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Sample records for holger pedersen astronomical

  1. Holger Loodus / Holger Loodus

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Loodus, Holger

    2000-01-01

    Ansambli "Dallas" kitarrist Holger Loodus kirjutab oma olulisematest plaatidest:Blondie "The Best Of Blondie", Peter Sarstedt "Peter Sarstedt", Collage "Kadriko", Kraftwerk "Man Machine", Nansy Sinatra ja Lee Hazlewood "The Hits Of Nancy & Lee", The Modern Jazz Quarte "Third Stream Music"

  2. 700 kg jern med de smukkeste krystaller

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Jens Olaf Pepke

    2017-01-01

    Anmeldelse af Holger Pedersen, “Pallas Iron – Russia’s first meteorite”, 260 sider, 190 kr. BoD 2017 (www.bod.dk/bog/).......Anmeldelse af Holger Pedersen, “Pallas Iron – Russia’s first meteorite”, 260 sider, 190 kr. BoD 2017 (www.bod.dk/bog/)....

  3. Holger Loodus ja maalikunst = Holger Loodus and painting / Indrek Grigor

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Grigor, Indrek, 1981-

    2016-01-01

    Holger Looduse isiknäitus "Urlaub" Vaal galeriis Tallinnas. Galeriis on viis õlimaali, kolm töödeldud fotot, üks tehniline installatsioon ja üks videoinstallatsioon. Keskne teema - puhkus ja reisimine

  4. Find Holger - også en anden gang

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Albrechtslund, Anders

    2011-01-01

    Vi fandt Holger! Solstrålehistorien om den 3-årige dreng, der gik sin vej og siden blev fundet igen, er gået verden rundt. Den gode nyhed giver anledning til at tænke over, hvorfor vi egentlig fandt Holger uskadt?...

  5. Paul B. Pedersen (1936-2017).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lonner, Walter J; Draguns, Juris G

    2018-01-01

    Presents an obituary for Paul B. Pedersen, who passed away on January 11, 2017, in a Minnetonka, Minnesota hospital. In 1973 Pedersen convened a pathfinding APA (Division 9) symposium in Montreal that resulted in the publication in 1976 of Counseling Across Cultures (Pedersen, Lonner, and Draguns, Eds.). The first book of its kind, it became the "Granddaddy" of all subsequent books in that area. The seventh edition, published in 2016 (with Trimble and Scharron-del Rio, co-eds), benefitted from his steadfast encouragement, but his deteriorating health prevented a more active role. His epitaph may well be one of his wisest and oft-quoted sayings: "All interviewing and counseling is multicultural. Each client comes to the session embodying multiple voices from the past." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. Review: Holger Stoecker: Afrikawissenschaften in Berlin von 1919 bis 1945. Zur Geschichte und Topographie eines wissenschaftlichen Netzwerkes (2008 Buchbesprechung: Holger Stoecker: Afrikawissenschaften in Berlin von 1919 bis 1945. Zur Geschichte und Topographie eines wissenschaftlichen Netzwerkes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katrin Bromber

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Review of the monograph: Holger Stoecker: Afrikawissenschaften in Berlin von 1919 bis 1945. Zur Geschichte und Topographie eines wissenschaftlichen Netzwerkes, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag 2008, ISBN 978-3-515-09161-9, 359 pages. Besprechung der Monographie: Holger Stoecker: Afrikawissenschaften in Berlin von 1919 bis 1945. Zur Geschichte und Topographie eines wissenschaftlichen Netzwerkes, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag 2008, ISBN 978-3-515-09161-9, 359 Seiten.

  7. Taju vormiv arhitektuur / Eva Castro, Holger Kehne ; interv. Inga Raukas

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Castro, Eva

    2002-01-01

    Londoni arhitektuuribüroo Plasma Studio arhitektid Eva Castro (s. 1969 Argentiinas) ja Holger Kehne (s. 1970 Saksamaal) räägivad oma tööst ja arhitektuurist. Loetletud büroo tähtsamad arhitektuuriauhinnad ja projektid. Osalesid 5. Põhja- ja Baltimaade arhitektuuritriennaalil

  8. Charles J. Pedersen's legacy to chemistry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Izatt, Reed M

    2017-05-09

    The serendipitous discovery in 1961 of dibenzo-18-crown-6 by Charles J. Pedersen marked the beginning of research on cyclic polyether macrocyclic compounds. These compounds have a remarkably selective affinity for certain metal ions and provide a framework for studying molecular recognition processes. Pedersen's work excited much interest in the scientific community and fueled important advances in macrocyclic and supramolecular chemistry. Born in Korea of a Japanese mother and a Norwegian engineer father, he was educated in Japan and later graduated from the University of Dayton (BS, chemical engineering) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS, chemistry). He worked at du Pont for 42 years as a research chemist. His research talent at du Pont earned him an appointment as a Research Associate allowing him to pursue research as he chose. This freedom served him well making it possible for him to devote all his efforts following his discovery of dibenzo-18-crown-6 until his retirement to synthesis of cyclic polyethers and evaluation of their metal ion complexation properties. His influence on macrocyclic and supramolecular chemistry has been pervasive. He was co-recipient of the 1987 Nobel Prize in chemistry for development and use of molecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity. The year 2017 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of his first paper describing his synthesis of over 50 crown ethers.

  9. Edgar Savisaar : Mina ei anna mitte mingit hinnangut / Edgar Savisaar ; interv. Dannar Leitmaa, Holger Roonemaa

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Savisaar, Edgar, 1950-

    2008-01-01

    Tallinna linnapea vastused linnavalitsuse pressikonverentsil küsimustele, mis puudutasid Keskerakonna suurrahastaja Oliver Kruuda omavolilist ehitamist Nõmmel. Vt. samas: Holger Roonemaa. Inspektorid ei pannud Kruuda tegevust tähele

  10. Smooth vectors and Weyl-Pedersen calculus for representations of nilpotent Lie groups

    OpenAIRE

    Beltita, Ingrid; Beltita, Daniel

    2009-01-01

    We present some recent results on smooth vectors for unitary irreducible representations of nilpotent Lie groups. Applications to the Weyl-Pedersen calculus of pseudo-differential operators with symbols on the coadjoint orbits are also discussed.

  11. Miljonitehing : Kalev müüdud - jumal tänatud, kõik murest lahti / Andres Reimer, Holger Roonemaa, Vallo Toomet

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Reimer, Andres

    2007-01-01

    Kalevi ja Tere toiduainetööstusettevõtete müügist investeerimisfirmale Alta Capital Partners. Vt. samas: Alta Capital Partners; Holger Roonemaa, Kristjan Jõevere. Finantsinspektsioon: Kalev rikkus head tava

  12. ST5 Observations of the Imbalance of Region 1 and 2 Field-Aligned Currents and Its Implication to the Cross-Polar Cap Pedersen Currents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le, Guan; Slavin, J. A.; Strangeway, Robert

    2011-01-01

    In this study, we use the in-situ magnetic field observations from Space Technology 5 mission to quantify the imbalance of Region 1 (R1) and Region 2 (R2) currents. During the three-month duration of the ST5 mission, geomagnetic conditions range from quiet to moderately active. We find that the R1 current intensity is consistently stronger than the R2 current intensity both for the dawnside and the duskside large-scale field-aligned current system. The net currents flowing into (out of) the ionosphere in the dawnside (duskside) are in the order of 5% of the total R1 currents. We also find that the net currents flowing into or out of the ionosphere are controlled by the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction in the same way as the field-aligned currents themselves are. Since the net currents due to the imbalance of the R1 and R2 currents require that their closure currents flow across the polar cap from dawn to dusk as Pedersen currents, our results indicate that the total amount of the cross-polar cap Pedersen currents is in the order of 0.1 MA. This study, although with a very limited dataset, is one of the first attempts to quantify the cross-polar cap Pedersen currents. Given the importance of the Joule heating due to Pedersen currents to the high-latitude ionospheric electrodynamics, quantifying the cross-polar cap Pedersen currents and associated Joule heating is needed for developing models of the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling.

  13. The Pedersen current carried by electrons: a non-linear response of the ionosphere to magnetospheric forcing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. C. Buchert

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available Observations by the EISCAT Svalbard radar show that electron temperatures Te in the cusp electrojet reach up to about 4000 K. The heat is tapped and converted from plasma convection in the near Earth space by a Pedersen current that is carried by electrons due to the presence of irregularities and their demagnetising effect. The heat is transfered to the neutral gas by collisions. In order to enhance Te to such high temperatures the maximally possible dissipation at 50% demagnetisation must nearly be reached. The effective Pedersen conductances are found to be enhanced by up to 60% compared to classical values. Conductivities and conductances respond significantly to variations of the electric field strength E, and "Ohm's law" for the ionosphere becomes non-linear for large E.

  14. Christian Bergqvist, Vladimir Bastidas, Henrik Ballebye Okholm, Torben Thorø Pedersen, Eirik Østerud: Where Do We Stand on Discounts? - A Nordic Perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fejø, Jens

    2018-01-01

    Anmeldelse af: Christian Bergqvist (red.), Vladimir Bastidas, Henrik Ballebye Okholm, Torben Thorø Pedersen & Eirik Østerud: Where Do We Stand on Discounts? - A Nordic Perspective. ExTuto Publishing, 2017. 208 sider, indbundet. Pris: 395 kr.......Anmeldelse af: Christian Bergqvist (red.), Vladimir Bastidas, Henrik Ballebye Okholm, Torben Thorø Pedersen & Eirik Østerud: Where Do We Stand on Discounts? - A Nordic Perspective. ExTuto Publishing, 2017. 208 sider, indbundet. Pris: 395 kr....

  15. Dos obras de Kohn-Pedersen-Fox/EE.UU

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Editorial, Equipo

    1985-12-01

    Full Text Available Two works by Pedersen Fox Associates PC are described in this article. In the first one, the play of volumes and the curved curtain wall façade are the leading part defining the building. At the same time it must be pointed out the decorative use of the different cladding materials and the contrast between the base of the volume and its upper part, of a very different feature from the point of view of the design. The second work takes benefit of the site with symbolic aims as for its façade, the whole being harmonized around a gardened inner court full colored.En la primera de ellas juegan un papel decisivo el cerramiento de muro-cortina y la línea curva de la fachada, elementos ambos que definen el edificio. Asimismo hay que destacar el empleo decorativo de los diferentes materiales de revestimiento y el contraste entre la base del edificio y la parte superior, de muy distinta concepción desde el punto de vista del diseño. La segunda de ellas aprovecha con fines simbólicos el emplazamiento del edificio en cuanto a su fachada principal armonizándolo con una distribución en torno a un patio interior ajardinado, con predominio del color.

  16. Avaliação da atividade anti-inflamatória intestinal de Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng.) Pedersen

    OpenAIRE

    Tanimoto, Alexandre [UNESP

    2013-01-01

    Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng.) Pedersen (“ginseng brasileiro”) é uma planta medicinal que apresenta um amplo espectro de usos como tônico, antiestresse e afrodisíaco. Esta espécie pertence ao complexo grupo de plantas medicinais conhecidas como “ginseng” e compõe um grupo específico de plantas denominadas adaptógenas, definidas como produtos capazes de aumentar a resistência não específica do organismo frente a diferentes estímulos estressores; considerando-se tal definição, é previsível que os ...

  17. Getting Astronomers Involved in the IYA: Astronomer in the Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koenig, Kris

    2008-05-01

    The Astronomer in the Classroom program provides professional astronomers the opportunity to engage with 3rd-12th grade students across the nation in grade appropriate discussions of their recent research, and provides students with rich STEM content in a personalized forum, bringing greater access to scientific knowledge for underserved populations. 21st Century Learning and Interstellar Studios, the producer of the 400 Years of the Telescope documentary along with their educational partners, will provide the resources necessary to facilitate the Astronomer in the Classroom program, allowing students to interact with astronomers throughout the IYA2009. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION One of hundreds of astronomers will be available to interact with students via live webcast daily during Spring/Fall 2009. The astronomer for the day will conduct three 20-minute discussions (Grades 3-5 /6-8/9-12), beginning with a five-minute PowerPoint on their research or area of interest. The discussion will be followed by a question and answer period. The students will participate in real-time from their school computer(s) with the technology provided by 21st Century Learning. They will see and hear the astronomer on their screen, and pose questions from their keyboard. Teachers will choose from three daily sessions; 11:30 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. This schedule overlaps all US time zones, and marginalizes bandwidth usage, preventing technological barriers to web access. The educational partners and astronomers will post materials online, providing easy access to information that will prepare teachers and students for the chosen discussion. The astronomers, invited to participate from the AAS and IAU, will receive a web cam shipment with instructions, a brief training and conductivity test, and prepaid postage for shipment of the web cam to the next astronomer on the list. The anticipated astronomer time required is 3-hours, not including the time to develop the PowerPoint.

  18. Biographical encyclopedia of astronomers

    CERN Document Server

    Trimble, Virginia; Williams, Thomas; Bracher, Katherine; Jarrell, Richard; Marché, Jordan; Palmeri, JoAnn; Green, Daniel

    2014-01-01

    The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers is a unique and valuable resource for historians and astronomers alike. It includes approx. 1850 biographical sketches on astronomers from antiquity to modern times. It is the collective work of 430 authors edited by an editorial board of 8 historians and astronomers. This reference provides biographical information on astronomers and cosmologists by utilizing contemporary historical scholarship. The fully corrected and updated second edition adds approximately 300 biographical sketches. Based on ongoing research and feedback from the community, the new entries will fill gaps and provide expansions. In addition, greater emphasis on Russo phone astronomers and radio astronomers is given. Individual entries vary from 100 to 1500 words, including the likes of the super luminaries such as Newton and Einstein, as well as lesser-known astronomers like Galileo's acolyte, Mario Guiducci.

  19. A Survey of the Almagest

    CERN Document Server

    Pedersen, Olaf

    2011-01-01

    "The Almagest", by the Greek astronomer and mathematician Ptolemy, is the most important surviving treatise on early mathematical astronomy, offering historians valuable insight into the astronomy and mathematics of the ancient world. Pedersen's 1974 publication, "A Survey of the Almagest", is the most recent in a long tradition of companions to the "Almagest'. Part paraphrase and part commentary, Pedersen's work has earned the universal praise of historians and serves as the definitive introductory text for students interested in studying the "Almagest". In

  20. Latin American astronomers and the International Astronomical Union

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torres-Peimbert, S.

    2017-07-01

    Selected aspects of the participation of the Latin American astronomers in the International Astronomical Union are presented: Membership, Governing bodies, IAU meetings, and other activities. The Union was founded in 1919 with 7 initial member states, soon to be followed by Brazil. In 1921 Mexico joined, and in 1928 Argentina also formed part of the Union, while Chile joined in 1947. In 1961 Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela were already member countries. At present (October 2016) 72 countries contribute financially to the Union. The Union lists 12,391 professional astronomers as individual members; of those, 692 astronomers work in Latin America and the Caribbean, from 13 member states (Argentina, Bolivia , Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, Panamá, Perú, Uruguay and Venezuela) as well as from Ecuador and Puerto Rico. This group comprises 5.58% of the total membership, a figure somewhat lower than the fraction of the population in the region, which is 8.6% of the world population. Of the Latin American members, 23.4% are women and 76.6% are men; slightly higher than the whole membership of Union, which is of 16.9%. In the governing bodies it can be mentioned that there have been 2 Presidents of the Union (Jorge Sahade and Silvia Torres-Peimbert), 7 VicePresidents (Guillermo Haro, Jorge Sahade, Manuel Peimbert Claudio Anguita, Silvia Torres-Peimbert, Beatriz Barbuy, and Marta G. Rovira). The IAU meetings held in the region, include 2 General Assemblies (the 1991 XXI GA took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina and the 2009 XXVIII GA, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), 15 Regional Meetings (in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela and Uruguay), 29 Symposia (in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru and Mexico), 5 Colloquia (in Argentina and Mexico), 8 International Schools for Young Astronomers (in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Honduras and Mexico), and 11 projects sponsored by the Office of Astronomy

  1. F-region Pedersen conductivity deduced using the TIMED/GUVI limb retrievals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Zhang

    2006-07-01

    Full Text Available As a proxy of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability growth rate for equatorial plasma bubbles, we investigate the flux-tube integrated F-region Pedersen conductivity (ΣPF using the electron density profiles (EDPs provided by the Global Ultraviolet Imager (GUVI on board the Thermosphere Ionosphere and Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED satellite. The investigation is conducted using the EDPs obtained in the Atlantic sector at 19:00-22:00 LT during 4–17 August and 6-16 December 2002. The seasonal difference of the strength and location of the equatorial ionization anomalies (EIAs induces a significant difference in the deduced ΣPF. Much stronger EIAs are created at higher altitudes and latitudes in December rather than in August. At 19:00–20:00 LT, the peak value of the ΣPF has 23 mhos at 1100 km apex height during 14–16 December and 18mhos at 600 km during 15–17 August. The ΣPF decreases as local time progresses. Therefore, ΣPF provides a preferred condition for the growth of bubbles to higher altitudes at 19:00-20:00 LT than at later hours, in December rather than in August in the Atlantic sector.

  2. Methods in Astronomical Image Processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jörsäter, S.

    A Brief Introductory Note History of Astronomical Imaging Astronomical Image Data Images in Various Formats Digitized Image Data Digital Image Data Philosophy of Astronomical Image Processing Properties of Digital Astronomical Images Human Image Processing Astronomical vs. Computer Science Image Processing Basic Tools of Astronomical Image Processing Display Applications Calibration of Intensity Scales Calibration of Length Scales Image Re-shaping Feature Enhancement Noise Suppression Noise and Error Analysis Image Processing Packages: Design of AIPS and MIDAS AIPS MIDAS Reduction of CCD Data Bias Subtraction Clipping Preflash Subtraction Dark Subtraction Flat Fielding Sky Subtraction Extinction Correction Deconvolution Methods Rebinning/Combining Summary and Prospects for the Future

  3. The Practical Astronomer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koester, Jack

    "The Practical Astronomer" by Thomas Dick, LLD, E.C. & J. Biddle, Philadelphia, 1849, is reviewed. Information on telescope makers and astronomers can be found. Mentioned are: Fraunhofer; John Herschel; Lawson; Dollond; Tulley; W. & S. Jones; and S.W. Burnham.

  4. Astronomical Research Using Virtual Observatories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M Tanaka

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The Virtual Observatory (VO for Astronomy is a framework that empowers astronomical research by providing standard methods to find, access, and utilize astronomical data archives distributed around the world. VO projects in the world have been strenuously developing VO software tools and/or portal systems. Interoperability among VO projects has been achieved with the VO standard protocols defined by the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA. As a result, VO technologies are now used in obtaining astronomical research results from a huge amount of data. We describe typical examples of astronomical research enabled by the astronomical VO, and describe how the VO technologies are used in the research.

  5. FITSManager: Management of Personal Astronomical Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Chenzhou; Fan, Dongwei; Zhao, Yongheng; Kembhavi, Ajit; He, Boliang; Cao, Zihuang; Li, Jian; Nandrekar, Deoyani

    2011-07-01

    With the increase of personal storage capacity, it is easy to find hundreds to thousands of FITS files in the personal computer of an astrophysicist. Because Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) is a professional data format initiated by astronomers and used mainly in the small community, data management toolkits for FITS files are very few. Astronomers need a powerful tool to help them manage their local astronomical data. Although Virtual Observatory (VO) is a network oriented astronomical research environment, its applications and related technologies provide useful solutions to enhance the management and utilization of astronomical data hosted in an astronomer's personal computer. FITSManager is such a tool to provide astronomers an efficient management and utilization of their local data, bringing VO to astronomers in a seamless and transparent way. FITSManager provides fruitful functions for FITS file management, like thumbnail, preview, type dependent icons, header keyword indexing and search, collaborated working with other tools and online services, and so on. The development of the FITSManager is an effort to fill the gap between management and analysis of astronomical data.

  6. UKRVO Astronomical WEB Services

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mazhaev, O.E.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Ukraine Virtual Observatory (UkrVO has been a member of the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA since 2011. The virtual observatory (VO is not a magic solution to all problems of data storing and processing, but it provides certain standards for building infrastructure of astronomical data center. The astronomical databases help data mining and offer to users an easy access to observation metadata, images within celestial sphere and results of image processing. The astronomical web services (AWS of UkrVO give to users handy tools for data selection from large astronomical catalogues for a relatively small region of interest in the sky. Examples of the AWS usage are showed.

  7. Astronomical Heritage in the National Culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harutyunian, H. A.; Mickaelian, A. M.; Parsamian, E. S.

    2014-10-01

    The book contains Proceedings of the Archaeoastronomical Meeting "Astronomical Heritage in the National Culture" Dedicated to Anania Shirakatsi's 1400th Anniversary and XI Annual Meeting of the Armenian Astronomical Society. It consists of 3 main sections: "Astronomical Heritage", "Anania Shirakatsi" and "Modern Astronomy", as well as Literature about Anania Shirakatsi is included. The book may be interesting for astronomers, historians, archaeologists, linguists, students and other readers.

  8. Explanatory supplement to the astronomical almanac

    CERN Document Server

    Urban, Sean E

    2013-01-01

    The Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac offers explanatory material, supplemental information and detailed descriptions of the computational models and algorithms used to produce The Astronomical Almanac, which is an annual publication prepared jointly by the US Naval Observatory and Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office in the UK. Like The Astronomical Almanac, The Explanatory Supplement provides detailed coverage of modern positional astronomy. Chapters are devoted to the celestial and terrestrial reference frames, orbital ephemerides, precession, nutation, Earth rotation, and coordinate transformations. These topics have undergone substantial revisions since the last edition was published. Astronomical positions are intertwined with timescales and relativity in The Astronomical Almanac, so related chapters are provided in The Explanatory Supplement. The Astronomical Almanac also includes information on lunar and solar eclipses, physical ephemerides of solar system bodies, and calendars, so T...

  9. Astronomical Ecosystems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neuenschwander, D. E.; Finkenbinder, L. R.

    2004-05-01

    Just as quetzals and jaguars require specific ecological habitats to survive, so too must planets occupy a tightly constrained astronomical habitat to support life as we know it. With this theme in mind we relate the transferable features of our elementary astronomy course, "The Astronomical Basis of Life on Earth." Over the last five years, in a team-taught course that features a spring break field trip to Costa Rica, we have introduced astronomy through "astronomical ecosystems," emphasizing astronomical constraints on the prospects for life on Earth. Life requires energy, chemical elements, and long timescales, and we emphasize how cosmological, astrophysical, and geological realities, through stabilities and catastrophes, create and eliminate niches for biological life. The linkage between astronomy and biology gets immediate and personal: for example, studies in solar energy production are followed by hikes in the forest to examine the light-gathering strategies of photosynthetic organisms; a lesson on tides is conducted while standing up to our necks in one on a Pacific beach. Further linkages between astronomy and the human timescale concerns of biological diversity, cultural diversity, and environmental sustainability are natural and direct. Our experience of teaching "astronomy as habitat" strongly influences our "Astronomy 101" course in Oklahoma as well. This "inverted astrobiology" seems to transform our student's outlook, from the universe being something "out there" into something "we're in!" We thank the SNU Science Alumni support group "The Catalysts," and the SNU Quetzal Education and Research Center, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, for their support.

  10. Choosing and using astronomical eyepieces

    CERN Document Server

    Paolini, William

    2013-01-01

    This valuable reference fills a number of needs in the field of astronomical eyepieces, including that of a buyer's guide, observer's field guide and technical desk reference. It documents the past market for eyepieces and its evolution right up to the present day. In addition to appealing to practical astronomers - and potentially saving them money - it is useful both as a historical reference and as a detailed review of the current market place for this bustling astronomical consumer product. What distinguishes this book from other publications on astronomy is the involvement of observers from all aspects of the astronomical community, and also the major manufacturers of equipment. It not only catalogs the technical aspects of the many modern eyepieces but also documents amateur observer reactions and impressions of their utility over the years, using many different eyepieces. Eyepieces are the most talked-about accessories and collectible items available to the amateur astronomer. No other item of equi...

  11. Korean Astronomical Calendar, Chiljeongsan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Eun Hee

    In fifteenth century Korea, there was a grand project for the astronomical calendar and instrument making by the order of King Sejong 世宗 (1418-1450). During this period, many astronomical and calendrical books including Islamic sources in Chinese versions were imported from Ming 明 China, and corrected and researched by the court astronomers of Joseon 朝鮮 (1392-1910). Moreover, the astronomers and technicians of Korea frequently visited China to study astronomy and instrument making, and they brought back useful information in the form of new published books or specifications of instruments. As a result, a royal observatory equipped with 15 types of instrument was completed in 1438. Two types of calendar, Chiljeongsan Naepyeon 七政算內篇 and Chiljeongsan Oepyeon 七政算外篇, based on the Chinese and Islamic calendar systems, respectively, were published in 1444 with a number of calendrical editions such as corrections and example supplements (假令) including calculation methods and results for solar and lunar eclipses.

  12. New Life for Astronomical Instruments of the Past at the Astronomical Observatory of Taras Shevchenko

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kazantseva, Liliya

    2012-09-01

    Astronomical instruments of the past are certainly valuable artifacts of the history of science and education. Like other collections of scientific equipment, they also demonstrate i) development of scientific and technical ideas, ii) technological features of the historical period, iii) professional features of artists or companies -- manufacturers, and iv) national and local specificity of production. However, astronomical instruments are also devices made for observations of rare phenomena -- solar eclipses, transits of planets of the solar disk, etc. Instruments used to study these rare events were very different for each event, since the science changed quickly between events. The Astronomical Observatory of Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University has a collection of tools made by leading European and local shops from the early nineteenth century. These include tools for optically observing the first artificial Earth satellites, photography, chronometry, and meteorology. In addition, it has assembled a library of descriptions of astronomical instruments and makers'price-lists. Of particular interest are the large stationary tools that are still active in their pavilions. Almost every instrument has a long interesting history. Museification of astronomical instruments gives them a second life, expanding educational programs and tracing the development of astronomy in general and scientific institution and region in particular. It would be advisable to first create a regional database of these rare astronomical instruments (which is already being done in Ukraine), then a common global database. By combining all the historical information about astronomical instruments with the advantages of the Internet, you can show the full evolution of an astronomical instrument with all its features. Time is relentless, and much is destroyed, badly kept and thrown in the garbage. We need time to protect, capture, and tell about it.

  13. Nitrogênio e fósforo no crescimento de plantas de ginseng brasileiro [Pfaffia glomerata(Spreng. Pedersen] cultivadas in vitro Nitrogen and phosphorus on growth of brazilian ginseng [Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng. Pedersen] in vitro cultured plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Denise Russowski

    2003-02-01

    Full Text Available O ginseng brasileiro [Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng. Pedersen] apresenta propriedades medicinais marcantes e, por isso, atualmente, é largamente explorado de forma extrativista, tanto por parte dos coletores de ervas como pela indústria farmacêutica. Este trabalho objetivou caracterizar o efeito da variação isolada da concentração de N e P do meio MS no crescimento de plantas de P. glomerata cultivadas in vitro. Segmentos nodais de 1,0cm de comprimento e sem folhas, de plantas já estabelecidas in vitro, foram cultivados em meio MS contendo cinco concentrações (0, 25, 50, 100 e 150% da concentração padrão do meio de cultura MS de nitrogênio ou fósforo. Aos 15 dias após a inoculação (DAI, o número de raízes e o percentual de enraizamento são maiores na concentração de N e P equivalentes a 50% daquela do meio de cultura MS. Aos 40 DAI, o crescimento em altura das brotações, número de segmentos nodais, índice de área foliar, número de folhas, matéria seca de raízes, da parte aérea e total da planta é maior na concentração de N e P, em média, próxima a 80% daquela do meio de cultura MS.Brazilian ginseng [Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng. Pedersen] has expressionable medicinal properties, and therefore, nowadays it is extensively exploited either by the herb collectors as well as the pharmaceutical industry. The aim of this work was to characterize the effect of N and P concentrations from the MS medium on growth of P. glomerata in vitro cultured plants. 1-node segment without leaves, from in vitro cultivated plants, were grown on five levels (0, 25, 50, 100, and 150% of the strength of the MS medium of N and P. After 15 days of inoculation, root number and rooting percentage are greater on N and P levels of the MS medium with 50% strength. After 40 days of inoculation, growth, based on sprout height, number of nodal segments per plant, leave area index per plant, number of leaves per plant, dry weight of aerial parts, roots

  14. Astronomical Instrumentation System Markup Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldbaum, Jesse M.

    2016-05-01

    The Astronomical Instrumentation System Markup Language (AISML) is an Extensible Markup Language (XML) based file format for maintaining and exchanging information about astronomical instrumentation. The factors behind the need for an AISML are first discussed followed by the reasons why XML was chosen as the format. Next it's shown how XML also provides the framework for a more precise definition of an astronomical instrument and how these instruments can be combined to form an Astronomical Instrumentation System (AIS). AISML files for several instruments as well as one for a sample AIS are provided. The files demonstrate how AISML can be utilized for various tasks from web page generation and programming interface to instrument maintenance and quality management. The advantages of widespread adoption of AISML are discussed.

  15. Amateur Astronomers: Secret Agents of EPO

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berendsen, M.; White, V.; Devore, E.; Reynolds, M.

    2008-06-01

    Amateur astronomers prime the public to be more interested, receptive, and excited about space science, missions, and programs. Through recent research and targeted programs, amateur astronomy outreach is being increasingly recognized by professional astronomers, educators, and other amateurs as a valued and important service. The Night Sky Network program, administered by the ASP, is the first nationwide research-based program specifically targeted to support outreach by amateur astronomers. This Network of trained and informed amateur astronomers can provide a stimulating introduction to your EPO programs as Network members share the night sky with families, students, and youth groups.

  16. Using commercial amateur astronomical spectrographs

    CERN Document Server

    Hopkins, Jeffrey L

    2014-01-01

    Amateur astronomers interested in learning more about astronomical spectroscopy now have the guide they need. It provides detailed information about how to get started inexpensively with low-resolution spectroscopy, and then how to move on to more advanced  high-resolution spectroscopy. Uniquely, the instructions concentrate very much on the practical aspects of using commercially-available spectroscopes, rather than simply explaining how spectroscopes work. The book includes a clear explanation of the laboratory theory behind astronomical spectrographs, and goes on to extensively cover the practical application of astronomical spectroscopy in detail. Four popular and reasonably-priced commercially available diffraction grating spectrographs are used as examples. The first is a low-resolution transmission diffraction grating, the Star Analyser spectrograph. The second is an inexpensive fiber optic coupled bench spectrograph that can be used to learn more about spectroscopy. The third is a newcomer, the ALPY ...

  17. The First Astronomical Observatory in Cluj-Napoca

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szenkovits, Ferenc

    2008-09-01

    One of the most important cities of Romania is Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár, Klausenburg). This is a traditional center of education, with many universities and high schools. From the second half of the 18th century the University of Cluj has its own Astronomical Observatory, serving for didactical activities and scientific researches. The famous astronomer Maximillian Hell was one of those Jesuits who put the base of this Astronomical Observatory. Our purpose is to offer a short history of the beginnings of this Astronomical Observatory.

  18. Storing Astronomical Information on the Romanian Territory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stavinschi, M.; Mioc, V.

    2004-12-01

    Romanian astronomy has a more than 2000-year old tradition, which is, however, little known abroad. The first known archive of astronomical information is the Dacian sanctuary at Sarmizegetusa Regia, erected in the first century AD, having similarities with that of Stonehenge. After a gap of more than 1000 years, more sources of astronomical information become available, mainly records of astronomical events. Monasteries were the safest storage places of these genuine archives. We present a classification of the ways of storing astronomical information, along with characteristic examples.

  19. Astronomical Cybersketching

    CERN Document Server

    Grego, Peter

    2009-01-01

    Outlines the techniques involved in making observational sketches and more detailed 'scientific' drawings of a wide variety of astronomical subjects using modern digital equipment; primarily PDAs and tablet PCs. This book also discusses about choosing hardware and software

  20. Astronomical Symbolism in Australian Aboriginal Rock Art

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norris, Ray P.; Hamacher, Duane W.

    2011-05-01

    Traditional Aboriginal Australian cultures include a significant astronomical component, perpetuated through oral tradition and ceremony. This knowledge has practical navigational and calendrical functions, and sometimes extends to a deep understanding of the motion of objects in the sky. Here we explore whether this astronomical tradition is reflected in the rock art of Aboriginal Australians. We find several plausible examples of depictions of astronomical figures and symbols, and also evidence that astronomical observations were used to set out stone arrangements. However, we recognise that the case is not yet strong enough to make an unequivocal statement, and describe our plans for further research.

  1. The Victorian Amateur Astronomer: Independent Astronomical Research in Britain 1820-1920

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chapman, Allan

    1999-01-01

    This is the first book to look in detail at amateur astronomy in Victorian Britain. It deals with the technical issues that were active in Victorian astronomy, and reviews the problems of finance, patronage and the dissemination of scientific ideas. It also examines the relationship between the amateur and professional in Britain. It contains a wealth of previously unpublished biographical and anecdotal material, and an extended bibliography with notes incorporating much new scholarship. In The Victorian Amateur Astronomer, Allan Chapman shows that while on the continent astronomical research was lavishly supported by the state, in Britain such research was paid for out of the pockets of highly educated, wealthy gentlemen the so-called Grand Amateurs . It was these powerful individuals who commissioned the telescopes, built the observatories, ran the learned societies, and often stole discoveries from their state-employed colleagues abroad. In addition to the Grand Amateurs , Victorian Britain also contained many self-taught amateurs. Although they belonged to no learned societies, these people provide a barometer of the popularity of astronomy in that age. In the late 19th century, the comfortable middle classes clergymen, lawyers, physicians and retired military officers took to astronomy as a serious hobby. They formed societies which focused on observation, lectures and discussions, and it was through this medium that women first came to play a significant role in British astronomy. Readership: Undergraduate and postgraduate students studying the history of science or humanities, professional historians of science, engineering and technology, particularly those with an interest in astronomy, the development of astronomical ideas, scientific instrument makers, and amateur astronomers.

  2. The astronomical tables of Giovanni Bianchini

    CERN Document Server

    Chabas, Jose

    2009-01-01

    This book describes and analyses, for the first time, the astronomical tables of Giovanni Bianchini of Ferrara (d. after 1469), explains their context, inserts them into an astronomical tradition that began in Toledo, and addresses their diffusion.

  3. The Soviet center of astronomical data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dluzhnevskaya, O.B.

    1982-01-01

    On the basis of the current French-Soviet cooperation in science and technology, the Astronomical Council of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences and the Strasbourg Center signed in 1977 an agreement on setting up the Soviet Center of Astronomical Data as its filial branch. The Soviet Center was created on the basis of a computation center at the Zvenigorod station of the Astronomical Council of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences, which had already had considerable experience of working with stellar catalogues. In 1979 the Center was equipped with a EC-1033 computer. In 1978-1979 the Soviet Center of Astronomical Data (C.A.D.) received from Strasbourg 96 of the most important catalogues. By September 1981 the list of catalogues available at the Soviet Center has reached 140 catalogues some of which are described. (Auth.)

  4. Atlas of Astronomical Discoveries

    CERN Document Server

    Schilling, Govert

    2011-01-01

    Four hundred years ago in Middelburg, in the Netherlands, the telescope was invented. The invention unleashed a revolution in the exploration of the universe. Galileo Galilei discovered mountains on the Moon, spots on the Sun, and moons around Jupiter. Christiaan Huygens saw details on Mars and rings around Saturn. William Herschel discovered a new planet and mapped binary stars and nebulae. Other astronomers determined the distances to stars, unraveled the structure of the Milky Way, and discovered the expansion of the universe. And, as telescopes became bigger and more powerful, astronomers delved deeper into the mysteries of the cosmos. In his Atlas of Astronomical Discoveries, astronomy journalist Govert Schilling tells the story of 400 years of telescopic astronomy. He looks at the 100 most important discoveries since the invention of the telescope. In his direct and accessible style, the author takes his readers on an exciting journey encompassing the highlights of four centuries of astronomy. Spectacul...

  5. 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 ...

  6. Reporting Astronomical Discoveries: Past, Now, and Future

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamaoka, Hitoshi; Green, Daniel W. E.; Samus, Nikolai N.; West, Richard

    2015-08-01

    Many new astronomical objects have been discovered over the years by amateur astronomers, and this continues to be the case. They have traditionally reported them (as have professional astronomers) to the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT), which was established in the 19th century. This procedure has worked very well throughout the 20th century, moving under the umbrella of the newly established IAU in 1920. The discoverers have been honored by the formal announcement of their discoveries in the publications of the CBAT.In recent years, some professional research groups have established other ways of announcing their discoveries of explosive objects such as novae and supernovae; some do not now report their discoveries or spectroscopic confirmations of the transients to the CBAT, including often spectroscopic reports of objects posted to the CBAT "Transient Objects Confirmation Page" -- the highly successful TOCP webpage, which assigns official positional designations to new transients posted there by approved, registered users. This leads to a delay in formal announcements of discoveries by amateur astronomers in many cases, as well as inconsistent designations being put into use by individual groups. Amateur astronomers are feeling frustrated about this situation, and they hope that the IAU will help to settle the situation.We have proposed the new IAU commission NC-52, which will treat these phenomena in a continuation of Commission 6, through the CBAT. We hope to continuously support the reporting of the discoveries by amateur astronomers, as well as professional astronomers, who all deserve and desire proper recognition. Our strategy will maintain the firm trust between the amateur and professional astronomers, which is necessary for true collaboration. The plan is for the CBAT to work with collaborators to assure that discoveries posted on the TOCP are promptly designated and announced by the CBAT, even when confirmations are made elsewhere

  7. An astronomical murder?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belenkiy, Ari

    2010-04-01

    Ari Belenkiy examines the murder of Hypatia of Alexandria, wondering whether problems with astronomical observations and the date of Easter led to her becoming a casualty of fifth-century political intrigue.

  8. Height-integrated Pedersen and Hall conductivity patterns inferred from the TIROS-NOAA satellite data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fuller-Rowell, T.J.; Evans, D.S.

    1987-01-01

    The series of polar-orbiting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration spacecraft TIROS, NOAA 6, and NOAA 7 have been monitoring the particle influx into the atmosphere since late 1978. This data base has been used to construct statistical global patterns of height-integrated Pedersen and Hall conductivities for a discrete set of auroral activity ranges. The observations of energy influx and ''characteristic electron energy'' have been binned in a 1 0 latitude and 2 0 magnetic local time grid and ordered by an auroral activity index. This index is an estimate of the energy deposited into a single hemisphere by incident particles, a parameter generated directly from the particle observations and, therefore, internally consistent with the statistical patterns that are constructed. An average electron spectrum is associated with each characteristic energy, which enables a height profile of ionization rate in the upper atmosphere to be determined. The use of a pressure coordinate system insures that the normalized ionization rate profiles are independent of atmospheric model parameters. To create the statistical pattern of height-integrated conductivities, however, vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature and composition are assumed, and the ion density enhancements are evaluated from a chemical balance between ion production and recombination based on an ''effective'' recombination coefficient. The data base can also provide the statistical pattern of particle heating rates and ionization rates over a three-dimensional grid suitable as input to more sophisticated ionospheric and neutral thermospheric codes. copyright American Geophysical Union

  9. Finding Hidden Treasures: Investigations in US Astronomical Plate Archives

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Hudec, René; Hudec, L.

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 53, č. 1 (2013), s. 23-26 ISSN 1210-2709 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA205/08/1207 Institutional support: RVO:67985815 Keywords : astronomical data archives * astronomical photography * astronomical photographic archives Subject RIV: BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers

  10. Astronomía en la cultura

    Science.gov (United States)

    López, A.; Giménez Benitez, S.; Fernández, L.

    La Astronomía en la Cultura es el estudio interdisciplinario a nivel global de la astronomía prehistórica, antigua y tradicional, en el marco de su contexto cultural. Esta disciplina abarca cualquier tipo de estudios o líneas de investigación en que se relacione a la astronomía con las ciencias humanas o sociales. En ella se incluyen tanto fuentes escritas, relatos orales como fuentes arqueológicas, abarcando entre otros, los siguientes temas: calendarios, observación práctica, cultos y mitos, representación simbólica de eventos, conceptos y objetos astronómicos, orientación astronómica de tumbas, templos, santuarios y centros urbanos, cosmología tradicional y la aplicación ceremonial de tradiciones astronómicas, la propia historia de la astronomía y la etnoastronomía (Krupp, 1989) (Iwaniszewski, 1994). En nuestro trabajo abordamos la historia y situación actual de esta disciplina, sus métodos y sus relaciones con otras áreas de investigación.

  11. Astronomical Image and Data Analysis

    CERN Document Server

    Starck, J.-L

    2006-01-01

    With information and scale as central themes, this comprehensive survey explains how to handle real problems in astronomical data analysis using a modern arsenal of powerful techniques. It treats those innovative methods of image, signal, and data processing that are proving to be both effective and widely relevant. The authors are leaders in this rapidly developing field and draw upon decades of experience. They have been playing leading roles in international projects such as the Virtual Observatory and the Grid. The book addresses not only students and professional astronomers and astrophysicists, but also serious amateur astronomers and specialists in earth observation, medical imaging, and data mining. The coverage includes chapters or appendices on: detection and filtering; image compression; multichannel, multiscale, and catalog data analytical methods; wavelets transforms, Picard iteration, and software tools. This second edition of Starck and Murtagh's highly appreciated reference again deals with to...

  12. The amateur astronomer

    CERN Document Server

    Moore, Patrick

    2006-01-01

    Introduces astronomy and amateur observing together. This edition includes photographs and illustrations. The comprehensive appendices provide hints and tips, as well as data for every aspect of amateur astronomy. This work is useful for amateur astronomers

  13. Comment on "Lack of enhanced preservation of organic matter in sediments under the oxygen minimum on the Oman Margin" by T.F. Pedersen, G.B. Shimmield, and N.B. Price

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Paropkari, A.L.; Mascarenhas, A.; PrakashBabu, C.

    and THIERSTEIN, 1987) and high primary productivity ( CALVERT, 1987; PEDERSEN and CALVERT, 1990). Since the Arabian Sea is a classic region to test these hypothesis, PAROPKARI et al. ( 199 1, 1992) also considered over 600 samples from the western Indian... is just the reverse. The shelf and the lower slope sediments are poor in organic content and the slope sediments do not contain appreciably high organic carbon as compared to the western Indian Margin, where primary productivity is com- paratively low...

  14. Observatory Sponsoring Astronomical Image Contest

    Science.gov (United States)

    2005-05-01

    Forget the headphones you saw in the Warner Brothers thriller Contact, as well as the guttural throbs emanating from loudspeakers at the Very Large Array in that 1997 movie. In real life, radio telescopes aren't used for "listening" to anything - just like visible-light telescopes, they are used primarily to make images of astronomical objects. Now, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) wants to encourage astronomers to use radio-telescope data to make truly compelling images, and is offering cash prizes to winners of a new image contest. Radio Galaxy Fornax A Radio Galaxy Fornax A Radio-optical composite image of giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1316, showing the galaxy (center), a smaller companion galaxy being cannibalized by NGC 1316, and the resulting "lobes" (orange) of radio emission caused by jets of particles spewed from the core of the giant galaxy Click on image for more detail and images CREDIT: Fomalont et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF "Astronomy is a very visual science, and our radio telescopes are capable of producing excellent images. We're sponsoring this contest to encourage astronomers to make the extra effort to turn good images into truly spectacular ones," said NRAO Director Fred K.Y. Lo. The contest, offering a grand prize of $1,000, was announced at the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The image contest is part of a broader NRAO effort to make radio astronomical data and images easily accessible and widely available to scientists, students, teachers, the general public, news media and science-education professionals. That effort includes an expanded image gallery on the observatory's Web site. "We're not only adding new radio-astronomy images to our online gallery, but we're also improving the organization and accessibility of the images," said Mark Adams, head of education and public outreach (EPO) at NRAO. "Our long-term goal is to make the NRAO Image Gallery an international resource for radio astronomy imagery

  15. Cosmological field theory for observational astronomers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zel'Dovich, Y.B.

    1987-01-01

    Theories of the very early Universe that use scalar fields (i.e., the so-called inflationary models of the Universe) have now come into wide use. The inflationary universe approach may perhaps solve some of the most difficult enigmas about the Universe as a whole. The inflationary universe forms a good bridge between the quantum theory of the birth of the Universe (which is still in the initial stages of development) and the standard hot Big Bang theory (which is well established, at least qualitatively). Therefore, an understanding of the basic ideas of inflation is a must for astronomers interested in the broad picture of the science. Astronomers are mathematically oriented enough (via celestial mechanics, electromagnetic theory, magnetohydrodynamics, nuclear reactions,etc.) that there is no negative attitude towards formulae in general. What the astronomer lacks is a knowledge of recent developments in particle physics and field theory. The astronomer should not be blamed for this, because these branches of physics are developing in a very peculiar fashion: some subfields of it are progressing comparatively slowly, with experimental verifications at each and every step, while other subfields progress rapidly

  16. Astronomical Books and Charts in the Book of Bibliographie Coreenne

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Ki-Won; Yang, Hong-Jin; Park, Myeong-Gu

    2008-06-01

    We investigate astronomical materials listed in the book of Bibliographie Coréenne written by Maurice Courant. He classified ancient Korean books into nine Divisions (?) and thirty six Classes (?), and published them as three volumes (ranging from 1894 to 1896) and one supplement (in 1901). In total, 3,821 books including astronomical ones are listed together with information on physical size, possessional place, bibliographical note, and so forth. Although this book is an essential one in the field of Korea bibliography and contains many astronomical materials such as Cheon-Mun-Ryu-Cho ????, Si-Heon-Seo ??????, and Cheon-Sang-Yeol-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do ????????, it has not been well known to the public nor to astronomical society. Of 3,821 catalogues, we found that about 50 Items (?) are related to astronomy or astrology, and verified that most ! of them are located in the Kyujanggak Royal Library ???. We also found an unknown astronomical chart, Hon-Cheon-Chong-Seong-Yeol-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do ??????????. Because those astronomical materials are not well known to international astronomical community and there have been few studies on the materials in Korea, we here introduce and review them, particularly with the astronomical viewpoint.

  17. 150th Anniversary of the Astronomical Observatory Library of Sciences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solntseva, T.

    The scientific library of the Astronomical observatory of Kyiv Taras Shevchenko University is one of the oldest ones of such a type in Ukraine. Our Astronomical Observatory and its scientific library will celebrate 150th anniversary of their foundation. 900 volumes of duplicates of Olbers' private library underlay our library. These ones were acquired by Russian Academy of Sciences for Poulkovo observatory in 1841 but according to Struve's order were transmitted to Kyiv Saint Volodymyr University. These books are of great value. There are works edited during Copernicus', Kepler's, Galilei's, Newton's, Descartes' lifetime. Our library contains more than 100000 units of storage - monographs, periodical astronomical editions from the first (Astronomische Nachrichten, Astronomical journal, Monthly Notices etc.), editions of the majority of the astronomical observatories and institutions of the world, unique astronomical atlases and maps

  18. Choosing and using astronomical filters

    CERN Document Server

    Griffiths, Martin

    2014-01-01

    As a casual read through any of the major amateur astronomical magazines will demonstrate, there are filters available for all aspects of optical astronomy. This book provides a ready resource on the use of the following filters, among others, for observational astronomy or for imaging: Light pollution filters Planetary filters Solar filters Neutral density filters for Moon observation Deep-sky filters, for such objects as galaxies, nebulae and more Deep-sky objects can be imaged in much greater detail than was possible many years ago. Amateur astronomers can take

  19. Serbian Astronomers in Science Citation Index in the XX Century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dimitrijevic, Milan S.

    The book is written paralelly in Serbian and English. The presence of works of Serbian astronomers and works in astronomical journals published by other Serbian scientists, in Science Citation Index within the period from 1945 up to the end of 2000, has been analyzed. Also is presented the list of 38 papers which had some influence on the development of astronomy in the twentieth century. A review of the development of astronomy in Serbia in the last century is given as well. Particular attention is payed to the Astronomical Observatory, the principal astronomical institution in Serbia, where it is one of the oldest scientific organizations and the only autonomous astronomical institute. Its past development forms an important part of the history of science and culture in these regions. In the book is also considered and the history of the university teaching of astronomy in Serbia after the second world war. First of all the development of the Chair of Astronomy at the Faculty of Mathematics in Belgrade, but also the teaching of astronomy at University in Novi Sad, Ni and Kragujevac is discussed. In addition to professional Astronomy, well developed in Serbia is also the amateur Astronomy. In the review is first of all included the largest and the oldest organization of amateur-astronomers in Serbia, founded in 1934. Besides, here are the Astronomical Society "Novi Sad", ADNOS and Research Station "Petnica". In Valjevo, within the framework of the Society of researchers "Vladimir Mandic - Manda", there is active also the Astronomical Group. In Kragujevac, on the roof of the Institute of Physics of the Faculty of Sciences, there is the "Belerofont" Observatory. In Ni, at the close of the sixties and the start of the seventies, there was operating a branch of the Astronomical Society "Rudjer Bokovic", while at the Faculty of Philosophy there existed in the period 1976-1980 the "Astro-Geophysical Society". In the year 1996 there was founded Astronomical Society

  20. Preservation and maintenance of the astronomical sites in Armenia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mickaelian, A. M.

    2008-01-01

    Astronomy in Armenia was popular since ancient times. There are signs of astronomical observations coming from a few thousands years ago. Two ancient observatories, Karahunge and Metzamor are especially well known. Karahunge is the Armenian twin of the Stonehenge and is even older. However, there is no proper attention from the state authorities and efforts are needed for preservation of such historical-astronomical monuments. The Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO) is the modern famous Armenian observatory founded in 1946 by the outstanding scientist Victor Ambartsumian. It was one of the world astronomical centres in 1950-s to 1970-s, and at present is the largest observatory in the Middle East area. As the ancient astronomical sites, Byurakan also needs a proper attitude from the state authorities and corresponding international organizations to preserve its values and importance for the present and future astronomical activities in the region, including its rich observational archive, telescopes, and human resources. Despite all the difficulties, the Armenian astronomers keep high international level of research and display various activities organizing international meetings and schools, preparing new young generation for the future research. The Armenian Astronomical Society (ArAS) is an affiliated member of EAS. Armenia has its Virtual Observatory project (ArVO) as well. The next Joint European and National Astronomy Meeting (JENAM-2007) will be held in Yerevan, Armenia, in August 2007. There are plans to organize astronomical tours to Armenia for making observations from various sites, including the ancient observatories. The future of astronomy in Armenia strongly depends on all of this activities and the proper attention both from state authorities and society.

  1. Basic Optics for the Astronomical Sciences

    CERN Document Server

    Breckinridge, James

    2012-01-01

    This text was written to provide students of astronomy and engineers an understanding of optical science - the study of the generation, propagation, control, and measurement of optical radiation - as it applies to telescopes and instruments for astronomical research in the areas of astrophysics, astrometry, exoplanet characterization, and planetary science. The book provides an overview of the elements of optical design and physical optics within the framework of the needs of the astronomical community.

  2. Information seeking behavior of Greek astronomers

    OpenAIRE

    Brindesi, Hara; Kapidakis, Sarantos

    2011-01-01

    This study examines three aspects of information seeking behaviour of astronomers in Greece including a) the importance they place in keeping up- to-date with current developments b) the methods they depend on for keeping up-to-date and c) the information sources they mostly use. We adopted an intradisciplinary approach in order to investigate similarities and differences in information seeking behaviour among astronomers when examining them as groups bearing different characteristics, includ...

  3. New astronomical references in two Catalonian late medieval documents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez, María José; Marco, Francisco J

    2014-01-01

    In 2008, after 13 years of preparation, the Generalitat of Catalunya finished the publication of the 10 volumes of the Dietaris de la Generalitat de Catalunya. The Dietaris, as well as a closely related source, the llibre de Jornades 1411/1484 de Jaume Safont, cover the period of 1411 to 1539. In this article, we examine astronomical references contained in these two sources, and place them in their historical context. Our main focus lies on astronomical phenomena that have not previously been published in the astronomical literature. In fact, relatively few astronomical records are accessible in Spanish medieval and early modern history, and our paper intends to fill this gap partially.

  4. Astronomical Books and Charts in the Book of Bibliographie Coreenne

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ki-Won Lee

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available We investigate astronomical materials listed in the book of Bibliographie Coreenne written by Maurice Courant. He classified ancient Korean books into nine Divisions (部 and thirty six Classes (類, and published them as three volumes (ranging from 1894 to 1896 and one supplement (in 1901. In total, 3,821 books including astronomical ones are listed together with information on physical size, possessional place, bibliographical note, and so forth. Although this book is an essential one in the field of Korea bibliography and contains many astronomical materials such as Cheon-Mun-Ryu-Cho 天文類抄, Si-Heon-Seo 時憲書, and Cheon-Sang-Yeol-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do 天象列次分野之圖, it has not been well known to the public nor to astronomical society. Of 3,821 catalogues, we found that about 50 Items (種 are related to astronomy or astrology, and verified that most of them are located in the Kyujanggak Royal Library 奎章閣. We also found an unknown astronomical chart, Hon-Cheon-Chong-Seong-Yeol-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do 渾天總星列次分野之圖. Because those astronomical materials are not well known to international astronomical community and there have been few studies on the materials in Korea, we here introduce and review them, particularly with the astronomical viewpoint.

  5. Early results from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neugebauer, G.; Beichman, C.A.; Soifer, B.T.

    1984-01-01

    For 10 months the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) provided astronomers with what might be termed their first view of the infrared sky on a clear, dark night. Without IRAS, atmospheric absorption and the thermal emission from both the atmosphere and Earthbound telescopes make the task of the infrared astronomer comparable to what an optical astronomer would face if required to work only on cloudy afternoons. IRAS observations are serving astronomers in the same manner as the photographic plates of the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey; just as the optical survey has been used by all astronomers for over three decades, as a source of quantitative information about the sky and as a roadmap for future observations, the results of IRAS will be studied for years to come. IRAS has demonstrated the power of infrared astronomy from space. Already, from a brief look at a miniscule fraction of the data available, we have learned much about the solar system, about nearby stars, about the Galaxy as a whole and about distant extragalactic systems. Comets are much dustier than previously thought. Solid particles, presumably the remnants of the star-formation process, orbit around Vega and other stars and may provide the raw material for planetary systems. Emission from cool interstellar material has been traced throughout the Galaxy all the way to the galactic poles. Both the clumpiness and breadth of the distribution of this material were previously unsuspected. The far-infrared sky away from the galactic plane has been found to be dominate by spiral galaxies, some of which emit more than 50% and as much as 98% of their energy in the infrared - an exciting and surprising revelation. The IRAS mission is clearly the pathfinder for future mission that, to a large extent, will be devoted to the discoveries revealed by IRAS. 8 figures

  6. Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade from 1924 to 1955

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radovanac, M.

    2014-12-01

    History of the Astronomical Observatory in Belgrade, as the presentation is done here, become the field of interest to the author of the present monograph in early 2002. Then, together with Luka C. Popovic, during the Conference "Development of Astronomy among Serbs II" held in early April of that year, he prepared a paper entitled "Astronomska opservatorija tokom Drugog Svetskog rata" (Astronomical Observatory in the Second World War). This paper was based on the archives material concerning the Astronomical Observatory which has been professionally bearing in mind the author's position the subject of his work.

  7. Novel Algorithms for Astronomical Plate Analyses

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Hudec, René; Hudec, L.

    2011-01-01

    Roč. 32, 1-2 (2011), s. 121-123 ISSN 0250-6335. [Conference on Multiwavelength Variability of Blazars. Guangzhou, 22,09,2010-24,09,2010] R&D Projects: GA ČR GA205/08/1207 Grant - others:GA ČR(CZ) GA102/09/0997; MŠMT(CZ) ME09027 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10030501 Keywords : astronomical plates * plate archives archives * astronomical algorithms Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 0.400, year: 2011

  8. An Astronomer In The Classroom: Observatoire de Paris's Partnership Between Teachers and Astronomers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doressoundiram, A.; Barban, C.

    2006-08-01

    The Observatoire de Paris is offering a partnership between teachers and astronomers. The principle is simple: any teacher wishing to undertake a pedagogical project in astronomy, in the classroom or involving the entire school, can request the help of a mentor. An astronomer from the Observatoire de Paris will then follow the teacher's project progress and offer advice and scientific support throughout the school year. The projects may take different forms: construction projects (models, instruments), lectures, posters, exhibitions, etc. The type of assistance offered is as varied as the projects: lecture(s) in class, telephone and e-mail exchanges, visits to the Observatoire; an almost made-to-measure approach that delighted the thirty or so groups that benefited such partnership in the 2005-2006 academic year. And this number is continuously growing. There was a rich variety of projects undertaken, from mounting a show and building a solar clock to visiting a high altitude observatory, or resolving the mystery of Jupiter's great red spot. The Universe and its mysteries fascinate the young (and the not so- young) and provide a multitude of scientific topics that can be exploited in class. Astronomy offers the added advantage of being a multidisciplinary field. Thus, if most projects are generally initiated by a motivated teacher, they are often taken over by teachers in other subjects: Life and Earth Sciences (SVT), history, mathematics, French, and so forth. The project may consist in an astronomy workshop or be part of the school curriculum. Whatever the case, the astronomer's task is not to replace the teacher or the textbooks, but to propose activities or experiments that are easy to implement. Representing the Solar system on a school-yard scale, for instance, is a perfect way to make youngsters realize that the Universe consists mostly of empty space. There is no shortage of topics, and the students' enthusiasm, seldom absent, is the best reward for the

  9. Astronomical Data and Information Visualization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodman, Alyssa A.

    2010-01-01

    As the size and complexity of data sets increases, the need to "see" them more clearly increases as well. In the past, many scientists saw "fancy" data and information visualization as necessary for "outreach," but not for research. In this talk, I wlll demonstrate, using specific examples, why more and more scientists--not just astronomers--are coming to rely upon the development of new visualization strategies not just to present their data, but to understand it. Principal examples will be drawn from the "Astronomical Medicine" project at Harvard's Initiative in Innovative Computing, and from the "Seamless Astronomy" effort, which is co-sponsored by the VAO (NASA/NSF) and Microsoft Research.

  10. The South African Astronomical Observatory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1989-01-01

    The research work discussed in this report covers a wide range, from work on the nearest stars to studies of the distant quasars, and the astronomers who have carried out this work come from universities and observatories spread around the world as well as from South African universities and from the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) staff itself. A characteristic of much of this work has been its collaborative character. SAAO studies in 1989 included: supernovae 1987A; galaxies; ground-based observations of celestial x-ray sources; the Magellanic Clouds; pulsating variables; galactic structure; binary star phenomena; the provision of photometric standards; nebulous matter; stellar astrophysics, and astrometry

  11. Astronomers gossip about the (cosmic) neighborhood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jayawardhana, R

    1994-09-09

    The Hague, Netherlands, last month welcomed 2000 astronomers from around the world for the 22nd General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). From 15 to 27 August, they participated in symposia and discussions on topics ranging from the down-to-Earth issue of light and radio-frequency pollution to the creation of elements at the farthest reaches of time and space, in the big bang. Some of the most striking news, however, came in new findings from our galaxy and its immediate surroundings.

  12. On the Astronomical Knowledge and Traditions of Aboriginal Australians

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamacher, Duane W.

    2011-12-01

    Historian of science David Pingree defines science in a broad context as the process of systematically explaining perceived or imaginary phenomena. Although Westerners tend to think of science being restricted to Western culture, I argue in this thesis that astronomical scientific knowledge is found in Aboriginal traditions. Although research into the astronomical traditions of Aboriginal Australians stretches back for more than 150 years, it is relatively scant in the literature. We do know that the sun, moon, and night sky have been an important and inseparable component of the landscape to hundreds of Australian Aboriginal groups for thousands (perhaps tens-of-thousands) of years. The literature reveals that astronomical knowledge was used for time keeping, denoting seasonal change and the availability of food sources, navigation, and tidal prediction. It was also important for rituals and ceremonies, birth totems, marriage systems, cultural mnemonics, and folklore. Despite this, the field remains relatively unresearched considering the diversity of Aboriginal cultures and the length of time people have inhabited Australia (well over 40,000 years). Additionally, very little research investigating the nature and role of transient celestial phenomena has been conducted, leaving our understanding of Indigenous astronomical knowledge grossly incomplete. This thesis is an attempt to overcome this deficiency, with a specific focus on transient celestial phenomena. My research, situated in the field of cultural astronomy, draws from the sub-disciplines of archaeoastronomy, ethnoastronomy, historical astronomy, and geomythology. This approach incorporates the methodologies and theories of disciplines in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. This thesis, by publication, makes use of archaeological, ethnographic, and historical records, astronomical software packages, and geographic programs to better understand the ages of astronomical traditions and the

  13. Astronomical optics

    CERN Document Server

    Schroeder, Daniel J

    1988-01-01

    Written by a recognized expert in the field, this clearly presented, well-illustrated book provides both advanced level students and professionals with an authoritative, thorough presentation of the characteristics, including advantages and limitations, of telescopes and spectrographic instruments used by astronomers of today.Key Features* Written by a recognized expert in the field* Provides both advanced level students and professionals with an authoritative, thorough presentation of the characteristics, including advantages and limitations, of telescopes and spectrographic i

  14. Effectiveness of Amateur Astronomers as Informal Science Educators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibbs, Michael G.; Berendsen, Margaret

    2007-01-01

    The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) conducted a national survey of in-service teachers participating in Project ASTRO. The survey results document (1) the value that teachers place on supplemental astronomy education provided by professional and amateur astronomers, and (2) the difference that teachers perceive in the value provided by…

  15. Coronagraph for astronomical imaging and spectrophotometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vilas, Faith; Smith, Bradford A.

