver for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), a six-meter diameter off-axis Gregorian telescope located at an altitude of 5,200 meters (17,000 ft.) on Cerro Toco, in Northern Chile. The focal plane contains 3000 polarization-sensitive transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers, and is cooled to below 100 mK with a removable pulse-tube based customised JDry-100 dilution refrigerator insert. The optical tubes and the rest of the receiver are cooled with a dedicated pulse tube to below 3 K. Details of the receiver- to-telescope integration and first season on-site operation are described, including detector base temperature stability in vertical and tilted position as well as remote operation via Ethernet link

  1. ANTARES : The first undersea neutrino telescope

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ageron, M.; Aguilar, J. A.; Al Samarai, I.; Albert, A.; Ameli, F.; Andre, M.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Anvar, S.; Ardid, M.; Arnaud, K.; Aslanides, E.; Jesus, A. C. Assis; Astraatmadja, T.; Aubert, J. -J.; Auer, R.; Barbarito, E.; Baret, B.; Basa, S.; Bazzotti, M.; Becherini, Y.; Beltramelli, J.; Bersani, A.; Bertin, V.; Beurthey, S.; Biagi, S.; Bigongiari, C.; Billault, M.; Blaes, R.; Bogazzi, C.; de Botton, N.; Bou-Cabo, M.; Boudahef, B.; Bouwhuis, M. C.; Brown, A. M.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Caillat, L.; Calzas, A.; Camarena, F.; Capone, A.; Caponetto, L.; Carloganu, C.; Carminati, G.; Carmona, E.; Carr, J.; Carton, P. H.; Cassano, B.; Castorina, E.; Cecchini, S.; Ceres, A.; Chaleil, Th; Charvis, Ph; Chauchot, P.; Chiarusi, T.; Circella, M.; Compere, C.; Coniglione, R.; Coppolani, X.; Cosquer, A.; Costantini, H.; Cottini, N.; Coyle, P.; Cuneo, S.; Curtil, C.; D'Amato, C.; Damy, G.; van Dantzig, R.; De Bonis, G.; Decock, G.; Decowski, M. P.; Dekeyser, I.; Delagnes, E.; Desages-Ardellier, F.; Deschamps, A.; Destelle, J. -J.; Di Maria, F.; Dinkespiler, B.; Distefano, C.; Dominique, J. -L.; Donzaud, C.; Dornic, D.; Dorosti, Q.; Drogou, J. -F.; Drouhin, D.; Druillole, F.; Durand, D.; Durand, R.; Eberl, T.; Emanuele, U.; Engelen, J. J.; Ernenwein, J. -P.; Escoffier, S.; Falchini, E.; Favard, S.; Fehr, F.; Feinstein, F.; Ferri, M.; Ferry, S.; Fiorello, C.; Flaminio, V.; Folger, F.; Fritsch, U.; Fuda, J. -L.; Galata, S.; Galeotti, S.; Gay, P.; Gensolen, F.; Giacomelli, G.; Gojak, C.; Gomez-Gonzalez, J. P.; Goret, Ph.; Graf, K.; Guillard, G.; Halladjian, G.; Hallewell, G.; van Haren, H.; Hartmann, B.; Heijboer, A. J.; Heine, E.; Hello, Y.; Henry, S.; Hernandez-Rey, J. J.; Herold, B.; Hoessl, J.; Hogenbirk, J.; Hsu, C. C.; Hubbard, J. R.; Jaquet, M.; Jaspers, M.; de Jong, M.; Jourde, D.; Kadler, M.; Kalantar-Nayestanaki, N.; Kalekin, O.; Kappes, A.; Karg, T.; Karkar, S.; Karolak, M.; Katz, U.; Keller, P.; Kestener, P.; Kok, E.; Kok, H.; Kooijman, P.; Kopper, C.; Kouchner, A.; Kretschmer, W.; Kruijer, A.; Kuch, S.; Kulikovskiy, V.; Lachartre, D.; Lafoux, H.; Lagier, P.; Lahmann, R.; Lahonde-Hamdoun, C.; Lamare, P.; Lambard, G.; Languillat, J-C; Larosa, G.; Lavalle, J.; Le Guen, Y.; Le Provost, H.; LeVanSuu, A.; Lefevre, D.; Legou, T.; Lelaizant, G.; Leveque, C.; Lim, G.; Lo Presti, D.; Loehner, H.; Loucatos, S.; Louis, F.; Lucarelli, F.; Lyashuk, V.; Magnier, P.; Mangano, S.; Marcel, A.; Marcelin, M.; Margiotta, A.; Martinez-Mora, J. A.; Masullo, R.; Mazeas, F.; Mazure, A.; Meli, A.; Melissas, M.; Migneco, E.; Mongelli, M.; Montaruli, T.; Morganti, M.; Moscoso, L.; Motz, H.; Musumeci, M.; Naumann, C.; Naumann-Godo, M.; Neff, M.; Niess, V.; Nooren, G. J. L.; Oberski, J. E. J.; Olivetto, C.; Palanque-Delabrouille, N.; Patioselitis, D.; Papaleo, R.; Pavalas, G. E.; Payet, K.; Payre, P.; Peek, H.; Petrovic, J.; Piattelli, P.; Picot-Clemente, N.; Picq, C.; Piret, Y.; Poinsignon, J.; Popa, V.; Pradier, T.; Presani, E.; Prono, G.; Racca, C.; Raia, G.; van Randwijk, J.; Real, D.; Reed, C.; Rethore, F.; Rewiersma, P.; Riccobene, G.; Richardt, C.; Richter, R.; Ricol, J. S.; Rigaud, V.; Roca, V.; Roensch, K.; Rolin, J. -F.; Rostovtsev, A.; Rottura, A.; Roux, J.; Rujoiu, M.; Ruppi, M.; Russo, G. V.; Salesa, F.; Salomon, K.; Sapienza, P.; Schmitt, F.; Schoeck, F.; Schuller, J. -P.; Schuessler, F.; Sciliberto, D.; Shanidze, R.; Shirokov, E.; Simeone, F.; Sottoriva, A.; Spies, A.; Spona, T.; Spurio, M.; Steijger, J. J. M.; Stolarczyk, Th; Streeb, K.; Sulak, L.; Taiuti, M.; Tamburini, C.; Tao, C.; Tasca, L.; Terreni, G.; Tezier, D.; Toscano, S.; Urbano, F.; Valdy, P.; Vallage, B.; Van Elewyck, V.; Vannoni, G.; Vecchi, M.; Venekamp, G.; Verlaat, B.; Vernin, P.; Virique, E.; de Vries, G.; Wijnker, G.; Wobbe, G.; de Wolf, E.; Yakovenko, Y.; Yepes, H.; Zaborov, D.; Zaccone, H.; Zornoza, J. D.; Zuniga, J.; van Wijk, R.

    2011-01-01

    The ANTARES Neutrino Telescope was completed in May 2008 and is the first operational Neutrino Telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The main purpose of the detector is to perform neutrino astronomy and the apparatus also offers facilities for marine and Earth sciences. This paper describes the

  2. Optimal networks of future gravitational-wave telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raffai, Péter; Gondán, László; Heng, Ik Siong; Kelecsényi, Nándor; Logue, Josh; Márka, Zsuzsa; Márka, Szabolcs

    2013-08-01

    We aim to find the optimal site locations for a hypothetical network of 1-3 triangular gravitational-wave telescopes. We define the following N-telescope figures of merit (FoMs) and construct three corresponding metrics: (a) capability of reconstructing the signal polarization; (b) accuracy in source localization; and (c) accuracy in reconstructing the parameters of a standard binary source. We also define a combined metric that takes into account the three FoMs with practically equal weight. After constructing a geomap of possible telescope sites, we give the optimal 2-telescope networks for the four FoMs separately in example cases where the location of the first telescope has been predetermined. We found that based on the combined metric, placing the first telescope to Australia provides the most options for optimal site selection when extending the network with a second instrument. We suggest geographical regions where a potential second and third telescope could be placed to get optimal network performance in terms of our FoMs. Additionally, we use a similar approach to find the optimal location and orientation for the proposed LIGO-India detector within a five-detector network with Advanced LIGO (Hanford), Advanced LIGO (Livingston), Advanced Virgo, and KAGRA. We found that the FoMs do not change greatly in sites within India, though the network can suffer a significant loss in reconstructing signal polarizations if the orientation angle of an L-shaped LIGO-India is not set to the optimal value of ˜58.2°( + k × 90°) (measured counterclockwise from East to the bisector of the arms).

  3. Active control of the Chinese Giant Solar Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Yichun; Yang, Dehua; Jin, Zhenyu; Liu, Zhong; Qin, Wei

    2014-07-01

    The Chinese Giant Solar Telescope (CGST) is the next generation solar telescope of China with diameter of 8 meter. The unique feature of CGST is that its primary is a ring, which facilitates the polarization detection and thermal control. In its present design and development phase, two primary mirror patterns are considered. For one thing, the primary mirror is expected to construct with mosaic mirror with 24 trapezoidal (or petal) segments, for another thing, a monolithic mirror is also a candidate for its primary mirror. Both of them depend on active control technique to maintain the optical quality of the ring mirror. As a solar telescope, the working conditions of the CGST are quite different from those of the stellar telescopes. To avoid the image deterioration due to the mirror seeing and dome seeing, especially in the case of the concentration of flux in a solar telescope, large aperture solar projects prefer to adopt open telescopes and open domes. In this circumstance, higher wind loads act on the primary mirror directly, which will cause position errors and figure errors of the primary with matters worse than those of the current 10-meter stellar telescopes with dome protect. Therefore, it gives new challenges to the active control capability, telescope structure design, and wind shielding design. In this paper, the study progress of active control of CGST for its mosaic and monolithic mirror are presented, and the wind effects on such two primary mirrors are also investigated.

  4. EUSO-TA prototype telescope

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bisconti, Francesca, E-mail: francesca.bisconti@kit.edu

    2016-07-11

    EUSO-TA is one of the prototypes developed for the JEM-EUSO project, a space-based large field-of-view telescope to observe the fluorescence light emitted by cosmic ray air showers in the atmosphere. EUSO-TA is a ground-based prototype located at the Telescope Array (TA) site in Utah, USA, where an Electron Light Source and a Central Laser Facility are installed. The purpose of the EUSO-TA project is to calibrate the prototype with the TA fluorescence detector in presence of well-known light sources and cosmic ray air showers. In 2015, the detector started the first measurements and tests using the mentioned light sources have been performed successfully. A first cosmic ray candidate has been observed, as well as stars of different magnitude and color index. Since Silicon Photo-Multipliers (SiPMs) are very promising for fluorescence telescopes of next generation, they are under consideration for the realization of a new prototype of EUSO Photo Detector Module (PDM). The response of this sensor type is under investigation through simulations and laboratory experimentation.

  5. EUSO-TA prototype telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bisconti, Francesca; JEM-EUSO Collaboration

    2016-07-01

    EUSO-TA is one of the prototypes developed for the JEM-EUSO project, a space-based large field-of-view telescope to observe the fluorescence light emitted by cosmic ray air showers in the atmosphere. EUSO-TA is a ground-based prototype located at the Telescope Array (TA) site in Utah, USA, where an Electron Light Source and a Central Laser Facility are installed. The purpose of the EUSO-TA project is to calibrate the prototype with the TA fluorescence detector in presence of well-known light sources and cosmic ray air showers. In 2015, the detector started the first measurements and tests using the mentioned light sources have been performed successfully. A first cosmic ray candidate has been observed, as well as stars of different magnitude and color index. Since Silicon Photo-Multipliers (SiPMs) are very promising for fluorescence telescopes of next generation, they are under consideration for the realization of a new prototype of EUSO Photo Detector Module (PDM). The response of this sensor type is under investigation through simulations and laboratory experimentation.

  6. Development of the quality control system of the readout electronics for the large size telescope of the Cherenkov Telescope Array observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konno, Y.; Kubo, H.; Masuda, S.; Paoletti, R.; Poulios, S.; Rugliancich, A.; Saito, T.

    2016-07-01

    The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next generation VHE γ-ray observatory which will improve the currently available sensitivity by a factor of 10 in the range 100 GeV to 10 TeV. The array consists of different types of telescopes, called large size telescope (LST), medium size telescope (MST) and small size telescope (SST). A LST prototype is currently being built and will be installed at the Observatorio Roque de los Muchachos, island of La Palma, Canary islands, Spain. The readout system for the LST prototype has been designed and around 300 readout boards will be produced in the coming months. In this note we describe an automated quality control system able to measure basic performance parameters and quickly identify faulty boards.

  7. EDUCATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS ON REMOTE ACCESS TELESCOPES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan P. Kriachko

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to show the way of overcoming one of the major problems of astronomy teaching methods in upper secondary school – organization of educational astronomical observations. Nowadays it became possible to perform such observations on remote access telescopes. By using up-to-date informational and communicational technologies, having an opportunity to work with robotic telescopes allows us to organize a unique cognitive and research oriented activities for students while conducting their specialized astronomical studies. Below here is given a brief description of the most significant robotic telescopes and the way of the usage of open remote access telescopic network which was created by professors and scientists of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, USA.

  8. Fundamental drivers for endolithic microbial community assemblies in the hyperarid Atacama Desert.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meslier, Victoria; Casero, M Cristina; Dailey, Micah; Wierzchos, Jacek; Ascaso, Carmen; Artieda, Octavio; McCullough, P R; DiRuggiero, Jocelyne

    2018-03-24

    In hyperarid deserts, endolithic microbial communities colonize the rocks' interior as a survival strategy. Yet, the composition of these communities and the drivers promoting their assembly are still poorly understood. We analysed the diversity and community composition of endoliths from four different lithic substrates - calcite, gypsum, ignimbrite and granite - collected in the hyperarid zone of the Atacama Desert, Chile. By combining microscopy, mineralogy, spectroscopy and high throughput sequencing, we found these communities to be highly specific to their lithic substrate, although they were all dominated by the same four main phyla, Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi and Proteobacteria. Our finding indicates a fine scale diversification of the microbial reservoir driven by substrate properties. The data suggest that the overall rock chemistry and the light transmission properties of the substrates are not essential drivers of community structure and composition. Instead, we propose that the architecture of the rock, i.e., the space available for colonization and its physical structure, linked to water retention capabilities, is ultimately the driver of community diversity and composition at the dry limit of life. © 2018 The Authors. Environmental Microbiology published by Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. Development of a SiPM Camera for a Schwarzschild-Couder Cherenkov Telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

    CERN Document Server

    Otte, A N; Dickinson, H.; Funk, S.; Jogler, T.; Johnson, C.A.; Karn, P.; Meagher, K.; Naoya, H.; Nguyen, T.; Okumura, A.; Santander, M.; Sapozhnikov, L.; Stier, A.; Tajima, H.; Tibaldo, L.; Vandenbroucke, J.; Wakely, S.; Weinstein, A.; Williams, D.A.

    2015-01-01

    We present the development of a novel 11328 pixel silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) camera for use with a ground-based Cherenkov telescope with Schwarzschild-Couder optics as a possible medium-sized telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The finely pixelated camera samples air-shower images with more than twice the optical resolution of cameras that are used in current Cherenkov telescopes. Advantages of the higher resolution will be a better event reconstruction yielding improved background suppression and angular resolution of the reconstructed gamma-ray events, which is crucial in morphology studies of, for example, Galactic particle accelerators and the search for gamma-ray halos around extragalactic sources. Packing such a large number of pixels into an area of only half a square meter and having a fast readout directly attached to the back of the sensors is a challenging task. For the prototype camera development, SiPMs from Hamamatsu with through silicon via (TSV) technology are used. We give ...

  10. The Falcon Telescope Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chun, F.; Tippets, R.; Dearborn, M.; Gresham, K.; Freckleton, R.; Douglas, M.

    2014-09-01

    The Falcon Telescope Network (FTN) is a global network of small aperture telescopes developed by the Center for Space Situational Awareness Research in the Department of Physics at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA). Consisting of commercially available equipment, the FTN is a collaborative effort between USAFA and other educational institutions ranging from two- and four-year colleges to major research universities. USAFA provides the equipment (e.g. telescope, mount, camera, filter wheel, dome, weather station, computers and storage devices) while the educational partners provide the building and infrastructure to support an observatory. The user base includes USAFA along with K-12 and higher education faculty and students. Since the FTN has a general use purpose, objects of interest include satellites, astronomical research, and STEM support images. The raw imagery, all in the public domain, will be accessible to FTN partners and will be archived at USAFA in the Cadet Space Operations Center. FTN users will be able to submit observational requests via a web interface. The requests will then be prioritized based on the type of user, the object of interest, and a user-defined priority. A network wide schedule will be developed every 24 hours and each FTN site will autonomously execute its portion of the schedule. After an observational request is completed, the FTN user will receive notification of collection and a link to the data. The Falcon Telescope Network is an ambitious endeavor, but demonstrates the cooperation that can be achieved by multiple educational institutions.

  11. Processing of data from innovative parabolic strip telescope.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kosejk, Vladislav; Novy, J.; Chadzitaskos, Goce

    2015-12-01

    This paper presents an innovative telescope design based on the usage of a parabolic strip fulfilling the function of an objective. Isaac Newton was the first to solve the problem of chromatic aberration, which is caused by a difference in the refractive index of lenses. This problem was solved by a new kind of telescope with a mirror used as an objective. There are many different kinds of telescopes. The most basic one is the lens telescope. This type of a telescope uses a set of lenses. Another type is the mirror telescope, which employs the concave mirror, spherical parabolic mirror or hyperbolically shaped mirror as its objective. The lens speed depends directly on the surface of a mirror. Both types can be combined to form a telescope composed of at least two mirrors and a set of lenses. The light is reflected from the primary mirror to the secondary one and then to the lens system. This type is smaller-sized, with a respectively reduced lens speed. The telescope design presented in this paper uses a parabolic strip fulfilling the function of an objective. Observed objects are projected as lines in a picture plane. Each of the lines of a size equal to the size of the strip corresponds to the sum of intensities of the light coming perpendicular to the objective from an observed object. A series of pictures taken with a different rotation and processed by a special reconstruction algorithm is needed to get 2D pictures. The telescope can also be used for fast detection of objects. In this mode, the rotation and multiple pictures are not needed, just one picture in the focus of a mirror is required to be taken.

  12. Egg laying site selection by a host plant specialist leaf miner moth at two intra-plant levels in the northern Chilean Atacama Desert

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Storey-Palma

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Egg laying site selection by a host plant specialist leaf miner moth at two intra-plant levels in the northern Chilean Atacama Desert. The spatial distribution of the immature stages of the leaf miner Angelabella tecomae Vargas & Parra, 2005 was determined at two intra-plant levels (shoot and leaflet on the shrub Tecoma fulva fulva (Cav. D. Don (Bignoniaceae in the Azapa valley, northern Chilean Atacama Desert. An aggregated spatial pattern was detected for all the immature stages along the shoot, with an age dependent relative position: eggs and first instar larvae were clumped at apex; second, third and fourth instar larvae were mostly found at intermediate positions; meanwhile the spinning larva and pupa were clumped at basis. This pattern suggests that the females select new, actively growing leaflets for egg laying. At the leaflet level, the immature stages were found more frequently at underside. Furthermore, survivorship was higher for larvae from underside mines. All these results highlight the importance of an accurate selection of egg laying site in the life history of this highly specialized leaf miner. By contrast, eventual wrong choices in the egg laying site selection may be associated with diminished larval survivorship. The importance of the continuous availability of new plant tissue in this highly human modified arid environment is discussed in relation with the observed patterns.

  13. Optimal networks of future gravitational-wave telescopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raffai, Péter; Márka, Zsuzsa; Márka, Szabolcs; Gondán, László; Kelecsényi, Nándor; Heng, Ik Siong; Logue, Josh

    2013-01-01

    We aim to find the optimal site locations for a hypothetical network of 1–3 triangular gravitational-wave telescopes. We define the following N-telescope figures of merit (FoMs) and construct three corresponding metrics: (a) capability of reconstructing the signal polarization; (b) accuracy in source localization; and (c) accuracy in reconstructing the parameters of a standard binary source. We also define a combined metric that takes into account the three FoMs with practically equal weight. After constructing a geomap of possible telescope sites, we give the optimal 2-telescope networks for the four FoMs separately in example cases where the location of the first telescope has been predetermined. We found that based on the combined metric, placing the first telescope to Australia provides the most options for optimal site selection when extending the network with a second instrument. We suggest geographical regions where a potential second and third telescope could be placed to get optimal network performance in terms of our FoMs. Additionally, we use a similar approach to find the optimal location and orientation for the proposed LIGO-India detector within a five-detector network with Advanced LIGO (Hanford), Advanced LIGO (Livingston), Advanced Virgo, and KAGRA. We found that the FoMs do not change greatly in sites within India, though the network can suffer a significant loss in reconstructing signal polarizations if the orientation angle of an L-shaped LIGO-India is not set to the optimal value of ∼58.2°( + k × 90°) (measured counterclockwise from East to the bisector of the arms). (paper)

  14. Hubble Space Telescope: The Telescope, the Observations & the Servicing Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    1999-11-01

    Today the HST Archives contain more than 260 000 astronomical observations. More than 13 000 astronomical objects have been observed by hundreds of different groups of scientists. Direct proof of the scientific significance of this project is the record-breaking number of papers published : over 2400 to date. Some of HST's most memorable achievements are: * the discovery of myriads of very faint galaxies in the early Universe, * unprecedented, accurate measurements of distances to the farthest galaxies, * significant improvement in the determination of the Hubble constant and thus the age of the Universe, * confirmation of the existence of blacks holes, * a far better understanding of the birth, life and death of stars, * a very detailed look at the secrets of the process by which planets are created. Europe and HST ESA's contribution to HST represents a nominal investment of 15%. ESA provided one of the two imaging instruments - the Faint Object Camera (FOC) - and the solar panels. It also has 15 scientists and computer staff working at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore (Maryland). In Europe the astronomical community receives observational assistance from the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF) located in Garching, Munich. In return for ESA's investment, European astronomers have access to approximately 15% of the observing time. In reality the actual observing time competitively allocated to European astronomers is closer to 20%. Looking back at almost ten years of operation, the head of ST-ECF, European HST Project Scientist Piero Benvenuti states: "Hubble has been of paramount importance to European astronomy, much more than the mere 20% of observing time. It has given the opportunity for European scientists to use a top class instrument that Europe alone would not be able to build and operate. In specific areas of research they have now, mainly due to HST, achieved international leadership." One of the major reasons for

  15. Examining Basin-Scale Water and Climate Relations across the Pampa del Tamarugal, Atacama Desert through Spatial Analysis of Hydrogen, Carbon and Oxygen Isotopes in Tree Rings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olson, E. J.; Dodd, J. P.; Rivera, M. A.

    2016-12-01

    Arid regions are extremely sensitive to variations hydroclimate. However, our understanding of past hydroclimate variations in these regions is often limited by a paucity of spatially resolved proxy data. The Atacama Desert of northern Chile is one of the driest regions on Earth, and hydroclimatic processes in the Atacama Desert may be a useful proxy for understanding the implications of expanding global aridity. In order to assess the ability of tree-ring isotope studies to record changes in hydrology and terrestrial climate in the Atacama Desert, oxygen (δ18O), carbon (δ13C) and hydrogen (δ2H) isotope values in tree rings of Prosopis tamarugo are analyzed for the modern period (1954-2014) when anthropogenic change to regional groundwater levels have been most notable. Samples of wood cellulose were collected throughout the Pampa del Tamarugal basin from 14 individuals and used to create an interpolated surface of isotope variations. The isotope data were then compared to groundwater depth from well monitoring data provided by the Dirección de General de Agua of Chile. There is a significant correlation between groundwater level and isotope values with best agreement occurring during the past two decades for δ18O (r = 0.58), δ13C (r = 0.55), and δ2H (r = 0.66) values. This spatial correlation analysis reveals that tree ring a-cellulose isotope values are a suitable proxy for reconstructing groundwater depth in the Pampa del Tamarugal Basin. A stepwise multiregression analysis between δ18O values of cellulose and several other environmental variables including groundwater level, relative humidity, and temperature suggest that groundwater depth is the dominate control of variation in the modern δ18O tree ring record. The response of tree cellulose to the hydroclimate in this region suggests that tree ring isotope variations may be used to reconstruct past hydroclimate conditions in arid regions throughout the globe.

  16. Development of the quality control system of the readout electronics for the large size telescope of the Cherenkov Telescope Array observatory

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Konno, Y.; Kubo, H.; Masuda, S. [Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto (Japan); Paoletti, R.; Poulios, S. [SFTA Department, Physics Section, University of Siena and INFN, Siena (Italy); Rugliancich, A., E-mail: andrea.rugliancich@pi.infn.it [SFTA Department, Physics Section, University of Siena and INFN, Siena (Italy); Saito, T. [Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto (Japan)

    2016-07-11

    The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next generation VHE γ-ray observatory which will improve the currently available sensitivity by a factor of 10 in the range 100 GeV to 10 TeV. The array consists of different types of telescopes, called large size telescope (LST), medium size telescope (MST) and small size telescope (SST). A LST prototype is currently being built and will be installed at the Observatorio Roque de los Muchachos, island of La Palma, Canary islands, Spain. The readout system for the LST prototype has been designed and around 300 readout boards will be produced in the coming months. In this note we describe an automated quality control system able to measure basic performance parameters and quickly identify faulty boards. - Highlights: • The Dragon Board is part of the DAQ of the LST Cherenkov telescope prototype. • We developed an automated quality control system for the Dragon Board. • We check pedestal, linearity, pulse shape and crosstalk values. • The quality control test can be performed on the production line.

