4MOST: the 4-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope project at preliminary design review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong, Roelof S.; Barden, Samuel C.; Bellido-Tirado, Olga; Brynnel, Joar G.; Frey, Steffen; Giannone, Domenico; Haynes, Roger; Johl, Diana; Phillips, Daniel; Schnurr, Olivier; Walcher, Jakob C.; Winkler, Roland; Ansorge, Wolfgang R.; Feltzing, Sofia; McMahon, Richard G.; Baker, Gabriella; Caillier, Patrick; Dwelly, Tom; Gaessler, Wolfgang; Iwert, Olaf; Mandel, Holger G.; Piskunov, Nikolai A.; Pragt, Johan H.; Walton, Nicholas A.; Bensby, Thomas; Bergemann, Maria; Chiappini, Cristina; Christlieb, Norbert; Cioni, Maria-Rosa L.; Driver, Simon; Finoguenov, Alexis; Helmi, Amina; Irwin, Michael J.; Kitaura, Francisco-Shu; Kneib, Jean-Paul; Liske, Jochen; Merloni, Andrea; Minchev, Ivan; Richard, Johan; Starkenburg, Else

2016-01-01

We present an overview of the 4MOST project at the Preliminary Design Review. 4MOST is a major new wide-field, high-multiplex spectroscopic survey facility under development for the VISTA telescope of ESO. 4MOST has a broad range of science goals ranging from Galactic Archaeology and stellar physics

Observing the Sun with Coronado telescopes telescopes

CERN Document Server

Pugh, Philip

2007-01-01

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

End-to-end simulations and planning of a small space telescopes: Galaxy Evolution Spectroscopic Explorer: a case study

Science.gov (United States)

Heap, Sara; Folta, David; Gong, Qian; Howard, Joseph; Hull, Tony; Purves, Lloyd

2016-08-01

Large astronomical missions are usually general-purpose telescopes with a suite of instruments optimized for different wavelength regions, spectral resolutions, etc. Their end-to-end (E2E) simulations are typically photons-in to flux-out calculations made to verify that each instrument meets its performance specifications. In contrast, smaller space missions are usually single-purpose telescopes, and their E2E simulations start with the scientific question to be answered and end with an assessment of the effectiveness of the mission in answering the scientific question. Thus, E2E simulations for small missions consist a longer string of calculations than for large missions, as they include not only the telescope and instrumentation, but also the spacecraft, orbit, and external factors such as coordination with other telescopes. Here, we illustrate the strategy and organization of small-mission E2E simulations using the Galaxy Evolution Spectroscopic Explorer (GESE) as a case study. GESE is an Explorer/Probe-class space mission concept with the primary aim of understanding galaxy evolution. Operation of a small survey telescope in space like GESE is usually simpler than operations of large telescopes driven by the varied scientific programs of the observers or by transient events. Nevertheless, both types of telescopes share two common challenges: maximizing the integration time on target, while minimizing operation costs including communication costs and staffing on the ground. We show in the case of GESE how these challenges can be met through a custom orbit and a system design emphasizing simplification and leveraging information from ground-based telescopes.

UPPER LIMITS FROM FIVE YEARS OF BLAZAR OBSERVATIONS WITH THE VERITAS CHERENKOV TELESCOPES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Archambault, S. [Physics Department, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2T8 (Canada); Archer, A.; Buckley, J. H.; Bugaev, V. [Department of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130 (United States); Benbow, W.; Cerruti, M. [Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Amado, AZ 85645 (United States); Bird, R. [School of Physics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4 (Ireland); Biteau, J. [Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics and Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Buchovecky, M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Byrum, K. [Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States); Chen, X. [Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm (Germany); Ciupik, L. [Astronomy Department, Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL 60605 (United States); Connolly, M. P. [School of Physics, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, Galway (Ireland); Cui, W.; Feng, Q.; Finley, J. P. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 (United States); Eisch, J. D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011 (United States); Errando, M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Barnard College, Columbia University, NY 10027 (United States); Falcone, A. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 525 Davey Lab, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Fleischhack, H., E-mail: wystan.benbow@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: matteo.cerruti@lpnhe.in2p3.fr, E-mail: caajohns@ucsc.edu [DESY, Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen (Germany); Collaboration: VERITAS collaboration; and others

2016-06-01

Between the beginning of its full-scale scientific operations in 2007 and 2012, the VERITAS Cherenkov telescope array observed more than 130 blazars; of these, 26 were detected as very-high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) γ -ray sources. In this work, we present the analysis results of a sample of 114 undetected objects. The observations constitute a total live-time of ∼570 hr. The sample includes several unidentified Fermi -Large Area Telescope (LAT) sources (located at high Galactic latitude) as well as all the sources from the second Fermi -LAT catalog that are contained within the field of view of the VERITAS observations. We have also performed optical spectroscopy measurements in order to estimate the redshift of some of these blazars that do not have spectroscopic distance estimates. We present new optical spectra from the Kast instrument on the Shane telescope at the Lick observatory for 18 blazars included in this work, which allowed for the successful measurement or constraint on the redshift of four of them. For each of the blazars included in our sample, we provide the flux upper limit in the VERITAS energy band. We also study the properties of the significance distributions and we present the result of a stacked analysis of the data set, which shows a 4 σ excess.

UPPER LIMITS FROM FIVE YEARS OF BLAZAR OBSERVATIONS WITH THE VERITAS CHERENKOV TELESCOPES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Archambault, S.; Archer, A.; Buckley, J. H.; Bugaev, V.; Benbow, W.; Cerruti, M.; Bird, R.; Biteau, J.; Buchovecky, M.; Byrum, K.; Chen, X.; Ciupik, L.; Connolly, M. P.; Cui, W.; Feng, Q.; Finley, J. P.; Eisch, J. D.; Errando, M.; Falcone, A.; Fleischhack, H.

2016-01-01

Between the beginning of its full-scale scientific operations in 2007 and 2012, the VERITAS Cherenkov telescope array observed more than 130 blazars; of these, 26 were detected as very-high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) γ -ray sources. In this work, we present the analysis results of a sample of 114 undetected objects. The observations constitute a total live-time of ∼570 hr. The sample includes several unidentified Fermi -Large Area Telescope (LAT) sources (located at high Galactic latitude) as well as all the sources from the second Fermi -LAT catalog that are contained within the field of view of the VERITAS observations. We have also performed optical spectroscopy measurements in order to estimate the redshift of some of these blazars that do not have spectroscopic distance estimates. We present new optical spectra from the Kast instrument on the Shane telescope at the Lick observatory for 18 blazars included in this work, which allowed for the successful measurement or constraint on the redshift of four of them. For each of the blazars included in our sample, we provide the flux upper limit in the VERITAS energy band. We also study the properties of the significance distributions and we present the result of a stacked analysis of the data set, which shows a 4 σ excess.

OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF GAMMA-RAY BLAZAR CANDIDATES. IV. RESULTS OF THE 2014 FOLLOW-UP CAMPAIGN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ricci, F.; Massaro, F.; Landoni, M.; D’Abrusco, R.; Milisavljevic, D.; Paggi, A.; Smith, Howard A.; Stern, D.; Masetti, N.; Tosti, G.

2015-01-01

The extragalactic γ-ray sky is dominated by the emission arising from blazars, one of the most peculiar classes of radio-loud active galaxies. Since the launch of Fermi several methods were developed to search for blazars as potential counterparts of unidentified γ-ray sources (UGSs). To confirm the nature of the selected candidates, optical spectroscopic observations are necessary. In 2013 we started a spectroscopic campaign to investigate γ-ray blazar candidates selected according to different procedures. The main goals of our campaign are: (1) to confirm the nature of these candidates, and (2) whenever possible, determine their redshifts. Optical spectroscopic observations will also permit us to verify the robustness of the proposed associations and check for the presence of possible source class contaminants to our counterpart selection. This paper reports the results of observations carried out in 2014 in the northern hemisphere with Kitt Peak National Observatory and in the southern hemisphere with the Southern Astrophysical Research telescopes. We also report three sources observed with the Magellan and Palomar telescopes. Our selection of blazar-like sources that could be potential counterparts of UGSs is based on their peculiar infrared colors and on their combination with radio observations both at high and low frequencies (i.e., above and below ∼1 GHz) in publicly available large radio surveys. We present the optical spectra of 27 objects. We confirm the blazar-like nature of nine sources that appear to be potential low-energy counterparts of UGSs. Then we present new spectroscopic observations of 10 active galaxies of uncertain type associated with Fermi sources, classifying all of them as blazars. In addition, we present the spectra for five known γ-ray blazars with uncertain redshift estimates and three BL Lac candidates that were observed during our campaign. We also report the case for WISE J173052.85−035247.2, candidate counterpart of the

OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF GAMMA-RAY BLAZAR CANDIDATES. IV. RESULTS OF THE 2014 FOLLOW-UP CAMPAIGN

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ricci, F. [Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università Roma Tre, via della Vasca Navale 84, I-00146, Roma (Italy); Massaro, F. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Torino, via Pietro Giuria 1, I-10125 Torino (Italy); Landoni, M. [INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Via Emilio Bianchi 46, I-23807 Merate (Italy); D’Abrusco, R.; Milisavljevic, D.; Paggi, A.; Smith, Howard A. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Stern, D. [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Mail Stop 169-221, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States); Masetti, N. [INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna, via Gobetti 101, I-40129, Bologna (Italy); Tosti, G., E-mail: riccif@fis.uniroma3.it [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia (Italy)

2015-05-15

The extragalactic γ-ray sky is dominated by the emission arising from blazars, one of the most peculiar classes of radio-loud active galaxies. Since the launch of Fermi several methods were developed to search for blazars as potential counterparts of unidentified γ-ray sources (UGSs). To confirm the nature of the selected candidates, optical spectroscopic observations are necessary. In 2013 we started a spectroscopic campaign to investigate γ-ray blazar candidates selected according to different procedures. The main goals of our campaign are: (1) to confirm the nature of these candidates, and (2) whenever possible, determine their redshifts. Optical spectroscopic observations will also permit us to verify the robustness of the proposed associations and check for the presence of possible source class contaminants to our counterpart selection. This paper reports the results of observations carried out in 2014 in the northern hemisphere with Kitt Peak National Observatory and in the southern hemisphere with the Southern Astrophysical Research telescopes. We also report three sources observed with the Magellan and Palomar telescopes. Our selection of blazar-like sources that could be potential counterparts of UGSs is based on their peculiar infrared colors and on their combination with radio observations both at high and low frequencies (i.e., above and below ∼1 GHz) in publicly available large radio surveys. We present the optical spectra of 27 objects. We confirm the blazar-like nature of nine sources that appear to be potential low-energy counterparts of UGSs. Then we present new spectroscopic observations of 10 active galaxies of uncertain type associated with Fermi sources, classifying all of them as blazars. In addition, we present the spectra for five known γ-ray blazars with uncertain redshift estimates and three BL Lac candidates that were observed during our campaign. We also report the case for WISE J173052.85−035247.2, candidate counterpart of the

Spectroscopic study of the optical counterpart to the fast X-ray transient IGR J17544-2619 based on observations at the 1.5-m RTT-150 telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Bikmaev, I. F.; Nikolaeva, E. A.; Shimansky, V. V.; Galeev, A. I.; Zhuchkov, R. Ya.; Irtuganov, E. N.; Melnikov, S. S.; Sakhibullin, N. A.; Grebenev, S. A.; Sharipova, L. M.