    1987-01-01

    A coronagraph designed to minimize scattered light in astronomical observations caused by the structure of the primary mirror, secondary mirror, and secondary support structure of a Cassegrainian telescope is described. Direct (1:1) and reducing (2.7:1) imaging of astronomical fields are possible. High-quality images are produced. The coronagraph can be used with either a two-dimensional charge-coupled device or photographic film camera. The addition of transmission dispersing optics converts the coronagraph into a low-resolution spectrograph. The instrument is modular and portable for transport to different observatories.

  16. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

    CERN Document Server

    Haubold, Hans J; UN/ESA/NASA Workshop on the International Heliophysical Year 2007 and Basic Space Science, hosted by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

    2010-01-01

    This book represents Volume II of the Proceedings of the UN/ESA/NASA Workshop on the International Heliophysical Year 2007 and Basic Space Science, hosted by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo, 18 - 22 June, 2007. It covers two programme topics explored in this and past workshops of this nature: (i) non-extensive statistical mechanics as applicable to astrophysics, addressing q-distribution, fractional reaction and diffusion, and the reaction coefficient, as well as the Mittag-Leffler function and (ii) the TRIPOD concept, developed for astronomical telescope facilities. The companion publication, Volume I of the proceedings of this workshop, is a special issue in the journal Earth, Moon, and Planets, Volume 104, Numbers 1-4, April 2009.

  17. Astronomical Spectroscopy for Amateurs

    CERN Document Server

    Harrison, Ken M

    2011-01-01

    Astronomical Spectroscopy for Amateurs is a complete guide for amateur astronomers who are looking for a new challenge beyond astrophotography. The book provides a brief overview of the history and development of the spectroscope, then a short introduction to the theory of stellar spectra, including details on the necessary reference spectra required for instrument testing and spectral comparison. The various types of spectroscopes available to the amateur are then described. Later sections cover all aspects of setting up and using various types of commercially available and home-built spectroscopes, starting with basic transmission gratings and going through more complex models, all the way to the sophisticated Littrow design. The final part of the text is about practical spectroscope design and construction. This book uniquely brings together a collection of observing, analyzing, and processing hints and tips that will allow the amateur to build skills in preparing scientifically acceptable spectra data. It...

  18. Thirteenth Joint European and National Astronomical Meeting

    CERN Document Server

    Iniesta, J C

    2006-01-01

    The book gathers the invited talks to the XIII JENAM conference, organized this time by the European Astronomical Society (EAS) and the Spanish Astronomical Society (SEA), and hosted by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC). All branches of astrophysics are encompassed from the largest scales and cosmology to the solar system and the Sun, through the galaxies and the stars, including a section on astronomical instrumentation. Very relevant experts from all over the world speak in a single book about the most recent, exciting results from their fields in a way which is useful for both researchers in these fields and colleagues working in other disciplines. The book is accompanied by a CD-ROM including the remaining contributions of the meeting in PDF format, hence opening a wide panorama of what is going on in astrophysics nowadays.

  19. Elizabeth Brown (1830-1899), solar astronomer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Creese, M.

    1998-08-01

    Were it not for the fact that she was a woman, Elizabeth Brown might well be thought of as a fairly typical nineteenth-century British amateur astronomer. She has a place, although a relatively modest one, in the distinguished group of people who, with their own fortunes, carried out much of the astronomical research being done in the country at a time before extensive government support was forthcoming for the work.1 Her career in fact follows a pattern common to several of the nineteenth-century men astronomers in that her full productive period came only after she was freed from her primary responsibilities; she did not have to amass the necessary financial resources as did many of the men,2 but she had the time-consuming responsibility, not unusual for a Victorian woman, of caring for a parent through a lengthy old age. Only after her father died at the age of ninety-one, did Elizabeth, then in her early fifties, begin her sixteen years of remarkable public activity in astronomy.

  20. Spectroscopy for amateur astronomers recording, processing, analysis and interpretation

    CERN Document Server

    Trypsteen , Marc F M

    2017-01-01

    This accessible guide presents the astrophysical concepts behind astronomical spectroscopy, covering both the theory and the practical elements of recording, processing, analysing and interpreting your spectra. It covers astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, nebulae, novae, supernovae, and events such as eclipses and comet passages. Suitable for anyone with only a little background knowledge and access to amateur-level equipment, the guide's many illustrations, sketches and figures will help you understand and practise this scientifically important and growing field of amateur astronomy, up to the level of Pro-Am collaborations. Accessible to non-academics, it benefits many groups from novices and learners in astronomy clubs, to advanced students and teachers of astrophysics. This volume is the perfect companion to the Spectral Atlas for Amateur Astronomers, which provides detailed commented spectral profiles of more than 100 astronomical objects.

  1. The Russian-Ukrainian Observatories Network for the European Astronomical Observatory Route Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrievsky, S. M.; Bondar, N. I.; Karetnikov, V. G.; Kazantseva, L. V.; Nefedyev, Y. A.; Pinigin, G. I.; Pozhalova, Zh. A.; Rostopchina-Shakhovskay, A. N.; Stepanov, A. V.; Tolbin, S. V.

    2011-09-01

    In 2004,the Center of UNESCO World Heritage has announced a new initiative "Astronomy & World Heritage" directed for search and preserving of objects,referred to astronomy,its history in a global value,historical and cultural properties. There were defined a strategy of thematic programme "Initiative" and general criteria for selecting of ancient astronomical objects and observatories. In particular, properties that are situated or have significance in relation to celestial objects or astronomical events; representations of sky and/or celestial bodies and astronomical events; observatories and instruments; properties closely connected with the history of astronomy. In 2005-2006,in accordance with the program "Initiative", information about outstanding properties connected with astronomy have been collected.In Ukraine such work was organized by astronomical expert group in Nikolaev Astronomical Observatory. In 2007, Nikolaev observatory was included to the Tentative List of UNESCO under # 5116. Later, in 2008, the network of four astronomical observatories of Ukraine in Kiev,Crimea, Nikolaev and Odessa,considering their high authenticities and integrities,was included to the Tentative List of UNESCO under # 5267 "Astronomical Observatories of Ukraine". In 2008-2009, a new project "Thematic Study" was opened as a successor of "Initiative". It includes all fields of astronomical heritage from earlier prehistory to the Space astronomy (14 themes in total). We present the Ukraine-Russian Observatories network for the "European astronomical observatory Route project". From Russia two observatories are presented: Kazan Observatory and Pulkovo Observatory in the theme "Astronomy from the Renaissance to the mid-twentieth century".The description of astronomical observatories of Ukraine is given in accordance with the project "Thematic study"; the theme "Astronomy from the Renaissance to the mid-twentieth century" - astronomical observatories in Kiev,Nikolaev and Odessa; the

  2. Decoding the mechanisms of Antikythera astronomical device

    CERN Document Server

    Lin, Jian-Liang

    2016-01-01

    This book presents a systematic design methodology for decoding the interior structure of the Antikythera mechanism, an astronomical device from ancient Greece. The historical background, surviving evidence and reconstructions of the mechanism are introduced, and the historical development of astronomical achievements and various astronomical instruments are investigated. Pursuing an approach based on the conceptual design of modern mechanisms and bearing in mind the standards of science and technology at the time, all feasible designs of the six lost/incomplete/unclear subsystems are synthesized as illustrated examples, and 48 feasible designs of the complete interior structure are presented. This approach provides not only a logical tool for applying modern mechanical engineering knowledge to the reconstruction of the Antikythera mechanism, but also an innovative research direction for identifying the original structures of the mechanism in the future. In short, the book offers valuable new insights for all...

  3. Filling the Astronomical Void - A Visual Medium for a Visual Subject

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryan, J.

    1996-12-01

    Astronomy is fundamentally a visual subject. The modern science of astronomy has at its foundation the ancient art of observing the sky visually. The visual elements of astronomy are arguably the most important. Every person in the entire world is affected by visually-observed astronomical phenomena such as the seasonal variations in daylight. However, misconceptions abound and the average person cannot recognize the simple signs in the sky that point to the direction, the hour and the season. Educators and astronomy popularizers widely lament that astronomy is not appreciated in our society. Yet, there is a remarkable dearth of popular literature for teaching the visual elements of astronomy. This is what I refer to as *the astronomical void.* Typical works use illustrations sparsely, relying most heavily on text-based descriptions of the visual astronomical phenomena. Such works leave significant inferential gaps to the inexperienced reader, who is unequipped for making astronomical observations. Thus, the astronomical void remains unfilled by much of the currently available literature. I therefore propose the introduction of a visually-oriented medium for teaching the visual elements of Astronomy. To this end, I have prepared a series of astronomy "comic strips" that are intended to fill the astronomical void. By giving the illustrations the central place, the comic strip medium permits the depiction of motion and other sequential activity, thus effectively representing astronomical phenomena. In addition to the practical advantages, the comic strip is a "user friendly" medium that is inviting and entertaining to a reader. At the present time, I am distributing a monthly comic strip entitled *Starman*, which appears in the newsletters of over 120 local astronomy organizations and on the web at http://www.cyberdrive.net/ starman. I hope to eventually publish a series of full-length books and believe that astronomical comic strips will help expand the perimeter of

  4. Astronomers celebrate a year of new Hubble results

    Science.gov (United States)

    1995-02-01

    "We are beginning to understand that because of these observations we are going to have to change the way we look at the Universe," said ESA's Dr Duccio Macchetto, Associate Director for Science Programs at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The European Space Agency plays a major role in the Hubble Space Telescope programme. The Agency provided one of the telescope's four major instruments, called the Faint Object Camera, and two sets of electricity-generating solar arrays. In addition, 15 ESA scientific and technical staff work at the STScI. In return for this contribution, European astronomers are entitled to 15 percent of the telescope's observing time, although currently they account for 20 percent of all observations. "This is a testimony to the quality of the European science community", said Dr Roger Bonnet, Director of Science at ESA. "We are only guaranteed 15 percent of the telescope's use, but consistently receive much more than that." Astronomers from universities, observatories and research institutes across Europe lead more than 60 investigations planned for the telescope's fifth observing cycle, which begins this summer. Many more Europeans contribute to teams led by other astronomers. Looking back to the very start of time European astronomer Dr Peter Jakobsen used ESA's Faint Object Camera to confirm that helium was present in the early Universe. Astronomers had long predicted that 90 percent of the newly born Universe consisted of hydrogen, with helium making up the remainder. Before the refurbished Hubble came along, it was easy to detect the hydrogen, but the primordial helium remained elusive. The ultraviolet capabilities of the telescope, combined with the improvement in spatial resolution following the repair, made it possible for Dr Jakobsen to obtain an image of a quasar close to the edge of the known Universe. A spectral analysis of this picture revealed the quasar's light, which took 13 billion years

  5. Astronomical publications of Melbourne Observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andropoulos, Jenny Ioanna

    2014-05-01

    During the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, four well-equipped government observatories were maintained in Australia - in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. These institutions conducted astronomical observations, often in the course of providing a local time service, and they also collected and collated meteorological data. As well, some of these observatories were involved at times in geodetic surveying, geomagnetic recording, gravity measurements, seismology, tide recording and physical standards, so the term "observatory" was being used in a rather broad sense! Despite the international renown that once applied to Williamstown and Melbourne Observatories, relatively little has been written by modern-day scholars about astronomical activities at these observatories. This research is intended to rectify this situation to some extent by gathering, cataloguing and analysing the published astronomical output of the two Observatories to see what contributions they made to science and society. It also compares their contributions with those of Sydney, Adelaide and Perth Observatories. Overall, Williamstown and Melbourne Observatories produced a prodigious amount of material on astronomy in scientific and technical journals, in reports and in newspapers. The other observatories more or less did likewise, so no observatory of those studied markedly outperformed the others in the long term, especially when account is taken of their relative resourcing in staff and equipment.

  6. AESoP: Astronomical Extinction Spectrophotometer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linford, Justin; McGraw, J.; Zimmer, P.; Ackermann, M.; Fitch, J.

    2009-01-01

    The Earth's atmosphere is a major obstruction to the precision and accuracy of ground-based photometry. The atmosphere removes light from astronomical objects both by absorption and scattering by constituent molecules, aerosols and clouds. These effects can change significantly over short time periods and over modest angles on the sky. To further understand these effects, the UNM Measurement Astrophysics Group has designed, built and recently deployed the Astronomical Extinction Spectrophotometer (AESoP), a 100mm objective grating spectrometer. By monitoring bright stars in sensibly the same direction as a larger photometric telescope is observing, AESoP will measure the wavelength-dependent extinction due to the Earth's atmosphere from 450nm to 900nm on time scales of approximately one minute. The collocated Astronomical LIDAR for Extinction (ALE) provides a high-precision monochromatic extinction measurement at 527nm. Knowing the extinction at a single wavelength allows us to pin the relative spectra generated by AESoP. These extinction spectra can then be integrated over the bandpass of the photometric telescope system to create real time corrections of observations. We present the design and construction of AESoP along with the preliminary results of our first combined observing campaign. This effort is our first step toward breaking the 1% photometry barrier. This project is funded by AFRL Grant FA9451-04-2-0355

  7. Astronomical optics and elasticity theory

    CERN Document Server

    Lemaitre, Gerard Rene

    2008-01-01

    Astronomical Optics and Elasticity Theory provides a very thorough and comprehensive account of what is known in this field. After an extensive introduction to optics and elasticity, the book discusses variable curvature and multimode deformable mirrors, as well as, in depth, active optics, its theory and applications. Further, optical design utilizing the Schmidt concept and various types of Schmidt correctors, as well as the elasticity theory of thin plates and shells are elaborated upon. Several active optics methods are developed for obtaining aberration corrected diffraction gratings. Further, a weakly conical shell theory of elasticity is elaborated for the aspherization of grazing incidence telescope mirrors. The very didactic and fairly easy-to-read presentation of the topic will enable PhD students and young researchers to actively participate in challenging astronomical optics and instrumentation projects.

  8. Preserving and Archiving Astronomical Photographic Plates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castelaz, M. W.; Cline, J. D.

    2005-05-01

    Astronomical objects change with time. New observations complement past observations recorded on photographic plates. Analyses of changes provide essential routes to information about an object's formation, constitution and evolution. Preserving a century of photographic plate observations is thus of paramount importance. Plate collections are presently widely dispersed; plates may be stored in poor conditions, and are effectively inaccessible to both researchers and historians. We describe a planned project at Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute to preserve the collections of astronomical plates in the United States by gathering them into a single storage location. Collections will be sorted, cleaned, and cataloged on-line so as to provide access to researchers. Full scientific and historic use of the material then requires the observations themselves to be accessible digitally. The project's goal will be the availability of these data as a unique, fully-maintained scientific and educational resource. The new archive will support trans-disciplinary research such as the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere, library information science, trends in local weather patterns, and impacts of urbanization on telescope use, while the hand-written observatory logs will be a valuable resource for science historians and biographers.

  9. Astronomers Without Borders: A Global Astronomy Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simmons, M.

    2011-10-01

    Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) brings together astronomy enthusiasts of all types - amateur astronomers, educators, professionals and "armchair" astronomers for a variety of online and physicalworld programs. The AWB web site provides social networking and a base for online programs that engage people worldwide in astronomy activities that transcend geopolitical and cultural borders. There is universal interest in astronomy, which has been present in all cultures throughout recorded history. Astronomy is also among the most accessible of sciences with the natural laboratory of the sky being available to people worldwide. There are few other interests for which people widely separated geographically can engage in activities involving the same objects. AWB builds on those advantages to bring people together. AWB also provides a platform where projects can reach a global audience. AWB also provides unique opportunities for multidisciplinary collaboration in EPO programs. Several programs including The World at Night, Global Astronomy Month and others will be described along with lessons learned.

  10. ASURV: Astronomical SURVival Statistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feigelson, E. D.; Nelson, P. I.; Isobe, T.; LaValley, M.

    2014-06-01

    ASURV (Astronomical SURVival Statistics) provides astronomy survival analysis for right- and left-censored data including the maximum-likelihood Kaplan-Meier estimator and several univariate two-sample tests, bivariate correlation measures, and linear regressions. ASURV is written in FORTRAN 77, and is stand-alone and does not call any specialized libraries.

  11. The South African astronomical observatory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feast, M.

    1985-01-01

    A few examples of the activities of the South African Astronomical Observatory are discussed. This includes the studying of stellar evolution, dust around stars, the determination of distances to galaxies and collaboration with space experiments

  12. The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and Post-war Japanese Optical Astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tajima, Toshiyuki

    This paper depicts some aspects of the formative process of the Japanese optical and infrared astronomical community in the post-war period, featuring the transition of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan(NAOJ). We take up three cases of telescope construction, examining their background and their contribution to the Japanese astronomical community. Through these cases, the characteristics of traditions and cultures of optical and infrared astronomy in Japan are considered. Although the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory (TAO) of the University of Tokyo, the predecessor of NAOJ, was originally founded as an agency for practical astronomical observation such as time and almanac service, it has become an international centre for all types of astrophysical research. Research and development of telescopes and observational instruments have become an important part of the astronomers' practice. Now, however, a number of Japanese universities are planning to have their own large to middle-sized telescopes, and a new style of astronomical research is emerging involving astrophysical studies utilising data acquired from the Virtual Observatory, so there is a distinct possibility that the status of the NAOJ will change even further in the future.

  13. A Brief History of Manchester Astronomical Society

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kilburn, K. J.

    Manchester Astronomical Society celebrated its centenary in September 2003. But that centenary was of a hundred years as the MAS: the history of the society goes back much further, and can be traced directly to that great era of.public awareness of astronomy and amateur interest in Victorian England in the last half of the nineteenth century. Allan Chapman has discussed this period in detail, so the present paper concentrates on the MAS's particular influence on Manchester astronomers and recent work on the history of the society.

  14. Astronomical databases of Nikolaev Observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Protsyuk, Y.; Mazhaev, A.

    2008-07-01

    Several astronomical databases were created at Nikolaev Observatory during the last years. The databases are built by using MySQL search engine and PHP scripts. They are available on NAO web-site http://www.mao.nikolaev.ua.

  15. Astronomical dating in the 19th century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilgen, Frederik J.

    2010-01-01

    Today astronomical tuning is widely accepted as numerical dating method after having revolutionised the age calibration of the geological archive and time scale over the last decades. However, its origin is not well known and tracing its roots is important especially from a science historic perspective. Astronomical tuning developed in consequence of the astronomical theory of the ice ages and was repeatedly used in the second half of the 19th century before the invention of radio-isotopic dating. Building upon earlier ideas of Joseph Adhémar, James Croll started to formulate his astronomical theory of the ice ages in 1864 according to which precession controlled ice ages occur alternatingly on both hemispheres at times of maximum eccentricity of the Earth's orbit. The publication of these ideas compelled Charles Lyell to revise his Principles of Geology and add Croll's theory, thus providing an alternative to his own geographical cause of the ice ages. Both Croll and Lyell initially tuned the last glacial epoch to the prominent eccentricity maximum 850,000 yr ago. This age was used as starting point by Lyell to calculate an age of 240 million years for the beginning of the Cambrium. But Croll soon revised the tuning to a much younger less prominent eccentricity maximum between 240,000 and 80,000 yr ago. In addition he tuned older glacial deposits of late Miocene and Eocene ages to eccentricity maxima around 800,000 and 2,800,000 yr ago. Archibald and James Geikie were the first to recognize interglacials during the last glacial epoch, as predicted by Croll's theory, and attempted to tune them to precession. Soon after Frank Taylor linked a series of 15 end-moraines left behind by the retreating ice sheet to precession to arrive at a possible age of 300,000 yr for the maximum glaciation. In a classic paper, Axel Blytt (1876) explained the scattered distribution of plant groups in Norway to precession induced alternating rainy and dry periods as recorded by the

  16. TPCs in high-energy astronomical polarimetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Black, J K

    2007-01-01

    High-energy astrophysics has yet to exploit the unique and important information that polarimetry could provide, largely due to the limited sensitivity of previously available polarimeters. In recent years, numerous efforts have been initiated to develop instruments with the sensitivity required for astronomical polarimetry over the 100 eV to 10 GeV band. Time projection chambers (TPCs), with their high-resolution event imaging capability, are an integral part of some of these efforts. After a brief overview of current astronomical polarimeter development efforts, the role of TPCs will be described in more detail. These include TPCs as photoelectric X-ray polarimeters and TPCs as components of polarizationsensitive Compton and pair-production telescopes

  17. Division B Commission 6: Astronomical Telegrams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamaoka, H.; Green, D. W. E.; Samus, N. N.; Aksnes, K.; Gilmore, A. C.; Nakano, S.; Sphar, T.; Tichá, J.; Williams, G. V.

    2016-04-01

    IAU Commission 6 ``Astronomical Telegrams'' had a single business meeting during Honolulu General Assembly of the IAU. It took place on Tuesday, 11 August 2015. The meeting was attended by Hitoshi Yamaoka (President), Daniel Green (Director of the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams, CBAT, via Skype), Steven Chesley (JPL), Paul Chodas (JPL), Alan Gilmore (Canterbury University), Shinjiro Kouzuma (Chukyo University), Paolo Mazzali (Co-Chair of the Supernova Working Group), Elena Pian (Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa), Marion Schmitz (chair IAU Working Group Designations + NED), David Tholen (University of Hawaii), Jana Ticha (Klet Observatory), Milos Tichy (Klet Observatory), Giovanni Valsecchi (INAF\\slash Italy), Gareth Williams (Minor Planet Center). Apologies: Nikolai Samus (General Catalogue of Variable Stars, GCVS).

  18. Astrobiology: An astronomer's perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bergin, Edwin A.

    2014-01-01

    In this review we explore aspects of the field of astrobiology from an astronomical viewpoint. We therefore focus on the origin of life in the context of planetary formation, with additional emphasis on tracing the most abundant volatile elements, C, H, O, and N that are used by life on Earth. We first explore the history of life on our planet and outline the current state of our knowledge regarding the delivery of the C, H, O, N elements to the Earth. We then discuss how astronomers track the gaseous and solid molecular carriers of these volatiles throughout the process of star and planet formation. It is now clear that the early stages of star formation fosters the creation of water and simple organic molecules with enrichments of heavy isotopes. These molecules are found as ice coatings on the solid materials that represent microscopic beginnings of terrestrial worlds. Based on the meteoritic and cometary record, the process of planet formation, and the local environment, lead to additional increases in organic complexity. The astronomical connections towards this stage are only now being directly made. Although the exact details are uncertain, it is likely that the birth process of star and planets likely leads to terrestrial worlds being born with abundant water and organics on the surface

  19. Astronomical Virtual Observatories Through International Collaboration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masatoshi Ohishi

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Astronomical Virtual Observatories (VOs are emerging research environment for astronomy, and 16 countries and a region have funded to develop their VOs based on international standard protocols for interoperability. The 16 funded VO projects have established the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (http://www.ivoa.net/ to develop the standard interoperable interfaces such as registry (meta data, data access, query languages, output format (VOTable, data model, application interface, and so on. The IVOA members have constructed each VO environment through the IVOA interfaces. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ started its VO project (Japanese Virtual Observatory - JVO in 2002, and developed its VO system. We have succeeded to interoperate the latest JVO system with other VOs in the USA and Europe since December 2004. Observed data by the Subaru telescope, satellite data taken by the JAXA/ISAS, etc. are connected to the JVO system. Successful interoperation of the JVO system with other VOs means that astronomers in the world will be able to utilize top-level data obtained by these telescopes from anywhere in the world at anytime. System design of the JVO system, experiences during our development including problems of current standard protocols defined in the IVOA, and proposals to resolve these problems in the near future are described.

  20. Astrobiology: An astronomer's perspective

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bergin, Edwin A. [University of Michigan, Department of Astronomy, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)

    2014-12-08

    In this review we explore aspects of the field of astrobiology from an astronomical viewpoint. We therefore focus on the origin of life in the context of planetary formation, with additional emphasis on tracing the most abundant volatile elements, C, H, O, and N that are used by life on Earth. We first explore the history of life on our planet and outline the current state of our knowledge regarding the delivery of the C, H, O, N elements to the Earth. We then discuss how astronomers track the gaseous and solid molecular carriers of these volatiles throughout the process of star and planet formation. It is now clear that the early stages of star formation fosters the creation of water and simple organic molecules with enrichments of heavy isotopes. These molecules are found as ice coatings on the solid materials that represent microscopic beginnings of terrestrial worlds. Based on the meteoritic and cometary record, the process of planet formation, and the local environment, lead to additional increases in organic complexity. The astronomical connections towards this stage are only now being directly made. Although the exact details are uncertain, it is likely that the birth process of star and planets likely leads to terrestrial worlds being born with abundant water and organics on the surface.

  1. Different Categories of Astronomical Heritage: Issues and Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruggles, Clive

    2012-09-01

    Since 2008 the AWHWG has, on behalf of the IAU, been working with UNESCO and its advisory bodies to help identify, safeguard and promote cultural properties relating to astronomy and, where possible, to try to facilitate the eventual nomination of key astronomical heritage sites onto the World Heritage List. Unfortunately, the World Heritage Convention only covers fixed sites (i.e., the tangible immovable heritage of astronomy), and a key question for the UNESCO-IAU Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative (AWHI) is the extent to which the tangible moveable and intangible heritage of astronomy (e.g. moveable instruments; ideas and theories) influence the assessment of the tangible immovable heritage. Clearly, in an ideal world we should be concerned not only with tangible immovable heritage but, to quote the AWHWG's own Terms of Reference, ``to help ensure that cultural properties and artefacts significant in the development of astronomy, together with the intangible heritage of astronomy, are duly studied, protected and maintained, both for the greater benefit of humankind and to the potential benefit of future historical research''. With this in mind, the IAU/INAF symposium on ``Astronomy and its Instruments before and after Galileo'' held in Venice in Sep-Oct 2009 recommended that urgent steps should be taken 1. to sensitise astronomers and the general public, and particularly observatory directors and others with direct influence and control over astronomical resources, to the importance of identifying, protecting and preserving the various material products of astronomical research and discovery that already have, or have significant potential to acquire, universal value; (N.B. National or regional interests and concerns have no relevance in the assessment of ``universal value'', which, by definition, extends beyond cultural boundaries and, by reasonable expectation, down the generations into the future. 2. to identify modes of interconnectivity between

  2. Lessons from the masters current concepts in astronomical image processing

    CERN Document Server

    2013-01-01

    There are currently thousands of amateur astronomers around the world engaged in astrophotography at increasingly sophisticated levels. Their ranks far outnumber professional astronomers doing the same and their contributions both technically and artistically are the dominant drivers of progress in the field today. This book is a unique collaboration of individuals, all world-renowned in their particular area, and covers in detail each of the major sub-disciplines of astrophotography. This approach offers the reader the greatest opportunity to learn the most current information and the latest techniques directly from the foremost innovators in the field today.   The book as a whole covers all types of astronomical image processing, including processing of eclipses and solar phenomena, extracting detail from deep-sky, planetary, and widefield images, and offers solutions to some of the most challenging and vexing problems in astronomical image processing. Recognized chapter authors include deep sky experts su...

  3. Super resolution for astronomical observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zhan; Peng, Qingyu; Bhanu, Bir; Zhang, Qingfeng; He, Haifeng

    2018-05-01

    In order to obtain detailed information from multiple telescope observations a general blind super-resolution (SR) reconstruction approach for astronomical images is proposed in this paper. A pixel-reliability-based SR reconstruction algorithm is described and implemented, where the developed process incorporates flat field correction, automatic star searching and centering, iterative star matching, and sub-pixel image registration. Images captured by the 1-m telescope at Yunnan Observatory are used to test the proposed technique. The results of these experiments indicate that, following SR reconstruction, faint stars are more distinct, bright stars have sharper profiles, and the backgrounds have higher details; thus these results benefit from the high-precision star centering and image registration provided by the developed method. Application of the proposed approach not only provides more opportunities for new discoveries from astronomical image sequences, but will also contribute to enhancing the capabilities of most spatial or ground-based telescopes.

  4. Astronomía Mocoví

    Science.gov (United States)

    López, A.; Giménez Benitez, S.; Fernández, L.

    El presente trabajo, es una revisión crítica de la astronomía en la cultura Mocoví, aportando a lo realizado previamente por Lehmann Nistche (Lehmann Nistche, 1924 y 1927) el resultado de nuestro trabajo de campo. Un mayor conocimiento de las cosmovisiones de las etnias de esta área es fundamental para una mejor comprensión de la dispersión de las ideas cosmológicas entre los pueblos aborígenes americanos, dada la importancia del corredor chaqueño como conexión entre las altas culturas andinas, la mesopotamia y la región pampeana (Susnik, 1972). Para ello se realiza una comparación con otras cosmovisiones del área americana. Nuestro aporte se enmarca dentro de las actuales líneas de trabajo mundialmente en desarrollo en Astronomía en la Cultura.

  5. Top astronomers head to the city. Experts to talk on exciting quasar discoveries.

    CERN Multimedia

    Grant, S

    2002-01-01

    The UK National Astronomy Meeting - NAM 2002 - is at Bristol University this week. The meeting is one of the most important regular gatherings of astronomers in the UK. Sponsored by the Royal Astronomical Society and PPARC, it should attract about 300 astronomers from the UK and beyond.

  6. AWOB: A Collaborative Workbench for Astronomers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, J. W.; Lemson, G.; Bulatovic, N.; Makarenko, V.; Vogler, A.; Voges, W.; Yao, Y.; Kiefl, R.; Koychev, S.

    2015-09-01

    We present the Astronomers Workbench (AWOB1), a web-based collaboration and publication platform for a scientific project of any size, developed in collaboration between the Max-Planck institutes of Astrophysics (MPA) and Extra-terrestrial Physics (MPE) and the Max-Planck Digital Library (MPDL). AWOB facilitates the collaboration between geographically distributed astronomers working on a common project throughout its whole scientific life cycle. AWOB does so by making it very easy for scientists to set up and manage a collaborative workspace for individual projects, where data can be uploaded and shared. It supports inviting project collaborators, provides wikis, automated mailing lists, calendars and event notification and has a built in chat facility. It allows the definition and tracking of tasks within projects and supports easy creation of e-publications for the dissemination of data and images and other resources that cannot be added to submitted papers. AWOB extends the project concept to larger scale consortia, within which it is possible to manage working groups and sub-projects. The existing AWOB instance has so far been limited to Max-Planck members and their collaborators, but will be opened to the whole astronomical community. AWOB is an open-source project and its source code is available upon request. We intend to extend AWOB's functionality also to other disciplines, and would greatly appreciate contributions from the community.

  7. Skype Me! Astronomers, Students, and Cutting-Edge Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hickox, Ryan C.; Gauthier, Adrienne J.

    2014-06-01

    A primary goal of many university science courses is to promote understanding of the process of contemporary scientific inquiry. One powerful way to achieve this is for students to explore current research and then interact directly with the leading scientist, the feasibility of which has recently increased dramatically due to free online video communication tools. We report on a program implemented at Dartmouth College in which students connect with a guest astronomer through Skype (video chat). The Skype session is wrapped in a larger activity where students explore current research articles, interact with the astronomer, and then reflect on the experience. The in-class Skype discussions require a small time commitment from scientists (20-30 minutes, with little or no need for preparation) while providing students direct access to researchers at the cutting edge of modern astronomy. We outline the procedures used to implement these discussions, and present qualitative assessments of student's understanding of the process of research, as well as feedback from the guest astronomers.

  8. Breakthrough! 100 astronomical images that changed the world

    CERN Document Server

    Gendler, Robert

    2015-01-01

    This unique volume by two renowned astrophotographers unveils the science and history behind 100 of the most significant astronomical images of all time. The authors have carefully selected their list of images from across time and technology to bring to the reader the most relevant photographic images spanning all eras of modern astronomical history.    Based on scientific evidence today we have a basic notion of how Earth and the universe came to be. The road to this knowledge was paved with 175 years of astronomical images acquired by the coupling of two revolutionary technologies – the camera and telescope. With ingenuity and determination humankind would quickly embrace these technologies to tell the story of the cosmos and unravel its mysteries.   This book presents in pictures and words a photographic chronology of our aspiration to understand the universe. From the first fledgling attempts to photograph the Moon, planets, and stars to the marvels of orbiting observatories that record the cosmos a...

  9. The PACA Project: When Amateur Astronomers Become Citizen Scientists

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yanamandra-Fisher, P. A.

    2014-12-01

    The Pro-Am Collaborative Astronomy (PACA) project evolved from the observational campaign of C/2012 S1 or C/ISON in 2013. Following the success of the professional-amateur astronomer collaboration in scientific research via social media, it is now implemented in other comet observing campaigns. While PACA identifies a consistent collaborative approach to pro-am collaborations, given the volume of data generated for each campaign, new ways of rapid data analysis, mining access and storage are needed. Several interesting results emerged from the synergistic inclusion of both social media and amateur astronomers: (1) the establishment of a network of astronomers and related professionals, that can be galvanized into action on short notice to support observing campaigns; (2) assist in various science investigations pertinent to the campaign; (3) provide an alert-sounding mechanism should the need arise; (4) immediate outreach and dissemination of results via our media/blogger members; (5) provide a forum for discussions between the imagers and modelers to help strategize the observing campaign for maximum benefit. In 2014, two new comet observing campaigns involving pro-am collaborations have been initiated: (1) C/2013 A1 (C/SidingSpring) and (2) 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (CG), target for ESA/Rosetta mission. The evolving need for individual customized observing campaigns has been incorporated into the evolution of PACA portal that currently is focused on comets: from supporting observing campaigns of current comets, legacy data, historical comets; interconnected with social media and a set of shareable documents addressing observational strategies; consistent standards for data; data access, use, and storage, to align with the needs of professional observers. The integration of science, observations by professional and amateur astronomers, and various social media provides a dynamic and evolving collaborative partnership between professional and amateur astronomers

  10. A website for astronomical news in Spanish

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortiz-Gil, A.

    2008-06-01

    Noticias del Cosmos is a collection of web pages within the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Valencia's website where we publish short daily summaries of astronomical press releases. Most, if not all of, the releases are originally written in English, and often Spanish readers may find them difficult to understand because not many people are familiar with the scientific language employed in these releases. Noticias del Cosmos has two principal aims. First, we want to communicate the latest astronomical news on a daily basis to a wide Spanish-speaking public who would otherwise not be able to read them because of the language barrier. Second, daily news can be used as a tool to introduce the astronomical topics of the school curriculum in a more immediate and relevant way. Most of the students at school have not yet reached a good enough level in their knowledge of English to fully understand a press release, and Noticias del Cosmos offers them and their teachers this news in their mother tongue. During the regular programme of school visits at the Observatory we use the news as a means of showing that there is still a lot to be discovered. So far the visits to the website have been growing steadily. Between June 2003 and June 2007 we had more than 30,000 visits (excluding 2006). More than 50% of the visits come from Spain, followed by visitors from South and Central America. The feedback we have received from teachers so far has been very positive, showing the usefulness of news items in the classroom when teaching astronomy.

  11. South African Astronomical Observatory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-01-01

    Work at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in recent years, by both staff and visitors, has made major contributions to the fields of astrophysics and astronomy. During 1986 the SAAO has been involved in studies of the following: galaxies; celestial x-ray sources; magellanic clouds; pulsating variables; galactic structure; binary star phenomena; nebulae and interstellar matter; stellar astrophysics; open clusters; globular clusters, and solar systems

  12. ALTAY LANGUAGES IN NOSTRATIK LANGUAGES THEORY NOSTRATİK DİL TEORİSİ İÇERİSİNDE ALTAY DİLLERİ

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ekrem ARIKOĞLU

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Nostratic language of the theory of names Holger Pedersen his paternity, İlliç Svıtiç theory developed by the Afro-Asiatic, Kartvel, Elam-Dravid, Indo-European, Ural-Yukagir, Eskimo-Aleut, Altai, Korea, the Japanese language group of the common historical roots a defense theory. According to the theory of our day with each other within the same family or language group are not considered languages, at an earlier date (14 -10 thousands BC was based on the same origin. 8 thousand years ago, was separated from the main group of the Altaic language group. But today, many elements of restructuring through leksic history helps to establish ties. Altaic languages or language groups, with the above-mentioned links between the evaluation of the studies, examples are given in words. These links have been limited to elements leksical notice. Nostratik dil teorisi, isim babalığını Holger Pedersen’in yaptığı ve İlliç Svitıç tarafından geliştirilen; Afro-Asyatik, Kartvel, Elam-Dravit, Hint-Avrupa, Ural-Yukagir, Eskimo-Aleut, Altay, Kore ve Japon dillerinin aynı kökene dayandığını savunan bir teoridir.Bu teoriye göre, günümüzdeki pek çok dil ailesi MÖ 14-10 bin yıllarında aynı kökene dayanıyordu. 8 bin yıl önce Altay dil grubu ana gruptan ayrıldı. Fakat günümüzde pek çok leksik unsur tarihî bağların tespit edilmesine yardımcı olmaktadır. Altay dilleri veya dil grubunun diğer dil aileleriyle olan bağları, örnek kelimelerle gösterilmektedir. Bu bağlantılar daha çok leksik unsurlarla sınırlı tutulmuştur.

  13. On astronomical drawing [1846

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smyth, Charles Piazzi

    Reprinted from the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society 15, 1846, pp. 71-82. With annotations and illustrations added by Klaus Hentschel. The activities of the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Charles Piazzi Smyth (1819-1900), include the triangulation of South African districts, landscape painting, day-to-day or tourist sketching, the engraving and lithographing of prominent architectural sites, the documentary photography of the Egyptian pyramids or the Tenerife Dragon tree, and `instant photographs' of the clouds above his retirement home in Clova, Ripon. His colorful records of the aurora polaris, and solar and terrestrial spectra all profited from his trained eye and his subtle mastery of the pen and the brush. As his paper on astronomical drawing, which we chose to reproduce in this volume, amply demonstrates, he was conversant in most of the print technology repertoire that the 19th century had to offer, and carefully selected the one most appropriate to each sujet. For instance, he chose mezzotint for the plates illustrating Maclear's observations of Halley's comet in 1835/36, so as to achieve a ``rich profundity of shadows, the deep obscurity of which is admirably adapted to reproduce those fine effects of chiaroscuro frequently found in works where the quantity of dark greatly predominates.'' The same expertise with which he tried to emulate Rembrandt's chiaroscuro effects he applied to assessing William and John Herschel's illustrations of nebulae, which appeared in print between 1811 and 1834. William Herschel's positive engraving, made partly by stippling and partly by a coarse mezzotint, receives sharp admonishment because of the visible ruled crossed lines in the background and the fact that ``the objects, which are also generally too light, [have] a much better definition than they really possess.'' On the other hand, John Herschel's illustration of nebulae and star clusters, given in negative, ``in which the lights are the darkest part of the

  14. Astronomers find distant planet like Jupiter

    CERN Multimedia

    2003-01-01

    Astronomers searching for planetary systems like our solar system have found a planet similar to Jupiter orbiting a nearby star similar to our Sun, about 90 light-years from Earth, according to researchers (1/2 page).

  15. The Top Ten Astronomical 'breakthroughs' of the 20th century

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hughes, D. W.

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available Astronomy was revolutionized in the 20th century. The electron was discovered in 1897 and this transformed spectroscopy and introduced plasma and magnetohydrodynamic physics and astro-chemistry. Einstein’s E = mc2, solved the problem of stellar energy generation and spawned the study of elemental nuclear synthesis. Large telescopes led to a boom in astronomical spectroscopic and photometric data collection, leading to such cornerstones as the Hertzprung-Russell diagram and the mass-luminosity relationship, and to the realization that the Universe contained a multitude of galaxies and was expanding. Radio astronomy was introduced and the advent of the space age saw the astronomical wavelength range expand into the ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma-ray regions, as well as the infrared and millimetre. We also startedwandering around roaming the Solar System instead of merely glimpsing its members from the bottom of our warm, turbulent atmosphere. Astronomical “breakthroughs” abounded. We have asked astronomers to select their “top ten” and these are listed and discussed in this paper.

  16. Dante, astrología y astronomía

    OpenAIRE

    Gangui, Alejandro

    2017-01-01

    En este artículo, los versos de Dante Alighieri nos llevan a reflexionar acerca de los diferentes métodos -cada vez más divergentes- con los que la ciencia y las creencias se aproximan a la realidad. Fil: Gangui, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Físi...

  17. TMT in the Astronomical Landscape of the 2020s

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dickinson, Mark; Inami, Hanae

    2014-07-01

    Thirty Meter Telescope Observatory and NOAO will host the second TMT Science Forum at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Arizona. The TMT Science Forum is an an annual gathering of astronomers, educators, and observatory staff, who meet to explore TMT science, instrumentation, observatory operations, archiving and data processing, astronomy education, and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) issues. It is an opportunity for astronomers from the international TMT partners and from the US-at-large community to learn about the observatory status, discuss and plan cutting-edge science, establish collaborations, and to help shape the future of TMT. One important theme for this year's Forum will be the synergy between TMT and other facilities in the post-2020 astronomical landscape. There will be plenary sessions, an instrumentation workshop, topical science sessions and meetings of the TMT International Science Development Teams (ISDTs).

  18. Astronomical random numbers for quantum foundations experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leung, Calvin; Brown, Amy; Nguyen, Hien; Friedman, Andrew S.; Kaiser, David I.; Gallicchio, Jason

    2018-04-01

    Photons from distant astronomical sources can be used as a classical source of randomness to improve fundamental tests of quantum nonlocality, wave-particle duality, and local realism through Bell's inequality and delayed-choice quantum eraser tests inspired by Wheeler's cosmic-scale Mach-Zehnder interferometer gedanken experiment. Such sources of random numbers may also be useful for information-theoretic applications such as key distribution for quantum cryptography. Building on the design of an astronomical random number generator developed for the recent cosmic Bell experiment [Handsteiner et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 060401 (2017), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.060401], in this paper we report on the design and characterization of a device that, with 20-nanosecond latency, outputs a bit based on whether the wavelength of an incoming photon is greater than or less than ≈700 nm. Using the one-meter telescope at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Table Mountain Observatory, we generated random bits from astronomical photons in both color channels from 50 stars of varying color and magnitude, and from 12 quasars with redshifts up to z =3.9 . With stars, we achieved bit rates of ˜1 ×106Hz/m 2 , limited by saturation of our single-photon detectors, and with quasars of magnitudes between 12.9 and 16, we achieved rates between ˜102 and 2 ×103Hz /m2 . For bright quasars, the resulting bitstreams exhibit sufficiently low amounts of statistical predictability as quantified by the mutual information. In addition, a sufficiently high fraction of bits generated are of true astronomical origin in order to address both the locality and freedom-of-choice loopholes when used to set the measurement settings in a test of the Bell-CHSH inequality.

  19. Astronomy Legacy Project - Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barker, Thurburn; Castelaz, Michael W.; Rottler, Lee; Cline, J. Donald

    2016-01-01

    Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) is a not-for-profit public foundation in North Carolina dedicated to providing hands-on educational and research opportunities for a broad cross-section of users in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines. In November 2007 a Workshop on a National Plan for Preserving Astronomical Photographic Data (2009ASPC,410,33O, Osborn, W. & Robbins, L) was held at PARI. The result was the establishment of the Astronomical Photographic Data Archive (APDA) at PARI. In late 2013 PARI began ALP (Astronomy Legacy Project). ALP's purpose is to digitize an extensive set of twentieth century photographic astronomical data housed in APDA. Because of the wide range of types of plates, plate dimensions and emulsions found among the 40+ collections, plate digitization will require a versatile set of scanners and digitizing instruments. Internet crowdfunding was used to assist in the purchase of additional digitization equipment that were described at AstroPlate2014 Plate Preservation Workshop (www.astroplate.cz) held in Prague, CZ, March, 2014. Equipment purchased included an Epson Expression 11000XL scanner and two Nikon D800E cameras. These digital instruments will compliment a STScI GAMMA scanner now located in APDA. GAMMA will be adapted to use an electroluminescence light source and a digital camera with a telecentric lens to achieve high-speed high-resolution scanning. The 1μm precision XY stage of GAMMA will allow very precise positioning of the plate stage. Multiple overlapping CCD images of small sections of each plate, tiles, will be combined using a photo-mosaic process similar to one used in Harvard's DASCH project. Implementation of a software pipeline for the creation of a SQL database containing plate images and metadata will be based upon APPLAUSE as described by Tuvikene at AstroPlate2014 (www.astroplate.cz/programs/).

  20. Astronomers Win Protection for Key Part of Radio Spectrum

    Science.gov (United States)

    2000-06-01

    Astronomers using the millimeter-wave region of the radio spectrum have won crucial protection for their science. Dedicated allocations for radio astronomy have been given final approval by the 2,500 delegates to the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-00), which recently concluded a month of deliberations in Istanbul, Turkey. Radio services can transmit in these parts of the spectrum as long as they don't hinder astronomers' attempts to catch faint signals from the cosmos. The new allocations represent the culmination of more than three years of cooperative planning by radio astronomers in many countries. Millimeter waves -- high-frequency radio waves -- have come of age as an astronomical tool in the last ten years. They are one of the last technological frontiers for astronomers. WRC-00 has protected for science all the frequencies between 71 and 275 Gigahertz (GHz) that radio astronomers currently use, adding more than 90 GHz of spectrum to the 44 GHz already set aside in this frequency range. As a result, radio astronomy is now allocated most of the frequencies between 71 and 275 GHz that can get through the Earth's atmosphere. "We have formal access to all three atmospheric 'windows', apart from their very edges," said Dr. Tom Gergely of the National Science Foundation, one of the U.S. delegates to WRC-00. The WRC also changed most of the frequencies allocated to satellite downlinks within the 71-275 GHz range to frequencies not used for science. Since no satellites yet operate at these high frequencies, no equipment needs to be altered. "Commercial technologies are just starting to develop above 50 GHz," said Dr. Klaus Ruf, Chairman of the Inter-Union Commission for the Allocation of Frequencies. "The WRC's actions mean that, when they are, radio astronomers should be able to share this part of the spectrum with most terrestrial services." The World Radiocommunication Conference is held every two or three years. Here member countries of the

  1. Maraghe Observatory and an Effort towards Retrieval of Architectural Design of Astronomical Units

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Javad Shekari Niri

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Maraghe observatory was built by such engineers as Moayiededdin Orozi etc. under supervision of Khaje Nasireddin Tousi in 7th century AH. The most significant feature associated with Maraghe observatory is the fact that architecture is employed to achieve astronomical purposes in this site. The reason for preferring observatory by astronomers was the fact that these units are superior to wooden and metal instruments with respect to accuracy, no size limitations, etc. Architectural design and function of astronomical units of Maraghe observatory site after discovery of its foundation in the course of explorations before Islamic Revolution remained unclear until recent years. After conducting required studies and investigations, the author managed to find significant cues and after some precise comparisons, he succeeded to recover the main design and function of some astronomical units of this international center. Based on these findings these astronomical structures can reliably be rebuilt. This research showed that every circular or polygonal building cannot be considered as an observatory. For example form and function of cemetery structures are completely different with astronomical ones. Following this research also valuable results were obtained in relation to stone architectural structures present on Maraghe observatory hill. In addition, claims about invention of astronomical units of Maraghe observatory by non-Iranian scientists are rejected and rights of Iranian scientists are rationally defended in this regard.

  2. GalileoMobile: Astronomical activities in schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dasi Espuig, Maria; Vasquez, Mayte; Kobel, Philippe

    GalileoMobile is an itinerant science education initiative run on a voluntary basis by an international team of astronomers, educators, and science communicators. Our team's main goal is to make astronomy accessible to schools and communities around the globe that have little or no access to outreach actions. We do this by performing teacher workshops, activities with students, and donating educational material. Since the creation of GalileoMobile in 2008, we have travelled to Chile, Bolivia, Peru, India, and Uganda, and worked with 56 schools in total. Our activities are centred on the GalileoMobile Handbook of Activities that comprises around 20 astronomical activities which we adapted from many different sources, and translated into 4 languages. The experience we gained in Chile, Bolivia, Peru, India, and Uganda taught us that (1) bringing experts from other countries was very stimulating for children as they are naturally curious about other cultures and encourages a collaboration beyond borders; (2) high-school students who were already interested in science were always very eager to interact with real astronomers doing research to ask for career advice; (3) inquiry-based methods are important to make the learning process more effective and we have therefore, re-adapted the activities in our Handbook according to these; (4) local teachers and university students involved in our activities have the potential to carry out follow-up activities, and examples are those from Uganda and India.

  3. Astronomical Spectroscopy A Short History

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 3; Issue 5. Astronomical Spectroscopy A Short History. J C Bhattacharyya. General Article Volume 3 Issue 5 May 1998 pp 24-29. Fulltext. Click here to view fulltext PDF. Permanent link: https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/003/05/0024-0029 ...

  4. Astronomical Photometry Past, Present, and Future

    CERN Document Server

    Milone, Eugene F

    2011-01-01

    This book brings together experts in the field of astronomical photometry to discuss how their subfields provide the precision and accuracy in astronomical energy flux measurements that are needed to permit tests of astrophysical theories. Differential photometers and photometry, improvements in infrared precision, the improvements in precision and accuracy of CCD photometry, the absolute calibration of flux, the development of the Johnson UBVRI photometric system and other passband systems to measure and precisely classify specific types of stars and astrophysical quantities, and the current capabilities of spectrophotometry and polarimetry to provide precise and accurate data, are all discussed in this volume. The discussion of `differential’ or `two-star’ photometers ranges from early experiments in visual photometry through the Harvard and Princeton polarizing photometers to the pioneering work of Walraven and differential photometers designed to minimize effects of atmospheric extinction and to count...

  5. Isaac Newton and the astronomical refraction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehn, Waldemar H

    2008-12-01

    In a short interval toward the end of 1694, Isaac Newton developed two mathematical models for the theory of the astronomical refraction and calculated two refraction tables, but did not publish his theory. Much effort has been expended, starting with Biot in 1836, in the attempt to identify the methods and equations that Newton used. In contrast to previous work, a closed form solution is identified for the refraction integral that reproduces the table for his first model (in which density decays linearly with elevation). The parameters of his second model, which includes the exponential variation of pressure in an isothermal atmosphere, have also been identified by reproducing his results. The implication is clear that in each case Newton had derived exactly the correct equations for the astronomical refraction; furthermore, he was the first to do so.

  6. The data analysis facilities that astronomers want

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Disney, M.

    1985-01-01

    This paper discusses the need and importance of data analysis facilities and what astronomers ideally want. A brief survey is presented of what is available now and some of the main deficiencies and problems with today's systems are discussed. The main sources of astronomical data are presented incuding: optical photographic, optical TV/CCD, VLA, optical spectros, imaging x-ray satellite, and satellite planetary camera. Landmark discoveries are listed in a table, some of which include: our galaxy as an island, distance to stars, H-R diagram (stellar structure), size of our galaxy, and missing mass in clusters. The main problems at present are discussed including lack of coordinated effort and central planning, differences in hardware, and measuring performance

  7. Grigor Narekatsi's astronomical insights

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poghosyan, Samvel

    2015-07-01

    What stand out in the solid system of Gr. Narekatsi's naturalistic views are his astronomical insights on the material nature of light, its high speed and the Sun being composed of "material air". Especially surprising and fascinating are his views on stars and their clusters. What astronomers, including great Armenian academician V. Ambartsumian (scattering of stellar associations), would understand and prove with much difficulty thousand years later, Narekatsi predicted in the 10th century: "Stars appear and disappear untimely", "You who gather and scatter the speechless constellations, like a flock of sheep". Gr. Narekatsti's reformative views were manifested in all the spheres of the 10th century social life; he is a reformer of church life, great language constructor, innovator in literature and music, freethinker in philosophy and science. His ideology is the reflection of the 10th century Armenian Renaissance. During the 9th-10th centuries, great masses of Armenians, forced to migrate to the Balkans, took with them and spread reformative ideas. The forefather of the western science, which originated in the period of Reformation, is considered to be the great philosopher Nicholas of Cusa. The study of Gr. Narekatsti's logic and naturalistic views enables us to claim that Gr. Narekatsti is the great grandfather of European science.

  8. Amateur astronomers in support of observing campaigns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yanamandra-Fisher, P.

    2014-07-01

    The Pro-Am Collaborative Astronomy (PACA) project evolved from the observational campaign of C/2012 S1 or C/ISON. The success of the paradigm shift in scientific research is now implemented in other comet observing campaigns. While PACA identifies a consistent collaborative approach to pro-am collaborations, given the volume of data generated for each campaign, new ways of rapid data analysis, mining access, and storage are needed. Several interesting results emerged from the synergistic inclusion of both social media and amateur astronomers: - the establishment of a network of astronomers and related professionals that can be galvanized into action on short notice to support observing campaigns; - assist in various science investigations pertinent to the campaign; - provide an alert-sounding mechanism should the need arise; - immediate outreach and dissemination of results via our media/blogger members; - provide a forum for discussions between the imagers and modelers to help strategize the observing campaign for maximum benefit. In 2014, two new comet observing campaigns involving pro-am collaborations have been identified: (1) C/2013 A1 (C/Siding Spring) and (2) 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (CG). The evolving need for individual customized observing campaigns has been incorporated into the evolution of PACA (Pro-Am Collaborative Astronomy) portal that currently is focused on comets: from supporting observing campaigns for current comets, legacy data, historical comets; interconnected with social media and a set of shareable documents addressing observational strategies; consistent standards for data; data access, use, and storage, to align with the needs of professional observers. The integration of science, observations by professional and amateur astronomers, and various social media provides a dynamic and evolving collaborative partnership between professional and amateur astronomers. The recent observation of comet 67P, at a magnitude of 21.2, from Siding

  9. Astronomers no longer in the dark

    CERN Multimedia

    MacMillan, L

    2002-01-01

    In a significant breakthrough, British and US astronomers have begun to pin down the most elusive material in the universe. They have made a map of dark matter - the heavy, invisible stuff that gives the galaxies their shape (1 page).

  10. LGBT Workplace Issues for Astronomers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kay, Laura E.; Danner, R.; Sellgren, K.; Dixon, V.; GLBTQastro

    2011-01-01

    Federal Equal Employment Opportunity laws and regulations do not provide protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or gender expression. Sexual minority astronomers (including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people; LGBT) can face additional challenges at school and work. Studies show that LGBT students on many campuses report experiences of harassment. Cities, counties, and states may or may not have statutes to protect against such discrimination. There is wide variation in how states and insurance plans handle legal and medical issues for transgender people. Federal law does not acknowledge same-sex partners, including those legally married in the U.S. or in other countries. Immigration rules in the U.S. (and many other, but not all) countries do not recognize same-sex partners for visas, employment, etc. State `defense of marriage act' laws have been used to remove existing domestic partner benefits at some institutions, or benefits can disappear with a change in governor. LGBT astronomers who change schools, institutions, or countries during their career may experience significant differences in their legal, medical, and marital status.

  11. What Lies Behind NSF Astronomer Demographics? Subjectivities of Women, Minorities and Foreign-born Astronomers within Meshworks of Big Science Astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guillen, Reynal; Gu, D.; Holbrook, J.; Murillo, L. F.; Traweek, S.

    2011-01-01

    Our current research focuses on the trajectory of scientists working with large-scale databases in astronomy, following them as they strategically build their careers, digital infrastructures, and make their epistemological commitments. We look specifically at how gender, ethnicity, nationality intersect in the process of subject formation in astronomy, as well as in the process of enrolling partners for the construction of instruments, design and implementation of large-scale databases. Work once figured as merely technical support, such assembling data catalogs, or as graphic design, generating pleasing images for public support, has been repositioned at the core of the field. Some have argued that such databases enable a new kind of scientific inquiry based on data exploration, such as the "fourth paradigm" or "data-driven" science. Our preliminary findings based on oral history interviews and ethnography provide insights into meshworks of women, African-American, "Hispanic," Asian-American and foreign-born astronomers. Our preliminary data suggest African-American men are more successful in sustaining astronomy careers than Chicano and Asian-American men. A distinctive theme in our data is the glocal character of meshworks available to and created by foreign-born women astronomers working at US facilities. Other data show that the proportion of Asian to Asian American and foreign-born Latina/o to Chicana/o astronomers is approximately equal. Futhermore, Asians and Latinas/os are represented in significantly greater numbers than Asian Americans and Chicanas/os. Among professional astronomers in the US, each ethnic minority group is numbered on the order of tens, not hundreds. Project support is provided by the NSF EAGER program to University of California, Los Angeles under award 0956589.

  12. Preserving Astronomy's Photographic Legacy: Current State and the Future of North American Astronomical Plates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osborn, W.; Robbins, L.

    2009-08-01

    This book contains articles on preserving astronomy's valuable heritage of photographic observations, most of which are on glass plates. It is intended to serve as a reference for institutions charged with preserving and managing plate archives and astronomers interested in using archival photographic plates in their research. The first portion of the book focuses on previous activities and recommendations related to plate archiving. These include actions taken by the International Astronomical Union, activities in Europe and a detailed account of a workshop on preserving astronomical photographic data held in 2007 at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, North Carolina. The workshop discussions covered a wide range of issues that must be considered in any effort to archive plates and culminated in a set of recommendations on preserving, cataloging and making publicly available these irreplaceable data. The second part of the book reports on some recent efforts to implement the recommendations. These include essays on the recently established Astronomical Photographic Data Archive, projects to make photographic collections available electronically, evaluations of commercial scanners for digitization of astronomical plates and the case for the continuing value of these data along with a report on the census of astronomical plate collections in North America carried out in 2008. The census cataloged the locations, numbers, and types of astronomical plates in the US and Canada. Comprehensive appendices identify all the significant collections in North America and detail the current contents, state and status of their holdings.

  13. Recent Advances for LGBT Astronomers in the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dixon, William V.; Rigby, Jane; Oppenheimer, Rebecca

    2015-08-01

    The legal environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) astronomers in the United States has changed dramatically in recent years. In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which had barred the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, was unconstitutional. This decision particularly affects astronomers, since astronomers in the U.S. are more likely than the general population to be foreign nationals, to have a foreign-born spouse, or to work for the federal government. In 2014, the Attorney General directed the Department of Justice to take the position in litigation that the protection of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 extends to claims of discrimination based on an individual’s gender identity, including transgender status. Title VII makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate in the employment of an individual “because of such individual’s... sex,” among other protected characteristics. As of March 2015, more than 70% of the population lives in states that recognize same-sex marriage, and the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the remaining same-sex marriage bans during the current term. In this poster, we discuss these advances and their implications for the personal and professional lives of LGBT astronomers across the United States.

  14. How did the Supreme Court ruling on DOMA affect astronomers?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rigby, Jane R.; The AAS Working Group on LGBTIQ Equality

    2014-01-01

    In June 2013, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional. Section 3 had barred the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. The decision in United States v. Windsor, made headlines around the world, and particularly affected astronomers, since astronomers in the US are more likely than the general population to be foreign nationals, to have a foreign-born spouse, or to work for the federal government. In this poster, we highlight some of the real-world ways that the Windsor case has affected US astronomers and our profession. Bi-national couples can now apply for green cards granting permanent residency. Scientists who work for the federal government, including NASA and the NSF, can now obtain health insurance for a same-sex spouse. From taxes to death benefits, health insurance to daycare, immigration to ethics laws, the end of S3 of DOMA has had profoundly improved the lives of US scientists who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). Here we, highlight several real-world examples of how DOMA's demise has improved the lives and careers of US astronomer.

  15. Statistical methods for astronomical data analysis

    CERN Document Server

    Chattopadhyay, Asis Kumar

    2014-01-01

    This book introduces “Astrostatistics” as a subject in its own right with rewarding examples, including work by the authors with galaxy and Gamma Ray Burst data to engage the reader. This includes a comprehensive blending of Astrophysics and Statistics. The first chapter’s coverage of preliminary concepts and terminologies for astronomical phenomenon will appeal to both Statistics and Astrophysics readers as helpful context. Statistics concepts covered in the book provide a methodological framework. A unique feature is the inclusion of different possible sources of astronomical data, as well as software packages for converting the raw data into appropriate forms for data analysis. Readers can then use the appropriate statistical packages for their particular data analysis needs. The ideas of statistical inference discussed in the book help readers determine how to apply statistical tests. The authors cover different applications of statistical techniques already developed or specifically introduced for ...