  17. VLTI auxiliary telescopes: a full object-oriented approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiozzi, Gianluca; Duhoux, Philippe; Karban, Robert

    2000-06-01

    The Very Large Telescope (VLT) Telescope Control Software (TCS) is a portable system. It is now in use or will be used in a whole family of ESO telescopes VLT Unit Telescopes, VLTI Auxiliary Telescopes, NTT, La Silla 3.6, VLT Survey Telescope and Astronomical Site Monitors in Paranal and La Silla). Although it has been developed making extensive usage of Object Oriented (OO) methodologies, the overall development process chosen at the beginning of the project used traditional methods. In order to warranty a longer lifetime to the system (improving documentation and maintainability) and to prepare for future projects, we have introduced a full OO process. We have taken as a basis the United Software Development Process with the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and we have adapted the process to our specific needs. This paper describes how the process has been applied to the VLTI Auxiliary Telescopes Control Software (ATCS). The ATCS is based on the portable VLT TCS, but some subsystems are new or have specific characteristics. The complete process has been applied to the new subsystems, while reused code has been integrated in the UML models. We have used the ATCS on one side to tune the process and train the team members and on the other side to provide a UML and WWW based documentation for the portable VLT TCS.

  18. The TACTIC atmospheric Cherenkov imaging telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koul, R.; Tickoo, A.K.; Kaul, S.K.; Kaul, S.R.; Kumar, N.; Yadav, K.K.; Bhatt, N.; Venugopal, K.; Goyal, H.C.; Kothari, M.; Chandra, P.; Rannot, R.C.; Dhar, V.K.; Koul, M.K.; Kaul, R.K.; Kotwal, S.; Chanchalani, K.; Thoudam, S.; Chouhan, N.; Sharma, M.; Bhattacharyya, S.; Sahayanathan, S.

    2007-01-01

    The TACTIC (TeV Atomospheric Cherenkov Telescope with Imaging Camera) γ-ray telescope, equipped with a light collector of area ∼9.5m 2 and a medium resolution imaging camera of 349 pixels, has been in operation at Mt. Abu, India, since 2001. This paper describes the main features of its various subsystems and its overall performance with regard to (a) tracking accuracy of its two-axes drive system, (b) spot size of the light collector, (c) back-end signal processing electronics and topological trigger generation scheme, (d) data acquisition and control system and (e) relative and absolute gain calibration methodology. Using a trigger field-of-view of 11x11 pixels (∼3.4 a tx3.4 a t), the telescope records a cosmic ray event rate of ∼2.5Hz at a typical zenith angle of 15 a t. Monte Carlo simulation results are also presented in the paper for comparing the expected performance of the telescope with actual observational results. The consistent detection of a steady signal from the Crab Nebula above ∼1.2TeV energy, at a sensitivity level of ∼5.0σ in ∼25h, along with excellent matching of its energy spectrum with that obtained by other groups, reassures that the performance of the TACTIC telescope is quite stable and reliable. Furthermore, encouraged by the detection of strong γ-ray signals from Mrk 501 (during 1997 and 2006 observations) and Mrk 421 (during 2001 and 2005-2006 observations), we believe that there is considerable scope for the TACTIC telescope to monitor similar TeV γ-ray emission activity from other active galactic nuclei on a long-term basis

  19. Simulation of the Simbol-X telescope: imaging performance of a deformable x-ray telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chauvin, Maxime; Roques, Jean-Pierre

    2009-08-01

    We have developed a simulation tool for a Wolter I telescope subject to deformations. The aim is to understand and predict the behavior of Simbol-X and other future missions (NuSTAR, Astro-H, IXO, ...). Our code, based on Monte-Carlo ray-tracing, computes the full photon trajectories up to the detector plane, along with the deformations. The degradation of the imaging system is corrected using metrology. This tool allows to perform many analyzes in order to optimize the configuration of any of these telescopes.

  20. FACT. Bokeh alignment for Cherenkov telescopes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mueller, Sebastian Achim [ETH Zurich (Switzerland); Buss, Jens [TU Dortmund (Germany)

    2016-07-01

    Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) need fast and large imaging optics to map the faint Cherenkov light emitted in cosmic ray air showers onto their image sensors. Segmented reflectors are inexpensive, lightweight and offer good image quality. However, alignment of the mirror facets remains a challenge. A good alignment is crucial in IACT observations to separate gamma rays from hadronic cosmic rays. We present a simple, yet extendable method, to align segmented reflectors using their Bokeh. Bokeh alignment does not need a star or good weather nights but can be done anytime, even during the day. Bokeh alignment optimizes the facet orientations by comparing the segmented reflector's Bokeh to a predefined template. The Bokeh is observed using the out of focus image of a nearby point like light source in a distance of about ten times the focal lengths. We introduce Bokeh alignment on segmented reflectors and present its use on the First Geiger-mode Avalanche Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) on Canary Island La Palma, as well as on the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) Medium Size Telescope (MST) prototype in Berlin Adlershof.

  1. Choosing and Using a Refracting Telescope

    CERN Document Server

    English, Neil

    2011-01-01

    The refracting telescope has a long and illustrious past. Here’s what the author says about early telescopes and today’s refractors: “Four centuries ago, a hitherto obscure Italian scientist turned a home-made spyglass towards the heavens. The lenses he used were awful by modern standards, inaccurately figured and filled with the scars of their perilous journey from the furnace to the finishing workshop. Yet, despite these imperfections, they allowed him to see what no one had ever seen before – a universe far more complex and dynamic than anyone had dared imagine. But they also proved endlessly useful in the humdrum of human affairs. For the first time ever, you could spy on your neighbor from a distance, or monitor the approach of a war-mongering army, thus deciding the fate of nations. “The refractor is without doubt the prince of telescopes. Compared with all other telescopic designs, the unobstructed view of the refractor enables it to capture the sharpest, highest contrast images and the wides...

  2. Go-To Telescopes Under Suburban Skies

    CERN Document Server

    Monks, Neale

    2010-01-01

    For the last four centuries stargazers have turned their telescopes to the night skies to look at its wonders, but only in this age of computers has it become possible to let the telescope find for you the object you are looking for! So-called “go-to” telescopes are programmed with the locations of thousands of objects, including dazzling distant Suns, stunning neighboring galaxies, globular and open star clusters, the remnants of past supernovae, and many other breathtaking sights. This book does not tell you how to use your Go-to telescope. Your manual will help you do that. It tells you what to look for in the deep sky and why, and what equipment to best see it with. Organized broadly by what is best for viewing in the northern hemisphere in different seasons, Monks further divides the sights of each season into groupings such as “Showpiece Objects,” “Interesting Deep Sky Objects,” and “Obscure and Challenging Deep Sky Objects.” He also tells what objects are visible even in light-polluted ...

  3. Telescoping cylindrical piezoelectric fiber composite actuator assemblies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allison, Sidney G. (Inventor); Shams, Qamar A. (Inventor); Fox, Robert L. (Inventor); Fox, legal representative, Christopher L. (Inventor); Fox Chattin, legal representative, Melanie L. (Inventor)

    2010-01-01

    A telescoping actuator assembly includes a plurality of cylindrical actuators in a concentric arrangement. Each cylindrical actuator is at least one piezoelectric fiber composite actuator having a plurality of piezoelectric fibers extending parallel to one another and to the concentric arrangement's longitudinal axis. Each cylindrical actuator is coupled to concentrically-adjacent ones of the cylindrical actuators such that the plurality of cylindrical actuators can experience telescopic movement. An electrical energy source coupled to the cylindrical actuators applies actuation energy thereto to generate the telescopic movement.

  4. Neutrino telescopes sensitivity to dark matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Albuquerque, I.F.M.; Lamoureux, J.; Smoot, G.F.

    2002-01-01

    The nature of the dark matter of the Universe is yet unknown and most likely is connected with new physics. The search for its composition is underway through direct and indirect detection. Fundamental physical aspects such as energy threshold, geometry and location are taken into account to investigate proposed neutrino telescopes of km3 volume sensitivities to dark matter. These sensitivities are just sufficient to test a few weakly interacting massive particle scenarios. Telescopes of km3 volume, such as IceCube, can definitely discover or exclude superheavy (M>1010 GeV) strong interacting massive particles (simpzillas). Smaller neutrino telescopes such as ANTARES, AMANDA-II and NESTOR can probe a large region of simpzilla parameter space

  5. Fast Fourier transform telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tegmark, Max; Zaldarriaga, Matias

    2009-01-01

    We propose an all-digital telescope for 21 cm tomography, which combines key advantages of both single dishes and interferometers. The electric field is digitized by antennas on a rectangular grid, after which a series of fast Fourier transforms recovers simultaneous multifrequency images of up to half the sky. Thanks to Moore's law, the bandwidth up to which this is feasible has now reached about 1 GHz, and will likely continue doubling every couple of years. The main advantages over a single dish telescope are cost and orders of magnitude larger field-of-view, translating into dramatically better sensitivity for large-area surveys. The key advantages over traditional interferometers are cost (the correlator computational cost for an N-element array scales as Nlog 2 N rather than N 2 ) and a compact synthesized beam. We argue that 21 cm tomography could be an ideal first application of a very large fast Fourier transform telescope, which would provide both massive sensitivity improvements per dollar and mitigate the off-beam point source foreground problem with its clean beam. Another potentially interesting application is cosmic microwave background polarization.

  6. Liverpool Telescope 2: beginning the design phase

    Science.gov (United States)

    Copperwheat, Christopher M.; Steele, Iain A.; Barnsley, Robert M.; Bates, Stuart D.; Bode, Mike F.; Clay, Neil R.; Collins, Chris A.; Jermak, Helen E.; Knapen, Johan H.; Marchant, Jon M.; Mottram, Chris J.; Piascik, Andrzej S.; Smith, Robert J.

    2016-07-01

    The Liverpool Telescope is a fully robotic 2-metre telescope located at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the Canary Island of La Palma. The telescope began routine science operations in 2004, and currently seven simultaneously mounted instruments support a broad science programme, with a focus on transient followup and other time domain topics well suited to the characteristics of robotic observing. Work has begun on a successor facility with the working title `Liverpool Telescope 2'. We are entering a new era of time domain astronomy with new discovery facilities across the electromagnetic spectrum, and the next generation of optical survey facilities such as LSST are set to revolutionise the field of transient science in particular. The fully robotic Liverpool Telescope 2 will have a 4-metre aperture and an improved response time, and will be designed to meet the challenges of this new era. Following a conceptual design phase, we are about to begin the detailed design which will lead towards the start of construction in 2018, for first light ˜2022. In this paper we provide an overview of the facility and an update on progress.

  7. The Telescope: Outline of a Poetic History

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stocchi, M. P.

    2011-06-01

    Amongst the first editions of Galileo's books, only the Saggiatore has on its frontispiece the image of the telescope. Indeed, the telescope is not pictured on the very emphatic frontispieces of the other books in which Galileo was presenting and defending the results achieved by his celestial observations, such as the Sidereus Nuncius. Many contemporary scientists denied the reliability of the telescope, and some even refused to look into the eyepiece. In the 16th and 17th century, the lenses, mirrors, and optical devices of extraordinary complexity did not have the main task of leading to the objective truth but obtaining the deformation of the reality by means of amazing effects of illusion. The Baroque art and literature had the aim of surprising, and the artists gave an enthusiastic support to the telescope. The poems in praise of Galileo's telescopic findings were quite numerous, including Adone composed by Giovanni Battista Marino, one of the most renowned poets of the time. The Galilean discoveries were actually accepted by the poets as ideologically neutral contributions to the "wonder" in spite they were rejected or even condemned by the scientists, philosophers, and theologians.

  8. Development and Performances of the Magic Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bastieri, D.; Bigongiari, C.; Dazzi, F.; Mariotti, M.; Moralejo, A.; Peruzzo, L.; Saggion, A.; Tonello, N.

    2002-11-01

    The MAGIC Collaboration is building an imaging Čerenkov telescope at La Palma site (2200 m a.s.l.), in the Canary Islands, to observe gamma rays in the hundred-GeV region. The MAGIC telescope, with its reflecting parabolic dish, 17 m in diameter, and a two-level pattern trigger designed to cope with severe trigger rates, is the Čerenkov telescope with the lowest envisaged energy threshold. Due to its lightweight alto-azimuthal mounting, MAGIC can be repositioned in less than 30 seconds, becoming the only detector, with an adequate effective area, capable to observe GRB phenomena above 30 GeV. MAGIC telescope is characterised by a 30 GeV energy threshold and a sensitivity of 6×l0-11 cm-2s-1 for a 5σ-detection in 50-hours of observation. In this report, some future scientific goals for MAGIC will be highlighted and the technical development for the main elements of the telescope will be detailed. Special emphasis will be given to the construction of the individual metallic mirrors which form the reflecting surface and the development of the fast pattern-recognition trigger.

  9. A new concept of imaging system: telescope windows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bourgenot, Cyril; Cowie, Euan; Young, Laura; Love, Gordon; Girkin, John; Courtial, Johannes

    2018-02-01

    A Telescope window is a novel concept of transformation-optics consisting of an array of micro-telescopes, in our configuration, of a Galilean type. When the array is considered as one multifaceted device, it acts as a traditional Galilean telescope with distinctive and attractive properties such as compactness and modularity. Each lenslet, can in principle, be independently designed for a specific optical function. In this paper, we report on the design, manufacture and prototyping, by diamond precision machining, of 2 concepts of telescope windows, and discuss both their performances and limitations with a view to use them as potential low vision aid devices to support patients with macular degeneration.

  10. GISOT: a giant solar telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammerschlag, Robert H.; von der Lühe, Oskar F.; Bettonvil, Felix C.; Jägers, Aswin P.; Snik, Frans

    2004-10-01

    A concept is presented for an extremely large high-resolution solar telescope with an aperture of 11 m and diffraction limited for visual wavelengths. The structure of GISOT will be transparent to wind and placed on a transparent stiff tower. For efficient wind flushing, all optics, including the primary mirror, will be located above the elevation axis. The aperture will be of the order of 11 m, not rotatively symmetrical, but of an elongated shape with dimensions 11 x 4 m. It consists of a central on-axis 4 m mirror with on both sides 3 pieces of 2 m mirrors. The optical layout will be kept simple to guarantee quality and minimize stray light. A Coudé room for instruments is planned below the telescope. The telescope will not be housed in a dome-like construction, which interferes with the open principle. Instead the telescope will be protected by a foldable tent construction with a diameter of the order of 30 m, which doesn"t form any obstruction during observations, but can withstand the severe weather circumstances on mountain sites. Because of the nature of the solar scene, extremely high resolution in only one dimension is sufficient to solve many exciting problems in solar physics and in this respect the concept of GISOT is very promising.

  11. Undergraduate Education with the WIYN 0.9-m Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pilachowski, Catherine A.

    2017-01-01

    Several models have been explored at Indiana University Bloomington for undergraduate student engagement in astronomy using the WIYN 0.9-m telescope at Kitt Peak. These models include individual student research projects using the telescope, student observations as part of an observational techniques course for majors, and enrichment activities for non-science majors in general education courses. Where possible, we arrange for students to travel to the telescope. More often, we are able to use simple online tools such as Skype and VNC viewers to give students an authentic observing experience. Experiences with the telescope motivate students to learn basic content in astronomy, including the celestial sphere, the electromagnetic spectrum, telescopes and detectors, the variety of astronomical objects, date reduction processes, image analysis, and color image creation and appreciation. The WIYN 0.9-m telescope is an essential tool for our program at all levels of undergraduate education

  12. Aplanatic telescopes based on Schwarzschild optical configuration: from grazing incidence Wolter-like x-ray optics to Cherenkov two-mirror normal incidence telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sironi, Giorgia

    2017-09-01

    At the beginning of XX century Karl Schwarzschild defined a method to design large-field aplanatic telescopes based on the use of two aspheric mirrors. The approach was then refined by Couder (1926) who, in order to correct for the astigmatic aberration, introduced a curvature of the focal plane. By the way, the realization of normal-incidence telescopes implementing the Schwarzschild aplanatic configuration has been historically limited by the lack of technological solutions to manufacture and test aspheric mirrors. On the other hand, the Schwarzschild solution was recovered for the realization of coma-free X-ray grazing incidence optics. Wolter-like grazing incidence systems are indeed free of spherical aberration, but still suffer from coma and higher order aberrations degrading the imaging capability for off-axis sources. The application of the Schwarzschild's solution to X-ray optics allowed Wolter to define an optical system that exactly obeys the Abbe sine condition, eliminating coma completely. Therefore these systems are named Wolter-Schwarzschild telescopes and have been used to implement wide-field X-ray telescopes like the ROSAT WFC and the SOHO X-ray telescope. Starting from this approach, a new class of X-ray optical system was proposed by Burrows, Burg and Giacconi assuming polynomials numerically optimized to get a flat field of view response and applied by Conconi to the wide field x-ray telescope (WFXT) design. The Schwarzschild-Couder solution has been recently re-discovered for the application to normal-incidence Cherenkov telescopes, thanks to the suggestion by Vassiliev and collaborators. The Italian Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) realized the first Cherenkov telescope based on the polynomial variation of the Schwarzschild configuration (the so-called ASTRI telescope). Its optical qualification was successfully completed in 2016, demonstrating the suitability of the Schwarzschild-like configuration for the Cherenkov astronomy requirements

  13. Radio telescope control

    CERN Document Server

    Schraml, J

    1972-01-01

    An on-line computer control process developed for the 100-m radio telescope of the Max-Planck-Institut fur Radioastronomie in Bonn is described. The instrument is the largest fully steerable antenna in the world. Its operation started on May 31st 1972. It is controlled by a Ferranti Argus 500 on-line computer. The first part of the paper deals with the process itself, the radio telescope and its operation, and the demands resulting for the control program. The second part briefly describes the computer and its hardware. The final part introduces the architecture of the executive program in general, which has been tailored to meet the demands of the process and the hardware. The communication between the observer and the system, the format of data on magnetic tape and an on-line reduction of position measurements are considered. (0 refs).

  14. ESO's Two Observatories Merge

    Science.gov (United States)

    2005-02-01

    On February 1, 2005, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has merged its two observatories, La Silla and Paranal, into one. This move will help Europe's prime organisation for astronomy to better manage its many and diverse projects by deploying available resources more efficiently where and when they are needed. The merged observatory will be known as the La Silla Paranal Observatory. Catherine Cesarsky, ESO's Director General, comments the new development: "The merging, which was planned during the past year with the deep involvement of all the staff, has created unified maintenance and engineering (including software, mechanics, electronics and optics) departments across the two sites, further increasing the already very high efficiency of our telescopes. It is my great pleasure to commend the excellent work of Jorge Melnick, former director of the La Silla Observatory, and of Roberto Gilmozzi, the director of Paranal." ESO's headquarters are located in Garching, in the vicinity of Munich (Bavaria, Germany), and this intergovernmental organisation has established itself as a world-leader in astronomy. Created in 1962, ESO is now supported by eleven member states (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom). It operates major telescopes on two remote sites, all located in Chile: La Silla, about 600 km north of Santiago and at an altitude of 2400m; Paranal, a 2600m high mountain in the Atacama Desert 120 km south of the coastal city of Antofagasta. Most recently, ESO has started the construction of an observatory at Chajnantor, a 5000m high site, also in the Atacama Desert. La Silla, north of the town of La Serena, has been the bastion of the organization's facilities since 1964. It is the site of two of the most productive 4-m class telescopes in the world, the New Technology Telescope (NTT) - the first major telescope equipped with active optics - and the 3.6-m, which hosts HARPS

  15. The JCMT Telescope Management System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tilanus, Remo P. J.; Jenness, Tim; Economou, Frossie; Cockayne, Steve

    Established telescopes often face a challenge when trying to incorporate new software standards and utilities into their existing real-time control system. At the JCMT we have successfully added important new features such as a Relational Database (the Telescope Management System---TMS), an online data Archive, and WWW based utilities to an, in part, 10-year old system. The new functionality was added with remarkably few alterations to the existing system. We are still actively expanding and exploring these new capabilities.

  16. Development of Slewing Mirror Telescope Optical System for the UFFO-pathfinder

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jeong, S.; Nam, J.W.; Ahn, K.-B.

    2013-01-01

    The Slewing Mirror Telescope (SMT) is the UV/optical telescope of UFFO-pathfinder. The SMT optical system is a Ritchey-Chrétien (RC) telescope of 100 mm diameter pointed by means of a gimbal-mounted flat mirror in front of the telescope. The RC telescope has a 17 × 17arcmin2 in Field of View and ...

  17. Determinantes sociales de salud y calidad de vida en una localidad con deterioro ambiental, Chañaral, región de Atacama, Chile

    OpenAIRE

    Klarian Vergara, José

    2017-01-01

    El presente trabajo estudia la localidad de Chañaral, ubicada en la Región de Atacama en el norte de Chile, dado que ella reviste especial importancia debido a los problemas ambientales que impactan la salud de sus habitantes. Se buscó, a través de una actividad Focus Group, identificar aquellas variables que, a juicio de representantes clave, tienen alta importancia desde la perspectiva de la calidad de vida de la comunidad. Entre 14 áreas temáticas, se i...

  18. Academic Training: Deep Space Telescopes

    CERN Multimedia

    Françoise Benz

    2006-01-01

    2005-2006 ACADEMIC TRAINING PROGRAMME LECTURE SERIES 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 February from 11:00 to 12:00 - Council Chamber on 20, 21, 23, 24 February, TH Auditorium, bldg 4 - 3-006, on 22 February Deep Space Telescopes G. BIGNAMI / CNRS, Toulouse, F & Univ. di Pavia, I The short series of seminars will address results and aims of current and future space astrophysics as the cultural framework for the development of deep space telescopes. It will then present such new tools, as they are currently available to, or imagined by, the scientific community, in the context of the science plans of ESA and of all major world space agencies. Ground-based astronomy, in the 400 years since Galileo's telescope, has given us a profound phenomenological comprehension of our Universe, but has traditionally been limited to the narrow band(s) to which our terrestrial atmosphere is transparent. Celestial objects, however, do not care about our limitations, and distribute most of the information about their physics thro...

  19. Observations of Anomalous Refraction with Co-housed Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Malinda S.; McGraw, J. T.; Zimmer, P. C.

    2013-01-01

    Anomalous refraction is described as a low frequency, large angular scale motion of the entire image plane with respect to the celestial coordinate system as observed and defined by previous astrometric catalogs. These motions of typically several tenths of an arcsecond with timescales on the order of ten minutes are ubiquitous to drift-scan ground-based astrometric measurements regardless of location or telescopes used and have been attributed to meter scale slowly evolving coherent dynamical structures in the boundary-layer below 60 meters. The localized nature of the effect and general inconsistency of the motions seen by even closely spaced telescopes in individual domes has led to the hypothesis that the dome or other type of telescope housing may be responsible. This hypothesis is tested by observing anomalous refraction using two telescopes housed in a single roll-off roof observatory building with the expected outcome that the two telescopes will see correlated anomalous refraction induced motions.

  20. Ideas for future large single dish radio telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kärcher, Hans J.; Baars, Jacob W. M.

    2014-07-01

    The existing large single dish radio telescopes of the 100m class (Effelsberg, Green Bank) were built in the 1970s and 1990s. With some active optics they work now down to 3 millimeter wavelength where the atmospheric quality of the site is also a limiting factor. Other smaller single dish telescopes (50m LMT Mexico, 30m IRAM Spain) are located higher and reach sub-millimeter quality, and the much smaller 12m antennas of the ALMA array reach at a very high site the Terahertz region. They use advanced technologies as carbon fiber structures and flexible body control. We review natural limits to telescope design and use the examples of a number of telescopes for an overview of the available state-of-the-art in design, engineering and technologies. Without considering the scientific justification we then offer suggestions to realize ultimate performance of huge single dish telescopes (up to 160m). We provide an outlook on design options, technological frontiers and cost estimates.