2017-10-01

We present the results of our long-term photometric and spectroscopic observations at the Russian-Turkish RTT-150 telescope for the optical counterpart to one of the best-known sources, representatives of the class of fast X-ray transients, IGR J17544-2619. Based on our optical data, we have determined for the first time the orbital and physical parameters of the binary system by the methods of Doppler spectroscopy.We have calculated theoretical spectra of the optical counterpart by applying non- LTE corrections for selected lines and obtained the parameters of the stellar atmosphere ( T eff = 33 000 K, log g = 3.85, R = 9.5 R ⊙, and M = 23 M ⊙). The latter suggest that the optical star is not a supergiant as has been thought previously.

Spectroscopic follow up of Kepler planet candidates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Latham..[], D. W.; Cochran, W. D.; Marcy, G.W.

2010-01-01

Spectroscopic follow-up observations play a crucial role in the confirmation and characterization of transiting planet candidates identified by Kepler. The most challenging part of this work is the determination of radial velocities with a precision approaching 1 m/s in order to derive masses from...... spectroscopic orbits. The most precious resource for this work is HIRES on Keck I, to be joined by HARPS-North on the William Herschel Telescope when that new spectrometer comes on line in two years. Because a large fraction of the planet candidates are in fact stellar systems involving eclipsing stars...... and not planets, our strategy is to start with reconnaissance spectroscopy using smaller telescopes, to sort out and reject as many of the false positives as possible before going to Keck. During the first Kepler observing season in 2009, more than 100 nights of telescope time were allocated for this work, using...

The Green Bank Telescope: A radio telescope for the twenty-first century: Final proposal June 1989

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1989-01-01

The scientific goals, design, and projected performance of a 100-m-aperture steerable radio telescope to be built at Green Bank, WV are discussed in a proposal to the NSF. The goals considered include observations of pulsars, stars and the solar system; studies of Galactic and extragalactic H I, spectroscopic studies, measurements of continuum radiation; and VLBI observations. Detailed attention is given to the antenna, electronics, control and monitor system, data processing, operational factors, the telescope site, and cost estimates. Drawings, diagrams, sample images, and tables of numerical data are provided

New infrared telescopic observation of Vesta

Science.gov (United States)

Palomba, E.; D'Aversa, E.; Sato, T.; Longobardo, A.; Aoki, S.; Sindoni, G.; Oliva, F.

2017-09-01

In this work we present new telescopic observations of the Vesta asteroid made at the Subaru Telescope by using the COMICS IR spectrometer. We were able to obtain 5 different observations in 5 day, at two different epochs. The obtained spectra do not exhibit Reststrahlen bands and show only weak features attributable to the Christiansen peak and to the transparency feature compatible with a fine grain size regolith.

Massive Young Stellar Objects in the Galactic Center. 1; Spectroscopic Identification from Spitzer/IRS Observations

Science.gov (United States)

An, Deokkeun; Ramirez, Solange V.; Sellgren, Kris; Arendt, Richard G.; Boogert, A. C. Adwin; Robitaille, Thomas P.; Schultheis, Mathias; Cotera, Angela S.; Smith, Howard A.; Stolovy, Susan R.

2011-01-01

We present results from our spectroscopic study, using the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) onboard the Spitzer Space Telescope, designed to identify massive young stellar objects (YSOs) in the Galactic Center (GC). Our sample of 107 YSO candidates was selected based on IRAC colors from the high spatial resolution, high sensitivity Spitzer/IRAC images in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ), which spans the central approximately 300 pc region of the Milky Way Galaxy. We obtained IRS spectra over 5 micron to 35 micron using both high- and low-resolution IRS modules. We spectroscopically identify massive YSOs by the presence of a 15.4 micron shoulder on the absorption profile of 15 micron CO2 ice, suggestive of CO2 ice mixed with CH30H ice on grains. This 15.4 micron shoulder is clearly observed in 16 sources and possibly observed in an additional 19 sources. We show that 9 massive YSOs also reveal molecular gas-phase absorption from C02, C2H2, and/or HCN, which traces warm and dense gas in YSOs. Our results provide the first spectroscopic census of the massive YSO population in the GC. We fit YSO models to the observed spectral energy distributions and find YSO masses of 8 - 23 solar Mass, which generally agree with the masses derived from observed radio continuum emission. We find that about 50% of photometrically identified YSOs are confirmed with our spectroscopic study. This implies a preliminary star formation rate of approximately 0.07 solar mass/yr at the GC.

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.

3D-HST: A WIDE-FIELD GRISM SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY WITH THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brammer, Gabriel B.; Van Dokkum, Pieter G.; Skelton, Rosalind E.; Nelson, Erica; Bezanson, Rachel; Leja, Joel; Lundgren, Britt; Franx, Marijn; Fumagalli, Mattia; Patel, Shannon; Labbé, Ivo; Rix, Hans-Walter; Schmidt, Kasper B.; Da Cunha, Elisabete; Kriek, Mariska; Erb, Dawn K.; Fan, Xiaohui; Förster Schreiber, Natascha; Illingworth, Garth D.; Magee, Dan

2012-01-01

We present 3D-HST, a near-infrared spectroscopic Treasury program with the Hubble Space Telescope for studying the physical processes that shape galaxies in the distant universe. 3D-HST provides rest-frame optical spectra for a sample of ∼7000 galaxies at 1 2 ) of the CANDELS Treasury survey area with two orbits of primary WFC3/G141 grism coverage and two to four orbits with the ACS/G800L grism in parallel. In the IR, these exposure times yield a continuum signal-to-noise ratio of ∼5 per resolution element at H 140 ∼ 23.1 and a 5σ emission-line sensitivity of ∼5 × 10 –17 erg s –1 cm –2 for typical objects, improving by a factor of ∼2 for compact sources in images with low sky background levels. The WFC3/G141 spectra provide continuous wavelength coverage from 1.1 to 1.6 μm at a spatial resolution of ∼0.''13, which, combined with their depth, makes them a unique resource for studying galaxy evolution. We present an overview of the preliminary reduction and analysis of the grism observations, including emission-line and redshift measurements from combined fits to the extracted grism spectra and photometry from ancillary multi-wavelength catalogs. The present analysis yields redshift estimates with a precision of σ(z) = 0.0034(1 + z), or σ(v) ≈ 1000 km s –1 . We illustrate how the generalized nature of the survey yields near-infrared spectra of remarkable quality for many different types of objects, including a quasar at z = 4.7, quiescent galaxies at z ∼ 2, and the most distant T-type brown dwarf star known. The combination of the CANDELS and 3D-HST surveys will provide the definitive imaging and spectroscopic data set for studies of the 1 < z < 3.5 universe until the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope.

Instrument Design of the Large Aperture Solar UV Visible and IR Observing Telescope (SUVIT) for the SOLAR-C Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Suematsu, Y.; Katsukawa, Y.; Shimizu, T.; Ichimoto, K.; Takeyama, N.

2012-12-01

We present an instrumental design of one major solar observation payload planned for the SOLAR-C mission: the Solar Ultra-violet Visible and near IR observing Telescope (SUVIT). The SUVIT is designed to provide high-angular-resolution investigation of the lower solar atmosphere, from the photosphere to the uppermost chromosphere, with enhanced spectroscopic and spectro-polarimetric capability in wide wavelength regions from 280 nm (Mg II h&k lines) to 1100 nm (He I 1083 nm line) with 1.5 m class aperture and filtergraphic and spectrographic instruments.

Observations of Anomalous Refraction with Co-housed Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Malinda S.; McGraw, J. T.; Zimmer, P. C.

2013-01-01

Anomalous refraction is described as a low frequency, large angular scale motion of the entire image plane with respect to the celestial coordinate system as observed and defined by previous astrometric catalogs. These motions of typically several tenths of an arcsecond with timescales on the order of ten minutes are ubiquitous to drift-scan ground-based astrometric measurements regardless of location or telescopes used and have been attributed to meter scale slowly evolving coherent dynamical structures in the boundary-layer below 60 meters. The localized nature of the effect and general inconsistency of the motions seen by even closely spaced telescopes in individual domes has led to the hypothesis that the dome or other type of telescope housing may be responsible. This hypothesis is tested by observing anomalous refraction using two telescopes housed in a single roll-off roof observatory building with the expected outcome that the two telescopes will see correlated anomalous refraction induced motions.

Orbits for 18 Visual Binaries and Two Double-line Spectroscopic Binaries Observed with HRCAM on the CTIO SOAR 4 m Telescope, Using a New Bayesian Orbit Code Based on Markov Chain Monte Carlo

Science.gov (United States)

Mendez, Rene A.; Claveria, Ruben M.; Orchard, Marcos E.; Silva, Jorge F.

2017-11-01

We present orbital elements and mass sums for 18 visual binary stars of spectral types B to K (five of which are new orbits) with periods ranging from 20 to more than 500 yr. For two double-line spectroscopic binaries with no previous orbits, the individual component masses, using combined astrometric and radial velocity data, have a formal uncertainty of ˜ 0.1 {M}⊙ . Adopting published photometry and trigonometric parallaxes, plus our own measurements, we place these objects on an H-R diagram and discuss their evolutionary status. These objects are part of a survey to characterize the binary population of stars in the Southern Hemisphere using the SOAR 4 m telescope+HRCAM at CTIO. Orbital elements are computed using a newly developed Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm that delivers maximum-likelihood estimates of the parameters, as well as posterior probability density functions that allow us to evaluate the uncertainty of our derived parameters in a robust way. For spectroscopic binaries, using our approach, it is possible to derive a self-consistent parallax for the system from the combined astrometric and radial velocity data (“orbital parallax”), which compares well with the trigonometric parallaxes. We also present a mathematical formalism that allows a dimensionality reduction of the feature space from seven to three search parameters (or from 10 to seven dimensions—including parallax—in the case of spectroscopic binaries with astrometric data), which makes it possible to explore a smaller number of parameters in each case, improving the computational efficiency of our MCMC code. Based on observations obtained at the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope, which is a joint project of the Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, e Inovação (MCTI) da República Federativa do Brasil, the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and Michigan State University (MSU).

Asteroid Observations with NCSFCT’s AZT-8 Telescope

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kozhukhov, O.M.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The asteroid observations of the small Solar System bodies were carried out with the AZT-8 telescope (D=0.7 m, f/4 of the National Center of Space Facilities Control and Testing (NCSFCT during 2010-2013. The telescope is located near Yevpatoria, the observatory code according IAU is B17. The observational program included perturbed main belt asteroids and NEO’s for the GAIA FUN-SSO Company. The MPC database contains more than 4500 asteroids positions and magnitudes obtained during this period at AZT-8 telescope. The article presents analysis of the positional accuracy of B17 observations obtained from the comparison with the JPL HORIZONS ephemeris, and data from AstDyS-2 and NEODyS-2 web services.