  16. ARNICA, the Arcetri near-infrared camera: Astronomical performance assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunt, L. K.; Lisi, F.; Testi, L.; Baffa, C.; Borelli, S.; Maiolino, R.; Moriondo, G.; Stanga, R. M.

    1996-01-01

    The Arcetri near-infrared camera ARNICA was built as a users' instrument for the Infrared Telescope at Gornergrat (TIRGO), and is based on a 256x256 NICMOS 3 detector. In this paper, we discuss ARNICA's optical and astronomical performance at the TIRGO and at the William Herschel Telescope on La Palma. Optical performance is evaluated in terms of plate scale, distortion, point spread function, and ghosting. Astronomical performance is characterized by camera efficiency, sensitivity, and spatial uniformity of the photometry.

  17. Applying artificial intelligence to astronomical databases - a surveyof applicable technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenthal, D. A.

    This paper surveys several emerging technologies which are relevant to astronomical database issues such as interface technology, internal database representation, and intelligent data reduction aids. Among the technologies discussed are natural language understanding, frame and object representations, planning, pattern analysis, machine learning and the nascent study of simulated neural nets. These techniques will become increasingly important for astronomical research, and in particular, for applications with large databases.

  18. 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.

  19. How do astronomers share data? Reliability and persistence of datasets linked in AAS publications and a qualitative study of data practices among US astronomers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pepe, Alberto; Goodman, Alyssa; Muench, August; Crosas, Merce; Erdmann, Christopher

    2014-01-01

    We analyze data sharing practices of astronomers over the past fifteen years. An analysis of URL links embedded in papers published by the American Astronomical Society reveals that the total number of links included in the literature rose dramatically from 1997 until 2005, when it leveled off at around 1500 per year. The analysis also shows that the availability of linked material decays with time: in 2011, 44% of links published a decade earlier, in 2001, were broken. A rough analysis of link types reveals that links to data hosted on astronomers' personal websites become unreachable much faster than links to datasets on curated institutional sites. To gauge astronomers' current data sharing practices and preferences further, we performed in-depth interviews with 12 scientists and online surveys with 173 scientists, all at a large astrophysical research institute in the United States: the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in Cambridge, MA. Both the in-depth interviews and the online survey indicate that, in principle, there is no philosophical objection to data-sharing among astronomers at this institution. Key reasons that more data are not presently shared more efficiently in astronomy include: the difficulty of sharing large data sets; over reliance on non-robust, non-reproducible mechanisms for sharing data (e.g. emailing it); unfamiliarity with options that make data-sharing easier (faster) and/or more robust; and, lastly, a sense that other researchers would not want the data to be shared. We conclude with a short discussion of a new effort to implement an easy-to-use, robust, system for data sharing in astronomy, at theastrodata.org, and we analyze the uptake of that system to-date.

  20. How Do Astronomers Share Data? Reliability and Persistence of Datasets Linked in AAS Publications and a Qualitative Study of Data Practices among US Astronomers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pepe, Alberto; Goodman, Alyssa; Muench, August; Crosas, Merce; Erdmann, Christopher

    2014-08-01

    We analyze data sharing practices of astronomers over the past fifteen years. An analysis of URL links embedded in papers published by the American Astronomical Society reveals that the total number of links included in the literature rose dramatically from 1997 until 2005, when it leveled off at around 1500 per year. The analysis also shows that the availability of linked material decays with time: in 2011, 44% of links published a decade earlier, in 2001, were broken. A rough analysis of link types reveals that links to data hosted on astronomers' personal websites become unreachable much faster than links to datasets on curated institutional sites. To gauge astronomers' current data sharing practices and preferences further, we performed in-depth interviews with 12 scientists and online surveys with 173 scientists, all at a large astrophysical research institute in the United States: the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in Cambridge, MA. Both the in-depth interviews and the online survey indicate that, in principle, there is no philosophical objection to data-sharing among astronomers at this institution. Key reasons that more data are not presently shared more efficiently in astronomy include: the difficulty of sharing large data sets; over reliance on non-robust, non-reproducible mechanisms for sharing data (e.g. emailing it); unfamiliarity with options that make data-sharing easier (faster) and/or more robust; and, lastly, a sense that other researchers would not want the data to be shared. We conclude with a short discussion of a new effort to implement an easy-to-use, robust, system for data sharing in astronomy, at theastrodata.org, and we analyze the uptake of that system to-date.

  1. How do astronomers share data? Reliability and persistence of datasets linked in AAS publications and a qualitative study of data practices among US astronomers.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alberto Pepe

    Full Text Available We analyze data sharing practices of astronomers over the past fifteen years. An analysis of URL links embedded in papers published by the American Astronomical Society reveals that the total number of links included in the literature rose dramatically from 1997 until 2005, when it leveled off at around 1500 per year. The analysis also shows that the availability of linked material decays with time: in 2011, 44% of links published a decade earlier, in 2001, were broken. A rough analysis of link types reveals that links to data hosted on astronomers' personal websites become unreachable much faster than links to datasets on curated institutional sites. To gauge astronomers' current data sharing practices and preferences further, we performed in-depth interviews with 12 scientists and online surveys with 173 scientists, all at a large astrophysical research institute in the United States: the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in Cambridge, MA. Both the in-depth interviews and the online survey indicate that, in principle, there is no philosophical objection to data-sharing among astronomers at this institution. Key reasons that more data are not presently shared more efficiently in astronomy include: the difficulty of sharing large data sets; over reliance on non-robust, non-reproducible mechanisms for sharing data (e.g. emailing it; unfamiliarity with options that make data-sharing easier (faster and/or more robust; and, lastly, a sense that other researchers would not want the data to be shared. We conclude with a short discussion of a new effort to implement an easy-to-use, robust, system for data sharing in astronomy, at theastrodata.org, and we analyze the uptake of that system to-date.

  2. Spectral atlas for amateur astronomers a guide to the spectra of astronomical objects and terrestrial light sources

    CERN Document Server

    Walker, Richard

    2017-01-01

    Featuring detailed commented spectral profiles of more than one hundred astronomical objects, in colour, this spectral guide documents most of the important and spectroscopically observable objects accessible using typical amateur equipment. It allows you to read and interpret the recorded spectra of the main stellar classes, as well as most of the steps from protostars through to the final stages of stellar evolution as planetary nebulae, white dwarfs or the different types of supernovae. It also presents integrated spectra of stellar clusters, galaxies and quasars, and the reference spectra of some terrestrial light sources, for calibration purposes. Whether used as the principal reference for comparing with your recorded spectra or for inspiring independent observing projects, this atlas provides a breathtaking view into our Universe's past. The atlas is accompanied and supplemented by Spectroscopy for Amateur Astronomers, which explains in detail the methods for recording, processing, analysing and interp...

  3. A new astronomical dating of Odysseus return to Ithaca.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papamarinopoulos, St. P.; Preka-Papadema, P.; Antonopoulos, P.; Mitropetrou, H.; Tsironi, A.; Mitropetros, P.

    The annular solar eclipse, of 30 October 1207 B.C. (Julian Day-JD 1280869), calculated by NASA together with the analysis of the weather's and the environment's description (long nights, plants, animals and peoples' habits) and the astronomical data (guiding constellations and Venus in the east horizon) mentioned by Homer in the epic, constitute an autumn return of Odysseus to Ithaca five days before the above characterized day. The latter offers a precise astronomical dating of the event and dates the legendary Trojan War's end as well.

  4. AAS Publishing News: Astronomical Software Citation Workshop

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohler, Susanna

    2015-07-01

    Do you write code for your research? Use astronomical software? Do you wish there were a better way of citing, sharing, archiving, or discovering software for astronomy research? You're not alone! In April 2015, AAS's publishing team joined other leaders in the astronomical software community in a meeting funded by the Sloan Foundation, with the purpose of discussing these issues and potential solutions. In attendance were representatives from academic astronomy, publishing, libraries, for-profit software sharing platforms, telescope facilities, and grantmaking institutions. The goal of the group was to establish “protocols, policies, and platforms for astronomical software citation, sharing, and archiving,” in the hopes of encouraging a set of normalized standards across the field. The AAS is now collaborating with leaders at GitHub to write grant proposals for a project to develop strategies for software discoverability and citation, in astronomy and beyond. If this topic interests you, you can find more details in this document released by the group after the meeting: http://astronomy-software-index.github.io/2015-workshop/ The group hopes to move this project forward with input and support from the broader community. Please share the above document, discuss it on social media using the hashtag #astroware (so that your conversations can be found!), or send private comments to julie.steffen@aas.org.

  5. Longwave Imaging for Astronomical Applications, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — We propose to develop a compact portable longwave camera for astronomical applications. In Phase 1, we successfully developed the eye of the camera, i.e. the focal...

  6. Astronomical calibration of the geological timescale: closing the middle Eocene gap

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westerhold, T.; Röhl, U.; Frederichs, T.; Bohaty, S. M.; Zachos, J. C.

    2015-09-01

    To explore cause and consequences of past climate change, very accurate age models such as those provided by the astronomical timescale (ATS) are needed. Beyond 40 million years the accuracy of the ATS critically depends on the correctness of orbital models and radioisotopic dating techniques. Discrepancies in the age dating of sedimentary successions and the lack of suitable records spanning the middle Eocene have prevented development of a continuous astronomically calibrated geological timescale for the entire Cenozoic Era. We now solve this problem by constructing an independent astrochronological stratigraphy based on Earth's stable 405 kyr eccentricity cycle between 41 and 48 million years ago (Ma) with new data from deep-sea sedimentary sequences in the South Atlantic Ocean. This new link completes the Paleogene astronomical timescale and confirms the intercalibration of radioisotopic and astronomical dating methods back through the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, 55.930 Ma) and the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary (66.022 Ma). Coupling of the Paleogene 405 kyr cyclostratigraphic frameworks across the middle Eocene further paves the way for extending the ATS into the Mesozoic.

  7. The Impact of the Qur'anic Conception of Astronomical Phenomena on Islamic Civilization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad, I. A.

    Discussions of astronomical phenomena in religious texts usually center around either their literal astronomical content or their symbolic significance. We shall instead consider the use of frequent references to astronomical phenomena in the Qur'an as exhortations to a worldview that ushered in the modern era. The Qur'anic conception of astronomical phenomena had a critical impact on Islamic civilization and the civilizations that followed because it introduced and mandated the adoption of certain attitudes. Among these were a greater respect for empirical data than was common in the preceding Greek civilization and an insistence that the Universe is ruled by a single set of laws. Both of these were rooted in the Islamic concept of tawhîd, the unity of God.

  8. International Astronomical Union Sympoisum No.50

    CERN Document Server

    Westerlund, B

    1973-01-01

    Dr J. Landi Dessy, Director of the Astronomical Observatory, Cordoba, Argentina, invited the International Astronomical Union to hold a Symposium in Cordoba in connection with the celebration of the Centennial of the Cordoba Observatory; the date of foundation is October 24, 1871. He proposed that the Symposium should deal with Spectral Classification and Multicolour Photometry as seven years had elapsed since the Symposium No. 24 in Saltsj6baden, and much development had occurred in the field. The invitation and the proposal were accepted by the IAU, and the Symposium was held in Villa Carlos Paz, near Cordoba, between October 18 and October 24, 1971. It was attended by about 50 scientists representing Argentina, Canada, Chile, Den­ mark, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K., U.S.A., Vatican City State and Venezuela. The Symposium was divided into four sessions: 1. Classification of slit spectra, 2. Classification of objective-prism spectra, 3. Photometric classification, 4. Catalogues ...

  9. Large Astronomical Surveys, Catalogs and Databases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mickaelian A. M.

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available We review the status of all-sky and large astronomical surveys and their catalogued data over the whole range of electromagnetic spectrum, from gamma-ray to radio, such as ROSAT in X-ray, GALEX in UV, SDSS and several POSS1/2 based catalogs (APM, MAPS, USNO, GSC in optical, 2MASS and WISE in NIR, IRAS and AKARI in MIR/FIR, NVSS and FIRST in radio range and others. Present astronomical archives contain billions of objects, Galactic as well as extragalactic, and the vast amount of data in them permit new studies and discoveries. Cross-correlations result in revealing new objects and new samples. Very often, dozens of thousands of sources hide a few very interesting ones that are needed to be discovered by comparison of various physical characteristics. Most of the modern databases currently provide VO access to the stored information. This permits not only open access but also fast analysis and managing of these data.

  10. Recruitment and Retention of LGBTIQ Astronomers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dixon, William Van Dyke

    2012-01-01

    While lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or questioning (LGBTIQ) astronomers face many of the same workplace challenges as women and racial/ethnic minorities, from implicit bias to overt discrimination, other challenges are unique to this group. An obvious example is the absence at many institutions of health insurance and other benefits for the same-sex domestic partners of their employees. More subtle is the psychological toll paid by LGBTIQ astronomers who remain "in the closet," self-censoring every statement about their personal lives. Paradoxically, the culture of the physical sciences, in which sexuality, gender identity, and gender expression are considered irrelevant, can discourage their discussion, further isolating LGBTIQ researchers. Addressing these challenges is not just a matter of fairness; it is an essential tool in the recruitment and retention of the brightest researchers and in assuring their productivity. We will discuss these issues and what individuals and departments can to make their institutions more welcoming to their LGBTIQ colleagues.

  11. Instrument Remote Control via the Astronomical Instrument Markup Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sall, Ken; Ames, Troy; Warsaw, Craig; Koons, Lisa; Shafer, Richard

    1998-01-01

    The Instrument Remote Control (IRC) project ongoing at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Information Systems Center (ISC) supports NASA's mission by defining an adaptive intranet-based framework that provides robust interactive and distributed control and monitoring of remote instruments. An astronomical IRC architecture that combines the platform-independent processing capabilities of Java with the power of Extensible Markup Language (XML) to express hierarchical data in an equally platform-independent, as well as human readable manner, has been developed. This architecture is implemented using a variety of XML support tools and Application Programming Interfaces (API) written in Java. IRC will enable trusted astronomers from around the world to easily access infrared instruments (e.g., telescopes, cameras, and spectrometers) located in remote, inhospitable environments, such as the South Pole, a high Chilean mountaintop, or an airborne observatory aboard a Boeing 747. Using IRC's frameworks, an astronomer or other scientist can easily define the type of onboard instrument, control the instrument remotely, and return monitoring data all through the intranet. The Astronomical Instrument Markup Language (AIML) is the first implementation of the more general Instrument Markup Language (IML). The key aspects of our approach to instrument description and control applies to many domains, from medical instruments to machine assembly lines. The concepts behind AIML apply equally well to the description and control of instruments in general. IRC enables us to apply our techniques to several instruments, preferably from different observatories.

  12. High energy astrophysics in radio-astronomical form

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laan, H. van der

    1980-01-01

    The application of high energy astrophysics in observational astronomy, and in particular in radioastronomy, is considered. The current situation of extragalactic HEA, as brought to light by radio-astronomical techniques, is sketched. (C.F.)

  13. Astroinformatics, data mining and the future of astronomical research

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brescia, Massimo, E-mail: longo@na.infn.it [INAF, Astronomical Obs. of Capodimonte, Via Moiariello 16, I-80131 Napoli (Italy); Longo, Giuseppe [Department of Physics, University Federico II, Via Cintia 6, 80126 Napoli (Italy); Department of Astronomy, Caltech, Pasadena (United States)

    2013-08-21

    Astronomy, as many other scientific disciplines, is facing a true data deluge which is bound to change both the praxis and the methodology of every day research work. The emerging field of astroinformatics, while on the one end appears crucial to face the technological challenges, on the other is opening new exciting perspectives for new astronomical discoveries through the implementation of advanced data mining procedures. The complexity of astronomical data and the variety of scientific problems, however, call for innovative algorithms and methods as well as for an extreme usage of ICT technologies.

  14. Astroinformatics, data mining and the future of astronomical research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brescia, Massimo; Longo, Giuseppe

    2013-01-01

    Astronomy, as many other scientific disciplines, is facing a true data deluge which is bound to change both the praxis and the methodology of every day research work. The emerging field of astroinformatics, while on the one end appears crucial to face the technological challenges, on the other is opening new exciting perspectives for new astronomical discoveries through the implementation of advanced data mining procedures. The complexity of astronomical data and the variety of scientific problems, however, call for innovative algorithms and methods as well as for an extreme usage of ICT technologies

  15. New discoveries on astronomical orientation of Inca site in Ollantaytambo, Peru

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karolína Hanzalová

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with astronomical orientation of Incas objects in Ollantaytambo, which is located about 35 km southeast from Machu Picchu, about 40 km northwest from Cusco, and lies in the Urubamba valley. Everybody writing about Ollantaytambo, shoud read Protzen. (1  He devoted his monograph to description and interpretation of that locality. Book of Salazar and Salazar (2 deals, among others, with the orientation of objects in Ollantaytambo with respect to the cardinal direction. Zawaski and Malville (3 documented astronomical context of major monuments of nine sites in Peru, including Ollantaytambo. We tested astronomical orientation in these places and confirm or disprove hypothesis about purpose of Incas objects. For assessment orientation of objects we used our measurements and also satellite images on Google Earth and digital elevation model from ASTER. The satellite images were used to estimate the astronomical-solar-solstice orientation, together with terrestrial images from Salazar and Salazar (2. The digital elevation model is useful in the mountains, where we need the actual horizon for a calculation of sunset and sunrise on specific days (solstices, which were for Incas people very important. We tested which astronomical phenomenon is connected with objects in Ollantaytambo. First, we focused on Temple of the Sun, also known the Wall of six monoliths.  We tested winter solstice sunrise and the rides of the Pleiades for the epochs 2000, 1500 and 1000 A.D. According with our results the Temple isn´t connected neither with winter solstice sunrise nor with the Pleiades. Then we tested also winter solstice sunset. We tried to use the line from an observation point near ruins of the Temple of Sun, to west-north, in direction to sunset. The astronomical azimuth from this point was about 5° less then we need. From this results we found, that is possible to find another observation point. By Salazar and Salazar (2 we found observation

  16. "Word of Discovery": A Planetary Example from Volume I of the Astronomical Journal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hockey, T.

    1998-09-01

    In 1850, William Lassell (1799-1880) discovered a series of bright white spots, in the south temperate latitudes of Jupiter, unlike any that that been seen before. Lassell's note on these STZ features is a useful example of how astronomical discoveries of the day were communicated among astronomers. Word of Lassell's Spots spread quickly by nineteenth-century standards. This was due, in part, to the recent appearance of journals devoted exclusively to astronomy. The transition from letters as a means of conveying scientific information to journals is reflected in the propagation of Lassell's announcement: a report of Lassell's description of the white spots to the Royal Astronomical Society appeared in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society along with a woodblock print of one of his drawings. This report reappeared shortly thereafter in German translation. It was part of a letter to the editor of the Astronomische Nachrichten, Heinrich Schumacher (1780-1850), from an English correspondent of his, the Reverend Richard Sheepshanks (1974-1855). (Sheepshanks was himself editor of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.) It then made its way across the Atlantic as a letter from Schumacher to Benjamin Gould (1824-1896), who published it in the first volume of his upstart Astronomical Journal. There it appears in English, again, as Schumacher quoting Sheepshanks quoting Lassell! The observations by Lassell and William Dawes (1799-1868) of this phenomenon also were the first major planetary discovery made using a silvered-glass reflecting telescope. Lassell's Spots have remained in the "astronomical news" of the last 150 years: Most recently, they appeared worldwide in images showing the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact sites.

  17. Sacarose e período de cultivo in vitro na aclimatização ex vitro de ginseng brasileiro (Pfaffia glomerata Spreng. Pedersen Sucrose and duration of in vitro growth on ex vitro acclimatization of Brazilian ginseng (Pfaffia glomerata Spreng. Pedersen

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Etiane Caldeira Skrebsky

    2004-10-01

    Full Text Available Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng. Pedersen é uma planta extensivamente usada na medicina popular em decorrência de possuir propriedades fitoterápicas. Devido à sua baixa capacidade fotossintética, as plantas cultivadas in vitro requerem uma fonte extra de carboidratos para suprir suas necessidades metabólicas. O tempo de cultivo in vitro influencia as taxas de crescimento das raízes e da parte aérea de P. glomerata. Este trabalho teve como objetivos avaliar os efeitos da sacarose e do período de cultivo in vitro na aclimatização ex vitro de plântulas de P. glomerata. Os tratamentos consistiram de uma combinação bifatorial (5x2 entre cinco concentrações de sacarose (15, 30, 45, 60 e 75g L-1 e dois períodos de cultivo in vitro (25 e 32 dias após a inoculação. No cultivo in vitro, a parcela experimental consistiu de um tubo de ensaio contendo 10mL de meio MS e um segmento nodal, obtidos de plântulas mantidas in vitro, de 1,0cm de comprimento e sem folhas. O procedimento de aclimatização consistiu de quatro fases sucessivas de cultivo ex vitro: (i abertura dos tubos de ensaio e exposição das plântulas ao ambiente de câmara climatizada por três dias; (ii transplantio para substrato Plantmax e cultivo em condições de câmara climatizada por 21 dias; (iii transferência das mudas para ambiente natural parcialmente sombreado, com duração de 24 dias; e (iv transplantio para solo em condições de cultivo a campo. O maior crescimento das plantas obtido pelo aumento da disponibilidade de sacarose (concentrações entre 45 e 60g L-1 no cultivo in vitro contribuiu para a aclimatização. Independente do período de retirada das plantas do cultivo in vitro, as mudas obtiveram adequada aclimatização. O procedimento de aclimatização foi 100% eficiente na produção de mudas de P. glomerata.Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng. Pedersen is an extensively used plant in popular medicine due to its phytotherapic characteristics. Due to low

  18. Astronomical theory of climate change

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berger, A.; Loutre, M.F. [Universite Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium). Inst. d' Astronomie et de Geophysique G. Lemaitre

    2004-12-01

    The astronomical theory of paleo-climates aims to explain the climatic variations occurring with quasi-periodicities lying between tens and hundreds of thousands of years. The origin of these quasi-cycles lies in the astronomically driven changes in the latitudinal and seasonal distributions of the energy that the Earth receives from the Sun. These changes are then amplified by the feedback mechanisms which characterize the natural behaviour of the climate system like those involving the albedo-, the water vapor-, and the vegetation- temperature relationships. Climate models of different complexities are used to explain the chain of processes which finally link the long-term variations of three astronomical parameters to the long-term climatic variations at time scale of tens to hundreds of thousands of years. In particular, sensitivity analysis to the astronomically driven insolation changes and to the CO{sub 2} atmospheric concentrations have been performed with the 2-dimension climate model of Louvain-la-Neuve. It could be shown that this model simulates more or less correctly the entrance into glaciation around 2.75 million year (Myr) BP (before present), the late Pliocene-early Pleistocene 41-kyr (thousand years) cycle, the emergence of the 100-kyr cycle around 850 kyr BP and the glacial-interglacial cycles of the last 600 kyr. During the Late Pliocene (in an ice-free - warm world) ice sheets can only develop during times of sufficiently low summer insolation. This occurs during large eccentricity times when climatic precession and obliquity combine to obtain such low values, leading to the 41-kyr period between 3 and 1 million years BP. On the contrary in a glacial world, ice sheets persist most of the time except when insolation is very high in polar latitudes, requiring large eccentricity again, but leading this time to interglacial and finally to the 100-kyr period of the last 1 Myr. Using CO{sub 2} scenarios, it has been shown that stage 11 and stage 1

  19. The Growth of Interest in Astronomical X-Ray Polarimetry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frédéric Marin

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Astronomical X-ray polarimetry was first explored in the end of the 1960s by pioneering rocket instruments. The craze arising from the first discoveries of stellar and supernova remnant X-ray polarization led to the addition of X-ray polarimeters to early satellites. Unfortunately, the inadequacy of the diffraction and scattering technologies required to measure polarization with respect to the constraints driven by X-ray mirrors and detectors, coupled with long integration times, slowed down the field for almost 40 years. Thanks to the development of new, highly sensitive, compact X-ray polarimeters in the beginning of the 2000s, observing astronomical X-ray polarization has become feasible, and scientists are now ready to explore our high-energy sky thanks to modern X-ray polarimeters. In the forthcoming years, several X-ray missions (rockets, balloons, and satellites will create new observational opportunities. Interest in astronomical X-ray polarimetry field has thus been renewed, and this paper presents for the first time a quantitative assessment, all based on scientific literature, of the growth of this interest.

  20. The re-definition of the astronomical unit of length:reasons and consequences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capitaine, Nicole; Klioner, Sergei; McCarthy, Dennis

    2012-08-01

    The astronomical unit (au) is a unit of length approximating the Sun - Earth distance that is used mainly to express the scale of the solar system. Its current definition is based on the value of the Gaussian gravitational constant, k. This conveniently provided accurate relative distances (expressed in astronomical units) when absolute distances could not be estimated with high accuracy. The huge improvement achieved in solar system ephemerides during the last decade provides an opportunity to re - consider the definition and status of the au. This issue was discussed recently by Klioner (2008), Capitaine & Guinot (2009) and Capitaine et al. (2011), as well as within the IAU Working Group on "Numerical Standards for Fundamental astronomy". This resulted in a proposed IAU Resolution recommending that the astronomical unit be re - defined as a fixed number of Système International d ’ Unités (SI) metres through a defining constant. For continuity that constant should be the value of the current best estimate in metres as adopted by IAU 2009 Resolution B2 (i.e. 149 597 870 700 m). After reviewing the properties of the IAU 1976 astronomical unit and its status in the IAU 2009 System of Astronomical Constants, we explain the main reasons for a change; we present and discuss the proposed new definition as well as the advantages over the historical definition. One important consequence is that the heliocentric gravitational constant, GM(Sun), would cease to have a fixed value in astronomical units and will have to be determined experimentally. This would be compliant with modern dynamics of the solar system as it would allow

  1. Automatic astronomical coordinate determination using digital zenith cameras

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S Farzaneh

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Celestial positioning has been used for navigation purposes for many years. Stars as the extra-terrestrial benchmarks provide unique opportunity in absolute point positioning. However, astronomical field data acquisition and data processing of the collected data is very time-consuming. The advent of the Global Positioning System (GPS nearly made the celestial positioning system obsolete. The new satellite-based positioning system has been very popular since it is very efficient and convenient for many daily life applications. Nevertheless, the celestial positioning method is never replaced by satellite-based positioning in absolute point positioning sense. The invention of electro-optical devices at the beginning of the 21st century was really a rebirth in geodetic astronomy. Today, the digital cameras with relatively high geometric and radiometric accuracy has opened a new insight in satellite attitude determination and the study of the Earth's surface geometry and physics of its interior, i.e., computation of astronomical coordinates and the vertical deflection components. This method or the so-called astrogeodetic vision-based method help us to determine astronomical coordinates with an accuracy better than 0.1 arc second. The theoretical background, an innovative transformation approach and the preliminary numerical results are addressed in this paper.

  2. The Amateur Astronomer's Introduction to the Celestial Sphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Millar, William

    2005-12-01

    This introduction to the night sky is for amateur astronomers who desire a deeper understanding of the principles and observations of naked-eye astronomy. It covers topics such as terrestrial and astronomical coordinate systems, stars and constellations, the relative motions of the sky, sun, moon and earth leading to an understanding of the seasons, phases of the moon, and eclipses. Topics are discussed and compared for observers located in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Written in a conversational style, only addition and subtraction are needed to understand the basic principles and a more advanced mathematical treatment is available in the appendices. Each chapter contains a set of review questions and simple exercises to reinforce the reader's understanding of the material. The last chapter is a set of self-contained observation projects to get readers started with making observations about the concepts they have learned. William Charles Millar, currently Professor of Astronomy at Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan, has been teaching the subject for almost twenty years and is very involved with local amateur astronomy groups. Millar also belongs to The Planetary Society and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and has traveled to Europe and South America to observe solar eclipses. Millar holds a Masters degree in Physics from Western Michigan University.

  3. Climate and carbon-cycle response to astronomical forcing over the last 35 Ma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Vleeschouwer, D.; Palike, H.; Vahlenkamp, M.; Crucifix, M.

    2017-12-01

    On a million-year time scale, the characteristics of insolation forcing caused by cyclical variations in the astronomical parameters of the Earth remain stable. Nevertheless, Earth's climate responded very differently to this forcing during different parts of the Cenozoic. The recently-published ∂18Obenthic megasplice (De Vleeschouwer et al., 2017) allowed for a clear visualization of these changes in global climate response to astronomical forcing. However, many open questions remain regarding how carbon-cycle dynamics influence Earth's climate sensitivity to astronomical climate forcing. To provide insight into the interaction between the carbon cycle and astronomical insolation forcing, we built a benthic carbon isotope (∂13Cbenthic) megasplice for the last 35 Ma, employing the same technique used to build the ∂18Obenthic megasplice. The ∂13Cbenthic megasplice exhibits a strong imprint of the 405 and 100-kyr eccentricity cycles throughout the last 35 Ma. This is intriguing, as the oxygen isotope megasplice looses its eccentricity imprint after the mid-Miocene climatic transition (MMCT; see Fig. 1 in De Vleeschouwer et al., 2017). In other words, the carbon cycle responded completely differently to astronomical forcing, compared to global climate during the late Miocene. We visualize this difference in response by the application of a Gaussian process, which renders the dependence of one variable (here ∂18Obenthic or ∂13Cbenthic) in a multidimensional space (here precession, obliquity and eccentricity). Together, the ∂13Cbenthic and ∂18Obenthic megasplices thus provide a unique tool for paleoclimatology, allowing for the quantification and visualization of the changing paleoclimate and carbon-cycle response to astronomical forcing throughout geologic time. References De Vleeschouwer, D., Vahlenkamp, M., Crucifix, M., Pälike, H., 2017. Alternating Southern and Northern Hemisphere climate response to astronomical forcing during the past 35 m

  4. Astronomical sketching a step-by-step introduction

    CERN Document Server

    Handy, Richard; Perez, Jeremy; Rix, Erika; Robbins, Sol

    2007-01-01

    This book presents the amateur with fine examples of astronomical sketches and step-by-step tutorials in each medium, from pencil to computer graphics programs. This unique book can teach almost anyone to create beautiful sketches of celestial objects.

  5. Powerful Radio Burst Indicates New Astronomical Phenomenon

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-09-01

    Astronomers studying archival data from an Australian radio telescope have discovered a powerful, short-lived burst of radio waves that they say indicates an entirely new type of astronomical phenomenon. Region of Strong Radio Burst Visible-light (negative greyscale) and radio (contours) image of Small Magellanic Cloud and area where burst originated. CREDIT: Lorimer et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF Click on image for high-resolution file ( 114 KB) "This burst appears to have originated from the distant Universe and may have been produced by an exotic event such as the collision of two neutron stars or the death throes of an evaporating black hole," said Duncan Lorimer, Assistant Professor of Physics at West Virginia University (WVU) and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The research team led by Lorimer consists of Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University in Australia, Maura McLaughlin of WVU and NRAO, David Narkevic of WVU, and Fronefield Crawford of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The astronomers announced their findings in the September 27 issue of the online journal Science Express. The startling discovery came as WVU undergraduate student David Narkevic re-analyzed data from observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud made by the 210-foot Parkes radio telescope in Australia. The data came from a survey of the Magellanic Clouds that included 480 hours of observations. "This survey had sought to discover new pulsars, and the data already had been searched for the type of pulsating signals they produce," Lorimer said. "We re-examined the data, looking for bursts that, unlike the usual ones from pulsars, are not periodic," he added. The survey had covered the Magellanic Clouds, a pair of small galaxies in orbit around our own Milky Way Galaxy. Some 200,000 light-years from Earth, the Magellanic Clouds are prominent features in the Southern sky. Ironically, the new discovery is not part of these galaxies, but rather is much more distant

  6. The Hunt for Pristine Cretaceous Astronomical Rhythms at Demerara Rise (Cenomanian-Coniacian)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, C.; Meyers, S. R.

    2014-12-01

    Rhythmic Upper Cretaceous strata from Demerara Rise (ODP leg 207) preserve a strong astronomical signature, and this attribute has facilitated the development of continuous astrochronologies to refine the geologic time scale and calibrate Late Cretaceous biogeochemical events. While the mere identification of astronomical rhythms is a crucial first step in many deep-time paleoceanographic investigations, accurate evaluation of often subtle amplitude and frequency modulations are required to: (1) robustly constrain the linkage between climate and sedimentation, and (2) evaluate the plausibility of different theoretical astrodynamical models. The availability of a wide range of geophysical, lithologic and geochemical data from multiple sites drilled at Demerara Rise - when coupled with recent innovations in the statistical analysis of cyclostratigraphic data - provides an opportunity to hunt for the most pristine record of Cretaceous astronomical rhythms at a tropical Atlantic location. To do so, a statistical metric is developed to evaluate the "internal" consistency of hypothesized astronomical rhythms observed in each data set, particularly with regard to the expected astronomical amplitude modulations. In this presentation, we focus on how the new analysis yields refinements to the existing astrochronologies, provides constraints on the linkages between climate and sedimentation (including the deposition of organic carbon-rich sediments at Demerara Rise), and allows a quantitative evaluation of the continuity of deposition across sites at multiple temporal scales.

  7. Astronomical fire: Richard Carrington and the solar flare of 1859.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Stuart

    2007-09-01

    An explosion on the Sun in 1859, serendipitously witnessed by amateur astronomer Richard Carrington, plunged telegraphic communications into chaos and bathed two thirds of the Earth's skies in aurorae. Explaining what happened to the Sun and how it could affect Earth, 93 million miles away, helped change the direction of astronomy. From being concerned principally with charting the stars to aid navigation, astronomers became increasingly concerned with what the celestial objects were, how they behaved and how they might affect life on Earth.

  8. Astronomical relativistic reference systems with multipolar expansion: the global one

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xie Yi

    2014-01-01

    With the rapid development of techniques for astronomical observations, the precision of measurements has been significantly increasing. Theories describing astronomical relativistic reference systems, which are the foundation for processing and interpreting these data now and in the future, may require extensions to satisfy the needs of these trends. Besides building a framework compatible with alternative theories of gravity and the pursuit of higher order post-Newtonian approximation, it will also be necessary to make the first order post-Newtonian multipole moments of celestial bodies be explicitly expressed in the astronomical relativistic reference systems. This will bring some convenience into modeling the observations and experiments and make it easier to distinguish different contributions in measurements. As a first step, the global solar system reference system is expressed as a multipolar expansion and the post-Newtonian mass and spin moments are shown explicitly in the metric which describes the coordinates of the system. The full expression of the global metric is given. (research papers)

  9. All-sky brightness monitoring of light pollution with astronomical methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rabaza, O; Galadí-Enríquez, D; Estrella, A Espín; Dols, F Aznar

    2010-06-01

    This paper describes a mobile prototype and a protocol to measure light pollution based on astronomical methods. The prototype takes three all-sky images using BVR filters of the Johnson-Cousins astronomical photometric system. The stars are then identified in the images of the Hipparcos and General Catalogue of Photometric Data II astronomical catalogues, and are used as calibration sources. This method permits the measurement of night-sky brightness and facilitates an estimate of which fraction is due to the light up-scattered in the atmosphere by a wide variety of man-made sources. This is achieved by our software, which compares the sky background flux to that of many stars of known brightness. The reduced weight and dimensions of the prototype allow the user to make measurements from virtually any location. This prototype is capable of measuring the sky distribution of light pollution, and also provides an accurate estimate of the background flux at each photometric band. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Astronomical Signatures of Dark Matter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul Gorenstein

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Several independent astronomical observations in different wavelength bands reveal the existence of much larger quantities of matter than what we would deduce from assuming a solar mass to light ratio. They are very high velocities of individual galaxies within clusters of galaxies, higher than expected rotation rates of stars in the outer regions of galaxies, 21 cm line studies indicative of increasing mass to light ratios with radius in the halos of spiral galaxies, hot gaseous X-ray emitting halos around many elliptical galaxies, and clusters of galaxies requiring a much larger component of unseen mass for the hot gas to be bound. The level of gravitational attraction needed for the spatial distribution of galaxies to evolve from the small perturbations implied by the very slightly anisotropic cosmic microwave background radiation to its current web-like configuration requires much more mass than is observed across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Distorted shapes of galaxies and other features created by gravitational lensing in the images of many astronomical objects require an amount of dark matter consistent with other estimates. The unambiguous detection of dark matter and more recently evidence for dark energy has positioned astronomy at the frontier of fundamental physics as it was in the 17th century.

  11. The League of Astronomers: Outreach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paat, Anthony; Brandel, A.; Schmitz, D.; Sharma, R.; Thomas, N. H.; Trujillo, J.; Laws, C. S.; Astronomers, League of

    2014-01-01

    The University of Washington League of Astronomers (LOA) is an organization comprised of University of Washington (UW) undergraduate students. Our main goal is to share our interest in astronomy with the UW community and with the general public. The LOA hosts star parties on the UW campus and collaborates with the Seattle Astronomical Society (SAS) on larger Seattle-area star parties. At the star parties, we strive to teach our local community about what they can view in our night sky. LOA members share knowledge of how to locate constellations and use a star wheel. The relationship the LOA has with members of SAS increases both the number of events and people we are able to reach. Since the cloudy skies of the Northwest prevent winter star parties, we therefore focus our outreach on the UW Mobile Planetarium, an inflatable dome system utilizing Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope (WWT) software. The mobile planetarium brings astronomy into the classrooms of schools unable to travel to the UW on-campus planetarium. Members of the LOA volunteer their time towards this project and we make up the majority of the Mobile Planetarium volunteers. Our outreach efforts allow us to connect with the community and enhance our own knowledge of astronomy.

  12. Astronomers in the Chemist's War

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trimble, Virginia L.

    2012-01-01

    World War II, with radar, rockets, and "atomic" bombs was the physicists' war. And many of us know, or think we know, what our more senior colleagues did during it, with Hubble and Hoffleit at Aberdeen; M. Schwarzschild on active duty in Italy; Bondi, Gold, and Hoyle hunkered down in Dunsfeld, Surrey, talking about radar, and perhaps steady state; Greenstein and Henyey designing all-sky cameras; and many astronomers teaching navigation. World War I was The Chemists' War, featuring poison gases, the need to produce liquid fuels from coal on one side of the English Channel and to replace previously-imported dyesstuffs on the other. The talke will focus on what astronomers did and had done to them between 1914 and 1919, from Freundlich (taken prisoner on an eclipse expedition days after the outbreak of hostilities) to Edwin Hubble, returning from France without ever having quite reached the front lines. Other events bore richer fruit (Hale and the National Research Council), but very few of the stories are happy ones. Most of us have neither first nor second hand memories of The Chemists' War, but I had the pleasure of dining with a former Freundlich student a couple of weeks ago.

  13. Astronomical Instrumentation Systems Quality Management Planning: AISQMP (Abstract)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldbaum, J.

    2017-12-01

    (Abstract only) The capability of small aperture astronomical instrumentation systems (AIS) to make meaningful scientific contributions has never been better. The purpose of AIS quality management planning (AISQMP) is to ensure the quality of these contributions such that they are both valid and reliable. The first step involved with AISQMP is to specify objective quality measures not just for the AIS final product, but also for the instrumentation used in its production. The next step is to set up a process to track these measures and control for any unwanted variation. The final step is continual effort applied to reducing variation and obtaining measured values near optimal theoretical performance. This paper provides an overview of AISQMP while focusing on objective quality measures applied to astronomical imaging systems.

  14. Astronomical chemistry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klemperer, William

    2011-01-01

    The discovery of polar polyatomic molecules in higher-density regions of the interstellar medium by means of their rotational emission detected by radioastronomy has changed our conception of the universe from essentially atomic to highly molecular. We discuss models for molecule formation, emphasizing the general lack of thermodynamic equilibrium. Detailed chemical kinetics is needed to understand molecule formation as well as destruction. Ion molecule reactions appear to be an important class for the generally low temperatures of the interstellar medium. The need for the intrinsically high-quality factor of rotational transitions to definitively pin down molecular emitters has been well established by radioastronomy. The observation of abundant molecular ions both positive and, as recently observed, negative provides benchmarks for chemical kinetic schemes. Of considerable importance in guiding our understanding of astronomical chemistry is the fact that the larger molecules (with more than five atoms) are all organic.

  15. "She is an astronomer" in Spain; the International Year of Astronomy 2009 and beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Márquez, I.

    2011-11-01

    The work of the Spanish node for the IYA2009 Cornerstoneproject, "She is an Astronomer" is presented. Our team developedseveral projects with the common goal of promoting gender equality andwomen participation in professional and amateur astronomy, andsupporting the training of young women researchers andtechnologists. The main ones were: 1)Calendar "Women astronomerswho made history". We highlighted exceptional women, fromdifferent epochs and countries, whose contributions to theadvancement of science deserve to transcend anonymity and occupy aplace in history.2) "Women in the stars" was a series of 8 TV programsdevoted to the contribution of Spanish women astronomers, made incollaboration with the UNED.3) "Women in Spanish Astronomy: analysis of a peculiar situation: A universe to discover", was the first sociological study of this type, including quantitative and qualitative (individual and group interviews) analyses. 4) The exhibit "She Astronomer", was aimed at teaching astronomy from a new perspective: the relevant contributions by women astronomers from different times and places.The main aims of the "Commission for Women and Astronomy",recently created within the Spanish Astronomical Society (SEA), are alsodescribed.

  16. The caracol tower at chichen itza: an ancient astronomical observatory?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aveni, A F; Gibbs, S L; Hartung, H

    1975-06-06

    Although our investigations reveal a number of significant astronomical events coinciding with many of the measured alignments presented in Table 1, not every alignment appears to have an astronomical match which we can recognize. It may be that only some of the sighting possibilities we have discussed were actually functional. Moreover, our search of significant astronomical events to match the alignments has included only those which seem of obvious functional importance to us: sun, moon, and planetary extremes and the setting positions of the brightest stars. We have emphasized those celestial bodies which are documented in the literature as having been of importance. Perhaps hitherto unrecognized constellations were sighted in the windows, perhaps fainter stars, the heliacal rising and setting times of which could have served to mark important dates in the calendar. While we propose no grand cosmic scheme for the astronomical design of the Caracol it can be inferred that the building, apart from being a monument related to Quetzalcoatl, was erected primarily for the purpose of embodying in its architecture certain significant astronomical event alignments, in the same sense that a modern astronomical ephemeris exhibits information of importance to us in the keeping of the current calendar. There are examples in the Mesoamerican historical literature of deliberate attempts to align buildings with astronomical directions of importance. For example, Maudslay (33) quotes Father Motolinia, who tells us that in Tenochtitlan the festival called Tlacaxipeualistli "took place when the sun stood in the middle of Huicholobos, which was at the equinox, and because it was a little out of the straight, Montezuma wished to pull it down and set it right." According to Maudslay, worshipers were probably facing east to watch the sun rise between the two oratories on the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan at the time of the equinox. The directions of the faces of the Lower and Upper

  17. Astronomical Research Institute Photometric Results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linder, Tyler R.; Sampson, Ryan; Holmes, Robert

    2013-01-01

    The Astronomical Research Institute (ARI) conducts astrometric and photometric studies of asteroids with a concentration on near-Earth objects (NEOs). A 0.76-m autoscope was used for photometric studies of seven asteroids of which two were main-belt targets and five were NEOs, including one potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA). These objects are: 3122 Florence, 3960 Chaliubieju, 5143 Heracles, (6455) 1992 HE, (36284) 2000 DM8, (62128) 2000 SO1, and 2010 LF86.

  18. ``Orion, I Don't Love You'': The Astronomical Legacy of Carl Sandburg

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ricca, B.

    2013-04-01

    Can poetry provide an accurate means of representing the scientific universe? This paper looks at the astronomical poetry of Carl Sandburg and how the poet employs a scientific framework to deepen his work. Sandburg's method is then compared to a class project of middle school students who use his poetry (and their own) to learn and understand astronomical facts.

  19. The Production Rate and Employment of Ph.D. Astronomers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metcalfe, Travis S.

    2008-02-01

    In an effort to encourage self-regulation of the astronomy job market, I examine the supply of, and demand for, astronomers over time. On the supply side, I document the production rate of Ph.D. astronomers from 1970 to 2006 using the UMI Dissertation Abstracts database, along with data from other independent sources. I compare the long-term trends in Ph.D. production with federal astronomy research funding over the same time period, and I demonstrate that additional funding is correlated with higher subsequent Ph.D. production. On the demand side, I monitor the changing patterns of employment using statistics about the number and types of jobs advertised in the AAS Job Register from 1984 to 2006. Finally, I assess the sustainability of the job market by normalizing this demand by the annual Ph.D. production. The most recent data suggest that there are now annual advertisements for about one postdoctoral job, half a faculty job, and half a research/support position for every new domestic Ph.D. recipient in astronomy and astrophysics. The average new astronomer might expect to hold up to 3 jobs before finding a steady position.

  20. Polishers around the globe: an overview on the market of large astronomical mirrors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Döhring, Thorsten

    2014-07-01

    Astronomical mirrors are key elements in modern optical telescopes, their dimensions are usually large and their specifications are demanding. Only a limited number of skilled companies respectively institutions around the world are able to master the challenge to polish an individual astronomical mirror, especially in dimensions above one meter. This paper presents an overview on the corresponding market including a listing of polishers around the globe. Therefore valuable information is provided to the astronomical community: Polishers may use the information as a global competitor database, astronomers and project managers may get more transparency on potential suppliers, and suppliers of polishing equipment may learn about unknown potential customers in other parts of the world. An evaluation of the historical market demand on large monolithic astronomical mirrors is presented. It concluded that this is still a niche market with a typical mean rate of 1-2 mirrors per year. Polishing of such mirrors is an enabling technology with impact on the development of technical know-how, public relation, visibility and reputation of the supplier. Within a corresponding technical discussion different polishing technologies are described. In addition it is demonstrated that strategic aspects and political considerations are influencing the selection of the optical finisher.

  1. Pop / Tõnu Kaalep

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Kaalep, Tõnu, 1966-2018

    2002-01-01

    Heliplaatidest Holger Czukay "Linear City: Internet Audio Collabs". U-She & Holger Czukay "Time and Tide". The Breeders "Title TK". Jim Black "Splay". Gotan Project "La Revancha Del Tango". Robert Owens "Lowe Will Find Its Way". Green Velvet "Whatever". Alex Gopher with Demon presents "Wuz". Swan Lee "Enter"

  2. Science Initiatives of the US Virtual Astronomical Observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanisch, R. J.

    2012-09-01

    The United States Virtual Astronomical Observatory program is the operational facility successor to the National Virtual Observatory development project. The primary goal of the US VAO is to build on the standards, protocols, and associated infrastructure developed by NVO and the International Virtual Observatory Alliance partners and to bring to fruition a suite of applications and web-based tools that greatly enhance the research productivity of professional astronomers. To this end, and guided by the advice of our Science Council (Fabbiano et al. 2011), we have focused on five science initiatives in the first two years of VAO operations: 1) scalable cross-comparisons between astronomical source catalogs, 2) dynamic spectral energy distribution construction, visualization, and model fitting, 3) integration and periodogram analysis of time series data from the Harvard Time Series Center and NASA Star and Exoplanet Database, 4) integration of VO data discovery and access tools into the IRAF data analysis environment, and 5) a web-based portal to VO data discovery, access, and display tools. We are also developing tools for data linking and semantic discovery, and have a plan for providing data mining and advanced statistical analysis resources for VAO users. Initial versions of these applications and web-based services are being released over the course of the summer and fall of 2011, with further updates and enhancements planned for throughout 2012 and beyond.

  3. Science Initiatives of the US Virtual Astronomical Observatory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hanisch Robert J.

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available The United States Virtual Astronomical Observatory program is the operational facility successor to the National Virtual Observatory development project. The primary goal of the US VAO is to build on the standards, protocols, and associated infrastructure developed by NVO and the International Virtual Observatory Alliance partners and to bring to fruition a suite of applications and web-based tools that greatly enhance the research productivity of professional astronomers. To this end, and guided by the advice of our Science Council (advisory committee, we are focusing on five science initiatives in the first two years of VAO operations: (1 scalable cross-comparisons between astronomical source catalogs, (2 dynamic spectral energy distribution construction, visualization, and model fitting, (3 integration and periodogram analysis of time series data from the Harvard Time Series Center and NASA Star and Exoplanet Database, (4 integration of VO data discovery and access tools into the IR AF data analysis environment, and (5 a web-based portal to VO data discovery, access, and display tools. We are also developing tools for data linking and semantic discovery, and have a plan for providing data mining and advanced statistical analysis resources for VAO users. Initial versions of these applications and web-based services are being released over the course of the summer and fall of 2011, with further updates and enhancements planned for throughout 2012 and beyond.

  4. Eighth Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society

    CERN Document Server

    Diego, Jose M; González-Serrano, J. Ignacio; Gorgas, Javier; Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics V

    2010-01-01

    This volume collects the invited contributions and plenary sessions presented at the Eighth Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society (Sociedad Española de Astronomía, SEA) held on July 7-11, 2008 in Santander. These contributions cover all fields of astronomy and astrophysics, i.e., the Sun and solar system, the galaxy and its components, galaxies and cosmology, observatories and instrumentation, as well as astronomy teaching and dissemination. Further plenary sessions were devoted to selected hot topics, including the exploration of the solar system, gravitational lensing, exoplanets, X-ray binaries, solar magnetism, gravitational waves, the ALHAMBRA collaboration, and the OSIRIS instrument on the new 10-m GTC. Abstracts of the contributions presented at the parallels sessions and posters are also included in the book. Complete versions of those papers are available online.

  5. Emerging technology for astronomical optics metrology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trumper, Isaac; Jannuzi, Buell T.; Kim, Dae Wook

    2018-05-01

    Next generation astronomical optics will enable science discoveries across all fields and impact the way we perceive the Universe in which we live. To build these systems, optical metrology tools have been developed that push the boundary of what is possible. We present a summary of a few key metrology technologies that we believe are critical for the coming generation of optical surfaces.

  6. Astronomical and Atmospheric Observations in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and in Bede

    Science.gov (United States)

    Härke, H.

    2012-01-01

    Textual sources of the early Middle Ages (fifth to tenth centuries AD) contain more astronomical observations than is popularly assumed. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle lists some 40 observations of astronomical and atmospheric events for the just over 600 years it covers. But the contexts in which these are set show that eclipses, comets, meteor showers and aurorae were seen as portents of evil events, not as objects of early scientific curiosity. The case of Bede in the early eighth century shows that this was true, to an extent, even for the educated ecclesiastical elite. BedeÕs eclipse records also appear to show that astronomical events could be used to explain unusual phenomena such as the postulated volcanic Ôdust-veilÕ event of AD 536.

  7. Database retrieval systems for nuclear and astronomical data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suda, Takuma; Korennov, Sergei; Otuka, Naohiko; Yamada, Shimako; Katsuta, Yutaka; Ohnishi, Akira; Kato, Kiyoshi; Fujimoto, Masayuki Y.

    2006-01-01

    Data retrieval and plot systems of nuclear and astronomical data are constructed on a common platform. Web-based systems will soon be opened to the users of both fields of nuclear physics and astronomy. (author)

  8. Astronomy Against Terrorism: an Educational Astronomical Observatory Project in Peru

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishitsuka, M.; Montes, H.; Kuroda, T.; Morimoto, M.; Ishitsuka, J.

    2003-05-01

    The Cosmos Coronagraphic Observatory was completely destroyed by terrorists in 1988. In 1995, in coordination with the Minister of Education of Peru, a project to construct a new Educational Astronomical Observatory has been executed. The main purpose of the observatory is to promote an interest in basic space sciences in young students from school to university levels, through basic astronomical studies and observations. The planned observatory will be able to lodge 25 visitors; furthermore an auditorium, a library and a computer room will be constructed to improve the interest of people in astronomy. Two 15-cm refractor telescopes, equipped with a CCD camera and a photometer, will be available for observations. Also a 6-m dome will house a 60-cm class reflector telescope, which will be donated soon, thanks to a fund collected and organized by the Nishi-Harima Astronomical Observatory in Japan. In addition a new modern planetarium donated by the Government of Japan will be installed in Lima, the capital of Peru. These installations will be widely open to serve the requirements of people interested in science.

  9. Sports Stars: Analyzing the Performance of Astronomers at Visualization-based Discovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fluke, C. J.; Parrington, L.; Hegarty, S.; MacMahon, C.; Morgan, S.; Hassan, A. H.; Kilborn, V. A.

    2017-05-01

    In this data-rich era of astronomy, there is a growing reliance on automated techniques to discover new knowledge. The role of the astronomer may change from being a discoverer to being a confirmer. But what do astronomers actually look at when they distinguish between “sources” and “noise?” What are the differences between novice and expert astronomers when it comes to visual-based discovery? Can we identify elite talent or coach astronomers to maximize their potential for discovery? By looking to the field of sports performance analysis, we consider an established, domain-wide approach, where the expertise of the viewer (i.e., a member of the coaching team) plays a crucial role in identifying and determining the subtle features of gameplay that provide a winning advantage. As an initial case study, we investigate whether the SportsCode performance analysis software can be used to understand and document how an experienced Hi astronomer makes discoveries in spectral data cubes. We find that the process of timeline-based coding can be applied to spectral cube data by mapping spectral channels to frames within a movie. SportsCode provides a range of easy to use methods for annotation, including feature-based codes and labels, text annotations associated with codes, and image-based drawing. The outputs, including instance movies that are uniquely associated with coded events, provide the basis for a training program or team-based analysis that could be used in unison with discipline specific analysis software. In this coordinated approach to visualization and analysis, SportsCode can act as a visual notebook, recording the insight and decisions in partnership with established analysis methods. Alternatively, in situ annotation and coding of features would be a valuable addition to existing and future visualization and analysis packages.

  10. Focus on astronomical predictable events

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jacobsen, Aase Roland

    2006-01-01

    At the Steno Museum Planetarium we have for many occasions used a countdown clock to get focus om astronomical events. A countdown clock can provide actuality to predictable events, for example The Venus Transit, Opportunity landing on Mars and The Solar Eclipse. The movement of the clock attracs...... the public and makes a point of interest in a small exhibit area. A countdown clock can be simple, but it is possible to expand the concept to an eye-catching part of a museum....

  11. The South African Astronomical Observatory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1988-01-01

    The geographical position, climate and equipment at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), together with the enthusiasm and efforts of SAAO scientific and technical staff and of visiting scientists, have enabled the Observatory to make a major contribution to the fields of astrophysics and cosmology. During 1987 the SAAO has been involved in studies of the following: supernovae; galaxies, including Seyfert galaxies; celestial x-ray sources; magellanic clouds; pulsating variables; galatic structure; binary star phenomena; nebulae; interstellar matter and stellar astrophysics

  12. The War's Positive Impact on the Canadian Astronomical Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broughton, Peter

    2015-01-01

    At the beginning of WWI, the Canadian astronomical community was tiny and astrophysical research was just beginning. By the end of the war, the country had established the forerunner of its National Research Council and had the world's largest fully operational telescope, thanks to the late entry of the USA into the conflict. By 1918, Canada was on the verge of making significant contributions to science.In spite of the immense loss of life in this pointless war, I am aware of only one casualty affecting Canadian professional astronomers, and that was the indirect death of James Chant, son of University of Toronto's only professor of astronomy. Other Canadian astronomers, including Tom Parker, Bert Topham, and Harry Plaskett were on active service; each of their stories is unique.Among those engaged in scientific work during the war were two Canadians temporarily in England: John McLennan whose helium research for dirigibles led him to establish a cryogenic lab in Toronto where the green line in the spectrum of the aurora was identified in 1925, and Allie Douglas who worked as a statistician in the War Office. Later work with Eddington led her to become his biographer and to her distinction as the first person in Canada to earn a PhD in astronomy (in 1926).

  13. Letters from Augustin Hallerstein, an eighteenth century Jesuit astronomer in Beijing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juznic, Stanislav

    2008-11-01

    Augustin Hallerstein (1703-1774) was the last astronomer sent to Beijing by the Society of Jesus. He left Europe for China in his mid-thirties, and continued to send letters back home until he died thirty-five years later. These letters and reports contained important information on Chinese astronomy, and were read in the courts of Europe; many were also published. Hallerstein was one of the most important European astronomers in Beijing, his European publications surpassing those of his predecessors.

  14. C++, objected-oriented programming, and astronomical data models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farris, A.

    1992-01-01

    Contemporary astronomy is characterized by increasingly complex instruments and observational techniques, higher data collection rates, and large data archives, placing severe stress on software analysis systems. The object-oriented paradigm represents a significant new approach to software design and implementation that holds great promise for dealing with this increased complexity. The basic concepts of this approach will be characterized in contrast to more traditional procedure-oriented approaches. The fundamental features of objected-oriented programming will be discussed from a C++ programming language perspective, using examples familiar to astronomers. This discussion will focus on objects, classes and their relevance to the data type system; the principle of information hiding; and the use of inheritance to implement generalization/specialization relationships. Drawing on the object-oriented approach, features of a new database model to support astronomical data analysis will be presented.

  15. Remote observatories for amateur astronomers using high-powered telescopes from home

    CERN Document Server

    Hubbell, Gerald R; Billard, Linda M

    2015-01-01

    Amateur astronomers who want to enhance their capabilities to contribute to science need look no farther than this guide to using remote observatories.  The contributors cover how to build your own remote observatory as well as the existing infrastructure of commercial networks of remote observatories that are available to the amateur. They provide specific advice on which programs to use based on your project objectives and offer practical project suggestions. Remotely controlled observatories have many advantages—the most obvious that the observer does not have to be physically present to carry out observations. Such an observatory can also be used more fully because its time can be scheduled and usefully shared among several astronomers working on different observing projects. More and more professional-level observatories are open to use by amateurs in this way via the Internet, and more advanced amateur astronomers can even build their own remote observatories for sharing among members of a society ...

  16. Communicating the Science of Global Warming — the Role of Astronomers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bennett, Jeffrey

    2018-06-01

    Global Warming is one of the most important and issues of our times, yet it is widely misunderstood among the general public (and politicians!). The American Astronomical Society has already joined many other scientific organizations in advocating for action on global warming (by supporting the AGU statement on global warming), but we as astronomers can do much more. The high public profile of astronomy gives us a unique platform — and credibility as scientists — for doing our part to educate the public about the underlying science of global warming. And while astronomers are not climate scientists, we use the same basic physics, and many aspects of global warming science come directly from astronomy, including the ways in which we measure the heat-absorbing potential of carbon dioxide and the hard evidence of greenhouse warming provided by studies of Venus. In this session, I will briefly introduce a few methods for communicating about global warming that I believe you will find effective in your own education efforts.

  17. Lyset og livet

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Oxenvad, Carsten Michael

    2003-01-01

    Beskrivelse af Øster Aaby Friskole og friskoler generelt. Blandt bidragyderne: Susanne Eskildsen, Holger Henriksen, Margrethe Vestager, John Iversen, Thorstein Balle og Poul Erik Søe......Beskrivelse af Øster Aaby Friskole og friskoler generelt. Blandt bidragyderne: Susanne Eskildsen, Holger Henriksen, Margrethe Vestager, John Iversen, Thorstein Balle og Poul Erik Søe...

  18. Astronomical Instruments in India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarma, Sreeramula Rajeswara

    The earliest astronomical instruments used in India were the gnomon and the water clock. In the early seventh century, Brahmagupta described ten types of instruments, which were adopted by all subsequent writers with minor modifications. Contact with Islamic astronomy in the second millennium AD led to a radical change. Sanskrit texts began to lay emphasis on the importance of observational instruments. Exclusive texts on instruments were composed. Islamic instruments like the astrolabe were adopted and some new types of instruments were developed. Production and use of these traditional instruments continued, along with the cultivation of traditional astronomy, up to the end of the nineteenth century.

  19. Block iterative restoration of astronomical images with the massively parallel processor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heap, S.R.; Lindler, D.J.

    1987-01-01

    A method is described for algebraic image restoration capable of treating astronomical images. For a typical 500 x 500 image, direct algebraic restoration would require the solution of a 250,000 x 250,000 linear system. The block iterative approach is used to reduce the problem to solving 4900 121 x 121 linear systems. The algorithm was implemented on the Goddard Massively Parallel Processor, which can solve a 121 x 121 system in approximately 0.06 seconds. Examples are shown of the results for various astronomical images

  20. New knowledge in determining the astronomical orientation of Incas object in Ollantaytambo, Peru

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanzalová, K.; Klokočník, J.; Kostelecký, J.