  1. Revisiting the Effectiveness of Large Optical Telescopes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. V. Sychev

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available To create large-size optical telescopes, various design concepts have been used. Each concept inevitably faced the challenge to optimize technical characteristics and parameters of the telescope. There was always a question: what concept to choose, how to estimate efficiency of such telescopes and by what criteria and how to estimate expediency of this or that project of the large-size telescope. It is, obviously, insufficient to make a resolution-based estimation. An estimate by the angular field size is inappropriate too. Well, it may be also an estimate by the stellar magnitude. All these criteria are related to each other. Improvement of one of these parameters inevitably leads to deterioration of the others. Obviously, the certain generalized criterion considering all parameters and features of the design concept of the large-size telescope is necessary here. As such can serve the criterion of informational content of the telescope.The article offers a complex criterion allowing not only to estimate efficiency of large-size optical telescopes, but also to compare their conceptual and technological level among themselves in terms of obtaining information.The article suggests a new term, i.e. the informational content invariant to characterize informative capacities of the chosen concept and of the realizing technology. It will allow us to avoid unjustified complications of technical solutions, wrong accents in designing and excess material inputs when developing the project.The informational content criterion-based analysis of the existing projects of large-size telescopes has been convincingly shown that, conceptually, there are three best telescopes, namely: GSMT, CELT, and ACT-25. And, in terms of informational content, the АCТ-25 is 10 times more than GSMT and CELT, and the existing Keck-telescope exceeds by 30 times. Hence, it is hard to escape a conclusion that it is more favourable to implement one ACT-25, than to do 10 GSMT or CELT

  2. Origins Space Telescope: HEterodyne Receiver for OST (HERO)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bergin, Edwin; Wiedner, Martina; Laurens, Andre; Gerin, Maryvonne; HERO team, Origins Space Telescope Science and Technology Definition Team

    2018-01-01

    The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is a mission concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor, one of the four science and technology definition studies selected by NASA HQ for the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal survey. The OST study will encompass two mission concepts (poster by A. Cooray). Concept 1 is an extremely versatile observatory with 5 science instruments, of which the HEterodyne Receivers for OST (HERO) is one.HERO’s main targets are high spectral resolution observations (Dl/l up to 107 or Dv = 0.03km/s) of water to follow its trail from cores to YSOs as well as H2O and HDO observations on comets to explore the origins of water. HERO will probe all neutral ISM phases using cooling lines ([CII], [OI]) and hydrides as probes of CO-dark H2 (CH, HF). HERO will reveal how molecular clouds and filaments form in the local ISM up to nearby galaxies. HERO will enable detailed understanding of feedback mechanisms : shocks, cosmic rays, UV induced feedback and will provide a map of the cosmic ray ionization rate in the Galaxy and nearby galaxies using molecular ions (ArH+, OH+, H3O+).In order to achieve these observational goals, HERO will cover an extremely wide frequency range from 468 to 2700 GHz (641 to 111microns) and a window around the OI line at 4563 to 4752GHz (66 to 63 microns). It will consist of very large focal plane arrays of 128 pixels between 900 - 2700 GHz and at 4.7 THz, and 32 pixels for the 468 to 900 GHz range. The instrument is exploiting Herschel/HIFI heritage, but will go well beyond HIFIs capacities. HERO’s large arrays require low dissipation and low power components. The HERO concept makes use of the latest cryogenic SiGe amplifier technology, as well as CMOS technology for the backends with 2 orders of magnitude lower power. Advances in Local Oscillator technology have also been taken into account and ambitious, but realistic assumptions have been made for future amplifier multiplier chains going up to 4.7 THz.Origins will enable

  3. Simulation of the Simbol-X Telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chauvin, M.; Roques, J. P.

    2009-01-01

    We have developed a simulation tool for a Wolter I telescope operating in formation flight. The aim is to understand and predict the behavior of the Simbol-X instrument. As the geometry is variable, formation flight introduces new challenges and complex implications. Our code, based on Monte Carlo ray tracing, computes the full photon trajectories up to the detector plane, along with the relative drifts of the two spacecrafts. It takes into account angle and energy dependent interactions of the photons with the mirrors and applies to any grazing incidence telescope. The resulting images of simulated sources from 0.1 keV to 100 keV allow us to optimize the configuration of the instrument and to assess the performance of the Simbol-X telescope.

  4. Simulation of the Simbol-X Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chauvin, M.; Roques, J. P.

    2009-05-01

    We have developed a simulation tool for a Wolter I telescope operating in formation flight. The aim is to understand and predict the behavior of the Simbol-X instrument. As the geometry is variable, formation flight introduces new challenges and complex implications. Our code, based on Monte Carlo ray tracing, computes the full photon trajectories up to the detector plane, along with the relative drifts of the two spacecrafts. It takes into account angle and energy dependent interactions of the photons with the mirrors and applies to any grazing incidence telescope. The resulting images of simulated sources from 0.1 keV to 100 keV allow us to optimize the configuration of the instrument and to assess the performance of the Simbol-X telescope.

  5. The VTIE telescope resource management system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Busschots, B.; Keating, J. G.

    2005-06-01

    The VTIE Telescope Resource Management System (TRMS) provides a frame work for managing a distributed group of internet telescopes as a single "Virtual Observatory". The TRMS provides hooks which allow for it to be connected to any Java Based web portal and for a Java based scheduler to be added to it. The TRMS represents each telescope and observatory in the system with a software agent and then allows the scheduler and web portal to communicate with these distributed resources in a simple transparent way, hence allowing the scheduler and portal designers to concentrate only on what they wish to do with these resources rather than how to communicate with them. This paper outlines the structure and implementation of this frame work.

  6. Direct illumination LED calibration for telescope photometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barrelet, E.; Juramy, C.

    2008-01-01

    A calibration method for telescope photometry, based on the direct illumination of a telescope with a calibrated light source regrouping multiple LEDs, is proposed. Its purpose is to calibrate the instrument response. The main emphasis of the proposed method is the traceability of the calibration process and a continuous monitoring of the instrument in order to maintain a 0.2% accuracy over a period of years. Its specificity is to map finely the response of the telescope and its camera as a function of all light ray parameters. This feature is essential to implement a computer model of the instrument representing the variation of the overall light collection efficiency of each pixel for various filter configurations. We report on hardware developments done for SNDICE, the first application of this direct illumination calibration system which will be installed in Canada France Hawaii telescope (CFHT) for its leading supernova experiment (SNLS)

  7. Construction of the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rimmele, T. R.; Keil, S.; McMullin, J.; Knölker, M.; Kuhn, J. R.; Goode, P. R.; Rosner, R.; Casini, R.; Lin, H.; Tritschler, A.; Wöger, F.; ATST Team

    2012-12-01

    The 4m Advance Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) will be the most powerful solar telescope and the world's leading ground-based resource for studying solar magnetism that controls the solar wind, flares, coronal mass ejections and variability in the Sun's output. The project has entered its construction phase. Major subsystems have been contracted. As its highest priority science driver ATST shall provide high resolution and high sensitivity observations of the dynamic solar magnetic fields throughout the solar atmosphere, including the corona at infrared wavelengths. With its 4m aperture, ATST will resolve features at 0.″03 at visible wavelengths and obtain 0.″1 resolution at the magnetically highly sensitive near infrared wavelengths. A high order adaptive optics system delivers a corrected beam to the initial set of state-of-the-art, facility class instrumentation located in the Coudé laboratory facility. The initial set of first generation instruments consists of five facility class instruments, including imagers and spectro-polarimeters. The high polarimetric sensitivity and accuracy required for measurements of the illusive solar magnetic fields place strong constraints on the polarization analysis and calibration. Development and construction of a four-meter solar telescope presents many technical challenges, including thermal control of the enclosure, telescope structure and optics and wavefront control. A brief overview of the science goals and observational requirements of the ATST will be given, followed by a summary of the design status of the telescope and its instrumentation, including design status of major subsystems, such as the telescope mount assembly, enclosure, mirror assemblies, and wavefront correction

  8. [Galileo and his telescope].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strebel, Christoph

    2006-01-01

    Galileo's publication of observations made with his newly reinvented telescope provoked a fierce debate. In April 1610 Martinus Horky, a young Bohemian astronomer, had an opportunity to make his own observations with Galileo's telescope in the presence of Antonio Magini and other astronomers. Horky and the other witnesses denied the adequacy of Galileo's telescope and therefore the bona fides of his discoveries. Kepler conjectured Horky as well as all his witnesses to be myopic. But Kepler's objection could not stop the publication of Horky's Peregrinatio contra nuncium sidereum (Modena, 1610), the first printed refutation of Galileo's Sidereus nuncius. In his treatise, Horky adresses four questions: 1) Do the four newly observed heavenly bodies actually exist? Horky denies their existence on various grounds: a) God, as every astronomer teaches, has created only seven moveable heavenly bodies and astronomical knowledge originates in God, too. b) Heavenly bodies are either stars or planets. Galileo's moveable heavenly bodies fit into neither category. c) If they do exist, why have they not already been observed by other scholars? Horky concludes that there are no such heavenly bodies. 2) What are these phenomena? They are purely artefactual, and produced by Galileo's telescope. 3) How are they like? Galileo's "stars" are so small as to be almost invisible. Galileo claims that he has measured their distances from each other. This however is impossible due to their diminutive size and other observational problems. Hence, Galileo's claim is a further proof that he is a fraud. 4) Why are they? For Galileo they are a chance to earn money but for astronomers like Horky they are a reason to offer thanks and honour to God. Horky's treatise was favourably received by the enemies of Galileo. But Kepler's critique was devastating. After calling on Kepler in Prague, Horky had to revoke the contents of his book.

  9. The Associate Principal Astronomer for AI Management of Automatic Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henry, Gregory W.

    1998-01-01

    This research program in scheduling and management of automatic telescopes had the following objectives: 1. To field test the 1993 Automatic Telescope Instruction Set (ATIS93) programming language, which was specifically developed to allow real-time control of an automatic telescope via an artificial intelligence scheduler running on a remote computer. 2. To develop and test the procedures for two-way communication between a telescope controller and remote scheduler via the Internet. 3. To test various concepts in Al scheduling being developed at NASA Ames Research Center on an automatic telescope operated by Tennessee State University at the Fairborn Observatory site in southern Arizona. and 4. To develop a prototype software package, dubbed the Associate Principal Astronomer, for the efficient scheduling and management of automatic telescopes.

  10. An off-the-shelf guider for the Palomar 200-inch telescope: interfacing amateur astronomy software with professional telescopes for an easy life

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarke, Fraser; Lynn, James; Thatte, Niranjan; Tecza, Matthias

    2014-08-01

    We have developed a simple but effective guider for use with the Oxford-SWIFT integral field spectrograph on the Palomar 200-inch telescope. The guider uses mainly off-the-shelf components, including commercial amateur astronomy software to interface with the CCD camera, calculating guiding corrections, and send guide commands to the telescope. The only custom piece of software is an driver to provide an interface between the Palomar telescope control system and the industry standard 'ASCOM' system. Using existing commercial software provided a very cheap guider (guiding, and could easily be adapted to any other professional telescope

  11. Telescope Construction: A Hands-On Approach to Astronomy Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarrazine, Angela R.; Albin, E.

    2009-01-01

    We report on a popular semester-long telescope making course offered at Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta, GA. The program is tailored for junior / senior level high school students and incorporates the current educational performance standards for the state of Georgia. This course steps out of the traditional classroom environment and allows students to explore optics and astronomical concepts by constructing their own telescopes. Student telescopes follow the classic six-inch f/8 Newtonian reflector design, which has proven to be a good compromise between portability and aperture. Participants meet for a few hours, twice weekly, to build their telescopes. Over the course of the semester, raw one-inch thick Pyrex mirror blanks are ground, polished, and figured by hand into precision telescope objectives. Along the way, students are introduced to the Ronchi and Foucault methods for testing optics and once figured, completed mirrors are then chemically silvered. A plywood Dobsonian-style base is built and eventually mated with an optical tube made from a standard eight-inch concrete form tube or sonotube. An evening of star testing the optics and observation is planned at the end of the semester to insure the proper operation of each telescope. In summary, we believe that a hands-on approach to the understanding and use of optical telescopes is a great way not only to instill enthusiasm among students for the night sky, but may perhaps inspire the next generation of professional telescope makers.

  12. Hubble Space Telescope, Faint Object Camera

    Science.gov (United States)

    1981-01-01

    This drawing illustrates Hubble Space Telescope's (HST's), Faint Object Camera (FOC). The FOC reflects light down one of two optical pathways. The light enters a detector after passing through filters or through devices that can block out light from bright objects. Light from bright objects is blocked out to enable the FOC to see background images. The detector intensifies the image, then records it much like a television camera. For faint objects, images can be built up over long exposure times. The total image is translated into digital data, transmitted to Earth, and then reconstructed. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Cornecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors.

  13. The big data telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Finkel, Elizabeth

    2017-01-01

    On a flat, red mulga plain in the outback of Western Australia, preparations are under way to build the most audacious telescope astronomers have ever dreamed of - the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Next-generation telescopes usually aim to double the performance of their predecessors. The Australian arm of SKA will deliver a 168-fold leap on the best technology available today, to show us the universe as never before. It will tune into signals emitted just a million years after the Big Bang, when the universe was a sea of hydrogen gas, slowly percolating with the first galaxies. Their starlight illuminated the fledgling universe in what is referred to as the “cosmic dawn”.

  14. Proxy magnetometry with the Dutch Open Telescope

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rutten, R.J.; Hammerschlag, R.H.; Sütterlin, P.; Bettonvil, F.C.M.

    1999-01-01

    Superb movies from the Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) on La Palma have proven the validity of the open concept of this innovative telescope for high-resolution imaging of the solar atmosphere. A five- camera speckle-burst registration system is being installed that should permit consistent and

  15. Possible GRB Observation with the MAGIC Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bastieri, D.; Bigongiari, C.; Mariotti, M.; Peruzzo, L.; Saggion, A.

    2001-08-01

    The MAGIC Telescope, with its reflecting parabolic dish of 17 m of diameter and its careful design of a robust, lightweight, alto-azimuthal mount, is an ideal detector for GRB phenomena. The telescope is an air Cherenkov telescope that, even in the first phase, equipped with standard PMTs, can reach an energy threshold below 30 GeV. The threshold is going to drop well below 10 GeV in the envisaged second phase, when chamber PMTs will be substituted by high quantum efficiency APDs. The telescope can promptly respond to GRB alerts coming, for instance, from GCN, and can reposition itself in less than 30 seconds, 20 seconds being the time to turn half a round for the azimuth bearing. In this report, the effective area of the detector as a function of energy and zenith angle is taken into account, in order to evaluate the expected yearly occurrence and the response to different kinds of GRBs.

  16. Space telescopes capturing the rays of the electromagnetic spectrum

    CERN Document Server

    English, Neil

    2017-01-01

    Space telescopes are among humankind’s greatest scientific achievements of the last fifty years. This book describes the instruments themselves and what they were designed to discover about the Solar System and distant stars. Exactly how these telescopes were built and launched and the data they provided is explored. Only certain kinds of radiation can penetrate our planet's atmosphere, which limits what we can observe. But with space telescopes all this changed. We now have the means to "see" beyond Earth using ultraviolet, microwave, and infrared rays, X-rays and gamma rays. In this book we meet the pioneers and the telescopes that were built around their ideas. This book looks at space telescopes not simply chronologically but also in order of the electromagnetic spectrum, making it possible to understand better why they were made.

  17. A semiconductor counter telescope for neutron reaction studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lalovic, B I; Ajdacic, V S [Institute of nuclear sciences Boris Kidric, Vinca, Beograd (Yugoslavia)

    1963-12-15

    A counter telescope consisting of two or three semiconductor counters for {delta}E/{delta}x vs. E analysis was made for studying nuclear reactions induced by 14.4 MeV neutrons. Various factors important for the telescope performance are discussed in details and some solutions for getting an optimum resolution and a low background are given. Protons, deuterons and alpha particles resulting from scattering and reactions of 14.4 MeV neutrons on deuterium, tritium, praseodymium and niobium were detected, and pulses from the counters recorded on a two-dimensional analyzer. These experiments have shown that the telescope compares favorably with other types of telescopes with regards to the upper limit of neutron flux which can be used, (DELTADELTA)x and E resolution, versatility and compactness (author)

  18. Peces Chimaeriformes (Chondrichthyes, Holocephali) del Neógeno de la Formación Bahía Inglesa (Región de Atacama, Chile)

    OpenAIRE

    Suárez, Mario E.; Lamilla, Julio; Marquardt, Carlos

    2004-01-01

    Se describen los primeros restos fósiles de peces condrictios holocéfalos para el Neógeno de la Formación Bahía Inglesa, Atacama, Chile. El material comprende una placa dental palatina y un mandibular que fueron recolectados al sureste de Caldera desde niveles fosilíferos asignados al Mioceno Medio-Mioceno tardío. Rasgos morfológicos característicos y comparaciones con otras placas de quimeras callorrínquidas, actuales y fósiles, permiten designar el material como Callorhinchus sp. The fir...

  19. LCOGT: A World-Wide Network of Robotic Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, T.

    2013-05-01

    Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope (LCOGT) is an organization dedicated to time-domain astronomy. To carry out the necessary observations in fields such as supernovae, extrasolar planets, small solar-system bodies, and pulsating stars, we have developed and are now deploying a set of robotic optical telescopes at sites around the globe. In this talk I will concentrate on the core of this network, consisting of up to 15 identical 1m telescopes deployed across multiple sites in both the northern and southern hemispheres. I will summarize the technical and performance aspect of these telescopes, including both their imaging and their anticipated spectroscopic capabilities. But I will also delve into the network organization, including communication among telescopes (to assure that observations are properly carried out), interactions among the institutions and scientists who will use the network (to optimize the scientific returns), and our funding model (which until now has relied entirely on one private donor, but will soon require funding from outside sources, if the full potential of the network is to be achieved).

  20. Microbial colonization of Ca-sulfate crusts in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert: implications for the search for life on Mars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wierzchos, J; Cámara, B; de Los Ríos, A; Davila, A F; Sánchez Almazo, I M; Artieda, O; Wierzchos, K; Gómez-Silva, B; McKay, C; Ascaso, C

    2011-01-01

    The scarcity of liquid water in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert makes this region one of the most challenging environments for life on Earth. The low numbers of microbial cells in the soils suggest that within the Atacama Desert lies the dry limit for life on our planet. Here, we show that the Ca-sulfate crusts of this hyperarid core are the habitats of lithobiontic micro-organisms. This microporous, translucent substrate is colonized by epilithic lichens, as well as endolithic free-living algae, fungal hyphae, cyanobacteria and non photosynthetic bacteria. We also report a novel type of endolithic community, "hypoendoliths", colonizing the undermost layer of the crusts. The colonization of gypsum crusts within the hyperarid core appears to be controlled by the moisture regime. Our data shows that the threshold for colonization is crossed within the dry core, with abundant colonization in gypsum crusts at one study site, while crusts at a drier site are virtually devoid of life. We show that the cumulative time in 1 year of relative humidity (RH) above 60% is the best parameter to explain the difference in colonization between both sites. This is supported by controlled humidity experiments, where we show that colonies of endolithic cyanobacteria in the Ca-sulfate crust undergo imbibition process at RH >60%. Assuming that life once arose on Mars, it is conceivable that Martian micro-organisms sought refuge in similar isolated evaporite microenvironments during their last struggle for life as their planet turned arid. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  1. Eyes on the Universe: The Legacy of the Hubble Space Telescope and Looking to the Future with the James Webb Space Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Straughn, Amber

    2011-01-01

    Over the past 20 years the Hubble Space Telescope has revolutionized our understanding of the Universe. Most recently, the complete refurbishment of Hubble in 2009 has given new life to the telescope and the new science instruments have already produced groundbreaking science results, revealing some of the most distant galaxy candidates ever discovered. Despite the remarkable advances in astrophysics that Hubble has provided, the new questions that have arisen demand a new space telescope with new technologies and capabilities. I will present the exciting new technology development and science goals of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which is currently being built and tested and will be launched this decade.

  2. MROI Array telescopes: the relocatable enclosure domes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchiori, G.; Busatta, A.; Payne, I.

    2016-07-01

    The MROI - Magdalena Ridge Interferometer is a project which comprises an array of up to 10 1.4m diameter mirror telescopes arranged in a "Y" configuration. Each of these telescopes will be housed inside a Unit Telescope Enclosure (UTE) which are relocatable onto any of 28 stations. EIE GROUP Srl, Venice - Italy, was awarded the contract for the design, the construction and the erection on site of the MROI by the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. The close-pack array of the MROI - including all 10 telescopes, several of which are at a relative distance of less than 8m center to center from each other - necessitated an original design for the Unit Telescope Enclosure (UTE). This innovative design enclosure incorporates a unique dome/observing aperture system to be able to operate in the harsh environmental conditions encountered at an altitude of 10,460ft (3,188m). The main characteristics of this Relocatable Enclosure Dome are: a Light insulated Steel Structure with a dome made of composites materials (e.g. glass/carbon fibers, sandwich panels etc.), an aperture motorized system for observation, a series of louvers for ventilation, a series of electrical and plants installations and relevant auxiliary equipment. The first Enclosure Dome is now under construction and the completion of the mounting on site id envisaged by the end of 2016. The relocation system utilizes a modified reachstacker (a transporter used to handle freight containers) capable of maneuvering between and around the enclosures, capable of lifting the combined weight of the enclosure with the telescope (30tons), with minimal impacts due to vibrations.

  3. CLIC Telescope optimization with ALLPIX simulation

    CERN Document Server

    Qi, Wu

    2015-01-01

    A simulation study of CLIC-EUDET telescope resolution with MIMOSA 26 as reference sensors under DESY (5.6 GeV electron beam) and CERN-SPS (120-180 GeV pion^{-} beam) conditions. During the study, a virtual DUT sensor with cylindrical sensing area was defined and used with ALLPIX software. By changing the configuration of telescope, some results for DESY's setup were found agreeing with the theoretical calculation.

  4. New infrared telescopic observation of Vesta

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palomba, E.; D'Aversa, E.; Sato, T.; Longobardo, A.; Aoki, S.; Sindoni, G.; Oliva, F.

    2017-09-01

    In this work we present new telescopic observations of the Vesta asteroid made at the Subaru Telescope by using the COMICS IR spectrometer. We were able to obtain 5 different observations in 5 day, at two different epochs. The obtained spectra do not exhibit Reststrahlen bands and show only weak features attributable to the Christiansen peak and to the transparency feature compatible with a fine grain size regolith.

  5. Large fully retractable telescope enclosures still closable in strong wind

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bettonvil, Felix C. M.; Hammerschlag, Robert H.; Jägers, Aswin P. L.; Sliepen, Guus

    2008-07-01

    Two prototypes of fully retractable enclosures with diameters of 7 and 9 m have been built for the high-resolution solar telescopes DOT (Dutch Open Telescope) and GREGOR, both located at the Canary Islands. These enclosures protect the instruments for bad weather and are fully open when the telescopes are in operation. The telescopes and enclosures also operate in hard wind. The prototypes are based on tensioned membrane between movable but stiff bows, which fold together to a ring when opened. The height of the ring is small. The prototypes already survived several storms, with often snow and ice, without any damage, including hurricane Delta with wind speeds up to 68 m/s. The enclosures can still be closed and opened with wind speeds of 20 m/s without any problems or restrictions. The DOT successfully demonstrated the open, wind-flushing concept for astronomical telescopes. It is now widely recognized that also large future telescopes benefit from wind-flushing and retractable enclosures. These telescopes require enclosures with diameters of 30 m until roughly 100 m, the largest sizes for the ELTs (Extreme Large Telescopes), which will be built in the near future. We discuss developments and required technology for the realization of these large sizes.

  6. The Timepix3 Telescope for LHCb Upgrade RD 1 measurements

    CERN Document Server

    Saunders, Daniel Martin

    2016-01-01

    The Timepix3 telescope is a high rate, data driven beam telescope created for LHCb upgrade studies, such as sensor performance for prototypes of the vertex locator (VELO) upgrade. When testing VELO prototypes the readout is identical to the telescope, and additionally, a simple way to integrate triggers from other detectors is also provided, allowing tracks to be synchronised offline with other devices under test. Examples of LHCb upgrade detectors which have been qualified with the Timepix3 telescope are the Upstream Tracker (UT), Scintillating Fibres (SciFi), Ring Imaging CHerenkov (RICH), and Time Of internally Reflected CHerenkov light (TORCH). The telescope was installed in the SPS North hall at CERN. It consists of 8 planes with 300 μ m p-on-n silicon sensors read out by Timepix3 ASICs. Tracks measured with the telescope have excellent temporal ( ∼ 1 ns) and spatial resolution ( 2 μ m). The telescope has been operated with a rate of tracks written to disk up to 5 MHz - limited only by conditions at ...

  7. Rise to SUMMIT: the Sydney University Multiple-Mirror Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Anna M.; Davis, John

    2000-07-01

    The Sydney University Multiple Mirror Telescope (SUMMIT) is a medium-sized telescope designed specifically for high resolution stellar spectroscopy. Throughout the design emphasis has been placed on high efficiency at low cost. The telescope consists of four 0.46 m diameter mirrors mounted on a single welded steel frame. Specially designed mirror cells support and point each mirror, allowing accurate positioning of the images on optical fibers located at the foci of the mirrors. Four fibers convey the light to the future location of a high resolution spectrograph away from the telescope in a stable environment. An overview of the commissioning of the telescope is presented, including the guidance and automatic mirror alignment and focussing systems. SUMMIT is located alongside the Sydney University Stellar Interferometer at the Paul Wild Observatory, near Narrabri, Northern New South Wales.

  8. Mobile Tracking Systems Using Meter Class Reflective Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sturzenbecher, K.; Ehrhorn, B.