A New Observing Tool for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Folger, Martin; Bridger, Alan; Dent, Bill; Kelly, Dennis; Adamson, Andy; Economou, Frossie; Hirst, Paul; Jenness, Tim

A new Observing Tool (OT) has been developed at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Edinburgh, UK and the Joint Astronomy Centre, Hilo, Hawaii, USA. It is based on the Gemini Observing Tool and provides the first graphical observation preparation tool for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) as well as being the first use of the OT for a non-optical/IR telescope. The OT allows the observer to assemble high level Science Programs using graphical representations of observation components such as instrument, target, and filter. This is later translated into low level control sequences for telescope and instruments. The new OT is designed to work on multiple telescopes: currently the UK Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) and JCMT. Object-oriented design makes the inclusion of telescope and instrument specific packages easy. The OT is written in Java using GUI packages such as Swing and JSky. A new component for the JCMT OT is the graphical Frequency Editor for Heterodyne instruments. It can be used to specify parameters such as frequencies, bandwidths, and sidebands of multiple subsystems, while graphically displaying the front-end frequency, emission lines and atmospheric transmission. In addition, Flexible Scheduling support has been added to the OT. The observer can define scheduling constraints by arranging observations graphically. Science Programs can be saved as XML or sent directly from the OT to a database (via SOAP).

New Results from the Magellan IMACS Spectroscopic Lyα Survey: NICMOS Observations of Lyα Emitters at z = 5.7

Science.gov (United States)

Henry, Alaina L.; Martin, Crystal L.; Dressler, Alan; McCarthy, Patrick; Sawicki, Marcin

2010-08-01

We present NICMOS J 110 (rest-frame 1200-2100 Å) observations of the three z = 5.7 Lyα emitters discovered in the blind multislit spectroscopic survey by Martin et al. These images confirm the presence of the two sources that were previously only seen in spectroscopic observations. The third source, which is undetected in our J 110 observations, has been detected in narrowband imaging of the Cosmic Origins Survey, so our non-detection implies a rest-frame equivalent width >146 Å (3σ). The two J 110-detected sources have more modest rest-frame equivalent widths of 30-40 Å, but all three are typical of high-redshift Lyα emitters. In addition, the J 110-detected sources have UV luminosities that are within a factor of 2 of L*UV, and sizes that appear compact (r hl~ 0farcs15) in our NIC2 images—consistent with a redshift of 5.7. We use these UV-continuum and Lyα measurements to estimate the i 775-z 850 colors of these galaxies and show that at least one and possibly all three would be missed by the i-dropout Lyman break galaxy selection. These observations help demonstrate the utility of multislit narrowband spectroscopy as a technique for finding faint emission-line galaxies. This work is based in part on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained 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. These observations are associated with proposal 11183.

Spectroscopic Observations of Nearby Low Mass Stars

Science.gov (United States)

Vican, Laura; Zuckerman, B. M.; Rodriguez, D.

2014-01-01

Young low-mass stars are known to be bright in X-ray and UV due to a high level of magnetic activity. By cross-correlating the GALEX Catalog with the WISE and 2MASS Point Source Catalogs, we have identified more than 2,000 stars whose UV excesses suggest ages in the 10-100 Myr range. We used the Shane 3-m telescope at Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, California to observe some of these 2,000 stars spectroscopically. We measured the equivalent width of lithium at 6708 A absorption and H-alpha emission lines. Out of a total of 122 stars observed with the Kast grating spectrometer, we find that roughly 10% have strong lithium absorption features. The high percentage of stars with lithium present is further evidence of the importance of UV emission as a youth indicator for low-mass stars. In addition, we used high-resolution spectra obtained with the Hamilton echelle spectrograph to determine radial velocities for several UV-bright stars. These radial velocities will be useful for the calculation of Galactic UVW space velocities for determination of possible moving group membership. This work is supported by NASA Astrophysics Data Analysis Program award NNX12AH37G to RIT and UCLA and Chilean FONDECYT grant 3130520 to Universidad de Chile. This submission presents work for the GALNYSS project and should be linked to abstracts submitted by David Rodriguez, Laura Vican, and Joel Kastner.

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2004-01-01

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

SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYSIS OF AN EIT WAVE/DIMMING OBSERVED BY HINODE/EIS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, F.; Ding, M. D.; Chen, P. F.

2010-01-01

EUV Imaging Telescope (EIT) waves are a wavelike phenomenon propagating outward from the coronal mass ejection source region, with expanding dimmings following behind. We present a spectroscopic study of an EIT wave/dimming event observed by the Hinode/Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer. Although the identification of the wave front is somewhat affected by the pre-existing loop structures, the expanding dimming is well defined. We investigate the line intensity, width, and Doppler velocity for four EUV lines. In addition to the significant blueshift implying plasma outflows in the dimming region as revealed in previous studies, we find that the widths of all four spectral lines increase at the outer edge of the dimmings. We illustrate that this feature can be well explained by the field line stretching model, which claims that EIT waves are apparently moving brightenings that are generated by the successive stretching of the closed field lines.

Calibration Efforts and Unique Capabilities of the HST Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph

Science.gov (United States)

Monroe, TalaWanda R.; Proffitt, Charles R.; Welty, Daniel; Branton, Doug; Carlberg, Joleen K.; debes, John Henry; Lockwood, Sean; Riley, Allyssa; Sohn, Sangmo Tony; Sonnentrucker, Paule G.; Walborn, Nolan R.; Jedrzejewski, Robert I.

2018-01-01

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) continues to offer the astronomy community the ability to carry out innovative UV and optical spectroscopic and imaging studies, two decades after its deployment on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Most notably, STIS provides spectroscopy in the FUV and NUV, including high spectral resolution echelle modes, imaging in the FUV, optical spectroscopy, and coronagraphic capabilities. Additionally, spatial scanning on the CCD with the long-slits is now possible to enable very high S/N spectroscopic observations without saturation while mitigating telluric and fringing concerns in the far red and near-IR. This new mode may especially benefit the diffuse interstellar bands and exoplanet transiting communities. We present recent calibration efforts for the instrument, including work to optimize the calibration of the echelle spectroscopic modes by improving the flux agreement of overlapping spectral orders affected by changes in the grating blaze function since HST Servicing Mission 4. We also discuss considerations to maintain the wavelength precision of the spectroscopic modes, and the current capabilities of CCD spectroscopic spatial trails.

Submillimetric Spectroscopic Observations of Volatiles in Comet C-2004 Q2 (Machholz)

Science.gov (United States)

DeVal-Borro, M.; Hartogh, P.; Jarchow, C.; Rengel, M.; Villanueva, G. L.; Kueppers, M.; Biver, N.; Bockelee-Morvan, D.; Crovisier, J.

2012-01-01

Submillimeter spectroscopic observations of comets provide an important tool for understanding their chemical composition and enable a taxonomic classification. Aims. We aim to determine the production rates of several parent- and product volatiles and the C-12/C-13 isotopic carbon ratio in the long-period comet C/2004 Q2 (Machholz), which is likely to originate from the Oort Cloud. Methods. The line emission from several molecules in the coma was measured with high signal-to-noise ratio in January 2005 at heliocentric distance of 1.2 AU by means of high-resolution spectroscopic observations using the Submillimeter Telescope (SMT) at the Arizona Radio Observatory (ARO). Results. We have obtained production rates of several volatiles (CH3OH, HCN, H(sup 13)CN, HNC, H2CO, CO, and CS) by comparing the observed and simulated line-integrated intensities. We calculated the synthetic profiles using a radiative transfer code that includes collisions between neutrals and electrons, and the effects of radiative pumping of the fundamental vibrational levels by solar infrared radiation. Furthermore, multiline observations of the CH3OH J = 7-6 series allow us to estimate the rotational temperature using the rotation diagram technique. We find that the CH3OH population distribution of the levels sampled by these lines can be described by a rotational temperature of 40 +/- 3 K. Derived mixing ratios relative to hydrogen cyanide are CO/CH3OH/H2CO/CS/HNC/HC-13N/HCN= 30.9/24.6/4.8/0.57/0.031/0.013/1 assuming a pointing offset of 8" due to the uncertain ephemeris at the time of the observations and the telescope pointing error. Conclusions. The measured relative molecular abundances in C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) are between low- to typical values of those obtained in Oort Cloud comets, suggesting that it has visited the inner solar system previously and undergone thermal processing. The HNC/HCN abundance ratio of approx 3.1% is comparable to that found in other comets, accounting for the

Imaging and spectroscopic observations of the 9 March 2016 Total Solar Eclipse in Palangkaraya

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kholish, Abdul Majid Al; Jihad, Imanul; Andika, Irham Taufik; Puspitaningrum, Evaria; Ainy, Fathin Q.; Ramadhan, Sahlan; Arifyanto, M. Ikbal; Malasan, Hakim L.

2016-01-01

The March 9 th 2016 total solar eclipse observation was carried out at Universitas Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan. Time-resolved imaging of the Sun has been conducted before, after, and during totality of eclipse while optical spectroscopic observation has been carried out only at the totality. The imaging observation in white light was done to take high resolution images of solar corona. The images were taken with a DSLR camera that is attached to a refractor telescope (d=66 mm, f/5.9). Despite cloudy weather during the eclipse moments, we managed to obtain the images with lower signal-to-noise ratio, including identifiable diamond ring, prominence and coronal structure. The images were processed using standard reduction procedure to increase the signal-to-noise ratio and to enhance the corona. Then, the coronal structure is determined and compared with ultraviolet data from SOHO to analyze the correlation between visual and ultraviolet corona. The spectroscopic observation was conducted using a slit-less spectrograph and a DSLR camera to obtain solar flash spectra. The flash spectra taken during the eclipse show emissions of H 4861 Å, He I 5876 Å, and H 6563 Å. The Fe XIV 5303 Å and Fe X 6374 Å lines are hardly detected due to low signal-to-noise ratio. Spectral reduction and analysis are conducted to derive the emission lines intensity relative to continuum intensity. We use the measured parameters to determine the temperature of solar chromosphere. (paper)

Optical Spectroscopic Observations of γ-Ray Blazar Candidates. III. The 2013/2014 Campaign in the Southern Hemisphere

Science.gov (United States)

Landoni, M.; Massaro, F.; Paggi, A.; D'Abrusco, R.; Milisavljevic, D.; Masetti, N.; Smith, H. A.; Tosti, G.; Chomiuk, L.; Strader, J.; Cheung, C. C.

2015-05-01

We report the results of our exploratory program carried out with the southern Astrophysical Research telescope aimed at associating counterparts and establishing the nature of the Fermi Unidentified γ-ray Sources (UGSs). We selected the optical counterparts of six UGSs from the Fermi catalog on the basis of our recently discovered tight connection between infrared and γ-ray emission found for the γ-ray blazars detected by the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer in its all-sky survey. We perform for the first time a spectroscopic study of the low-energy counterparts of the Fermi UGSs, in the optical band, confirming the blazar-like nature of the whole sample. We also present new spectroscopic observations of six active galaxies of uncertain type associated with Fermi sources which appear to be BL Lac objects. Finally, we report the spectra collected for six known γ-ray blazars belonging to the Roma BZCAT that were obtained to establish their nature or better estimate their redshifts. Two interesting cases of high redshift and extremely luminous BL Lac objects (z ≥ 1.18 and z ≥ 1.02, based on the detection of Mg ii intervening systems) are also discussed. Based on observations obtained at the southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope, which is a joint project of the Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, e Inovação (MCTI) da República Federativa do Brasil, the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and Michigan State University (MSU).

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

Science.gov (United States)

1999-11-01

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

LCOGT: A World-Wide Network of Robotic Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, T.