    2014-06-01

    This paper deals about astronomical orientation of Incas objects in Ollantaytambo, which is located about 35 km southeast from Machu Picchu, about 40 km northwest from Cusco, and lies in the Urubamba valley. Everybody writing about Ollantaytambo, shoud read Protzen (1993). He devoted his monograph to description and interpretation of that locality. Book of Salazar and Salazar (2005) deals, among others, with the orientation of objects in Ollantaytambo with respect to the cardinal direction. Zawaski and Malville (2007) documented astronomical context of major monuments of nine sites in Peru, including Ollantaytambo. We tested astronomical orientation in these places and confirm or disprove hypothesis about purpose of Incas objects. For assessment orientation of objects we used our measurements and also satellite images on Google Earth and digital elevation model from ASTER. The satellite images used to approximate estimation of astronomical orientation. The digital elevation model is useful in the mountains, where we need the really horizon for a calculation of sunset and sunrise on specific days (solstices), which were for Incas people very important. By Incas is very famous that they worshiped the Sun. According to him they determined when to plant and when to harvest the crop. In this paper we focused on Temple of the Sun, also known the Wall of six monoliths. We tested which astronomical phenomenon is connected with this Temple. First, we tested winter solstice sunrise and the rides of the Pleiades for the epochs 2000, 1500 and 1000 A.D. According with our results the Temple isn't connected neither with winter solstice sunrise nor with the Pleiades. Then we tested also winter solstice sunset. We tried to use the line from an observation point near ruins of the Temple of Sun, to west-north, in direction to sunset. The astronomical azimuth from this point was about 5° less then we need. From this results we found, that is possible to find another observation

  1. New knowledge in determining the astronomical orientation of Incas object in Ollantaytambo, Peru

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Hanzalová

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals about astronomical orientation of Incas objects in Ollantaytambo, which is located about 35 km southeast from Machu Picchu, about 40 km northwest from Cusco, and lies in the Urubamba valley. Everybody writing about Ollantaytambo, shoud read Protzen (1993. He devoted his monograph to description and interpretation of that locality. Book of Salazar and Salazar (2005 deals, among others, with the orientation of objects in Ollantaytambo with respect to the cardinal direction. Zawaski and Malville (2007 documented astronomical context of major monuments of nine sites in Peru, including Ollantaytambo. We tested astronomical orientation in these places and confirm or disprove hypothesis about purpose of Incas objects. For assessment orientation of objects we used our measurements and also satellite images on Google Earth and digital elevation model from ASTER. The satellite images used to approximate estimation of astronomical orientation. The digital elevation model is useful in the mountains, where we need the really horizon for a calculation of sunset and sunrise on specific days (solstices, which were for Incas people very important. By Incas is very famous that they worshiped the Sun. According to him they determined when to plant and when to harvest the crop. In this paper we focused on Temple of the Sun, also known the Wall of six monoliths. We tested which astronomical phenomenon is connected with this Temple. First, we tested winter solstice sunrise and the rides of the Pleiades for the epochs 2000, 1500 and 1000 A.D. According with our results the Temple isn't connected neither with winter solstice sunrise nor with the Pleiades. Then we tested also winter solstice sunset. We tried to use the line from an observation point near ruins of the Temple of Sun, to west-north, in direction to sunset. The astronomical azimuth from this point was about 5° less then we need. From this results we found, that is possible to find another

  2. AstroFrauenNetzwerk Survey Results - Career situation of female astronomers in Germany

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fohlmeister, J.; Helling, Ch.

    2012-04-01

    We survey the job situation of women in astronomy in Germany and of German women abroad and review indicators for their career development. Our sample includes women astronomers from all academic levels from doctoral students to professors, as well as female astronomers who have left the field. We find that networking and human support are among the most important factors for success. Experience shows that students should carefully choose their supervisor and collect practical knowledge abroad. We reflect the private situation of female German astronomers and find that prejudices are abundant, and are perceived as discriminating. We identify reasons why women are more likely than men to quit astronomy after they obtain their PhD degree. We give recommendations to young students on what to pay attention to in order to be on the successful path in astronomy.

  3. The Selection and Protection of Optical Astronomical Observing Sites in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wenjing, Jin; Bai, Jinming; Yao, Yongqiang

    2015-03-01

    Before 1950 there are two observatories, Shanghai and Purple Mountain Astronomical Observatories (SHAO and PMO), and two observing stations, Qingdao and Kunming stations in China. With the requirements of astronomical research, two observatories, Beijing and Shaanxi Astronomical Observatories (BAO and SXAO) and two artificial satellite stations, Urumqi and Changchun, were established about 1960. Based on the current management, now there are 4 observatories, SHAO, PMO, NAOC(National Astronomical Observatories), which was grouped from BAO, YNAO and 2 others, as well as XAO (Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory). The optical 1-2 m class telescopes are being operated at former four observatories. SXAO is changed as National Time Service Center. Because of city expansion as well as the traveling and economic developments, these observatories are suffered severe light pollution. For example, Zo Ce is located at the suburb of Shanghai city. A 40 cm double astrograph was installed in 1900 and a 1.56 m optical reflector have been operated since November 1987. In 1994 the seeing is better than 1 and the night sky brightness in V is about 19 mag/arcsec 2, stars fainter than 20 mag with CCD are visibles. In 2007 a large playground was built in Zô Cè area. The light pollution is severe gradually. The night sky brightness has been increased to 15.8 mag/arcsec 2. The other observatories have similar situation. New site surveys and found new stations to solve the problem. Except the solar and radio stations of each Astronomical Observatory, now there are 3 optical observing sites at PMO (Hong-He, Xu-Yi and Yaoan), 2 at SHAO (Zô Cè and Tian Huang Ping) and 2 at YNAO (Kunming and Gao-Mei-Gu) as well as 1 optical observing site at BAO (Xing-Long). The best observing site is Gao-Mei-Gu, which is selected as the optical observing site of YNAO and where atmospheric turbulence distribution is 0.11 near ground with heights from 6.5m to 2.7m during night. Sky brightness in B and V band

  4. BOOK REVIEW: The Wandering Astronomer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swinbank, Elizabeth

    2000-09-01

    Fans of Patrick Moore will like this book. I enjoyed it more than I expected, having anticipated a collection of personal anecdotes of the type favoured by certain tedious after-dinner speakers. Some of the 41 short items it contains do tend towards that category, but there are also some nuggets which might enliven your physics teaching. For example, did you know that, in a murder trial in 1787, the defendant's belief that the Sun was inhabited was cited as evidence of his insanity? This was despite his views being shared by many astronomers of the day including William Herschel. Or that Clyde Tombaugh had a cat called Pluto after the planet he discovered, which was itself named by an eleven-year-old girl? Another gem concerns a brief flurry, in the early 1990s, over a suspected planet orbiting a pulsar; variations in the arrival time of its radio pulses indicated the presence of an orbiting body. These shifts were later found to arise from an error in a computer program that corrected for the Earth's motion. The programmer had assumed a circular orbit for the Earth whereas it is actually elliptical. The book is clearly intended for amateur astronomers and followers of Patrick Moore's TV programmes. There is plenty of astronomy, with an emphasis on the solar system, but very little astrophysics. The author's metricophobia means that quantities are given in imperial units throughout, with metric equivalents added in brackets (by an editor, I suspect) which can get irritating, particularly as powers-of-ten notation is avoided. It is quite a novelty to see the temperature for hydrogen fusion quoted as 18 000 000 °F (10 000 000 °C). By way of contrast, astronomical terms are used freely - ecliptic, first-magnitude star, and so on. Such terms are defined in a glossary at the end, but attention is not drawn to this and I only stumbled across it by chance. Patrick Moore obviously knows his public, and this book will serve them well. For physics teachers and students

  5. A Virtual Astronomical Research Machine in No Time (VARMiNT)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beaver, John

    2012-05-01

    We present early results of using virtual machine software to help make astronomical research computing accessible to a wider range of individuals. Our Virtual Astronomical Research Machine in No Time (VARMiNT) is an Ubuntu Linux virtual machine with free, open-source software already installed and configured (and in many cases documented). The purpose of VARMiNT is to provide a ready-to-go astronomical research computing environment that can be freely shared between researchers, or between amateur and professional, teacher and student, etc., and to circumvent the often-difficult task of configuring a suitable computing environment from scratch. Thus we hope that VARMiNT will make it easier for individuals to engage in research computing even if they have no ready access to the facilities of a research institution. We describe our current version of VARMiNT and some of the ways it is being used at the University of Wisconsin - Fox Valley, a two-year teaching campus of the University of Wisconsin System, as a means to enhance student independent study research projects and to facilitate collaborations with researchers at other locations. We also outline some future plans and prospects.

  6. Harvey Butcher: a passion for astronomical instrumentation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhathal, Ragbir

    2014-11-01

    This paper covers some aspects of the scientific life of Harvey Butcher who was the Director of the Research School for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University in Canberra from September 2007 to January 2013. He has made significant contributions to research on the evolution of galaxies, nucleosynthesis, and on the design and implementation of advanced astronomical instrumentation including LOFAR (Low Frequency Array Radio telescope). He is well known for his discovery of the Butcher-Oemler effect. Before coming to Australia he was the Director of the Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy from September 1991 to January 2007. In 2005 he was awarded a Knighthood in the Order of the Netherlands Lion for contributions to interdisciplinary science, innovation and public outreach.This paper is based on an interview conducted by the author with Harvey Butcher for the National Project on Significant Australian Astronomers sponsored by the National Library of Australia. Except otherwise stated, all quotations used in this paper are from the Butcher interview which has been deposited in the Oral History Archives of the National Library.

  7. Test facility for astronomical x-ray optics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Finn Erland; Lewis, Robert A.; Bordas, J.

    1990-01-01

    Grazing incidence x-ray optics for x-ray astronomical applications are used outside the earth's atmosphere. These devices require a large collection aperture and the imaging of an x-ray source that is essentially placed at infinity. The ideal testing system for these optical elements has to appro......Grazing incidence x-ray optics for x-ray astronomical applications are used outside the earth's atmosphere. These devices require a large collection aperture and the imaging of an x-ray source that is essentially placed at infinity. The ideal testing system for these optical elements has...... to approximate that encountered under working conditions; however, the testing of these optical elements is notoriously difficult with conventional x-ray generators. Synchrotron radiation (SR) sources are sufficiently brilliant to produce a nearly perfect parallel beam over a large area while still retaining...... a flux considerably higher than that available from conventional x-ray generators. A facility designed for the testing of x-ray optics, particularly in connection with x-ray telescopes, is described. It is proposed that this facility will be accommodated at the Synchrotron Radiation Source...

  8. Sketching the moon an astronomical artist's guide

    CERN Document Server

    Handy, Richard; McCague, Thomas; Rix, Erika; Russell, Sally

    2012-01-01

    Soon after you begin studying the sky through your small telescope or binoculars, you will probably be encouraged by others to make sketches of what you see. Sketching is a time-honored tradition in amateur astronomy and dates back to the earliest times, when telescopes were invented. Even though we have lots of new imaging technologies nowadays, including astrophotography, most observers still use sketching to keep a record of what they see, make them better observers, and in hopes of perhaps contributing something to the body of scientific knowledge about the Moon. Some even sketch because it satisfies their artistic side. The Moon presents some unique challenges to the astronomer-artist, the Moon being so fond of tricks of the light. Sketching the Moon: An Astronomical Artist’s Guide, by five of the best lunar observer-artists working today, will guide you along your way and help you to achieve really high-quality sketches. All the major types of lunar features are covered, with a variety of sketching te...

  9. SAADA: Astronomical Databases Made Easier

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michel, L.; Nguyen, H. N.; Motch, C.

    2005-12-01

    Many astronomers wish to share datasets with their community but have not enough manpower to develop databases having the functionalities required for high-level scientific applications. The SAADA project aims at automatizing the creation and deployment process of such databases. A generic but scientifically relevant data model has been designed which allows one to build databases by providing only a limited number of product mapping rules. Databases created by SAADA rely on a relational database supporting JDBC and covered by a Java layer including a lot of generated code. Such databases can simultaneously host spectra, images, source lists and plots. Data are grouped in user defined collections whose content can be seen as one unique set per data type even if their formats differ. Datasets can be correlated one with each other using qualified links. These links help, for example, to handle the nature of a cross-identification (e.g., a distance or a likelihood) or to describe their scientific content (e.g., by associating a spectrum to a catalog entry). The SAADA query engine is based on a language well suited to the data model which can handle constraints on linked data, in addition to classical astronomical queries. These constraints can be applied on the linked objects (number, class and attributes) and/or on the link qualifier values. Databases created by SAADA are accessed through a rich WEB interface or a Java API. We are currently developing an inter-operability module implanting VO protocols.

  10. Procesos para una Astronomía que le aporte a Colombia

    OpenAIRE

    Duque Escobar, Gonzalo

    2011-01-01

    Se ha validado el Plan Nacional de Desarrollo Tecnológico en Astronomía 2011-2030, para el Plan Estratégico 2009-2012 de la Comisión Colombiana del Espacio CCE, por el Grupo de Astronáutica, Astronomía y Medicina Aeroespacial. Esperamos que el grupo de astrónomos convocado, responsable de la investigación centrado en procesos científicos existentes y no en distractores, pueda señalar las acciones pertinentes e identificar los recursos necesarios, para hacer viable un desarrollo científico y t...

  11. Explaining formation of Astronomical Jets using Dynamic Universe Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naga Parameswara Gupta, Satyavarapu

    2016-07-01

    Astronomical jets are observed from the centres of many Galaxies including our own Milkyway. The formation of such jet is explained using SITA simulations of Dynamic Universe Model. For this purpose the path traced by a test neutron is calculated and depicted using a set up of one densemass of the mass equivalent to mass of Galaxy center, 90 stars with similar masses of stars near Galaxy center, mass equivalents of 23 Globular Cluster groups, 16 Milkyway parts, Andromeda and Triangulum Galaxies at appropriate distances. Five different kinds of theoretical simulations gave positive results The path travelled by this test neutron was found to be an astronomical jet emerging from Galaxy center. This is another result from Dynamic Universe Model. It solves new problems like a. Variable Mass Rocket Trajectory Problem b. Explaining Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations c. Astronomical jets observed from Milkyway Center d. Prediction of Blue shifted Galaxies e. Explaining Pioneer Anomaly f. Prediction of New Horizons satellite trajectory etc. Dynamic Universe Model never reduces to General relativity on any condition. It uses a different type of mathematics based on Newtonian physics. This mathematics used here is simple and straightforward. As there are no differential equations present in Dynamic Universe Model, the set of equations give single solution in x y z Cartesian coordinates for every point mass for every time step

  12. La astronomía: ciencia olvidada en la escuela, ¿cómo recuperarla?

    OpenAIRE

    Aranzazu Zea, Daniel Alejandro

    2013-01-01

    Resumen: Esta propuesta tiene la intención de diseñar una cartilla para la enseñanza de la astronomía en la básica primaria, principalmente en el Colegio Santo Domingo de Guzmán, ubicado en el sector de Zamora, Bello. Se inicia la propuesta debido a que en el Colegio la astronomía no es un tema de mucha importancia en la enseñanza y es muy poca la transversalización con las diferentes áreas de la institución. La astronomía es vista como algo aparte de todas las asignaturas, sin saber la gran ...

  13. Radio Recombination Lines Their Physics and Astronomical Applications

    CERN Document Server

    Gordon, MA

    2008-01-01

    Includes the history of RRL detections, the astrophysics underlying their intensities and line shapes including topics like departures from LTE and Stark broadening, the maximum possible size of an atom, and descriptions of the astronomical topics for which RRLs have proved to be effective tools.

  14. Radio astronomical interferometry and x-ray's computerized tomography

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rodriguez, L F [Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City. Inst. de Astronomia

    1982-01-01

    Radio astronomical interferometry and computerized tomography are techniques of great importance for astronomy and medicine, respectively. In this paper we emphasize that both techniques are based on the same mathematical principles, and present them as an example of interaction between basic and applied science.

  15. Metal-Containing Molecules Beyond the Solar System: a Laboratory and Radio Astronomical Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziurys, L. M.

    2010-06-01

    Although the history of interstellar molecules began around 1970, with the millimeter-wave detection of CO in the Orion Nebula, metal-containing species have been somewhat elusive for astronomical searches. Only in the past two decades have metal-bearing molecules been identified in space, starting with metal halides (NaCl, KCl, AlCl, and AlF), and then metal cyanide and isocyanide species (MgNC, MgCN, NaCN, and AlNC). Moreover, the metal-containing molecules seemed to be present in a single astronomical object: the envelope of a dying, carbon-rich star, IRC+10216. However, with improvements both in laboratory spectroscopy and telescope sensitivity, it is becoming clear that the relevance of metal-containing species in astrophysics is increasing. Metal oxide and hydroxide species, such as AlO and AlOH, have recently been identified in interstellar space. Metal-containing molecules are now being found in other astronomical sources, such as the oxygen-rich shell surrounding VY Canis Majoris, a supergiant star. These new astronomical discoveries will be presented, as well as the laboratory measurements that made them possible. New directions in rotational spectroscopy of metal-bearing molecules will also be discussed.

  16. Improving the Determination of Eastern Elongations of Planetary Satellites in the Astronomical Almanac

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rura, Christopher; Stollberg, Mark

    2018-01-01

    The Astronomical Almanac is an annual publication of the US Naval Observatory (USNO) and contains a wide variety of astronomical data used by astronomers worldwide as a general reference or for planning observations. Included in this almanac are the times of greatest eastern and northern elongations of the natural satellites of the planets, accurate to 0.1 hour UT. The production code currently used to determine elongation times generates X and Y coordinates for each satellite (16 total) in 5 second intervals. This consequentially caused very large data files, and resulted in the program devoted to determining the elongation times to be computationally intensive. To make this program more efficient, we wrote a Python program to fit a cubic spline to data generated with a 6-minute time step. This resulted in elongation times that were found to agree with those determined from the 5 second data currently used in a large number of cases and was tested for 16 satellites between 2017 and 2019. The accuracy of this program is being tested for the years past 2019 and, if no problems are found, the code will be considered for production of this section of The Astronomical Almanac.

  17. Astronomers Gain Clues About Fundamental Physics

    Science.gov (United States)

    2005-12-01

    An international team of astronomers has looked at something very big -- a distant galaxy -- to study the behavior of things very small -- atoms and molecules -- to gain vital clues about the fundamental nature of our entire Universe. The team used the National Science Foundation's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to test whether the laws of nature have changed over vast spans of cosmic time. The Green Bank Telescope The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope CREDIT: NRAO/AUI/NSF (Click on image for GBT gallery) "The fundamental constants of physics are expected to remain fixed across space and time; that's why they're called constants! Now, however, new theoretical models for the basic structure of matter indicate that they may change. We're testing these predictions." said Nissim Kanekar, an astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), in Socorro, New Mexico. So far, the scientists' measurements show no change in the constants. "We've put the most stringent limits yet on some changes in these constants, but that's not the end of the story," said Christopher Carilli, another NRAO astronomer. "This is the exciting frontier where astronomy meets particle physics," Carilli explained. The research can help answer fundamental questions about whether the basic components of matter are tiny particles or tiny vibrating strings, how many dimensions the Universe has, and the nature of "dark energy." The astronomers were looking for changes in two quantities: the ratio of the masses of the electron and the proton, and a number physicists call the fine structure constant, a combination of the electron charge, the speed of light and the Planck constant. These values, considered fundamental physical constants, once were "taken as time independent, with values given once and forever" said German particle physicist Christof Wetterich. However, Wetterich explained, "the viewpoint of modern particle theory has changed in recent years," with ideas such as

  18. Astronomical tunings of the Oligocene-Miocene transition from Pacific Ocean Site U1334 and implications for the carbon cycle

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Beddow, Helen M.; Liebrand, Diederik; Wilson, Douglas S.; Hilgen, Frits J.; Sluijs, Appy; Wade, Bridget S.; Lourens, Lucas J.

    2018-01-01

    Astronomical tuning of sediment sequences requires both unambiguous cycle pattern recognition in climate proxy records and astronomical solutions, as well as independent information about the phase relationship between these two. Here we present two different astronomically tuned age models for the

  19. Support for the Astronomically Calibrated 40Ar/39Ar Age of Fish Canyon Sanidine

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rivera, Tiffany; Storey, Michael; Zeeden, Christian

    2011-01-01

    al. (2008) determined an astronomically calibrated 40Ar/39Ar age of 28.201 0.046 Ma (2), relative to the indirect astronomically tuned Moroccan Melilla Basin Messâdit section. Here, we provide independent verification for the Kuiper, et al. (2008) FCs age using sanidines extracted from the A1 tephra...

  20. Alexander the Great's Tomb at Siwa: The Astronomical Orientation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papathanassiou, M.; Souvaltzis, Em.; Souvaltzi, L.; Moussas, X.

    A preliminary report on the possible astronomical orientation of the Tomb of Alexander the Great, recently found and excavated by the greek archaeologist Liana Souvaltzi. The tomb is a greek building of doric style. Its enormous dimensions make it the largest amongst the found macedonian tombs (much bigger than the tomb of Philip II, Alexander's father). The tomb faces generally south---west and its orientation could be related either to the constellation of Centaurus or to the star Canopus. The walls of the two long sides of the building have strickingly different widhts. Moreover each wall has three doors (opposite in pairs) of slightly different sizes. We examine the possibility the openings of the doors and their assymetries to be designed and constructed according to some astronomical (solar or stellar) orientations.

  1. Viewing and imaging the solar system a guide for amateur astronomers

    CERN Document Server

    Clark, Jane

    2015-01-01

    Viewing and Imaging the Solar System: A Guide for Amateur Astronomers is for those who want to develop their ability to observe and image Solar System objects, including the planets and moons, the Sun, and comets and asteroids. They might be beginners, or they may have already owned and used an astronomical telescope for a year or more. Newcomers are almost always wowed by sights such as the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter, but have little idea how to find these objects for themselves (with the obvious exceptions of the Sun and Moon). They also need guidance about what equipment to use, besides a telescope. This book is written by an expert on the Solar System, who has had a lot of experience with outreach programs, which teach others how to make the most of relatively simple and low-cost equipment. That does not mean that this book is not for serious amateurs. On the contrary, it is designed to show amateur astronomers, in a relatively light-hearted—and math-free way—how to become serious.

  2. A Mythological, Philosophical and Astronomical approach of our solar system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drivas, Sotirios; Kastanidou, Sofia

    2016-04-01

    Teaching Geography in the first Class of Gymnasium - secondary education we will focus in Solar System: Astronomical approach: Students will look and find the astronomical data of the planets, they will make comparisons between the sizes of their radius, they will find the distance from the Sun, they will search the relative motion, they will calculate the gravity on each planet, etc. Mythological approach: We will search the names and meanings of the planets based on Greek mythological origin. Philosophical approach: Regarding the philosophical approach of the "solar system" we will look and find: • Why planets are called so? • How did planets get their names? • What are the periods of Greek astronomy? • What were the astronomical instruments of ancient Greeks and who did built them? • What were the Greek philosophers and astronomers? When did they live and what did they discover? • Which method did Eratosthenes of Cyrene apply about 206B.C. to serve a real measurement of the earth's radius? • What was the relationship between science and religion in ancient Greece? Literature approach: At the end of the program students will write their opinion in subject "Having a friend from another planet" based on the book of Antoine de Saint - Exupéry "The little prince". Law approach: A jurist working in Secondary Education will visits our school and engages students in the Space Law. Artistic approach: Students will create their own posters of our planetary system. The best posters will be posted on the school bulletin board to display their work. Visit: Students and teachers will visit the Observatory of Larissa where they will see how observatory works and talk with scientists about their job. They will look through telescopes and observe the sun.

  3. Astronomical Polarimetry with the RIT Polarization Imaging Camera

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vorobiev, Dmitry V.; Ninkov, Zoran; Brock, Neal

    2018-06-01

    In the last decade, imaging polarimeters based on micropolarizer arrays have been developed for use in terrestrial remote sensing and metrology applications. Micropolarizer-based sensors are dramatically smaller and more mechanically robust than other polarimeters with similar spectral response and snapshot capability. To determine the suitability of these new polarimeters for astronomical applications, we developed the RIT Polarization Imaging Camera to investigate the performance of these devices, with a special attention to the low signal-to-noise regime. We characterized the device performance in the lab, by determining the relative throughput, efficiency, and orientation of every pixel, as a function of wavelength. Using the resulting pixel response model, we developed demodulation procedures for aperture photometry and imaging polarimetry observing modes. We found that, using the current calibration, RITPIC is capable of detecting polarization signals as small as ∼0.3%. The relative ease of data collection, calibration, and analysis provided by these sensors suggest than they may become an important tool for a number of astronomical targets.

  4. 156th Symposium of the International Astronomical Union

    CERN Document Server

    Kołaczek, Barbara

    1993-01-01

    In this review talk, I would like to report on the proper motion analysis, which has been recently carried out together with M. Soma and M. Yoshizawa: There has been a persistent demand in astronomy for accurate stellar positions and proper motions, which are represented by an inertial reference system constructed on the basis of a set of consistent astronomical constants. In the reference system the precessional constant plays a primary role. In a series of papers Fricke (1967a,b, 1977a,b) has deter­ mined the luni-solar precessional correction to Newcomb's value and the fictitious motion of the equinox, which have been adopted in the "IAU (1976) System of Astronomical Con­ stants". Based on the precessional correction and the equinoctial motion thus established, the fundamental reference system, the FK5 system (Fricke et al. 1988) for positions and proper motions, has been constructed. However, for several years geodetic VLBI (McCarthy & Luzum 1991) and LLR (Williams et at. 1991) observations have bee...

  5. Celestial delights the best astronomical events through 2020

    CERN Document Server

    Reddy, Francis

    2012-01-01

    Celestial Delights is the essential 'TV Guide' for the sky. Through extensive graphics integrated with an eight-year-long calendar of sky events, it provides a look at "don't miss" sky events, mostly for naked-eye and binocular observing. It is organized by ease of observation – lunar phases and the brighter planets come first, with solar eclipses, the aurora, and comets coming later. This third edition also includes a hefty dose of sky lore, astronomical history, and clear overviews of current science. It provides a handy reference to upcoming naked-eye events, with information broken out in clear and simple diagrams and tables that are cross-referenced against a detailed almanac for each year covered. This book puts a variety of information all in one place, presents it in a friendly way that does not require prior in-depth astronomical knowledge, and provides the context and historical background for understanding events that astronomy software or web sites lack.

  6. Visualization of Multi-mission Astronomical Data with ESASky

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baines, Deborah; Giordano, Fabrizio; Racero, Elena; Salgado, Jesús; López Martí, Belén; Merín, Bruno; Sarmiento, María-Henar; Gutiérrez, Raúl; Ortiz de Landaluce, Iñaki; León, Ignacio; de Teodoro, Pilar; González, Juan; Nieto, Sara; Segovia, Juan Carlos; Pollock, Andy; Rosa, Michael; Arviset, Christophe; Lennon, Daniel; O'Mullane, William; de Marchi, Guido

    2017-02-01

    ESASky is a science-driven discovery portal to explore the multi-wavelength sky and visualize and access multiple astronomical archive holdings. The tool is a web application that requires no prior knowledge of any of the missions involved and gives users world-wide simplified access to the highest-level science data products from multiple astronomical space-based astronomy missions plus a number of ESA source catalogs. The first public release of ESASky features interfaces for the visualization of the sky in multiple wavelengths, the visualization of query results summaries, and the visualization of observations and catalog sources for single and multiple targets. This paper describes these features within ESASky, developed to address use cases from the scientific community. The decisions regarding the visualization of large amounts of data and the technologies used were made to maximize the responsiveness of the application and to keep the tool as useful and intuitive as possible.

  7. Tribute to an Astronomer: The Work of Max Ernst on Wilhelm Tempel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nazé, Yaël

    2016-05-01

    In 1964-1974, the German artist Max Ernst created, with the help of two friends, a series of works (books, movie, and paintings) related to the astronomer Wilhelm Tempel. Mixing actual texts by Tempel and artistic features, this series pays homage to the astronomer by recalling his life and discoveries. Moreover, the core of the project, the book Maximiliana or the Illegal Practice of Astronomy, actually depicts the way science works, making this work of art a most original tribute to a scientist.

  8. Using Modern Technologies to Capture and Share Indigenous Astronomical Knowledge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakata, Martin; Hamacher, Duane W.; Warren, John; Byrne, Alex; Pagnucco, Maurice; Harley, Ross; Venugopal, Srikumar; Thorpe, Kirsten; Neville, Richard; Bolt, Reuben

    2014-06-01

    Indigenous Knowledge is important for Indigenous communities across the globe and for the advancement of our general scientific knowledge. In particular, Indigenous astronomical knowledge integrates many aspects of Indigenous Knowledge, including seasonal calendars, navigation, food economics, law, ceremony, and social structure. Capturing, managing, and disseminating this knowledge in the digital environment poses a number of challenges, which we aim to address using a collaborative project emerging between experts in the higher education, library, archive and industry sectors. Using Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope and Rich Interactive Narratives technologies, we propose to develop software, media design, and archival management solutions to allow Indigenous communities to share their astronomical knowledge with the world on their terms and in a culturally sensitive manner.

  9. Available Tools and Challenges Classifying Cutting-Edge and Historical Astronomical Documents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lagerstrom, Jill

    2015-08-01

    The STScI Library assists the Science Policies Division in evaluating and choosing scientific keywords and categories for proposals for the Hubble Space Telescope mission and the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope mission. In addition we are often faced with the question “what is the shape of the astronomical literature?” However, subject classification in astronomy in recent times has not been cultivated. This talk will address the available tools and challenges of classifying cutting-edge as well as historical astronomical documents. In at the process, we will give an overview of current and upcoming practices of subject classification in astronomy.

  10. AstroWeb -- Internet Resources for Astronomers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, R. E.; Adorf, H.-M.; Egret, D.; Heck, A.; Koekemoer, A.; Murtagh, F.; Wells, D. C.

    AstroWeb is a World Wide Web (WWW) interface to a collection of Internet accessible resources aimed at the astronomical community. The collection currently contains more than 1000 WWW, Gopher, Wide Area Information System (WAIS), Telnet, and Anonymous FTP resources, and it is still growing. AstroWeb provides the additional value-added services: categorization of each resource; descriptive paragraphs for some resources; searchable index of all resource information; 3 times daily search for ``dead'' or ``unreliable'' resources.

  11. Astronomical Image Compression Techniques Based on ACC and KLT Coder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Schindler

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with a compression of image data in applications in astronomy. Astronomical images have typical specific properties — high grayscale bit depth, size, noise occurrence and special processing algorithms. They belong to the class of scientific images. Their processing and compression is quite different from the classical approach of multimedia image processing. The database of images from BOOTES (Burst Observer and Optical Transient Exploring System has been chosen as a source of the testing signal. BOOTES is a Czech-Spanish robotic telescope for observing AGN (active galactic nuclei and the optical transient of GRB (gamma ray bursts searching. This paper discusses an approach based on an analysis of statistical properties of image data. A comparison of two irrelevancy reduction methods is presented from a scientific (astrometric and photometric point of view. The first method is based on a statistical approach, using the Karhunen-Loeve transform (KLT with uniform quantization in the spectral domain. The second technique is derived from wavelet decomposition with adaptive selection of used prediction coefficients. Finally, the comparison of three redundancy reduction methods is discussed. Multimedia format JPEG2000 and HCOMPRESS, designed especially for astronomical images, are compared with the new Astronomical Context Coder (ACC coder based on adaptive median regression.

  12. Extracting meaning from astronomical telegrams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graham, Matthew; Conwill, L.; Djorgovski, S. G.; Mahabal, A.; Donalek, C.; Drake, A.

    2011-01-01

    The rapidly emerging field of time domain astronomy is one of the most exciting and vibrant new research frontiers, ranging in scientific scope from studies of the Solar System to extreme relativistic astrophysics and cosmology. It is being enabled by a new generation of large synoptic digital sky surveys - LSST, PanStarrs, CRTS - that cover large areas of sky repeatedly, looking for transient objects and phenomena. One of the biggest challenges facing these is the automated classification of transient events, a process that needs machine-processible astronomical knowledge. Semantic technologies enable the formal representation of concepts and relations within a particular domain. ATELs (http://www.astronomerstelegram.org) are a commonly-used means for reporting and commenting upon new astronomical observations of transient sources (supernovae, stellar outbursts, blazar flares, etc). However, they are loose and unstructured and employ scientific natural language for description: this makes automated processing of them - a necessity within the next decade with petascale data rates - a challenge. Nevertheless they represent a potentially rich corpus of information that could lead to new and valuable insights into transient phenomena. This project lies in the cutting-edge field of astrosemantics, a branch of astroinformatics, which applies semantic technologies to astronomy. The ATELs have been used to develop an appropriate concept scheme - a representation of the information they contain - for transient astronomy using aspects of natural language processing. We demonstrate that it is possible to infer the subject of an ATEL from the vocabulary used and to identify previously unassociated reports.

  13. Strasbourg Astronomical Data Center (CDS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F Genova

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The Centre de Donnees astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS, created in 1972, has been a pioneer in the dissemination of digital scientific data. Ensuring sustainability for several decades has been a major issue because science and technology evolve continuously and the data flow increases endlessly. The paper briefly describes CDS activities, major services, and its R&D strategy to take advantage of new technologies. The next frontiers for CDS are the new Web 2.0/3.0 paradigm and, at a more general level, global interoperability of astronomical on-line resources in the Virtual Observatory framework.

  14. Proceedings of the VI Serbian-Bulgarian Astronomical Conference, May 7 - 11 2008, Belgrade, Serbia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dimitrijević, M. S.; Tsvetkov, M.; Popović, L. C.; Golev, V.

    2009-07-01

    The Sixth Serbian-Bulgarian Astronomical Conference was organized by Belgrade Astronomical Observatory, and held in Belgrade, in the building of Mathematical Faculty in Jagiceva Street, from 75th to 11th May 2008. Co-organizers were Mathematical Faculty, Astronomical Society "Rudjer Boskovic", Institute of Astronomy of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), Space Research Institute of BAS and Department of Astronomy of the University of Sofia. Co-chairmen of the Scientific Organizing Committee were Milan Dimitrijevic and Milcho Tsvetkov and Co-vice chairmen Luka C. Popovic and Valeri Golev. Chair of the Local Organizing Committee was Andjelka Kovacevic. The conference [was] attended by 58 participants. From Serbia were 36, from Belgrade Astronomical Observatory, Mathematical Faculty, Faculty of Sciences from Nis, Institute of Physics from Zemum, High School for pedagogues of occupational studies from Aleksinac, Faculty of Sciences from Kragujevac, Mathematical Institute of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Astronomical Society "Rudjer Boskovic" and Astronomical Society "Magellanic Cloud." From Bulgaria were present 17 colleagues: Svetlana Boeva, Ana Borisova, Momchil Dechev, Peter Duchlev, Lostadinka Koleva, Georgi Petrov, Vasil Popov, Konstatin Stavrev, Katya Ysvetkova and Milcho Tsvetkov from Institute of Astronomy of BAS, Rumen Bogdanovski and Krasmimira Ianova from Space Research Institute of BAS, Georgi R. Ivanov, Georgi Petrov and Grigor Nikolov from Department of Astronomy, Sofia University "St Kliment Ohridski,", Yavor Chapanov from Central Laboratory for Geodesy of BAS and Petya Pavlova from Technical University of Sofia, Branch Plovdiv. Besides participants from Serbia and Bulgaria the Conference [was] attended [by] Vlado Milicevic from Canada, Jan Vondrak from Czech Republic, Aytap Sezer from Turkey and Tetyana Sergeeva and Alexandr Sergeev from Ukraine. On the Conference were presented 13 invited lectures, 22 short talks and 35 posters, in total

  15. Astronomical Alignments in a Neolithic Chinese Site?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, S.; Stencel, R. E.

    1997-12-01

    In the Manchurian province of Liaoning, near 41N19' and 119E30', exist ruins of a middle Neolithic society (2500 to 4000 BC) known as the Hongshan culture. This location, called Niuheliang, is comprised of 16 locations with monumental structures scattered over 80 square kilometers of hills. Most are stone burial structures that contain jade artifacts implying wealth and power. One structure is unique in being unusually shaped and containing oversized effigies of goddess figures. This structure also has a commanding view of the surrounding landscape. The presence of decorated pottery, jade and worked copper suggests the Hongshan people were sophisticated artisans and engaged in long-distance trading. During 1997, we've conducted a course at Denver as part of our Core Curriculum program for upper division students, that has examined the astronomical and cultural aspects of the Niuheliang site, to attempt to determine whether these contemporaries of the builders of Stonehenge may have included astronomical alignments into their constructions. The preliminary result of our studies suggests that certain monuments have potential for lunar standstill observation from the "goddess temple". For updates on these results, please see our website: www.du.edu/ rstencel/core2103.html.

  16. Ammende pakub suvemuusikat / Silja Joon

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Joon, Silja, 1966-

    2007-01-01

    Kontsertidest Pärnus Ammende villas: 5. juulil "Mõeldes Sinule" (Laura Põldvere, Jorma Toots, Marti Tärn, Ahto Abner), 12. juulil Kadri Voorand, Jürmo Eespere, Mihkel Mälgand ja Tanel Ruben, 19. juulil Tõnu Naissoo, Raul Vaigla ja Marko Naissoo kontserdiga "Tõnu Naissoo Eclectic Electric Trio", 26. juulil Holger Marjamaa kvartett (Holger Marjamaa, Mairo Marjamaa, Peedu Kass ja Dmitri Nikolajevski)

  17. Integrating the IA2 Astronomical Archive in the VO: The VO-Dance Engine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molinaro, M.; Laurino, O.; Smareglia, R.

    2012-09-01

    Virtual Observatory (VO) protocols and standards are getting mature and the astronomical community asks for astrophysical data to be easily reachable. This means data centers have to intensify their efforts to provide the data they manage not only through proprietary portals and services but also through interoperable resources developed on the basis of the IVOA (International Virtual Observatory Alliance) recommendations. Here we present the work and ideas developed at the IA2 (Italian Astronomical Archive) data center hosted by the INAF-OATs (Italian Institute for Astrophysics - Trieste Astronomical Observatory) to reach this goal. The core point is the development of an application that from existing DB and archive structures can translate their content to VO compliant resources: VO-Dance (written in Java). This application, in turn, relies on a database (potentially DBMS independent) to store the translation layer information of each resource and auxiliary content (UCDs, field names, authorizations, policies, etc.). The last token is an administrative interface (currently developed using the Django python framework) to allow the data center administrators to set up and maintain resources. This deployment, platform independent, with database and administrative interface highly customizable, means the package, when stable and easily distributable, can be also used by single astronomers or groups to set up their own resources from their public datasets.

  18. The Material Culture of Nineteenth-Century Astrometry, its Circulation and Heritage at the Astronomical Observatory of Lisbon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raposo, Pedro

    The Astronomical Observatory of Lisbon was founded in 1857 in the sequence of a controversy on stellar parallax measurements involving astronomers from the Observatory of Paris and the Observatory of Pulkovo. The development of this discussion led the contenders to recognize Lisbon as a suitable place to carry out this kind of measurements and to foster the field of stellar astronomy. Some local actors strived to keep up with this wave of international interest and establish a first-rank astronomical institution in the Portuguese capital. In order to fulfil this goal, correspondence was intensively exchanged with leading foreign astronomers and instrument makers. Besides, a Portuguese Navy officer bound to become the first director of the new institution was commissioned to visit several observatories and instrument workshops abroad, and to spend a few years in Pulkovo as a trainee astronomer. Although founded with generous financial support from the Portuguese crown and lavishly equipped and constructed, the Observatory of Lisbon was later affected by limiting budgets and a shortage of qualified personnel. Nevertheless, local efforts to improve instruments as well as observation and calculation techniques enabled its astronomers to yield important contributions to positional astronomy, especially towards the end of the nineteenth century and the beginnings of the twentieth century. The original instruments and spaces of the Observatory of Lisbon, strongly modelled on those of Pulkovo, are very well preserved, constituting an outstanding extant example of a mid-nineteenth century advanced observatory. The history they embody testifies the connectedness of the astronomical heritage worldwide.

  19. Training Young Astronomers in EPO: An Update on the AAS Astronomy Ambassadors Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraknoi, A.; Fienberg, R. T.; Gurton, S.; Schmitt, A. H.; Schatz, D.; Prather, E. E.

    2014-07-01

    The American Astronomical Society, with organizations active in EPO, has launched professional-development workshops and a community of practice to help improve early-career astronomers' ability to communicate effectively. Called “Astronomy Ambassadors,” the program provides mentoring and training for participants, from advanced undergraduates to beginning faculty. By learning to implement effective EPO strategies, Ambassadors become better teachers, meeting presenters, and representatives of our science to the public and government. Because young astronomers are a more diverse group than those who now do most outreach, they help the astronomy community present a more multicultural and gender-balanced face to the public, enabling underserved groups to see themselves as scientists. Ambassadors are given a library of outreach activities and materials, including many developed by cooperating organizations such as the ASP, plus some that have been created by Andrew Fraknoi specifically for this program.

  20. Astronomers Get New Tools for Gravitational-Wave Detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    Teamwork between gamma-ray and radio astronomers has produced a breakthrough in finding natural cosmic tools needed to make the first direct detections of the long-elusive gravitational waves predicted by Albert Einstein nearly a century ago. An orbiting gamma-ray telescope has pointed radio astronomers to specific locations in the sky where they can discover new millisecond pulsars. Millisecond pulsars, rapidly-spinning superdense neutron stars, can serve as extremely precise and stable natural clocks. Astronomers hope to detect gravitational waves by measuring tiny changes in the pulsars' rotation caused by the passage of the gravitational waves. To do this, they need a multitude of millisecond pulsars dispersed widely throughout the sky. However, nearly three decades after the discovery of the first millisecond pulsar, only about 150 of them had been found, some 90 of those clumped tightly in globular star clusters and thus unusable for detecting gravitational waves. The problem was that millisecond pulsars could only be discovered through arduous, computing-intensive searches of small portions of sky. "We've probably found far less than one percent of the millisecond pulsars in the Milky Way Galaxy," said Scott Ransom of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The breakthrough came when an instrument aboard NASA's Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope began surveying the sky in 2008. This instrument located hundreds of gamma-ray-emitting objects throughout our Galaxy, and astronomers suspected many of these could be millisecond pulsars. Paul Ray of the Naval Research Laboratory initiated an international collaboration to use radio telescopes to confirm the identity of these objects as millisecond pulsars. "The data from Fermi were like a buried-treasure map," Ransom said. "Using our radio telescopes to study the objects located by Fermi, we found 17 millisecond pulsars in three months. Large-scale searches had taken 10-15 years to find that many," Ransom

  1. Astronomical virtual observatory and the place and role of Bulgarian one

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petrov, Georgi; Dechev, Momchil; Slavcheva-Mihova, Luba; Duchlev, Peter; Mihov, Bojko; Kochev, Valentin; Bachev, Rumen

    2009-07-01

    Virtual observatory could be defined as a collection of integrated astronomical data archives and software tools that utilize computer networks to create an environment in which research can be conducted. Several countries have initiated national virtual observatory programs that combine existing databases from ground-based and orbiting observatories, scientific facility especially equipped to detect and record naturally occurring scientific phenomena. As a result, data from all the world's major observatories will be available to all users and to the public. This is significant not only because of the immense volume of astronomical data but also because the data on stars and galaxies has been compiled from observations in a variety of wavelengths-optical, radio, infrared, gamma ray, X-ray and more. In a virtual observatory environment, all of this data is integrated so that it can be synthesized and used in a given study. During the autumn of the 2001 (26.09.2001) six organizations from Europe put the establishment of the Astronomical Virtual Observatory (AVO)-ESO, ESA, Astrogrid, CDS, CNRS, Jodrell Bank (Dolensky et al., 2003). Its aims have been outlined as follows: - To provide comparative analysis of large sets of multiwavelength data; - To reuse data collected by a single source; - To provide uniform access to data; - To make data available to less-advantaged communities; - To be an educational tool. The Virtual observatory includes: - Tools that make it easy to locate and retrieve data from catalogues, archives, and databases worldwide; - Tools for data analysis, simulation, and visualization; - Tools to compare observations with results obtained from models, simulations and theory; - Interoperability: services that can be used regardless of the clients computing platform, operating system and software capabilities; - Access to data in near real-time, archived data and historical data; - Additional information - documentation, user-guides, reports

  2. Astronomical Research with the MicroObservatory Net

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brecher, K.; Sadler, P.; Gould, R.; Leiker, S.; Antonucci, P.; Deutsch, F.

    1997-05-01

    We have developed a fully integrated automated astronomical telescope system which combines the imaging power of a cooled CCD, with a self-contained and weatherized 15 cm reflecting optical telescope and mount. The MicroObservatory Net consists of five of these telescopes. They are currently being deployed around the world at widely distributed longitudes. Remote access to the MicroObservatories over the Internet has now been implemented. Software for computer control, pointing, focusing, filter selection as well as pattern recognition have all been developed as part of the project. The telescopes can be controlled in real time or in delay mode, from a Macintosh, PC or other computer using Web-based software. The Internet address of the telescopes is http://cfa- www.harvard.edu/cfa/sed/MicroObservatory/MicroObservatory.html. In the real-time mode, individuals have access to all of the telescope control functions without the need for an `on-site' operator. Users can sign up for a specific period of ti me. In the batch mode, users can submit requests for delayed telescope observations. After a MicroObservatory completes a job, the user is automatically notified by e-mail that the image is available for viewing and downloading from the Web site. The telescopes were designed for classroom instruction, as well as for use by students and amateur astronomers for original scientific research projects. We are currently examining a variety of technical and educational questions about the use of the telescopes including: (1) What are the best approaches to scheduling real-time versus batch mode observations? (2) What criteria should be used for allocating telescope time? (3) With deployment of more than one telescope, is it advantageous for each telescope to be used for just one type of observation, i.e., some for photometric use, others for imaging? And (4) What are the most valuable applications of the MicroObservatories in astronomical research? Support for the Micro

  3. The Astronomical Instrument, So-Gahui Invented During King Sejong Period

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Yong-Sam Lee; Kim, Sang-Hyuk

    2002-09-01

    So-ganui, namely small simplified armillary sphere, was invented as an astronomical instrument by Lee Cheon, Jeong Cho, Jung In-Ji under 16 years' rule of King Sejong. We collect records and observed data on So-ganui. It is designed to measure position of celestial sphere and to determine time. It also can be transformed equatorial to horizontal, and horizontal to equatorial coordinate. It can measure the right ascension, declination, altitude and azimuth. It is composed of Sayu-hwan (Four displacements), Jeokdo-hwan (Equatorial dial), Baekgak-hwan (Ring with one hundred-interval quarters), Gyuhyeong (Sighting aliadade), Yongju (Dragon-pillar) and Bu (Stand). So-ganui was used conveniently portable surveying as well as astronomical instrument and possible to determine time during day and night.

  4. Stereoscopy in Astronomical Visualizations to Support Learning at Informal Education Settings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price, Aaron; Lee, Hee-Sun

    2015-08-01

    Stereoscopy has been used in science education for 100 years. Recent innovations in low cost technology as well as trends in the entertainment industry have made stereoscopy popular among educators and audiences alike. However, experimental studies addressing whether stereoscopy actually impacts science learning are limited. Over the last decade, we have conducted a series of quasi-experimental and experimental studies on how children and adult visitors in science museums and planetariums learned about the structure and function of highly spatial scientific objects such as galaxies, supernova, etc. We present a synthesis of the results from these studies and implications for stereoscopic visualization development. The overall finding is that the impact of stereoscopy on perceptions of scientific objects is limited when presented as static imagery. However, when presented as full motion films, a significantly positive impact was detected. To conclude, we present a set of stereoscopic design principles that can help design astronomical stereoscopic films that support deep and effective learning. Our studies cover astronomical content such as the engineering of and imagery from the Mars rovers, artistic stereoscopic imagery of nebulae and a high-resolution stereoscopic film about how astronomers measure and model the structure of our galaxy.

  5. Leslie Peltier, Amateur Astronomer and Observer Extraordinaire

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corbin, B. G.

    2003-12-01

    Leslie Copus Peltier, (Jan. 2, 1900-May 10, 1980) was called "the world's greatest non-professional astronomer" by none other than Harlow Shapley, and also referred to as the "the world's greatest living amateur astronomer". He began observing variable stars on March 1, 1918 with an observation of R. Leonis and at the time of his death had made a total of 132,123 observations of variable stars. These were reported to the AAVSO on a consecutive monthly basis stretching from 1918 to his death in 1980. As of October 2003, he was still on AAVSO's list of the top 25 observers in its history. Born on a farm near Delphos, Ohio, his parents were well read and their home was filled with books on different subjects, including nature guides. As a young man he studied the flora and fauna of the area and in 1915 began his study of the heavens with Vega being the first star he identified. After the purchase of a 2-inch spyglass, his observations of variable stars began to be noticed by professional astronomers and the AAVSO loaned him a 4-inch Mogey refractor; shortly thereafter Henry Norris Russell of Princeton loaned him via the AAVSO a 6-inch refractor, a comet seeker of short focus. He discovered 12 comets, 10 of which carry his name, and 6 novae or recurring novae. His design of the "Merry-Go-Round Observatory" was a novel approach with the whole observatory revolving around the observer while seated in his observing chair. Miami University (Ohio) later donated to him their 12-inch Clark refractor with its dome. His first book, Starlight Nights: The Adventures of a Star-Gazer, appeared in 1965. This autobiography, an ode to the joys of observing both the night sky and nature, was written in beautifully descriptive language that helped lead countless readers into astronomy. Departing from astronomy, in 1977 he published The Place on Jennings Creek. Written in the style of the 19th century naturalist, the book was devoted to his family's home, Brookhaven, and its natural

  6. Mingantu, 18th-Century Mongol Astronomer and Radioheliograph Namesake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasachoff, Jay M.

    2013-01-01

    The 18th-century Mongol astronomer Mingantu (1692-1765) has been honored with a city named after him and a nearby solar telescope array. During the IAU/Beijing, my wife and I went to the new Chinese solar radioheliograph, the Mingantu Observing Station, in Inner Mongolia, ~400 km northwest of Beijing, a project of the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences. It currently contains 40 dishes each 4.5 m across, with a correlator from Beijing. Within a year, 60 2-m dishes will be added. We passed by the 12-century ruins of Xanadu (about 20 km north of Zhangbei) about halfway. The radioheliograph is in a plane about 1 km across, forming a three-armed spiral for interferometric solar mapping, something colleagues and I had carried out with the Jansky Very Large Array, taking advantage of the lunar occultation before annularity at the 20 May 2012 solar eclipse. In the central square of Mingantu city, a statue ~10-m high of the Mongol astronomer Mingantu appears. Its base bears a plaque ~1-m high of IAU Minor Planet Circular MPC 45750 announcing the naming in 2002 of asteroid 28242 Mingantu, discovered at a Chinese observatory in 1999. Mingantu carried out orbital calculations, mapping, mathematical work on infinite series, and other scientific research. He is honored by a modern museum behind the statue. The museum's first 40% describes Mingantu and his work, and is followed by some artifacts of the region from thousands of years ago. The final, large room contains a two-meter-square scale model of the radioheliograph, flat-screen televisions running Solar Dynamics Observatory and other contemporary visualizations, orreries and other objects, and large transparencies of NASA and other astronomical imagery. See my post at http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/newsblog/ specfically Astro-Sightseeing_in_Inner_Mongolia-167712965.html. We thank Yihua Yan for arranging the visit and Wang Wei (both NAOC) for accompanying us. My solar research

  7. This Month in Astronomical History: Providing Context for the Advancement of Astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Teresa

    2018-01-01

    This Month in Astronomical History is a short (~500 word) illustrated column hosted on the AAS website (https://had.aas.org/resources/astro-history). Its mission is to highlight people and events that have shaped the development of astronomy to convey a historical context to current researchers, to provide a resource for education and public outreach programs seeking to incorporate a historical perspective, and to share the excitement of astronomy with the public. Knowing how the astronomical journey has proceeded thus far allows current professionals to map where to go next and how to get there. The column charts the first part of this journey by celebrating anniversaries of births, discoveries, and deaths, and the technological advances that made discoveries possible. A new “Further Reading” section encourages readers to pursue subjects in greater depth and strengthens the articles as classroom resources.In the months preceding the 21 August 2017 solar eclipse, the column featured astronomical bodies that come between Earth and the Sun: 2004 Venus transit, the 1878 solar eclipse, and the search for the hypothetical planet Vulcan. Venusian transits were an early but technically challenging way to measure the astronomical unit, now easily done with radar-ranging. Like this year’s event, eclipse chasing and citizen science were part of the 1878 experience. Newton’s Laws seemed to require a planet inside Mercury’s orbit, but General Relativity explained the behavior of Mercury without it. Studying each of these transiting bodies has expanded our knowledge and understanding of the universe differently. Transiting extrasolar planets remain to be explored in a future column. In September, an article on the discovery of Neptune followed the discussion of the non-existent Vulcan quite naturally and expanded on the brief mention of this event in relation to the discovery of Pluto. Suggestions for additional topics are always welcome.The Dudley Observatory

  8. Novel Algorithms for Astronomical Plate Analyses Rene Hudec1,2 ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    2Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Technicka 2,. Prague 6 ... Abstract. Powerful computers and dedicated software allow effective data mining and scientific analyses in astronomical plate archives. We.

  9. SIP: A Web-Based Astronomical Image Processing Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simonetti, J. H.

    1999-12-01

    I have written an astronomical image processing and analysis program designed to run over the internet in a Java-compatible web browser. The program, Sky Image Processor (SIP), is accessible at the SIP webpage (http://www.phys.vt.edu/SIP). Since nothing is installed on the user's machine, there is no need to download upgrades; the latest version of the program is always instantly available. Furthermore, the Java programming language is designed to work on any computer platform (any machine and operating system). The program could be used with students in web-based instruction or in a computer laboratory setting; it may also be of use in some research or outreach applications. While SIP is similar to other image processing programs, it is unique in some important respects. For example, SIP can load images from the user's machine or from the Web. An instructor can put images on a web server for students to load and analyze on their own personal computer. Or, the instructor can inform the students of images to load from any other web server. Furthermore, since SIP was written with students in mind, the philosophy is to present the user with the most basic tools necessary to process and analyze astronomical images. Images can be combined (by addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division), multiplied by a constant, smoothed, cropped, flipped, rotated, and so on. Statistics can be gathered for pixels within a box drawn by the user. Basic tools are available for gathering data from an image which can be used for performing simple differential photometry, or astrometry. Therefore, students can learn how astronomical image processing works. Since SIP is not part of a commercial CCD camera package, the program is written to handle the most common denominator image file, the FITS format.

  10. Unveiling galaxies the role of images in astronomical discovery

    CERN Document Server

    Roy, Jean-René

    2017-01-01

    Galaxies are known as the building blocks of the universe, but arriving at this understanding has been a thousand-year odyssey. This journey is told through the lens of the evolving use of images as investigative tools. Initial chapters explore how early insights developed in line with new methods of scientific imaging, particularly photography. The volume then explores the impact of optical, radio and x-ray imaging techniques. The final part of the story discusses the importance of atlases of galaxies; how astronomers organised images in ways that educated, promoted ideas and pushed for new knowledge. Images that created confusion as well as advanced knowledge are included to demonstrate the challenges faced by astronomers and the long road to understanding galaxies. By examining developments in imaging, this text places the study of galaxies in its broader historical context, contributing to both astronomy and the history of science.

  11. Radio and Optical Telescopes for School Students and Professional Astronomers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosmer, Laura; Langston, G.; Heatherly, S.; Towner, A. P.; Ford, J.; Simon, R. S.; White, S.; O'Neil, K. L.; Haipslip, J.; Reichart, D.

    2013-01-01

    The NRAO 20m telescope is now on-line as a part of UNC's Skynet worldwide telescope network. The NRAO is completing integration of radio astronomy tools with the Skynet web interface. We present the web interface and astronomy projects that allow students and astronomers from all over the country to become Radio Astronomers. The 20 meter radio telescope at NRAO in Green Bank, WV is dedicated to public education and also is part of an experiment in public funding for astronomy. The telescope has a fantastic new web-based interface, with priority queuing, accommodating priority for paying customers and enabling free use of otherwise unused time. This revival included many software and hardware improvements including automatic calibration and improved time integration resulting in improved data processing, and a new ultra high resolution spectrometer. This new spectrometer is optimized for very narrow spectral lines, which will allow astronomers to study complex molecules and very cold regions of space in remarkable detail. In accordance with focusing on broader impacts, many public outreach and high school education activities have been completed with many confirmed future activities. The 20 meter is now a fully automated, powerful tool capable of professional grade results available to anyone in the world. Drop by our poster and try out real-time telescope control!

  12. Managing distributed software development in the Virtual Astronomical Observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Janet D.; Plante, Raymond L.; Boneventura, Nina; Busko, Ivo; Cresitello-Dittmar, Mark; D'Abrusco, Raffaele; Doe, Stephen; Ebert, Rick; Laurino, Omar; Pevunova, Olga; Refsdal, Brian; Thomas, Brian

    2012-09-01

    The U.S. Virtual Astronomical Observatory (VAO) is a product-driven organization that provides new scientific research capabilities to the astronomical community. Software development for the VAO follows a lightweight framework that guides development of science applications and infrastructure. Challenges to be overcome include distributed development teams, part-time efforts, and highly constrained schedules. We describe the process we followed to conquer these challenges while developing Iris, the VAO application for analysis of 1-D astronomical spectral energy distributions (SEDs). Iris was successfully built and released in less than a year with a team distributed across four institutions. The project followed existing International Virtual Observatory Alliance inter-operability standards for spectral data and contributed a SED library as a by-product of the project. We emphasize lessons learned that will be folded into future development efforts. In our experience, a well-defined process that provides guidelines to ensure the project is cohesive and stays on track is key to success. Internal product deliveries with a planned test and feedback loop are critical. Release candidates are measured against use cases established early in the process, and provide the opportunity to assess priorities and make course corrections during development. Also key is the participation of a stakeholder such as a lead scientist who manages the technical questions, advises on priorities, and is actively involved as a lead tester. Finally, frequent scheduled communications (for example a bi-weekly tele-conference) assure issues are resolved quickly and the team is working toward a common vision.

  13. A SURVEY OF ASTRONOMICAL RESEARCH: A BASELINE FOR ASTRONOMICAL DEVELOPMENT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ribeiro, V. A. R. M.; Russo, P.; Cárdenas-Avendaño, A.

    2013-01-01

    Measuring scientific development is a difficult task. Different metrics have been put forward to evaluate scientific development; in this paper we explore a metric that uses the number of peer-reviewed, and when available non-peer-reviewed, research articles as an indicator of development in the field of astronomy. We analyzed the available publication record, using the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory/NASA Astrophysics Database System, by country affiliation in the time span between 1950 and 2011 for countries with a gross national income of less than 14,365 USD in 2010. This represents 149 countries. We propose that this metric identifies countries in ''astronomical development'' with a culture of research publishing. We also propose that for a country to develop in astronomy, it should invest in outside expert visits, send its staff abroad to study, and establish a culture of scientific publishing. Furthermore, we propose that this paper may be used as a baseline to measure the success of major international projects, such as the International Year of Astronomy 2009

  14. astroplan: Observation Planning for Astronomers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morris, Brett

    2016-03-01

    Astroplan is an observation planning package for astronomers. It is an astropy-affiliated package which began as a Google Summer of Code project. Astroplan facilitates convenient calculation of common observational quantities, like target altitudes and azimuths, airmasses, and rise/set times. Astroplan also computes when targets are observable given various extensible observing constraints, for example: within a range of airmasses or altitudes, or at a given separation from the Moon. Astroplan is taught in the undergraduate programming for astronomy class, and enables observational Pre- MAP projects at the University of Washington. In the near future, we plan to implement scheduling capabilities in astroplan on top of the constraints framework.

  15. Visualizing Astronomical Data with Blender

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kent, Brian R.

    2014-01-01

    We present methods for using the 3D graphics program Blender in the visualization of astronomical data. The software's forte for animating 3D data lends itself well to use in astronomy. The Blender graphical user interface and Python scripting capabilities can be utilized in the generation of models for data cubes, catalogs, simulations, and surface maps. We review methods for data import, 2D and 3D voxel texture applications, animations, camera movement, and composite renders. Rendering times can be improved by using graphic processing units (GPUs). A number of examples are shown using the software features most applicable to various kinds of data paradigms in astronomy.