    This paper is a discussion on the use of large reflective telescopes on mobile tracking systems with modern instrument control systems. Large optics can be defined as reflective telescopes with an aperture of at least 20 inches in diameter. New carbon composite construction techniques allow for larger, stronger, and lighter telescopes ranging from 240 pounds for a 20 inch, to 800 pounds for a 32 inch, making them ideal for mobile tracking systems. These telescopes have better light gathering capability and produce larger images with greater detail at a longer range than conventional refractive lenses. In a mobile configuration these systems provide the ability to move the observation platform to the optimal location anywhere in the world. Mounting and systems integration - We will discuss how large telescopes can be physically fit to the mobile tracking system and the integration with the tracking systems' digital control system. We will highlight the remote control capabilities. We will discuss special calibration techniques available in a modern instrument control system such as star calibration, calibration of sensors. Tracking Performance - We will discuss the impact of using large telescopes on the performance of the mobile tracking system. We will highlight the capabilities for auto-tracking and sidereal rate tracking in a mobile mount. Large optics performance - We will discuss the advantages of two-mirror Ritchey-Chrétien reflective optics which offer in-focus imaging across the spectrum, from visible to Long Wave Infrared. These zero expansion optics won't lose figure or focus during temperature changes. And the carbon composite telescope tube is thermally inert. The primary mirror is a modern lightweight "dish" mirror for low thermal mass and is center supported/self balancing. Applications - We will discuss Visible - IR Imaging requirements, Optical Rangefinders, and capabilities for special filters to increase resolution in difficult conditions such as

  9. Deep space telescopes

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva

    2006-01-01

    The short series of seminars will address results and aims of current and future space astrophysics as the cultural framework for the development of deep space telescopes. It will then present such new tools, as they are currently available to, or imagined by, the scientific community, in the context of the science plans of ESA and of all major world space agencies. Ground-based astronomy, in the 400 years since Galileo’s telescope, has given us a profound phenomenological comprehension of our Universe, but has traditionally been limited to the narrow band(s) to which our terrestrial atmosphere is transparent. Celestial objects, however, do not care about our limitations, and distribute most of the information about their physics throughout the complete electromagnetic spectrum. Such information is there for the taking, from millimiter wavelengths to gamma rays. Forty years astronomy from space, covering now most of the e.m. spectrum, have thus given us a better understanding of our physical Universe then t...

  10. Analyses of stable isotopes in camelids collagen bones from Tulan Ravine, Atacama Puna, early formative period (CA 3,1000-2,400BP)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lopez, Patricio; Cartajena, Isabel; Nunez, Lautaro

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents the results of isotope analysis (δ 13 C y δ 15 N) conducted on bone collagen found in Lama guanicoe and Lama glama remains from Tulan-85 and Tulan-54 archaeological sites. Both sites have been dated to the Early Formative Period (ca. 3,100-2,400 ap) and are located southeast of the Atacama Puna basin. Faunal samples were selected using anatomical and morphometric criteria. The results indicate divergences in the diets of both species, reflecting vegetation variation in the Tulan Quebrada caused by altitude differences and linked to hunting and herding areas [es

  11. LOBSTER - New Space X-Ray telescopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hudec, R.; Pina, L.; Simon, V.; Sveda, L.; Inneman, A.; Semencova, V.; Skulinova, M.

    2007-01-01

    We discuss the technological and scientific aspects of fully innovative very wide-field X-ray telescopes with high sensitivity. The prototypes of Lobster telescopes designed, developed and tested are very promising, allowing the proposals for space projects with very wide-field Lobster Eye X-ray optics to be considered for the first time. The novel telescopes will monitor the sky with unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution of order of 1 arcmin. They are expected to contribute essentially to study of various astrophysical objects such as AGN, SNe, Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), X-ray flashes (XRFs), galactic binary sources, stars, CVs, X-ray novae, various transient sources, etc. For example, the Lobster optics based X-ray All Sky Monitor is capable to detect around 20 GRBs and 8 XRFs yearly and this will surely significantly contribute to the related science

  12. Hubble Space Telescope via the Web

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Dea, Christopher P.

    The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) makes available a wide variety of information concerning the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) via the Space Telescope Electronic Information Service (STEIS). STEIS is accessible via anonymous ftp, gopher, WAIS, and WWW. The information on STEIS includes how to propose for time on the HST, the current status of HST, reports on the scientific instruments, the observing schedule, data reduction software, calibration files, and a set of publicly available images in JPEG, GIF and TIFF format. STEIS serves both the astronomical community as well as the larger Internet community. WWW is currently the most widely used interface to STEIS. Future developments on STEIS are expected to include larger amounts of hypertext, especially HST images and educational material of interest to students, educators, and the general public, and the ability to query proposal status.

  13. Featured Image: A Molecular Cloud Outside Our Galaxy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohler, Susanna

    2018-06-01

    What do molecular clouds look like outside of our own galaxy? See for yourself in the images above and below of N55, a molecular cloud located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). In a recent study led by Naslim Neelamkodan (Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Taiwan), a team of scientists explore N55 to determine how its cloud properties differ from clouds within the Milky Way. The image above reveals the distribution of infrared-emitting gas and dust observed in three bands by the Spitzer Space Telescope. Overplotted in cyan are observations from the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment tracing the clumpy, warm molecular gas. Below, new observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) reveal the sub-parsec-scale molecular clumps in greater detail, showing the correlation of massive clumps with Spitzer-identified young stellar objects (crosses). The study presented here indicates that this cloud in the LMC is the site of massive star formation, with properties similar to equivalent clouds in the Milky Way. To learn more about the authors findings, check out the article linked below.CitationNaslim N. et al 2018 ApJ 853 175. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaa5b0

  14. Thermal Design and Thermal Behaviour of Radio Telescopes and their Enclosures

    CERN Document Server

    Greve, Albert

    2010-01-01

    Radio telescopes as well as communication antennas operate under the influence of gravity, temperature and wind. Among those, temperature influences may degrade the performance of a radio telescope through transient changes of the focus, pointing, path length and sensitivity, often in an unpredictable way. Thermal Design and Thermal Behaviour of Radio Telescopes and their Enclosures reviews the design and construction principles of radio telescopes in view of thermal aspects and heat transfer with the variable thermal environment; it explains supporting thermal model calculations and the application and efficiency of thermal protection and temperature control; it presents many measurements illustrating the thermal behaviour of telescopes in the environment of their observatory sites. The book benefits scientists and radio/communication engineers, telescope designers and construction firms as well as telescope operators, observatory staff, but also the observing astronomer who is directly confronted with the t...

  15. Biodiversity of Rock Varnish at Yungay, Atacama Desert, Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuhlman, K.; Venkat, P.; La Duc, M.; Kuhlman, G.; McKay, C.

    2007-12-01

    Rock varnish is a very slow-growing nanostratigraphic coating consisting of approximately 70% clay and 30% iron and manganese oxides of fine-grained clay minerals rich in manganese and iron oxides, which forms on the surfaces of rocks in most semi-arid to hyper-arid climates. Rock varnish has even been postulated to exist on Mars based on surface imagery from several landed missions, and is considered a potential biomarker. However, the mechanism of varnish nucleation and growth remains unknown. Whether or not microbes are involved in the nucleation and growth of rock varnish, the detection of microbes using cultivation or cultivation- independent techniques has demonstrated that varnish provides a microhabitat for microbes. We hypothesized that rock varnish in the Mars-like Yungay region of the Atacama Desert may provide such a microhabitat for microbial life where none has been found to date in the surface soil (< 1 cm). The presence of microbes was investigated using adenosine triphosphate (ATP) assay techniques and culture-independent biomolecular methods. High levels of both total and intracellular ATP were associated with the rock varnish while negligible ATP was found in the surrounding surface soil, suggesting that viable organisms were present. Total DNA was extracted from ground varnish and surrounding surface soil and subjected to trifurcate polymerase chain reactions (PCR). No DNA was recovered from the soil. Amplicons were used to generate ribosomal DNA (rDNA) clone libraries, which suggest the presence of numerous phylogenetically distinct microorganisms in eight Eubacterial clades, Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Cytophaga-Flavobacterium- Bacteroides (CFB), Chloroflexi (green non-sulfur bacteria (GNS)), Gemmatimonadetes, Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria. The diversity of bacteria found and presence of cyanobacteria suggests that rock varnish provides a niche environment for a cryptoendolithic microbial community where

  16. Deep Sky Diving with the ESO New Technology Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998-01-01

    Preparations for future cosmological observations with the VLT Within a few months, the first 8.2-meter Unit Telescope of the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) array will open its eye towards the sky above the Atacama desert. As documented by recent Press Photos from ESO, the construction work at the Paranal VLT Observatory is proceeding rapidly. Virtually all of the telescope components, including the giant Zerodur mirror (cf. ESO PR Photos 35a-l/97 ), are now on the mountain. While the integration of the telescope and its many optical, mechanical and electronic components continues, astronomers in the ESO member countries and at ESO are now busy defining the observing programmes that will be carried out with the new telescope, soon after it enters into operation. In this context, new and exciting observations have recently been obtained with the 3.5-m New Technology Telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory, 600 km to the south of Paranal. How to record the faintest and most remote astronomical objects With its very large mirror surface (and correspondingly great light collecting power), as well as an unsurpassed optical quality, the VLT will be able to look exceedingly far out into the Universe, well beyond current horizons. The best technique to record the faintest possible light and thus the most remote celestial objects, is to combine large numbers of exposures of the same field with slightly different telescope pointing. This increases the total number of photons recorded and by imaging the stars and galaxies on different areas (pixels) of the detector, the signal-to-noise ratio and hence the visibility of the faintest objects is improved. The famous Hubble Deep Field Images were obtained in this way by combining over 300 single exposures and they show myriads of faint galaxies in the distant realms of the Universe. The NTT as test bench for the VLT ESO is in the fortunate situation of possessing a `prototype' model of the Very Large Telescope, the 3.5-m New

  17. A monolithic silicon detector telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cardella, G.; Amorini, F.; Cabibbo, M.; Di Pietro, A.; Fallica, G.; Franzo, G.; Figuera, P.; Papa, M.; Pappalardo, G.; Percolla, G.; Priolo, F.; Privitera, V.; Rizzo, F.; Tudisco, S.

    1996-01-01

    An ultrathin silicon detector (1 μm) thick implanted on a standard 400 μm Si-detector has been built to realize a monolithic telescope detector for simultaneous charge and energy determination of charged particles. The performances of the telescope have been tested using standard alpha sources and fragments emitted in nuclear reactions with different projectile-target colliding systems. An excellent charge resolution has been obtained for low energy (less than 5 MeV) light nuclei. A multi-array lay-out of such detectors is under construction to charge identify the particles emitted in reactions induced by low energy radioactive beams. (orig.)

  18. Artificial Intelligence in Autonomous Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahoney, William; Thanjavur, Karun

    2011-03-01

    Artificial Intelligence (AI) is key to the natural evolution of today's automated telescopes to fully autonomous systems. Based on its rapid development over the past five decades, AI offers numerous, well-tested techniques for knowledge based decision making essential for real-time telescope monitoring and control, with minimal - and eventually no - human intervention. We present three applications of AI developed at CFHT for monitoring instantaneous sky conditions, assessing quality of imaging data, and a prototype for scheduling observations in real-time. Closely complementing the current remote operations at CFHT, we foresee further development of these methods and full integration in the near future.

  19. The 1.3-m Robotically Controlled Telescope (RCT) at Kitt Peak - A Fifty year old dream Realized: Telescope Characteristics, Current Research and Education Progr

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guinan, Edward; Gelderman, Richard; Strolger, Louis-Gregory; Carini, Michael T.; McGruder, Charles, III; Campbell, Rachel; Walter, Donald K.; Davis, Donald R.; Tedesco, Edward F.; Engle, Scott G.

    2011-03-01

    The 1.3 m Robotically Controlled Telescope (RCT) on Kitt Peak has a rich history, including its role as a prototype for remotely controlled telescopes during the 1960s. As such, the RCT could be considered one of the first - Telescopes from Afar. The telescope, originally called the Remotely Controlled Telescope, has been renamed the Robotically Controlled Telescope to reflect the change in operational control and mode of use. The RCT was a conceptual precursor of today's robotic telescopes, but the actual operation of a remotely controlled telescope was technologically premature for its time, and was subsequently manually operated primarily to conduct optical and infrared observations as well being used as a test bed for new spectroscopic and photometric instruments. In 1995 budget constraints forced the closing of the telescope as part of the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), following nearly 30 years of distinguished service to KPNO. A request for proposals to operate this telescope was issued to the science community. The RCT consortium, lead by Western Kentucky University, was the successful proposer for operation of the telescope. After several difficult years of retrofitting, refurbishing, and automating the telecope and observatory dome, the telescope has returned to routine science operations in November 2009. The RCT has operated smoothly since that time, with no major interruptions. Observations of objects of interest to the consortium partners (including: comets & asteroids, variable & binary stars, exoplanets, supernovae, quasars & blazars) are being routinely obtained and evaluated. One of the distinguishing features of the RCT is that it is an autonomous observatory designed to handle diverse optical imaging and photometry programs. These include being able to automatically deal with a wide range of observing parameters such as -integration time, sky conditions, repetitions, return visits, filters, air mass, non-sidereal objects, transients etc

  20. NASA 3D Models: James Webb Space Telescope

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary mirror. The project is working to a 2018 launch date. The JWST will...

  1. PROMPT: Panchromatic Robotic Optical Monitoring and Polarimetry Telescopes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reichart, D.; Nysewander, M.; Moran, J. [North Carolina Univ., Chapel Hill (United States). Department of Physics and Astronomy] (and others)

    2005-07-15

    Funded by $1.2M in grants and donations, we are now building PROMPT at CTIO. When completed in late 2005, PROMPT will consist of six 0.41-meter diameter Ritchey-Chretien telescopes on rapidly slewing mounts that respond to GRB alerts within seconds, when the afterglow is potentially extremely bright. Each mirror and camera coating is being optimized for a different wavelength range and function, including a NIR imager, two red-optimized imager, a blue-optimized imager, an UV-optimized imager, and an optical polarimeter. PROMPT will be able to identify high-redshift events by dropout and distinguish these events from the similar signatures of extinction. In this way, PROMPT will act a distance-finder scope for spectroscopic follow up on the larger 4.1-meter diameter SOAR telescope, which is also located at CTIO. When not chasing GRBs, PROMPT serves broader educational objectives across the state of north Carolina. Enclosure construction and the first two telescopes are now complete and functioning: PROMPT observed Swift's first GRB in December 2004. We upgrade from two to four telescope in February 2005 and from four to six telescopes in mid-2005.

  2. Modular Orbital Demonstration of an Evolvable Space Telescope (MODEST)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldauf, Brian; Conti, Alberto

    2016-01-01

    The "Search for Life" via imaging of exoplanets is a mission that requires extremely stable telescopes with apertures in the 10 m to 20 m range. The High Definition Space Telescope (HDST) envisioned for this mission would have an aperture >10 m, which is a larger payload than what can be delivered to space using a single launch vehicle. Building and assembling the mirror segments enabling large telescopes will likely require multiple launches and assembly in space. Space-based telescopes with large apertures will require major changes to system architectures.The Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) for HDST is a primary mission cost driver. Enabling and affordable solutions for this next generation of large aperture space-based telescope are needed.This paper reports on the concept for the Modular Orbital Demonstration of an Evolvable Space Telescope (MODEST), which demonstrates on-orbit robotic and/or astronaut assembly of a precision optical telescope in space. It will also facilitate demonstration of active correction of phase and mirror shape. MODEST is proposed to be delivered to the ISS using standard Express Logistics Carriers (ELCs) and can mounted to one of a variety of ISS pallets. Post-assembly value includes space, ground, and environmental studies, and a testbed for new instruments. This demonstration program for next generation mirror technology provides significant risk reduction and demonstrates the technology in a six-mirror phased telescope. Other key features of the demonstration include the use of an active primary optical surface with wavefront feedback control that allows on-orbit optimization and demonstration of precise surface control to meet optical system wavefront and stability requirements.MODEST will also be used to evaluate advances in lightweight mirror and metering structure materials such as SiC or Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer that have excellent mechanical and thermal properties, e.g. high stiffness, high modulus, high thermal

  3. Preliminary Multi-Variable Cost Model for Space Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stahl, H. Philip; Hendrichs, Todd

    2010-01-01

    Parametric cost models are routinely used to plan missions, compare concepts and justify technology investments. This paper reviews the methodology used to develop space telescope cost models; summarizes recently published single variable models; and presents preliminary results for two and three variable cost models. Some of the findings are that increasing mass reduces cost; it costs less per square meter of collecting aperture to build a large telescope than a small telescope; and technology development as a function of time reduces cost at the rate of 50% per 17 years.

  4. The ATHENA telescope and optics status

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bavdaz, Marcos; Wille, Eric; Ayre, Mark

    2017-01-01

    chosen for ATHENA is the Silicon Pore Optics (SPO), which hinges on technology spin-in from the semiconductor industry, and uses a modular approach to produce large effective area lightweight telescope optics with a good angular resolution. Both system studies and the technology developments are guided...... by ESA and implemented in industry, with participation of institutional partners. In this paper an overview of the current status of the telescope optics accommodation and technology development activities is provided....

  5. LYCORIS - A Large Area Strip Telescope

    CERN Document Server

    Krämer, U; Stanitzki, M; Wu, M

    2018-01-01

    The LYCORIS Large Area Silicon Strip Telescope for the DESY II Test Beam Facility is presented. The DESY II Test Beam Facility provides elec- tron and positron beams for beam tests of up to 6 GeV. A new telescope with a large 10 × 20 cm2 coverage area based on a 25 μm pitch strip sensor is to be installed within the PCMAG 1 T solenoid. The current state of the system is presented.

  6. The Southern African Large Telescope project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buckley, David A. H.; Charles, Philip A.; Nordsieck, Kenneth H.; O'Donoghue, Darragh

    The recently completed Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) is a low cost, innovative, 10 m class optical telescope, which began limited scientific operations in August 2005, just 5 years after ground-breaking. This paper describes the design and construction of SALT, including the first-light instruments, SALTICAM and the Robert Stobie Spectrograph (RSS). A rigorous systems engineering approach has ensured that SALT was built to specification, on budget, close to the original schedule and using a relatively small project team. The design trade-offs, which include an active spherical primary mirror array and a fixed altitude telescope with a prime focus tracker, although restrictive in comparison to conventional telescopes, have resulted in an affordable 10 m class telescope for South Africa and its ten partners. Coupled with an initial set of two seeing-limited instruments that concentrate on the UV-visible region (320 - 900 nm) and featuring some niche observational capabilities, SALT will have an ability to conduct some unique science. This includes high time resolution studies, for which some initial results have already been obtained. Many of the versatile modes available with the RSS - which is currently being commissioned - are unique and provide unparallelled opportunities for imaging polarimetry and spectropolarimetry. Likewise, Multi-Object Spectroscopy (with slit masks) and imaging spectroscopy with the RSS, the latter using Fabry-Perot étalons and interference filters, will extend the multiplex advantage over resolutions from 300 to 9000 and fields of view of 2 to 8 arcminutes. Future instrumentation plans include an extremely stable, fibre-fed, high resolution échelle spectrograph and a near-IR (to between 1.5 to 1.7 μm) extension to the RSS. Future development possibilities include phasing the primary mirror and AO. Finally, extrapolations of the SALT/HET designs to ELT proportions remain viable and are surely more affordable than conventional

  7. Twin-Telescope Wettzell (TTW)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hase, H.; Dassing, R.; Kronschnabl, G.; Schlüter, W.; Schwarz, W.; Lauber, P.; Kilger, R.

    2007-07-01

    Following the recommendations made by the VLBI2010 vision report of the IVS, a proposal has been made to construct a Twin Telescope for the Fundamental Station Wettzell in order to meet the future requirements of the next VLBI generation. The Twin Telescope consists of two identical radiotelescopes. It is a project of the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG). This article summarizes the project and some design ideas for the Twin-Telescope. %ZALMA (2005). Technical Specification for Design, Manufacturing, Transport and Integration on Site of the ALMA ANTENNAS, Doc. ALMA-34.00.00.00.006-BSPE. Behrend, D. (2006). VLBI2010 Antenna Specs, Data sheet. DeBoer, D. (2001). The ATA Offset Gregorian Antenna, ATA Memo #16, February 10. Imbriale, W.A. (2006). Design of a Wideband Radio Telescope, Jet Propulsion Laboratory and S. Weinreb and H. Mandi, California Institute of Technology. Kilger, R. (2007). TWIN-Design studies, Presentation for the IVS board members (internal document),Wettzell. Kronschnabl, G. (2006). Subject: Memo from Bill Petrachenko, E-mail to the Twin-Working Group (in German), July. Lindgren, ETS-Lindgren (2005). The Model 3164-05 Open Boundary Quadridge Horn, Data Sheet. Niell, A., A. Whitney, W. Petrachenko, W. Schlüter, N. Vandenberg, H.Hase, Y. Koyama, C. Ma, H. Schuh, G. Tucari (2006). in: IVS Annual Report 2005, pg. 13-40, NASA/TP-2006-214136, April. Olsson, R., Kildal, P.-S., and Weinreb, S. (2006). IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 54, No. 2, February. Petrachenko, B. (2006). The Case For and Against Multiple Antennas at a Site, IVS Memorandum, 2006-019v01. Petrachenko, B. (2006). IVS Memorandum, 2006-016v01. RFSpin (2004). Double Ridged Waveguide Horn-Model DRH20, Antenna Specifications, Data Sheet. Rohde&Schwarz (2004). SHF Antennas Crossed Log- Periodic Antennas HL024A1/S1, Data Sheet. Rohde&Schwarz (2004). SHF Antennas Log-Periodic Antennas HL050/HL050S1, Data Sheet. Rogers, A.E.E. (2006). Simulations of broadband

  8. Precision engineering for astronomy: historical origins and the future revolution in ground-based astronomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cunningham, Colin; Russell, Adrian

    2012-08-28

    Since the dawn of civilization, the human race has pushed technology to the limit to study the heavens in ever-increasing detail. As astronomical instruments have evolved from those built by Tycho Brahe in the sixteenth century, through Galileo and Newton in the seventeenth, to the present day, astronomers have made ever more precise measurements. To do this, they have pushed the art and science of precision engineering to extremes. Some of the critical steps are described in the evolution of precision engineering from the first telescopes to the modern generation telescopes and ultra-sensitive instruments that need a combination of precision manufacturing, metrology and accurate positioning systems. In the future, precision-engineered technologies such as those emerging from the photonics industries may enable future progress in enhancing the capabilities of instruments, while potentially reducing the size and cost. In the modern era, there has been a revolution in astronomy leading to ever-increasing light-gathering capability. Today, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is at the forefront of this revolution, building observatories on the ground that are set to transform our view of the universe. At an elevation of 5000 m in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) is nearing completion. The ALMA is the most powerful radio observatory ever and is being built by a global partnership from Europe, North America and East Asia. In the optical/infrared part of the spectrum, the latest project for ESO is even more ambitious: the European Extremely Large Telescope, a giant 40 m class telescope that will also be located in Chile and which will give the most detailed view of the universe so far.

  9. Calibration strategies for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaug, Markus; Berge, David; Daniel, Michael; Doro, Michele; Förster, Andreas; Hofmann, Werner; Maccarone, Maria C.; Parsons, Dan; de los Reyes Lopez, Raquel; van Eldik, Christopher

    2014-08-01

    The Central Calibration Facilities workpackage of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory for very high energy gamma ray astronomy defines the overall calibration strategy of the array, develops dedicated hardware and software for the overall array calibration and coordinates the calibration efforts of the different telescopes. The latter include LED-based light pulsers, and various methods and instruments to achieve a calibration of the overall optical throughput. On the array level, methods for the inter-telescope calibration and the absolute calibration of the entire observatory are being developed. Additionally, the atmosphere above the telescopes, used as a calorimeter, will be monitored constantly with state-of-the-art instruments to obtain a full molecular and aerosol profile up to the stratosphere. The aim is to provide a maximal uncertainty of 10% on the reconstructed energy-scale, obtained through various independent methods. Different types of LIDAR in combination with all-sky-cameras will provide the observatory with an online, intelligent scheduling system, which, if the sky is partially covered by clouds, gives preference to sources observable under good atmospheric conditions. Wide-field optical telescopes and Raman Lidars will provide online information about the height-resolved atmospheric extinction, throughout the field-of-view of the cameras, allowing for the correction of the reconstructed energy of each gamma-ray event. The aim is to maximize the duty cycle of the observatory, in terms of usable data, while reducing the dead time introduced by calibration activities to an absolute minimum.

  10. An EUDET/AIDA Pixel Beam Telescope for Detector Development

    CERN Document Server

    Perrey, Hanno

    2013-01-01

    A high resolution ($\\sigma 2 \\sim \\mu$) beam telescope based on monolithic active pixel sensors (MAPS) was developed within the EUDET collaboration. The telescope consists of six sensor planes using Mimosa26 MAPS with a pixel pitch of $18.4 \\mu$ and thinned down to $50 \\mu$. The excellent resolution, readout rate and DAQ integration capabilities made the telescope a primary test beam tool for many groups including several CERN based experiments. Within the new European detector infrastructure project AIDA the test beam telescope will be further extended in terms of cooling infrastructure, readout speed and precision. In order to provide a system optimized for the different requirements by the user community, a combination of various pixel technologies is foreseen. In this report the design of this even more flexible telescope with three different pixel technologies (TimePix, Mimosa, ATLAS FE-I4) will be presented. First test beam results with the HitOR signal provided by the FE-I4 integrated into the trigger...

  11. Simulation of Telescope Detectivity for Geo Survey and Tracking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richard, P.