2013-05-01

Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope (LCOGT) is an organization dedicated to time-domain astronomy. To carry out the necessary observations in fields such as supernovae, extrasolar planets, small solar-system bodies, and pulsating stars, we have developed and are now deploying a set of robotic optical telescopes at sites around the globe. In this talk I will concentrate on the core of this network, consisting of up to 15 identical 1m telescopes deployed across multiple sites in both the northern and southern hemispheres. I will summarize the technical and performance aspect of these telescopes, including both their imaging and their anticipated spectroscopic capabilities. But I will also delve into the network organization, including communication among telescopes (to assure that observations are properly carried out), interactions among the institutions and scientists who will use the network (to optimize the scientific returns), and our funding model (which until now has relied entirely on one private donor, but will soon require funding from outside sources, if the full potential of the network is to be achieved).

Observations of Bright Massive Stars Using Small Size Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Beradze, Sopia; Kochiashvili, Nino

2017-11-01

The size of a telescope determines goals and objects of observations. During the latest decades it becomes more and more difficult to get photometric data of bright stars because most of telescopes of small sizes do not operate already. But there are rather interesting questions connected to the properties and evolution ties between different types of massive stars. Multi-wavelength photometric data are needed for solution of some of them. We are presenting our observational plans of bright Massive X-ray binaries, WR and LBV stars using a small size telescope. All these stars, which are presented in the poster are observational targets of Sopia Beradze's future PhD thesis. We already have got very interesting results on the reddening and possible future eruption of the massive hypergiant star P Cygni. Therefore, we decided to choose some additional interesting massive stars of different type for future observations. All Massive stars play an important role in the chemical evolution of galaxies because of they have very high mass loss - up to 10-4M⊙/a year. Our targets are on different evolutionary stages and three of them are the members of massive binaries. We plan to do UBVRI photometric observations of these stars using the 48 cm Cassegrain telescope of the Abastumani Astrophisical Observatory.

Development of thermally formed glass optics for astronomical hard X-ray telescopes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Craig, W.W.; Hailey, C.J.; Jimenez-Garate, M.

2000-01-01

The next major observational advance in hard X-ray/soft gamma-ray astrophysics will come with the implementation of telescopes capable of focusing 10-200 keV radiation. Focusing allows high signal-to-noise imaging and spectroscopic observations of many sources in this band for the first time...

Extragalactic observations with the MAGIC telescopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shore, S.N.

2014-01-01

The MAGIC imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, both as a single detector and now used in stereo mode, have been observing a variety of active galaxies and galactic clusters for almost a decade. This review provides a brief summary of some of the most recent results for blazars observed in the energy range > 50 GeV to tens of TeV. The very high energy emission observed with MAGIC is essential for disentangling the various contributions and timescales to the observed spectra and variability. (author)

Wide-Field Imaging Telescope-0 (WIT0) with automatic observing system

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Tae-Geun; Byeon, Seoyeon; Lee, Hye-In; Park, Woojin; Lee, Sang-Yun; Hwang, Sungyong; Choi, Changsu; Gibson, Coyne Andrew; Kuehne, John W.; Prochaska, Travis; Marshall, Jennifer L.; Im, Myungshin; Pak, Soojong

2018-01-01

We introduce Wide-Field Imaging Telescope-0 (WIT0), with an automatic observing system. It is developed for monitoring the variabilities of many sources at a time, e.g. young stellar objects and active galactic nuclei. It can also find the locations of transient sources such as a supernova or gamma-ray bursts. In 2017 February, we installed the wide-field 10-inch telescope (Takahashi CCA-250) as a piggyback system on the 30-inch telescope at the McDonald Observatory in Texas, US. The 10-inch telescope has a 2.35 × 2.35 deg field-of-view with a 4k × 4k CCD Camera (FLI ML16803). To improve the observational efficiency of the system, we developed a new automatic observing software, KAOS30 (KHU Automatic Observing Software for McDonald 30-inch telescope), which was developed by Visual C++ on the basis of a windows operating system. The software consists of four control packages: the Telescope Control Package (TCP), the Data Acquisition Package (DAP), the Auto Focus Package (AFP), and the Script Mode Package (SMP). Since it also supports the instruments that are using the ASCOM driver, the additional hardware installations become quite simplified. We commissioned KAOS30 in 2017 August and are in the process of testing. Based on the WIT0 experiences, we will extend KAOS30 to control multiple telescopes in future projects.

OBSERVING THE FINE STRUCTURE OF LOOPS THROUGH HIGH-RESOLUTION SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF CORONAL RAIN WITH THE CRISP INSTRUMENT AT THE SWEDISH SOLAR TELESCOPE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antolin, P.; Rouppe van der Voort, L.

2012-01-01

Observed in cool chromospheric lines, such as Hα or Ca II H, coronal rain corresponds to cool and dense plasma falling from coronal heights. Considered as a peculiar sporadic phenomenon of active regions, it has not received much attention since its discovery more than 40 years ago. Yet, it has been shown recently that a close relationship exists between this phenomenon and the coronal heating mechanism. Indeed, numerical simulations have shown that this phenomenon is most likely due to a loss of thermal equilibrium ensuing from a heating mechanism acting mostly toward the footpoints of loops. We present here one of the first high-resolution spectroscopic observations of coronal rain, performed with the CRisp Imaging Spectro Polarimeter (CRISP) instrument at the Swedish Solar Telescope. This work constitutes the first attempt to assess the importance of coronal rain in the understanding of the coronal magnetic field in active regions. With the present resolution, coronal rain is observed to literally invade the entire field of view. A large statistical set is obtained in which dynamics (total velocities and accelerations), shapes (lengths and widths), trajectories (angles of fall of the blobs), and thermodynamic properties (temperatures) of the condensations are derived. Specifically, we find that coronal rain is composed of small and dense chromospheric cores with average widths and lengths of ∼310 km and ∼710 km, respectively, average temperatures below 7000 K, displaying a broad distribution of falling speeds with an average of ∼70 km s –1 , and accelerations largely below the effective gravity along loops. Through estimates of the ion-neutral coupling in the blobs we show that coronal rain acts as a tracer of the coronal magnetic field, thus supporting the multi-strand loop scenario, and acts as a probe of the local thermodynamic conditions in loops. We further elucidate its potential in coronal heating. We find that the cooling in neighboring strands

VLBI observations with the Kunming 40-meter radio telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hao Longfei; Wang Min; Yang Jun

2010-01-01

The Kunming 40-meter radio telescope is situated in the yard of the Yunnan Astronomical Observatory (Longitude: 102.8 0 East, Latitude: 25.0 0 North) and saw its first light in 2006 May. The Kunming station successfully joined the VLBI tracking of China's first lunar probe 'Chang'E-1 together with the other Chinese telescopes: the Beijing Miyun 50-meter radio telescope, Urumqi Nanshan 25-meter radio telescope, and Shanghai Sheshan 25-meter radio telescope, and received the downlinked scientific data together with the Miyun station from October of 2007 to March of 2009. We give an introduction to the new Chinese VLBI facility and investigate its potential applications. Due to its location, the Kunming station can significantly improve the u - v coverage of the European VLBI Network (EVN), in particular, in long baseline observations. We also report the results of the first EVN fringe-test experiment of N09SX1 with the Kunming station. The first fringes in the European telescopes were successfully detected at 2.3 GHz with the ftp-transferred data on 2009 June 17. From scheduling the observations to performing the post correlations, the Kunming station shows its good compatibility to work with the EVN. The imaging result of the extended source 1156+295 further demonstrates that the Kunming station greatly enhances the EVN performance. (research papers)

PEPSI-feed: linking PEPSI to the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope using a 450m long fibre

Science.gov (United States)

Sablowski, D. P.; Weber, M.; Woche, M.; Ilyin, I.; Järvinen, A.; Strassmeier, K. G.; Gabor, P.

2016-07-01

Limited observing time at large telescopes equipped with the most powerful spectrographs makes it almost impossible to gain long and well-sampled time-series observations. Ditto, high-time-resolution observations of bright targets with high signal-to-noise are rare. By pulling an optical fibre of 450m length from the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) to the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) to connect the Potsdam Echelle Polarimetric and Spectroscopic Instrument (PEPSI) to the VATT, allows for ultra-high resolution time-series measurements of bright targets. This article presents the fibre-link in detail from the technical point-of-view, demonstrates its performance from first observations, and sketches current applications.

Observations of VHE γ-Ray Sources with the MAGIC Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Bartko, H.

2008-10-01

The MAGIC telescope with its 17m diameter mirror is today the largest operating single-dish Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescope (IACT). It is located on the Canary Island La Palma, at an altitude of 2200m above sea level, as part of the Roque de los Muchachos European Northern Observatory. The MAGIC telescope detects celestial very high energy γ-radiation in the energy band between about 50 GeV and 10 TeV. Since Autumn of 2004 MAGIC has been taking data routinely, observing various objects like supernova remnants (SNRs), γ-ray binaries, Pulsars, Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and Gamma-ray Bursts (GRB). We briefly describe the observational strategy, the procedure implemented for the data analysis, and discuss the results for individual sources. An outlook to the construction of the second MAGIC telescope is given.

The smooth cyclotron line in Her X-1 as seen with nuclear spectroscopic telescope array

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fürst, Felix; Grefenstette, Brian W.; Bellm, Eric C.; Harrison, Fiona; Madsen, Kristin K.; Walton, Dominic J. [Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Staubert, Rüdiger; Klochkov, Dmitry [Institut für Astronomie und Astrophysik, Universität Tübingen (IAAT), D-72076 Tübingen (Germany); Tomsick, John A.; Boggs, Steven E.; Craig, William W. [Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Bachetti, Matteo; Barret, Didier [Université de Toulouse, UPS-OMP, IRAP, F-31028 Toulouse (France); Chenevez, Jerome; Christensen, Finn E. [DTU Space, National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Elektrovej 327, DK-2800 Lyngby (Denmark); Hailey, Charles J. [Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Pottschmidt, Katja [CRESST, UMBC, and NASA GSFC, Code 661, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Stern, Daniel [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States); Wilms, Jörn [Dr. Karl-Remeis-Sternwarte and ECAP, Sternwartstr. 7, D-96049 Bamberg (Germany); William Zhang [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)

2013-12-10

Her X-1, one of the brightest and best studied X-ray binaries, shows a cyclotron resonant scattering feature (CRSF) near 37 keV. This makes it an ideal target for a detailed study with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), taking advantage of its excellent hard X-ray spectral resolution. We observed Her X-1 three times, coordinated with Suzaku, during one of the high flux intervals of its 35 day superorbital period. This paper focuses on the shape and evolution of the hard X-ray spectrum. The broadband spectra can be fitted with a power law with a high-energy cutoff, an iron line, and a CRSF. We find that the CRSF has a very smooth and symmetric shape in all observations and at all pulse phases. We compare the residuals of a line with a Gaussian optical-depth profile to a Lorentzian optical-depth profile and find no significant differences, strongly constraining the very smooth shape of the line. Even though the line energy changes dramatically with pulse phase, we find that its smooth shape does not. Additionally, our data show that the continuum only changes marginally between the three observations. These changes can be explained with varying amounts of Thomson scattering in the hot corona of the accretion disk. The average, luminosity-corrected CRSF energy is lower than in past observations and follows a secular decline. The excellent data quality of NuSTAR provides the best constraint on the CRSF energy to date.

Spectroscopic Classifications of AT2017fqf as SN Ia and AT2017fqk as SN II

Science.gov (United States)

Tartaglia, Leonardo; Valenti, Stefano; Bostroem, K. Azalee; Yang, Sheng; Hosseinzadeh, G.

2017-07-01

We report the following classifications of optical transients from spectroscopic observations with the Kast spectrograph on the Shane telescope. All observations were made on 2017 July 27 UT. Classifications were performed with SNID (Blondin & Tonry, 2007, ApJ, 666, 1024).