  16. The Educational Activities of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraknoi, Andrew

    1981-01-01

    Describes educational activities of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific including learning packets on various astronomy concepts, Morrison lectures, newspaper columns, teacher workshops, cosponsoring astronomy oriented lectures, and providing speakers for various groups. (DS)

  17. Strategies for personnel sustainable lifecycle at astronomical observatories and local industry development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bendek, Eduardo A.; Leatherbee, Michael; Smith, Heather; Strappa, Valentina; Zinnecker, Hans; Perez, Mario

    2014-08-01

    Specialized manpower required to efficiently operate world-class observatories requires large investments in time and resources to train personnel in very specific areas of engineering. Isolation and distances to mayor cities pose a challenge to retain motivated and qualified personnel on the mountain. This paper presents strategies that we believe may be effective for retaining this specific know-how in the astronomy field; while at the same time develop a local support industry for observatory operations and astronomical instrumentation development. For this study we choose Chile as a research setting because it will host more than 60% of the world's ground based astronomical infrastructure by the end of the decade, and because the country has an underdeveloped industry for astronomy services. We identify the astronomical infrastructure that exists in the country as well as the major research groups and industrial players. We further identify the needs of observatories that could be outsourced to the local economy. As a result, we suggest spin-off opportunities that can be started by former observatory employees and therefore retaining the knowhow of experienced people that decide to leave on-site jobs. We also identify tools to facilitate this process such as the creation of a centralized repository of local capabilities and observatory needs, as well as exchange programs within astronomical instrumentation groups. We believe that these strategies will contribute to a positive work environment at the observatories, reduce the operation and development costs, and develop a new industry for the host country.

  18. Partnerships between Professional and Amateur Astronomers: A Shift in Research Paradigm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yanamandra-Fisher, Padma A.; Orton, G. S.; Casquinha, P.; Coffelt, A.; Delcroix, M.; Go, C.; Hueso, R.; Jaeschke, W.; Kardasis, M.; Kraaikamp, E.; Morales, E.; Peach, D.; Rogers, J.; Wesley, A.; Willems, F.; Wilson, T.

    2012-10-01

    "Citizen Astronomy" can be thought of as the paradigm shift transforming the nature of observational astronomy. The night sky, with all its delights and mysteries, enthralls professional and amateur astronomers, and students who will form the next generation of scientists and engineers. These students are matriculating in an era of reduced funding for core competencies such as science, technology, mathematics and engineering (STEM) sciences and an ongoing general decline in these sciences. How then do we re-generate their interest and engage students while we perform cutting-edge planetary science in a fiscally constrained environment? One promising solution is to promote the emerging partnerships between professional and dedicated proficient amateur astronomers, that rely on creating a niche for long timeline of multispectral remote sensing. In the past decade, it is the collective observations and their analyses by the ever-increasing global network of amateur astronomers that has discovered interesting phenomena and provided the reference backdrop for observations by professional ground-based professional astronomers and spacecraft missions. We shall focus on our collaboration or "Citizen Astronomy: Jupiter and Saturn" for the past five years and illustrate the strong synergy between the two groups that has produced new scientific results. With the active inclusion and use of emerging social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), the near daily communication and updates (via email, Skype, Facebook) between the two groups is becoming a powerful tool for ground-based remote sensing. However, what is sorely lacking in this paradigm is the inclusion of teachers and students and, therefore, its inclusion in the secondary and tertiary classrooms. We will provide various scenarios to address this issue, and emphasize the various aspects of STEM learning/teaching that is necessary for students and teachers - all that can be performed at low cost; and showcase some of our

  19. The NASA Astrophysics Data System Free Access to the Astronomical Literature On-Line and through Email

    CERN Document Server

    Eichhorn, G; Grant, C S; Kurtz, M J; Murray, S S

    2001-01-01

    The Astrophysics Data System (ADS) provides access to the astronomical literature through the World Wide Web. It is a NASA funded project and access to all the ADS services is free to everybody world-wide.The ADS Abstract Service allows the searching of four databases with abstracts in Astronomy, Instrumentation, Physics/Geophysics, and the LANL Preprints with a total of over 2.2 million references. The system also provides access to reference and citation information, links to on-line data, electronic journal articles, and other on-line information. The ADS Article Service contains the articles for most of the astronomical literature back to volume 1. It contains the scanned pages of all the major journals (Astrophysical Journal, Astronomical Journal, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, and Solar Physics), as well as most smaller journals back to volume 1. The ADS can be accessed through any web browser without signup or login. Alternatively an email interface is ...

  20. Professional- Amateur Astronomer Partnerships in Scientific Research: The Re-emergence of Jupiter's 5-Micron Hot Spots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yanamandra-Fisher, P. A.

    2012-12-01

    The night sky, with all its delights and mysteries, enthrall professional and amateur astronomers alike. The discrete data sets acquired by professional astronomers via their approved observing programs at various national facilities are supplemented by the nearly daily observations of the same celestial object by amateur astronomers around the world. The emerging partnerships between professional and dedicated amateur astronomers rely on creating a niche for long timeline of multispectral remote sensing. "Citizen Astronomy" can be thought of as the paradigm shift transforming the nature of observational astronomy. In the past decade, it is the collective observations and their analyses by the ever-increasing global network of amateur astronomers that has discovered interesting phenomena and provided the reference backdrop for observations by ground-based professional astronomers and spacecraft missions. We shall present results from our collaborations to observe the recent global upheaval on Jupiter for the past five years and illustrate the strong synergy between the two groups. Global upheavals on Jupiter involve changes in the albedo of entire axisymmetric regions, lasting several years, with the last two occurring in 1989 and 2006. Against this backdrop of planetary-scale changes, discrete features such as the Great Red Spot (GRS), and other vortices exhibit changes on shorter spatial- and time-scales. One set of features we are currently tracking is the variability of the discrete equatorial 5-μm hot spots, semi-evenly spaced in longitude and confined to a narrow latitude band centered at 6.5°N (southern edge of the North Equatorial Belt, NEB), abundant in Voyager images (1980-1981). Tantalizingly similar patterns were observed in the visible (bright plumes and blue-gray regions), where reflectivity in the red is anti-correlated with 5-μm thermal radiance. During the recent NEB fade (2011 - early 2012), however, these otherwise ubiquitous features were

  1. World's fastest and most sensitive astronomical camera

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-06-01

    The next generation of instruments for ground-based telescopes took a leap forward with the development of a new ultra-fast camera that can take 1500 finely exposed images per second even when observing extremely faint objects. The first 240x240 pixel images with the world's fastest high precision faint light camera were obtained through a collaborative effort between ESO and three French laboratories from the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers (CNRS/INSU). Cameras such as this are key components of the next generation of adaptive optics instruments of Europe's ground-based astronomy flagship facility, the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT). ESO PR Photo 22a/09 The CCD220 detector ESO PR Photo 22b/09 The OCam camera ESO PR Video 22a/09 OCam images "The performance of this breakthrough camera is without an equivalent anywhere in the world. The camera will enable great leaps forward in many areas of the study of the Universe," says Norbert Hubin, head of the Adaptive Optics department at ESO. OCam will be part of the second-generation VLT instrument SPHERE. To be installed in 2011, SPHERE will take images of giant exoplanets orbiting nearby stars. A fast camera such as this is needed as an essential component for the modern adaptive optics instruments used on the largest ground-based telescopes. Telescopes on the ground suffer from the blurring effect induced by atmospheric turbulence. This turbulence causes the stars to twinkle in a way that delights poets, but frustrates astronomers, since it blurs the finest details of the images. Adaptive optics techniques overcome this major drawback, so that ground-based telescopes can produce images that are as sharp as if taken from space. Adaptive optics is based on real-time corrections computed from images obtained by a special camera working at very high speeds. Nowadays, this means many hundreds of times each second. The new generation instruments require these

  2. Astronomical technology - the past and the future. Karl Schwarzschild Award Lecture 2015

    Science.gov (United States)

    Appenzeller, I.

    2016-07-01

    The past fifty years have been an epoch of impressive progress in the field of astronomical technology. Practically all the technical tools, which we use today, have been developed during that time span. While the first half of this period has been dominated by advances in the detector technologies, during the past two decades innovative telescope concepts have been developed for practically all wavelength ranges where astronomical observations are possible. Further important advances can be expected in the next few decades. Based on the experience of the past, some of the main sources of technological progress can be identified.

  3. From research institution to astronomical museum: a history of the Stockholm Observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yaskell, Steven Haywood

    2008-07-01

    The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (RSAS) (or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien [KvA] in Swedish) founded 1739, opened its first permanent building, an astronomical and meteorological observatory, on 20 September 1753. This was situated at Brunkebergsåsen (formerly Observatorie Lunden, or Observatory Hill), on a high terrace in a northern quarter of Stockholm. This historic building is still sometimes called Gamla Observatoriet (the Old Observatory) and now is formally the Observatory Museum. This paper reviews the history of the Observatory from its function as a scientific astronomical institution to its relatively-recent relegation to museum status.

  4. Astronomers Anonymous Getting Help with the Puzzles and Pitfalls of Practical Astronomy

    CERN Document Server

    Ringwood, Steve

    2010-01-01

    In this entertaining parody of letters to a typical “lonely hearts” columnist, real-life expert and long-time astronomy columnist Steve Ringwood presents a sweeping overview of common questions and problems practical and amateur astronomers face, compiled from Ringwood's own experiences in the world of astronomy. His screamingly funny comments will keep you laughing out loud throughout, so be careful of reading this book in public! Written especially for troubled astronomers, but also accessible to anyone with an interest in space or astronomy, readers will easily recognize the difficulties they face and enjoy the humor being directed at them and their science.

  5. Nikolay N. Donitch - the astronomer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaina, Alex B.; Volyanskaya, M. Yu.

    1999-08-01

    The article is devoted to milestones of life and scientific activity of the eminent astronomer Nikolay Nikolaevich Donitch (Nicolae N. Donici) (1874-1956), a graduate from the Odessa (Novorossiski) university. He was a wellknown expert in the field of reseacrh of objects of Solar system. A person highly cultured, which built the first in Bessarabia (actually a part of the Republic of Moldova) observatory. He was borne in Kishinev (Chisinau) in a nobles family of notable Moldavian landersmen. N.D. graduated from the Richelieu lyceym in Odessa and afterwards, in 1897, graduated from the Odessa (Novorossiysky) University. A.K. Kononovich (1850-1910)headed the chair of astronomy and the Observatory at that time - a foremost authority in the field of astrophysics and stellar astronomy. Many of his disciples became eminent scientists of their time. N. Donitch was among them. N.D. worked till 1918 at Pulkovo Observatory and became a master in the field of studying of such phenomena as solar and lunar eclipses. To observe the Sun N.D., could afford to design and manufacture a spectroheliograph, the first in Russia, with the assistance of a famous Odessa mechanic J.A. Timchenko. This instrument enabled him to obtain topquality photos of the Sun's surface and prominences. It was mounted together with coelostat in the private observatory of N.D. , built in the village Staryie Doubossary in 1908. Besides the heliograoph, the observatory was equiped with a five inch refractor-equatorial with numerous instruments for various observations. Of the other instruments should be mentioned : "a comet triplet" - an instrument consisting of guiding refractor, a photographic camera and a spectrograph with an objective prism. N.D. was lucky enough to observe rare astronomical phenomena. He observed the transit of Mercury through the disk of the Sun on November 14, 1907 and showed the athmosphere absence around this planet, observed the Halley's comet in 1910, the bright Pons-Winneke comet

  6. The High Road to Astronomical Photometric Precision : Differential Photometry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Milone, E. F.; Pel, Jan Willem

    2011-01-01

    Differential photometry offers the most precise method for measuring the brightness of astronomical objects. We attempt to demonstrate why this should be the case, and then describe how well it has been done through a review of the application of differential techniques from the earliest visual

  7. Penn State astronomical image processing system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Truax, R.J.; Nousek, J.A.; Feigelson, E.D.; Lonsdale, C.J.

    1987-01-01

    The needs of modern astronomy for image processing set demanding standards in simultaneously requiring fast computation speed, high-quality graphic display, large data storage, and interactive response. An innovative image processing system was designed, integrated, and used; it is based on a supermicro architecture which is tailored specifically for astronomy, which provides a highly cost-effective alternative to the traditional minicomputer installation. The paper describes the design rationale, equipment selection, and software developed to allow other astronomers with similar needs to benefit from the present experience. 9 references

  8. Far-infrared spectrophotometer for astronomical observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moseley, H.; Silverberg, R. F.

    1981-01-01

    A liquid-helium-cooled far infrared spectrophotometer was built and used to make low resolution observations of the continua of several kinds of astronomical objects using the Kuiper Airborne Observatory. This instrument fills a gap in both sensitivity to continuum sources and spectral resolution between the broadband photometers with lambda/Delta lambda approximately 1 and spectrometers with lambda/Delta lambda greater than 50. While designed primarily to study planetary nebulae, the instrument permits study of the shape of the continua of many weak sources which cannot easily be observed with high resolution systems.

  9. Le Verrier magnificent and detestable astronomer

    CERN Document Server

    Lequeux, James

    2013-01-01

    Le Verrier was a superb scientist. His discovery of Neptune in 1846 made him the most famous astronomer of his time. He produced a complete theory of the motions of the planets which served as a basis for planetary ephemeris for a full century. Doing this, he discovered an anomaly in the motion of Mercury which later became the first proof of General Relativity. He also founded European meteorology. However his arrogance and bad temper created many enemies, and he was even fired from his position of Director of the Paris Observatory.

  10. The astronomical revolution Copernicus, Kepler, Borelli

    CERN Document Server

    Koyre, Alexandre

    2013-01-01

    Originally published in English in 1973. This volume traces the development of the revolution which so drastically altered man's view of the universe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The ""astronomical revolution"" was accomplished in three stages, each linked with the work of one man. With Copernicus, the sun became the centre of the universe. With Kepler, celestial dynamics replaced the kinematics of circles and spheres used by Copernicus. With Borelli the unification of celestial and terrestrial physics was completed by abandonment of the circle in favour the straight line to inf

  11. The Astronomical Pulse of Global Extinction Events

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David F.V. Lewis

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The linkage between astronomical cycles and the periodicity of mass extinctions is reviewed and discussed. In particular, the apparent 26 million year cycle of global extinctions may be related to the motion of the solar system around the galaxy, especially perpendicular to the galactic plane. The potential relevance of Milankovitch cycles is also explored in the light of current evidence for the possible causes of extinction events over a geological timescale.

  12. Astrophysics is easy! an introduction for the amateur astronomer

    CERN Document Server

    Inglis, Mike

    2007-01-01

    With some justification, many amateur astronomers believe astrophysics is a very difficult subject, requiring at least degree-level mathematics to understand it properly. This isn’t necessarily the case. Mike Inglis' quantitative approach to the subject explains all aspects of astrophysics in simple terms and cuts through the incomprehensible mathematics with which this fascinating subject is all too often associated. Astrophysics is Easy! begins by looking at the H-R diagram and other basic tools of astrophysics, then ranges across the universe, from a first look at the interstellar medium and nebulae, through the birth, evolution and death of stars, to the physics of galaxies and clusters of galaxies. A unique feature of this book is the way that Dr. Inglis lists example objects for practical observation at every stage, so that practical astronomers can go and look at the object or objects under discussion – using only easily-available commercial amateur equipment.

  13. Astronomers Detect Powerful Bursting Radio Source Discovery Points to New Class of Astronomical Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    2005-03-01

    Astronomers at Sweet Briar College and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have detected a powerful new bursting radio source whose unique properties suggest the discovery of a new class of astronomical objects. The researchers have monitored the center of the Milky Way Galaxy for several years and reveal their findings in the March 3, 2005 edition of the journal, “Nature”. This radio image of the central region of the Milky Way Galaxy holds a new radio source, GCRT J1745-3009. The arrow points to an expanding ring of debris expelled by a supernova. CREDIT: N.E. Kassim et al., Naval Research Laboratory, NRAO/AUI/NSF Principal investigator, Dr. Scott Hyman, professor of physics at Sweet Briar College, said the discovery came after analyzing some additional observations from 2002 provided by researchers at Northwestern University. “"We hit the jackpot!” Hyman said referring to the observations. “An image of the Galactic center, made by collecting radio waves of about 1-meter in wavelength, revealed multiple bursts from the source during a seven-hour period from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1, 2002 — five bursts in fact, and repeating at remarkably constant intervals.” Hyman, four Sweet Briar students, and his NRL collaborators, Drs. Namir Kassim and Joseph Lazio, happened upon transient emission from two radio sources while studying the Galactic center in 1998. This prompted the team to propose an ongoing monitoring program using the National Science Foundation’s Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope in New Mexico. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which operates the VLA, approved the program. The data collected, laid the groundwork for the detection of the new radio source. “Amazingly, even though the sky is known to be full of transient objects emitting at X- and gamma-ray wavelengths,” NRL astronomer Dr. Joseph Lazio pointed out, “very little has been done to look for radio bursts, which are often easier for astronomical objects to produce

  14. Astronomical Data in Undergraduate courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarkson, William I.; Swift, Carrie; Hughes, Kelli; Burke, Christopher J. F.; Burgess, Colin C.; Elrod, Aunna V.; Howard, Brittany; Stahl, Lucas; Matzke, David; Bord, Donald J.

    2016-06-01

    We present status and plans for our ongoing efforts to develop data analysis and problem-solving skills through Undergraduate Astronomy instruction. While our initiatives were developed with UM-Dearborn’s student body primarily in mind, they should be applicable for a wide range of institution and of student demographics. We focus here on two strands of our effort.Firstly, students in our Introductory Astronomy (ASTR 130) general-education course now perform several “Data Investigations”, in which they interrogate the Hubble Legacy Archive to illustrate important course concepts. This was motivated in part by the realization that typical public data archives now include tools to interrogate the observations that are sufficiently accessible that introductory astronomy students can use them to perform real science, albeit mostly at a descriptive level. We are continuing to refine these investigations, and, most importantly, to critically assess their effectiveness in terms of the student learning outcomes we wish to achieve. This work is supported by grant HST-EO-13758, provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.Secondly, at the advanced-undergraduate level, students taking courses in our Astronomy minor are encouraged to gain early experience in techniques of astronomical observation and analysis that are used by professionals. We present two example projects from the Fall 2015 iteration of our upper-division course ASTR330 (The Cosmic Distance Ladder), one involving Solar System measurements, the second producing calibrated aperture photometry. For both projects students conducted, analysed, and interpreted observations using our 0.4m campus telescope, and used many of the same analysis tools as professional astronomers. This work is supported partly from a Research Initiation and Seed grant from the

  15. PPARC: Grid technology helps astronomers keep pace with the Universe

    CERN Multimedia

    2003-01-01

    "Intelligent Agent" computer programs are roaming the Internet and watching the skies. These programs, using Grid computing technology, will help astronomers detect some of the most dramatic events in the universe, such as massive supernova explosions (1 page).

  16. Laboratory measurements and astronomical search for the HSO radical.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cazzoli, Gabriele; Lattanzi, Valerio; Kirsch, Till; Gauss, Jürgen; Tercero, Belén; Cernicharo, José; Puzzarini, Cristina

    2016-07-01

    Despite the fact that many sulfur-bearing molecules, ranging from simple diatomic species up to astronomical complex molecules, have been detected in the interstellar medium, the sulfur chemistry in space is largely unknown and a depletion in the abundance of S-containing species has been observed in the cold, dense interstellar medium (ISM). The chemical form of the missing sulfur has yet to be identified. For these reasons, in view of the fact that there is a large abundance of triatomic species harbouring sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen, we decided to investigate the HSO radical in the laboratory to try its astronomical detection. High-resolution measurements of the rotational spectrum of the HSO radical were carried out within a frequency range well up into the THz region. Subsequently, a rigorous search for HSO in the two most studied high-mass star-forming regions, Orion KL and Sagittarius (Sgr) B2, and in the cold dark cloud Barnard 1 (B1-b) was performed. The frequency coverage and the spectral resolution of our measurements allowed us to improve and extend the existing dataset of spectroscopic parameters, thus enabling accurate frequency predictions up to the THz range. These were used to derive the synthetic spectrum of HSO, by means of the MADEX code, according to the physical parameters of the astronomical source under consideration. For all sources investigated, the lack of HSO lines above the confusion limit of the data is evident. The derived upper limit to the abundance of HSO clearly indicates that this molecule does not achieve significant abundances in either the gas phase or in the ice mantles of dust grains.

  17. The Moon in Close-up A Next Generation Astronomer's Guide

    CERN Document Server

    Wilkinson, John

    2010-01-01

    Information collected by recent space probes sent to explore the Moon by the USA, the European Space Agency, Japan, China and India has changed our knowledge and understanding of the Moon, particularly its geology, since the Apollo missions. This book presents those findings in a way that will be welcomed by amateur astronomers, students, educators and anyone interested in the Moon. Enhanced by many colour photos, it combines newly acquired scientific understanding with detailed descriptions and labelled photographic maps of the lunar surface. Guided by observation methods explained in the book and 17 Study Areas presented and carefully explained in the last chapter, amateur astronomers can observe these features from Earth using telescopes and binoculars. Readers who consult the photographic maps will gain a better understanding about the Moon’s topography and geology. The book is rounded out by a helpful glossary.

  18. Towards a robust and consistent middle Eocene astronomical timescale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boulila, Slah; Vahlenkamp, Maximilian; De Vleeschouwer, David; Laskar, Jacques; Yamamoto, Yuhji; Pälike, Heiko; Kirtland Turner, Sandra; Sexton, Philip F.; Westerhold, Thomas; Röhl, Ursula

    2018-03-01

    Until now, the middle Eocene has remained a poorly constrained interval of efforts to produce an astrochronological timescale for the entire Cenozoic. This has given rise to a so-called "Eocene astronomical timescale gap" (Vandenberghe et al., 2012). A high-resolution astrochronological calibration for this interval has proven to be difficult to realize, mainly because carbonate-rich deep-marine sequences of this age are scarce. In this paper, we present records from middle Eocene carbonate-rich sequences from the North Atlantic Southeast Newfoundland Ridge (IODP Exp. 342, Sites U1408 and U1410), of which the cyclical sedimentary patterns allow for an orbital calibration of the geologic timescale between ∼38 and ∼48 Ma. These carbonate-rich cyclic sediments at Sites U1408 and U1410 were deposited as drift deposits and exhibit prominent lithological alternations (couplets) between greenish nannofossil-rich clay and white nannofossil ooze. The principal lithological couplet is driven by the obliquity of Earth's axial tilt, and the intensity of their expression is modulated by a cyclicity of about 173 kyr. This cyclicity corresponds to the interference of secular frequencies s3 and s6 (related to the precession of nodes of the Earth and Saturn, respectively). This 173-kyr obliquity amplitude modulation cycle is exceptionally well recorded in the XRF (X-ray fluorescence)-derived Ca/Fe ratio. In this work, we first demonstrate the stability of the (s3-s6) cycles using the latest astronomical solutions. Results show that this orbital component is stable back to at least 50 Ma, and can thus serve as a powerful geochronometer in the mid-Eocene portion of the Cenozoic timescale. We then exploit this potential by calibrating the geochronology of the recovered middle Eocene timescale between magnetic polarity Chrons C18n.1n and C21n. Comparison with previous timescales shows similarities, but also notable differences in durations of certain magnetic polarity chrons. We

  19. Astronomical Plate Archives and Binary Blazars Studies

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Hudec, René

    2011-01-01

    Roč. 32, 1-2 (2011), s. 91-95 ISSN 0250-6335. [Conference on Multiwavelength Variability of Blazars. Guangzhou, 22,09,2010-24,09,2010] R&D Projects: GA ČR GA205/08/1207 Grant - others:GA ČR(CZ) GA102/09/0997; MŠMT(CZ) ME09027 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10030501 Keywords : astronomical plates * plate archives archives * binary blazars Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 0.400, year: 2011

  20. Old Star's "Rebirth" Gives Astronomers Surprises

    Science.gov (United States)

    2005-04-01

    Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope are taking advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch an old star suddenly stir back into new activity after coming to the end of its normal life. Their surprising results have forced them to change their ideas of how such an old, white dwarf star can re-ignite its nuclear furnace for one final blast of energy. Sakurai's Object Radio/Optical Images of Sakurai's Object: Color image shows nebula ejected thousands of years ago. Contours indicate radio emission. Inset is Hubble Space Telescope image, with contours indicating radio emission; this inset shows just the central part of the region. CREDIT: Hajduk et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF, ESO, StSci, NASA Computer simulations had predicted a series of events that would follow such a re-ignition of fusion reactions, but the star didn't follow the script -- events moved 100 times more quickly than the simulations predicted. "We've now produced a new theoretical model of how this process works, and the VLA observations have provided the first evidence supporting our new model," said Albert Zijlstra, of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. Zijlstra and his colleagues presented their findings in the April 8 issue of the journal Science. The astronomers studied a star known as V4334 Sgr, in the constellation Sagittarius. It is better known as "Sakurai's Object," after Japanese amateur astronomer Yukio Sakurai, who discovered it on February 20, 1996, when it suddenly burst into new brightness. At first, astronomers thought the outburst was a common nova explosion, but further study showed that Sakurai's Object was anything but common. The star is an old white dwarf that had run out of hydrogen fuel for nuclear fusion reactions in its core. Astronomers believe that some such stars can undergo a final burst of fusion in a shell of helium that surrounds a core of heavier nuclei such as carbon and oxygen. However, the

  1. Astronomical Heritage and Aboriginal People: Conflicts and Possibilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    López, Alejandro Martín

    2016-10-01

    In this presentation we address issues relating to the astronomical heritage of contemporary aboriginal groups and other minorities. We deal specially with intangible astronomical heritage and its particularities. Also, we study (from ethnographic experience with Aboriginal groups, Creoles and Europeans in the Argentine Chaco) the conflicts referring to the different ways in which the natives' knowledge and practice are categorized by the natives themselves, by scientists, state politicians, professional artists and NGOs. Furthermore, we address several cases that illustrate these kinds of conflicts. We aim to analyze the complexities of patrimonial policies when they are applied to practices and representations of contemporary communities involved in power relations with national states and the global system. The essentialization of identities, the folklorization of representations and practices, and the fossilization of aboriginal peoples are some of the risks of applying the label ``cultural heritage'' without a careful consideration of each specific case. In particular we suggest possible ways in which the international scientific community could collaborate to improve the agenda of national states instead of reproducing colonial prejudices. In this way, we aim to contribute to the promotion of respect for ethnic and religious minorities.

  2. Databases of Publications and Observations as a Part of the Crimean Astronomical Virtual Observatory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shlyapnikov A.

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available We describe the main principles of formation of databases (DBs with information about astronomical objects and their physical characteristics derived from observations obtained at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO and published in the “Izvestiya of the CrAO” and elsewhere. Emphasis is placed on the DBs missing from the most complete global library of catalogs and data tables, VizieR (supported by the Center of Astronomical Data, Strasbourg. We specially consider the problem of forming a digital archive of observational data obtained at the CrAO as an interactive DB related to database objects and publications. We present examples of all our DBs as elements integrated into the Crimean Astronomical Virtual Observatory. We illustrate the work with the CrAO DBs using tools of the International Virtual Observatory: Aladin, VOPlot, VOSpec, in conjunction with the VizieR and Simbad DBs.

  3. Astronomers Travel in Time and Space with Light

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mather, John C.

    2016-01-01

    This is an excerpt of John Mather's in a book titled: INSPIRED BY LIGHT, Reflections from the International Year of Light 2015. It was produced in January 2016 by SPIE, the European Physical Society (EPS), and The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) to commemorate the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015. The excerpt discusses how astronomers use light.

  4. Progress on the New York State Observatory: a new 12-meter astronomical telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sebring, T.; O'Dea, C.; Baum, S.; Teran, J.; Loewen, N.; Stutzki, C.; Egerman, R.; Bonomi, G.

    2014-07-01

    Over the past two years, the New York Astronomical Corporation (NYAC), the business arm of the Astronomical Society of New York (ASNY), has continued planning and technical studies toward construction of a 12-meter class optical telescope for the use of all New York universities and research institutions. Four significant technical studies have been performed investigating design opportunities for the facility, the dome, the telescope optics, and the telescope mount. The studies were funded by NYAC and performed by companies who have provided these subsystems for large astronomical telescopes in the past. In each case, innovative and cost effective approaches were identified, developed, analyzed, and initial cost estimates developed. As a group, the studies show promise that this telescope could be built at historically low prices. As the project continues forward, NYAC intends to broaden the collaboration, pursue funding, to continue to develop the telescope and instrument designs, and to further define the scientific mission. The vision of a historically large telescope dedicated to all New York institutions continues to grow and find new adherents.

  5. Astronomers Make First Images With Space Radio Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    1997-07-01

    Marking an important new milestone in radio astronomy history, scientists at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Socorro, New Mexico, have made the first images using a radio telescope antenna in space. The images, more than a million times more detailed than those produced by the human eye, used the new Japanese HALCA satellite, working in conjunction with the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and Very Large Array (VLA) ground-based radio telescopes. The landmark images are the result of a long-term NRAO effort supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). "This success means that our ability to make detailed radio images of objects in the universe is no longer limited by the size of the Earth," said NRAO Director Paul Vanden Bout. "Astronomy's vision has just become much sharper." HALCA, launched on Feb. 11 by Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), is the first satellite designed for radio astronomy imaging. It is part of an international collaboration led by ISAS and backed by NRAO; Japan's National Astronomical Observatory; NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); the Canadian Space Agency; the Australia Telescope National Facility; the European VLBI Network and the Joint Institute for Very Long Baseline Interferometry in Europe. On May 22, HALCA observed a distant active galaxy called PKS 1519-273, while the VLBA and VLA also observed it. Data from the satellite was received by a tracking station at the NRAO facility in Green Bank, West Virginia. Tape-recorded data from the satellite and from the radio telescopes on the ground were sent to NRAO's Array Operations Center (AOC) in Socorro, NM. In Socorro, astronomers and computer scientists used a special-purpose computer to digitally combine the signals from the satellite and the ground telescopes to make them all work together as a single, giant radio telescope. This dedicated machine, the VLBA Correlator, built as

  6. An Antropologist of Sound

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Groth, Sanne Krogh

    2015-01-01

    PROFESSOR PORTRAIT: Sanne Krogh Groth met Holger Schulze, newly appointed professor in Musicology at the Department for Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen, to a talk about anthropology of sound, sound studies, musical canons and ideology.......PROFESSOR PORTRAIT: Sanne Krogh Groth met Holger Schulze, newly appointed professor in Musicology at the Department for Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen, to a talk about anthropology of sound, sound studies, musical canons and ideology....

  7. International astronomical remote present observation on IRC.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ji, Kaifan; Cao, Wenda; Song, Qian

    On March 6 - 7, 1997, an international astronomical remote present observation (RPO) was made on Internet Relay Chat (IRC) for the first time. Seven groups in four countries, China, United States, Canada and Great Britain, used the 1 meter telescope of Yunnan observatory together by the way of remote present observation. Within minutes, images were "On-line" by FTP, and every one was able to get them by anonymous ftp and discuss them on IRC from different widely separated sites.

  8. Astronomically speaking a dictionary of quotations on astronomy and physics

    CERN Document Server

    Gaither, CC

    2003-01-01

    To understand the history, accomplishments, failures, and meanings of astronomy requires a knowledge of what has been said about astronomy by philosophers, novelists, playwrights, poets, scientists, and laymen. With this in mind, Astronomically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations on Astronomy and Physics serves as a guide to what has been said about astronomy through the ages. Containing approximately 1,550 quotations and numerous illustrations, this resource is the largest compilation of astronomy and astrophysics quotations published to date.Devoted to astronomy and the closely related areas of mathematics and physics, this resource helps form an accurate picture of these interconnected disciplines. It is designed as an aid for general readers with little knowledge of astronomy who are interested in astronomical topics. Students can use the book to increase their understanding of the complexity and richness that exists in scientific disciplines. In addition, experienced scientists will find it as a handy s...

  9. In the Jungle of Astronomical On--line Data Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Egret, D.

    The author tried to survive in the jungle of astronomical on--line data services. In order to find efficient answers to common scientific data retrieval requests, he had to collect many pieces of information, in order to formulate typical user scenarios, and try them against a number of different data bases, catalogue services, or information systems. He discovered soon how frustrating treasure coffers may be when their keys are not available, but he realized also that nice widgets and gadgets are of no help when the information is not there. And, before long, he knew he would have to navigate through several systems because no one was yet offering a general answer to all his questions. I will present examples of common user scenarios and show how they were tested against a number of services. I will propose some elements of classification which should help the end-user to evaluate how adequate the different services may be for providing satisfying answers to specific queries. For that, many aspects of the user interaction will be considered: documentation, access, query formulation, functionalities, qualification of the data, overall efficiency, etc. I will also suggest possible improvements to the present situation: the first of them being to encourage system managers to increase collaboration between one another, for the benefit of the whole astronomical community. The subjective review I will present, is based on publicly available astronomical on--line services from the U.S. and from Europe, most of which (excepting the newcomers) were described in ``Databases and On-Line Data in Astronomy", (Albrecht & Egret, eds, 1991): this includes databases (such as NED and Simbad ), catalog services ( StarCat , DIRA , XCatScan , etc.), and information systems ( ADS and ESIS ).

  10. The Red Rectangle: An Astronomical Example of Mach Bands?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brecher, K.

    2005-12-01

    Recently, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) produced spectacular images of the "Red Rectangle". This appears to be a binary star system undergoing recurrent mass loss episodes. The image-processed HST photographs display distinctive diagonal lightness enhancements. Some of the visual appearance undoubtedly arises from actual variations in the luminosity distribution of the light of the nebula itself, i.e., due to limb brightening. Psychophysical enhancement similar to the Vasarely or pyramid effect also seems to be involved in the visual impression conveyed by the HST images. This effect is related to Mach bands (as well as to the Chevreul and Craik-O'Brien-Cornsweet effects). The effect can be produced by stacking concentric squares (or other geometrical figures such as rectangles or hexagons) of linearly increasing or decreasing size and lightness, one on top of another. We have constructed controllable Flash applets of this effect as part of the NSF supported "Project LITE: Light Inquiry Through Experiments". They can be found in the vision section of the LITE web site at http://lite.bu.edu. Mach band effects have previously been seen in medical x-ray images. Here we report for the first time the possibility that such effects play a role in the interpretation of astronomical images. Specifically, we examine to what extent the visual impressions of the Red Rectangle and other extended astronomical objects are purely physical (photometric) in origin and to what degree they are enhanced by psychophysical processes. To help assess the relative physical and psychophysical contributions to the perceived lightness effects, we have made use of a center-surround (Difference of Gaussians) filter we developed for MatLab. We conclude that local (lateral inhibition) and longer range human visual perception effects probably do contribute to the lightness features seen in astronomical objects like the Red Rectangle. Project LITE is supported by NSF Grant # DUE-0125992.

  11. Sky as a bridge: Astronomical interactions in Eurasia through the ages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kochhar, Rajesh Kumar

    2015-08-01

    Since the sky constituted common heritage for the whole humankind, astronomical thoughts, prescriptions, apparatus and tools developed in a particular cultural area were monitored by others and selectively assimilated. The fact that an artificial unit of time, the seven-day week, came to be used in the whole world is a powerful illustration of the world-wide transmission of astronomical ideas.Historical facts here are interpreted in a framework, called Cultural Copernicanism which asserts that no cultural, geographical or ethnic area can be deemed to be a benchmark to be used to evaluate and judge others. This framework manifestly rejects Euro-centrism as well as anti-Euro-centrism. At the same time, astronomy is viewed as a multi-stage intellectual cumulus where each stage builds on the previous one and carries the subject forward.Post-Alexandrian developments brought about a synthesis between classical Greek intellectual tradition and the accomplishments of the still older Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations. The Greco-Babylonian inputs in turn vitalized Indian astronomy which along with cosmological ideas, travelled to East Asia (China, Korea, Japan in that order) and Tibet as part of the Buddhist package. Indian astronomical theory was noticed in the area now called the Middle East, but did not significantly influence local developments. The fact that the popular English term algorithm comes from a place name in Central Asia and that Europe designated Indian-origin numerals as Arabic numerals tells us about the role Muslim Cultural Zone has historically played in the intellectual development of Europe.In an earlier era, transmission of astronomical knowledge and ideas in general occurred in an un-self-conscious manner. In relatively recent times, however, considerations of origins, borrowings and priorities were introduced as part of colonial historiography. Thus, in the early 19th century, when Urdu school text books were being prepared under British

  12. Constructing Concept Schemes From Astronomical Telegrams Via Natural Language Clustering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graham, Matthew; Zhang, M.; Djorgovski, S. G.; Donalek, C.; Drake, A. J.; Mahabal, A.

    2012-01-01

    The rapidly emerging field of time domain astronomy is one of the most exciting and vibrant new research frontiers, ranging in scientific scope from studies of the Solar System to extreme relativistic astrophysics and cosmology. It is being enabled by a new generation of large synoptic digital sky surveys - LSST, PanStarrs, CRTS - that cover large areas of sky repeatedly, looking for transient objects and phenomena. One of the biggest challenges facing these is the automated classification of transient events, a process that needs machine-processible astronomical knowledge. Semantic technologies enable the formal representation of concepts and relations within a particular domain. ATELs (http://www.astronomerstelegram.org) are a commonly-used means for reporting and commenting upon new astronomical observations of transient sources (supernovae, stellar outbursts, blazar flares, etc). However, they are loose and unstructured and employ scientific natural language for description: this makes automated processing of them - a necessity within the next decade with petascale data rates - a challenge. Nevertheless they represent a potentially rich corpus of information that could lead to new and valuable insights into transient phenomena. This project lies in the cutting-edge field of astrosemantics, a branch of astroinformatics, which applies semantic technologies to astronomy. The ATELs have been used to develop an appropriate concept scheme - a representation of the information they contain - for transient astronomy using hierarchical clustering of processed natural language. This allows us to automatically organize ATELs based on the vocabulary used. We conclude that we can use simple algorithms to process and extract meaning from astronomical textual data.

  13. "Zhizneopisanie" astronomia N. N. Pavlova, im samim napisannoe %t Astronomer N. N. Pavlov's autobiography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhukov, V. Yu.

    This document called by the author "the life story" is written for the human resources department. It is a document intended for the official departmental purposes. At the same time there is something facinating about this documentary testimony about the epoch and the man. This short autobiography describes the early years of the Pulkovo astronomer N. N. Pavlov that fell on hard times of the Civil War. In the years between the World War I and the World War II he was awarded Mendeleyev Prize. He defended his doctorate dissertation after the evacuation from Leningrad. He was one fo the first Pulkovo astronomers to return to Leningrad in order to start reconstruction of the observatory that had been completely ruined during the war. Astronomer N. N. Pavlov renewed the Time Service in the city. N. N. Pavlov was a successful scientist and an outstanding person, all his life was devoted to science.

  14. Authentic Astronomical Discovery in Planetariums: Bringing Data to Domes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wyatt, Ryan Jason; Subbarao, Mark; Christensen, Lars; Emmons, Ben; Hurt, Robert

    2018-01-01

    Planetariums offer a unique opportunity to disseminate astronomical discoveries using data visualization at all levels of complexity: the technical infrastructure to display data and a sizeable cohort of enthusiastic educators to interpret results. “Data to Dome” is an initiative the International Planetarium Society to develop our community’s capacity to integrate data in fulldome planetarium systems—including via open source software platforms such as WorldWide Telescope and OpenSpace. We are cultivating a network of planetarium professionals who integrate data into their presentations and share their content with others. Furthermore, we propose to shorten the delay between discovery and dissemination in planetariums. Currently, the “latest science” is often presented days or weeks after discoveries are announced, and we can shorten this to hours or even minutes. The Data2Dome (D2D) initiative, led by the European Southern Observatory, proposes technical infrastructure and data standards that will streamline content flow from research institutions to planetariums, offering audiences a unique opportunity to access to the latest astronomical data in near real time.

  15. Weird astronomical theories of the solar system and beyond

    CERN Document Server

    Seargent, David

    2016-01-01

    After addressing strange cosmological hypotheses in Weird Universe, David Seargent tackles the no-less bizarre theories closer to home. Alternate views on the Solar System's formation, comet composition, and the evolution of life on Earth are only some of the topics he addresses in this new work. Although these ideas exist on the fringe of mainstream astronomy, they can still shed light on the origins of life and the evolution of the planets. Continuing the author's series of books popularizing strange astronomy facts and knowledge, Weird Astronomical Theories presents an approachable exploration of the still mysterious questions about the origin of comets, the pattern of mass extinctions on Earth, and more. The alternative theories discussed here do not come from untrained amateurs. The scientists whose work is covered includes the mid-20th century Russian S. K. Vsekhsvyatskii, cosmologist Max Tegmark, British astronomers Victor Clube and William Napier, and American Tom Van Flandern, a special...

  16. Far infrared extinction coefficients of minerals of interest for astronomical observations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hasegawa, H.

    1984-01-01

    Far infrared extinction coefficients of mineral grains of interest for astronomical observations have been measured. The measured mineral species are: amorphous carbon, high temperature magnesium silicates, hydrous silicates, iron oxides, and amorphous silicates. (author)

  17. Astronomers Discover Six-Image Gravitational Lens

    Science.gov (United States)

    2001-08-01

    An international team of astronomers has used the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio telescope and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to discover the first gravitational lens in which the single image of a very distant galaxy has been split into six different images. The unique configuration is produced by the gravitational effect of three galaxies along the line of sight between the more-distant galaxy and Earth. Optical and Radio Images of Gravitational Lens "This is the first gravitational lens with more than four images of the background object that is produced by a small group of galaxies rather than a large cluster of galaxies," said David Rusin, who just received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. "Such systems are expected to be extremely rare, so this discovery is an important stepping stone. Because this is an intermediate case between gravitational lenses produced by single galaxies and lenses produced by large clusters of galaxies, it will give us insights we can't get from other types of lenses," Rusin added. The gravitational lens, called CLASS B1359+154, consists of a galaxy more than 11 billion light-years away in the constellation Bootes, with a trio of galaxies more than 7 billion light-years away along the same line of sight. The more-distant galaxy shows signs that it contains a massive black hole at its core and also has regions in which new stars are forming. The gravitational effect of the intervening galaxies has caused the light and radio waves from the single, more-distant galaxy to be "bent" to form six images as seen from Earth. Four of these images appear outside the triangle formed by the three intermediate galaxies and two appear inside that triangle. "This lens system is a very interesting case to study because it is more complicated than lenses produced by single galaxies, and yet simpler than lenses produced by clusters of numerous galaxies," said Chris Kochanek of the Harvard

  18. Brightness Variations of Sun-like Stars: The Mystery Deepens - Astronomers facing Socratic "ignorance"

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-12-01

    An extensive study made with ESO's Very Large Telescope deepens a long-standing mystery in the study of stars similar to the Sun. Unusual year-long variations in the brightness of about one third of all Sun-like stars during the latter stages of their lives still remain unexplained. Over the past few decades, astronomers have offered many possible explanations, but the new, painstaking observations contradict them all and only deepen the mystery. The search for a suitable interpretation is on. "Astronomers are left in the dark, and for once, we do not enjoy it," says Christine Nicholls from Mount Stromlo Observatory, Australia, lead author of a paper reporting the study. "We have obtained the most comprehensive set of observations to date for this class of Sun-like stars, and they clearly show that all the possible explanations for their unusual behaviour just fail." The mystery investigated by the team dates back to the 1930s and affects about a third of Sun-like stars in our Milky Way and other galaxies. All stars with masses similar to our Sun become, towards the end of their lives, red, cool and extremely large, just before retiring as white dwarfs. Also known as red giants, these elderly stars exhibit very strong periodic variations in their luminosity over timescales up to a couple of years. "Such variations are thought to be caused by what we call 'stellar pulsations'," says Nicholls. "Roughly speaking, the giant star swells and shrinks, becoming brighter and dimmer in a regular pattern. However, one third of these stars show an unexplained additional periodic variation, on even longer timescales - up to five years." In order to find out the origin of this secondary feature, the astronomers monitored 58 stars in our galactic neighbour, the Large Magellanic Cloud, over two and a half years. They acquired spectra using the high resolution FLAMES/GIRAFFE spectrograph on ESO's Very Large Telescope and combined them with images from other telescopes [1

  19. IAU Public Astronomical Organisations Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canas, Lina; Cheung, Sze Leung

    2015-08-01

    The Office for Astronomy Outreach has devoted intensive means to create and support a global network of public astronomical organisations around the world. Focused on bringing established and newly formed amateur astronomy organizations together, providing communications channels and platforms for disseminating news to the global community and the sharing of best practices and resources among these associations around the world. In establishing the importance that these organizations have for the dissemination of activities globally and acting as key participants in IAU various campaigns social media has played a key role in keeping this network engaged and connected. Here we discuss the implementation process of maintaining this extensive network, the processing and gathering of information and the interactions between local active members at a national and international level.

  20. How to Make the Dream Come True: The Astronomers' Data Manifesto

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ray P Norris

    2007-03-01

    Full Text Available Astronomy is one of the most data-intensive of the sciences. Data technology is accelerating the quality and effectiveness of its research, and the rate of astronomical discovery is higher than ever. As a result, many view astronomy as being in a "Golden Age," and projects such as the Virtual Observatory are amongst the most ambitious data projects in any field of science. But these powerful tools will be impotent unless the data on which they operate are of matching quality. Astronomy, like other fields of science, therefore needs to establish and agree on a set of guiding principles for the management of astronomical data. To focus this process, we are constructing a "data manifesto," which proposes guidelines to maximise the rate and cost-effectiveness of scientific discovery.

  1. An astronomical age for the Bishop Tuff and concordance with radioisotopic dates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rivera, Tiffany; Zeeden, Christian; Storey, Michael

    2014-01-01

    The Bishop Tuff forms a key stratigraphic horizon for synchronization of Quaternary sedimentary records in North America. The unit stratigraphically overlies the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic polarity reversal by several thousand years; high-precision dating of this tuff may be valuable for regional...... and global correlation of records. The Quaternary time scale is anchored by 40Ar/39Ar ages on lava flows and ash layers where available, with stage boundaries and geomagnetic reversals including astronomically tuned records. However, astronomical dating has not yet validated the high-precision 238U/206Pb...... ages, including new single crystal 40Ar/39Ar sanidine fusion analyses presented here, which demonstrates that concordance through multiple dating techniques is achievable within the Quaternary...

  2. Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) Catalogs and Atlases. Explanatory Supplement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beichman, C. A. (Editor); Neugebauer, G. (Editor); Habing, H. J. (Editor); Clegg, P. E. (Editor); Chester, T. J. (Editor)

    1985-01-01

    The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) mission is described. An overview of the mission, a description of the satellite and its telescope system, and a discussion of the mission design, requirements, and inflight modifications are given. Data reduction, flight tests, flux reconstruction and calibration, data processing, and the formats of the IRAS catalogs and atlases are also considered.

  3. Categorization of alternative astronomical and scientifical conceptions of the teachers from the north coast of São Paulo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzaga, E. P.

    2016-05-01

    This work deals with the analysis of scientific and alternative astronomical concepts found in the responses of teachers who teach classes Science, Geography and Physic in Basic Education (BE) of the state of the North Coast of São Paulo and how to address the alternative astronomical concepts with students from students Fundamental Education (FE) and Medium Education (ME). Bringing the legal documents regarding the Astronomy in BE, within the national and the São Paulo regions curriculum level, also with rationed researches to the teacher's formation, conceptual errors in books, knowledge non-formal spaces, alternative concepts, Astronomical studies and content analysis for fundamental theoretical. The task executed with the teachers was done via Technical Orientations (TO), promoted by the Director of Education (DE) from Caraguatatuba and region, with the premise to threat the continuous formation giving moments of discussion, practical activities and using the Digital Mobile Planetarium (DMP) with non-formal spaces of knowledge to the Astronomical studies gathering data via questions. Within the analysis of the answers analysis by the teachers, tables were created with the categories that highlight actual situations on the astronomical studies in the North Coast of São Paulo, and demarked the possible paths where the continuous formation will be followed in the future. Aspects checked in the survey were highlighted; such as teachers understand that they need continuing education; teachers have scientific astronomical views on various aspects know to teach concepts of Astronomy at BE; TO is a viable option as continued training and the use of DMP as no formal teaching and learning.

  4. A buyer's and user's guide to astronomical telescopes and binoculars

    CERN Document Server

    Mullaney, James

    2014-01-01

    Amateur astronomers of all skill levels are always contemplating their next telescope, and this book points the way to the most suitable instruments. Similarly, those who are buying their first telescopes – and these days not necessarily a low-cost one – will be able to compare and contrast different types and manufacturers. This revised new guide provides an extensive overview of binoculars and telescopes. It includes detailed up-to-date information on sources, selection and use of virtually every major type, brand, and model on today’s market, a truly invaluable treasure-trove of information and helpful advice for all amateur astronomers. Originally written in 2006, much of the first edition is inevitably now out of date, as equipment advances and manufacturers come and go. This second edition not only updates all the existing sections but adds two new ones: Astro-imaging and Professional-Amateur collaboration. Thanks to the rapid and amazing developments that have been made in digital cameras it is...

  5. The unforgotten sisters female astronomers and scientists before Caroline Herschel

    CERN Document Server

    Bernardi, Gabriella

    2016-01-01

    Taking inspiration from Siv Cedering’s poem in the form of a fictional letter from Caroline Herschel that refers to “my long, lost sisters, forgotten in the books that record our science”, this book tells the lives of twenty-five female scientists, with specific attention to astronomers and mathematicians. Each of the presented biographies is organized as a kind of "personal file" which sets the biographee’s life in its historical context, documents her main works, highlights some curious facts, and records citations about her. The selected figures are among the most representative of this neglected world, including such luminaries as Hypatia of Alexandra, Hildegard of Bingen, Elisabetha Hevelius, and Maria Gaetana Agnesi. They span a period of about 4000 years, from En HeduAnna, the Akkadian princess, who was one of the first recognized female astronomers, to the dawn of the era of modern astronomy with Caroline Herschel and Mary Somerville. The book will be of interest to all who wish to learn more ...

  6. An infrared upconverter for astronomical imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyd, R. W.; Townes, C. H.

    1977-01-01

    An imaging upconverter has been constructed which is suitable for use in the study of the thermal 10-micron radiation from astronomical sources. The infrared radiation is converted to visible radiation by mixing in a 1-cm-long proustite crystal. The phase-matched 2-kayser bandpass is tunable from 9 to 11 microns. The conversion efficiency is 2 by 10 to the -7th power and the field of view of 40 arc seconds on the sky contains several hundred picture elements, approximately diffraction-limited resolution in a large telescope. The instrument has been used in studies of the sun, moon, Mercury, and VY Canis Majoris.

  7. The Role in the Virtual Astronomical Observatory in the Era of Massive Data Sets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berriman, G. Bruce; Hanisch, Robert J.; Lazio, T. Joseph W.

    2012-01-01

    The Virtual Observatory (VO) is realizing global electronic integration of astronomy data. One of the long-term goals of the U.S. VO project, the Virtual Astronomical Observatory (VAO), is development of services and protocols that respond to the growing size and complexity of astronomy data sets. This paper describes how VAO staff are active in such development efforts, especially in innovative strategies and techniques that recognize the limited operating budgets likely available to astronomers even as demand increases. The project has a program of professional outreach whereby new services and protocols are evaluated.

  8. Creating and enhancing digital astro images a guide for practical astronomers

    CERN Document Server

    Privett, Grant

    2007-01-01

    This book clearly examines how to create the best astronomical images possible with a digital camera. It reveals the astonishing images that can be obtained with simple equipment, the right software, and knowledge of how to use it.

  9. The Astro-WISE approach to quality control for astronomical data

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mc Farland, John; Helmich, Ewout M.; Valentijn, Edwin A.

    We present a novel approach to quality control during the processing of astronomical data. Quality control in the Astro-WISE Information System is integral to all aspects of data handing and provides transparent access to quality estimators for all stages of data reduction from the raw image to the

  10. Astronomy and Computing: A New Journal for the Astronomical Computing Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mann, R. G.; Accomazzi, A.; Budavári, T.; Fluke, C.; Gray, N.; O'Mullane, W.; Wicenec, A.; Wise, M.

    2013-10-01

    We introduce Astronomy and Computing (A&C), a new, peer-reviewed journal for the expanding community of people whose work focuses on the application of computer science and information technology within astronomy, rather than on astronomical research per se. A&C arose from a BoF discussion at the ADASS XX conference in Boston, and from the ADASS community will come many of the people who will write, referee and read the papers published in A&C. In this paper, we outline the aims and scope of A&C, together with a summary of the types of paper we envisage it publishing and the criteria that will be used to referee them, and we invite the ADASS community to help us develop these in more detail and to shape a journal that serves the astronomical computing community well.

  11. First use of a HyViSI H4RG for Astronomical Observations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Simms, Lance M.; /SLAC; Figer, Donald F.; Hanold, Brandon J.; Kerr, Daniel J.; /Rochester Imaging Lab.; Gilmore, D.Kirk; Kahn, Steven M.; /SLAC; Tyson, J.Anthony; /UC,

    2007-09-25

    We present the first astronomical results from a 4K2 Hybrid Visible Silicon PIN array detector (HyViSI) read out with the Teledyne Scientific and Imaging SIDECAR ASIC. These results include observations of astronomical standards and photometric measurements using the 2.1m KPNO telescope. We also report results from a test program in the Rochester Imaging Detector Laboratory (RIDL), including: read noise, dark current, linearity, gain, well depth, quantum efficiency, and substrate voltage effects. Lastly, we highlight results from operation of the detector in window read out mode and discuss its potential role for focusing, image correction, and use as a telescope guide camera.

  12. Preparing Colorful Astronomical Images II

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levay, Z. G.; Frattare, L. M.

    2002-12-01

    We present additional techniques for using mainstream graphics software (Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator) to produce composite color images and illustrations from astronomical data. These techniques have been used on numerous images from the Hubble Space Telescope to produce photographic, print and web-based products for news, education and public presentation as well as illustrations for technical publication. We expand on a previous paper to present more detail and additional techniques, taking advantage of new or improved features available in the latest software versions. While Photoshop is not intended for quantitative analysis of full dynamic range data (as are IRAF or IDL, for example), we have had much success applying Photoshop's numerous, versatile tools to work with scaled images, masks, text and graphics in multiple semi-transparent layers and channels.

  13. Accuracy of lunar eclipse observations made by Jesuit astronomers in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fatoohi, L. J.; Stephenson, F. R.

    1996-02-01

    The Jesuit astronomers observed numerous lunar eclipses at Beijing and summaries of their observations - made between 1644 and 1785 - are preserved. The various lunar eclipse measurements that the Jesuits made are compared with the results of present-day computation.

  14. A survey of European astronomical tables in the late middle ages

    CERN Document Server

    Chabás, José

    2012-01-01

    This is a survey of the numerous astronomical tables compiled in the late Middle Ages, which represent a major intellectual enterprise. Such tables were often the best way available at the time for transmitting precise information to the reader.

  15. Twenty-five astronomical observations that changed the world and how to make them yourself

    CERN Document Server

    Marett-Crosby, Michael

    2013-01-01

    Human history is also the record of our fascination with the sky, and to look upwards is to follow in the steps of such greats as Galileo and Newton. What they and others once saw in the heavens for the first time, amateur astronomers can discover anew using this guide to twenty-five of the greatest journeys through space.   Starting with our most visible companion the Moon, each chapter offers a step-by-step walk-through of famous astronomical observations from the history of science. Beginning with the easiest targets, sometimes even accessible with the naked eye, the challenges become progressively more difficult. Beginner astronomers and more experienced hobbyists alike can reacquaint themselves with the wonders of our fellow planets and even reach far beyond our own solar system to touch on such incredible phenomena as the birth of new stars in nebula systems and the deceptive nothingness of black holes. The would-be astronaut can spy the International Space Station in orbit with binoculars or the dooms...

  16. Paired and Interacting Galaxies: International Astronomical Union Colloquium No. 124

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sulentic, Jack W. (Editor); Keel, William C. (Editor); Telesco, C. M. (Editor)

    1990-01-01

    The proceedings of the International Astronomical Union Colloquium No. 124, held at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, on December 4 to 7, are given. The purpose of the conference was to describe the current state of theoretical and observational knowledge of interacting galaxies, with particular emphasis on galaxies in pairs.

  17. Astronomical calibration of Gauss to Matuyama sapropels in the Mediterranean and implication for the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilgen, F. J.

    1991-06-01

    The astronomically calibrated age of the Olduvai Subchron is established by correlating the cyclic sapropel patterns in the Vrica section and in the sections of Semaforo (Italy), Singa (Italy), Punta Piccola (Sicily), and Francocastello (Crete) to the new astronomical solutions for the precession of the equinox and eccentricity of the earth's orbit, using inferred phase relationships between the sapropel cycles and orbital cycles. The resultant ages for the Olduvai and for older boundaries are then compared with conventional, as well as other orbitally tuned ages, for these polarity transitions. It is shown that this astronomically calibrated time scale can be extended back to the Miocene/Pliocene boundary.

  18. The Panchasiddhhantika : The Astronomical Work of Varaha Mihira

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thibaut, G.; Dvivedi, Mahamahopadhyaya Sudhakara

    The lamentable state of the text as appearing in the two original manuscripts (of Varah Mihira) at the disposal of the authors, was a lesser problem then the greater disadvantage under which they laboured with the absence of a commentary. Commentaries can be hardly done without in the case of any Sanskrit astronomical work; much less so, when the text, as that of the Panchasiddhantika, describes many mathematical processes more or less diverging from those commonly employed.

  19. Detection and Implications of Laser-Induced Raman Scattering at Astronomical Observatories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frédéric P. A. Vogt

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Laser guide stars employed at astronomical observatories provide artificial wavefront reference sources to help correct (in part the impact of atmospheric turbulence on astrophysical observations. Following the recent commissioning of the 4 Laser Guide Star Facility (4LGSF on Unit Telescope 4 (UT4 of the Very Large Telescope (VLT, we characterize the spectral signature of the uplink beams from the 22-W lasers to assess the impact of laser scattering from the 4LGSF on science observations. We use the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE optical integral field spectrograph mounted on the Nasmyth B focus of UT4 to acquire spectra at a resolution of R≅3000 of the uplink laser beams over the wavelength range of 4750 Å–9350 Å. We report the first detection of laser-induced Raman scattering by N_{2}, O_{2}, CO_{2}, H_{2}O, and (tentatively CH_{4} molecules in the atmosphere above the astronomical observatory of Cerro Paranal. In particular, our observations reveal the characteristic spectral signature of laser photons—but 480 Å to 2210 Å redder than the original laser wavelength of 5889.959 Å—landing on the 8.2-m primary mirror of UT4 after being Raman-scattered on their way up to the sodium layer. Laser-induced Raman scattering, a phenomenon not usually discussed in the astronomical context, is not unique to the observatory of Cerro Paranal, but it is common to any astronomical telescope employing a laser guide star (LGS system. It is thus essential for any optical spectrograph coupled to a LGS system to thoroughly handle the possibility of a Raman spectral contamination via a proper baffling of the instrument and suitable calibrations procedures. These considerations are particularly applicable for the HARMONI optical spectrograph on the upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT. At sites hosting multiple telescopes, laser-collision-prediction tools should also account for the presence of Raman emission from the uplink laser beam

  20. The astronomer and the witch Johannes Kepler's fight for his mother

    CERN Document Server

    Rublack, Ulinka

    2015-01-01

    The extraordinary tale of Johannes Kepler, one of the most admired astronomers of all time, and the six long years spent defending his mother from her neighbours' accusations of witchcraft. A story which takes us to the heart of Kepler's changing world.

  1. Supporting Evidence for the Astronomically Calibrated Age of Fish Canyon Sanidine

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rivera, Tiffany; Storey, Michael; Zeeden, Christian

    The relative nature of the 40Ar/39Ar radio-isotopic dating technique requires that the age and error of the monitor mineral be accurately known. The most widely accepted monitor for Cenozoic geochronology is the Fish Canyon sanidine (FCs), whose recommended published ages have varied by up to 2...... tuned stratigraphic sections. The increasingly robust quality of the astronomical timescale, with precision better than 0.1% for the last 10 million years, suggests this method of intercalibration as the best way to proceed with addressing the true age of FCs. Recently, Kuiper, et al. (2008) determined...... Noblesse multi-collector noble gas mass spectrometer for the 40Ar/39Ar experiments, analyzing single crystals of FCs relative to sanidines from the astronomically dated tephra. The use of the multi-collector instrument allowed us to obtain high precision analyses with a level of precision for fully...

  2. Brazilian Participations in the International Astronomical Search Collaboration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rojas, G. A.; Dalla-Costa, L. J.; Kalmus, A. T.; Kroth, E. C.; Matos, M. F.; Silva, A. L.; Silva, G. G.

    2014-10-01

    International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC) is an international educational project between universities, schools, observatories and research institutions. Its main objective is to enroll high school and college students in the monitoring and discovery of asteroids and Near Earth Objects (NEOs), especially Potentially Hazardous Asteroids. The methodology consists in the analysis of astronomical images obtained in several observatories in North America and Hawaii. The images are distributed throughout the school network and the results must be delivered in a 72-hour timeframe. Since 2010 Brazilian universities and schools have joined IASC, resulting in over a dozen new asteroids found (3 of them NEOs), and hundreds of measurements for already known asteroids. A major event in this collaboration was the All-Brazil Asteroid Search Campaign, which was conducted in September 2012. 2013 marks the fourth year of Brazilian participations in IASC, with one important milestone: the third straight appearance of a Brazilian institution in the Pan-STARRS campaign, which uses the PS1 telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii. We will present a summary of the overall results, as well as the latest news from 2013 campaigns. We will discuss the impact promoted by the past events, such as how the interest in astronomy changed before and after the campaigns, and it has helped the students to choose their future careers.