    2014-09-01

    As the number of space debris on Earths Orbit increases steadily, the need to survey, track and catalogue them becomes of key importance. In this context, CNES has been using the TAROT Telescopes (Rapid Telescopes for Transient Objects owned and operated by CNRS) for several years to conduct studies about space surveillance and tracking. Today, two testbeds of services using the TAROT telescopes are running every night: one for GEO situational awareness and the second for debris tracking. Additionally to the CNES research activity on space surveillance and tracking domain, an operational collision avoidance service for LEO and GEO satellites is in place at CNES for several years. This service named CAESAR (Conjunction Analysis and Evaluation: Alerts and Recommendations) is used by CNES as well as by external customers. As the optical debris tracking testbed based on TAROT telescopes is the first step toward an operational provider of GEO measures that could be used by CAESAR, simulations have been done to help choosing the sites and types of telescopes that could be added in the GEO survey and debris tracking telescope network. One of the distinctive characteristics of the optical observation of space debris compared to traditional astronomic observation is the need to observe objects at low elevations. The two mains reasons for this are the need to observe the GEO belt from non-equatorial sites and the need to observe debris at longitudes far from the telescope longitude. This paper presents the results of simulations of the detectivity for GEO debris of various telescopes and sites, based on models of the GEO belt, the atmosphere and the instruments. One of the conclusions is that clever detection of faint streaks and spread sources by image processing is one of the major keys to improve the detection of debris on the GEO belt.

  12. Thermal emissivity analysis of a GEMINI 8-meter telescopes design

    Science.gov (United States)

    St. Clair Dinger, Ann

    1993-01-01

    The GEMINI 8-meter Telescopes Project is designing twin 8-meter telescopes to be located in Hawaii and Chile. The GEMINI telescopes will have interchangeable secondary mirrors for use in the visible and IR. The APART/PADE program is being used to evaluate the effective IR emissivity of the IR configuration plus enclosure as a function of mirror contamination at three IR wavelengths. The goal is to design a telescope whose effective IR emissivity is no more than 2 percent when the mirrors are clean.

  13. Goddard Robotic Telescope (GRT)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Since it is not possible to predict when a Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) occurs, the follow-up ground telescopes must be distributed as uniform as possible all over the...

  14. Infrared Astronomy Professional Development for K-12 Educators: WISE Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borders, Kareen; Mendez, B. M.

    2010-01-01

    K-12 educators need effective and relevant astronomy professional development. WISE Telescope (Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer) and Spitzer Space Telescope Education programs provided an immersive teacher professional development workshop at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico during the summer of 2009. As many common misconceptions involve scale and distance, teachers worked with Moon/Earth scale, solar system scale, and distance of objects in the universe. Teachers built and used basic telescopes, learned about the history of telescopes, explored ground and satellite based telescopes, and explored and worked on models of WISE Telescope. An in-depth explanation of WISE and Spitzer telescopes gave participants background knowledge for infrared astronomy observations. We taught the electromagnetic spectrum through interactive stations. The stations included an overview via lecture and power point, the use of ultraviolet beads to determine ultraviolet exposure, the study of WISE lenticulars and diagramming of infrared data, listening to light by using speakers hooked up to photoreceptor cells, looking at visible light through diffraction glasses and diagramming the data, protocols for using astronomy based research in the classroom, and infrared thermometers to compare environmental conditions around the observatory. An overview of LIDAR physics was followed up by a simulated LIDAR mapping of the topography of Mars. We will outline specific steps for K-12 infrared astronomy professional development, provide data demonstrating the impact of the above professional development on educator understanding and classroom use, and detail future plans for additional K-12 professional development. Funding was provided by WISE Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, Starbucks, Arecibo Observatory, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Washington Space Grant Consortium.

  15. Low-cost programmable pulse generator for particle telescope calibration

    CERN Document Server

    Sanchez, S; Seisdedos, M; Meziat, D; Carbajo, M; Medina, J; Bronchalo, E; Peral, L D; Rodríguez-Pacheco, J

    1999-01-01

    In this paper we present a new calibration system for particle telescopes including multipulse generator and digital controller. The calibration system generates synchronized pulses of variable height for every detector channel on the telescope. The control system is based on a commercial microcontroller linked to a personal computer through an RS-232 bidirectional line. The aim of the device is to perform laboratory calibration of multi-detector telescopes prior to calibration at accelerator. This task includes evaluation of linearity and resolution of each detector channel, as well as coincidence logic. The heights of the pulses sent to the detectors are obtained by Monte Carlo simulation of telescope response to a particle flux of any desired geometry and composition.

  16. Detection of Submillimeter-wave [C i] Emission in Gaseous Debris Disks of 49 Ceti and β Pictoris

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Higuchi, Aya E.; Sakai, Nami [The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), 2-1, Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan); Sato, Aki; Tsukagoshi, Takashi; Momose, Munetake [College of Science, Ibaraki University, Bunkyo 2-1-1, Mito 310-8512 (Japan); Iwasaki, Kazunari [Department of Environmental Systems Science, Doshisha University, Tatara Miyakodani 1-3, Kyotanabe City, Kyoto 610-0394 (Japan); Kobayashi, Hiroshi; Ishihara, Daisuke; Watanabe, Sakae; Kaneda, Hidehiro [Department of Physics, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602 (Japan); Yamamoto, Satoshi, E-mail: aya.higuchi@riken.jp [Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan)

    2017-04-10

    We have detected [C i] {sup 3} P {sub 1}–{sup 3} P {sub 0} emissions in the gaseous debris disks of 49 Ceti and β Pictoris with the 10 m telescope of the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment, which is the first detection of such emissions. The line profiles of [C i] are found to resemble those of CO( J = 3–2) observed with the same telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. This result suggests that atomic carbon (C) coexists with CO in the debris disks and is likely formed by the photodissociation of CO. Assuming an optically thin [C i] emission with the excitation temperature ranging from 30 to 100 K, the column density of C is evaluated to be (2.2 ± 0.2) × 10{sup 17} and (2.5 ± 0.7) × 10{sup 16} cm{sup −2} for 49 Ceti and β Pictoris, respectively. The C/CO column density ratio is thus derived to be 54 ± 19 and 69 ± 42 for 49 Ceti and β Pictoris, respectively. These ratios are higher than those of molecular clouds and diffuse clouds by an order of magnitude. The unusually high ratios of C to CO are likely attributed to a lack of H{sub 2} molecules needed to reproduce CO molecules efficiently from C. This result implies a small number of H{sub 2} molecules in the gas disk, i.e., there is an appreciable contribution of secondary gas from dust grains.

  17. The Green Bank Telescope: A radio telescope for the twenty-first century: Final proposal June 1989

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1989-01-01

    The scientific goals, design, and projected performance of a 100-m-aperture steerable radio telescope to be built at Green Bank, WV are discussed in a proposal to the NSF. The goals considered include observations of pulsars, stars and the solar system; studies of Galactic and extragalactic H I, spectroscopic studies, measurements of continuum radiation; and VLBI observations. Detailed attention is given to the antenna, electronics, control and monitor system, data processing, operational factors, the telescope site, and cost estimates. Drawings, diagrams, sample images, and tables of numerical data are provided

  18. The SPIRIT Telescope Initiative: six years on

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luckas, Paul

    2017-06-01

    Now in its sixth year of operation, the SPIRIT initiative remains unique in Australia, as a robust web-enabled robotic telescope initiative funded for education and outreach. With multiple modes of operation catering for a variety of usage scenarios and a fully supported education program, SPIRIT provides free access to contemporary astronomical tools for students and educators in Western Australia and beyond. The technical solution itself provides an excellent model for low cost robotic telescope installations, and the education program has evolved over time to include a broad range of student experiences-from engagement activities to authentic science. This paper details the robotic telescope solution, student interface and educational philosophy, summarises achievements and lessons learned and examines the possibilities for future enhancement including spectroscopy.

  19. Development of a Multivariable Parametric Cost Analysis for Space-Based Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dollinger, Courtnay

    2011-01-01

    Over the past 400 years, the telescope has proven to be a valuable tool in helping humankind understand the Universe around us. The images and data produced by telescopes have revolutionized planetary, solar, stellar, and galactic astronomy and have inspired a wide range of people, from the child who dreams about the images seen on NASA websites to the most highly trained scientist. Like all scientific endeavors, astronomical research must operate within the constraints imposed by budget limitations. Hence the importance of understanding cost: to find the balance between the dreams of scientists and the restrictions of the available budget. By logically analyzing the data we have collected for over thirty different telescopes from more than 200 different sources, statistical methods, such as plotting regressions and residuals, can be used to determine what drives the cost of telescopes to build and use a cost model for space-based telescopes. Previous cost models have focused their attention on ground-based telescopes due to limited data for space telescopes and the larger number and longer history of ground-based astronomy. Due to the increased availability of cost data from recent space-telescope construction, we have been able to produce and begin testing a comprehensive cost model for space telescopes, with guidance from the cost models for ground-based telescopes. By separating the variables that effect cost such as diameter, mass, wavelength, density, data rate, and number of instruments, we advance the goal to better understand the cost drivers of space telescopes.. The use of sophisticated mathematical techniques to improve the accuracy of cost models has the potential to help society make informed decisions about proposed scientific projects. An improved knowledge of cost will allow scientists to get the maximum value returned for the money given and create a harmony between the visions of scientists and the reality of a budget.

  20. Software framework for automatic learning of telescope operation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodríguez, Jose A.; Molgó, Jordi; Guerra, Dailos

    2016-07-01

    The "Gran Telescopio de Canarias" (GTC) is an optical-infrared 10-meter segmented mirror telescope at the ORM observatory in Canary Islands (Spain). The GTC Control System (GCS) is a distributed object and component oriented system based on RT-CORBA and it is responsible for the operation of the telescope, including its instrumentation. The current development state of GCS is mature and fully operational. On the one hand telescope users as PI's implement the sequences of observing modes of future scientific instruments that will be installed in the telescope and operators, in turn, design their own sequences for maintenance. On the other hand engineers develop new components that provide new functionality required by the system. This great work effort is possible to minimize so that costs are reduced, especially if one considers that software maintenance is the most expensive phase of the software life cycle. Could we design a system that allows the progressive assimilation of sequences of operation and maintenance of the telescope, through an automatic self-programming system, so that it can evolve from one Component oriented organization to a Service oriented organization? One possible way to achieve this is to use mechanisms of learning and knowledge consolidation to reduce to the minimum expression the effort to transform the specifications of the different telescope users to the operational deployments. This article proposes a framework for solving this problem based on the combination of the following tools: data mining, self-Adaptive software, code generation, refactoring based on metrics, Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering and Service Oriented Architectures.

  1. Optical design of a Michelson wide-field multiple-aperture telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cassaing, Frederic; Sorrente, Beatrice; Fleury, Bruno; Laubier, David

    2004-02-01

    Multiple-Aperture Optical Telescopes (MAOTs) are a promising solution for very high resolution imaging. In the Michelson configuration, the instrument is made of sub-telescopes distributed in the pupil and combined by a common telescope via folding periscopes. The phasing conditions of the sub-pupils lead to specific optical constraints in these subsystems. The amplitude of main contributors to the wavefront error (WFE) is given as a function of high level requirements (such as field or resolution) and free parameters, mainly the sub-telescope type, magnification and diameter. It is shown that for the periscopes, the field-to-resolution ratio is the main design driver and can lead to severe specifications. The effect of sub-telescopes aberrations on the global WFE can be minimized by reducing their diameter. An analytical tool for the MAOT design has been derived from this analysis, illustrated and validated in three different cases: LEO or GEO Earth observation and astronomy with extremely large telescopes. The last two cases show that a field larger than 10 000 resolution elements can be covered with a very simple MAOT based on Mersenne paraboloid-paraboloid sub-telescopes. Michelson MAOTs are thus a solution to be considered for high resolution wide-field imaging, from space or ground.

  2. NST: Thermal Modeling for a Large Aperture Solar Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coulter, Roy

    2011-05-01

    Late in the 1990s the Dutch Open Telescope demonstrated that internal seeing in open, large aperture solar telescopes can be controlled by flushing air across the primary mirror and other telescope structures exposed to sunlight. In that system natural wind provides a uniform air temperature throughout the imaging volume, while efficiently sweeping heated air away from the optics and mechanical structure. Big Bear Solar Observatory's New Solar Telescope (NST) was designed to realize that same performance in an enclosed system by using both natural wind through the dome and forced air circulation around the primary mirror to provide the uniform air temperatures required within the telescope volume. The NST is housed in a conventional, ventilated dome with a circular opening, in place of the standard dome slit, that allows sunlight to fall only on an aperture stop and the primary mirror. The primary mirror is housed deep inside a cylindrical cell with only minimal openings in the side at the level of the mirror. To date, the forced air and cooling systems designed for the NST primary mirror have not been implemented, yet the telescope regularly produces solar images indicative of the absence of mirror seeing. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis of the NST primary mirror system along with measurements of air flows within the dome, around the telescope structure, and internal to the mirror cell are used to explain the origin of this seemingly incongruent result. The CFD analysis is also extended to hypothetical systems of various scales. We will discuss the results of these investigations.

  3. Chinese large solar telescopes site survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yu

    2017-04-01

    In order to observe the solar surface with unprecedentedly higher resolution, Chinse solar physics society decided to launch their solar site survey project in 2010 as the first step to look for the best candidate sites for the Chinese next-generation large-aperture solar telescopes, i.e., the 5-8 meter Chinese Giant Solar Telescope, and the 1 meter level coronagraph. We have built two long-term monitoring sites in Daocheng, with altitudes of around 4800 meters above the sea level located in the large Shangri-La mountain area, and we have collected systematic site data since 2014. Clear evidence, including the key parameters of seeing factor, sky brightness and water vapor content, has indicated that the large Shangri-La area owns the potential conditions of excellent seeing level and sufficient amount of clear-sky hours suitable for developing large solar telescopes. We will review the site survey progress and present the preliminary statistical results in this talk.

  4. Observatories and Telescopes of Modern Times

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leverington, David

    2016-11-01

    Preface; Part I. Optical Observatories: 1. Palomar Mountain Observatory; 2. The United States Optical Observatory; 3. From the Next Generation Telescope to Gemini and SOAR; 4. Competing primary mirror designs; 5. Active optics, adaptive optics and other technical innovations; 6. European Northern Observatory and Calar Alto; 7. European Southern Observatory; 8. Mauna Kea Observatory; 9. Australian optical observatories; 10. Mount Hopkins' Whipple Observatory and the MMT; 11. Apache Point Observatory; 12. Carnegie Southern Observatory (Las Campanas); 13. Mount Graham International Optical Observatory; 14. Modern optical interferometers; 15. Solar observatories; Part II. Radio Observatories: 16. Australian radio observatories; 17. Cambridge Mullard Radio Observatory; 18. Jodrell Bank; 19. Early radio observatories away from the Australian-British axis; 20. The American National Radio Astronomy Observatory; 21. Owens Valley and Mauna Kea; 22. Further North and Central American observatories; 23. Further European and Asian radio observatories; 24. ALMA and the South Pole; Name index; Optical observatory and telescope index; Radio observatory and telescope index; General index.

  5. The Swift Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roming, Peter; Hunsberger, S.D.; Nousek, John; Mason, Keith

    2001-01-01

    The Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) provides the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer with the capability of quickly detecting and characterizing the optical and ultraviolet properties of gamma ray burst counterparts. The UVOT design is based on the design of the Optical Monitor on XMM-Newton. It is a Ritchey-Chretien telescope with microchannel plate intensified charged-coupled devices (MICs) that deliver sub-arcsecond imaging. These MICs are photon-counting devices, capable of detecting low intensity signal levels. When flown above the atmosphere, the UVOT will have the sensitivity of a 4m ground based telescope, attaining a limiting magnitude of 24 for a 1000 second observation in the white light filter. A rotating filter wheel allows sensitive photometry in six bands spanning the UV and visible, which will provide photometric redshifts of objects in the 1-3.5z range. For bright counterparts, such as the 9th magnitude GRB990123, or for fainter objects down to 17th magnitude, two grisms provide low-resolution spectroscopy

  6. Deployable reflector configurations. [for space telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meinel, A. B.; Meinel, M. P.; Woolf, N. J.

    1983-01-01

    Both the theoretical reasons for considering a non-circular format for the Large Deployable Reflector, and a potentially realizable concept for such a device, are discussed. The optimum systems for diffraction limited telescopes with incoherent detection have either a single filled aperture, or two such apertures as an interferometer to synthesize a larger aperture. For a single aperture of limited area, a reflector in the form of a slot can be used to give increased angular resolution. It is shown how a 20 x 8 meter telescope can be configured to fit the Space Shuttle bay, and deployed with relatively simple operations. The relationship between the sunshield design and the inclination of the orbit is discussed. The possible use of the LDR as a basic module to permit the construction of supergiant space telescopes and interferometers both for IR/submm studies and for the entire ultraviolet through mm wave spectral region is discussed.

  7. Template analysis for the MAGIC telescopes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Menzel, Uta [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik, Muenchen (Germany); Collaboration: MAGIC-Collaboration

    2016-07-01

    The MAGIC telescopes are two 17-m-diameter Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes located on the Canary island of La Palma. They record the Cherenkov light from air showers induced by very high energy photons. The current data analysis uses a parametrization of the two shower images (including Hillas parameters) to determine the characteristics of the primary particle. I am implementing an advanced analysis method that compares shower images on a pixel basis with template images based on Monte Carlo simulations. To reduce the simulation effort the templates contain only pure shower images that are convolved with the telescope response later in the analysis. The primary particle parameters are reconstructed by maximizing the likelihood of the template. By using all the information available in the shower images, the performance of MAGIC is expected to improve. In this presentation I will explain the general idea of a template-based analysis and show the first results of the implementation.

  8. Exploring Galileo's Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Straulino, Samuele; Terzuoli, Alessandra

    2010-01-01

    In the first months of 2009, the International Year of Astronomy, the authors developed an educational project for middle-level students connected with the first astronomical discoveries that Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) made 400 years ago. The project included the construction of a basic telescope and the observation of the Moon. The project, if…

  9. Novel optical scanning cryptography using Fresnel telescope imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Aimin; Sun, Jianfeng; Hu, Zhijuan; Zhang, Jingtao; Liu, Liren

    2015-07-13

    We propose a new method called modified optical scanning cryptography using Fresnel telescope imaging technique for encryption and decryption of remote objects. An image or object can be optically encrypted on the fly by Fresnel telescope scanning system together with an encryption key. For image decryption, the encrypted signals are received and processed with an optical coherent heterodyne detection system. The proposed method has strong performance through use of secure Fresnel telescope scanning with orthogonal polarized beams and efficient all-optical information processing. The validity of the proposed method is demonstrated by numerical simulations and experimental results.

  10. Payload maintenance cost model for the space telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, W. L.

    1980-01-01

    An optimum maintenance cost model for the space telescope for a fifteen year mission cycle was developed. Various documents and subsequent updates of failure rates and configurations were made. The reliability of the space telescope for one year, two and one half years, and five years were determined using the failure rates and configurations. The failure rates and configurations were also used in the maintenance simulation computer model which simulate the failure patterns for the fifteen year mission life of the space telescope. Cost algorithms associated with the maintenance options as indicated by the failure patterns were developed and integrated into the model.

  11. Chromospheric telescope of Baikal Astrophysical Observatory. New light

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Skomorovsky V.I.

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available A chromospheric telescope is an important instrument for synoptic observations and solar research. After several decades of observations with the chromospheric telescope at the Baikal Astrophysical Observatory, a need arose to improve the characteristics of this telescope and filter. A new reimaging lens to produce full-disk solar images 18 mm in diameter at the CCD camera Hamamatsu C-124 with a 36×24 mm detector (4000×2672 pixels was designed and manufactured to replace the out-of-operation 50×50 mm Princeton Instruments camera. A contrast interference blocking filter and new calcite and quartz crystal plates were made and installed instead of damaged ones in the Hα birefringent filter (BF, manufactured by Bernhard Hallе Nachfl. The optical immersion in the filter was changed. All telescope optics was cleaned and adjusted. We describe for the first time the design features and their related BF passband tuning. The wavefront interferograms of optical elements and telescope as a whole show that the wavefront distortion of the optical path is within 0.25 λ. The BF and prefilter spectral parameters provide high-contrast monochromatic images. Besides, we give examples of solar chromospheric images in the Hα line core and wing.

  12. The telescopic tourist's guide to the Moon

    CERN Document Server

    May, Andrew

    2017-01-01

    Whether you’re interested in visiting Apollo landing sites or the locations of classic sci-fi movies, this is the tourist guide for you! This tourist guide has a twist – it is a guide to a whole different world, which you can visit from the comfort of your backyard with the aid of nothing more sophisticated than an inexpensive telescope. It tells you the best times to view the Moon, the most exciting sights to look out for, and the best equipment to use, allowing you to snap stunning photographs as well as view the sights with your own eyes. Have you ever been inspired by stunning images from the Hubble telescope, or the magic of sci-fi special effects, only to look through a small backyard telescope at the disappointing white dot of a planet or faint blur of a galaxy? Yet the Moon is different. Seen through even a relatively cheap telescope, it springs into life like a real place, with mountains and valleys and rugged craters. With a bit of imagination, you can even picture yourself as a sightseeing visi...

  13. Bacterial Diversity within the Extreme Arid Atacama Desert Soils of the Yungay Region, Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Connon, S. A.; Lester, E. D.; Shafaat, H. S.; Obenhuber, D. C.; Ponce, A.

    2006-12-01

    Surface and subsurface soil samples analyzed for this study were collected from the hyper-arid Yungay region of the Atacama Desert, Chile. This is the first report of microbial diversity from DNA extracted directly from these extremely desiccated soils. Our data shows that 94% of the 16S rRNA genes cloned from these soils belong to the Actinobacteria phylum. A 24-hour time course series showed a diurnal water activity (aw) cycle that peaked at 0.52 in the early predawn hours, and ranged from 0.08 0.01 during the day. All measured water activity values were below the level required for microbial growth or enzyme activity. Total organic carbon (TOC) levels in this region were just above the limits of detection and ranged from 220 660 μg/g of soil. Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) levels indicated cellular biomass ranging from 2 ×105 to 7 ×106 cell equivalents per gram of soil. The culturable counts were low with most samples showing no growth on standard plates of R2A medium; the highest single count was 47 colony forming units (CFU) per gram.

  14. Neogene basin infilling from cosmogenic nuclides (10Be and 21Ne) in Atacama, Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanchez, Caroline; Regard, Vincent; Carretier, Sébastien; Riquelme, Rodrigo; Blard, Pierre-Henri; Campos, Eduardo; Brichau, Stéphanie; Lupker, Marteen; Hérail, Gérard

    2017-04-01

    In the hyperarid Atacama Desert, northern Chile, Neogene sediments host copper rich layers (exotic supergene mineralization). Current mines are excavated into relatively thin (production (quickly decreasing with depth) and disintegration (not for 21Ne). Sampling depths are at ˜100 m and at ˜50 m below the desert surface. First, 21Ne gives lower boundaries for upstream erosion rates or local sedimentation rate. These bounds are between 2 and 10 m/Ma, which is quite important for the area. The ratio between the two cosmogenic nuclides indicate a maximum burial age of 12 Ma (minimal erosion rate of 15 m/Ma) and is surprisingly similar from bottom to top, indicating a probable rapid infilling. We finally processed a Monte-Carlo inversion. This inversion helps taking into account the post-deposition muonic production of cosmogenic nuclides. Inversion results is dependent on the muonic production scheme. Interestingly, the similarity in concentrations from bottom to top pleads for quite low production at depth. Our data finally indicates a quick infilling between 12.5 and 10 Ma BP accounting for ˜100 m of deposition (minimum sedimentation rate of 40 m/Ma).

  15. Novel water source for endolithic life in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Wierzchos

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available The hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert, Chile, is possibly the driest and most life-limited place on Earth, yet endolithic microorganisms thrive inside halite pinnacles that are part of ancient salt flats. The existence of this microbial community in an environment that excludes any other life forms suggests biological adaptation to high salinity and desiccation stress, and indicates an alternative source of water for life other than rainfall, fog or dew. Here, we show that halite endoliths obtain liquid water through spontaneous capillary condensation at relative humidity (RH much lower than the deliquescence RH of NaCl. We describe how this condensation could occur inside nano-pores smaller than 100 nm, in a newly characterized halite phase that is intimately associated with the endolithic aggregates. This nano-porous phase helps retain liquid water for long periods of time by preventing its evaporation even in conditions of utmost dryness. Our results explain how life has colonized and adapted to one of the most extreme environments on our planet, expanding the water activity envelope for life on Earth, and broadening the spectrum of possible habitats for life beyond our planet.

  16. Development of the optical system for the SST-1M telescope of the Cherenkov Telescope Array observatory

    CERN Document Server

    Ostrowski, Michael; Błocki, J.; Bogacz, L.; Bulik, T.; Cadoux, F.; Christov, A.; Curyło, M.; della Volpe, D.; Dyrda, M.; Favre, Y.; Frankowski, A.; Grudnik, Ł.; Grudzińska, M.; Heller, M.; Idźkowski, B.; Jamrozy, M.; Janiak, M.; Kasperek, J.; Lalik, K.; Lyard, E.; Mach, E.; Mandat, D.; Marszałek, A.; Michałowski, J.; Moderski, R.; Montaruli, T.; Neronov, A.; Niemiec, J.; Paśko, P.; Pech, M.; Porcelli, A.; Prandini, E.; Pueschel, E.; Rajda, P.; Rameez, M.; Schioppa, E. jr; Schovanek, P.; Skowron, K.; Sliusar, V.; Sowiński, M.; Stawarz, Ł.; Stodulska, M.; Stodulski, M.; Toscano, S.; Troyano Pujadas, I.; Walter, R.; Wiȩcek, M.; Zagdański, A.; Ziȩtara, K.; Żychowski, P.; Barciński, T.; Karczewski, M.; Kukliński, J. Nicolau; Płatos, Ł.; Rataj, M.; Wawer, P.; Wawrzaszek, R.