Spectroscopic Observations of Lyman Break Galaxies at Redshifts ~4, 5, and 6 in the Goods-South Field

Science.gov (United States)

Vanzella, E.; Giavalisco, M.; Dickinson, M.; Cristiani, S.; Nonino, M.; Kuntschner, H.; Popesso, P.; Rosati, P.; Renzini, A.; Stern, D.; Cesarsky, C.; Ferguson, H. C.; Fosbury, R. A. E.

2009-04-01

morphology of the UV light and the spectroscopic properties. However, galaxies with deep ISLs and strong Lyα absorption appear to be more diffuse than galaxies with Lyα in emission. Based on observations made at the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope, Paranal, Chile (ESO programme 170.A-0788 The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey: ESO Public Observations of the SST Legacy/HST Treasury/Chandra Deep Field-South). Also based on observations obtained with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

Scientific considerations for the design of a replacement for the 300-foot radio telescope; Proceedings of the Workshop, Green Bank, WV, Dec. 2, 3, 1988

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, R.L.; Schwab, F.R.

1989-01-01

The replacement of the Green Bank radio telescope after its collapse in November 1988 is discussed. Sections are devoted to the scientific impact of the collapse; technical requirements for a replacement telescope; schedules and costs; observations of neutral atomic hydrogen; observations of pulsars, radio stars and the solar system; spectroscopic observations; and observations of continuum radiation. Diagrams, graphs, and maps are provided

A balloon borne telescope for planetary observations with a fine pointing technology

Science.gov (United States)

Shoji, Yasuhiro; Onishi, Tomoya; Battazzo, Steve; Yoshimura, Atsushi; Sakamoto, Yuji; Yoshida, Kazuya; Takahashi, Yukihiro; Taguchi, Makoto

A balloon borne telescope is one of the effective observation methods for planets under space environment. A telescope is carried up to the stratosphere at an altitude of higher than 32 km where the air density is as thin as 1/100 of that at the ground. The thin atmosphere gives a telescope better observation conditions: fine seeing, stable weather, and high transmittance especially in the infrared region. Moreover there is a chance that a planet can be continuously seen for a window longer than 24 hours from the polar stratosphere. The authors have been developing a balloon borne telescope system for years to take finer images of planets in the solar system., The first object is Venus, of which atmospheric motions are derived by tracking the changes of cloud patterns with bands of UV, visible and NIR. Highly precise pointing control within the error of sub-arcseconds is required so that the balloon borne telescope achieves its diffraction-limited spatial resolution. The flight system is equipped with a three-stage attitude and pointing control system in order to realize the desired pointing control precision. In 2009, the flight system was built and tested in various ground tests and an actual balloon flight. Although the balloon experiment failed due to trouble with an onboard computer, the ground tests before the flight operation have verified that the pointing control system can achieve pointing error of less than 0.2 arcseconds. The balloon borne telescope is being redesigned for a sequential observation of Venus, Mars and Jupiter in the summer of 2011. This flight will be a step for a long-duration observation in the polar stratosphere. Additionally, an observation of the sodium tail of Mercury with a small telescope and a wide field of view has been under consideration. Mercury has very thin atmosphere called a surface-bounded exosphere. Past observations by spacecraft and ground-based telescopes revealed that one of the atmospheric components, gaseous

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE WFC3 EARLY RELEASE SCIENCE: EMISSION-LINE GALAXIES FROM INFRARED GRISM OBSERVATIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Straughn, Amber N.; Gardner, Jonathan P.; Kuntschner, Harald; Kuemmel, Martin; Walsh, Jeremy R.; Cohen, Seth H.; Windhorst, Rogier A.; Malhotra, Sangeeta; Rhoads, James; O'Connell, Robert W.; Pirzkal, Norbert; Bond, Howard E.; Meurer, Gerhardt; McCarthy, Patrick J.; Hathi, Nimish P.; Balick, Bruce; Calzetti, Daniela; Disney, Michael J.; Dopita, Michael A.; Frogel, Jay A.

2011-01-01

We present grism spectra of emission-line galaxies (ELGs) from 0.6 to 1.6 μm from the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope. These new infrared grism data augment previous optical Advanced Camera for Surveys G800L 0.6-0.95 μm grism data in GOODS-South from the PEARS program, extending the wavelength coverage well past the G800L red cutoff. The Early Release Science (ERS) grism field was observed at a depth of two orbits per grism, yielding spectra of hundreds of faint objects, a subset of which is presented here. ELGs are studied via the Hα, [O III], and [O II] emission lines detected in the redshift ranges 0.2 ∼ B(F098M) ≅ 25 mag. Seventeen GOODS-South galaxies that previously only had photometric redshifts now have new grism-spectroscopic redshifts, in some cases with large corrections to the photometric redshifts (Δz ≅ 0.3-0.5). Additionally, one galaxy had no previously measured redshift but now has a secure grism-spectroscopic redshift, for a total of 18 new GOODS-South spectroscopic redshifts. The faintest source in our sample has a magnitude m AB(F098M) = 26.9 mag. The ERS grism data also reflect the expected trend of lower specific star formation rates for the highest mass galaxies in the sample as a function of redshift, consistent with downsizing and discovered previously from large surveys. These results demonstrate the remarkable efficiency and capability of the WFC3 NIR grisms for measuring galaxy properties to faint magnitudes and redshifts to z ∼> 2.

Optical telescope BIRT in ORIGIN for gamma ray burst observing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Content, Robert; Content, Robert; Sharples, Ray

2012-01-01

The ORIGIN concept is a space mission with a gamma ray, an X-ray and an optical telescope to observe the gamma ray bursts at large Z to determine the composition and density of the intergalactic matter in the line of sight. It was an answer to the ESA M3 call for proposal. The optical telescope i...... length. All 3 instruments use the same 2k x 2k detector simultaneously so that telescope pointing and tip-tilt control of a fold mirror permit to place the gamma ray burst on the desired instrument without any other mechanism. © 2012 SPIE....

Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometric telescope automation and observing software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eric H. Neilsen, Jr.; email = neilsen@fnal.gov

2002-01-01

The photometric telescope (PT) provides observations necessary for the photometric calibration of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Because the attention of the observing staff is occupied by the operation of the 2.5 meter telescope which takes the survey data proper, the PT must reliably take data with little supervision. In this paper we describe the PT's observing program, MOP, which automates most tasks necessary for observing. MOP's automated target selection is closely modeled on the actions a human observer might take, and is built upon a user interface that can be (and has been) used for manual operation. This results in an interface that makes it easy for an observer to track the activities of the automating procedures and intervene with minimum disturbance when necessary. MOP selects targets from the same list of standard star and calibration fields presented to the user, and chooses standard star fields covering ranges of airmass, color, and time necessary to monitor atmospheric extinction and produce a photometric solution. The software determines when additional standard star fields are unnecessary, and selects survey calibration fields according to availability and priority. Other automated features of MOP, such as maintaining the focus and keeping a night log, are also built around still functional manual interfaces, allowing the observer to be as active in observing as desired; MOP's automated features may be used as tools for manual observing, ignored entirely, or allowed to run the telescope with minimal supervision when taking routine data

PROMPT: Panchromatic Robotic Optical Monitoring and Polarimetry Telescopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reichart, D.; Nysewander, M.; Moran, J. [North Carolina Univ., Chapel Hill (United States). Department of Physics and Astronomy] (and others)

2005-07-15

Funded by $1.2M in grants and donations, we are now building PROMPT at CTIO. When completed in late 2005, PROMPT will consist of six 0.41-meter diameter Ritchey-Chretien telescopes on rapidly slewing mounts that respond to GRB alerts within seconds, when the afterglow is potentially extremely bright. Each mirror and camera coating is being optimized for a different wavelength range and function, including a NIR imager, two red-optimized imager, a blue-optimized imager, an UV-optimized imager, and an optical polarimeter. PROMPT will be able to identify high-redshift events by dropout and distinguish these events from the similar signatures of extinction. In this way, PROMPT will act a distance-finder scope for spectroscopic follow up on the larger 4.1-meter diameter SOAR telescope, which is also located at CTIO. When not chasing GRBs, PROMPT serves broader educational objectives across the state of north Carolina. Enclosure construction and the first two telescopes are now complete and functioning: PROMPT observed Swift's first GRB in December 2004. We upgrade from two to four telescope in February 2005 and from four to six telescopes in mid-2005.

The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) Quasar Survey: Quasar Properties from Data Release Two and Three

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, X. Y.; Wu, Xue-Bing; Ai, Y. L.; Yang, J. Y.; Yang, Q.; Wang, F.; Zhang, Y. X.; Luo, A. L.; Xu, H.; Yuan, H. L.; Zhang, J. N.; Wang, M. X.; Wang, L. L.; Li, Y. B.; Zuo, F.; Hou, W.; Guo, Y. X.; Kong, X.; Chen, X. Y.; Wu, Y.; Yang, H. F.; Yang, M.

2018-05-01

This is the second installment for the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) Quasar Survey, which includes quasars observed from 2013 September to 2015 June. There are 9024 confirmed quasars in DR2 and 10911 in DR3. After cross-match with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasar catalogs and NED, 12126 quasars are discovered independently. Among them, 2225 quasars were released by SDSS DR12 QSO catalog in 2014 after we finalized the survey candidates. 1801 sources were identified by SDSS DR14 as QSOs. The remaining 8100 quasars are considered as newly founded, and among them, 6887 quasars can be given reliable emission line measurements and the estimated black hole masses. Quasars found in LAMOST are mostly located at low-to-moderate redshifts, with a mean value of 1.5. The highest redshift observed in DR2 and DR3 is 5. We applied emission line measurements to Hα, Hβ, Mg II, and C IV. We deduced the monochromatic continuum luminosities using photometry data, and estimated the virial black hole masses for the newly discovered quasars. Results are compiled into a quasar catalog, which will be available online.

The "Cool Algol" BD+05 706 : Photometric observations of a new eclipsing double-lined spectroscopic binary

Science.gov (United States)

Marschall, L. A.; Torres, G.; Neuhauser, R.

1998-05-01

BVRI Observations of the star BD+05 706, carried out between January, 1997, and April 1998 using the 0.4m reflector and Photometrics CCD camera at the Gettysburg College Observatory, show that the star is an eclipsing binary system with a light curve characteristic of a class of semi-detached binaries known as the "cool Algols". These results are in good agreement with the previous report of BD+05 706 as a cool Algol by Torres, Neuhauser, and Wichmann,(Astron. J., 115, May 1998) who based their classification on the strong X-ray emission detected by Rosat and on a series of spectroscopic observations of the radial velocities of both components of the system obtained at the Oak Ridge Observatory, the Fred L. Whipple Observatory, and the Multiple Mirror Telescope. Only 10 other examples of cool Algols are known, and the current photometric light curve, together with the radial velocity curves obtained previously, allows us to derive a complete solution for the physical parameters of each component, providing important constraints on models for these interesting systems.

Using Internet-Based Robotic Telescopes to Engage Non-Science Majors in Astronomical Observation

Science.gov (United States)

Berryhill, K. J.; Coble, K.; Slater, T. F.; McLin, K. M.; Cominsky, L. R.