  3. An astronomical observatory for Peru

    Science.gov (United States)

    del Mar, Juan Quintanilla; Sicardy, Bruno; Giraldo, Víctor Ayma; Callo, Víctor Raúl Aguilar

    2011-06-01

    Peru and France are to conclude an agreement to provide Peru with an astronomical observatory equipped with a 60-cm diameter telescope. The principal aims of this project are to establish and develop research and teaching in astronomy. Since 2004, a team of researchers from Paris Observatory has been working with the University of Cusco (UNSAAC) on the educational, technical and financial aspects of implementing this venture. During an international astronomy conference in Cusco in July 2009, the foundation stone of the future Peruvian Observatory was laid at the top of Pachatusan Mountain. UNSAAC, represented by its Rector, together with the town of Oropesa and the Cusco regional authority, undertook to make the sum of 300,000€ available to the project. An agreement between Paris Observatory and UNSAAC now enables Peruvian students to study astronomy through online teaching.

  4. Star Ware: The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Choosing, Buying, and Using Telescopes and Accessories, 3rd Edition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harrington, Philip S.

    2002-05-01

    Praise for the Second Edition of Star Ware "Star Ware is still a tour de force that any experienced amateur will find invaluable, and which hardware-minded beginners will thoroughly enjoy." -Robert Burnham, Sky & Telescope magazine "Star Ware condenses between two covers what would normally take a telescope buyer many months to accumulate." -John Shibley, Astronomy magazine Now more than ever, the backyard astronomer has a dazzling array of choices when it comes to telescope shopping-which can make choosing just the right sky-watching equipment a formidable challenge. In this revised and updated edition of Star Ware, the essential guide to buying astronomical equipment, award-winning astronomy writer Philip Harrington does the work for you, analyzing and exploring today's astronomy market and offering point-by-point comparisons of everything you need. Whether you're an experienced amateur astronomer or just getting started, Star Ware, Third Edition will prepare you to explore the farthest reaches of space with: Extensive, expanded reviews of leading models and accessories, including dozens of new products, to help you buy smart A clear, step-by-step guide to all aspects of purchasing everything from telescopes and binoculars to filters, mounts, lenses, cameras, film, star charts, guides and references, and much more Eleven new do-it-yourself projects for making unique astronomical equipment at home Easy tips on maintenance, photography, and star-mapping to help you get the most out of your telescope Lists of where to find everything astronomical, including Internet sites and Web resources; distributors, dealers, and conventions; and corporate listings for products and services

  5. Optimizing hydroxyl airglow retrievals from long-slit astronomical spectroscopic observations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Franzen

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Astronomical spectroscopic observations from ground-based telescopes contain background emission lines from the terrestrial atmosphere's airglow. In the near infrared, this background is composed mainly of emission from Meinel bands of hydroxyl (OH, which is produced in highly excited vibrational states by reduction of ozone near 90 km. This emission contains a wealth of information on the chemical and dynamical state of the Earth's atmosphere. However, observation strategies and data reduction processes are usually optimized to minimize the influence of these features on the astronomical spectrum. Here we discuss a measurement technique to optimize the extraction of the OH airglow signal itself from routine J-, H-, and K-band long-slit astronomical spectroscopic observations. As an example, we use data recorded from a point-source observation by the Nordic Optical Telescope's intermediate-resolution spectrograph, which has a spatial resolution of approximately 100 m at the airglow layer. Emission spectra from the OH vibrational manifold from v′  =  9 down to v′  =  3, with signal-to-noise ratios up to 280, have been extracted from 10.8 s integrations. Rotational temperatures representative of the background atmospheric temperature near 90 km, the mesosphere and lower thermosphere region, can be fitted to the OH rotational lines with an accuracy of around 0.7 K. Using this measurement and analysis technique, we derive a rotational temperature distribution with v′ that agrees with atmospheric model conditions and the preponderance of previous work. We discuss the derived rotational temperatures from the different vibrational bands and highlight the potential for both the archived and future observations, which are at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions, to contribute toward the resolution of long-standing problems in atmospheric physics.

  6. A novel type of very long baseline astronomical intensity interferometer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borra, Ermanno F.

    2013-12-01

    This article presents a novel type of very long baseline astronomical interferometer that uses the fluctuations, as a function of time, of the intensity measured by a quadratic detector, which is a common type of astronomical detector. The theory on which the technique is based is validated by laboratory experiments. Its outstanding principal advantages comes from the fact that the angular structure of an astronomical object is simply determined from the visibility of the minima of the spectrum of the intensity fluctuations measured by the detector, as a function of the frequency of the fluctuations, while keeping the spacing between mirrors constant. This would allow a simple setup capable of high angular resolutions because it could use an extremely large baseline. Another major interest is that it allows for a more efficient use of telescope time because observations at a single baseline are sufficient, while amplitude and intensity interferometers need several observations at different baselines. The fact that one does not have to move the telescopes would also allow detecting faster time variations because having to move the telescopes sets a lower limit to the time variations that can be detected. The technique uses wave interaction effects and thus has some characteristics in common with intensity interferometry. A disadvantage of the technique, like in intensity interferometry, is that it needs strong sources if observing at high frequencies (e.g. the visible). This is a minor disadvantage in the radio region. At high frequencies, this disadvantage is mitigated by the fact that, like in intensity interferometry, the requirements of the optical quality of the mirrors used are far less severe than in amplitude interferometry so that poor quality large reflectors (e.g. Cherenkov telescopes) can be used in the optical region.

  7. Factors Contributing to Lifelong Science Learning: Amateur Astronomers and Birders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, M. Gail; Corin, Elysa Nicole; Andre, Thomas; Childers, Gina M.; Stevens, Vanessa

    2017-01-01

    This research examined lifelong science learning reported by amateur astronomers and birders. One hundred seven adults who reported engaging in an informal (out-of-school) science interest were interviewed as part of an ongoing series of studies of lifelong science learners. The goal of the study was to gain insight into how and why amateur…

  8. Astronomers Discover Fastest-Spinning Pulsar

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-01-01

    Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope have discovered the fastest-spinning neutron star ever found, a 20-mile-diameter superdense pulsar whirling faster than the blades of a kitchen blender. Their work yields important new information about the nature of one of the most exotic forms of matter known in the Universe. Pulsar Graphic Pulsars Are Spinning Neutron Stars CREDIT: Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF (Click on image for larger version) "We believe that the matter in neutron stars is denser than an atomic nucleus, but it is unclear by how much. Our observations of such a rapidly rotating star set a hard upper limit on its size, and hence on how dense the star can be.," said Jason Hessels, a graduate student at McGill University in Montreal. Hessels and his colleagues presented their findings to the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Washington, DC. Pulsars are spinning neutron stars that sling "lighthouse beams" of radio waves or light around as they spin. A neutron star is what is left after a massive star explodes at the end of its "normal" life. With no nuclear fuel left to produce energy to offset the stellar remnant's weight, its material is compressed to extreme densities. The pressure squeezes together most of its protons and electrons to form neutrons; hence, the name "neutron star." "Neutron stars are incredible laboratories for learning about the physics of the fundamental particles of nature, and this pulsar has given us an important new limit," explained Scott Ransom, an astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and one of Hessels' collaborators on this work. The scientists discovered the pulsar, named PSR J1748-2446ad, in a globular cluster of stars called Terzan 5, located some 28,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. The newly-discovered pulsar is spinning 716 times per second, or at 716 Hertz (Hz), readily beating the previous record of 642 Hz from a pulsar

  9. Linear feature detection algorithm for astronomical surveys - I. Algorithm description

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bektešević, Dino; Vinković, Dejan

    2017-11-01

    Computer vision algorithms are powerful tools in astronomical image analyses, especially when automation of object detection and extraction is required. Modern object detection algorithms in astronomy are oriented towards detection of stars and galaxies, ignoring completely the detection of existing linear features. With the emergence of wide-field sky surveys, linear features attract scientific interest as possible trails of fast flybys of near-Earth asteroids and meteors. In this work, we describe a new linear feature detection algorithm designed specifically for implementation in big data astronomy. The algorithm combines a series of algorithmic steps that first remove other objects (stars and galaxies) from the image and then enhance the line to enable more efficient line detection with the Hough algorithm. The rate of false positives is greatly reduced thanks to a step that replaces possible line segments with rectangles and then compares lines fitted to the rectangles with the lines obtained directly from the image. The speed of the algorithm and its applicability in astronomical surveys are also discussed.

  10. Astro-imaging projects for amateur astronomers a maker’s guide

    CERN Document Server

    Chung, Jim

    2015-01-01

    This is the must-have guide for all amateur astronomers who double as makers, doers, tinkerers, problem-solvers, and inventors. In a world where an amateur astronomy habit can easily run into the many thousands of dollars, it is still possible for practitioners to get high-quality results and equipment on a budget by utilizing DIY techniques. Surprisingly, it's not that hard to modify existing equipment to get new and improved usability from older or outdated technology, creating an end result that can outshine the pricey higher-end tools. All it takes is some elbow grease, a creative and open mind and the help of Chung's hard-won knowledge on building and modifying telescopes and cameras. With this book, it is possible for readers to improve their craft, making their equipment more user friendly. The tools are at hand, and the advice on how to do it is here. Readers will discover a comprehensive presentation of astronomical projects that any amateur on any budget can replicate – projects that utilize lead...

  11. Orbiting Water Molecules Dance to Tune Of Galaxy's "Central Engine," Astronomers Say

    Science.gov (United States)

    2000-01-01

    A disk of water molecules orbiting a supermassive black hole at the core of a galaxy 60 million light-years away is "reverberating" in response to variations in the energy output from the galaxy's powerful "central engine" close to the black hole, astronomers say. The team of astronomers used the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope in New Mexico and the 100-meter-diameter radio telescope of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy at Effelsberg, Germany, to observe the galaxy NGC 1068 in the constellation Cetus. They announced their findings today at the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Atlanta. The water molecules, in a disk some 5 light-years in diameter, are acting as a set of giant cosmic radio-wave amplifiers, called masers. Using energy radiated by the galaxy's "central engine," the molecules strengthen, or brighten, radio emission at a particular frequency as seen from Earth. "We have seen variations in the radio 'brightness' of these cosmic amplifiers that we believe were caused by variations in the energy output of the central engine," said Jack Gallimore, an astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Charlottesville, VA. "This could provide us with a valuable new tool for learning about the central engine itself," he added. Gallimore worked with Stefi Baum of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD; Christian Henkel of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany; Ian Glass of the South African Astronomical Observatory; Mark Claussen of the NRAO in Socorro, NM; and Almudena Prieto of the European Southern Observatory in Munich, Germany. "Our observations show that NGC 1068 is the second-known case of a giant disk of water molecules orbiting a supermassive black hole at a galaxy's core," Gallimore said. The first case was the galaxy NGC 4258 (Messier 106), whose disk of radio-amplifying water molecules was measured by the NSF's Very Long Baseline

  12. Algorithms for classification of astronomical object spectra

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wasiewicz, P.; Szuppe, J.; Hryniewicz, K.

    2015-09-01

    Obtaining interesting celestial objects from tens of thousands or even millions of recorded optical-ultraviolet spectra depends not only on the data quality but also on the accuracy of spectra decomposition. Additionally rapidly growing data volumes demands higher computing power and/or more efficient algorithms implementations. In this paper we speed up the process of substracting iron transitions and fitting Gaussian functions to emission peaks utilising C++ and OpenCL methods together with the NOSQL database. In this paper we implemented typical astronomical methods of detecting peaks in comparison to our previous hybrid methods implemented with CUDA.

  13. What Astronomers and the AAS Need to be Doing to Curb Light Pollution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, D. W. E.

    2001-12-01

    Astronomers and especially the AAS are doing apalling little in the war on light pollution. This is quite surprising, considering that optical groundbased astronomy may become nearly extinct in the 21st century if we don't get more serious about the loss of our night skies to artificial lighting. Part of the blame must be placed on astronomers throughout the 20th century (particularly before 1980), as very few of them seem to have set an example by starting an early crusade against bad outdoor night lighting (save for a handful of important individuals near large U.S. observatories, and a few connected with smaller observatories); this apathy of earlier generations of astronomers fueled the current general apathy within the AAS and aided the opening of the floodgates in terms of the disastrous lighting situation now upon us in terms of drowning out the night sky. There are possible solutions, and they need to be discussed and acted upon quickly. For example, the AAS should require that all members include a useful amount (say, \\$30) in annual membership fees to be directly transmitted to the International Dark Sky Association, and the AAS should make constant visible strides to educate the public and government officials of the absolute need to reduce outdoor lighting levels and to fully shield all outdoor lighting. There are many other areas of research into outdoor lighting that the AAS should fund or officially/strongly support, so that the astronomical community can better be educated (and can better educate the public) on the evils of bad and thoughtless outdoor-lighting practices; such research includes developing a comprehensive database of national statistics on numbers and types of different outdoor lamps, as a function of time (thus, historical), and also a comprehensive database including all local, state, and federal lighting laws and ordinances together with legal court cases (and their outcomes) involving outdoor night lighting. And professional

  14. Karl Julius Lohnert - an unknown astronomer, experimental psychologist and teacher (German Title: Karl Julius Lohnert - ein unbekannter Astronom, experimenteller Psychologe und Lehrer)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmadel, Lutz D.; Guski-Leinwand, Susanne

    2011-08-01

    Karl Julius Lohnert (1885-1944) with his double biography as astronomer and psychologist is hardly known in both fields. As a student of astronomy in Heidelberg, Lohnert discovered a couple of minor planets and he dedicated one to his PhD supervisor, the famous Leipzig professor for philosophy, Wilhelm Wundt. This connection is discussed for the first time almost one century after the naming of (635) Vundtia. The paper elucidates some biographical stations of Lohnert.

  15. Astronomy for Astronomical Numbers: A Worldwide Massive Open Online Class

    Science.gov (United States)

    Impey, Chris D.; Wenger, Matthew C.; Austin, Carmen L.

    2015-01-01

    Astronomy: State of the Art is a massive, open, online class (MOOC) offered through Udemy by an instructional team at the University of Arizona. With nearly 24,000 enrolled as of early 2015, it is the largest astronomy MOOC available. The astronomical numbers enrolled do not translate into a similar level of engagement. The content consists of 14…

  16. Astronomical cycle origin of bedded chert: A middle Triassic bedded chert sequence, Inuyama, Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ikeda, Masayuki; Tada, Ryuji; Sakuma, Hironobu

    2010-09-01

    Astronomical forcing is one of the main drivers of climate change, and astronomical cyclicity recorded in sediments provides a clue to understand the dynamics of the global climate system. Bedded cherts consist of rhythmic alternations of chert and shale beds. Although previous studies have hypothesized that the origin of bedded chert is related to astronomical cycles (e.g. Fischer, 1976; Hori et al., 1993), conclusive proof remains elusive. To explore this possibility, we established a continuous, high-resolution lithostratigraphy of middle Triassic bedded chert in Central Japan. The average duration of each chert-shale couplet is 20 kyr, similar to that of the precession cycle. Spectral analysis of a bed number series of thickness variations in chert beds was performed assuming that each chert-shale couplet represents a 20-kyr precession cycle. The results reveal cycles involving approximately 200, 20, 5, and 2-3 beds, corresponding to periodicities of approximately 4000, 400, 100, and 40-60 kyr, respectively. By further assuming that the 20-bed cycle represents a 405-kyr eccentricity cycle of constant and stable periodicity, we converted the bed number series to a time series. Spectral analysis of the time series revealed distinct periodicities of 3600, 117, 97, and 38 kyr, in addition to 405 kyr. Besides 3600 kyr, these periodicities agree well with the 120, 95, and 37 kyr periodicities for eccentricity cycles and the obliquity cycle during the Triassic. Moreover, we detected amplitude modulation of the approximately 100-kyr cycle of thickness variations in chert beds with a 405-kyr periodicity, which may correspond to amplitude modulation of 100-kyr climatic precession cycle with the 405-kyr periodicity. The approximately 3600-kyr periodicity described above and 1800-kyr periodicity manifested as the amplitude modulation of the 405-kyr cycle are correlated to present-day long-term eccentricity cycles of 2400 and 4800 kyr evolved by chaotic behavior of solar

  17. Visualization of Astronomical Nebulae via Distributed Multi-GPU Compressed Sensing Tomography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wenger, S; Ament, M; Guthe, S; Lorenz, D; Tillmann, A; Weiskopf, D; Magnor, M

    2012-12-01

    The 3D visualization of astronomical nebulae is a challenging problem since only a single 2D projection is observable from our fixed vantage point on Earth. We attempt to generate plausible and realistic looking volumetric visualizations via a tomographic approach that exploits the spherical or axial symmetry prevalent in some relevant types of nebulae. Different types of symmetry can be implemented by using different randomized distributions of virtual cameras. Our approach is based on an iterative compressed sensing reconstruction algorithm that we extend with support for position-dependent volumetric regularization and linear equality constraints. We present a distributed multi-GPU implementation that is capable of reconstructing high-resolution datasets from arbitrary projections. Its robustness and scalability are demonstrated for astronomical imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope. The resulting volumetric data is visualized using direct volume rendering. Compared to previous approaches, our method preserves a much higher amount of detail and visual variety in the 3D visualization, especially for objects with only approximate symmetry.

  18. Astronomical calibration of the middle Eocene Contessa Highway section (Gubbio, Italy)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jovane, Luigi; Sprovieri, Mario; Coccioni, Rodolfo; Florindo, Fabio; Marsili, Andrea; Laskar, Jacques

    2010-09-01

    The Eocene climatic system experienced an important transition from warm Paleocene greenhouse to icehouse Oligocene conditions. This transition could first appear as a long-term cooling trend but, at an up-close look, this period is a complex combination of climatic events and, for most of them, causes and consequences are still not fully characterized. In this context, a study has been carried out on the middle Eocene sedimentary succession of the Contessa Highway section, central Italy, which is proposed as the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Lutetian/Bartonian boundary at the top of the Chron 19n, with an astronomically calibrated age of 41.23 Ma. Through a cyclostratigraphic analysis of the rhythmic sedimentary alternations and combination with the results of time series analysis of the proxy record, we provide an orbital tuning of the middle Eocene and astronomical calibration of the bio-magnetostratigraphic events (particularly for the C19n/C18r Chron boundary) recognized at the Contessa Highway section.

  19. Property and instrumental heritage of the Bordeaux Astronomical Observatory; What future?

    Science.gov (United States)

    de La Noë, J.; Charlot, P.; Grousset, F.

    2009-11-01

    In the years 1870, the Government of the Third Republic decided to develop scientific and technical research. Such an effort contributed to supporting and creating universities and other institutes such as astronomical observatories. The dual wish of the Bordeaux council and professors at the Faculté des Sciences de Bordeaux led to the foundation of the astronomical Observatory of Bordeaux. It was set up by Georges Rayet in the years 1880's. The observatory owns a property of 12 hectares with a dozen of buildings, five domes housing an instrument, a Würzburg radiotelescope, a 2.5 meter radiotelescope, and a large collection of about 250 instruments, 4 500 photographic plates, drawings, slides for teaching astronomy, maps of the Carte du Ciel and 200 files of archives. In addition, the library contains about a thousand books for the period 1600-1950. The future of the observatory is not clear at the present time, when the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique will leave to the campus in a few years.

  20. Astronomical High Tide Line, Geographic NAD83, NWRC (1995) [hightide_line_NWRC_1995

    Data.gov (United States)

    Louisiana Geographic Information Center — The astronomical high tide line was compiled from National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) 1:24,000-scale habitat maps that were photo-interpreted from color-infrared...

  1. ISO Results Presented at International Astronomical Union

    Science.gov (United States)

    1997-08-01

    Some of the work being presented is collected in the attached ESA Information Note N 25-97, ISO illuminates our cosmic ancestry. A set of six colour images illustrating various aspects have also been released and are available at http://www.estec.esa.nl/spdwww/iso1808.htm or in hard copy from ESA Public Relations Paris (fax:+33.1.5369.7690). These pictures cover: 1. Distant but powerful infrared galaxies 2. A scan across the milky way 3. Helix nebula: the shroud of a dead star 4. Supernova remnant Cassiopeia A 5. Trifid nebula: a dusty birthplace of stars 6. Precursors of stars and planets The International Astronomical Union provides a forum where astronomers from all over the world can develop astronomy in all its aspects through international co-operation. General Assemblies are held every three years. It is expected that over 1600 astronomers will attend this year's meeting, which is being held in Kyoto, Japan from 18-30 August. Further information on the meeting can be found at: www.tenmon.or.jp/iau97/ . ISO illuminates our cosmic ancestry The European Space Agency's Infrared Space Observatory, ISO, is unmatched in its ability to explore and analyse many of the universal processes that made our existence possible. We are children of the stars. Every atom in our bodies was created in cosmic space and delivered to the Sun's vicinity in time for the Earth's formation, during a ceaseless cycle of birth, death and rebirth among the stars. The most creative places in the sky are cool and dusty, and opaque even to the Hubble Space Telescope. Infrared rays penetrating the dust reveal to ISO hidden objects, and the atoms and molecules of cosmic chemistry. "ISO is reading Nature's recipe book," says Roger Bonnet, ESA's director of science. "As the world's only telescope capable of observing the Universe over a wide range of infrared wavelengths, ISO plays an indispensable part in astronomical discoveries that help to explain how we came to exist." This Information Note

  2. Radio Astronomers Set New Standard for Accurate Cosmic Distance Measurement

    Science.gov (United States)

    1999-06-01

    A team of radio astronomers has used the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) to make the most accurate measurement ever made of the distance to a faraway galaxy. Their direct measurement calls into question the precision of distance determinations made by other techniques, including those announced last week by a team using the Hubble Space Telescope. The radio astronomers measured a distance of 23.5 million light-years to a galaxy called NGC 4258 in Ursa Major. "Ours is a direct measurement, using geometry, and is independent of all other methods of determining cosmic distances," said Jim Herrnstein, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Socorro, NM. The team says their measurement is accurate to within less than a million light-years, or four percent. The galaxy is also known as Messier 106 and is visible with amateur telescopes. Herrnstein, along with James Moran and Lincoln Greenhill of the Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Phillip Diamond, of the Merlin radio telescope facility at Jodrell Bank and the University of Manchester in England; Makato Inoue and Naomasa Nakai of Japan's Nobeyama Radio Observatory; Mikato Miyoshi of Japan's National Astronomical Observatory; Christian Henkel of Germany's Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy; and Adam Riess of the University of California at Berkeley, announced their findings at the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Chicago. "This is an incredible achievement to measure the distance to another galaxy with this precision," said Miller Goss, NRAO's Director of VLA/VLBA Operations. "This is the first time such a great distance has been measured this accurately. It took painstaking work on the part of the observing team, and it took a radio telescope the size of the Earth -- the VLBA -- to make it possible," Goss said. "Astronomers have sought to determine the Hubble Constant, the rate of expansion of the universe, for decades. This will in turn lead to an

  3. Kepler-Astronomer in Astrology and Astrologer in Astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fempl-Madjarevic, Jasna

    The author is discussing a very complicated subject: the astrological aspects in the scientific activity of Johannes Kepler. Sometimes Kepler is considered the last astronomer which confused astrology with astronomy. In fact he composed horoscopes, but he was conscious finally that the astrology was a confusion. The author is discussing also the mistic aspects of the scientifc creation by Kepler. Particularly she emphasized that the "Mysterium Cosmographicum" is one of such works. Meanwhile, that work led to discovery of famous third laws of planets motion.

  4. A Refined Astronomically Calibrated 40Ar/39Ar Age for Fish Canyon Sanidine

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rivera, Tiffany; Storey, Michael; Zeeden, Christian

    2011-01-01

    Intercalibration between the astronomical and radio-isotopic dating methods provides a means to improving accuracy and reducing uncertainty of an integrated, multi-chronometer geologic timescale. Here we report a high-precision 40Ar/39Ar age for the Fish Canyon sanidine (FCs) neutron fluence...... sanidine age of 0.7674±0.0022 Ma (2σ, external errors) is indistinguishable from the ID-TIMS U/Pb zircon age (0.7671±0.0019 Ma). The consistency between the astronomically calibrated 40Ar/39Ar sanidine age and U/Pb zircon age for this Quaternary unit suggests that agreement between these two radio-isotopic...... dating techniques is now achievable at better than±0.3% (2σ) in the youngest part of geologic time (

  5. Intelligent Design, A Young Universe, Astrology, UFO's, and More: Tackling Astronomical Pseudo-science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraknoi, A.

    2008-11-01

    During IYA educators and scientists will interact with the public in many ways. There will likely be public questions at IYA events about pseudo-scientific topics. While the particular pseudo-sciences that are in vogue change with time, these days popular astronomical pseudo-science includes creationism and intelligent design (and their denial of the age of the universe), astrology, UFO's as extra-terrestrial spaceships, selling star names, the ``face'' on Mars, the claim that the moon landings were a hoax, etc. We discuss some of the recent surveys of belief in pseudo-science and some ways to respond to questions about these topics. A separate resource guide to help answer questions about astronomical pseudoscience is also included in this volume.

  6. Temperature control system for optical elements in astronomical instrumentation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verducci, Orlando; de Oliveira, Antonio C.; Ribeiro, Flávio F.; Vital de Arruda, Márcio; Gneiding, Clemens D.; Fraga, Luciano

    2014-07-01

    Extremely low temperatures may damage the optical components assembled inside of an astronomical instrument due to the crack in the resin or glue used to attach lenses and mirrors. The environment, very cold and dry, in most of the astronomical observatories contributes to this problem. This paper describes the solution implemented at SOAR for remotely monitoring and controlling temperatures inside of a spectrograph, in order to prevent a possible damage of the optical parts. The system automatically switches on and off some heat dissipation elements, located near the optics, as the measured temperature reaches a trigger value. This value is set to a temperature at which the instrument is not operational to prevent malfunction and only to protect the optics. The software was developed with LabVIEWTM and based on an object-oriented design that offers flexibility and ease of maintenance. As result, the system is able to keep the internal temperature of the instrument above a chosen limit, except perhaps during the response time, due to inertia of the temperature. This inertia can be controlled and even avoided by choosing the correct amount of heat dissipation and location of the thermal elements. A log file records the measured temperature values by the system for operation analysis.

  7. Authentic Astronomical Discovery in Planetariums: Data-Driven Immersive Lectures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wyatt, Ryan Jason

    2018-01-01

    Planetariums are akin to “branch offices” for astronomy in major cities and other locations around the globe. With immersive, fulldome video technology, modern digital planetariums offer the opportunity to integrate authentic astronomical data into both pre-recorded shows and live lectures. At the California Academy of Sciences Morrison Planetarium, we host the monthly Benjamin Dean Astronomy Lecture Series, which features researchers describing their cutting-edge work to well-informed lay audiences. The Academy’s visualization studio and engineering teams work with researchers to visualize their data in both pre-rendered and real-time formats, and these visualizations are integrated into a variety of programs—including lectures! The assets are then made available to any other planetariums with similar software to support their programming. A lecturer can thus give the same immersive presentation to audiences in a variety of planetariums. The Academy has also collaborated with Chicago’s Adler Planetarium to bring Kavli Fulldome Lecture Series to San Francisco, and the two theaters have also linked together in live “domecasts” to share real-time content with audiences in both cities. These lecture series and other, similar projects suggest a bright future for astronomers to bring their research to the public in an immersive and visually compelling format.

  8. Simon Newcomb: America's Unofficial Astronomer Royal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graham, John

    2007-10-01

    Bill Carter and Merri Sue Carter Mantazas; xiii + 213 pp.; ISBN 1-59113-803-5 2006; $26.95 This book introduced me to a commanding figure in American science from the late nineteenth century: Simon Newcomb. Newcomb has been called the nineteenth-century equivalent of Carl Sagan and Albert Einstein. He rose from humble beginnings to be the preeminent American astronomer of his generation. He made basic, far-reaching, and enduring contributions to positional astronomy and planetary dynamics. On the more practical side, he determined a remarkably accurate value for the velocity of light, one within 0.01% of the value accepted today. His work provided an experimental grounding for the special and general theories of relativity to be formulated by Einstein in the coming twentieth century.

  9. Shirakatsi Astronomical and Natural Philosophical Views

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mkrtchyan, Lilit

    2016-12-01

    Our work is aimed at presenting Shirakatsi astronomical and natural philosophical views. Karl Anania Shirakatsi is classified as one of the world-class intellectual geniuses. He was endowed with exceptional talent and analyzing scientific understanding of natural phenomena. He refers his philosophical works to almost all fields of science, cosmography, mathematics, calendarology, historiography, etc. Shirakatsy's earnings of natural science and natural philosophy in medieval is too big He was the first prominent scholar and thinker of his time, creating a unique, comprehensive gitapilisopayakan system that still feeds the human mind. The scientific value of Shirakatsi has great importance not only for Armenians but also for the whole world of science, history, culture and philosophy. Shirakatsi can be considered not only national but also universal greatness.

  10. Astronomy and Computing: A New Journal for the Astronomical Computing Community

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mann, R.G.; Accomazzi, A.; Budavári, T.; Fluke, C.; Gray, N.; O'Mullane, W.; Wicenec, A.; Wise, M.

    2013-01-01

    We introduce Astronomy and Computing (A&C), a new, peer-reviewed journal for the expanding community of people whose work focuses on the application of computer science and information technology within astronomy, rather than on astronomical research per se. A&C arose from a BoF discussion at the

  11. Infrared astronomical satellite (IRAS) catalogs and atlases. Volume 1: Explanatory supplement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beichman, C. A. (Editor); Neugebauer, G. (Editor); Habing, H. J. (Editor); Clegg, P. E. (Editor); Chester, Thomas J. (Editor)

    1988-01-01

    The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) was launched on January 26, 1983. During its 300-day mission, IRAS surveyed over 96 pct of the celestial sphere at four infrared wavelengths, centered approximately at 12, 25, 60, and 100 microns. Volume 1 describes the instrument, the mission, and data reduction.

  12. Astronomical observations with the optical multichannel analyser of the Sao Paulo University

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Codina-Landaberry, S J; de Freitas Pacheco, J A [Universidade Mackenzie, Sao Paulo (Brazil). Centro de Radio-Astronomia e Astrofisica

    1979-03-01

    The first astronomical observations made with the optical multichannel analyser (OMA) of the Sao Paulo University is reported. A detailed description of the instrumentation is given as well as the results derived from the observation of some emission nebulae.

  13. Asteroids astronomical and geological bodies

    CERN Document Server

    Burbine, Thomas H

    2016-01-01

    Asteroid science is a fundamental topic in planetary science and is key to furthering our understanding of planetary formation and the evolution of the Solar System. Ground-based observations and missions have provided a wealth of new data in recent years, and forthcoming missions promise further exciting results. This accessible book presents a comprehensive introduction to asteroid science, summarising the astronomical and geological characteristics of asteroids. The interdisciplinary nature of asteroid science is reflected in the broad range of topics covered, including asteroid and meteorite classification, chemical and physical properties of asteroids, observational techniques, cratering, and the discovery of asteroids and how they are named. Other chapters discuss past, present and future space missions and the threat that these bodies pose for Earth. Based on an upper-level course on asteroids and meteorites taught by the author, this book is ideal for students, researchers and professional scientists ...

  14. A refined Astronomically Calibrated 40AR/39Ar age for Fish Canyon Sanidine

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rivera, T.A.; Storey, M.; Zeeden, C.; Hilgen, F.J.; Kuiper, K.F.

    2011-01-01

    Intercalibration between the astronomical and radio-isotopic dating methods provides a means to improving accuracy and reducing uncertainty of an integrated, multi-chronometer geologic timescale. Here we report a high-precision

  15. Evaluation of the brightness of lightning channels and branches using the magnitude system: Application of astronomical photometry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nobuaki Shimoji

    Full Text Available In this paper, we have evaluated the brightness of lightning leaders shown in a digital still image by applying the astronomical magnitude system. In order to analyze the only lightning leaders, these were extracted from the digital still image. For photometry of the lightning leaders, there is no a standard reference source such as Vega in astronomical photometry. Therefore, assuming the maximum pixel value 255 (in 256 levels as the brightness of a standard reference source, the magnitude of the lightning leaders was obtained. The result showed that the magnitude of the lightning leaders vary spatially (i.e. 2D spatial variability. Furthermore, the result suggested that a low current channel is high magnitude and a high current channel is low magnitude. Keywords: Lightning, Fechner’s law, Magnitude system, Astronomical photometry, Image analysis

  16. Astronomical observations with the optical multichannel analyser of the Sao Paulo University

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Codina-Landaberry, S.J.; Freitas Pacheco, J.A. de

    1979-01-01

    The first astronomical observations made with the optical multichannel analyser (OMA) of the Sao Paulo University is reported. A detailed description of the instrumentation is given as well as the results derived from the observation of some emission nebulae [pt

  17. Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac, Third Edition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seidelmann, P. Kenneth; Urban, S. E.

    2010-01-01

    "The Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac" (hereafter "The Explanatory Supplement") is a comprehensive reference book on the topic of positional astronomy, covering the theories and algorithms used to produce "The Astronomical Almanac" (AsA), an annual publication produced jointly by the Nautical Almanac Office of the US Naval Observatory (USNO) and Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO) of the UK Hydrographic Office. The first edition of The Explanatory Supplement appeared in 1961 and was reprinted with amendments during the 1970s. The second edition was printed in 1992 and reprinted until 2006. Since the second edition, several changes have taken place in positional astronomy regarding reference systems and internationally accepted models, data sets, and computational methods; these have been incorporated into the AsA. Additionally, the data presented in the AsA have been modified over the years, with new tables being added and some being discontinued. Given these changes, a new edition of The Explanatory Supplement is appropriate. The third edition has been in development for the last few years and will be available in 2010. The book is organized similarly to the second (1991) edition, with each chapter written by subject matter experts. Authors from USNO and HMNAO contributed to the majority of the book, but there are authors from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Technical University of Dresden, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, University of Texas Austin, and University of Virginia. This paper will discuss this latest edition of the Explanatory Supplement.

  18. The PACA Project: Convergence of Scientific Research, Social Media and Citizen Science in the Era of Astronomical Big Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yanamandra-Fisher, Padma A.

    2015-08-01

    The Pro-Am Collaborative Astronomy (PACA) project promotes and supports the professional-amateur astronomer collaboration in scientific research via social media and has been implemented in several comet observing campaigns. In 2014, two comet observing campaigns involving pro-am collaborations were initiated: (1) C/2013 A1 (C/SidingSpring) and (2) 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (CG), target for ESA/Rosetta mission. The evolving need for individual customized observing campaigns has been incorporated into the evolution of The PACA Project that currently is focused on comets: from supporting observing campaigns of current comets, legacy data, historical comets; interconnected with social media and a set of shareable documents addressing observational strategies; consistent standards for data; data access, use, and storage, to align with the needs of professional observers in the era of astronmical big data. The empowerment of amateur astronomers vis-à-vis their partnerships with the professional scientists creates a new demographic of data scientists, enabling citizen science of the integrated data from both the professional and amateur communities.While PACA identifies a consistent collaborative approach to pro-am collaborations, given the volume of data generated for each campaign, new ways of rapid data analysis, mining access and storage are needed. Several interesting results emerged from the synergistic inclusion of both social media and amateur astronomers. The PACA Project is expanding to include pro-am collaborations on other solar system objects; allow for immersive outreach and include various types of astronomical communities, ranging from individuals, to astronmical societies and telescopic networks. Enabling citizen science research in the era of astronomical big data is a challenge which requires innovative approaches and integration of professional and amateur astronomers with data scientists and some examples of recent projects will be highlighted.

  19. Database-Driven Analyses of Astronomical Spectra

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cami, Jan

    2012-03-01

    Spectroscopy is one of the most powerful tools to study the physical properties and chemical composition of very diverse astrophysical environments. In principle, each nuclide has a unique set of spectral features; thus, establishing the presence of a specific material at astronomical distances requires no more than finding a laboratory spectrum of the right material that perfectly matches the astronomical observations. Once the presence of a substance is established, a careful analysis of the observational characteristics (wavelengths or frequencies, intensities, and line profiles) allows one to determine many physical parameters of the environment in which the substance resides, such as temperature, density, velocity, and so on. Because of this great diagnostic potential, ground-based and space-borne astronomical observatories often include instruments to carry out spectroscopic analyses of various celestial objects and events. Of particular interest is molecular spectroscopy at infrared wavelengths. From the spectroscopic point of view, molecules differ from atoms in their ability to vibrate and rotate, and quantum physics inevitably causes those motions to be quantized. The energies required to excite vibrations or rotations are such that vibrational transitions generally occur at infrared wavelengths, whereas pure rotational transitions typically occur at sub-mm wavelengths. Molecular vibration and rotation are coupled though, and thus at infrared wavelengths, one commonly observes a multitude of ro-vibrational transitions (see Figure 13.1). At lower spectral resolution, all transitions blend into one broad ro-vibrational molecular band. The isotope. Molecular spectroscopy thus allows us to see a difference of one neutron in an atomic nucleus that is located at astronomical distances! Since the detection of the first interstellar molecules (the CH [21] and CN [14] radicals), more than 150 species have been detected in space, ranging in size from diatomic

  20. Astronomers Get Closest Look Yet At Milky Way's Mysterious Core

    Science.gov (United States)

    2005-11-01

    Astronomers have gotten their deepest glimpse into the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy, peering closer to the supermassive black hole at the Galaxy's core then ever before. Using the National Science Foundation's continent-wide Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), they found that a radio-wave-emitting object at the Galaxy's center would nearly fit between the Earth and the Sun. This is half the size measured in any previous observation. "We're getting tantalizingly close to being able to see an unmistakable signature that would provide the first concrete proof of a supermassive black hole at a galaxy's center," said Zhi-Qiang Shen, of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. A black hole is a concentration of mass so dense that not even light can escape its powerful gravitational pull. Milky Way Nucleus The Milky Way's nucleus, as seen with the VLA. Sagittarius A* is the bright white dot at center. CREDIT: NRAO/AUI/NSF, Jun-Hui Zhao, W.M. Goss (Click on Image for Larger Version) The astronomers used the VLBA to measure the size of an object called Sagittarius A* (pronounced "A-star") that marks the exact center of our Galaxy. Last year, a different team announced that their measurements showed the object would fit inside the complete circle of Earth's orbit around the Sun. Shen and his team, by observing at a higher radio frequency, measured Sagittarius A* as half that size. A mass equal to four million Suns is known to lie within Sagittarius A*, and the new measurement makes the case for a black hole even more compelling than it was previously. Scientists simply don't know of any long-lasting object other than a black hole that could contain this much mass in such a small area. However, they would like to see even stronger proof of a black hole. "The extremely strong gravitational pull of a black hole has several effects that would produce a distinctive 'shadow' that we think we could see if we can image details about half as small as

  1. ASTRONOMICAL PLATE ARCHIVES AND SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE BINARIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    René Hudec

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The recent extensive digitisation of astronomical photographic plate archives, the development of new dedicated software and the use of powerful computers have for the first time enabled effective data mining in extensive plate databases, with wide applications in various fields of recent astrophysics. As an example, analyses of supermassive binary black holes (binary blazars require very long time intervals (50 years and more, which cannot be provided by other data sources. Examples of data obtained from data mining in plate archives are presented and briefly discussed.

  2. Closing remarks: astronomical

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pecker, J.-C.

    1990-01-01

    During the discussions we have covered many facets of the basic interactions between solar activity and the Earth's climate. Solar activity is not the only astronomical or astrophysical phenomenon to influence physical conditions in the biosphere. Over timescales an order of magnitude less, the location of the Solar System in the Galaxy may have influenced life on Earth. The Sun is a complex generator of radiation, particles and magnetic fields sent far into space. Even if the total radiation emitted is constant, the amount of radiation received by the Earth changes with time: this change is complex and involved with a redistribution of energy emitted at different solar latitudes than to a real change in solar luminosity. These changes in the Earth's illumination may be a function of the wavelength, and have various effects in different layers of the Earth's atmosphere. The Sun also emits particles of all energies. Some of them find their way through the magnetopause, giving rise to auroras, to magnetic storms, to ionospheric disturbances and the like. The possible climatological effects are yet obscure. To understand the solar terrestrial relations better, regular, routine observations from ground-based stations and from space of solar phenomena must be continued. The sensitivity of human life to small changes in climatic conditions is very large. A good knowledge of solar-physics is therefore important and relevant. (author)

  3. Astronomers Reveal Extinct Extra-Terrestrial Fusion Reactor

    Science.gov (United States)

    2004-06-01

    An international team of astronomers, studying the left-over remnants of stars like our own Sun, have found a remarkable object where the nuclear reactor that once powered it has only just shut down. This star, the hottest known white dwarf, H1504+65, seems to have been stripped of its entire outer regions during its death throes leaving behind the core that formed its power plant. Scientists from the United Kingdom, Germany and the USA focused two of NASA's space telescopes, the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE), onto H1504+65 to probe its composition and measure its temperature. The data revealed that the stellar surface is extremely hot, 200,000 degrees, and is virtually free of hydrogen and helium, something never before observed in any star. Instead, the surface is composed mainly of carbon and oxygen, the 'ashes' of the fusion of helium in a nuclear reactor. An important question we must answer is why has this unique star lost the hydrogen and helium, which usually hide the stellar interior from our view? Professor Martin Barstow (University of Leicester) said. 'Studying the nature of the ashes of dead stars give us important clues as to how stars like the Sun live their lives and eventually die. The nuclear waste of carbon and oxygen produced in the process are essential elements for life and are eventually recycled into interstellar space to form new stars, planets and, possibly, living beings.' Professor Klaus Werner (University of Tübingen) said. 'We realized that this star has, on astronomical time scales, only very recently shut down nuclear fusion (about a hundred years ago). We clearly see the bare, now extinct reactor that once powered a bright giant star.' Dr Jeffrey Kruk (Johns Hopkins University) said: 'Astronomers have long predicted that many stars would have carbon-oxygen cores near the end of their lives, but I never expected we would actually be able to see one. This is a wonderful opportunity to

  4. Astronomers, Transits of Venus, and the Birth of Experimental Psychology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheehan, William; Thurber, S.

    2012-01-01

    The eighteenth century transits of Venus were regarded as the most important astronomical events of their era. Halley's expectation was that by observing the contact points between the limbs of Venus and the Sun, this distance could be determined to an accuracy of one part in 500. But in the event, it proved otherwise. But, as the British historian Agnes Clerke wrote in 1902: "A transit of Venus seems, at first sight, full of promise for solving the problem of the sun's distance. For nothing would appear easier than to determine exactly either the duration of the passage of a small, dark orb across a large brilliant disc, or the instant of its entry upon or exit from it". But in that word `exactly' what snares and pitfalls lie hid!” In the post-mortem analysis of the disappointing results, astronomers devoted a great deal of effort to understand the sources of errors. They rehearsed their observational techniques by observing, under strictly controlled conditions, transits of artificial planets across artificial Suns, and studied such parameters as attention and reflex reaction. In the process, the transits of Venus provided an important impetus to the early development of experimental psychology.

  5. Pro-Amateur Observatories as a Significant Resource for Professional Astronomers - Taurus Hill Observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haukka, H.; Hentunen, V.-P.; Nissinen, M.; Salmi, T.; Aartolahti, H.; Juutilainen, J.; Vilokki, H.

    2013-09-01

    Taurus Hill Observatory (THO), observatory code A95, is an amateur observatory located in Varkaus, Finland. The observatory is maintained by the local astronomical association of Warkauden Kassiopeia [8]. THO research team has observed and measured various stellar objects and phenomena. Observatory has mainly focuse d on asteroid [1] and exoplanet light curve measurements, observing the gamma rays burst, supernova discoveries and monitoring [2]. We also do long term monitoring projects [3]. THO research team has presented its research work on previous EPSC meetings ([4], [5],[6], [7]) and got very supportive reactions from the European planetary science community. The results and publications that pro-amateur based observatories, like THO, have contributed, clearly demonstrates that pro-amateurs area significant resource for the professional astronomers now and even more in the future.

  6. The Organization and Management of the Virtual Astronomical Observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berriman, G. Bruce; Hanisch, Robert J.; Lazio, T. Joseph W.; Szalay, Alexander; Fabbiano, Giussepina

    2012-01-01

    The U.S. Virtual Astronomical Observatory (VAO; http://www.us-vao.org/) has been in operation since May 2010. Its goal is to enable new science through efficient integration of distributed multi-wavelength data. This paper describes the management and organization of the VAO, and emphasizes the techniques used to ensure efficiency in a distributed organization. Management methods include using an annual program plan as the basis for establishing contracts with member organizations, regular communication, and monitoring of processes.

  7. Astronomers Find World with Thick, Inhospitable Atmosphere and an Icy Heart

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-12-01

    Astronomers have discovered the second super-Earth exoplanet [1] for which they have determined the mass and radius, giving vital clues about its structure. It is also the first super-Earth where an atmosphere has been found. The exoplanet, orbiting a small star only 40 light-years away from us, opens up dramatic new perspectives in the quest for habitable worlds. The planet, GJ1214b, has a mass about six times that of Earth and its interior is likely to be mostly made of water ice. Its surface appears to be fairly hot and the planet is surrounded by a thick atmosphere, which makes it inhospitable for life as we know it on Earth. In this week's issue of Nature, astronomers announce the discovery of a planet around the nearby, low-mass star GJ1214 [2]. It is the second time a transiting super-Earth has been detected, after the recent discovery of the planet Corot-7b [3]. A transit occurs when the planet's orbit is aligned so that we see it crossing the face of its parent star. The newly discovered planet has a mass about six times that of our terrestrial home and 2.7 times its radius, falling in size between the Earth and the ice giants of the Solar System, Uranus and Neptune. Although the mass of GJ1214b is similar to that of Corot-7b, its radius is much larger, suggesting that the composition of the two planets must be quite different. While Corot-7b probably has a rocky core and may be covered with lava, astronomers believe that three quarters of GJ1214b is composed of water ice, the rest being made of silicon and iron. GJ1214b orbits its star once every 38 hours at a distance of only two million kilometres - 70 times closer to its star than the Earth is to the Sun. "Being so close to its host star, the planet must have a surface temperature of about 200 degrees Celsius, too hot for water to be liquid," says David Charbonneau, lead author of the paper reporting the discovery. When the astronomers compared the measured radius of GJ1214b with theoretical models of

  8. Preparing Colorful Astronomical Images and Illustrations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levay, Z. G.; Frattare, L. M.

    2001-12-01

    We present techniques for using mainstream graphics software, specifically Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, for producing composite color images and illustrations from astronomical data. These techniques have been used with numerous images from the Hubble Space Telescope to produce printed and web-based news, education and public presentation products as well as illustrations for technical publication. While Photoshop is not intended for quantitative analysis of full dynamic range data (as are IRAF or IDL, for example), we have had much success applying Photoshop's numerous, versatile tools to work with scaled images, masks, text and graphics in multiple semi-transparent layers and channels. These features, along with its user-oriented, visual interface, provide convenient tools to produce high-quality, full-color images and graphics for printed and on-line publication and presentation.

  9. Laboratory Molecular Astrophysics as an Invaluable Tool in understanding Astronomical Observations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraser, Helen Jane

    2015-08-01

    We are entering the decade of molecular astrochemistry: spectroscopic data pertaining to the interactions between baryonic matter and electromagnetic radiation are now at the forefront of astronomical observations. Elucidating such data is reliant on inputs from laboratory experiments, modeling, and theoretical chemistry / physics, a field that is intended to be a key focus for the proposed new commission in Laboratory Astrophysics.Here, we propose a “tour de force” review of some recent successes since the last GA in molecular astrophysics, particularly those that have been directly facilitated by laboratory data in Astrochemistry. It is vital to highlight to the astronomers that the absence of laboratory data from the literature would otherwise have precluded advances in our astronomical understanding, e.g:the detection of gas-phase water deep in pre-stellar cores,the detection of water and other molecular species in gravitationally lensed galaxies at z~6“Jumps” in the appearance or disappearance of molecules, including the very recent detection of the first branched organic molecule in the ISM, iso-propyl-cyanide,disentangling dense spectroscopic features in the sub-mm as measured by ALMA, Herschel and SOFIA, the so-called “weeds” and “flowers”,the first ''image'' of a CO snow-line in a protoplanetary disk.Looking forward, the advent of high spatial and spectral resolution telescopes, particularly ALMA, SKA E-ELT and JWST, will continue to drive forward the needs and interests of laboratory astrochemistry in the coming decade. We will look forward to five key areas where advances are expected, and both observational and laboratory techniques are evolving:-(a) understanding star forming regions at very high spatial and spectral senstivity and resolution(b) extragalactic astrochemistry(c) (exo-)planetary atmospheres, surfaces and Solar System sample return - linkinginterstellar and planetary chemistry(d) astrobiology - linking simple molecular

  10. Metal Construction Toys of the Early Twentieth Century: Their Astronomical Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rumstay, K. S.

    2004-12-01

    During the early twentieth century several toy manufacturers around the globe introduced construction toys in the form of sets of metal parts which could be assembled into a variety of models. The two most successful were the Erector Set, introduced in the United States by A.C. Gilbert in 1913, and the Meccano Set, patented in 1901 in England by Frank Hornby. Whereas the Erector Set never developed beyond being a child's toy, Hornby envisioned his Meccano system as providing a way to teach principles of mechanical engineering to young schoolboys. Indeed, his sets were first marketed under the name "Mechanics Made Easy", and were endorsed by Dr. H.S. Hele-Shaw, Head of the Engineering Department at Liverpool University. Popularity of the new Meccano sets spread throughout the world, spawning the formation of numerous amateur societies composed of adolescent boys and an increasing number of adult hobbyists. The variety of parts increased during the first third of the century, and increasingly sophisticated models were constructed and exhibited in competitive events. Among these were several clocks of remarkable accuracy, and at least one equatorial mounting for a small astronomical telescope. At the same time, many university science and engineering departments found these interchangeable metal parts invaluable in the construction of experimental apparatus. In 1934 a small-scale replica of Vannevar Bush's Differential Analyzer was constructed at the University of Manchester, and used for many years to perform mathematical computations. The introduction in 1928 of a flanged ring with 73 (a sub-multiple of 365) teeth allowed for construction of accurate orreries and astronomical clocks. The most remarkable of these was the Astronomical Clock constructed in the period 1924-1932 by M. Alexandre Rahm of Paris.

  11. Joseph M. Nyasani It is not only astronomers who have been ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    THE UBICATION OF THE PHYSICAL UNIVERSE. Joseph M. Nyasani. It is not only astronomers who have been wondering about what lies beyond the planetary system and the extent of that reality in terms of the space it occupies. Philosophers have equally been baffled by this same question even though it may not be fair ...

  12. Corral framework: Trustworthy and fully functional data intensive parallel astronomical pipelines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabral, J. B.; Sánchez, B.; Beroiz, M.; Domínguez, M.; Lares, M.; Gurovich, S.; Granitto, P.

    2017-07-01

    Data processing pipelines represent an important slice of the astronomical software library that include chains of processes that transform raw data into valuable information via data reduction and analysis. In this work we present Corral, a Python framework for astronomical pipeline generation. Corral features a Model-View-Controller design pattern on top of an SQL Relational Database capable of handling: custom data models; processing stages; and communication alerts, and also provides automatic quality and structural metrics based on unit testing. The Model-View-Controller provides concept separation between the user logic and the data models, delivering at the same time multi-processing and distributed computing capabilities. Corral represents an improvement over commonly found data processing pipelines in astronomysince the design pattern eases the programmer from dealing with processing flow and parallelization issues, allowing them to focus on the specific algorithms needed for the successive data transformations and at the same time provides a broad measure of quality over the created pipeline. Corral and working examples of pipelines that use it are available to the community at https://github.com/toros-astro.

  13. "Movie Star" Acting Strangely, Radio Astronomers Find

    Science.gov (United States)

    1999-01-01

    Astronomers have used the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio telescope to make the first-ever time-lapse "movie" showing details of gas motions around a star other than our Sun. The study, the largest observational project yet undertaken using Very Long Baseline Interferometry, has produced surprising results that indicate scientists do not fully understand stellar atmospheres. The "movie" shows that the atmosphere of a pulsating star more than 1,000 light-years away continues to expand during a part of the star's pulsation period in which astronomers expected it to start contracting. Philip Diamond and Athol Kemball, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Socorro, New Mexico, announced their findings at the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Austin, TX, today. "The continued expansion we're seeing contradicts current theoretical models for how these stars work," Diamond said. "The models have assumed spherical symmetry in the star's atmosphere, and our movie shows that this is not the case. Such models suggest that a shock wave passes outward from the star. Once it's passed, then the atmosphere should begin to contract because of the star's gravity. We've long passed that point and the contraction has not begun." The time-lapse images show that the gas motions are not uniform around the star. Most of the motion is that of gas moving directly outward from the star's surface. However, in about one-fourth of the ring, there are peculiar motions that do not fit this pattern. The scientists speculate that the rate of mass loss may not be the same from all parts of the star's surface. "A similar star behaved as predicted when studied a few years ago, so we're left to wonder what's different about this one," Diamond said. "Right now, we think that different rates of mass loss in the two stars may be the cause of the difference. This star is losing mass at 100 times the rate of the star in the earlier study." "This

  14. Non Relational Models for the Management of Large Amount of Astronomical Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. L. Martino

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this paper is the comparison between two different database typologies: the relational and the nonrelational architecture, in the context of the applications related to the use and distribution of astronomical data. The specific context is focused to problems quite different from those related to administrative and managerial environments within which were developed the leading technologies on which are based the modern systems of massive storage of data. The data provided by astronomical instrumentation are usually filtered out by the front-end system (trigger, anticoincidence, DSP etc., so they do not require special controls of congruence. Moreover, the related storage systems must be able to ensure an easy growth, minimizing human systemistic interventions and automating the related actions. The use of a non-relational architecture (NoSQL, offers great advantages during the insertion of informations within a data base, while the response speed of the queries is mainly tied to their type and complexity.

  15. Long scale astronomical variations in our solar system: consequences for future ice ages

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edvardsson, S.; Karlsson, K.G.

    2002-01-01

    It is well known that the Earth has gone through a number of glaciations during the last few million years. It is generally agreed that changes in the Earth's orbital parameters and obliquity play an important role in climate forcing, an idea originally due to Milutin Milankovitch. The climatic history of the Earth shows clear evidence of the precession periods (about 19 000 and 23 000 years) and changes in the obliquity (period about 41 000 years). The main period in glacial data (around 100 000 years) is, however, hard to explain in terms of orbital variations. During the last decade or so a large number of simulations of the planetary system have been reported, many of which have been concerned with the influence of variations in the Earth's orbit on climate. In former studies comparisons have been made between the astronomical parameters and the ice volume of the Earth. Generally speaking, the match between astronomical forcing and ice data has been rather poor. In this study we instead compare the parameters with changes in ice volume, which yields a much better agreement between the astronomical and the geological data. A number of climate models have been constructed to reproduce past climate history, and also to make predictions about the future. These are purely empirical models designed to match certain periods of past climate. Typically they also involve a substantial number of free parameters. (authors)

  16. A Case of Racial Discrimination: Azeglio Bemporad, Astronomer Poet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mangano, A.

    2015-04-01

    The stories from our archives do not only speak of scientific progress, tools, and data, but also of the events of the astronomers as men, and how their work is intertwined in their private, political, and social life. In the case of Azeglio Bemporad, who worked at Catania Astrophysical Observatory until 1938, year of purge against Jews in Italy, the painful history of Fascism fully enters our scientific institutions, changing the life of a person who had never dealt with politics.

  17. The Astronomical Orientation of the Urban Plan of Alexandria

    OpenAIRE

    Luisa, Ferro; Giulio, Magli

    2012-01-01

    Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in 331 BC. The newly founded town was conceived as an orthogonal grid based on a main longitudinal axis, later called Canopic Road. We analyse here the astronomical orientation of the project and propose that the main axis was deliberately oriented towards the rising sun on the day of birth of Alexander the Great. The argument is admittedly speculative as any Archaeoastronomy argument not backed up by written sources. However, it is nested accurately int...

  18. The Rare Book Collection of Capodimonte Astronomical Observatory Will be on the Web: Ancient Science Available to Everyone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cirella, E. O.; Caprio, G.

    2015-04-01

    This paper describes a project for the preservation, promotion, and creation of a website for the rare book collection of Capodimonte Astronomical Observatory. The project, promoted by INAF—Capodimonte Astronomical Observatory, was supported by the Campania Region through European funds. The final component of the project was the publication of a bibliographical catalog, Le Cinquecentine dell'Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, which was addressed to specialized users, including historians of science and bibliophiles.

  19. Education in Science Centers: Evaluating School Visits to an Astronomical Observatory in Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pedro Donizete Colombo Junior

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available The present article analyzes the activity “Guided Visit of School Groups” carried out at Astronomical Observatory of the Center for Scientific and Cultural Diffusion (CDCC of University of Sao Paulo (USP with K4 and K5 pupils. The objectives of this research were to identify influences of such activity on learning of astronomical concepts and on pupils’ motivation. The results demonstrate that pupils have difficulties to understand Solar System concepts and the distances involved, on the other hand, the activity motivates the pupils to return with their parents and friends to the Observatory. At last, the success of visits to science centers aiming at the learning of basic concepts and motivation comprises at least three moments: the one that precedes the visit, the visit itself and the return to the classroom.

  20. Conducting Original, Hands-On Astronomical Research in the Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corneau, M. J.

    2009-12-01

    Since 2007 I have been a Team Leader for the Tzec Maun Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to providing free, research grade, Internet telescopes to students, teachers and researchers around the world. The name Tzec Maun (pronounced “Teh-Zeck-Moan”) comes from Mayan culture. Tzec Maun was the jovial messenger, laughed at adversity. Based on the challenges students, researchers and professional astronomers face with finances, equipment, and telescope access, the jovial mascot seems to fit. Hundreds of hours performing astronomical outreach as a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador and Astronomical League Master of outreach taught me that the best way to inspirationally teach astronomy and space science (and most subjects) is actually being at the eyepiece. I’m NOT a fan of the traditional planetarium experience as a teaching tool because it inhibits inspiration and the learning experience to a 2-D mat on a faux horizon with artificial representations. Once, a student at my dark sky observatory excitedly commented that the night sky was like a 3-D planetarium. I have hosted several classes at my own personal dark sky observatory, but this resource is impractical for all but a few lucky students. Experience has taught me that the next best thing to being at the eyepiece is to control a remote telescope via the Internet. Tzec Maun’s arsenal of telescopes is all research capable, linked to the Internet and positioned for round-the-clock dark skies. The final conditions described above, mean that I can enter an 8:30am science class, log onto the Tzec Maun telescope Portal and turn over control of an Australian system (where it is night) to a student or teacher. Working as a group, the class can either begin their investigations. My Tzec Maun science team (TARP) is engaged in searching for potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs). PHA work excites student and teacher alike. Teaching from telescopes can unleash powerful attention-getting tools that enable

  1. Education and Outreach Opportunities in New Astronomical Facilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mould, J. R.; Pompea, S.

    2002-12-01

    Astronomy presents extraordinary opportunities for engaging young people in science from an early age. The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), supported by the National Science Foundation, leverages the attraction of astronomy with a suite of formal and informal education programs that engage our scientists and education and public outreach professionals in effective, strategic programs that capitalize on NOAO's role as a leader in science and in the design of new astronomical facilities. The core of the science education group at NOAO in Tucson consists of a group of Ph.D.-level scientists with experience in educational program management, curriculum and instructional materials development, teacher/scientist partnerships, and teacher professional development. This core group of scientist/educators hybrids has a strong background in earth and space science education as well as experience in working with and teaching about the technology that has enabled new astronomical discoveries. NOAO has a vigorous public affairs/media program and a history of effectively working locally, regionally, and nationally with the media, schools, science centers, and, planetaria. In particular, NOAO has created successful programs exploring how research data and tools can be used most effectively in the classroom. For example, the Teacher Leaders in Research Based Science Education explores how teachers can most effectively integrate astronomical research on novae, active galactic nuclei, and the Sun into classroom-based investigations. With immersive summer workshops at Kitt Peak National Observatory and the National Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak, teachers learn research and instrumentation skills and how to encourage and maintain research activities in their classrooms. Some of the new facilities proposed in the recent decadal plan, Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium (National Academy Press), can provide extended opportunities for incorporating

  2. Astronomical tunings of the Oligocene-Miocene transition from Pacific Ocean Site U1334 and implications for the carbon cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beddow, Helen M.; Liebrand, Diederik; Wilson, Douglas S.; Hilgen, Frits J.; Sluijs, Appy; Wade, Bridget S.; Lourens, Lucas J.