    2016-01-01

    The prototype of a Davies-Cotton small size telescope (SST-1M) has been designed and developed by a consortium of Polish and Swiss institutions and proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory. The main purpose of the optical system is to focus the Cherenkov light emitted by extensive air showers in the atmosphere onto the focal plane detectors. The main component of the system is a dish consisting of 18 hexagonal mirrors with a total effective collection area of 6.47 m2 (including the shadowing and estimated mirror reflectivity). Such a solution was chosen taking into account the analysis of the Cherenkov light propagation and based on optical simulations. The proper curvature and stability of the dish is ensured by the mirror alignment system and the isostatic interface to the telescope structure. Here we present the design of the optical subsystem together with the performance measurements of its components.

  17. The Hubble Space Telescope from concept to success

    CERN Document Server

    Shayler, David J

    2016-01-01

    The highly successful Hubble Space Telescope was meant to change our view and understanding of the universe. Within weeks of its launch in 1990, however, the space community was shocked to find out that the primary mirror of the telescope was flawed. It was only the skills of scientists and engineers on the ground and the daring talents of astronauts sent to service the telescope in December 1993 that saved the mission. For over two decades NASA had developed the capabilities to service a payload in orbit. This involved numerous studies and the creation of a ground-based infrastructure to support the challenging missions. Unique tools and EVA hardware supported the skills developed in crew training that then enabled astronauts to complete a demanding series of spacewalks. Drawing upon first hand interviews with those closely involved in the project over thirty years ago this story explains the development of the servicing mission concept and the hurdles that had to be overcome to not only launch the telescope...

  18. 3.6-m Devasthal Optical Telescope Project: Completion and first results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Brijesh; Omar, Amitesh; Maheswar, Gopinathan; Pandey, Anil Kumar; Sagar, Ram; Uddin, Wahab; Sanwal, Basant Ballabh; Bangia, Tarun; Kumar, Tripurari Satyanarayana; Yadav, Shobhit; Sahu, Sanjit; Pant, Jayshreekar; Reddy, Bheemireddy Krishna; Gupta, Alok Chandra; Chand, Hum; Pandey, Jeewan Chandra; Joshi, Mohit Kumar; Jaiswar, Mukeshkuma; Nanjappa, Nandish; Purushottam; Yadav, Rama Kant Singh; Sharma, Saurabh; Pandey, Shashi Bhushan; Joshi, Santosh; Joshi, Yogesh Chandra; Lata, Sneh; Mehdi, Biman Jyoti; Misra, Kuntal; Singh, Mahendra

    2018-04-01

    We present an update on the 3.6-m aperture optical telescope, which has been installed at Devasthal in the year 2016. In this paper, a brief overview of installation activities at site and first results are presented. The 3.6-m Devasthal Optical Telescope project was initiated in 2007 by the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES; Nainital, India) in partnership with Belgium. The telescope has Ritchey-Chretien optics, an alt-azimuth mount, an active control of the primary and a corrected science field of view of 30' at the Cassegrain focus. The construction of the telescope enclosure building was completed in June 2014 and after successful installation of the telescope. The first engineering light was obtained on 22 March 2015. The on-sky performance of the telescope was carried out till February 2016.

  19. Stray light field dependence for large astronomical space telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lightsey, Paul A.; Bowers, Charles W.

    2017-09-01

    Future large astronomical telescopes in space will have architectures that expose the optics to large angular extents of the sky. Options for reducing stray light coming from the sky range from enclosing the telescope in a tubular baffle to having an open telescope structure with a large sunshield to eliminate solar illumination. These two options are considered for an on-axis telescope design to explore stray light considerations. A tubular baffle design will limit the sky exposure to the solid angle of the cone in front of the telescope set by the aspect ratio of the baffle length to Primary Mirror (PM) diameter. Illumination from this portion of the sky will be limited to the PM and structures internal to the tubular baffle. Alternatively, an open structure design will allow a large portion of the sky to directly illuminate the PM and Secondary Mirror (SM) as well as illuminating sunshield and other structure surfaces which will reflect or scatter light onto the PM and SM. Portions of this illumination of the PM and SM will be scattered into the optical train as stray light. A Radiance Transfer Function (RTF) is calculated for the open architecture that determines the ratio of the stray light background radiance in the image contributed by a patch of sky having unit radiance. The full 4π steradian of sky is divided into a grid of patches, with the location of each patch defined in the telescope coordinate system. By rotating the celestial sky radiance maps into the telescope coordinate frame for a given pointing direction of the telescope, the RTF may be applied to the sky brightness and the results integrated to get the total stray light from the sky for that pointing direction. The RTF data generated for the open architecture may analyzed as a function of the expanding cone angle about the pointing direction. In this manner, the open architecture data may be used to directly compare to a tubular baffle design parameterized by allowed cone angle based on the

  20. The TOTEM GEM Telescope (T2) at the LHC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Quinto, M.; Berretti, M.; David, E.; Garcia, F.; Greco, V.; Heino, J.; Hilden, T.; Kurvinen, K.; Lami, S.; Latino, G.; Lauhakangas, R.; Oliveri, E.; Ropelewski, L.; Scribano, A.; Turini, N.; Stenis, M. van

    2011-01-01

    The TOTEM T2 telescope will measure inelastically produced charged particles in the forward region of the LHC Interaction Point 5. Each arm of the telescope consists in a set of 20 triple-GEM (Gas Electron Multiplier) detectors with tracking and trigger capabilities. The GEM technology has been considered for the design of TOTEM very forward T2 telescopes thanks to its characteristics: large active areas, good position and timing resolution, excellent rate capability and radiation hardness. Each of the four T2 half arms has been fully assembled and equipped with electronics at CERN and systematically tested in the SPS beam line H8 in 2008/09. After some optimization, the operation of the GEM chambers was fully satisfactory and the T2 telescopes were installed and commissioned in their final positions at the LHC interaction point. During the first LHC run (December 2009) the T2 telescopes have collected data, at 900 GeV and 2.36 TeV. We will present here the performances of the detector and the preliminary results obtained using the data collected.

  1. The TOTEM GEM Telescope (T2) at the LHC

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Quinto, M. [INFN Sezione di Bari, Via E.Orabona n 4, 70126 Bari (Italy); Berretti, M. [University of Siena, Physics Department, Via Roma 56, I-53100 Siena (Italy); INFN Sezione di Pisa, Largo B. Pontecorvo, 3. I-56127. Pisa (Italy); David, E. [CERN, PH Department, 1211 Geneva 23, Geneva (Switzerland); Garcia, F. [University of Helsinki, Institute of Physics and Department of Physical Sciences, Helsinki (Finland); Greco, V. [University of Siena, Physics Department, Via Roma 56, I-53100 Siena (Italy); INFN Sezione di Pisa, Largo B. Pontecorvo, 3. I-56127. Pisa (Italy); Heino, J.; Hilden, T.; Kurvinen, K. [University of Helsinki, Institute of Physics and Department of Physical Sciences, Helsinki (Finland); Lami, S. [INFN Sezione di Pisa, Largo B. Pontecorvo, 3. I-56127. Pisa (Italy); Latino, G. [University of Siena, Physics Department, Via Roma 56, I-53100 Siena (Italy); INFN Sezione di Pisa, Largo B. Pontecorvo, 3. I-56127. Pisa (Italy); Lauhakangas, R. [University of Helsinki, Institute of Physics and Department of Physical Sciences, Helsinki (Finland); Oliveri, E. [University of Siena, Physics Department, Via Roma 56, I-53100 Siena (Italy); INFN Sezione di Pisa, Largo B. Pontecorvo, 3. I-56127. Pisa (Italy); Ropelewski, L. [CERN, PH Department, 1211 Geneva 23, Geneva (Switzerland); Scribano, A.; Turini, N. [University of Siena, Physics Department, Via Roma 56, I-53100 Siena (Italy); INFN Sezione di Pisa, Largo B. Pontecorvo, 3. I-56127. Pisa (Italy); Stenis, M. van [CERN, PH Department, 1211 Geneva 23, Geneva (Switzerland)

    2011-06-15

    The TOTEM T2 telescope will measure inelastically produced charged particles in the forward region of the LHC Interaction Point 5. Each arm of the telescope consists in a set of 20 triple-GEM (Gas Electron Multiplier) detectors with tracking and trigger capabilities. The GEM technology has been considered for the design of TOTEM very forward T2 telescopes thanks to its characteristics: large active areas, good position and timing resolution, excellent rate capability and radiation hardness. Each of the four T2 half arms has been fully assembled and equipped with electronics at CERN and systematically tested in the SPS beam line H8 in 2008/09. After some optimization, the operation of the GEM chambers was fully satisfactory and the T2 telescopes were installed and commissioned in their final positions at the LHC interaction point. During the first LHC run (December 2009) the T2 telescopes have collected data, at 900 GeV and 2.36 TeV. We will present here the performances of the detector and the preliminary results obtained using the data collected.

  2. VLBI observations with the Kunming 40-meter radio telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hao Longfei; Wang Min; Yang Jun

    2010-01-01

    The Kunming 40-meter radio telescope is situated in the yard of the Yunnan Astronomical Observatory (Longitude: 102.8 0 East, Latitude: 25.0 0 North) and saw its first light in 2006 May. The Kunming station successfully joined the VLBI tracking of China's first lunar probe 'Chang'E-1 together with the other Chinese telescopes: the Beijing Miyun 50-meter radio telescope, Urumqi Nanshan 25-meter radio telescope, and Shanghai Sheshan 25-meter radio telescope, and received the downlinked scientific data together with the Miyun station from October of 2007 to March of 2009. We give an introduction to the new Chinese VLBI facility and investigate its potential applications. Due to its location, the Kunming station can significantly improve the u - v coverage of the European VLBI Network (EVN), in particular, in long baseline observations. We also report the results of the first EVN fringe-test experiment of N09SX1 with the Kunming station. The first fringes in the European telescopes were successfully detected at 2.3 GHz with the ftp-transferred data on 2009 June 17. From scheduling the observations to performing the post correlations, the Kunming station shows its good compatibility to work with the EVN. The imaging result of the extended source 1156+295 further demonstrates that the Kunming station greatly enhances the EVN performance. (research papers)

  3. Design Evolution of the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope Using Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets (WFIRST-AFTA) and Lessons Learned

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peabody, Hume L.; Peters, Carlton V.; Rodriguez-Ruiz, Juan E.; McDonald, Carson S.; Content, David A.; Jackson, Clifton E.

    2015-01-01

    The design of the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope using Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets (WFIRST-AFTA) continues to evolve as each design cycle is analyzed. In 2012, two Hubble sized (2.4 m diameter) telescopes were donated to NASA from elsewhere in the Federal Government. NASA began investigating potential uses for these telescopes and identified WFIRST as a mission to benefit from these assets. With an updated, deeper, and sharper field of view than previous design iterations with a smaller telescope, the optical designs of the WFIRST instruments were updated and the mechanical and thermal designs evolved around the new optical layout. Beginning with Design Cycle 3, significant analysis efforts yielded a design and model that could be evaluated for Structural-Thermal-Optical-Performance (STOP) purposes for the Wide Field Imager (WFI) and provided the basis for evaluating the high level observatory requirements. Development of the Cycle 3 thermal model provided some valuable analysis lessons learned and established best practices for future design cycles. However, the Cycle 3 design did include some major liens and evolving requirements which were addressed in the Cycle 4 Design. Some of the design changes are driven by requirements changes, while others are optimizations or solutions to liens from previous cycles. Again in Cycle 4, STOP analysis was performed and further insights into the overall design were gained leading to the Cycle 5 design effort currently underway. This paper seeks to capture the thermal design evolution, with focus on major design drivers, key decisions and their rationale, and lessons learned as the design evolved.

  4. Development of the Phase-up Technology of the Radio Telescopes: 6.7 GHz Methanol Maser Observations with Phased Hitachi 32 m and Takahagi 32 m Radio Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takefuji, K.; Sugiyama, K.; Yonekura, Y.; Saito, T.; Fujisawa, K.; Kondo, T.

    2017-11-01

    For the sake of high-sensitivity 6.7 GHz methanol maser observations, we developed a new technology for coherently combining the two signals from the Hitachi 32 m radio telescope and the Takahagi 32 m radio telescope of the Japanese Very long baseline interferometer Network (JVN), where the two telescopes were separated by about 260 m. After the two telescopes were phased as a twofold larger single telescope, the mean signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of the 6.7 GHz methanol masers observed by the phased telescopes was improved to 1.254-fold higher than that of the single dish, through a very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) experiment on the 50 km baseline of the Kashima 34 m telescope and the 1000 km baseline of the Yamaguchi 32 m telescope. Furthermore, we compared the S/Ns of the 6.7 GHz maser spectra for two methods. One is a VLBI method and the other is the newly developed digital position switching that is a similar technology to that used in noise-canceling headphones. Finally, we confirmed that the mean S/N of method of the digital position switching (ON-OFF) was 1.597-fold higher than that of the VLBI method.

  5. DESTINY, The Dark Energy Space Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasquale, Bert A.; Woodruff, Robert A.; Benford, Dominic J.; Lauer, Tod

    2007-01-01

    We have proposed the development of a low-cost space telescope, Destiny, as a concept for the NASA/DOE Joint Dark Energy Mission. Destiny is a 1.65m space telescope, featuring a near-infrared (0.85-1.7m) survey camera/spectrometer with a moderate flat-field field of view (FOV). Destiny will probe the properties of dark energy by obtaining a Hubble diagram based on Type Ia supernovae and a large-scale mass power spectrum derived from weak lensing distortions of field galaxies as a function of redshift.

  6. The Guggenheim Aeronautics Laboratory at Caltech and the creation of the modern rocket motor (1936-1946): How the dynamics of rocket theory became reality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zibit, Benjamin Seth

    This thesis explores and unfolds the story of discovery in rocketry at The California Institute of Technology---specifically at Caltech's Guggenheim Aeronautics Laboratory---in the 1930s and 1940s. Caltech was home to a small group of engineering students and experimenters who, beginning in the winter of 1935--1936, formed a study and research team destined to change the face of rocket science in the United States. The group, known as the Guggenheim Aeronautics Laboratory (GALCIT, for short) Rocket Research Group, invented a new type of solid-rocket propellant, made distinct and influential discoveries in the theory of rocket combustion and design, founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and incorporated the first American industrial concern devoted entirely to rocket motor production: The Aerojet Corporation. The theoretical work of team members, Frank Malina, Hsueh-shen Tsien, Homer J. Stewart, and Mark Mills, is examined in this thesis in detail. The author scrutinizes Frank Malina's doctoral thesis (both its assumptions and its mathematics), and finds that, although Malina's key assertions, his formulae, hold, his work is shown to make key assumptions about rocket dynamics which only stand the test of validity if certain approximations, rather than exact measurements, are accepted. Malina studied the important connection between motor-nozzle design and thrust; in his Ph.D. thesis, he developed mathematical statements which more precisely defined the design/thrust relation. One of Malina's colleagues on the Rocket Research Team, John Whiteside Parsons, created a new type of solid propellant in the winter of 1941--1942. This propellant, known as a composite propellant (because it simply was a relatively inert amalgam of propellant and oxidizer in non-powder form), became the forerunner of all modern solid propellants, and has become one of the seminal discoveries in the field of Twentieth Century rocketry. The latter chapters of this dissertation discuss the

  7. Secondary mirror system for the European Solar Telescope (EST)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cavaller, L.; Siegel, B.; Prieto, G.; Hernandez, E.; Casalta, J. M.; Mercader, J.; Barriga, J.

    2010-07-01

    The European Solar Telescope (EST) is a European collaborative project to build a 4m class solar telescope in the Canary Islands, which is now in its design study phase. The telescope will provide diffraction limited performance for several instruments observing simultaneously at the Coudé focus at different wavelengths. A multi-conjugated adaptive optics system composed of a tip-tilt mirror and several deformable mirrors will be integrated in the telescope optical path. The secondary mirror system is composed of the mirror itself (Ø800mm), the alignment drives and the cooling system needed to remove the solar heat load from the mirror. During the design study the feasibility to provide fast tip-tilt capabilities at the secondary mirror to work as the adaptive optics tip-tilt mirror is also being evaluated.

  8. The ARC (Astrophysical Research Consortium) telescope project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, K. S.

    A consortium of universities intends to construct a 3.5 meter optical-infrared telescope at a site in south-central New Mexico. The use of innovative mirror technology, a fast primary, and an alt-azimuth mounting results in a compact and lightweight instrument. This telescope will be uniquely well-suited for addressing certain observational programs by virtue of its capability for fully remote operation and rapid instrument changes.

  9. A Galaxy Zoo - WorldWide Telescope Mashup: Expanding User Defined Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luebbert, Jarod; Sands, M.; Fay, J.; Smith, A.; Gay, P. L.; Galaxy Zoo Team

    2010-01-01

    We present a new way of exploring your favorite Galaxy Zoo galaxies within the context of the sky using Microsoft Research's WorldWide Telescope. Galaxy Zoo has a fantastic community that is eager to learn and contribute to science through morphological classifications of galaxies. WorldWide Telescope is an interactive observatory that allows users to explore the sky. WorldWide Telescope uses images from the world's best telescopes, including the galaxies of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. WorldWide Telescope provides a fantastic sense of size and distance that is hard to experience in Galaxy Zoo. Creating tours from favorite galaxies directly from Galaxy Zoo aims to solve this dilemma.The incorporation of Galaxy Zoo and WorldWide telescope provides a great resource for users to learn more about the galaxies they are classifying. Users can now explore the areas around certain galaxies and view information about that location from within WorldWide Telescope. Not only does this encourage self-motivated research but after tours are created they can be shared with anyone. We hope this will help spread citizen science to different audiences via email, Facebook, and Twitter.Without the WorldWide Telescope team at Microsoft Research this project would not have been possible. Please go start exploring at http://wwt.galaxyzoo.org. This project was funded through the Microsoft Research Academic Program.

  10. Memory and time: Backward and forward telescoping in Alzheimer's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    El Haj, Mohamad; Janssen, Steve M J; Antoine, Pascal

    2017-10-01

    Backward and forward telescoping are opposite timing biases. The former refers to misattributing events to earlier dates, whereas the latter refers to misattributing events to later dates. The present study investigated both biases in participants with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and healthy older adults, matched on age, sex, and education level. Participants were asked to recall the years when five remote and five recent public events had occurred. They were also assessed with a cognitive and clinical battery that included a context memory task on which they had to associate letters and locations. Results showed backward telescoping for recent events and forward telescoping for remote events in AD participants and older adults. Furthermore, poorer context recall was observed in AD participants and older adults displaying backward telescoping than in those displaying forward telescoping. These findings suggest an association between the amount of contextual information recalled and the direction of the timing bias. Backward telescoping can be associated with deficiencies in retrieving context characteristics of events, which have been associated with retrograde amnesia and pathological changes to the hippocampus in AD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. GPU-based online track reconstruction for the MuPix-telescope

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grzesik, Carsten [JGU, Mainz (Germany); Collaboration: Mu3e-Collaboration

    2016-07-01

    The MuPix telescope is a beam telescope consisting of High Voltage Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (HV-MAPS). This type of sensor is going to be used for the Mu3e experiment, which is aiming to measure the lepton flavor violating decay μ→ eee with an ultimate sensitivity of 10{sup -16}. This sensitivity requires a high muon decay rate in the order of 1 GHz leading to a data rate of about 1 TBit/s for the whole detector. This needs to be reduced by a factor 1000 using online event selection algorithms on Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) before passing the data to the storage. A test setup for the MuPix sensors and parts of the Mu3e tracking detector readout is realized in a four plane telescope. The telescope can also be used to show the usability of an online track reconstruction using GPUs. As a result the telescope can provide online information about efficiencies of a device under test or the alignment of the telescope itself. This talk discusses the implementation of the GPU based track reconstruction and shows some results from recent testbeam campaigns.

  12. Advanced Athermal Telescopes, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This proposed innovative athermal telescope design uses advanced lightweight and high-stiffness material of Beryllium-Aluminum (Be-38Al). Peregrine's expertise with...

  13. ESO Telescope Designer Raymond Wilson Wins Prestigious Kavli Award for Astrophysics

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-01

    Raymond Wilson, whose pioneering optics research at ESO made today's giant telescopes possible thanks to "active optics" technology, has been awarded the 2010 Kavli Prize in astrophysics. The founder and original leader of the Optics and Telescopes Group at ESO, Wilson shares the million-dollar prize with two American scientists, Jerry Nelson and Roger Angel. The biennial prize, presented by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Kavli Foundation, and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, was instituted in 2008 and is given to researchers who significantly advance knowledge in the fields of nanoscience, neuroscience, and astrophysics, acting as a complement to the Nobel Prize. The award is named for and funded by Fred Kavli, the Norwegian entrepreneur and phi­lanthropist who later founded the Kavlico Corpora­tion in the US - today one of the world's largest suppliers of sensors for aeronautic, automotive and industrial applications. Wilson, who joined ESO in 1972, strived to achieve optical perfection, developing the concept of active optics as a way to enhance the size of telescopic primary mirrors. It is the size of these mirrors that determines the ability of a telescope to gather light and study faint and distant objects. Before active optics, mirrors over six metres in diameter were impossible, being too heavy, costly, and likely to bend from gravity and temperature changes. The use of active optics, which preserves optimal image quality by continually adjusting the mirror's shape during observations, made lighter, thinner so-called "meniscus mirrors" possible. Wilson first led the implementation of active optics in the revolutionary New Technology Telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory, and continued to develop and improve the technology until his retirement in 1993. Since then, active optics have become a standard part of modern astronomy, applied in every big telescope including ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), a telescope array

  14. Design and end-to-end modelling of a deployable telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dolkens, Dennis; Kuiper, Hans

    2017-09-01

    Deployable optics have the potential of revolutionizing the field of high resolution Earth Observation. By offering the same resolutions as a conventional telescope, while using a much smaller launch volume and mass, the costs of high resolution image data can be brought down drastically. In addition, the technology will ultimately enable resolutions that are currently unattainable due to limitations imposed by the size of launcher fairings. To explore the possibilities and system complexities of a deployable telescope, a concept study was done to design a competitive deployable imager. A deployable telescope was designed for a ground sampling distance of 25 cm from an orbital altitude of 550 km. It offers an angular field of view of 0.6° and has a panchromatic channel as well as four multispectral bands in the visible and near infrared spectrum. The optical design of the telescope is based on an off-axis Korsch Three Mirror Anastigmat. A freeform tertiary mirror is used to ensure a diffraction limited image quality for all channels, while maintaining a compact design. The segmented primary mirror consists of four tapered aperture segments, which can be folded down during launch, while the secondary mirror is mounted on a deployable boom. In its stowed configuration, the telescope fits within a quarter of the volume of a conventional telescope reaching the same resolution. To reach a diffraction limited performance while operating in orbit, the relative position of each individual mirror segment must be controlled to a fraction of a wavelength. Reaching such tolerances with deployable telescope challenging, due to inherent uncertainties in the deployment mechanisms. Adding to the complexity is the fact that the telescope will be operating in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) where it will be exposed to very dynamic thermal conditions. Therefore, the telescope will be equipped with a robust calibration system. Actuators underneath the primary mirror will be controlled using

  15. Selling the Space Telescope - The interpenetration of science, technology, and politics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Robert W.

    1991-01-01

    Attention is given to the politics of initiating the Space Telescope program and to the manner in which the coalition, or working consensus, for the Telescope was assembled, in particular, the role played by astronomers. It is contended that what ensued was a case study in the influence of government patronage on a large-scale scientific and technological program. It is concluded that while a politically feasible Space Telescope did result, in the selling process the Telescope had been both oversold and underfunded.

  16. The ultraviolet telescope on the Astron satellite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boyarchuk, A.A.

    1987-01-01

    On 23 March 1983 in the USSR, the Astron astrophysical satellite, with the largest ultraviolet telescope (the UVT) in the world (main mirror diameter 80 cm) and a set of X-ray instruments on board was placed in a high-apogee orbit. The design of the ultraviolet telescope and the results of some of the observations carried out with it are described here. The X-ray instruments are discussed in a separate article. The ultraviolet telescope on the Astron astrophysical satellite is a result of the joint efforts of scientists and engineers at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (Academy of Sciences of the USSR), the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (Academy of Sciences of the Armenian USSR), and several industrial enterprises in our country. The Laboratoire d'Astronomie Spatiale (CNRS, Marseille, France) played a large role in building the spectrometer for the UVT

  17. Molecular characterization of endophytic fungi associated with the roots of Chenopodium quinoa inhabiting the Atacama Desert, Chile.