2013-12-01

Responding to national science education reform documents calling for students to have more opportunities for authentic research experiences, several national projects have developed online telescope networks to provide students with Internet-access to research grade telescopes. The nature of astronomical observation (e.g., remote sites, expensive equipment, and odd hours) has been a barrier in the past. Internet-based robotic telescopes allow scientists to conduct observing sessions on research-grade telescopes half a world away. The same technology can now be harnessed by STEM educators to engage students and reinforce what is being taught in the classroom, as seen in some early research in elementary schools (McKinnon and Mainwaring 2000 and McKinnon and Geissinger 2002), middle/high schools (Sadler et al. 2001, 2007 and Gehret et al. 2005) and undergraduate programs (e.g., McLin et al. 2009). This project looks at the educational value of using Internet-based robotic telescopes in a general education introductory astronomy course at the undergraduate level. Students at a minority-serving institution in the midwestern United States conducted observational programs using the Global Telescope Network (GTN). The project consisted of the use of planetarium software to determine object visibility, observing proposals (with abstract, background, goals, and dissemination sections), peer review (including written reviews and panel discussion according to NSF intellectual merit and broader impacts criteria), and classroom presentations showing the results of the observation. The GTN is a network of small telescopes funded by the Fermi mission to support the science of high energy astrophysics. It is managed by the NASA E/PO Group at Sonoma State University and is controlled using SkyNet. Data includes course artifacts (proposals, reviews, panel summaries, presentations, and student reflections) for six semesters plus student interviews. Using a grounded theory approach

SPECTROSCOPIC AND PHOTOMETRIC VARIABILITY IN THE A0 SUPERGIANT HR 1040

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corliss, David J.; Morrison, Nancy D.; Adelman, Saul J.

2015-01-01

A time-series analysis of spectroscopic and photometric observables of the A0 Ia supergiant HR 1040 has been performed, including equivalent widths, radial velocities, and Strömgren photometric indices. The data, obtained from 1993 through 2007, include 152 spectroscopic observations from the Ritter Observatory 1 m telescope and 269 Strömgren photometric observations from the Four College Automated Photoelectric Telescope. Typical of late B- and early A-type supergiants, HR 1040 has a highly variable Hα profile. The star was found to have an intermittent active phase marked by correlation between the Hα absorption equivalent width and blue-edge radial velocity and by photospheric connections observed in correlations to equivalent width, second moment and radial velocity in Si ii λλ6347, 6371. High-velocity absorption (HVA) events were observed only during this active phase. HVA events in the wind were preceded by photospheric activity, including Si ii radial velocity oscillations 19–42 days prior to onset of an HVA event and correlated increases in Si ii W λ and second moment from 13 to 23 days before the start of the HVA event. While increases in various line equivalent widths in the wind prior to HVA events have been reported in the past in other stars, our finding of precursors in enhanced radial velocity variations in the wind and at the photosphere is a new result

Global TIE Observatories: Real Time Observational Astronomy Through a Robotic Telescope Network

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, G.; Mayo, L. A.

2001-12-01

Astronomy in grades K-12 is traditionally taught (if at all) using textbooks and a few simple hands-on activities. Teachers are generally not trained in observational astronomy techniques and are unfamiliar with the most basic astronomical concepts. In addition, most students, by High School graduation, will never have even looked through the eyepiece of a telescope. The problem becomes even more challenging in inner cities, remote rural areas and low socioeconomic communities where educational emphasis on topics in astronomy as well as access to observing facilities is limited or non existent. Access to most optical telescope facilities is limited to monthly observing nights that cater to a small percentage of the general public living near the observatory. Even here, the observing experience is a one-time event detached from the process of scientific enquiry and sustained educational application. Additionally, a number of large, "research grade" observatory facilities are largely unused, partially due to the slow creep of light pollution around the facilities as well as the development of newer, more capable telescopes. Though cutting edge science is often no longer possible at these sights, real research opportunities in astronomy remain numerous for these facilities as educational tools. The possibility now exists to establish a network of research grade telescopes, no longer useful to the professional astronomical community, that can be made accessible through classrooms, after school, and community based programs all across the country through existing IT technologies and applications. These telescopes could provide unparalleled research and educational opportunities for a broad spectrum of students and turns underutilized observatory facilities into valuable, state-of-the-art teaching centers. The NASA sponsored Telescopes In Education project has been wildly successful in engaging the K-12 education community in real-time, hands-on, interactive astronomy

Optical and thermal design of 1.5-m aperture solar UV visible and IR observing telescope for Solar-C mission

Science.gov (United States)

Suematsu, Y.; Katsukawa, Y.; Shimizu, T.; Ichimoto, K.; Horiuchi, T.; Matsumoto, Y.; Takeyama, N.

2017-11-01

The next Japanese solar mission, SOLAR-C, which has been envisaged after successful science operation of Hinode (SOLAR-B) mission, is perusing two plans: plan-A and plan-B, and under extensive study from science objectives as well as engineering point of view. The plan-A aims at performing out-of-ecliptic observations for investigating, with helioseismic approach, internal structure and dynamo mechanisms of the Sun. It also explores polar regions where fast solar wind is believed to originate. A baseline orbit for plan-A is a circular orbit of 1 AU distance from the Sun with its inclination at around or greater than 40 degrees. The plan-B aims to study small-scale plasma processes and structures in the solar atmosphere which attract researchers' growing interest, followed by many Hinode discoveries [1], for understanding fully dynamism and magnetic nature of the atmosphere. With plan-B, high-angular-resolution investigation of the entire solar atmosphere (from the photosphere to the corona, including their interface layers, i.e., chromosphere and transition region) is to be performed with enhanced spectroscopic and spectro-polarimetric capability as compared with Hinode, together with enhanced sensitivity towards ultra-violet wavelengths. The orbit of plan-B is either a solar synchronous polar orbit of altitude around 600 km or a geosynchronous orbit to ensure continuous solar observations. After the decision of any one of the two plans, the SOLAR-C will be proposed for launch in mid-2010s. In this paper, we will present a basic design of one of major planned instrumental payload for the plan-B: the Solar Ultra-violet Visible and near IR observing Telescope (hereafter referred to as SUVIT). The basic concept in designing the SUVIT is to utilize as much as possible a heritage of successful telescope of the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard Hinode [2]. Major differences of SUVIT from SOT are the three times larger aperture of 1.5 m, which enables to collect one

Optimizations of Pt/SiC and W/Si multilayers for the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, K. K.; Harrison, F. A.; Mao, P. H.

2009-01-01

function to control the shape of the desired effective area. The NuSTAR multilayers are depth graded with a power-law, di = a/(b + i)c, and we optimize over the total number of bi-layers, N, c, and the maximum bi-layer thickness, dmax. The result is a 10 mirror group design optimized for a flat even energy......The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, NuSTAR, is a NASA funded Small Explorer Mission, SMEX, scheduled for launch in mid 2011. The spacecraft will fly two co-aligned conical approximation Wolter-I optics with a focal length of 10 meters. The mirrors will be deposited with Pt/SiC and W....../Si multilayers to provide a broad band reflectivity from 6 keV up to 78.4 keV. To optimize the mirror coating we use a Figure of Merit procedure developed for gazing incidence optics, which averages the effective area over the energy range, and combines an energy weighting function with an angular weighting...

An autonomous observation and control system based on EPICS and RTS2 for Antarctic telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guang-yu; Wang, Jian; Tang, Peng-yi; Jia, Ming-hao; Chen, Jie; Dong, Shu-cheng; Jiang, Fengxin; Wu, Wen-qing; Liu, Jia-jing; Zhang, Hong-fei

2016-01-01

For unattended telescopes in Antarctic, the remote operation, autonomous observation and control are essential. An EPICS-(Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) and RTS2-(Remote Telescope System, 2nd Version) based autonomous observation and control system with remoted operation is introduced in this paper. EPICS is a set of open source software tools, libraries and applications developed collaboratively and used worldwide to create distributed soft real-time control systems for scientific instruments while RTS2 is an open source environment for control of a fully autonomous observatory. Using the advantage of EPICS and RTS2, respectively, a combined integrated software framework for autonomous observation and control is established that use RTS2 to fulfil the function of astronomical observation and use EPICS to fulfil the device control of telescope. A command and status interface for EPICS and RTS2 is designed to make the EPICS IOC (Input/Output Controller) components integrate to RTS2 directly. For the specification and requirement of control system of telescope in Antarctic, core components named Executor and Auto-focus for autonomous observation is designed and implemented with remote operation user interface based on browser-server mode. The whole system including the telescope is tested in Lijiang Observatory in Yunnan Province for practical observation to complete the autonomous observation and control, including telescope control, camera control, dome control, weather information acquisition with the local and remote operation.

Radio Wavelength Studies of the Galactic Center Source N3, Spectroscopic Instrumentation For Robotic Telescope Systems, and Developing Active Learning Activities for Astronomy Laboratory Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Ludovici, Dominic Alesio

2017-08-01

The mysterious radio source N3 appears to be located within the vicinity of the Radio Arc region of the Galactic Center. To investigate the nature of this source, we have conducted radio observations with the VLA and the VLBA. Continuum observations between 2 and 50 GHz reveal that N3 is an extremely compact and bright source with a non-thermal spectrum. Molecular line observations with the VLA reveal a compact molecular cloud adjacent to N3 in projection. The properties of this cloud are consistent with other galactic center clouds. We are able to rule out several hypotheses for the nature of N3, though a micro-blazar origin cannot be ruled out. Robotic Telescope systems are now seeing widespread deployment as both teaching and research instruments. While these systems have traditionally been able to produce high quality images, these systems have lacked the capability to conduct spectroscopic observations. To enable spectroscopic observations on the Iowa Robotic Observatory, we have developed a low cost (˜ 500), low resolution (R ˜ 300) spectrometer which mounts inside a modified filter wheel and a moderate cost (˜ 5000), medium resolution (R ˜ 8000) fiber-fed spectrometer. Software has been developed to operate both instruments robotically and calibration pipelines are being developed to automate calibration of the data. The University of Iowa offers several introductory astronomy laboratory courses taken by many hundreds of students each semester. To improve student learning in these laboratory courses, we have worked to integrate active learning into laboratory activities. We present the pedagogical approaches used to develop and update the laboratory activities and present an inventory of the current laboratory exercises. Using the inventory, we make observations of the strengths and weaknesses of the current exercises and provide suggestions for future refinement of the astronomy laboratory curriculum.

Breakout Reconnection Observed by the TESIS EUV Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Reva, A. A.; Ulyanov, A. S.; Shestov, S. V.; Kuzin, S. V.

2016-01-01

We present experimental evidence of the coronal mass ejection (CME) breakout reconnection, observed by the TESIS EUV telescope. The telescope could observe solar corona up to 2 R⊙ from the Sun center in the Fe 171 Å line. Starting from 2009 April 8, TESIS observed an active region (AR) that had a quadrupolar structure with an X-point 0.5 R⊙ above photosphere. A magnetic field reconstructed from the Michelson Doppler Imager data also has a multipolar structure with an X-point above the AR. At 21:45 UT on April 9, the loops near the X-point started to move away from each other with a velocity of ≈7 km s-1. At 01:15 UT on April 10, a bright stripe appeared between the loops, and the flux in the GOES 0.5-4 Å channel increased. We interpret the loops’ sideways motion and the bright stripe as evidence of the breakout reconnection. At 01:45 UT, the loops below the X-point started to slowly move up. At 15:10 UT, the CME started to accelerate impulsively, while at the same time a flare arcade formed below the CME. After 15:50 UT, the CME moved with constant velocity. The CME evolution precisely followed the breakout model scenario.