    2018-03-01

    Astronomical tuning of sediment sequences requires both unambiguous cycle pattern recognition in climate proxy records and astronomical solutions, as well as independent information about the phase relationship between these two. Here we present two different astronomically tuned age models for the Oligocene-Miocene transition (OMT) from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site U1334 (equatorial Pacific Ocean) to assess the effect tuning has on astronomically calibrated ages and the geologic timescale. These alternative age models (roughly from ˜ 22 to ˜ 24 Ma) are based on different tunings between proxy records and eccentricity: the first age model is based on an aligning CaCO3 weight (wt%) to Earth's orbital eccentricity, and the second age model is based on a direct age calibration of benthic foraminiferal stable carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) to eccentricity. To independently test which tuned age model and associated tuning assumptions are in best agreement with independent ages based on tectonic plate-pair spreading rates, we assign the tuned ages to magnetostratigraphic reversals identified in deep-marine magnetic anomaly profiles. Subsequently, we compute tectonic plate-pair spreading rates based on the tuned ages. The resultant alternative spreading-rate histories indicate that the CaCO3 tuned age model is most consistent with a conservative assumption of constant, or linearly changing, spreading rates. The CaCO3 tuned age model thus provides robust ages and durations for polarity chrons C6Bn.1n-C7n.1r, which are not based on astronomical tuning in the latest iteration of the geologic timescale. Furthermore, it provides independent evidence that the relatively large (several 10 000 years) time lags documented in the benthic foraminiferal isotope records relative to orbital eccentricity constitute a real feature of the Oligocene-Miocene climate system and carbon cycle. The age constraints from Site U1334 thus indicate that the delayed responses of the

  3. Scale Marking Method on the Circumference of Circle Elements for Astronomical Instruments in the Early Joseon Dynasty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mihn, Byeong-Hee; Lee, Ki-Won; Ahn, Young Sook; Lee, Yong Sam

    2015-03-01

    During the reign of King Sejong (世宗, 1418-1450) in the Joseon Dynasty, there were lots of astronomical instruments, including miniaturized ones. Those instruments utilized the technical know-how acquired through building contemporary astronomical instruments previously developed in the Song(宋), Jin(金), and Yuan(元) dynasties of China. In those days, many astronomical instruments had circles, rings, and spheres carved with a scale of 365.25, 100, and 24 parts, respectively, on their circumference. These were called the celestial-circumference degree, hundred-interval (Baekgak), and 24 direction, respectively. These scales are marked by the angular distance, not by the angle. Therefore, these circles, rings, and spheres had to be optimized in size to accomodate proper scales. Assuming that the scale system is composed of integer multiples of unit length, we studied the sizes of circles by referring to old articles and investigating existing artifacts. We discovered that the star chart of Cheonsang yeolcha bunyajido was drawn with a royal standard ruler (周尺) based on the unit length of 207 mm. Interestingly, its circumference was marked by the unit scale of 3 puns per 1 du (or degree) like Honsang (a celestial globe). We also found that Hyeonju ilgu (a equatorial sundial) has a Baekgak disk on a scale of 1 pun per 1 gak (that is an interval of time similar to a quarter). This study contributes to the analysis of specifications of numerous circular elements from old Korean astronomical instruments.

  4. Terahertz Mixing Characteristics of NbN Superconducting Tunnel Junctions and Related Astronomical Observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, J.

    2010-01-01

    High-sensitivity superconducting SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) mixers are playing an increasingly important role in the terahertz (THz) astronomical observation, which is an emerging research frontier in modern astrophysics. Superconducting SIS mixers with niobium (Nb) tunnel junctions have reached a sensitivity close to the quantum limit, but have a frequency limit about 0.7 THz (i.e., gap frequency of Nb tunnel junctions). Beyond this frequency Nb superconducting films will absorb energetic photons (i.e., energy loss) to break Cooper pairs, thereby resulting in significant degradation of the mixer performance. Therefore, it is of particular interest to develop THz superconducting SIS mixers incorporating tunnel junctions with a larger energy gap. Niobium-nitride (NbN) superconducting tunnel junctions have been long known for their large energy gap, almost double that of Nb ones. With the introduction of epitaxially grown NbN films, the fabrication technology of NbN superconducting tunnel junctions has been considerably improved in the recent years. Nevertheless, their performances are still not as good as Nb ones, and furthermore they are not yet demonstrated in real astronomical applications. Given the facts mentioned above, in this paper we systematically study the quantum mixing behaviors of NbN superconducting tunnel junctions in the THz regime and demonstrate an astronomical testing observation with a 0.5 THz superconducting SIS mixer developed with NbN tunnel junctions. The main results of this study include: (1) successful design and fabrication of a 0.4˜0.6 THz waveguide mixing circuit with the high-dielectric-constant MgO substrate; (2) successful fabrication of NbN superconducting tunnel junctions with the gap voltage reaching 5.6 mV and the quality factor as high as 15; (3) demonstration of a 0.5 THz waveguide NbN superconducting SIS mixer with a measured receiver noise temperature (no correction) as low as five times the quantum limit

  5. Catching Stardust and Bringing it Home: The Astronomical Importance of Sample Return

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brownlee, D.

    2002-12-01

    The return of lunar samples by the Apollo program provided the first opportunity to perform detailed laboratory studies of ancient solid materials from a known astronomical body. The highly detailed study of the samples, using the best available laboratory instruments and techniques, revolutionized our understanding of the Moon and provided fundamental insight into the remarkable and violent processes that occur early in the history of moons and terrestrial planets. This type of astronomical paleontology is only possible with samples and yet the last US sample return was made by Apollo 17- over thirty years ago! The NASA Stardust mission, began a new era of sample missions with its 1999 launch to retrieve samples from the short period comet Wild 2. Genesis (a solar wind collector) was launched in 2001, the Japanese MUSES-C asteroid sample return mission will launch in 2003 and Mars sample return missions are under study. All of these missions will use sophisticated ground-based instrumentation to provide types of information that cannot be obtained by astronomical and spacecraft remote sensing methods. In the case of Stardust, the goal is to determine the fundamental nature of the initial solid building blocks of solar systems at atomic-scale spatial resolution. The samples returned by the mission will be samples from the Kuiper Belt region and they are probably composed of submicron silicate and organic materials of both presolar and nebular origin. Unlocking the detailed records contained in the elemental, chemical, isotopic and mineralogical composition of these tiny components can only be appropriately explored with full power, precision and flexibility of laboratory instrumentation. Laboratory instrumentation has the advantage that is state-of-the-art and is not limited by serious considerations of power, mass, cost or even reliability. The comparison of the comet sample, accumulated beyond Neptune, with asteroidal meteorites that accumulated just beyond the

  6. Concepciones alternativas sobre Astronomía de profesorado español en formación

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María-Mercedes Varela-Losada

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available ResumenEl proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje de la Astronomía parece entrañar importantes dificultades, particularmente propiciando la generación de concepciones alternativas, como han mostrado numerosas investigaciones procedentes de diferentes contextos. El objetivo de este estudio es indagar sobre concepciones alternativas de profesorado en formación relacionadas con aspectos astronómicos, investigando si en el marco español aparecen los mismos esquemas alternativos que en otros contextos. Los resultados ponen en evidencia que el alumnado mencionado posee un gran número de concepciones alternativas sobre astronomía básica y que estas son similares a las encontradas en otros países.

  7. MYRaf: A new Approach with IRAF for Astronomical Photometric Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kilic, Y.; Shameoni Niaei, M.; Özeren, F. F.; Yesilyaprak, C.

    2016-12-01

    In this study, the design and some developments of MYRaf software for astronomical photometric reduction are presented. MYRaf software is an easy to use, reliable, and has a fast IRAF aperture photometry GUI tools. MYRaf software is an important step for the automated software process of robotic telescopes, and uses IRAF, PyRAF, matplotlib, ginga, alipy, and Sextractor with the general-purpose and high-level programming language Python and uses the QT framework.

  8. Structure of matter and the structure of the astronomical universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Layzer, D.

    1977-01-01

    It is suggested that the central problem of modern cosmology, the origin of astronomical systems, may be closely related to certain problems in solid-state physics. The arguments presented therefore afford some grounds for the claim that cosmology is a province of quantum chemistry--as well as for the opposite claim that quantum chemistry is a province of cosmology. The diameter-mass relation, gravitational clustering, cold universe prehistory, and radiation backgrounds are considered

  9. "Slit Mask Design for the Giant Magellan Telescope Multi-object Astronomical and Cosmological Spectrograph"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Darius; Marshall, Jennifer L.; Schmidt, Luke M.; Prochaska, Travis; DePoy, Darren L.

    2018-01-01

    The Giant Magellan Telescope Multi-object Astronomical and Cosmological Spectrograph (GMACS) is currently in development for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). GMACS will employ slit masks with a usable diameter of approximately 0.450 m for the purpose of multi-slit spectroscopy. Of significant importance are the design constraints and parameters of the multi-object slit masks themselves as well as the means for mapping astronomical targets to physical mask locations. Analytical methods are utilized to quantify deformation effects on a potential slit mask due to thermal expansion and vignetting of target light cones. Finite element analysis (FEA) is utilized to simulate mask flexure in changing gravity vectors. The alpha version of the mask creation program for GMACS, GMACS Mask Simulator (GMS), a derivative of the OSMOS Mask Simulator (OMS), is introduced.

  10. An anchored astronomical time-scale for the Turonian reference sections in the Umbria-Marche Basin, Italy

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Vleeschouwer, D.; Montanari, A.; Coccioni, R.

    2012-04-01

    In the Umbria-Marche basin, the aftermath of Ocean Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2, Bonarelli Level) is represented by the Turonian part of the Scaglia Rossa Formation. The Scaglia Rossa pelagic limestones were studied in the classic Contessa and Bottaccione sections near Gubbio, in the Umbria-Marche region of the northeastern Apennines of Italy. Oscillations between radiolarian cherts interbedded with foram-coccolith pelagic limestones are interpreted to follow the rhythm of precession and show hierarchical bundles, which are suggestive of eccentricity-related grouping. Eccentricity-bundles are correlated amongst the two studied sections. Moreover, the magnetic susceptibility signal of the Bottaccione section and the δ18O and δ13C record of both sections clearly demonstrate the imprint of precession and eccentricity. Eccentricity minima are associated with relatively warm periods (δ18O minima), characterized by an increased magnetic susceptibility signal and radiolarian blooms, which are expressed by frequent chert beds. Radiolarian blooms seem to hamper primary productivity, given that they correlate with δ13C minima. The delineated astronomical cycles constitute an eccentricity-based cyclostratigraphy for the Turonian part of the Scaglia Rossa. Moreover, the constructed cyclostratigraphy is anchored to numerical time by calibration with the astronomical solution La2010 (Laskar et al., 2011) and with recent radioisotopic ages from the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary interval near the GSSP in Colorado, USA (Meyers et al., 2012). The numerical age (93.9 ± 0.15 Ma; Meyers et al., 2012) of the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary (0.75 m above the top of the Bonarelli Level in the Contessa section; Tsikos et al., 2004; Kennedy et al., 2005) is used as the pinpoint to which our astronomical time-scale is anchored. Using the anchored astronomical time-scale for the Turonian of the Umbria-Marche basin, the top of the Bonarelli Level is placed at 93.97 ± 0.25 Ma, and the boundary

  11. [Terhi Kiiskinen. Sigfrid Aronus Forsius : Astronomer and Philosopher of Nature] / Liivi Aarma

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Aarma, Liivi, 1948-

    2009-01-01

    Arvustus: Kiiskinen, Terhi. Sigfrid Aronus Forsius : Astronomer and Philosopher of Nature. Europäische Studien zur Ideen- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte / Europaen Studies in the History of Science and Ideas. Hrsg. von / edited by Georg Gimpi und Juha Manninen. Frankfurt am Main, 2007. Sigfrid Aronus Forsius on tuntuim Põhjamaade renesanssi aegne Rootsi kuningriigi teadlane

  12. POST WWII Astronomy and Rebuilding U.S. Astronomical Institutions--The U.S. Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howard, W. E.

    1993-12-01

    A belief that technology contributed substantially to the winning of World War II spurred the formation of ONR, then NSF which was formed in ONR's image. NASA's space support, cold war competition, and ARPA's funding of high risk, high payoff technologies led to state-of-the-art instrumentation in astronomy. Limits on funding for instrumentation at individual institutions led to the concept and growth of national astronomy observatories that made observing time available to the best ideas from astronomers who had no access to big telescopes at home. Success of these major observatories lay also in their treatment of visitors who were made to feel a part of the institution. As federal funding became available, several issues were heavily debated, among which were overhead costs on grant awards, what the breakdown of responsibility should be for institutional vs. federal funding, spreading vs. concentrating the available funding, the role of the AAS and advisory groups, federal vs. researcher specification of the research program, and the roots of the modern debate concerning research relevance. U.S. astronomers are unique because of our eclecticism, our development of a winning system of workplaces, our peer review system, our united front presented by our projective planning and our periodic decade reviews, our international orientation, all in the context of national support that is preeminent in the world. These features operate within an economic system that enables us to communicate and travel easily, and scientific and academic administrations that permit astronomers to concentrate on their research without excess internal or external politics.

  13. Short-course Astronomical Research Seminars for High School and College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Jolyon

    2011-05-01

    Since 2008, I have helped lead several short-course astronomical research seminars with Russell M. Genet. These seminars have ranged from semester-long courses at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, California to long weekends at the University of Oregon's Pine Mountain Observatory. Each seminar is led by an experienced observer or group of observers who guide high school and college students through the scientific process from observations to publication. The students (anywhere from half a dozen to twenty in number) participate in and contribute to every step. Being a coauthor on one or more research papers offers students an advantage on college and scholarship applications. Similarly, graduate schools often prefer students with research experience. Many topics of research are appropriate for these short-courses including variable star, exoplanet, and asteroid photometry. However, the most successful topic has been visual double stars because the observations required are straitforward and the equipment is relatively inexpensive. The Journal of Double Star Observations is also welcoming of student research and provides swift publication. A detailed description of the short-course seminars can be found in the recent Collins Foundation Press volume titled Small Telescopes and Astronomical Research.

  14. NRAO Astronomer Wins Prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    Dr. Dale Frail, an astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Socorro, New Mexico, has been awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, according to the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. The Guggenheim Foundation describes its fellowships as "mid-career" awards "intended for men and women who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Frail, 48, has worked at the NRAO for more than 20 years, first as a postdoctoral fellow, and then as a staff scientist. He received his bachelor's degree in physics from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, and his Ph.D in astronomy from the University of Toronto. Frail is best known for his landmark contributions to the understanding of gamma ray bursts, making critical measurements that provided key insights into the mechanisms of these superenergetic and once-mysterious explosions. He also has made important contributions to the understanding of other astronomical phenomena, including pulsars and their neighborhoods, supernova remnants, and magnetars. In 1992, he was the co-discoverer, with Alex Wolszczan, of the first planets outside our own solar system. "We congratulate Dale on this well-deserved honor that recognizes not only his past achievements but also his potential for exciting scientific work in the future," said Dr. Fred K.Y. Lo, NRAO Director. "We're very proud to see one of our scientists receive such a great honor," Lo added. Frail is one of 180 recipients of this year's Guggenheim Fellowships, chosen from some 3,000 applicants. The fellowships were established in 1925 and past recipients include photographer Ansel Adams, author Saul Bellow, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and chemist Linus Pauling. 102 Guggenheim Fellows have subsequently won Nobel Prizes, and others have received Pulitzer Prizes and other honors. As a Guggenheim Fellow, Frail intends to intensify his research in the areas of pulsars

  15. Cooperation for Common Use of SEE Astronomical Database as a Regional Virtual Observatory in Different Scientific Projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinigin, Gennady; Protsyuk, Yuri; Shulga, Alexander

    The activity of scientific collaborative and co-operative research between South-Eastern European (SEE) observatories is enlarged in the last time. The creation of a common database as a regional virtual observatory is very desirable. The creation of astronomical information resource with a capability of interactive access to databases and telescopes on the base of the general astronomical database of the SEE countries is presented. This resource may be connected with the European network. A short description of the NAO database is presented. The total amount of the NAO information makes about 90 GB, the one obtained from other sources - about 15 GB. The mean diurnal level of the new astronomical information produced with the NAO CCD instruments makes from 300 MB up to 2 GB, depending on the purposes and conditions of observations. The majority of observational data is stored in FITS format. Possibility of using of VO-table format for displaying these data in the Internet is studied. Activities on development and the further refinement of storage, exchange and data processing standards are conducted.

  16. Hera: High Energy Astronomical Data Analysis via the Internet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valencic, Lynne A.; Chai, P.; Pence, W.; Snowden, S.

    2011-09-01

    The HEASARC at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has developed Hera, a data processing facility for analyzing high energy astronomical data over the internet. Hera provides all the software packages, disk space, and computing resources needed to do general processing of and advanced research on publicly available data from High Energy Astrophysics missions. The data and data products are kept on a server at GSFC and can be downloaded to a user's local machine. This service is provided for free to students, educators, and researchers for educational and research purposes.

  17. Astronomical Observations Astronomy and the Study of Deep Space

    CERN Document Server

    2010-01-01

    Our Search for knowledge about the universe has been remarkable, heartbreaking, fantastical, and inspiring, and this search is just beginning. Astronomical Observations is part of a 7 book series that takes readers through a virtual time warp of our discovery. From the nascent space programs of the 1960's to today's space tourism and the promise of distant planet colonization, readers will be transfixed. Throughout this journey of the mind, Earth-bound explorers gain keen insight into the celestial phenomena that have fascinated humans for centuries. Thrilling narratives about indefatigable sc

  18. The Future is Hera! Analyzing Astronomical Over the Internet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valencic, L. A.; Chai, P.; Pence, W.; Shafer, R.; Snowden, S.

    2008-01-01

    Hera is the data processing facility provided by the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for analyzing astronomical data. Hera provides all the pre-installed software packages, local disk space, and computing resources need to do general processing of FITS format data files residing on the users local computer, and to do research using the publicly available data from the High ENergy Astrophysics Division. Qualified students, educators and researchers may freely use the Hera services over the internet of research and educational purposes.

  19. A refined astronomically calibrated 40Ar/39Ar age for Fish Canyon sanidine

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rivera, T.A.; Storey, M.; Zeeden, C.; Hilgen, F.J.; Kuiper, K.

    2011-01-01

    Intercalibration between the astronomical and radio-isotopic dating methods provides a means to improving accuracy and reducing uncertainty of an integrated, multi-chronometer geologic timescale. Here we report a high-precision 40Ar/39Ar age for the FishCanyon sanidine (FCs) neutron fluence monitor,

  20. Astronomer's new guide to the galaxy: largest map of cold dust revealed

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-07-01

    Astronomers have unveiled an unprecedented new atlas of the inner regions of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, peppered with thousands of previously undiscovered dense knots of cold cosmic dust -- the potential birthplaces of new stars. Made using observations from the APEX telescope in Chile, this survey is the largest map of cold dust so far, and will prove an invaluable map for observations made with the forthcoming ALMA telescope, as well as the recently launched ESA Herschel space telescope. ESO PR Photo 24a/09 View of the Galactic Plane from the ATLASGAL survey (annotated and in five sections) ESO PR Photo 24b/09 View of the Galactic Plane from the ATLASGAL survey (annotated) ESO PR Photo 24c/09 View of the Galactic Plane from the ATLASGAL survey (in five sections) ESO PR Photo 24d/09 View of the Galactic Plane from the ATLASGAL survey ESO PR Photo 24e/09 The Galactic Centre and Sagittarius B2 ESO PR Photo 24f/09 The NGC 6357 and NGC 6334 nebulae ESO PR Photo 24g/09 The RCW120 nebula ESO PR Video 24a/09 Annotated pan as seen by the ATLASGAL survey This new guide for astronomers, known as the APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL) shows the Milky Way in submillimetre-wavelength light (between infrared light and radio waves [1]). Images of the cosmos at these wavelengths are vital for studying the birthplaces of new stars and the structure of the crowded galactic core. "ATLASGAL gives us a new look at the Milky Way. Not only will it help us investigate how massive stars form, but it will also give us an overview of the larger-scale structure of our galaxy", said Frederic Schuller from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, leader of the ATLASGAL team. The area of the new submillimetre map is approximately 95 square degrees, covering a very long and narrow strip along the galactic plane two degrees wide (four times the width of the full Moon) and over 40 degrees long. The 16 000 pixel-long map was made with the LABOCA submillimetre

  1. Global Vlasov simulation on magnetospheres of astronomical objects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Umeda, Takayuki; Ito, Yosuke; Fukazawa, Keiichiro

    2013-01-01

    Space plasma is a collisionless, multi-scale, and highly nonlinear medium. There are various types of self-consistent computer simulations that treat space plasma according to various approximations. We develop numerical schemes for solving the Vlasov (collisionless Boltzmann) equation, which is the first-principle kinetic equation for collisionless plasma. The weak-scaling benchmark test shows that our parallel Vlasov code achieves a high performance and a high scalability. Currently, we use more than 1000 cores for parallel computations and apply the present parallel Vlasov code to various cross-scale processes in space plasma, such as a global simulation on the interaction between solar/stellar wind and magnetospheres of astronomical objects

  2. The correspondence of Giovanni Santini and Giuseppe Lorenzoni, directors of the Astronomical Observatory of Padua in the 19th century

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luisa Pigatto

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available

    Giovanni Santini was appointed director of the Astronomical Observatory of Padova from 1817 to 1877. His scientific correspondence covers a period from 1807 to 1874. Most of the letters are from Italian and European astronomers, mainly concerning astronomical subjects. In actual fact, all Santini’s activity was devoted to the classical astronomy, mainly to the new comets and planets orbit calculation, as far as to the compilation of a catalogue of almost ten thousand stars. From 1821 to 1828, he was involved in geodetic observations in order to determine the difference of longitude between Milan-Padua and Padua-Fiume. Giuseppe Lorenzoni was appointed director after Santini’s death, from 1877 to 1913. Since 1873, he took part in the Italian Geodetic Commission to which he devoted almost all his scientific activity. Lorenzoni’s scientific correspondence was partly lost for war reasons. A partial correspondence with Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli and almost the complete correspondence with Pietro Tacchini, were recovered after the second World War. Santini and Lorenzoni correspondence cover a period about a hundred years long. So, it is an important tool of knowledge for the history of Padova Astronomical Observatory in the 19th century, for its scientific activity, and for the relationship among Italian and European astronomers and institutions.



  3. Quasi-periodic fractal patterns in geomagnetic reversals, geological activity, and astronomical events

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Puetz, Stephen J.; Borchardt, Glenn

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Spectral analysis indicates similar harmonics in astronomical and geological events. • Quasi-periodic cycles occur in tripling patterns of 30.44, 91.33, 274, 822, and 2466 myr. • Similar astro- and geo-phases suggest that the cycles develop from a common source. - Abstract: The cause of geomagnetic reversals remains a geological mystery. With the availability of improved paleomagnetic databases in the past three years, a reexamination of possible periodicity in the geomagnetic reversal rate seems warranted. Previous reports of cyclicity in the reversal rate, along with the recent discovery of harmonic cycles in a variety of natural events, sparked our interest in reevaluating possible patterns in the reversal rate. Here, we focus on geomagnetic periodicity, but also analyze paleointensity, zircon formation, star formation, quasar formation, supernova, and gamma ray burst records to determine if patterns that occur in other types of data have similar periodicity. If so, then the degree of synchronization will indicate likely causal relationships with geomagnetic reversals. To achieve that goal, newly available time-series records from these disciplines were tested for cyclicity by using spectral analysis and time-lagged cross-correlation techniques. The results showed evidence of period-tripled cycles of 30.44, 91.33, 274, 822, and 2466 million years, corresponding to the periodicity from a new Universal Cycle model. Based on the results, a fractal model of the universe is hypothesized in which sub-electron fractal matter acts as a dynamic medium for large-scale waves that cause the cycles in astronomical and geological processes. According to this hypothesis, the medium of sub-electron fractal matter periodically compresses and decompresses according to the standard laws for mechanical waves. Consequently, the compressions contribute to high-pressure environments and vice versa for the decompressions, which are hypothesized to cause the

  4. Scale Marking Method on the Circumference of Circle Elements for Astronomical Instruments in the Early Joseon Dynasty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Byeong-Hee Mihn

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available During the reign of King Sejong (世宗, 1418-1450 in the Joseon Dynasty, there were lots of astronomical instruments, including miniaturized ones. Those instruments utilized the technical know-how acquired through building contemporary astronomical instruments previously developed in the Song(宋, Jin(金, and Yuan(元 dynasties of China. In those days, many astronomical instruments had circles, rings, and spheres carved with a scale of 365.25, 100, and 24 parts, respectively, on their circumference. These were called the celestial-circumference degree, hundred-interval (Baekgak, and 24 direction, respectively. These scales are marked by the angular distance, not by the angle. Therefore, these circles, rings, and spheres had to be optimized in size to accomodate proper scales. Assuming that the scale system is composed of integer multiples of unit length, we studied the sizes of circles by referring to old articles and investigating existing artifacts. We discovered that the star chart of Cheonsang yeolcha bunyajido was drawn with a royal standard ruler (周尺 based on the unit length of 207 mm. Interestingly, its circumference was marked by the unit scale of 3 puns per 1 du (or degree like Honsang (a celestial globe. We also found that Hyeonju ilgu (a equatorial sundial has a Baekgak disk on a scale of 1 pun per 1 gak (that is an interval of time similar to a quarter. This study contributes to the analysis of specifications of numerous circular elements from old Korean astronomical instruments.

  5. The analysis of distribution of meteorological over China in astronomical site selection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Cai-yun; Weng, Ning-quan

    2014-02-01

    The distribution of parameters such as sunshine hours, precipitation, and visibility were obtained by analyzing the meteorological data in 906 stations of China during 1981~2012. And the month and annual variations of the parameters in some typical stations were discussed. The results show that: (1) the distribution of clear days is similar to that of sunshine hours, the values of which decrease from north to south and from west to east. The distributions of cloud, precipitation and vapor pressure are opposite. (2) The northwest areas in China have the characteristic such as low precipitation and vapor pressure, small cloud clever, and good visibility, which are the general conditions of astronomical site selection. (3) The parameters have obvious month variation. There are large precipitation, long sunshine hours and strong radiation in the mid months of one year, which are opposite in beginning and ending of one year. (4) In the selected stations, the value of vapor pressure decreases year by year, and the optical depth is similar or invariable. All the above results provided for astronomical site selection.

  6. Providing comprehensive and consistent access to astronomical observatory archive data: the NASA archive model

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGlynn, Thomas; Fabbiano, Giuseppina; Accomazzi, Alberto; Smale, Alan; White, Richard L.; Donaldson, Thomas; Aloisi, Alessandra; Dower, Theresa; Mazzerella, Joseph M.; Ebert, Rick; Pevunova, Olga; Imel, David; Berriman, Graham B.; Teplitz, Harry I.; Groom, Steve L.; Desai, Vandana R.; Landry, Walter

    2016-07-01

    Since the turn of the millennium a constant concern of astronomical archives have begun providing data to the public through standardized protocols unifying data from disparate physical sources and wavebands across the electromagnetic spectrum into an astronomical virtual observatory (VO). In October 2014, NASA began support for the NASA Astronomical Virtual Observatories (NAVO) program to coordinate the efforts of NASA astronomy archives in providing data to users through implementation of protocols agreed within the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA). A major goal of the NAVO collaboration has been to step back from a piecemeal implementation of IVOA standards and define what the appropriate presence for the US and NASA astronomy archives in the VO should be. This includes evaluating what optional capabilities in the standards need to be supported, the specific versions of standards that should be used, and returning feedback to the IVOA, to support modifications as needed. We discuss a standard archive model developed by the NAVO for data archive presence in the virtual observatory built upon a consistent framework of standards defined by the IVOA. Our standard model provides for discovery of resources through the VO registries, access to observation and object data, downloads of image and spectral data and general access to archival datasets. It defines specific protocol versions, minimum capabilities, and all dependencies. The model will evolve as the capabilities of the virtual observatory and needs of the community change.

  7. Astronomers Who Write Science Fiction: Using SF as a Form of Astronomy Outreach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraknoi, Andrew

    2017-01-01

    In a recent survey, I have identified 21 living professional astronomers who write science fiction, plus a yet uncounted number of physicists. Many of the science fiction stories by this group involve, as you might imagine, reasonable extrapolation from current scientific ideas and discoveries. These stories, some of which are available free on the Web or are collected in inexpensive anthologies, represented a method of astronomy outreach to which relatively little attention has been paid. I will list the authors identified in the survey and provide a representative list of their stories or novels, organized by astronomical topic. I will also discuss how written SF (and SF films based on ideas by scientists, such as Kip Thorne's "Interstellar") can be used in general education classes and public programs. Scientists do not need to cede the field to wizards, dragons, and zombies! (Note: The author is included in the list of 21, having published two short stories in two different anthologies recently.)

  8. Toward a continuous 405-kyr-calibrated Astronomical Time Scale for the Mesozoic Era

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinnov, Linda; Ogg, James; Huang, Chunju

    2010-05-01

    Mesozoic cyclostratigraphy is being assembled into a continuous Astronomical Time Scale (ATS) tied to the Earth's cyclic orbital parameters. Recognition of a nearly ubiquitous, dominant ~400-kyr cycling in formations throughout the era has been particularly striking. Composite formations spanning contiguous intervals up to 50 myr clearly express these long-eccentricity cycles, and in some cases, this cycling is defined by third- or fourth-order sea-level sequences. This frequency is associated with the 405-kyr orbital eccentricity cycle, which provides a basic metronome and enables the extension of the well-defined Cenozoic ATS to scale the majority of the Mesozoic Era. This astronomical calibration has a resolution comparable to the 1% to 0.1% precision for radioisotope dating of Mesozoic ash beds, but with the added benefit of providing continuous stratigraphic coverage between dated beds. Extended portions of the Mesozoic ATS provide solutions to long-standing geologic problems of tectonics, eustasy, paleoclimate change, and rates of seafloor spreading.

  9. Astronomical Orientation Method Based on Lunar Observations Utilizing Super Wide Field of View

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    PU Junyu

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available In this paper,astronomical orientation is achieved by observing the moon utilizing camera with super wide field of view,and formulae are deduced in detail.An experiment based on real observations verified the stability of the method.In this experiment,after 15 minutes' tracking shoots,the internal precision could be superior to ±7.5" and the external precision could approximately reach ±20".This camera-based method for astronomical orientation can change the traditional mode (aiming by human eye based on theodolite,thus lowering the requirements for operator's skill to some extent.Furthermore,camera with super wide field of view can realize the function of continuous tracking shoots on the moon without complicated servo control devices.Considering the similar existence of gravity on the moon and the earth's phase change when observed from the moon,once the technology of self-leveling is developed,this method can be extended to orientation for lunar rover by shooting the earth.

  10. Urban light pollution - The effect of atmospheric aerosols on astronomical observations at night

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph, Joachim H.; Mekler, Yuri; Kaufman, Yoram J.

    1991-01-01

    The transfer of diffuse city light from a localized source through a dust-laden atmosphere with optical depth less than 0.5 has been analyzed in the source-observer plane on the basis of an approximate treatment. The effect on several types of astronomical observation at night has been studied, considering different size distributions and amounts as well as particle shapes of the aerosols. The analysis is made in terms of the signal-to-noise ratios for a given amount of aerosol. The model is applied to conditions at the Wise Astronomical Observatory in the Negev desert, and limiting backgrounds for spectroscopy, photometry, and photography of stars and extended objects have been calculated for a variety of signal-to-noise ratios. Applications to observations with different equipment at various distances from an urban area of any size are possible. Due to the use of signal-to-noise ratios, the conclusions are different for the different experimental techniques used in astronomy.

  11. Aboriginal astronomical traditions from Ooldea, South Australia. Part 1: Nyeeruna and 'The Orion Story'

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leaman, Trevor M.; Hamacher, Duane W.

    2014-07-01

    Whilst camped at Ooldea, South Australia, between 1919 and 1935, the amateur anthropologist Daisy Bates CBE recorded the daily lives, lore and oral traditions of the Aboriginal people of the Great Victoria Desert region surrounding Ooldea. Among her archived notes are stories regarding the Aboriginal astronomical traditions of this region. One story in particular, involving the stars making up the modern western constellations of Orion and Taurus, and thus referred to here as 'The Orion Story', stands out for its level of detail and possible references to transient astronomical phenomena. Here, we critically analyse several important elements of 'The Orion Story', including its relationship to an important secret-sacred male initiation rite. This paper is the first in a series attempting to reconstruct a more complete picture of the sky knowledge and star lore of the Aboriginal people of the Great Victoria Desert.

  12. On Two Color and CCD Methods for the Determination of Astronomic Position.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1986-03-14

    INTRODUCTION .................................... 2 A. Astroposition Objectives As Related to Two-Color Refractometry .................. 2 B. Results...value for the astronomic longitude and latitude.-_ A. Astroposition Objectives As Related to Two-Color Refractometry The long term objectives consist...The interior of the box was divided into 4 bays containing the telescope, the refractometry optics, the power supplies and the refralctometry

  13. Comment on "Astronomical alignments as the cause of ~M6+ seismicity"

    OpenAIRE

    Zanette, Damian H.

    2011-01-01

    It is shown that, according to the criteria used by M. Omerbashich (arXiv:1104.2036v4 [physics.gen-ph]), during 2010 the Earth was aligned with at least one pair of planets some 98.6% of the time. This firmly supports Omerbashich's claim that 2010 strongest earthquakes occurred during such astronomical alignments. On this basis, we argue that seismicity is, generally, a phenomenon of astrological origin.

  14. Multinational History of Strasbourg Astronomical Observatory

    CERN Document Server

    Heck, André

    2005-01-01

    Strasbourg Astronomical Observatory is quite an interesting place for historians: several changes of nationality between France and Germany, high-profile scientists having been based there, big projects born or installed in its walls, and so on. Most of the documents circulating on the history of the Observatory and on related matters have however been so far poorly referenced, if at all. This made necessary the compilation of a volume such as this one, offering fully-documented historical facts and references on the first decades of the Observatory history, authored by both French and German specialists. The experts contributing to this book have done their best to write in a way understandable to readers not necessarily hyperspecialized in astronomy nor in the details of European history. After an introductory chapter by the Editor, contributions by Wolfschmidt and by Duerbeck respectively deal extensively with the German periods and review people and instrumentation, while another paper by Duerbeck is more...

  15. Dacic Ancient Astronomical Research in Sarmizegetuza

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emanuel George Oprea

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The actual Romanian territory belongs to Carpatho-Danubian Space and to Ancient Europe. The Ancient European Society was a vast cultural entity based on a theocratic, matriarchal society, peaceful and art creating.Temples of Sarmizegetusa have given rise to several theories over time, proven by historians with the most diverse arguments. The largest complex of temples and sanctuaries was founded in Sarmizegetusa Regia, the Dacian’s main fortress and ancient capital of Dacia in the time of King Decebalus. The mysterious form of settlements has led researchers to the conclusion that the locations were astronomical observation shrines. Among the places of Dacian worship in Orastie Mountains the most impressive is the Great Circular Sanctuary, used to perform some celestial observations, and also as original solar calendar. This paper had the purpose to re-discover the Dacian Civilization and Dacian cosmogony based on the accumulated knowledge upon our country’s past.

  16. From Casual Stargazer to Amateur Astronomer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eagle, Dave

    The word amateur stems from the French word Amour, meaning "Lover Of". And there is a whole army of amateur astronomers around the world who just love doing astronomy. They don't get paid for the privilege of experiencing the sky in all its glory, but by making detailed observations they do make a very important contribution towards the Science. These observations are especially useful when organized as a collective effort. Citizen science has really taken off in the last few years and the GAIA project will soon be producing so much data, that the professionals just will not have enough manpower to tackle all the data. They will rely on amateurs sitting on their computers at home. But it is under a dark sky that astronomy really comes alive. The fact that you have picked up this book, must mean that you are interested in taking the hobby a step forward.

  17. The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neugebauer, G.; Habing, H. J.; Van Duinen, R.; Aumann, H. H.; Beichman, C. A.; Baud, B.; Beintema, D. A.; Boggess, N.; Clegg, P. E.; De Jong, T.

    1984-01-01

    The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) consists of a spacecraft and a liquid helium cryostat that contains a cooled IR telescope. The telescope's focal plane assembly is cooled to less than 3 K, and contains 62 IR detectors in the survey array which are arranged so that every source crossing the field of view can be seen by at least two detectors in each of four wavelength bands. The satellite was launched into a 900 km-altitude near-polar orbit, and its cryogenic helium supply was exhausted on November 22, 1983. By mission's end, 72 percent of the sky had been observed with three or more hours-confirming scans, and 95 percent with two or more hours-confirming scans. About 2000 stars detected at 12 and 25 microns early in the mission, and identified in the SAO (1966) catalog, have a positional uncertainty ellipse whose axes are 45 x 9 arcsec for an hours-confirmed source.

  18. Parsley: a Command-Line Parser for Astronomical Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deich, William

    Parsley is a sophisticated keyword + value parser, packaged as a library of routines that offers an easy method for providing command-line arguments to programs. It makes it easy for the user to enter values, and it makes it easy for the programmer to collect and validate the user's entries. Parsley is tuned for astronomical applications: for example, dates entered in Julian, Modified Julian, calendar, or several other formats are all recognized without special effort by the user or by the programmer; angles can be entered using decimal degrees or dd:mm:ss; time-like intervals as decimal hours, hh:mm:ss, or a variety of other units. Vectors of data are accepted as readily as scalars.

  19. Stray radiation and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite /IRAS/ telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noll, R. J.; Harned, R.; Breault, R. P.; Malugin, R.

    1981-01-01

    Stray light control is a major consideration in the design of infrared cryogenically cooled telescopes such as the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS). The basic design of the baffle system, and the placement, shape, and coating of the secondary support struts for the telescope subsystem are described. The intent of this paper is to highlight the stray light problems encountered while designing the system, and to illustrate how computer analysis can be a useful design aid. Scattering measurements of the primary mirror, and a full system level scatter measurement are presented. Comparisons of predicted performance with the measured results are also presented.

  20. The urban astronomer's guide a walking tour of the cosmos for city sky watchers

    CERN Document Server

    Mollise, Rod

    2006-01-01

    This book covers the "why," "how," and "what" of astronomy under light-polluted skies. It is aimed at urban astronomers and showcases the countless objects - galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters - that can be seen in even in heavily light polluted urban skies.

  1. Working data together: the accountability and reflexivity of digital astronomical practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoeppe, Götz

    2014-04-01

    Drawing on ethnomethodology, this article considers the sequential work of astronomers who combine observations from telescopes at two observatories in making a data set for scientific analyses. By witnessing the induction of a graduate student into this work, it aims at revealing the backgrounded assumptions that enter it. I find that these researchers achieved a consistent data set by engaging diverse evidential contexts as contexts of accountability. Employing graphs that visualize data in conventional representational formats of observational astronomy, experienced practitioners held each other accountable by using an 'implicit cosmology', a shared (but sometimes negotiable) characterization of 'what the universe looks like' through these formats. They oriented to data as malleable, that is, as containing artifacts of the observing situation which are unspecified initially but can be defined and subsequently removed. Alternating between reducing data and deducing astronomical phenomena, they ascribed artifacts to local observing conditions or computational procedures, thus maintaining previously stabilized phenomena reflexively. As researchers in data-intensive sciences are often removed from the instruments that generated the data they use, this example demonstrates how scientists can achieve agreement by engaging stable 'global' data sets and diverse contexts of accountability, allowing them to bypass troubling features and limitations of data generators.

  2. Adapting astronomical source detection software to help detect animals in thermal images obtained by unmanned aerial systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Longmore, S. N.; Collins, R. P.; Pfeifer, S.; Fox, S. E.; Mulero-Pazmany, M.; Bezombes, F.; Goodwind, A.; de Juan Ovelar, M.; Knapen, J. H.; Wich, S. A.

    2017-02-01

    In this paper we describe an unmanned aerial system equipped with a thermal-infrared camera and software pipeline that we have developed to monitor animal populations for conservation purposes. Taking a multi-disciplinary approach to tackle this problem, we use freely available astronomical source detection software and the associated expertise of astronomers, to efficiently and reliably detect humans and animals in aerial thermal-infrared footage. Combining this astronomical detection software with existing machine learning algorithms into a single, automated, end-to-end pipeline, we test the software using aerial video footage taken in a controlled, field-like environment. We demonstrate that the pipeline works reliably and describe how it can be used to estimate the completeness of different observational datasets to objects of a given type as a function of height, observing conditions etc. - a crucial step in converting video footage to scientifically useful information such as the spatial distribution and density of different animal species. Finally, having demonstrated the potential utility of the system, we describe the steps we are taking to adapt the system for work in the field, in particular systematic monitoring of endangered species at National Parks around the world.

  3. Astronomical Surveys and Big Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mickaelian Areg M.

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Recent all-sky and large-area astronomical surveys and their catalogued data over the whole range of electromagnetic spectrum, from γ-rays to radio waves, are reviewed, including such as Fermi-GLAST and INTEGRAL in γ-ray, ROSAT, XMM and Chandra in X-ray, GALEX in UV, SDSS and several POSS I and POSS II-based catalogues (APM, MAPS, USNO, GSC in the optical range, 2MASS in NIR, WISE and AKARI IRC in MIR, IRAS and AKARI FIS in FIR, NVSS and FIRST in radio range, and many others, as well as the most important surveys giving optical images (DSS I and II, SDSS, etc., proper motions (Tycho, USNO, Gaia, variability (GCVS, NSVS, ASAS, Catalina, Pan-STARRS, and spectroscopic data (FBS, SBS, Case, HQS, HES, SDSS, CALIFA, GAMA. An overall understanding of the coverage along the whole wavelength range and comparisons between various surveys are given: galaxy redshift surveys, QSO/AGN, radio, Galactic structure, and Dark Energy surveys. Astronomy has entered the Big Data era, with Astrophysical Virtual Observatories and Computational Astrophysics playing an important role in using and analyzing big data for new discoveries.

  4. Astronomical phenomena: events with high impact factor in teaching optics and photonics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curticapean, Dan

    2014-07-01

    Astronomical phenomena fascinate people from the very beginning of mankind up to today. They have a enthusiastic effect, especially on young people. Among the most amazing and well-known phenomena are the sun and moon eclipses. The impact factor of such events is very high, as they are being covered by mass media reports and the Internet, which provides encyclopedic content and discussion in social networks. The principal optics and photonics topics that can be included in such lessons originate from geometrical optics and the basic phenomena of reflection, refraction and total internal reflection. Lenses and lens systems up to astronomical instruments also have a good opportunity to be presented. The scientific content can be focused on geometrical optics but also diffractive and quantum optics can be incorporated successfully. The author will present how live streams of the moon eclipses can be used to captivate the interest of young listeners for optics and photonics. The gathered experience of the last two moon eclipses visible from Germany (on Dec, 21 2010 and Jun, 15 2011) will be considered. In an interactive broadcast we reached visitors from more than 135 countries.

  5. Ticking Stellar Time Bomb Identified - Astronomers find prime suspect for a Type Ia supernova

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-11-01

    Using ESO's Very Large Telescope and its ability to obtain images as sharp as if taken from space, astronomers have made the first time-lapse movie of a rather unusual shell ejected by a "vampire star", which in November 2000 underwent an outburst after gulping down part of its companion's matter. This enabled astronomers to determine the distance and intrinsic brightness of the outbursting object. It appears that this double star system is a prime candidate to be one of the long-sought progenitors of the exploding stars known as Type Ia supernovae, critical for studies of dark energy. "One of the major problems in modern astrophysics is the fact that we still do not know exactly what kinds of stellar system explode as a Type Ia supernova," says Patrick Woudt, from the University of Cape Town and lead author of the paper reporting the results. "As these supernovae play a crucial role in showing that the Universe's expansion is currently accelerating, pushed by a mysterious dark energy, it is rather embarrassing." The astronomers studied the object known as V445 in the constellation of Puppis ("the Stern") in great detail. V445 Puppis is the first, and so far only, nova showing no evidence at all for hydrogen. It provides the first evidence for an outburst on the surface of a white dwarf [1] dominated by helium. "This is critical, as we know that Type Ia supernovae lack hydrogen," says co-author Danny Steeghs, from the University of Warwick, UK, "and the companion star in V445 Pup fits this nicely by also lacking hydrogen, instead dumping mainly helium gas onto the white dwarf." In November 2000, this system underwent a nova outburst, becoming 250 times brighter than before and ejecting a large quantity of matter into space. The team of astronomers used the NACO adaptive optics instrument [2] on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) to obtain very sharp images of V445 Puppis over a time span of two years. The images show a bipolar shell, initially with a very narrow

  6. From casual stargazer to amateur astronomer how to advance to the next level

    CERN Document Server

    Eagle, Dave

    2014-01-01

    The beginning astronomical observer passes through a series of stages.The initial stage is hugely exciting and gives beginners a real buzz as they discover some of the faint fuzzy objects,  markings on the planets, rings around Saturn and the craters on the Moon. But as novice stargazers progress, they want to know what more there is than looking at faint fuzzy blobs or indistinct planet markings. Many novices jump to the conclusion – wrongly – that they need to spend lots of money on expensive equipment to progress.   “From Casual Stargazer to Amateur Astronomer” has been written specifically to address this group of budding amateur astronomers. Astronomy is much more than a quick sightseeing tour. Patient observers who develop their skills will start to appreciate what they are seeing, knowing exactly what to look out for on any particular night. Equally important, they will learn what not to expect to see.   This guide is for those who want to develop their observing skills beyond mere sightseei...

  7. The 2013 Summer Undergraduate Research Internship Program at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castelaz, Michael W.; Cline, J. D.; Whitworth, C.; Clavier, D.; Barker, T.

    2014-01-01

    Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) offers summer undergraduate research internships. PARI has received support for the internships from the EMC Corporation, private donations, private foundations, and through a collaboration with the Pisgah Astronomical Research and Education Center of the University of North Carolina - Asheville. The internship program began in 2001 with 4 students. This year 10 funded students participated. Mentors for the interns include PARI’s Directors of Science, Education, and Information Technology and visiting faculty who are members of the PARI Research Faculty Affiliate program. Students work with mentors on radio and optical astronomy research, electrical engineering for robotic control of instruments, software development for instrument control and and science education by developing curricula and multimedia and teaching high school students in summer programs at PARI. At the end of the summer interns write a paper about their research which is published in the PARI Summer Student Proceedings. Students are encouraged to present their research at AAS Meetings. We will present a summary of specific research conducted by the students with their mentors.

  8. Astronomical discoveries you can make, too! replicating the work of the great observers

    CERN Document Server

    Buchheim, Robert K

    2015-01-01

    You too can follow in the steps of the great astronomers such as Hipparchus, Galileo, Kepler and Hubble, who all contributed so much to our modern understanding of the cosmos. This book gives the student or amateur astronomer the following tools to replicate some of these seminal observations from their own homes:   With your own eyes: Use your own observations and measurements to discover and confirm the phenomena of the seasons, the analemma and the equation of time, the logic behind celestial coordinates, and even the precession of the equinoxes.   With a consumer-grade digital camera: Record the changing brightness of an eclipsing binary star and show that a pulsating star changes color as it brightens and dims. Add an inexpensive diffraction grating to your camera and see the variety of spectral features in the stars, and demonstrate that the Sun’s spectrum is similar to one particular type of stellar spectrum.   With a backyard telescope: Add a CCD imager and you can measure the scale of the Solar ...

  9. Towards better segmentation of large floating point 3D astronomical data sets : first results

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Moschini, Ugo; Teeninga, Paul; Wilkinson, Michael; Giese, Nadine; Punzo, Davide; van der Hulst, Jan M.; Trager, Scott

    2014-01-01

    In any image segmentation task, noise must be separated from the actual information and the relevant pixels grouped into objects of interest, on which measures can later be applied. This should be done efficiently on large astronomical surveys with floating point datasets with resolution of the

  10. Galactic archaeology for amateur astronomers: RR Lyrae stars as tracers of the Milky Way formation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carballo-Bello, Julio A.; Martínez-Delgado, David; Fliri, Jürgen

    2011-06-01

    Cosmological models predict that large galaxies like the Milky Way formed from the accretion of smaller stellar systems. The most spectacular of these merger events are stellar tidal streams, rivers of stars and dark matter that envelop the discs of spiral galaxies. We present a research project for a collaboration with amateur astronomers in the study of the formation process of our Galaxy. The main objective is the search for RR Lyrae variable stars in the known stellar streams (Sagitarius, Monoceros, Orphan, etc) a project that can be carried out using small telescopes. The catalogue of candidate variable stars were selected from SDSS data based in colour criteria and it will be sent to interested amateur astronomers who wish to participate in scientific research in one of the most active and competitive topics in Galactic astronomy.

  11. Reviews in Modern Astronomy 12, Astronomical Instruments and Methods at the turn of the 21st Century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schielicke, Reinhard E.

    The yearbook series Reviews in Modern Astronomy of the Astronomische Gesellschaft (AG) was established in 1988 in order to bring the scientific events of the meetings of the society to the attention of the worldwide astronomical community. Reviews in Modern Astronomy is devoted exclusively to the invited Reviews, the Karl Schwarzschild Lectures, the Ludwig Biermann Award Lectures, and the highlight contributions from leading scientists reporting on recent progress and scientific achievements at their respective research institutes. Volume 12 continues the yearbook series with 16 contributions which were presented during the International Scientific Conference of the AG on ``Astronomical Instruments and Methods at the Turn of the 21st Century'' at Heidelberg from September 14 to 19, 1998

  12. Progresos recientes en Astronomía de Rayos Gamma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romero, G. E.

    Tras la exitosa misión del Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory durante los años 1990, la astronomía de rayos gamma ha entrado en una etapa de madurez, convirtiéndose en una de las principales herramientas para el estudio de procesos relativistas en el universo. En este reporte, presentaré una revisión de los principales tópicos abordados a través de estudios con rayos gamma en los últimos años, con particular énfasis en los intentos más recientes por establecer la naturaleza de las fuentes de rayos gamma no identificadas, detectadas por el instrumento EGRET.

  13. Radio Astronomers Get Their First Glimpse of Powerful Solar Storm

    Science.gov (United States)

    2001-08-01

    Astronomers have made the first radio-telescope images of a powerful coronal mass ejection on the Sun, giving them a long-sought glimpse of hitherto unseen aspects of these potentially dangerous events. "These observations are going to provide us with a new and unique tool for deciphering the mechanisms of coronal mass ejections and how they are related to other solar events," said Tim Bastian, an astronomer at the National Science Foundation's National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Charlottesville, Virginia. Radio image of coronal mass ejection; circle indicates the size and location of the Sun. White dots are where radio spectral measurements were made. Bastian, along with Monique Pick, Alain Kerdraon and Dalmiro Maia of the Paris Observatory, and Angelos Vourlidas of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., used a solar radio telescope in Nancay, France, to study a coronal mass ejection that occurred on April 20, 1998. Their results will be published in the September 1 edition of the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Coronal mass ejections are powerful magnetic explosions in the Sun's corona, or outer atmosphere, that can blast billions of tons of charged particles into interplanetary space at tremendous speeds. If the ejection is aimed in the direction of Earth, the speeding particles interact with our planet's magnetic field to cause auroral displays, radio-communication blackouts, and potentially damage satellites and electric-power systems. "Coronal mass ejections have been observed for many years, but only with visible-light telescopes, usually in space. While previous radio observations have provided us with powerful diagnostics of mass ejections and associated phenomena in the corona, this is the first time that one has been directly imaged in wavelengths other than visible light," Bastian said. "These new data from the radio observations give us important clues about how these very energetic events work," he added. The radio images show an

  14. Plans for future on-line access to the historical astronomical literature through the Astrophysics Data System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eichhorn, G.; Kurtz, M. J.; Coletti, D.

    1997-09-01

    The NASA Astrophysics Data System provides access to about 1 million abstracts and 50,000 journal articles. This service is funded by NASA and is accessible world-wide through the World Wide Web free without restrictions at: http://adswww.harvard.edu We currently have on-line journals starting with 1975. We plan to extend the coverage for the journals and also include scans from observatory publications in our database. Eventually we plan to provide access to scans of the complete journal literature and as much observatory literature as possible. In order to accomplish this, we have started discussions with the preservation group at the Harvard University Library. Harvard University Library, together with the Library at the Center for Astrophysics is in the process of microfilming their collection of observatory publications. We are working together with this project to prepare for scanning the microfilms and make these scans available through the ADS. We are also collecting older journals and preparing them for scanning. We already have the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society in hand from Volume 1, and have been promised a large part of the Astronomische Nachrichten prior to 1945. We will start scanning these volumes soon. All volumes that can be fed automatically through the scanning machine should be scanned and put on-line within the next 6 - 12 months. In order to scan volumes that are too brittle, we need additional funding. We hope to obtain additional funding to cover such scanning for 1998. In order to cover more of the astronomical literature, we need donations of astronomical literature. We have a web page that lists the volumes that we need so we can scan them. If you have any of these journals (or other astronomical literature), please contact us. the web page is at: http://adshome.harvard.edu/pubs/missing_journals.html We would appreciate any contributions, even smaller sets, since it will be more and more difficult to find complete sets.

  15. Radio Astronomers Develop New Technique for Studying Dark Energy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    Pioneering observations with the National Science Foundation's giant Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) have given astronomers a new tool for mapping large cosmic structures. The new tool promises to provide valuable clues about the nature of the mysterious "dark energy" believed to constitute nearly three-fourths of the mass and energy of the Universe. Dark energy is the label scientists have given to what is causing the Universe to expand at an accelerating rate. While the acceleration was discovered in 1998, its cause remains unknown. Physicists have advanced competing theories to explain the acceleration, and believe the best way to test those theories is to precisely measure large-scale cosmic structures. Sound waves in the matter-energy soup of the extremely early Universe are thought to have left detectable imprints on the large-scale distribution of galaxies in the Universe. The researchers developed a way to measure such imprints by observing the radio emission of hydrogen gas. Their technique, called intensity mapping, when applied to greater areas of the Universe, could reveal how such large-scale structure has changed over the last few billion years, giving insight into which theory of dark energy is the most accurate. "Our project mapped hydrogen gas to greater cosmic distances than ever before, and shows that the techniques we developed can be used to map huge volumes of the Universe in three dimensions and to test the competing theories of dark energy," said Tzu-Ching Chang, of the Academia Sinica in Taiwan and the University of Toronto. To get their results, the researchers used the GBT to study a region of sky that previously had been surveyed in detail in visible light by the Keck II telescope in Hawaii. This optical survey used spectroscopy to map the locations of thousands of galaxies in three dimensions. With the GBT, instead of looking for hydrogen gas in these individual, distant galaxies -- a daunting challenge beyond the technical

  16. Astronomical Content in Rongorongo Tablet Keiti

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wieczorek, Rafal

    2011-01-01

    Th e fi eld of rongorongo research: the study of Easter Island’s native script is in a peculiar state at the moment. While relative progress has been made in structural and statistical analysis in the last decades, at the level of both single glyphs as well as entire texts, little to no advanceme...... has been achieved in the actual decipherment. To shed new light on rongorongo research, a hypothesis regarding the contents of tablet Keiti, one of the 25 obtained artifacts, is proposed. Th e content, as well as the meaning, of all but one of these 25 rongorongo texts is still unknown....... In this publication, an interpretation for the recto side of tablet Keiti is presented. It is argued that the tablet contains astronomical observations or instructions regarding the Rapa Nui lunar calendar, and is similar in content to the only other rongorongo text whose function has been partially ascertained......: tablet Mamari. If the calendrical contents of this artifact were confi rmed, this would be a major boost to our understanding of Oceania’s only native script....

  17. Astronomical knowledge transmission through illustrated Aratea manuscripts

    CERN Document Server

    Dolan, Marion

    2017-01-01

    This carefully researched monograph is a historical investigation of the illustrated Aratea astronomical manuscript and its many interpretations over the centuries. Aratus' 270 B.C.E. Greek poem describing the constellations and astrological phenomena was translated and copied over 800 years into illuminated manuscripts that preserved and illustrated these ancient stories about the constellations. The Aratea survives in its entirety due to multiple translations from Greek to Latin and even to Arabic, with many illuminated versions being commissioned over the ages. The survey encompasses four interrelated disciplines: history of literature, history of myth, history of science, and history of art. Aratea manuscripts by their nature are a meeting place of these distinct branches, and the culling of information from historical literature and from the manuscripts themselves focuses on a wider, holistic view; a narrow approach could not provide a proper prospective. What is most essential to know about this work is...

  18. Astronomical Knowledge in Holy Books

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farmanyan, Sona V.; Mickaelian, Areg M.

    2015-08-01

    We investigate religious myths related to astronomy from different cultures in an attempt to identify common subjects and characteristics. The paper focuses on astronomy in religion. The initial review covers records from Holy books about sky related superstitious beliefs and cosmological understanding. The purpose of this study is to introduce sky related religious and national traditions (particularly based on different calendars; Solar or Lunar). We carried out a comparative study of astronomical issues contained in a number of Holy books: Ancient Egyptian Religion (Pyramid Texts), Zoroastrianism (Avesta), Hinduism (Vedas), Buddhism (Tipitaka), Confucianism (Five Classics), Sikhism (Guru Granth Sahib), Christianity (Bible), Islam (Quran), Druidism (Mabinogion) and Maya Religion (Popol Vuh). These books include various information on the creation of the Universe, Sun and Moon, the age of the Universe, Cosmic sizes, understanding about the planets, stars, Milky Way and description of the Heavens in different religions. We come to the conclusion that the perception of celestial objects varies from culture to culture, and from religion to religion and preastronomical views had a significant impact on humankind, particularly on religious diversities. We prove that Astronomy is the basis of cultures, and that national identity and mythology and religion were formed due to the special understanding of celestial objects.

  19. Dense Molecular Gas Around Protostars and in Galactic Nuclei European Workshop on Astronomical Molecules 2004

    CERN Document Server

    Baan, W A; Langevelde, H J

    2004-01-01

    The phenomena observed in young stellar objects (YSO), circumstellar regions and extra-galactic nuclei show some similarity in their morphology, dynamical and physical processes, though they may differ in scale and energy. The European Workshop on Astronomical Molecules 2004 gave astronomers a unique opportunity to discuss the links among the observational results and to generate common interpretations of the phenomena in stars and galaxies, using the available diagnostic tools such as masers and dense molecular gas. Their theoretical understanding involves physics, numerical simulations and chemistry. Including a dozen introductory reviews, topics of papers in this book also cover: maser and dense gas diagnostics and related phenomena, evolution of circumstellar regions around protostars, evolution of circumnuclear regions of active galaxies, diagnostics of the circumnuclear gas in stars and galactic nuclei. This book summarizes our present knowledge in these topics, highlights major problems to be addressed...

  20. Forty-two years of Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica: Some history and musings on the future

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, C.; Torres-Peimbert, S.

    2017-07-01

    After 42 years of continuously publishing the Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica, we cast a short retrospective view on its history and we share our plans for the future. RMxAA was founded in 1974. Founding editors were P. Pishmish, E. Mendoza and S. Torres-Peimbert. RMxAA has published original research papers in all areas of astronomy, astrophysics and related fields. Until 1994 RMxAA also published the proceedings of astronomical conferences held in México and Latin America. Since 1995 a Series devoted exclusively to such proceedings was founded, RMxAC, Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica (Serie de Conferencias). All papers submitted to RMxAA are sent to internationally recognized experts to be strictly refereed. RMxAA is included in Current Contents, Science Citation Index and other relevant international indexes. Both publications are fully integrated into the ADS. Their contents have always been freely available to the general public. All this ensures a wide international visibility, comparable to that of the best astronomical journals. The impact factor of RMxAA has varied over the years, mostly as a consequence of small number statistics. The average impact factor is about 2.4, far larger than that of all but a few Latin American scientific journals. The editorial independence of RMxAA, the fact that there are no page charges for authors, and that the printed version is distributed free of charge to astronomical libraries all over the world motivate us to look forward with optimism to many more years of publication. In view of recent developments in the scientific publishing field, we have applied to obtain the DOI for the published papers, and are in the process of becoming an all-electronic publication.

  1. Low Dimensional Embedding of Climate Data for Radio Astronomical Site Testing in the Colombian Andes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaparro Molano, Germán; Ramírez Suárez, Oscar Leonardo; Restrepo Gaitán, Oscar Alberto; Marcial Martínez Mercado, Alexander

    2017-10-01

    We set out to evaluate the potential of the Colombian Andes for millimeter-wave astronomical observations. Previous studies for astronomical site testing in this region have suggested that nighttime humidity and cloud cover conditions make most sites unsuitable for professional visible-light observations. Millimeter observations can be done during the day, but require that the precipitable water vapor column above a site stays below ˜10 mm. Due to a lack of direct radiometric or radiosonde measurements, we present a method for correlating climate data from weather stations to sites with a low precipitable water vapor column. We use unsupervised learning techniques to low dimensionally embed climate data (precipitation, rain days, relative humidity, and sunshine duration) in order to group together stations with similar long-term climate behavior. The data were taken over a period of 30 years by 2046 weather stations across the Colombian territory. We find six regions with unusually dry, clear-sky conditions, ranging in elevations from 2200 to 3800 masl. We evaluate the suitability of each region using a quality index derived from a Bayesian probabilistic analysis of the station type and elevation distributions. Two of these regions show a high probability of having an exceptionally low precipitable water vapor column. We compared our results with global precipitable water vapor maps and find a plausible geographical correlation with regions with low water vapor columns (˜10 mm) at an accuracy of ˜20 km. Our methods can be applied to similar data sets taken in other countries as a first step toward astronomical site evaluation.