    Science.gov (United States)

    González-Teuber, M; Vilo, C; Bascuñán-Godoy, L

    2017-03-01

    Plant roots can be highly colonized by fungal endophytes. This seems to be of particular importance for the survival of plants inhabiting stressful habitats. This study focused on the Identification of the fungal endophytic community associated with the roots of quinoa plants ( Chenopodium quinoa ) growing near the salt lakes of the Atacama Desert, Chile. One hundred endophytic fungi were isolated from healthy quinoa roots, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region was sequenced for phylogenetic and taxonomic analysis. The isolates were classified into eleven genera and 21 distinct operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Despite a relatively high diversity of root endophytic fungi associated with quinoa plants, the fungal community was dominated by only the Ascomycota phyla. In addition, the most abundant genera were Penicillium , Phoma and Fusarium , which are common endophytes reported in plant roots. This study shows that roots of C . quinoa harbor a diverse group of endophytic fungi. Potential roles of these fungi in plant host tolerance to stressful conditions are discussed.

  18. The Large Area Telescope on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Mission

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Atwood, W.B.; /UC, Santa Cruz; Abdo, Aous A.; /Naval Research Lab, Wash., D.C.; Ackermann, M.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; Anderson, B. /UC, Santa Cruz; Axelsson, M.; /Stockholm U.; Baldini, L.; /INFN, Pisa; Ballet, J.; /DAPNIA, Saclay; Band, D.L.; /NASA, Goddard /NASA, Goddard; Barbiellini, Guido; /INFN, Trieste /Trieste U.; Bartelt, J.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; Bastieri, Denis; /INFN, Padua /Padua U.; Baughman, B.M.; /Ohio State U.; Bechtol, K.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; Bederede, D.; /DAPNIA, Saclay; Bellardi, F.; /INFN, Pisa; Bellazzini, R.; /INFN, Pisa; Berenji, B.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; Bignami, G.F.; /Pavia U.; Bisello, D.; /INFN, Padua /Padua U.; Bissaldi, E.; /Garching, Max Planck Inst., MPE; Blandford, R.D.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /INFN, Perugia /Perugia U. /NASA, Goddard /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /INFN, Pisa /INFN, Pisa /Bari U. /INFN, Bari /Ecole Polytechnique /Washington U., Seattle /INFN, Padua /Padua U. /Bari U. /INFN, Bari /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /IASF, Milan /IASF, Milan /Kalmar U. /Royal Inst. Tech., Stockholm /DAPNIA, Saclay /ASI, Rome /INFN, Pisa /INFN, Perugia /Perugia U. /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /George Mason U. /Naval Research Lab, Wash., D.C. /NASA, Goddard /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /DAPNIA, Saclay /NASA, Goddard /INFN, Perugia /Perugia U. /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /Montpellier U. /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; /more authors..

    2009-05-15

    The Large Area Telescope (Fermi/LAT, hereafter LAT), the primary instrument on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) mission, is an imaging, wide field-of-view (FoV), high-energy {gamma}-ray telescope, covering the energy range from below 20 MeV to more than 300 GeV. The LAT was built by an international collaboration with contributions from space agencies, high-energy particle physics institutes, and universities in France, Italy, Japan, Sweden, and the United States. This paper describes the LAT, its preflight expected performance, and summarizes the key science objectives that will be addressed. On-orbit performance will be presented in detail in a subsequent paper. The LAT is a pair-conversion telescope with a precision tracker and calorimeter, each consisting of a 4 x 4 array of 16 modules, a segmented anticoincidence detector that covers the tracker array, and a programmable trigger and data acquisition system. Each tracker module has a vertical stack of 18 (x, y) tracking planes, including two layers (x and y) of single-sided silicon strip detectors and high-Z converter material (tungsten) per tray. Every calorimeter module has 96 CsI(Tl) crystals, arranged in an eight-layer hodoscopic configuration with a total depth of 8.6 radiation lengths, giving both longitudinal and transverse information about the energy deposition pattern. The calorimeter's depth and segmentation enable the high-energy reach of the LAT and contribute significantly to background rejection. The aspect ratio of the tracker (height/width) is 0.4, allowing a large FoV (2.4 sr) and ensuring that most pair-conversion showers initiated in the tracker will pass into the calorimeter for energy measurement. Data obtained with the LAT are intended to (1) permit rapid notification of high-energy {gamma}-ray bursts and transients and facilitate monitoring of variable sources, (2) yield an extensive catalog of several thousand high-energy sources obtained from an all-sky survey, (3

  19. UV/Visible Telescope with Hubble Disposal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benford, Dominic J.

    2013-01-01

    Submission Overview: Our primary objective is to convey a sense of the significant advances possible in astrophysics investigations for major Cosmic Origins COR program goals with a 2.4m telescope asset outfitted with one or more advanced UV visible instruments. Several compelling science objectives were identified based on community meetings these science objectives drove the conceptual design of instruments studied by the COR Program Office during July September 2012. This RFI submission encapsulates the results of that study, and suggests that a more detailed look into the instrument suite should be conducted to prove viability and affordability to support the demonstrated scientific value. This study was conducted in the context of a larger effort to consider the options available for a mission to dispose safely of Hubble hence, the overall architecture considered for the mission we studied for the 2.4m telescope asset included resource sharing. This mitigates combined cost and risk and provides naturally for a continued US leadership role in astrophysics with an advanced, general-purpose UV visible space telescope.

  20. Scientific Performance of a Nano-satellite MeV Telescope

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lucchetta, Giulio; Berlato, Francesco; Rando, Riccardo; Bastieri, Denis; Urso, Giorgio, E-mail: giulio.lucchetta@desy.de, E-mail: fberlato@mpe.mpg.de [Dipartimento di Fisica and Astronomia “G. Galilei,” Università di Padova, I-35131 Padova (Italy)

    2017-05-01

    Over the past two decades, both X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy have experienced great progress. However, the region of the electromagnetic spectrum around ∼1 MeV is not so thoroughly explored. Future medium-sized gamma-ray telescopes will fill this gap in observations. As the timescale for the development and launch of a medium-class mission is ∼10 years, with substantial costs, we propose a different approach for the immediate future. In this paper, we evaluate the viability of a much smaller and cheaper detector: a nano-satellite Compton telescope, based on the CubeSat architecture. The scientific performance of this telescope would be well below that of the instrument expected for the future larger missions; however, via simulations, we estimate that such a compact telescope will achieve a performance similar to that of COMPTEL.

  1. NECTAR: New electronics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naumann, Christopher Lindsay; Bolmont, J.; Corona, P.; Delagnes, E.; Dzahini, D.; Feinstein, F.; Gascon, D.; Glicenstein, J.-F.; Nayman, P.; Rarbi, F.; Ribo, M.; Sanuy, A.; Siero, X.; Tavernet, J.-P.; Toussenel, F.; Vincent, P.; Vorobiov, S.

    2012-12-01

    The international CTA consortium is currently in the preparatory phase for the development of the next-generation Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA [1]), based on the return of experience from the three major current-generation arrays H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS. To achieve an unprecedented sensitivity and energy range for TeV gamma rays, a new kind of flexible and powerful yet inexpensive front-end hardware will be required for the order of 105 channels of photodetectors in up to 100 telescopes. One possible solution is the NECTAr (New Electronics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array) system, based on the integration of as much as possible of the front-end electronics (amplifiers, fast analogue samplers, memory and ADCs) into a single ASIC for very fast readout performance and a significant reduction of the cost and the lower consumption per channel, while offering a high degree of flexibility both for the triggering and the readout of the telescope. The current status of its development is presented, along with newest results from measurements and simulation studies.

  2. Lunar-based optical telescopes: Planning astronomical tools of the twenty-first century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilchey, J. D.; Nein, M. E.

    1995-02-01

    A succession of optical telescopes, ranging in aperture from 1 to 16 m or more, can be deployed and operated on the lunar surface over the next half-century. These candidates to succeed NASA's Great Observatories would capitalize on the unique observational advantages offered by the Moon. The Lunar Telescope Working Group and the LUTE Task Team of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) have assessed the feasibility of developing and deploying these facilities. Studies include the 16-m Large Lunar Telescope (LLT); the Lunar Cluster Telescope Experiment (LCTE), a 4-m precursor to the LLT; the 2-m Lunar Transit Telescope (LTT); and its precursor, the 1-m Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope Experiment (LUTE). The feasibility of developing and deploying each telescope was assessed and system requirements and options for supporting technologies, subsystems, transportation, and operations were detailed. Influences of lunar environment factors and site selection on telescope design and operation were evaluated, and design approaches and key tradeoffs were established. This paper provides an overview of the study results. Design concepts and brief system descriptions are provided, including subsystem and mission options selected for the concepts.

  3. An optics education program designed around experiments with small telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pompea, Stephen M.; Sparks, Robert T.; Walker, Constance E.; Dokter, Erin F. C.

    2010-08-01

    The National Optical Astronomy Observatory has led the development of a new telescope kit for kids as part of a strategic plan to interest young children in science. This telescope has been assembled by tens of thousands of children nationwide, who are now using this high-quality telescope to conduct optics experiments and to make astronomical observations. The Galileoscope telescope kit and its associated educational program are an outgrowth of the NSF sponsored "Hands-On Optics" (HOO) project, a collaboration of the SPIE, the Optical Society of America, and NOAO. This project developed optics kits and activities for upper elementary students and has reached over 20,000 middle school kids in afterschool programs. HOO is a highly flexible educational program and was featured as an exemplary informal science program by the National Science Teachers Association. Our new "Teaching with Telescopes" program builds on HOO, the Galileoscope and other successful optical education projects.

  4. A microbial oasis in the hypersaline Atacama subsurface discovered by a life detector chip: implications for the search for life on Mars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parro, Victor; de Diego-Castilla, Graciela; Moreno-Paz, Mercedes; Blanco, Yolanda; Cruz-Gil, Patricia; Rodríguez-Manfredi, José A; Fernández-Remolar, David; Gómez, Felipe; Gómez, Manuel J; Rivas, Luis A; Demergasso, Cecilia; Echeverría, Alex; Urtuvia, Viviana N; Ruiz-Bermejo, Marta; García-Villadangos, Miriam; Postigo, Marina; Sánchez-Román, Mónica; Chong-Díaz, Guillermo; Gómez-Elvira, Javier

    2011-12-01

    The Atacama Desert has long been considered a good Mars analogue for testing instrumentation for planetary exploration, but very few data (if any) have been reported about the geomicrobiology of its salt-rich subsurface. We performed a Mars analogue drilling campaign next to the Salar Grande (Atacama, Chile) in July 2009, and several cores and powder samples from up to 5 m deep were analyzed in situ with LDChip300 (a Life Detector Chip containing 300 antibodies). Here, we show the discovery of a hypersaline subsurface microbial habitat associated with halite-, nitrate-, and perchlorate-containing salts at 2 m deep. LDChip300 detected bacteria, archaea, and other biological material (DNA, exopolysaccharides, some peptides) from the analysis of less than 0.5 g of ground core sample. The results were supported by oligonucleotide microarray hybridization in the field and finally confirmed by molecular phylogenetic analysis and direct visualization of microbial cells bound to halite crystals in the laboratory. Geochemical analyses revealed a habitat with abundant hygroscopic salts like halite (up to 260 g kg(-1)) and perchlorate (41.13 μg g(-1) maximum), which allow deliquescence events at low relative humidity. Thin liquid water films would permit microbes to proliferate by using detected organic acids like acetate (19.14 μg g(-1)) or formate (76.06 μg g(-1)) as electron donors, and sulfate (15875 μg g(-1)), nitrate (13490 μg g(-1)), or perchlorate as acceptors. Our results correlate with the discovery of similar hygroscopic salts and possible deliquescence processes on Mars, and open new search strategies for subsurface martian biota. The performance demonstrated by our LDChip300 validates this technology for planetary exploration, particularly for the search for life on Mars.

  5. Modestobacter caceresii sp. nov., novel actinobacteria with an insight into their adaptive mechanisms for survival in extreme hyper-arid Atacama Desert soils.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Busarakam, Kanungnid; Bull, Alan T; Trujillo, Martha E; Riesco, Raul; Sangal, Vartul; van Wezel, Gilles P; Goodfellow, Michael

    2016-06-01

    A polyphasic study was designed to determine the taxonomic provenance of three Modestobacter strains isolated from an extreme hyper-arid Atacama Desert soil. The strains, isolates KNN 45-1a, KNN 45-2b(T) and KNN 45-3b, were shown to have chemotaxonomic and morphological properties in line with their classification in the genus Modestobacter. The isolates had identical 16S rRNA gene sequences and formed a branch in the Modestobacter gene tree that was most closely related to the type strain of Modestobacter marinus (99.6% similarity). All three isolates were distinguished readily from Modestobacter type strains by a broad range of phenotypic properties, by qualitative and quantitative differences in fatty acid profiles and by BOX fingerprint patterns. The whole genome sequence of isolate KNN 45-2b(T) showed 89.3% average nucleotide identity, 90.1% (SD: 10.97%) average amino acid identity and a digital DNA-DNA hybridization value of 42.4±3.1 against the genome sequence of M. marinus DSM 45201(T), values consistent with its assignment to a separate species. On the basis of all of these data, it is proposed that the isolates be assigned to the genus Modestobacter as Modestobacter caceresii sp. nov. with isolate KNN 45-2b(T) (CECT 9023(T)=DSM 101691(T)) as the type strain. Analysis of the whole-genome sequence of M. caceresii KNN 45-2b(T), with 4683 open reading frames and a genome size of ∽4.96Mb, revealed the presence of genes and gene-clusters that encode for properties relevant to its adaptability to harsh environmental conditions prevalent in extreme hyper arid Atacama Desert soils. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

  6. Status of the GroundBIRD Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, J.; Génova-Santos, R.; Hattori, M.; Hazumi, M.; Ishitsuka, H.; Kanno, F.; Karatsu, K.; Kiuchi, K.; Koyano, R.; Kutsuma, H.; Lee, K.; Mima, S.; Minowa, M.; Nagai, M.; Nagasaki, T.; Naruse, M.; Oguri, S.; Okada, T.; Otani, C.; Rebolo, R.; Rubiño-Martín, J.; Sekimoto, Y.; Suzuki, J.; Taino, T.; Tajima, O.; Tomita, N.; Uchida, T.; Won, E.; Yoshida, M.

    2018-01-01

    Our understanding of physics at very early Universe, as early as 10-35 s after the Big Bang, relies on the scenario known as the inflationary cosmology. Inflation predicts a particular polarization pattern in the cosmic microwave background, known as the B-mode yet the strength of such polarization pattern is extremely weak. To search for the B-mode of the polarization in the cosmic microwave background, we are constructing an off-axis rotating telescope to mitigate systematic effects as well as to maximize the sky coverage of the observation. We will discuss the present status of the GroundBIRD telescope.

  7. María Elena: el fin de una experiencia urbana: Un estudio de caso en el desierto de Atacama, Chile

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    JUAN CARLOS RODRÍGUEZ TORRENT

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available En el presente trabajo se plantea la relación entre la ciudad salitrera de María Elena (II Región, diseñada de acuerdo a propuestas utópicas en un territorio privado, y el cambio de las relaciones laborales entre la Compañía SQM y los trabajadores a partir del predominio de un nuevo modelo de acumulación cuyos ejes están dados por la competitividad, la producción de calidad y la globalización. La ciudad fue creada para que hombres y mujeres construyeran sus proyectos de vida en medio del Desierto de Atacama, ofreciéndoles todas las garantías y la infraestructura para que ello fuese así en los marcos de una política de pleno empleo, de modo de contener a la población en un medio inhóspito, cumplir los objetivos productivos y fortalecer una identidad coherente y cohesionada, lo que a partir de nuevas decisiones estratégicas es substituido por un modelo de flexibilidad laboral, lo que anula su definición primigenia y el interés colectivo para comenzar a dar paso a un campamento minero.In this paper we look into the relationship between the nitrate town of Maria Elena (in Region II - designed on Utopian principals as a private project - and the changing labor relations between the SQM Company and the workers as a result of the predominance of a new accumulation model guided by competitiveness, quality production and globalization. The town was created so that men and women could establish their livelihoods in the Atacama Desert, with guarantees and infrastructure based on a full employment policy. This was in order to anchor the population in this inhospitable environment, to meet production objectives and to strengthen a coherent and cohesive identity. New strategic decisions led to this model being replaced by one based on labour flexibilization, deleting its original intention and collective interest to give way to a mining camp.

  8. High performance Lyot and PIAA coronagraphy for arbitrarily shaped telescope apertures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guyon, Olivier; Hinz, Philip M. [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Cady, Eric [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States); Belikov, Ruslan [NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States); Martinache, Frantz, E-mail: guyon@naoj.org [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Subaru Telescope, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States)

    2014-01-10

    Two high-performance coronagraphic approaches compatible with segmented and obstructed telescope pupils are described. Both concepts use entrance pupil amplitude apodization and a combined phase and amplitude focal plane mask to achieve full coronagraphic extinction of an on-axis point source. While the first concept, called Apodized Pupil Complex Mask Lyot Coronagraph (APCMLC), relies on a transmission mask to perform the pupil apodization, the second concept, called Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization complex mask coronagraph (PIAACMC), uses beam remapping for lossless apodization. Both concepts theoretically offer complete coronagraphic extinction (infinite contrast) of a point source in monochromatic light, with high throughput and sub-λ/D inner working angle, regardless of aperture shape. The PIAACMC offers nearly 100% throughput and approaches the fundamental coronagraph performance limit imposed by first principles. The steps toward designing the coronagraphs for arbitrary apertures are described for monochromatic light. Designs for the APCMLC and the higher performance PIAACMC are shown for several monolith and segmented apertures, such as the apertures of the Subaru Telescope, Giant Magellan Telescope, Thirty Meter Telescope, the European Extremely Large Telescope, and the Large Binocular Telescope. Performance in broadband light is also quantified, suggesting that the monochromatic designs are suitable for use in up to 20% wide spectral bands for ground-based telescopes.

  9. The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Harrison, Fiona A.; Boggs, Steve; Christensen, Finn Erland

    2010-01-01

    The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) is a NASA Small Explorer mission that will carry the first focusing hard X-ray (6 - 80 keV) telescope to orbit. NuSTAR will offer a factor 50 - 100 sensitivity improvement compared to previous collimated or coded mask imagers that have operated...... in this energy band. In addition, NuSTAR provides sub-arcminute imaging with good spectral resolution over a 12-arcminute eld of view. After launch, NuSTAR will carry out a two-year primary science mission that focuses on four key programs: studying the evolution of massive black holes through surveys carried...... on-orbit deployment of an extendable mast. An aspect and alignment metrology system enable reconstruction of the absolute aspect and variations in the telescope alignment resulting from mast exure during ground data processing. Data will be publicly available at GSFC's High Energy Archive Research...

  10. Physics and astrophysics with gamma-ray telescopes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vandenbroucke, J. [Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States)

    2012-08-15

    In the past few years gamma-ray astronomy has entered a golden age. A modern suite of telescopes is now scanning the sky over both hemispheres and over six orders of magnitude in energy. At {approx}TeV energies, only a handful of sources were known a decade ago, but the current generation of ground-based imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS) has increased this number to nearly one hundred. With a large field of view and duty cycle, the Tibet and Milagro air shower detectors have demonstrated the promise of the direct particle detection technique for TeV gamma rays. At {approx}GeV energies, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has increased the number of known sources by nearly an order of magnitude in its first year of operation. New classes of sources that were previously theorized to be gamma-ray emitters have now been confirmed observationally. Moreover, there have been surprise discoveries of GeV gamma-ray emission from source classes for which no theory predicted it was possible. In addition to elucidating the processes of high-energy astrophysics, gamma-ray telescopes are making essential contributions to fundamental physics topics including quantum gravity, gravitational waves, and dark matter. I summarize the current census of astrophysical gamma-ray sources, highlight some recent discoveries relevant to fundamental physics, and describe the synergetic connections between gamma-ray and neutrino astronomy. This is a brief overview intended in particular for particle physicists and neutrino astronomers, based on a presentation at the Neutrino 2010 conference in Athens, Greece. I focus in particular on results from Fermi (which was launched soon after Neutrino 2008), and conclude with a description of the next generation of instruments, namely HAWC and the Cherenkov Telescope Array.

  11. The first GCT camera for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

    CERN Document Server

    De Franco, A.; Allan, D.; Armstrong, T.; Ashton, T.; Balzer, A.; Berge, D.; Bose, R.; Brown, A.M.; Buckley, J.; Chadwick, P.M.; Cooke, P.; Cotter, G.; Daniel, M.K.; Funk, S.; Greenshaw, T.; Hinton, J.; Kraus, M.; Lapington, J.; Molyneux, P.; Moore, P.; Nolan, S.; Okumura, A.; Ross, D.; Rulten, C.; Schmoll, J.; Schoorlemmer, H.; Stephan, M.; Sutcliffe, P.; Tajima, H.; Thornhill, J.; Tibaldo, L.; Varner, G.; Watson, J.; Zink, A.

    2015-01-01

    The Gamma Cherenkov Telescope (GCT) is proposed to be part of the Small Size Telescope (SST) array of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The GCT dual-mirror optical design allows the use of a compact camera of diameter roughly 0.4 m. The curved focal plane is equipped with 2048 pixels of ~0.2{\\deg} angular size, resulting in a field of view of ~9{\\deg}. The GCT camera is designed to record the flashes of Cherenkov light from electromagnetic cascades, which last only a few tens of nanoseconds. Modules based on custom ASICs provide the required fast electronics, facilitating sampling and digitisation as well as first level of triggering. The first GCT camera prototype is currently being commissioned in the UK. On-telescope tests are planned later this year. Here we give a detailed description of the camera prototype and present recent progress with testing and commissioning.

  12. An EUDET/AIDA Pixel Beam Telescope for Detector Development

    CERN Document Server

    Rubinskiy, I

    2015-01-01

    Ahigh resolution(σ< 2 μm) beam telescope based on monolithic active pixel sensors (MAPS) was developed within the EUDET collaboration. EUDET was a coordinated detector R&D programme for the future International Linear Collider providing test beam infrastructure to detector R&D groups. The telescope consists of six sensor planes with a pixel pitch of either 18.4 μm or 10 μmand canbe operated insidea solenoidal magnetic fieldofupto1.2T.Ageneral purpose cooling, positioning, data acquisition (DAQ) and offine data analysis tools are available for the users. The excellent resolution, readout rate andDAQintegration capabilities made the telescopea primary beam tests tool also for several CERN based experiments. In this report the performance of the final telescope is presented. The plans for an even more flexible telescope with three differentpixel technologies(ATLASPixel, Mimosa,Timepix) withinthenew European detector infrastructure project AIDA are presented.

  13. Neutrino Telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coelin Baldo, Milla

    2009-01-01

    The present volume contains the proceedings of the 13. International Workshop on 'Neutrino Telescope', 17. of the series 'Un altro modo di guardare il cielo', held in Venice at the 'Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti' from March 10 to March 13, 2009. This series started in Venice 21 years ago, in 1988, motivated by the growing interest in the exciting field of the neutrino physics and astrophysics, with the aim to bring together experimentalists and theorists and encourage discussion on the most recent results and to chart the direction of future researchers.

  14. Telescopic Overdenture: A Case Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shruthi, C. S.; Poojya, R.; Ram, Swati; Anupama

    2017-01-01

    Patient: This report describes the case of a 68 year old female patient who presented with the chief complaint of difficulty in chewing and poor aesthetics due to missing teeth. The patient was interested in saving the remaining natural teeth and desired minimal tissue coverage from the prosthesis. After consideration of all the factors involved, it was deemed advisable to resort to a palate free maxillary telescopic complete denture and a mandibular removable partial denture. Discussion: Considering the age of the patient and the cost involved, implant supported prosthesis was ruled out as a treatment option for the patient. A telescopic denture was chosen as a favourable treatment option since it overcomes many of the problems posed by conventional complete dentures like progressive bone loss, lower stability and retention, loss of periodontal proprioception and low masticatory efficiency. It also provides minimal tissue coverage and better distribution of forces. Evaluation of occlusion, esthetics, phonetics and comfort after 24 hours, 1 week and 1 month of treatment showed that the patient was happy with the prosthesis and was able to speak and chew well. Conclusion: Telescopic overdentures have better retention and stability as compared to conventional complete dentures. They improve the chewing efficiency, patient comfort and also decrease the alveolar bone resorption. As such they are an excellent alternative to conventional complete denture treatment. PMID:28533736

  15. Telescopic Overdenture: A Case Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shruthi, C S; Poojya, R; Ram, Swati; Anupama

    2017-03-01

    This report describes the case of a 68 year old female patient who presented with the chief complaint of difficulty in chewing and poor aesthetics due to missing teeth. The patient was interested in saving the remaining natural teeth and desired minimal tissue coverage from the prosthesis. After consideration of all the factors involved, it was deemed advisable to resort to a palate free maxillary telescopic complete denture and a mandibular removable partial denture. Considering the age of the patient and the cost involved, implant supported prosthesis was ruled out as a treatment option for the patient. A telescopic denture was chosen as a favourable treatment option since it overcomes many of the problems posed by conventional complete dentures like progressive bone loss, lower stability and retention, loss of periodontal proprioception and low masticatory efficiency. It also provides minimal tissue coverage and better distribution of forces. Evaluation of occlusion, esthetics, phonetics and comfort after 24 hours, 1 week and 1 month of treatment showed that the patient was happy with the prosthesis and was able to speak and chew well. Telescopic overdentures have better retention and stability as compared to conventional complete dentures. They improve the chewing efficiency, patient comfort and also decrease the alveolar bone resorption. As such they are an excellent alternative to conventional complete denture treatment.

  16. A cost-performance model for ground-based optical communications receiving telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lesh, J. R.; Robinson, D. L.