Remote secure observing for the Faulkes Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

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

2004-09-01

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

Observations of binary stars by speckle interferometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morgan, B.L.; Beckmann, G.K.; Scaddan, R.J.

1980-01-01

This is the second paper in a series describing observations of binary stars using the technique of speckle interferometry. Observations were made using the 2.5-m Isaac Newton Telescope and the 1-m telescope of the Royal Greenwich Observatory and the 1.9-m telescope of the South African Astronomical Observatory. The classical Rayleigh diffraction limits are 0.050 arcsec for the 2.5-m telescope, 0.065 arcsec for the 1.9-m telescope and 0.125 arcsec for the 1-m telescope, at a wavelength of 500 nm. The results of 29 measurements of 26 objects are presented. The objects include long period spectroscopic binaries from the 6th Catalogue of Batten, close visual binary systems from the 3rd Catalogue of Finsen and Worley and variable stars. Nine of the objects have not been previously resolved by speckle interferometry. New members are detected in the systems β Cep, p Vel and iota UMa. (author)

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) High-Energy X-ray Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Harrison, Fiona A.; Craig, Willliam W.; Christensen, Finn E.; Hailey, Charles J.; Zhang, William W.; Boggs, Steven E.; Stern, Daniel; Cook, W. Rick; Forster, Karl; Giommi, Paolo;

Spectroscopic characterization of galaxy clusters in RCS-1: spectroscopic confirmation, redshift accuracy, and dynamical mass-richness relation

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbank, David G.; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Ellingson, Erica; Blindert, Kris; Yee, H. K. C.; Anguita, T.; Gladders, M. D.; Hall, P. B.; Hertling, G.; Infante, L.; Yan, R.; Carrasco, M.; Garcia-Vergara, Cristina; Dawson, K. S.; Lidman, C.; Morokuma, T.

2018-05-01

We present follow-up spectroscopic observations of galaxy clusters from the first Red-sequence Cluster Survey (RCS-1). This work focuses on two samples, a lower redshift sample of ˜30 clusters ranging in redshift from z ˜ 0.2-0.6 observed with multiobject spectroscopy (MOS) on 4-6.5-m class telescopes and a z ˜ 1 sample of ˜10 clusters 8-m class telescope observations. We examine the detection efficiency and redshift accuracy of the now widely used red-sequence technique for selecting clusters via overdensities of red-sequence galaxies. Using both these data and extended samples including previously published RCS-1 spectroscopy and spectroscopic redshifts from SDSS, we find that the red-sequence redshift using simple two-filter cluster photometric redshifts is accurate to σz ≈ 0.035(1 + z) in RCS-1. This accuracy can potentially be improved with better survey photometric calibration. For the lower redshift sample, ˜5 per cent of clusters show some (minor) contamination from secondary systems with the same red-sequence intruding into the measurement aperture of the original cluster. At z ˜ 1, the rate rises to ˜20 per cent. Approximately ten per cent of projections are expected to be serious, where the two components contribute significant numbers of their red-sequence galaxies to another cluster. Finally, we present a preliminary study of the mass-richness calibration using velocity dispersions to probe the dynamical masses of the clusters. We find a relation broadly consistent with that seen in the local universe from the WINGS sample at z ˜ 0.05.

Solar System Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope

OpenAIRE

Norwood, James; Hammel, Heidi; Milam, Stefanie; Stansberry, John; Lunine, Jonathan; Chanover, Nancy; Hines, Dean; Sonneborn, George; Tiscareno, Matthew; Brown, Michael; Ferruit, Pierre

2014-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope will enable a wealth of new scientific investigations in the near- and mid-infrared, with sensitivity and spatial/spectral resolution greatly surpassing its predecessors. In this paper, we focus upon Solar System science facilitated by JWST, discussing the most current information available concerning JWST instrument properties and observing techniques relevant to planetary science. We also present numerous example observing scenarios for a wide variety of Solar...

NuSTAR observations of magnetar 1e 1841-045

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

An, Hongjun; Hascoet, Romain; Kaspi, Victoria M.

2013-01-01

We report new spectral and temporal observations of the magnetar 1E 1841-045 in the Kes 73 supernova remnant obtained with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array. Combined with new Swift and archival XMM-Newton and Chandra observations, the phase-averaged spectrum is well characterized by a bl...

Ghost telescope and ghost Fourier telescope with thermal light

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gong Wenlin; Han Shensheng

2011-01-01

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

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Space telescope RM project. V. NGC5548 sp. monitoring (Pei+, 2017)

Science.gov (United States)

Pei, L.; Fausnaugh, M. M.; Barth, A. J.; Peterson, B. M.; Bentz, M. C.; De Rosa, G.; Denney, K. D.; Goad, M. R.; Kochanek, C. S.; Korista, K. T.; Kriss, G. A.; Pogge, R. W.; Bennert, V. N.; Brotherton, M.; Clubb, K. I.; Dalla Bonta, E.; Filippenko, A. V.; Greene, J. E.; Grier, C. J.; Vestergaard, M.; Zheng, W.; Adams, S. M.; Beatty, T. G.; Bigley, A.; Brown, J. E.; Brown, J. S.; Canalizo, G.; Comerford, J. M.; Coker, C. T.; Corsini, E. M.; Croft, S.; Croxall, K. V.; Deason, A. J.; Eracleous, M.; Fox, O. D.; Gates, E. L.; Henderson, C. B.; Holmbeck, E.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Jensen, J. J.; Johnson, C. A.; Kelly, P. L.; Kim, S.; King, A.; Lau, M. W.; Li, M.; Lochhaas, C.; Ma, Z.; Manne-Nicholas, E. R.; Mauerhan, J. C.; Malkan, M. A.; McGurk, R.; Morelli, L.; Mosquera, A.; Mudd, D.; Sanchez, F. M.; Nguyen, M. L.; Ochner, P.; Ou-Yang, B.; Pancoast, A.; Penny, M. T.; Pizzella, A.; Poleski, R.; Runnoe, J.; Scott, B.; Schimoia, J. S.; Shappee, B. J.; Shivvers, I.; Simonian, G. V.; Siviero, A.; Somers, G.; Stevens, D. J.; Strauss, M. A.; Tayar, J.; Tejos, N.; Treu, T.; van Saders, J.; Vican, L.; Villanueva, S.; Yuk, H.; Zakamska, N. L.; Zhu, W.; Anderson, M. D.; Arevalo, P.; Bazhaw, C.; Bisogni, S.; Borman, G. A.; Bottorff, M. C.; Brandt, W. N.; Breeveld, A. A.; Cackett, E. M.; Carini, M. T.; Crenshaw, D. M.; de Lorenzo-Caceres, A.; Dietrich, M.; Edelson, R.; Efimova, N. V.; Ely, J.; Evans, P. A.; Ferland, G. J.; Flatland, K.; Gehrels, N.; Geier, S.; Gelbord, J. M.; Grupe, D.; Gupta, A.; Hall, P. B.; Hicks, S.; Horenstein, D.; Horne, K.; Hutchison, T.; Im, M.; Joner, M. D.; Jones, J.; Kaastra, J.; Kaspi, S.; Kelly, B. C.; Kennea, J. A.; Kim, M.; Kim, S. C.; Klimanov, S. A.; Lee, J. C.; Leonard, D. C.; Lira, P.; Macinnis, F.; Mathur, S.; McHardy, I. M.; Montouri, C.; Musso, R.; Nazarov, S. V.; Netzer, H.; Norris, R. P.; Nousek, J. A.; Okhmat, D. N.; Papadakis, I.; Parks, J. R.; Pott, J.-U.; Rafter, S. E.; Rix, H.-W.; Saylor, D. A.; Schnulle, K.; Sergeev, S. G.; Siegel, M.; Skielboe, A.; Spencer, M.; Starkey, D.; Sung, H.-I.; Teems, K. G.; Turner, C. S.; Uttley, P.; Villforth, C.; Weiss, Y.; Woo, J.-H.; Yan, H.; Young, S.; Zu, Y.

2017-10-01

Spectroscopic data were obtained from five telescopes: the McGraw-Hill 1.3m telescope at the MDM Observatory (4225-5775Å; median S/N=118), the Shane 3m telescope at the Lick Observatory (Kast Double Spectrograph: 3250-7920Å; median S/N=194), the 1.22m Galileo telescope at the Asiago Astrophysical Observatory (3250-7920Å; median S/N=160), the 3.5m telescope at Apache Point Observatory (APO; Dual Imaging Spectrograph: 4180-5400Å, median S/N =160), and the 2.3m telescope at the Wyoming Infrared Observatory (WIRO; 5599-4399Å; median S/N=217). The optical spectroscopic monitoring targeting NGC 5548 began on 2014 January 4 and continued through 2014 July 6 with approximately daily cadence. MDM contributed the largest number of spectra with 143 epochs. (1 data file).

End-to-End Assessment of a Large Aperture Segmented Ultraviolet Optical Infrared (UVOIR) Telescope Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Feinberg, Lee; Bolcar, Matt; Liu, Alice; Guyon, Olivier; Stark,Chris; Arenberg, Jon

2016-01-01

Key challenges of a future large aperture, segmented Ultraviolet Optical Infrared (UVOIR) Telescope capable of performing a spectroscopic survey of hundreds of Exoplanets will be sufficient stability to achieve 10-10 contrast measurements and sufficient throughput and sensitivity for high yield Exo-Earth spectroscopic detection. Our team has collectively assessed an optimized end to end architecture including a high throughput coronagraph capable of working with a segmented telescope, a cost-effective and heritage based stable segmented telescope, a control architecture that minimizes the amount of new technologies, and an Exo-Earth yield assessment to evaluate potential performance.

Celebrating 30 years of science from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Robson, Ian; Friberg, Per

2017-01-01

The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) has been the world’s most successful single-dish telescope at submillimetre wavelengths since it began operations in 1987. From the pioneering days of single-element photometers and mixers, through to the state-of-the-art imaging and spectroscopic cameras, the JCMT has been associated with a number of major scientific discoveries. Famous for the discovery of ‘SCUBA’ galaxies, which are responsible for a large fraction of the far-infrared background, the JCMT has pushed the sensitivity limits arguably more than any other facility in this most difficult of wavebands in which to observe. Closer to home, the first images of huge discs of cool debris around nearby stars gave us clues to the evolution of planetary systems, further evidence of the importance of studying astrophysics in the submillimetre region. Now approaching the 30th anniversary of the first observations, the telescope continues to carry out unique and innovative science. In this review article, we look back on some of the major scientific highlights from the past 30 years. PMID:28989775

Celebrating 30 years of science from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Robson, Ian; Holland, Wayne S.; Friberg, Per

2017-09-01

The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) has been the world's most successful single-dish telescope at submillimetre wavelengths since it began operations in 1987. From the pioneering days of single-element photometers and mixers, through to the state-of-the-art imaging and spectroscopic cameras, the JCMT has been associated with a number of major scientific discoveries. Famous for the discovery of `SCUBA' galaxies, which are responsible for a large fraction of the far-infrared background, the JCMT has pushed the sensitivity limits arguably more than any other facility in this most difficult of wavebands in which to observe. Closer to home, the first images of huge discs of cool debris around nearby stars gave us clues to the evolution of planetary systems, further evidence of the importance of studying astrophysics in the submillimetre region. Now approaching the 30th anniversary of the first observations, the telescope continues to carry out unique and innovative science. In this review article, we look back on some of the major scientific highlights from the past 30 years.