  2. European astronomers' successes with the Hubble Space Telescope*

    Science.gov (United States)

    1997-02-01

    [Figure: Laguna Nebula] Their work spans all aspects of astronomy, from the planets to the most distant galaxies and quasars, and the following examples are just a few European highlights from Hubble's second phase, 1994-96. A scarcity of midget stars Stars less massive and fainter than the Sun are much numerous in the Milky Way Galaxy than the big bright stars that catch the eye. Guido De Marchi and Francesco Paresce of the European Southern Observatory as Garching, Germany, have counted them. With the wide-field WFPC2 camera, they have taken sample censuses within six globular clusters, which are large gatherings of stars orbiting independently in the Galaxy. In every case they find that the commonest stars have an output of light that is only one-hundredth of the Sun's. They are ten times more numerous than stars like the Sun. More significant for theories of the Universe is a scarcity of very faint stars. Some astronomers have suggested that vast numbers of such stars could account for the mysterious dark matter, which makes stars and galaxies move about more rapidly than expected from the mass of visible matter. But that would require an ever-growing count of objects at low brightnesses, and De Marchi and Paresce find the opposite to be the case -- the numbers diminish. There may be a minimum size below which Nature finds starmaking difficult. The few examples of very small stars seen so far by astronomers may be, not the heralds of a multitude of dark-matter stars, but rareties. Unchanging habits in starmaking Confirmation that very small stars are scarce comes from Gerry Gilmore of the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge (UK). He leads a European team that analyses long-exposure images in the WFPC2 camera, obtained as a by-product when another instrument is examining a selected object. The result is an almost random sample of well-observed stars and galaxies. The most remarkable general conclusion is that the make-up of stellar populations never seems to

  3. Investigating Student Understanding of the Universe: Perceptions of Astronomical Sizes and Distances

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camarillo, Carmelita; Coble, K.; Hayes, V.; Nickerson, M.; Cochran, G. L.; Bailey, J. M.; McLin, K. M.; Cominsky, L. R.

    2011-05-01

    Student perceptions regarding astronomical sizes and distances are being analyzed for Chicago State University's Basic Astronomy course. This area is of great interest to further understand the students’ learning processes and to produce more effective instruction. Insights from cognitive psychology have shown that perceptions are related to prior experiences and current knowledge. Students enter into this course with different mental representations, and these representations can affect their learning. Through a repeated measures design, perceptions are analyzed through several instruments. The instruments implemented are pre-tests surveys (before lab), exams (after lab), lab comments, and interviews. Preliminary analysis reveals that students who have difficulty with astronomical sizes and distances have been more strongly influenced by culture and the media whereas those who had less difficulty expanded on their personal prior experiences. This project is part of a larger study; also see our posters on the structure of the universe, dark matter, the age and expansion of the universe. This work was supported by NASA ROSES E/PO Grant #NNXlOAC89G, as well as by the Illinois Space Grant Consortium and National Science Foundation CCLI Grant #0632563 at Chicago State University and the Fermi E/PO program at Sonoma State University.

  4. Finding and Visualizing Relevant Subspaces for Clustering High-Dimensional Astronomical Data Using Connected Morphological Operators

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ferdosi, Bilkis J.; Buddelmeijer, Hugo; Trager, Scott; Wilkinson, Michael H.F.; Roerdink, Jos B.T.M.

    2010-01-01

    Data sets in astronomy are growing to enormous sizes. Modern astronomical surveys provide not only image data but also catalogues of millions of objects (stars, galaxies), each object with hundreds of associated parameters. Exploration of this very high-dimensional data space poses a huge challenge.

  5. Jornada de presentación del IFCA: Grupo de Astronomía de Rayos X

    OpenAIRE

    Carrera, Francisco J.

    2004-01-01

    Presentación general de la estructura y actividades del Grupo de Astronomía de Rayos X del Instituto de Física de Cantabria (IFCA), como parte de la Jornada de presentación del IFCA celebrada el 27 de febrero de 2004.

  6. A Test Facility For Astronomical X-Ray Optics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lewis, R. A.; Bordas, J.; Christensen, Finn Erland

    1989-01-01

    Grazing incidence x-ray optics for x-ray astronomical applications are used outside the earths atmosphere. These devices require a large collection aperture and the imaging of an x-ray source which is essentially placed at infinity. The ideal testing system for these optical elements has...... to approximate that encountered under working conditions, however the testing of these optical elements is notoriously difficult with conventional x-ray generators. Synchrotron Radiation (SR) sources are sufficiently brilliant to produce a nearly perfect parallel beam over a large area whilst still retaining...... a flux considerably higher than that available from conventional x-ray generators. A facility designed for the testing of x-ray optics, particularly in connection with x-ray telescopes is described below. It is proposed that this facility will be accommodated at the Synchrotron Radiation Source...

  7. Reducing the Requirements and Cost of Astronomical Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, W. Scott; Whitakter, Ann F. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    Limits on astronomical telescope apertures are being rapidly approached. These limits result from logistics, increasing complexity, and finally budgetary constraints. In an historical perspective, great strides have been made in the area of aperture, adaptive optics, wavefront sensors, detectors, stellar interferometers and image reconstruction. What will be the next advances? Emerging data analysis techniques based on communication theory holds the promise of yielding more information from observational data based on significant computer post-processing. This paper explores some of the current telescope limitations and ponders the possibilities increasing the yield of scientific data based on the migration computer post-processing techniques to higher dimensions. Some of these processes hold the promise of reducing the requirements on the basic telescope hardware making the next generation of instruments more affordable.

  8. Astronomical and Meteorological Conditions of a Solar System Operation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Proszak-Miąsik, Danuta; Bukowska, Maria; Nowak, Krzysztof; Rabczak, Sławomir

    2017-10-01

    Acquisition and processing of as much solar energy for heating and electricity generation in Poland and in the world is a very important objective in the policy of alternative energy sources. The main problem with the reception of solar energy by solar collectors is vary energy supply at different times of day and year and low flux density of radiation. The term of solar radiation one mean transmission or emission of energy in the form of electromagnetic waves. The radiation emitted from the surface of the sun spreads out in all directions in space, reaches the Earth’s surface in only partly, especially the solar collectors. The most important parameters characterizing solar radiation are daily, monthly and annual sum of solar radiation. Its express the amount of solar energy which falls on a unit area at a given time. Number of hours of sunshine during the day are dependent on two key factors. The first one is the time from the sunrise to sunset, which strongly depends on the date and latitude. The second factor is the weather (clouds), influences solar radiation, radiation in touch with clouds is absorbed and dissipated. This publication shows the impact on the energy yield of the flat collector installation and astronomical conditions (angle of inclination and declination of solar), and climate. The calculations of determining the astronomical conditions of the place where the installation is located ware analyzed. The solar installation is located in Rzeszow (Poland) and the plate collector placed on the roof of building. Based on specific methodology for selected days the calculation of the elevation angle of the Sun, hourly angle, the sun azimuth and angle of incidence of the radiation on any plane were set. The results are shown in diagrams. The effect of cloud cover on the acquisition of solar energy by the collector is also shown.

  9. Properties of galactic dark matter: Constraints from astronomical observations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burch, B.; Cowsik, R.

    2013-01-01

    The distributions of normal matter and of dark matter in the Galaxy are coupled to each other as they both move in the common gravitational potential. In order to fully exploit this interplay and to derive the various properties of dark matter relevant to their direct and indirect detection, we have comprehensively reviewed the astronomical observations of the spatial and velocity distributions of the components of normal matter. We then postulate that the phase-space distribution of dark matter follows a lowered-isothermal form and self-consistently solve Poisson's equation to construct several models for the spatial and velocity distributions of dark matter. In this paper, we compute the total gravitational potential of the normal and dark matter components and investigate their consistency with current observations of the rotation curve of the Galaxy and of the spatial and velocity distributions of blue horizontal-branch and blue straggler stars. Even with this demand of consistency, a large number of models with a range of parameters characterizing the dark matter distribution remain. We find that the best choice of parameters, within the range of allowed values for the surface density of the disk 55 M ☉ pc –2 , are the following: the dark matter density at the Galactic center ρ DM, c ≈ 100-250 GeV cm –3 , the local dark matter density ρ DM (R 0 ) ≈ 0.56-0.72 GeV cm –3 , and the rms speed of dark matter particles 〈v DM 2 (R 0 )〉 1/2 ≈490−−550 km s –1 . We also discuss possible astronomical observations that may further limit the range of the allowed models. The predictions of the allowed models for direct and indirect detection will be discussed separately in a companion paper.

  10. Optimization of graded multilayer designs for astronomical x-ray telescopes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mao, P.H.; Harrison, F.A.; Windt, D.L.

    1999-01-01

    We developed a systematic method for optimizing the design of depth-graded multilayers for astronomical hard-x-ray and soft-gamma-ray telescopes based on the instrument's bandpass and the field of view. We apply these methods to the design of the conical-approximation Wolter I optics employed...... by the balloon-borne High Energy Focusing Telescope, using W/Si as the multilayer materials. In addition, we present optimized performance calculations of mirrors, using other material pairs that are capable of extending performance to photon energies above the W K-absorption edge (69.5 keV), including Pt/C, Ni...

  11. Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders From Novice to Master Observer

    CERN Document Server

    Thompson, Robert

    2011-01-01

    With the advent of inexpensive, high-power telescopes priced at under 250, amateur astronomy is now within the reach of anyone, and this is the ideal book to get you started. The Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders offers you a guide to the equipment you need, and shows you how and where to find hundreds of spectacular objects in the deep sky -- double and multiple stars as well as spectacular star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. You get a solid grounding in the fundamental concepts and terminology of astronomy, and specific advice about choosing, buying, using, and maintaining the eq

  12. A Star in the Western Sky: John Birmingham, Astronomer and Poet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohr, P.

    John Birmingham (1814-1884) of Millbrook, County Galway, was an outstanding amateur astronomer, now completely forgotten. He discovered the 1866 nova, T Coronae Borealis. Later his name was assigned to a feature near Anaxagoras on the Moon. In 1884 the Royal Irish Academy awarded him its Cunningham Gold Medal for his catalogue of the red variable stars. John Birmingham was not only an acute observer, he also wrote numerous semi-popular articles on many aspects of astronomy. He was also active in geology and railway surveying.

  13. Suppression of Astronomical Sources Using Starshades and the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novicki, Megan; Warwick, Steve; Smith, Daniel; Richards, Michael; Harness, Anthony

    2016-01-01

    The external starshade is a method for the direct detection and spectral characterization of terrestrial planets around other stars, a key goal identified in ASTRO2010. Tests of this approach have been and continue to be conducted in the lab and in the field (Samuele et al., 2010, Glassman et al., 2014) using non-collimated light sources with a spherical wavefront. We extend the current approach to performing night-time observations of astronomical objects using small-scale (approximately 1/300th) starshades and the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. We placed a starshade directly in the path of the beam from an astronomical object in front of the main heliostat. Using only flat mirrors, we then directed the light through the observatory path and reflected it off the West heliostat to an external telescope located approximately 270m away, for an effective baseline of 420m.This configuration allowed us to make measurements of flat wavefront sources with a Fresnel number close to those expected in proposed full-scale space configurations. We present the results of our engineering runs conducted in 2015.

  14. American West Tephras – Geomagnetic polarity events redefined through calibration of radio-isotopic and astronomical time

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rivera, Tiffany; Storey, Michael

    calibration. Although this geomagnetic event is not part of the most recent geologic timescale, refined ages on short-lived excursions could hold importance to understanding time scales for the wavering nature of Earth’s magnetic field. We propose a new 40Ar/39Ar age for the Quaternary mineral dating standard......The foundation of the EARTHTIME/GTSnext initiative seeks to construct an internally consistent geologic timescale based on astronomical and radio-isotopic geochronology. American west tephras offer a prime opportunity to integrate these two independent timescales with the geomagnetic timescale....... Using an astronomically calibrated age for the monitor mineral Fish Canyon sanidine (FCs;28.201 ± 0.046 Ma, Kuiper, et al., 2008), ages of Pleistocene geomagnetic polarity events are reexamined. Of particular interest, the Quaternary mineral dating standard Alder Creek sandine (ACs) is the type locality...

  15. Thirty years of astronomical discovery with UKIRT

    CERN Document Server

    Davies, John; Robson, Ian; The Scientific Achievement of the United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope

    2013-01-01

    These are the proceedings of an international meeting hosted by the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the dedication of the UKIRT, the United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope. The volume comprises 31 professional level papers. The first part of the book has 10 thorough reviews of the conception, design and build of the telescope, as well as accounts of some its key instruments such as IRCAM (the common-user infrared camera), CGS4 (the fourth Cooled Grating Spectrometer) and the Wide Field Camera. The second part of the book comprises 14 reviews of scientific achievements during its twenty years of visitor mode operations. The final part of the book is a series of 7 reviews of the results from the multiple surveys being done as part of UKIDSS (UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey). The authors are all experts in their respective fields, for example instrument scientists, operations staff and leading astronomers.

  16. Fundamental and applied aspects of astronomical seeing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coulman, C.E.

    1985-01-01

    It is pointed out that despite recent advances in the use of spacecraft as observatory platforms, much astronomy is still conducted from the surface of the earth. The literature on astronomical seeing and observatory site selection is widely scattered throughout journals and conference reports concerned with various disciplines. This survey has the objective to represent the state of the subject up to 1982. A description of the history and prospects of the considered subject is presented, and the optics of seeing are examined. The meteorology of seeing is discussed, taking into account aspects of micrometeorology and small-scale turbulence near the surface, the diurnal cycle in the planetary boundary layer, the temperature structure above the planetary boundary layer, and the effects of terrain. Attention is given to the calculation of system performance from microthermal data, optical methods for the measurement of seeing, and techniques for minimizing image-degrading effects of the atmosphere. 279 references

  17. Mutualized service for the management of the astronomical observations at the TBL and the OHP

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cottalorda, E.

    2014-12-01

    This article proposes the creation of a mutualized service for the management of the astronomical observations at the TBL and the OHP, which objective would be to optimize the scientific management of the observations, by mutualizing manpower and financial means for the two national telescopes in France.

  18. Dipolar flow theory of the universe in relation to astronomical observations and universe axis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mullick, U.P.

    1975-01-01

    An attempt has been made to establish Dipolar continuous flow theory of the universe through corroborations from astronomical observations of the positions of nebulae made earlier by astronomers. It is shown that the line through groups of nebulae in Nubecula Major in Southern Sky Region 5, passing through Earth points towards the near side pole A of the universe. Also the angles the plane parallel to universe polar plane x-x and passing through Earth, makes with the Milky Way disc is about 70 0 towards universe pole B, and about 110 0 towards nearside universe pole A. It is also shown that the two nebulae M 31 and M 33 and the groups of nebulae in Megallenic clouds, in Nebecula Major are between planes passing through universe equatorial axis y-y and plant Ysub(E)-Ysub(E) passing through Earth and parallel to universe equatorial plane Y-Y. Besides, the huge red star Betelgeux and the great Nebula in Orion in sky Region 9 are also between these two planes. These observations the author claims accord with his Dipolar Theory. (author)

  19. Space astronomical telescopes and instruments; Proceedings of the Meeting, Orlando, FL, Apr. 1-4, 1991

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bely, Pierre Y.; Breckinridge, James B.

    The present volume on space astronomical telescopes and instruments discusses lessons from the HST, telescopes on the moon, future space missions, and mirror fabrication and active control. Attention is given to the in-flight performance of the Goddard high-resolution spectrograph of the HST, the initial performance of the high-speed photometer, results from HST fine-guidance sensors, and reconstruction of the HST mirror figure from out-of-focus stellar images. Topics addressed include system concepts for a large UV/optical/IR telescope on the moon, optical design considerations for next-generation space and lunar telescopes, the implications of lunar dust for astronomical observatories, and lunar liquid-mirror telescopes. Also discussed are space design considerations for the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, the Hubble extrasolar planet interferometer, Si:Ga focal-plane arrays for satellite and ground-based telescopes, microchannel-plate detectors for space-based astronomy, and a method for making ultralight primary mirrors.

  20. Book Review: Scientific Writing for Young Astronomers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uyttenhove, Jos

    2011-12-01

    EDP Sciences, Les Ulis, France. Part 1 : 162 pp. € 35 ISBN 978-2-7598-0506-8 Part 2 : 298 pp. € 60 ISBN 978-2-7598-0639-3 The journal Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) and EDP Sciences decided in 2007 to organize a School on the various aspects of scientific writing and publishing. In 2008 and 2009 Scientific Writing for Young Astronomers (SWYA) Schools were held in Blankenberge (B) under the direction of Christiaan Sterken (FWO-VUB). These two books (EAS publication series, Vol. 49 and 50) reflect the outcome of these Schools. Part 1 contains a set of contributions that discuss various aspects of scientific publication; it includes A&A Editors' view of the peer review and publishing process. A very interesting short paper by S.R. Pottasch (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Groningen, and one of the two first Editors-in Chief of A&A) deals with the history of the creation of the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Two papers by J. Adams et al. (Observatoire de Paris) discuss language editing, including a detailed guide for any non-native user of the English language. In 2002 the Board of Directors decided that all articles in A&A must be written in clear and correct English. Part 2 consists of three very extensive and elaborated papers by Christiaan Sterken, supplying guidelines to PhD students and postdoctoral fellows to help them compose scientific papers for different forums (journals, proceedings, thesis, etc.). This part is of interest not only for young astronomers but it is very useful for scholars of all ages and disciplines. Paper I "The writing process" (60 pp.) copes with the preparation of manuscripts, with communicating with editors and referees and with avoiding common errors. Delicate problems on authorship, refereeing, revising multi-authored papers etc. are treated in 26 FAQ's. Paper II "Communication by graphics" (120 pp.) is entirely dedicated to the important topic of communication with images, graphs, diagrams, tables etc. Design types of graphs

  1. Considerations for the Use of STEREO -HI Data for Astronomical Studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tappin, S. J., E-mail: james.tappin@stfc.ac.uk [RAL Space, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Didcot, Oxon. OX11 0QX (United Kingdom)

    2017-04-01

    Recent refinements to the photometric calibrations of the Heliospheric Imagers (HI) on board the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory ( STEREO ) have revealed a number of subtle effects in the measurement of stellar signals with those instruments. These effects need to be considered in the interpretation of STEREO -HI data for astronomy. In this paper we present an analysis of these effects and how to compensate for them when using STEREO -HI data for astronomical studies. We determine how saturation of the HI CCD detectors affects the apparent count rates of stars after the on-board summing of pixels and exposures. Single-exposure calibration images are analyzed and compared with binned and summed science images to determine the influence of saturation on the science images. We also analyze how the on-board cosmic-ray scrubbing algorithm affects stellar images. We determine how this interacts with the variations of instrument pointing to affect measurements of stars. We find that saturation is a significant effect only for the brightest stars, and that its onset is gradual. We also find that degraded pointing stability, whether of the entire spacecraft or of the imagers, leads to reduced stellar count rates and also increased variation thereof through interaction with the on-board cosmic-ray scrubbing algorithm. We suggest ways in which these effects can be mitigated for astronomical studies and also suggest how the situation can be improved for future imagers.

  2. Quantifying the astronomical contribution to Pleistocene climate change: A non-linear, statistical approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crucifix, Michel; Wilkinson, Richard; Carson, Jake; Preston, Simon; Alemeida, Carlos; Rougier, Jonathan

    2013-04-01

    The existence of an action of astronomical forcing on the Pleistocene climate is almost undisputed. However, quantifying this action is not straightforward. In particular, the phenomenon of deglaciation is generally interpreted as a manifestation of instability, which is typical of non-linear systems. As a consequence, explaining the Pleistocene climate record as the addition of an astronomical contribution and noise-as often done using harmonic analysis tools-is potentially deceptive. Rather, we advocate a methodology in which non-linear stochastic dynamical systems are calibrated on the Pleistocene climate record. The exercise, though, requires careful statistical reasoning and state-of-the-art techniques. In fact, the problem has been judged to be mathematically 'intractable and unsolved' and some pragmatism is justified. In order to illustrate the methodology we consider one dynamical system that potentially captures four dynamical features of the Pleistocene climate : the existence of a saddle-node bifurcation in at least one of its slow components, a time-scale separation between a slow and a fast component, the action of astronomical forcing, and the existence a stochastic contribution to the system dynamics. This model is obviously not the only possible representation of Pleistocene dynamics, but it encapsulates well enough both our theoretical and empirical knowledge into a very simple form to constitute a valid starting point. The purpose of this poster is to outline the practical challenges in calibrating such a model on paleoclimate observations. Just as in time series analysis, there is no one single and universal test or criteria that would demonstrate the validity of an approach. Several methods exist to calibrate the model and judgement develops by the confrontation of the results of the different methods. In particular, we consider here the Kalman filter variants, the Particle Monte-Carlo Markov Chain, and two other variants of Sequential Monte

  3. Timing of the Toarcian Ocean Anoxic Event (Early Jurassic) from correlation of astronomically forced global stratigraphic sections

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, C.; Hinnov, L. A.; Hesselbo, S. P.

    2012-12-01

    The Early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE) in the Early Jurassic Period is associated with a major negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE), mass extinction, marine transgression and global warming. The Toarcian OAE is thought to have been caused by flood basalt magmatism, and may have been a trigger for mass extinction. However, these proposed causes of the Toarcian OAE and associated biotic crisis are not adequately resolved by a precise chronology. The duration of the Toarcian OAE has been estimated to be anywhere from ~0.12 to ~0.9 Myr, most recently 0.74 to 3.26 Myr from U-Pb dating. The CIE associated with the Toarcian OAE has a similar pattern at numerous localities, and there is evidence for astronomical forcing of marine carbon isotopes. Here we estimate a duration of ~625 kyr for the main negative CIE, ~860 kyr for the polymorphum zone and >1.58 Myr for the levisoni zone based on 405-kyr astronomical eccentricity tuning of the marine section at Peniche (Portugal). This 405-kyr tuned series provides a ~2.5 Myr continuous high-resolution chronology through the Early Toarcian. There are 6, or possibly 7 short eccentricity cycles in the main CIE interval at Peniche. To confirm this astronomically based estimate, we analyzed five other sections at Yorkshire (UK), Dotternhausen (Germany), Valdorbia (Italy), Mechowo (Poland) and Serrucho, Neuquén (Argentina), from marine and terrestrial carbon isotopic series. These six stratigraphic sections from Early Jurassic western Tethys and eastern Panthalassa record the Toarcian OAE with ~6 prominent carbon isotope cycles in the CIE that provide us a 600 ± 100 kyr duration. The Peniche 405 kyr-tuned series indicates that the pre- and post-CIE intervals experienced strong precession-eccentricity-forced climate change, whereas the CIE interval is marked by dominant obliquity forcing. These dramatic and abrupt changes in astronomical response in the carbon isotopes point to fundamental shifting in the Early Toarcian

  4. SkyMouse: A smart interface for astronomical on-line resources and services

    OpenAIRE

    CUI, Chen-Zhou; SUN, Hua-Ping; ZHAO, Yong-Heng; LUO, Yu; QI, Da-Zhi

    2007-01-01

    With the development of network and the World Wide Web (WWW), the Internet has been growing and changing dramatically. More and more on-line database systems and different kinds of services are available for astronomy research. How to help users find their way through the jungle of information services becomes an important challenge. Although astronomers have been aware of the importance of interoperability and introduced the concept of Virtual Observatory as a uniform environment for future ...

  5. A List of Astronomical Meetings Available via Mosaic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bryson, E.; Crabtree, D.

    We have been making a list of astronomical and related meetings available electronically for a number of years. Recently, several meeting organizers have made information about their meetings available via anonymous ftp or even NCSA Mosaic. We have produced a new version of our electronic meeting list available via NCSA Mosaic which provides links to the information being provided electronically. Depending upon the amount of information being provided for an individual meeting, it may be possible for a user browsing the list of meetings to click on the meeting of interest, fill out a registration form, download maps, browse abstracts, etc. We hope the availability of this service will encourage other meeting organizers to make information about their meetings available electronically and to take advantage of new technology such as NCSA Mosaic. URL: http:// cadcwww.dao.nrc.calmeetings/meetings.html

  6. We All Want to Live Longer and Nobody Wants to be Called Old. In: Oldetopia - an Exhibition on Age and Ageing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Otto, Lene

    Kataloget bag udstillingen Oldetopia, vist på Medicinsk Museion fra den 12. oktober 2007 til den 14. december 2008. Bidrag af Camilla Mordhorst, Bente Vinge Pedersen, Thomas Söderqvist, Bente Klarlund Pedersen, Mette Sørensen, Tinna Stevnsner, Vilhelm A. Bohr, Bernard Jeune, Liv Carlé Mortensen, ...

  7. Astronomers Unveiling Life's Cosmic Origins

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-02-01

    Processes that laid the foundation for life on Earth -- star and planet formation and the production of complex organic molecules in interstellar space -- are yielding their secrets to astronomers armed with powerful new research tools, and even better tools soon will be available. Astronomers described three important developments at a symposium on the "Cosmic Cradle of Life" at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago, IL. Chemistry Cycle The Cosmic Chemistry Cycle CREDIT: Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF Full Size Image Files Chemical Cycle Graphic (above image, JPEG, 129K) Graphic With Text Blocks (JPEG, 165K) High-Res TIFF (44.2M) High-Res TIFF With Text Blocks (44.2M) In one development, a team of astrochemists released a major new resource for seeking complex interstellar molecules that are the precursors to life. The chemical data released by Anthony Remijan of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and his university colleagues is part of the Prebiotic Interstellar Molecule Survey, or PRIMOS, a project studying a star-forming region near the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. PRIMOS is an effort of the National Science Foundation's Center for Chemistry of the Universe, started at the University of Virginia (UVa) in October 2008, and led by UVa Professor Brooks H. Pate. The data, produced by the NSF's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia, came from more than 45 individual observations totalling more than nine GigaBytes of data and over 1.4 million individual frequency channels. Scientists can search the GBT data for specific radio frequencies, called spectral lines -- telltale "fingerprints" -- naturally emitted by molecules in interstellar space. "We've identified more than 720 spectral lines in this collection, and about 240 of those are from unknown molecules," Remijan said. He added, "We're making available to all scientists the best collection of data below 50 GHz ever produced for

  8. Established Designs For Advanced Ground Based Astronomical Telescopes In The 1-meter To 4-meter Domain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hull, Anthony B.; Barentine, J.; Legters, S.

    2012-01-01

    The same technology and analytic approaches that led to cost-effective unmitigated successes for the spaceborne Kepler and WISE telescopes are now being applied to meter-class to 4-meter-class ground telescopes, providing affordable solutions to ground astronomy, with advanced features as needed for the application. The range of optical and mechanical performance standards and features that can be supplied for ground astronomy shall be described. Both classical RC designs, as well as unobscured designs are well represented in the IOS design library, allowing heritage designs for both night time and day time operations, the latter even in the proximity of the sun. In addition to discussing this library of mature features, we will also describe a process for working with astronomers early in the definition process to provide the best-value solution. Solutions can include remote operation and astronomical data acquisition and transmission.

  9. The Summer Undergraduate Research Internship Program at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cline, J. Donald; Castelaz, M.; Whitworth, C.; Clavier, D.; Owen, L.; Barker, T.

    2012-01-01

    Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) offers summer undergraduate research internships. PARI has received support for the internships from the NC Space Grant Consortium, NSF awards for public science education, private donations, private foundations, and through a collaboration with the Pisgah Astronomical Research and Education Center of the University of North Carolina - Asheville. The internship program began in 2001 with 4 students. This year 7 funded students participated in 2011. Mentors for the interns include PARI's Science, Education, and Information Technology Directors and visiting faculty who are members of the PARI Research Affiliate Faculty program. Students work with mentors on radio and optical astronomy research, electrical engineering for robotic control of instruments, software development for instrument control and software for citizen science projects, and science education by developing curricula and multimedia and teaching high school students in summer programs at PARI. At the end of the summer interns write a paper about their research which is published in the PARI Summer Student Proceedings. Several of the students have presented their results at AAS Meetings. We will present a summary of specific research conducted by the students with their mentors, the logistics for hosting the PARI undergraduate internship program, and plans for growth based on the impact of an NSF supported renovation to the Research Building on the PARI campus.

  10. Tot Graeci Tot Sententiae: Astronomical Perspective Multiplicity in Ancient Greece

    Science.gov (United States)

    Longo, O.

    2011-06-01

    Ancient Greece was made of a multiplicity of thinking heads, in an atmosphere of (relative) freedom of opinions, in every field of knowledge. then we should not wonder if many astronomical and cosmological theories, survived until our 17th century, had already been formulated by different philosophers and in different regions, cities and periods of Greek history. Geocentric and heliocentric theories, as well as an atomistic theory of an infinite universe (with infinite worlds), could survive without crashing with one another. In the same time, religious opinions regarding the planets and Sun as a series of gods were present, however not on a scientific ground.

  11. The Mediterranean Plio-Pleistocene: A reference frame for astronomically paced low and high latitude climate changes (Jean Baptiste Lamarck Medal Lecture)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lourens, Lucas

    2016-04-01

    The astronomical theory of climate has revolutionized our understanding of past climate change and the development of highly accurate geologic time scales for the entire Cenozoic. Most of this understanding has started with the construction of high-resolution stable oxygen isotope (18O) records from planktonic and benthic foraminifera of open ocean deep marine sediments explored by the international drilling operations of DSDP, ODP and IODP. These efforts culminated into global ocean isotopic stacked records, which give a clear picture of the evolution of the climate state through time. Fundamental for these reconstructions are the assumptions made between the astronomical forcing and the tuned time series and the accuracy of the astronomical solution. In the past decades, an astronomically calibrated time scale for the Pliocene and Pleistocene of the Mediterranean has been developed, which has become the reference for the standard Geologic Time Scale. Characteristic of the studied marine sediments are the cyclic lithological alternations, reflecting the interference between obliquity and precession-paced low latitude climate variability. These interference patterns allowed to evaluate the accuracy of astronomical solutions and to constrain the dynamical ellipticity of the Earth and tidal dissipation by the Sun and the Moon, which in turn provided the backbone for the widely applied LR04 open ocean benthic isotope stack of the past 5 Myr. So far, the assumed time lags between orbital forcing and the global climate response as reflected in LR04 have not been tested, while these assumptions hark back to SPECMAP, using simple ice sheet models and a limited number of radiometric dates. In addition, LR04 adopted a shorter response time for the smaller ice caps during the Pliocene. Here I present the first benthic 18O record of the Mediterranean reference scale, which strikingly mirrors the LR04. I will use this record to discuss the assumed phase relations and its

  12. 2008 annual meeting on nuclear technology: topical sessions. Pt. 2. Construction of the final repository KONRAD

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Broeskamp, H.

    2008-01-01

    Summary report by Dipl.-Ing. Holger Broeskamp on the Topical Session ''Constructing the Final Repository KONRAD'' of the Annual Conference on Nuclear Technology held in Hamburg, May 27-29, 2008. (orig.)

  13. Astronomical imaging with a low temperature InSb charge injection device (CID)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rouan, D.; Lacombe, F.; Tiphene, D.; Stefanovitch, D.; Phan van, D.

    1986-01-01

    InSb charge injection device (CID) technology focal plane arrays employ two coupled MIS capacitors which collect and store photon-generated charge carriers. Attention is presently given to two-dimensional arrays for 77 K and 4 K operating temperatures in astronomical applications; two such prototypes for ground observations have been developed for use with a 2-m telescope. A CID InSb array is noted to be a useful candidate for the proposed IR Space Observatory's focal plane camera. 7 references

  14. In search of Mahutonga: a possible supernova recorded in Maori astronomical traditions?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, David A.; Orchiston, Wayne

    Maori astronomical traditions refer to Mahutonga, which can be interpreted as a possible record of a southern supernova (SN) in or near Crux. A search for any known "young" supernova remnants in this region does not reveal any obvious candidate to associate with this possible supernova. Relaxing the positional constraint somewhat, the SN of A.D. 185 near a Centauri is nearby. If this is associated with Mahutonga, then the Maori term must be a relic of an earlier Proto-Polynesian record.

  15. A Binary Offset Effect in CCD Readout and Its Impact on Astronomical Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boone, K.; Aldering, G.; Copin, Y.; Dixon, S.; Domagalski, R. S.; Gangler, E.; Pecontal, E.; Perlmutter, S.

    2018-06-01

    We have discovered an anomalous behavior of CCD readout electronics that affects their use in many astronomical applications. An offset in the digitization of the CCD output voltage that depends on the binary encoding of one pixel is added to pixels that are read out one, two, and/or three pixels later. One result of this effect is the introduction of a differential offset in the background when comparing regions with and without flux from science targets. Conventional data reduction methods do not correct for this offset. We find this effect in 16 of 22 instruments investigated, covering a variety of telescopes and many different front-end electronics systems. The affected instruments include LRIS and DEIMOS on the Keck telescopes, WFC3 UVIS and STIS on HST, MegaCam on CFHT, SNIFS on the UH88 telescope, GMOS on the Gemini telescopes, HSC on Subaru, and FORS on VLT. The amplitude of the introduced offset is up to 4.5 ADU per pixel, and it is not directly proportional to the measured ADU level. We have developed a model that can be used to detect this “binary offset effect” in data, and correct for it. Understanding how data are affected and applying a correction for the effect is essential for precise astronomical measurements.

  16. Denver's Pioneer Astronomer: Herbert Alonso Howe (1858-1926)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howe, H. J.; Stencel, R. E.; Fisher, S.

    1999-05-01

    Herbert A. Howe arrived at Denver University (DU) to teach autumn 1880 classes, in math, astronomy and surveying. Howe established himself with clever solutions to the Kepler problem for orbit determinations in thesis work at Cincinnati Observatory. Riding the economic expansion of Colorado gold and silver mining in 1888, the University accepted a proposed gift of a major observatory, offered by Denver real estate baron, Humphrey Chamberlin. The result features a 20 inch aperture Alvan Clark refractor, which still ranks among the largest telescopes of the era. With the observatory building ready, the Silver Panic of 1893 -- when the US Congress dropped silver reserves from the currency basis -- burst the Denver economic bubble. Chamberlin was unable to complete payments on the balances due. Clark and G.N.Saegmuller (Fauth and Co.) at personal expense, delivered on the optics and telescope assemblies in 1894, but would wait for repayment. Sadly, this fiscal crisis affected DU for over a decade. Professor Howe, while observatory director, found himself consumed as Dean and Acting Chancellor for a young, struggling university, at the expense of the astronomy future that had looked so bright in 1892. Absent the Silver Panic, Howe would have probably been given an endowed chair in astronomy, as promised by Chamberlin. The complexion of American astronomy at the time of the birth of the American Astronomical Society in 1899 might have been different, in terms of US observing sites, etc. We are fortunate to have extensive Prof.Howe's daily diaries now in the University archives. These describe Howe's view of progress on the observatory, meetings with astronomy notables, plus vignettes of the life and times of Denver and the nation. Grandson, Herbert Julian Howe rediscovered their existence and is summarizing them in the form of a biography entitled: The Pioneer Astronomer. DU archival records contain numerous original letters from late 19th century astronomy luminaries

  17. THE INFRARED SPECTRA OF VERY LARGE IRREGULAR POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS (PAHs): OBSERVATIONAL PROBES OF ASTRONOMICAL PAH GEOMETRY, SIZE, AND CHARGE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bauschlicher, Charles W.; Peeters, Els; Allamandola, Louis J.

    2009-01-01

    The mid-infrared (IR) spectra of six large, irregular polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with formulae (C 84 H 24 -C 120 H 36 ) have been computed using density functional theory (DFT). Trends in the dominant band positions and intensities are compared to those of large, compact PAHs as a function of geometry, size, and charge. Irregular edge moieties that are common in terrestrial PAHs, such as bay regions and rings with quartet hydrogens, are shown to be uncommon in astronomical PAHs. As for all PAHs comprised solely of C and H reported to date, mid-IR emission from irregular PAHs fails to produce a strong CC str band at 6.2 μm, the position characteristic of the important, class A astronomical PAH spectra. Earlier studies showed that inclusion of nitrogen within a PAH shifts this to 6.2 μm for PAH cations. Here we show that this band shifts to 6.3 μm in nitrogenated PAH anions, close to the position of the CC stretch in class B astronomical PAH spectra. Thus, nitrogenated PAHs may be important in all sources and the peak position of the CC stretch near 6.2 μm appears to directly reflect the PAH cation to anion ratio. Large irregular PAHs exhibit features at 7.8 μm but lack them near 8.6 μm. Hence, the 7.7 μm astronomical feature is produced by a mixture of small and large PAHs while the 8.6 μm band can only be produced by large compact PAHs. As with the CC str , the position and profile of these bands reflect the PAH cation to anion ratio.

  18. Survival Strategies for African American Astronomers and Astrophysicists

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holbrook, Jarita C.

    2012-08-01

    The question of how to increase the number of women and minorities in astronomy has been approached from several directions in the United States including examination of admission policies, mentoring, and hiring practices. These point to departmental efforts to improve conditions for some of the students which has the overall benefit of improving conditions for all of the students. However, women and minority astronomers have managed to obtain doctorates even within the non-welcoming environment of certain astronomy and physics departments. I present here six strategies used by African American men and women to persevere if not thrive long enough to earn their doctorate. Embedded in this analysis is the idea of `astronomy culture' and experiencing astronomy culture as a cross-cultural experience including elements of culture shock. These survival strategies are not exclusive to this small subpopulation but have been used by majority students, too.

  19. Mesozoic cyclostratigraphy, the 405-kyr orbital eccentricity metronome, and the Astronomical Time Scale (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinnov, L.; Ogg, J. G.

    2009-12-01

    Mesozoic cyclostratigraphy from around the world is being assessed to construct a continuous Astronomical Time Scale (ATS) based on Earth’s cyclic orbital parameters. The recognition of a prevalent sedimentary cycling with a ~400-kyr period associated with forcing by the stable 405-kyr orbital eccentricity variation is an important development. Numerous formations spanning 10 to 20 myr (and longer) intervals in the Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic clearly express this dominant cycle and provide a robust basis for 405-kyr-scale calibration of the ATS. This 405-kyr metronome will enable extension of the well-defined Cenozoic ATS for scaling of the past quarter-billion years of Earth history. This astronomical calibration has a resolution comparable to the 1% to 0.1% precision for radioisotope dating of Mesozoic ash beds, with the added benefit of providing continuous stratigraphic coverage between dated beds. Extended portions of the Mesozoic ATS have already provided new insights into long-standing geologic problems of seafloor spreading, tectonics, eustasy, and paleoclimate change. Ongoing work is focused on closing gaps in coverage and on collecting duplicate cyclostratigraphic records for the entire Mesozoic Era.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-03-01

    A live 24-hour free public video webcast, "Around the World in 80 Telescopes", will take place from 3 April 09:00 UT/GMT to 4 April 09:00 UT/GMT, chasing day and night around the globe to let viewers "visit" some of the most advanced astronomical telescopes on and off the planet. The webcast, organised by ESO for the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009), is the first time that so many large observatories have been linked together for a public event. ESO PR Photo 13a/09 Map of Participating Observatories ESO PR Photo 13b/09 100 Hours of Astronomy logo Viewers will see new images of the cosmos, find out what observatories in their home countries or on the other side of the planet are discovering, send in questions and messages, and discover what astronomers are doing right now. Participating telescopes include those at observatories in Chile such as ESO's Very Large Telescope and La Silla, the Hawaii-based telescopes Gemini North and Keck, the Anglo-Australian Telescope, telescopes in the Canary Islands, the Southern African Large Telescope, space-based telescopes such as the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, ESA XMM-Newton and Integral, and many more. "Around the World in 80 Telescopes" will take viewers to every continent, including Antarctica! The webcast production will be hosted at ESO's headquarters near Munich, Germany, with live internet streaming by Ustream.tv. Anyone with a web browser supporting Adobe Flash will be able to follow the show, free of charge, from the website www.100hoursofastronomy.org and be a part of the project by sending messages and questions. The video player can be freely embedded on other websites. TV stations, web portals and science centres can also use the high quality feed. Representatives of the media who wish to report from the "front-line" and interview the team should get in touch. "Around the World in 80 Telescopes" is a major component of the 100 Hours of Astronomy (100HA), a Cornerstone project of the International

  1. Fluctuations of quasars and other astronomical sources: final report on New Research Initiatives Program W-210

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Terrell, J.

    1978-01-01

    New Research Initiatives Program W-210 produced a number of scientific results, publications, colloquia, and talks. Investigations under this program dealt with power spectra of fluctuating light sources, the apparent expansion rates of astronomical sources exploding at relativistic speed, the limits on fluctuation rates of such expanding (and nonexpanding) light sources, and related matters. Probably the most important result was a study of the time history of such an exploding light source, which showed that a widely held belief that unusually rapid fluctuations of light output would be produced in this case is not correct. This result has an important bearing on the interpretation of the redshifts of quasars and BL Lac objects, indicating that cosmological distance is very difficult to reconcile with the observations of rapid variations of luminosity. These results, and the power-spectrum results, are also of considerable interest in the study of astronomical x-ray sources. A list of publications is included

  2. An astronomical time scale for the Maastrichtian at the Zumaia and Sopelana sections (Basque country, northern Spain)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Batenburg, Sietske J.; Gale, Andy S.; Sprovieri, Mario

    2014-01-01

    The rhythmically bedded limestone–marl alternations in the coastal cliffs of Sopelana and Zumaia in the Basque country, northern Spain, permit testing and refining of existing Maastrichtian chronologies (latest Cretaceous). The recently established astronomical time scale for the late Maastrichtian...

  3. The application of artificial intelligence to astronomical scheduling problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnston, Mark D.

    1992-01-01

    Efficient utilization of expensive space- and ground-based observatories is an important goal for the astronomical community; the cost of modern observing facilities is enormous, and the available observing time is much less than the demand from astronomers around the world. The complexity and variety of scheduling constraints and goals has led several groups to investigate how artificial intelligence (AI) techniques might help solve these kinds of problems. The earliest and most successful of these projects was started at Space Telescope Science Institute in 1987 and has led to the development of the Spike scheduling system to support the scheduling of Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The aim of Spike at STScI is to allocate observations to timescales of days to a week observing all scheduling constraints and maximizing preferences that help ensure that observations are made at optimal times. Spike has been in use operationally for HST since shortly after the observatory was launched in Apr. 1990. Although developed specifically for HST scheduling, Spike was carefully designed to provide a general framework for similar (activity-based) scheduling problems. In particular, the tasks to be scheduled are defined in the system in general terms, and no assumptions about the scheduling timescale are built in. The mechanisms for describing, combining, and propagating temporal and other constraints and preferences are quite general. The success of this approach has been demonstrated by the application of Spike to the scheduling of other satellite observatories: changes to the system are required only in the specific constraints that apply, and not in the framework itself. In particular, the Spike framework is sufficiently flexible to handle both long-term and short-term scheduling, on timescales of years down to minutes or less. This talk will discuss recent progress made in scheduling search techniques, the lessons learned from early HST operations, the application of Spike

  4. Digital resources and low cost of teaching materials for astronomical education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paladino, L.; Voelzke, M. R.

    2017-12-01

    This work presents the results of the application of two questionnaires about Astronomical concepts in three classes in the first year High School of a public school in the periphery of São Paulo. In the first questionnaire was verified the prior knowledge of students. Then the intervention strategies were carried out: use of digital resources of the school, construction of mock-ups using low cost materials and the use of educational books, such as Couper & Henbest (1997), Horvath (2008). After four months, the second questionnaire was applied to verify the occurence of meaningful learning.

  5. On the astronomical orientation of the IV dynasty Egyptian pyramids and the dating of the second Giza pyramid

    OpenAIRE

    Magli, Giulio

    2003-01-01

    The data on the astronomical orientation of the IV dynasty Egyptian pyramids are re-analyzed and it is shown that such data suggest an inverse chronology between the `first` and the `second` Giza pyramid.

  6. The Undergraduate Research Resources at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cline, J. Donald; Castelaz, Michael W.

    2016-01-01

    Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI), a former NASA tracking station located in western North Carolina, has been offering programs, campus, and instrument use for undergraduate research and learning experiences since 2000. Over these years, PARI has collaborated with universities and colleges in the Southeastern U.S. Sharing its campus with institutions of higher learning is a priority for PARI as part of its mission to "to providing hands-on educational and research opportunities for a broad cross-section of users in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines."PARI is a 200 acre campus for environmental, earth, geological, physical, and astronomical sciences. For example, the PARI 26-m and 4.6-m radio telescopes are excellent for teaching electromagnetic theory, spectroscopy, atomic and molecular emission processes, and general physics and astronomy concepts. The PARI campus has lab and office space, data centers with high speed internet, distance learning capabilities, radio and optical telescopes, earth science sensors, housing and cafeteria.Also, the campus is in an excellent spot for environmental and biological sciences lab and classroom experiences for students. The campus has the capability to put power and Internet access almost anywhere on its 200 acre campus so experiments can be set up in a protected area of a national forest. For example, Earthscope operates a Plate Boundary Observatory sensor on campus to measure plate tectonic motion. And, Clemson University has an instrument measuring winds and temperatures in the Thermsophere. The use of thePARI campus is limited only by the creativity faculty to provide a rich educational environment for their students. An overview of PARI will be presented along with a summary of programs, and a summary of undergraduate research experiences over the past 15 years. Access to PARI and collaboration possibilities will be presented.

  7. Development of a digital astronomical intensity interferometer: laboratory results with thermal light

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthews, Nolan; Kieda, David; LeBohec, Stephan

    2018-06-01

    We present measurements of the second-order spatial coherence function of thermal light sources using Hanbury-Brown and Twiss interferometry with a digital correlator. We demonstrate that intensity fluctuations between orthogonal polarizations, or at detector separations greater than the spatial coherence length of the source, are uncorrelated but can be used to reduce systematic noise. The work performed here can readily be applied to existing and future Imaging Air-Cherenkov Telescopes used as star light collectors for stellar intensity interferometry to measure spatial properties of astronomical objects.

  8. VEGAS: VErsatile GBT Astronomical Spectrometer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bussa, Srikanth; VEGAS Development Team

    2012-01-01

    The National Science Foundation Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation (NSF-ATI) program is funding a new spectrometer backend for the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). This spectrometer is being built by the CICADA collaboration - collaboration between the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and the Center for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronics Research (CASPER) at the University of California Berkeley.The backend is named as VErsatile GBT Astronomical Spectrometer (VEGAS) and will replace the capabilities of the existing spectrometers. This backend supports data processing from focal plane array systems. The spectrometer will be capable of processing up to 1.25 GHz bandwidth from 8 dual polarized beams or a bandwidth up to 10 GHz from a dual polarized beam.The spectrometer will be using 8-bit analog to digital converters (ADC), which gives a better dynamic range than existing GBT spectrometers. There will be 8 tunable digital sub-bands within the 1.25 GHz bandwidth, which will enhance the capability of simultaneous observation of multiple spectral transitions. The maximum spectral dump rate to disk will be about 0.5 msec. The vastly enhanced backend capabilities will support several science projects with the GBT. The projects include mapping temperature and density structure of molecular clouds; searches for organic molecules in the interstellar medium; determination of the fundamental constants of our evolving Universe; red-shifted spectral features from galaxies across cosmic time and survey for pulsars in the extreme gravitational environment of the Galactic Center.

  9. IYL Blog: Astronomers travel in time and space with light

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mather, John C.

    2015-01-01

    As an astronomer, I use light to travel through the universe, and to look back in time to when the universe was young. So do you! All of us see things as they were when the light was emitted, not as they are now. The farthest thing you can easily see without a telescope is the Andromeda Nebula, which is a galaxy like the Milky Way, about 2.5 million light years away. You see it as it was 2.5 million years ago, and we really don't know what it looks like today; the disk will have rotated a bit, new stars will have been born, there could have been all kinds of exploding stars, and the black hole in the middle could be lighting up. People may be skeptical of the Big Bang theory, even though we have a TV show named for it, but we (I should say Penzias and Wilson) measured its heat radiation 51 years ago at Bell Telephone Labs in New Jersey. Their discovery marks the beginning of the era of cosmology as a measurement science rather than speculation. Penzias and Wilson received the Nobel Prize in 1978 for their finding, which had been predicted in 1948 by Alpher and Herman. By the way, heat radiation is just another form of light - we call it radiation because we can't see it, but it's exactly the same phenomenon of electromagnetic waves, and the only difference is the wavelength. In the old days of analog television, if you tuned your TV in between channels, about 1% of the snow that you could see came from the Big Bang. So when we look at the heat radiation of the early universe, we really are gazing right at what seems to us a cosmic fireball, which surrounds us completely. It's a bit of an illusion; if you can imagine what astronomers in other galaxies would see, they would also feel surrounded by the fireball, and they would also think they were in the middle. So from a mathematical version of imagination, we conclude that there is no observable center and no edge of our universe, and that the heat of the fireball fills the entire universe uniformly. Astronomers are

  10. NASA and ESA astronauts visit ESO. Hubble repair team meets European astronomers in Garching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-02-01

    On Wednesday, February 16, 1994, seven NASA and ESA astronauts and their spouses will spend a day at the Headquarters of the European Southern Observatory. They are the members of the STS-61 crew that successfully repaired the Hubble Space Telescope during a Space Shuttle mission in December 1993. This will be the only stop in Germany during their current tour of various European countries. ESO houses the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST/ECF), a joint venture by the European Space Agency and ESO. This group of astronomers and computer specialists provide all services needed by European astronomers for observations with the Space Telescope. Currently, the European share is about 20 of the total time available at this telescope. During this visit, a Press Conference will be held on Wednesday, February 16, 11:45 - 12:30 at the ESO Headquarters Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2 D-85748 Garching bei Munchen. Please note that participation in this Press Conference is by invitation only. Media representatives may obtain invitations from Mrs. E. Volk, ESO Information Service at this address (Tel.: +49-89-32006276; Fax.: +49-89-3202362), until Friday, February 11, 1994. After the Press Conference, between 12:30 - 14:00, a light refreshment will be served at the ESO Headquarters to all participants. >From 14:00 - 15:30, the astronauts will meet with students and teachers from the many scientific institutes in Garching in the course of an open presentation at the large lecture hall of the Physics Department of the Technical University. It is a 10 minute walk from ESO to the hall. Later the same day, the astronauts will be back at ESO for a private discussion of various space astronomy issues with their astronomer colleagues, many of whom are users of the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as ground-based telescopes at the ESO La Silla Observatory and elsewhere. The astronauts continue to Switzerland in the evening.

  11. Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics IV Proceedings of the Seventh Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society (SEA), held in Barcelona, Spain, September 12-15, 2006

    CERN Document Server

    Figueras, Francesca; Hernanz, Margarita; Jordi, Carme

    2007-01-01

    This volume documents the contributions presented at the Seventh Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society (Sociedad Española de Astronomía, SEA). The event bought together 301 participants who presented 161 contributed talks and 120 posters, the greatest numbers up to now. The fact that most exciting items of the current astronomical research were addressed in the meeting proofs the good health of the SEA, a consolidated organization founded fifteen years ago in Barcelona. Two plenary sessions of the meeting were devoted to the approved entrance of Spain as a full member of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and to the imminent first light of the greatest telescope in the world, the GTC (Gran Telescopio de Canarias), milestones that will certainly lead the Spanish Astronomy in the next future.

  12. Laboratory spectrum of the PS radical and related astronomical search

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohishi, M.; Yamamoto, S.; Saito, S.; Kawaguchi, K.; Suzuki, H.

    1988-01-01

    The millimeter-wave rotational spectrum of the PS radical (X 2Pi r) was observed in the laboratory for the first time in the frequency region of 79-293 GHz by discharging the mixture of PSCl3 and He. Some 44 lines were measured, and the rotational constant, the centrifugal distortion constant, the centrifugal distortion term of the spin-orbit coupling constant, the Lambda-type doubling constants, and the hyperfine coupling constants were determined. Based on the measured and calculated frequencies, an astronomical search for the interstellar and circumstellar PS radical was made without success in Orion KL, Sgr B2, L134N,IRC + 10216, VY CMa, and OH 231.8 + 4.2. 29 references

  13. Astronomical timescale calibration for the Permian-Triassic boundary transition interval from global correlation of cyclic marine sequences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, C.; Hinnov, L. A.; Tong, J.; Chen, Z.

    2011-12-01

    The mass extinctions near the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) resulted in the greatest dying of life on Earth. The cause of this catastrophe remains enigmatic. High-resolution chronology is crucial to understanding the recorded pattern of biotic evolution and possible causes for the extinctions. Magnetic susceptibility (MS) data from Shangsi, South China shows evidence for astronomical forcing through the PTB interval, with strong 405-kyr cycling. This allows development of an astrochronology for the PTB interval based on the 405-kyr orbital eccentricity metronome that has been proposed for the Mesozoic timescale. Radioisotope dating combined with the 405-kyr tuned MS series from Shangsi shows that the 405-kyr-cycle predominates throughout the PTB interval. In the Permian segment, ~100-kyr cyclicity dominates, and the 100-kyr-scale MS maxima correlate with high-amplitude precession-scale MS variations. Minima in the ~1.5-Myr, 405-kyr and ~100-kyr cycles converge at 252.6 Ma, approximately 200 kyr before the onset of the main mass extinction near the PTB. In the Triassic aftermath, the recorded astronomical signal is different, with predominant 405-kyr cycles and loss of 100 kyr cyclicity, and appearance of ~33 kyr (obliquity scale) cyclicity; 100-kyr cyclicity strengthens again 2 Myr later. This pattern indicates a change in the response of the depositional environment (or magnetic susceptibility) to astronomical forcing before and after the mass extinction interval. The astrochronology interpolates the timescale between the radioisotopically determined absolute dates; this facilitates estimation of ages for specific events in the PTB crisis, including magnetic reversals, biozone boundaries, and the mass extinctions. An estimated ~700 kyr duration for the Mass Extinction Interval (MEI) at Shangsi based on the 405-kyr tuning is supported by eccentricity-tuned estimates of three other sections in China (Meishan, Huangzhishan, and Heping), and two Alpine sections

  14. Revolutsionäärid, kes ei pääsenud külma käest / Linda Kaljundi

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Kaljundi, Linda, 1979-

    2006-01-01

    PÖFFil linastunud Põhjamaade filmidest: "Tüütu mees" ("Den Brysomme mannen", režissöör Jens Lien, Norra, 2006), "Seltsimees Pedersen" ("Gymnaslaerer Pedersen", režissöör Hans Petter Moland, Norra, 2006), "Kelle ridades seisad" ("Kenen joukoissa seisot", režissöör Jouko Aaltonen, Soome, 2006)

  15. Chemo Resistance of Breast Cancer Stem Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-05-01

    165-72. 60. Vestergaard J, Pedersen MW, Pedersen N, Ensinger C, Tumer Z, Tommerup N, et al. Hedgehog signaling in small-cell lung cancer : frequent......NUMBER Chemo Resistance of Breast Cancer Stem Cells 5b. GRANT NUMBER W81XWH-04-1-0471 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d

  16. Sixteenth Century Astronomical Telescopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Usher, P. D.

    2001-12-01

    Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet is named for the ``moist star" which in mythology is the partner of Hamlet's royal Sun. Together the couple seem destined to rule on earth just as their celestial counterparts rule the heavens, but the tragedy is that they are afflicted, just as the Sun and Moon are blemished. In 1.3 Laertes lectures Ophelia on love and chastity, describing first Cytherean phases (crescent to gibbous) and then Lunar craters. Spots mar the Sun (1.1, 3.1). Also reported are Jupiter's Red Spot (3.4) and the resolution of the Milky Way into stars (2.2). These interpretations are well-founded and support the cosmic allegory. Observations must have been made with optical aid, probably the perspective glass of Leonard Digges, father of Thomas Digges. Notably absent from Hamlet is mention of the Galilean moons, owing perhaps to the narrow field-of-view of the telescope. That discovery is later celebrated in Cymbeline, published soon after Galileo's Siderius Nuncius in 1610. In 5.4 of Cymbeline the four ghosts dance ``in imitation of planetary motions" and at Jupiter's behest place a book on the chest of Posthumus Leonatus. His name identifies the Digges father and son as the source of data in Hamlet since Jupiter's moons were discovered after the deaths of Leonard (``leon+hart") and Thomas (the ``lion's whelp"). Lines in 5.4 urge us not to read more into the book than is contained between its covers; this is understandable because Hamlet had already reported the other data in support of heliocentricism and the cosmic model discussed and depicted by Thomas Digges in 1576. I conclude therefore that astronomical telescopy began in England before the last quarter of the sixteenth century.

  17. Fast and Scalable Gaussian Process Modeling with Applications to Astronomical Time Series

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foreman-Mackey, Daniel; Agol, Eric; Ambikasaran, Sivaram; Angus, Ruth

    2017-12-01

    The growing field of large-scale time domain astronomy requires methods for probabilistic data analysis that are computationally tractable, even with large data sets. Gaussian processes (GPs) are a popular class of models used for this purpose, but since the computational cost scales, in general, as the cube of the number of data points, their application has been limited to small data sets. In this paper, we present a novel method for GPs modeling in one dimension where the computational requirements scale linearly with the size of the data set. We demonstrate the method by applying it to simulated and real astronomical time series data sets. These demonstrations are examples of probabilistic inference of stellar rotation periods, asteroseismic oscillation spectra, and transiting planet parameters. The method exploits structure in the problem when the covariance function is expressed as a mixture of complex exponentials, without requiring evenly spaced observations or uniform noise. This form of covariance arises naturally when the process is a mixture of stochastically driven damped harmonic oscillators—providing a physical motivation for and interpretation of this choice—but we also demonstrate that it can be a useful effective model in some other cases. We present a mathematical description of the method and compare it to existing scalable GP methods. The method is fast and interpretable, with a range of potential applications within astronomical data analysis and beyond. We provide well-tested and documented open-source implementations of this method in C++, Python, and Julia.

  18. The Berlin astronomer - Life and works of Johann Elert Bode (1747-1826) (German Title: Der Berliner Astronom - Leben und Werk von Johann Elert Bode (1747-1826) )

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwemin, Friedhelm

    Johann Elert Bode (1747-1826), long-time director of Berlin Observatory, earned his merits by editing the “Astronomisches Jahrbuch” for many years, for producing a immaculate star atlas, and for writing a series of popular books. Today, astronomers still know the “Titius-Bode law” of planetary distances, which had been publicized by him. The author traces the life of this Hamburg-born scholar. He analyzes his works and tries to determine his place in the history of astronomy. The volume comprises texts of original documents from Bode's life, a bibliography of his works, as well as numerous historical illustrations, often published here for the first time.

  19. The inspiration of astronomical phenomena (INSAP). Proceedings. Conference, Rocca di Papa (Italy), 27 Jun - 2 Jul 1994.

    Science.gov (United States)

    The papers concern the inspiration provided by astronomy to the fields of art, philosophy, religion and various human cultures. Individual papers cover the following topics: the Qur'anic conception of astronomical phenomena on Islamic civilization, the Milky Way and society, the mythology and ritual of India, the Varanasi Sun temples, celestial bodies meanings in pre-Hispanic Mexico, the celestial basis of civilization, Mexican eclipse imagery, Chinese dynastic ideology - astrological origins, NW Europe stone rows, stars and seasons in southern Africa, the Pleiades and Hesperides, stars and philosophy, the search for extraterrestrial life, the significance of the pre-Copernican revolution, Judaeo-Christian revelation, Maria Magdalena - the Morning Star, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, stellar poetry, John Bauer's star-spangled fairy-tale world, Polish romantic poetry, the expansion of astronomical horizons, recent comet research and ancient sky implications, civilization Spenglerian model and punctuational crises, Anaxagoras and the scientist/laity interaction.

  20. The Church of San Miniato al Monte, Florence: Astronomical and Astrological Connections

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shrimplin, V.

    2011-06-01

    The church of San Miniato al Monte is examined in the context of interest in astrology and astronomy in early Renaissance Florence. Vitruvius emphasised the need for architects to "be acquainted with astronomy and the theory of the heavens" in his famous Ten Books of Architecture and, at San Miniato, astronomical and astrological features are combined in order to link humanity with the celestial or spiritual realm. The particular significance of Pisces and Taurus is explored in relation to Christian symbolism, raising questions about the role of astronomy and astrology in art and architecture.