    1986-01-01

    An analytical cost-performance model for a ground-based optical communications receiving telescope is presented. The model considers costs of existing telescopes as a function of diameter and field of view. This, coupled with communication performance as a function of receiver diameter and field of view, yields the appropriate telescope cost versus communication performance curve.

  17. Update on Multi-Variable Parametric Cost Models for Ground and Space Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stahl, H. Philip; Henrichs, Todd; Luedtke, Alexander; West, Miranda

    2012-01-01

    Parametric cost models can be used by designers and project managers to perform relative cost comparisons between major architectural cost drivers and allow high-level design trades; enable cost-benefit analysis for technology development investment; and, provide a basis for estimating total project cost between related concepts. This paper reports on recent revisions and improvements to our ground telescope cost model and refinements of our understanding of space telescope cost models. One interesting observation is that while space telescopes are 50X to 100X more expensive than ground telescopes, their respective scaling relationships are similar. Another interesting speculation is that the role of technology development may be different between ground and space telescopes. For ground telescopes, the data indicates that technology development tends to reduce cost by approximately 50% every 20 years. But for space telescopes, there appears to be no such cost reduction because we do not tend to re-fly similar systems. Thus, instead of reducing cost, 20 years of technology development may be required to enable a doubling of space telescope capability. Other findings include: mass should not be used to estimate cost; spacecraft and science instrument costs account for approximately 50% of total mission cost; and, integration and testing accounts for only about 10% of total mission cost.

  18. The SPIRIT Telescope Initiative: Six Years On (Abstract)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luckas, P.

    2017-12-01

    (Abstract only) Now in its sixth year of operation, the SPIRIT initiative remains unique in Australia, as a robust web-enabled robotic telescope initiative funded for education and outreach. With multiple modes of operation catering for a variety of usage scenarios and a fully supported education program, SPIRIT provides free access to contemporary astronomical tools for students and educators in Western Australia and beyond. The technical solution itself provides an excellent model for low cost robotic telescope installations, and the education program has evolved over time to include a broad range of student experiences - from engagement activities to authentic science. This paper details the robotic telescope solution, student interface, and educational philosophy, summarizes achievements and lessons learned, and examines the possibilities for future enhancement including spectroscopy.

  19. Asteroid Observations with NCSFCT’s AZT-8 Telescope

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kozhukhov, O.M.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The asteroid observations of the small Solar System bodies were carried out with the AZT-8 telescope (D=0.7 m, f/4 of the National Center of Space Facilities Control and Testing (NCSFCT during 2010-2013. The telescope is located near Yevpatoria, the observatory code according IAU is B17. The observational program included perturbed main belt asteroids and NEO’s for the GAIA FUN-SSO Company. The MPC database contains more than 4500 asteroids positions and magnitudes obtained during this period at AZT-8 telescope. The article presents analysis of the positional accuracy of B17 observations obtained from the comparison with the JPL HORIZONS ephemeris, and data from AstDyS-2 and NEODyS-2 web services.

  20. Eyes on the Skies 400 Years of Telescopic Discovery

    CERN Document Server

    Schilling, Govert

    2011-01-01

    Adopted as the official book of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) 2009, this stunningly illustrated history of telescopic discovery spans the range from the first telescopes via the Hubble Space Telescope to next generation platforms, and how they have changed and continue to change our view of the universe, our place in it and where it all came from. Eyes on the Skies features numerous full-page photographs and is printed in high-quality color throughout. Also includes the official IYA DVD with 59 minutes of narrated text, expert comments and interviews, animations, computer simulatio

  1. Modal vibration testing of the DVA-1 radio telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byrnes, Peter W. G.; Lacy, Gordon

    2016-07-01

    The Dish Verification Antenna 1 (DVA-1) is a 15m aperture offset Gregorian radio telescope featuring a rim-supported single piece molded composite primary reflector on an altitude-azimuth pedestal mount. Vibration measurements of the DVA-1 telescope were conducted over three days in October 2014 by NSI Herzberg engineers. The purpose of these tests was to measure the first several natural frequencies of the DVA-1 telescope. This paper describes the experimental approach, in particular the step-release method, and summarizes some interesting results, including unexpectedly high damping of the first mode over a narrow range of zenith angles.

  2. Search for magnetic monopoles with the neutrino telescope ANTARES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Picot-Clemente, N.

    2010-01-01

    The ANTARES neutrino telescope is located at a 2500 meters depth, and is composed of an array of 900 photomultipliers installed for the detection of Cherenkov light emitted by neutrino-induced muons, after having interacted with matter, and in order to reconstruct their directions. However, besides of being capable of detecting high energy neutrinos, neutrino telescopes could measure the incoming flux of magnetic monopoles in the detector. In this work, were first presented the different methods used in order to calibrate the photomultipliers, which are the heart of a neutrino telescope. The possibility of detecting magnetic monopoles with ANTARES was then discussed, and a first analysis optimised for the search for high velocity magnetic monopoles showed the great sensitivity offered by the telescope. Finally, a track reconstruction algorithm was modified, and a new analysis this time sensitive over a wider range of velocities was performed. After the application of the last analysis on the data taken in 2008 with the ANTARES telescope, new upper limits on the upward going magnetic monopole flux, of masses lower than 10 14 GeV were obtained, and are the best experimental constraints on their flux for the velocity region β ∼ [0.65, 0.995]. (author)

  3. Reception and dissemination of American amateur telescope making in Sweden

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karnfelt, Johan

    2017-04-01

    This paper discusses the appropriation of the American Amateur Telescope Making (ATM) movement in Sweden in the 1940s and 1950s. A key player was the Swedish Astronomical Society, which in 1943, and inspired by the American example, launched a campaign to raise interest in ATM and disseminate the necessary knowledge amongst potential amateur astronomers. The campaign was successful and in just a few years it quadrupled the number of amateurs with access to telescopes. Swedish amateurs kept on building telescopes through the 1950s, but the activities then stalled with the introduction of cheap mass-market telescopes. The appropriation of ATM in Sweden is an important example of how technical innovations have shaped the course of amateur astronomy.

  4. The E-ELT project: the telescope main structure detailed design study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchiori, Gianpietro; Busatta, Andrea; Ghedin, Leonardo; De Lorenzi, Simone

    2012-09-01

    The European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) is the biggest telescope in the world. Within the Detailed Design activities, ESO has awarded EIE GROUP (European Industrial Engineering) a contract for the Design of the Main Structure to the point where the concept of the telescope has been consolidated, from a construction point of view. All the Design activities have been developed in order to create an integrated system in terms of functionality and performance, while the engineering activities have been performed with the aim of obtaining a telescope that can be built, transported, integrated, with a reduced maintainability.

  5. NASA Telescopes Help Identify Most Distant Galaxy Cluster

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    WASHINGTON -- Astronomers have uncovered a burgeoning galactic metropolis, the most distant known in the early universe. This ancient collection of galaxies presumably grew into a modern galaxy cluster similar to the massive ones seen today. The developing cluster, named COSMOS-AzTEC3, was discovered and characterized by multi-wavelength telescopes, including NASA's Spitzer, Chandra and Hubble space telescopes, and the ground-based W.M. Keck Observatory and Japan's Subaru Telescope. "This exciting discovery showcases the exceptional science made possible through collaboration among NASA projects and our international partners," said Jon Morse, NASA's Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Scientists refer to this growing lump of galaxies as a proto-cluster. COSMOS-AzTEC3 is the most distant massive proto-cluster known, and also one of the youngest, because it is being seen when the universe itself was young. The cluster is roughly 12.6 billion light-years away from Earth. Our universe is estimated to be 13.7 billion years old. Previously, more mature versions of these clusters had been spotted at 10 billion light-years away. The astronomers also found that this cluster is buzzing with extreme bursts of star formation and one enormous feeding black hole. "We think the starbursts and black holes are the seeds of the cluster," said Peter Capak of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "These seeds will eventually grow into a giant, central galaxy that will dominate the cluster -- a trait found in modern-day galaxy clusters." Capak is first author of a paper appearing in the Jan. 13 issue of the journal Nature. Most galaxies in our universe are bound together into clusters that dot the cosmic landscape like urban sprawls, usually centered around one old, monstrous galaxy containing a massive black hole. Astronomers thought that primitive versions of these clusters, still forming and clumping

  6. The earthshine s spectra

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montanes Rodriguez, P.; Palle, E.; Goode, P.; Koonin, S.; Hickey, J.; Qiu, J.; Yurchysyn, V.

    The Earthshine project, was run by California Institute of Technology (Caltech) between 1993 and 1995. Since 1998, it has been a collaborative effort between Caltech and Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO)/New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Our primary goal is the precise determination of a global and absolutely calibrated Earth's albedo and its synoptic, seasonal, and annual variability; as well as the measurement and investigation of the resolved reflected spectrum of the integrated Earth in the infrared region. The absorption in the infrared region, mainly due to rotational and vibrational transitions of the molecules, show the absorption bands of various telluric and solar components allowing the analysis of the Earth's spectrum such as it would be observed from the outer space. In this paper we present preliminary results of spectroscopic observations, made at Palomar Observatory with the 60-inch telescope's echelle spectrograph. They targeted the visible and near infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, and were performed in the spectral range (typically terrestrial molecular bands. The fourth line, H, is a solar line, used mainly for spectral calibration.

  7. Stray light characteristics of the diffractive telescope system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Dun; Wang, Lihua; Yang, Wei; Wu, Shibin; Fan, Bin; Wu, Fan

    2018-02-01

    Diffractive telescope technology is an innovation solution in construction of large light-weight space telescope. However, the nondesign orders of diffractive optical elements (DOEs) may affect the imaging performance as stray light. To study the stray light characteristics of a diffractive telescope, a prototype was developed and its stray light analysis model was established. The stray light characteristics including ghost, point source transmittance, and veiling glare index (VGI) were analyzed. During the star imaging test of the prototype, the ghost images appeared around the star image as the exposure time of the charge-coupled device improving, consistent with the simulation results. The test result of VGI was 67.11%, slightly higher than the calculated value 57.88%. The study shows that the same order diffraction of the diffractive primary lens and correcting DOE is the main factor that causes ghost images. The stray light sources outside the field of view can illuminate the image plane through nondesign orders diffraction of the primary lens and contributes to more than 90% of the stray light flux on the image plane. In summary, it is expected that these works will provide some guidance for optimizing the imaging performance of diffractive telescopes.

  8. A Cosmic Ray Telescope For Educational Purposes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Voulgaris, G.; Kazanas, S.; Chamilothoris, I.

    2010-01-01

    Cosmic ray detectors are widely used, for educational purposes, in order to motivate students to the physics of elementary particles and astrophysics. Using a 'telescope' of scintillation counters, the directional characteristics, diurnal variation, correlation with solar activity, can be determined, and conclusions about the composition, origin and interaction of elementary particles with the magnetic field of earth can be inferred. A telescope was built from two rectangular scintillator panels with dimensions: 91.6x1.9x3.7 cm 3 . The scintillators are placed on top of each other, separated by a fixed distance of 34.6 cm. They are supported by a wooden frame which can be rotated around a horizontal axis. Direction is determined by the coincidence of the signals of the two PMTs. Standard NIM modules are used for readout. This device is to be used in the undergraduate nuclear and particle physics laboratory. The design and construction of the telescope as well as some preliminary results are presented.

  9. San Pedro Martir Telescope: Mexican design endeavor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toledo-Ramirez, Gengis K.; Bringas-Rico, Vicente; Reyes, Noe; Uribe, Jorge; Lopez, Aldo; Tovar, Carlos; Caballero, Xochitl; Del-Llano, Luis; Martinez, Cesar; Macias, Eduardo; Lee, William; Carramiñana, Alberto; Richer, Michael; González, Jesús; Sanchez, Beatriz; Lucero, Diana; Manuel, Rogelio; Segura, Jose; Rubio, Saul; Gonzalez, German; Hernandez, Obed; García, Mary; Lazaro, Jose; Rosales-Ortega, Fabian; Herrera, Joel; Sierra, Gerardo; Serrano, Hazael

    2016-08-01

    The Telescopio San Pedro Martir (TSPM) is a new ground-based optical telescope project, with a 6.5 meters honeycomb primary mirror, to be built in the Observatorio Astronomico Nacional on the Sierra San Pedro Martir (OAN-SPM) located in Baja California, Mexico. The OAN-SPM has an altitude of 2830 meters above sea level; it is among the best location for astronomical observation in the world. It is located 1830 m higher than the atmospheric inversion layer with 70% of photometric nights, 80% of spectroscopic nights and a sky brightness up to 22 mag/arcsec2. The TSPM will be suitable for general science projects intended to improve the knowledge of the universe established on the Official Mexican Program for Science, Technology and Innovation 2014-2018. The telescope efforts are headed by two Mexican institutions in name of the Mexican astronomical community: the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and the Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica. The telescope has been financially supported mainly by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT). It is under development by Mexican scientists and engineers from the Center for Engineering and Industrial Development. This development is supported by a Mexican-American scientific cooperation, through a partnership with the University of Arizona (UA), and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). M3 Engineering and Technology Corporation in charge of enclosure and building design. The TSPM will be designed to allow flexibility and possible upgrades in order to maximize resources. Its optical and mechanical designs are based upon those of the Magellan and MMT telescopes. The TSPM primary mirror and its cell will be provided by the INAOE and UA. The telescope will be optimized from the near ultraviolet to the near infrared wavelength range (0.35-2.5 m), but will allow observations up to 26μm. The TSPM will initially offer a f/5 Cassegrain focal station. Later, four folded Cassegrain and

  10. The Lovell Telescope and its role in pulsar astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyne, Andrew; Morison, Ian

    2017-12-01

    This year marks the 60th anniversary of the commissioning of the 250-ft telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory, and the 50th anniversary of the discovery of pulsars at Cambridge. Both events resulted in enduring astronomical researches that have become intimately entwined, and here we celebrate them with a brief historical account of their relationship. We describe how the completion of the telescope in October 1957 coincided with the launch of Sputnik 1 at the start of the space race, a timely circumstance that was the financial saviour of Bernard Lovell's ambitious project. The telescope established a vital role in space tracking and, by the time that pulsars were discovered a decade later, was supported by an infrastructure that allowed their prompt, successful observation. Technical innovations to both the telescope and its receivers since then have continued to make it a superb tool for world-leading pulsar investigations and the study of the radio Universe.

  11. Radio telescope reflectors historical development of design and construction

    CERN Document Server

    Baars, Jacob W M

    2018-01-01

    This book demonstrates how progress in radio astronomy is intimately linked to the development of reflector antennas of increasing size and precision. The authors describe the design and construction of major radio telescopes as those in Dwingeloo, Jodrell Bank, Parkes, Effelsberg and Green Bank since 1950 up to the present as well as millimeter wavelength telescopes as the 30m MRT of IRAM in Spain, the 50m LMT in Mexico and the ALMA submillimeter instrument. The advances in methods of structural design and coping with environmental influences (wind, temperature, gravity) as well as application of new materials are explained in a non-mathematical, descriptive and graphical way along with the story of the telescopes. Emphasis is placed on the interplay between astronomical and electromagnetic requirements and structural, mechanical and control solutions. A chapter on management aspects of large telescope projects closes the book. The authors address a readership with interest in the progress of engineering sol...

  12. FACT. Normalized and asynchronous mirror alignment for Cherenkov telescopes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mueller, Sebastian Achim [ETH Zurich (Switzerland); Buss, Jens [TU Dortmund (Germany)

    2016-07-01

    Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) need fast and large imaging optics to map the faint Cherenkov light emitted in cosmic ray air showers onto their image sensors. Segmented reflectors are inexpensive, lightweight and offer good image quality. However, alignment of the mirror facets remains a challenge. A good alignment is crucial in IACT observations to separate gamma rays from hadronic cosmic rays. We present a star tracking alignment method which is not restricted to clear nights. It normalizes the mirror facet reflections to be independent of the reference star or the cloud coverage. It records asynchronously of the telescope drive which makes the method easy to integrate in existing telescopes. It can be combined with remote facet actuation, but it does not need one to work. Furthermore, it can reconstruct all individual mirror facet point spread functions. We present the method and alignment results on the First Geiger-mode Photo Diode Avalanche Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) on the Canary Island of La Palma, Spain.

  13. Wide-Field Imaging Telescope-0 (WIT0) with automatic observing system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ji, Tae-Geun; Byeon, Seoyeon; Lee, Hye-In; Park, Woojin; Lee, Sang-Yun; Hwang, Sungyong; Choi, Changsu; Gibson, Coyne Andrew; Kuehne, John W.; Prochaska, Travis; Marshall, Jennifer L.; Im, Myungshin; Pak, Soojong

    2018-01-01

    We introduce Wide-Field Imaging Telescope-0 (WIT0), with an automatic observing system. It is developed for monitoring the variabilities of many sources at a time, e.g. young stellar objects and active galactic nuclei. It can also find the locations of transient sources such as a supernova or gamma-ray bursts. In 2017 February, we installed the wide-field 10-inch telescope (Takahashi CCA-250) as a piggyback system on the 30-inch telescope at the McDonald Observatory in Texas, US. The 10-inch telescope has a 2.35 × 2.35 deg field-of-view with a 4k × 4k CCD Camera (FLI ML16803). To improve the observational efficiency of the system, we developed a new automatic observing software, KAOS30 (KHU Automatic Observing Software for McDonald 30-inch telescope), which was developed by Visual C++ on the basis of a windows operating system. The software consists of four control packages: the Telescope Control Package (TCP), the Data Acquisition Package (DAP), the Auto Focus Package (AFP), and the Script Mode Package (SMP). Since it also supports the instruments that are using the ASCOM driver, the additional hardware installations become quite simplified. We commissioned KAOS30 in 2017 August and are in the process of testing. Based on the WIT0 experiences, we will extend KAOS30 to control multiple telescopes in future projects.

  14. LOBSTER: new space x-ray telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hudec, R.; Sveda, L.; Pína, L.; Inneman, A.; Semencova, V.; Skulinova, M.

    2017-11-01

    The LOBSTER telescopes are based on the optical arrangement of the lobster eye. The main difference from classical X-ray space telescopes in wide use is the very large field of view while the use of optics results in higher efficiency if compared with detectors without optics. Recent innovative technologies have enabled to design, to develop and to test first prototypes. They will provide deep sensitive survey of the sky in X-rays for the first time which is essential for both long-term monitoring of celestial high-energy sources as well as in understanding transient phenomena. The technology is now ready for applications in space.

  15. Autonomous Dome for a Robotic Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, A.; Sengupta, A.; Ganesh, S.

    2016-12-01

    The Physical Research Laboratory operates a 50 cm robotic observatory at Mount Abu (Rajsthan, India). This Automated Telescope for Variability Studies (ATVS) makes use of the Remote Telescope System 2 (RTS2) for autonomous operations. The observatory uses a 3.5 m dome from Sirius Observatories. We have developed electronics using Arduino electronic circuit boards with home grown logic and software to control the dome operations. We are in the process of completing the drivers to link our Arduino based dome controller with RTS2. This document is a short description of the various phases of the development and their integration to achieve the required objective.

  16. Status of the GroundBIRD Telescope

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Choi J.

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Our understanding of physics at very early Universe, as early as 10−35 s after the Big Bang, relies on the scenario known as the inflationary cosmology. Inflation predicts a particular polarization pattern in the cosmic microwave background, known as the B-mode yet the strength of such polarization pattern is extremely weak. To search for the B-mode of the polarization in the cosmic microwave background, we are constructing an off-axis rotating telescope to mitigate systematic effects as well as to maximize the sky coverage of the observation. We will discuss the present status of the GroundBIRD telescope.

  17. Automation of the Lowell Observatory 0.8-m Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buie, M. W.

    2001-11-01

    In the past year I have converted the Lowell Observatory 0.8-m telescope from a classically scheduled and operated telescope to an automated facility. The new setup uses an existing CCD camera and the existing telescope control system. The key steps in the conversion were writing a new CCD control and data acquisition module plus writing communication and queue control software. The previous CCD control program was written for DOS and much of the code was reused for this project. The entire control system runs under Linux and consists of four daemons: MOVE, PCCD, CMDR, and PCTL. The MOVE daemon is a process that communciates with the telescope control system via an RS232 port, keeping track of its state and forwarding commands from other processes to the telescope. The PCCD daemon controls the CCD camera and collects data. The CMDR daemon maintains a FIFO queue of commands to be executed during the night. The PCTL daemon receives notification from any other deamon of execution failures and sends an error code to the on-duty observer via a numeric pager. This system runs through the night much as you would traditionally operate a telescope. However, this system permits queuing up all the commands for a night and they execute one after another in sequence. Additional commands are needed to replace the normal human interaction during observing (ie., target acquisition, field registration, focusing). Also, numerous temporal synchronization commands are required so that observations happen at the right time. The system was used for this year's photometric monitoring of Pluto and Triton and is in general use for 2/3 of time on the telescope. Pluto observations were collected on 30 nights out of a potential pool of 90 nights. Detailed system design and capabilites plus sample observations will be presented. Also, a live demonstration will be provided if the weather is good. This work was supported by NASA Grant NAG5-4210 and the NSF REU Program grant to NAU.

  18. A New Observing Tool for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Folger, Martin; Bridger, Alan; Dent, Bill; Kelly, Dennis; Adamson, Andy; Economou, Frossie; Hirst, Paul; Jenness, Tim

    A new Observing Tool (OT) has been developed at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Edinburgh, UK and the Joint Astronomy Centre, Hilo, Hawaii, USA. It is based on the Gemini Observing Tool and provides the first graphical observation preparation tool for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) as well as being the first use of the OT for a non-optical/IR telescope. The OT allows the observer to assemble high level Science Programs using graphical representations of observation components such as instrument, target, and filter. This is later translated into low level control sequences for telescope and instruments. The new OT is designed to work on multiple telescopes: currently the UK Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) and JCMT. Object-oriented design makes the inclusion of telescope and instrument specific packages easy. The OT is written in Java using GUI packages such as Swing and JSky. A new component for the JCMT OT is the graphical Frequency Editor for Heterodyne instruments. It can be used to specify parameters such as frequencies, bandwidths, and sidebands of multiple subsystems, while graphically displaying the front-end frequency, emission lines and atmospheric transmission. In addition, Flexible Scheduling support has been added to the OT. The observer can define scheduling constraints by arranging observations graphically. Science Programs can be saved as XML or sent directly from the OT to a database (via SOAP).

  19. Kalman Filter for Calibrating a Telescope Focal Plane

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Bryan; Bayard, David

    2006-01-01

    The instrument-pointing frame (IPF) Kalman filter, and an algorithm that implements this filter, have been devised for calibrating the focal plane of a telescope. As used here, calibration signifies, more specifically, a combination of measurements and calculations directed toward ensuring accuracy in aiming the telescope and determining the locations of objects imaged in various arrays of photodetectors in instruments located on the focal plane. The IPF Kalman filter was originally intended for application to a spaceborne infrared astronomical telescope, but can also be applied to other spaceborne and ground-based telescopes. In the traditional approach to calibration of a telescope, (1) one team of experts concentrates on estimating parameters (e.g., pointing alignments and gyroscope drifts) that are classified as being of primarily an engineering nature, (2) another team of experts concentrates on estimating calibration parameters (e.g., plate scales and optical distortions) that are classified as being primarily of a scientific nature, and (3) the two teams repeatedly exchange data in an iterative process in which each team refines its estimates with the help of the data provided by the other team. This iterative process is inefficient and uneconomical because it is time-consuming and entails the maintenance of two survey teams and the development of computer programs specific to the requirements of each team. Moreover, theoretical analysis reveals that the engineering/ science iterative approach is not optimal in that it does not yield the best estimates of focal-plane parameters and, depending on the application, may not even enable convergence toward a set of estimates.

  20. Education and outreach using the falcon telescope network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gresham, Kimberlee C.; Palma, Christopher; Polsgrove, Daniel E.; Chun, Francis K.; Della-Rose, Devin J.; Tippets, Roger D.

    2016-12-01

    The Falcon Telescope Network (FTN) is a global network of small aperture telescopes developed by the Center for Space Situational Awareness Research in the Department of Physics at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA). Consisting of commercially available equipment, the FTN is a collaborative effort between USAFA and other educational institutions ranging from two- and four-year colleges to major research universities. USAFA provides the equipment (e.g. telescope, mount, camera, filter wheel, dome, weather station, computers and storage devices) while the educational partners provide the building and infrastructure to support an observatory. The user base includes USAFA along with K-12 and higher education faculty and students. The diversity of the users implies a wide variety of observing interests, and thus the FTN collects images on diverse objects, including satellites, galactic and extragalactic objects, and objects popular for education and public outreach. The raw imagery, all in the public domain, will be accessible to FTN partners and will be archived at USAFA. Currently, there are five Falcon telescopes installed, two in Colorado and one each in Pennsylvania, Chile, and Australia. These five telescopes are in various stages of operational capability but all are remotely operable via a remote desktop application. The FTN team has conducted STEM First Light Projects for three of the U.S. observatories, soliciting proposals from middle and high school students and teachers that suggest and then become what is observed as official STEM first-light objects. Students and teachers learn how to write and submit a proposal as well as how telescopes operate and take data, while university-level students at the U.S. Air Force Academy and The Pennsylvania State University learn how to evaluate proposals and provide feedback to the middle and high school students and teachers. In this paper, we present the current status of the FTN, details of and lessons