A Proposed Astronomy Learning Progression for Remote Telescope Observation

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, Timothy F.; Burrows, Andrea C.; French, Debbie A.; Sanchez, Richard A.; Tatge, Coty B.

2014-01-01

Providing meaningful telescope observing experiences for students who are deeply urban or distantly rural place-bound--or even daylight time-bound--has consistently presented a formidable challenge for astronomy educators. For nearly 2 decades, the Internet has promised unfettered access for large numbers of students to conduct remote telescope…

BREAKOUT RECONNECTION OBSERVED BY THE TESIS EUV TELESCOPE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reva, A. A.; Ulyanov, A. S.; Shestov, S. V.; Kuzin, S. V., E-mail: reva.antoine@gmail.com [Lebedev Physical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences (Russian Federation)

2016-01-10

We present experimental evidence of the coronal mass ejection (CME) breakout reconnection, observed by the TESIS EUV telescope. The telescope could observe solar corona up to 2 R{sub ⊙} from the Sun center in the Fe 171 Å line. Starting from 2009 April 8, TESIS observed an active region (AR) that had a quadrupolar structure with an X-point 0.5 R{sub ⊙} above photosphere. A magnetic field reconstructed from the Michelson Doppler Imager data also has a multipolar structure with an X-point above the AR. At 21:45 UT on April 9, the loops near the X-point started to move away from each other with a velocity of ≈7 km s{sup −1}. At 01:15 UT on April 10, a bright stripe appeared between the loops, and the flux in the GOES 0.5–4 Å channel increased. We interpret the loops’ sideways motion and the bright stripe as evidence of the breakout reconnection. At 01:45 UT, the loops below the X-point started to slowly move up. At 15:10 UT, the CME started to accelerate impulsively, while at the same time a flare arcade formed below the CME. After 15:50 UT, the CME moved with constant velocity. The CME evolution precisely followed the breakout model scenario.

BREAKOUT RECONNECTION OBSERVED BY THE TESIS EUV TELESCOPE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reva, A. A.; Ulyanov, A. S.; Shestov, S. V.; Kuzin, S. V.

2016-01-01

We present experimental evidence of the coronal mass ejection (CME) breakout reconnection, observed by the TESIS EUV telescope. The telescope could observe solar corona up to 2 R ⊙ from the Sun center in the Fe 171 Å line. Starting from 2009 April 8, TESIS observed an active region (AR) that had a quadrupolar structure with an X-point 0.5 R ⊙ above photosphere. A magnetic field reconstructed from the Michelson Doppler Imager data also has a multipolar structure with an X-point above the AR. At 21:45 UT on April 9, the loops near the X-point started to move away from each other with a velocity of ≈7 km s −1 . At 01:15 UT on April 10, a bright stripe appeared between the loops, and the flux in the GOES 0.5–4 Å channel increased. We interpret the loops’ sideways motion and the bright stripe as evidence of the breakout reconnection. At 01:45 UT, the loops below the X-point started to slowly move up. At 15:10 UT, the CME started to accelerate impulsively, while at the same time a flare arcade formed below the CME. After 15:50 UT, the CME moved with constant velocity. The CME evolution precisely followed the breakout model scenario

Observation of Galactic Sources of Very High Energy γ-RAYS with the Magic Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Bartko, H.

The MAGIC telescope with its 17m diameter mirror is today the largest operating single-dish Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescope (IACT). It is located on the Canary Island La Palma, at an altitude of 2200 m above sea level, as part of the Roque de los Muchachos European Northern Observatory. The MAGIC telescope detects celestial very high energy γ-radiation in the energy band between about 50 GeV and 10 TeV. Since the autumn of 2004 MAGIC has been taking data routinely, observing various objects, like supernova remnants (SNRs), γ-ray binaries, Pulsars, Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and Gamma-ray Bursts (GRB). We briefly describe the observational strategy, the procedure implemented for the data analysis, and discuss the results of observations of Galactic Sources.

Observations of the orbital debris complex by the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Vilas, Faith; Anz-Meador, Phillip; Talent, Dave

1997-01-01

The midcourse space experiment (MSX) provides the opportunity to observe debris at multiple, simultaneous wavelengths, or in conjunction with other sensors and prior data sets. The instruments onboard MSX include an infrared telescope, an infrared interferometer, a visible telescope, an ultraviolet telescope and a spectroscopic imager. The spacecraft carries calibration spheres for instrument calibration and atmospheric drag studies. The experimental program, the implementation aspects, the data reduction techniques and the preliminary results are described.

Observation of the February 2011 Forbush decrease by the EEE telescopes

CERN Document Server

Abbrescia, M; Antolini, R; Avanzini, C; Baldini Ferroli, R; Bencivenni, G; Bossini, E; Bressan, E; Chiavassa, A; Cicalo, C; Cifarelli, L; Coccetti, F; Coccia, E; De Gruttola, D; De Pasquale, S; Di Giovanni, A; D'Incecco, M; Doroud, K; Dreucci, M; Fabbri, F.L; Frolov, V; Garbini, M; Gemme, G; Gnesi, I; Gustavino, C; Hatzifotiadou, D; La Rocca, P; Li, S; Librizzi, F; Maggiora, A; Massai, M; Menghetti, H; Miozzi, S; Moro, R; Panareo, M; Paoletti, R; Perasso, L; Pilo, F; Piragino, G; Regano, A; Riggi, F; Romano, F; Sartorelli, G; Scapparone, E; Scribano, A; Selvi, M; Serci, S; Siddi, E; Spandre, G; Squarcia, S; Taiuti, M; Tosello, F; Votano, L; Williams, M.C.S; Zichichi, A; Zouyevski, R

2011-01-01

The Forbush decrease following the large X2 solar flare on mid-February 2011 has been observed by the muon telescopes of the EEE Project, which are located in several Italian sites and at CERN. Data from two different telescopes of the EEE network have been analyzed and compared to those measured by neutron monitor stations. The variation of the muon counting rate during the Forbush decrease was also extracted for different intervals of the azimuthal angle of the incoming muons.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Harlan J.

1989-10-01

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

The VANDELS ESO spectroscopic survey

Science.gov (United States)

McLure, R. J.; Pentericci, L.; Cimatti, A.; Dunlop, J. S.; Elbaz, D.; Fontana, A.; Nandra, K.; Amorin, R.; Bolzonella, M.; Bongiorno, A.; Carnall, A. C.; Castellano, M.; Cirasuolo, M.; Cucciati, O.; Cullen, F.; De Barros, S.; Finkelstein, S. L.; Fontanot, F.; Franzetti, P.; Fumana, M.; Gargiulo, A.; Garilli, B.; Guaita, L.; Hartley, W. G.; Iovino, A.; Jarvis, M. J.; Juneau, S.; Karman, W.; Maccagni, D.; Marchi, F.; Mármol-Queraltó, E.; Pompei, E.; Pozzetti, L.; Scodeggio, M.; Sommariva, V.; Talia, M.; Almaini, O.; Balestra, I.; Bardelli, S.; Bell, E. F.; Bourne, N.; Bowler, R. A. A.; Brusa, M.; Buitrago, F.; Caputi, K. I.; Cassata, P.; Charlot, S.; Citro, A.; Cresci, G.; Cristiani, S.; Curtis-Lake, E.; Dickinson, M.; Fazio, G. G.; Ferguson, H. C.; Fiore, F.; Franco, M.; Fynbo, J. P. U.; Galametz, A.; Georgakakis, A.; Giavalisco, M.; Grazian, A.; Hathi, N. P.; Jung, I.; Kim, S.; Koekemoer, A. M.; Khusanova, Y.; Le Fèvre, O.; Lotz, J. M.; Mannucci, F.; Maltby, D. T.; Matsuoka, K.; McLeod, D. J.; Mendez-Hernandez, H.; Mendez-Abreu, J.; Mignoli, M.; Moresco, M.; Mortlock, A.; Nonino, M.; Pannella, M.; Papovich, C.; Popesso, P.; Rosario, D. P.; Salvato, M.; Santini, P.; Schaerer, D.; Schreiber, C.; Stark, D. P.; Tasca, L. A. M.; Thomas, R.; Treu, T.; Vanzella, E.; Wild, V.; Williams, C. C.; Zamorani, G.; Zucca, E.

2018-05-01

VANDELS is a uniquely-deep spectroscopic survey of high-redshift galaxies with the VIMOS spectrograph on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). The survey has obtained ultra-deep optical (0.48 studies. Using integration times calculated to produce an approximately constant signal-to-noise ratio (20 motivation, survey design and target selection.

Spectroscopic classification of AT 2017cfd as a young Type Ia supernova

Science.gov (United States)

Vinko, J.; Wheeler, J. C.

2017-03-01

We report the spectroscopic observation of AT 2017cfd, a transient discovered by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) on 2017-03-16. A spectrum (range 3700-9300 Angstroms), taken with the new "Low Resolution Spectrograph-2" (LRS2) on the 10m Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory by Steve Odewahn on 2017-03-18.16 UT, is similar to that of a Type Ia supernova before maximum light.

The 1.3-m Robotically Controlled Telescope (RCT) at Kitt Peak - A Fifty year old dream Realized: Telescope Characteristics, Current Research and Education Progr

Science.gov (United States)

Guinan, Edward; Gelderman, Richard; Strolger, Louis-Gregory; Carini, Michael T.; McGruder, Charles, III; Campbell, Rachel; Walter, Donald K.; Davis, Donald R.; Tedesco, Edward F.; Engle, Scott G.

2011-03-01

The 1.3 m Robotically Controlled Telescope (RCT) on Kitt Peak has a rich history, including its role as a prototype for remotely controlled telescopes during the 1960s. As such, the RCT could be considered one of the first - Telescopes from Afar. The telescope, originally called the Remotely Controlled Telescope, has been renamed the Robotically Controlled Telescope to reflect the change in operational control and mode of use. The RCT was a conceptual precursor of today's robotic telescopes, but the actual operation of a remotely controlled telescope was technologically premature for its time, and was subsequently manually operated primarily to conduct optical and infrared observations as well being used as a test bed for new spectroscopic and photometric instruments. In 1995 budget constraints forced the closing of the telescope as part of the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), following nearly 30 years of distinguished service to KPNO. A request for proposals to operate this telescope was issued to the science community. The RCT consortium, lead by Western Kentucky University, was the successful proposer for operation of the telescope. After several difficult years of retrofitting, refurbishing, and automating the telecope and observatory dome, the telescope has returned to routine science operations in November 2009. The RCT has operated smoothly since that time, with no major interruptions. Observations of objects of interest to the consortium partners (including: comets & asteroids, variable & binary stars, exoplanets, supernovae, quasars & blazars) are being routinely obtained and evaluated. One of the distinguishing features of the RCT is that it is an autonomous observatory designed to handle diverse optical imaging and photometry programs. These include being able to automatically deal with a wide range of observing parameters such as -integration time, sky conditions, repetitions, return visits, filters, air mass, non-sidereal objects, transients etc

Spectroscopic Profiles of Comets Garradd and McNaught

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Ien; Pierce, Donna M.; Cochran, Anita L.

2017-10-01

We have used the integral-field unit spectrograph (the George and Cynthia Mitchell Spectrograph) on the 2.7m Harlan J. Smith telescope at McDonald Observatory to obtain spectroscopic images of the comae of several comets. The images were obtained for various radical species (C2, C3, CN, NH2). Radial and azimuthal average profiles of the radical species were created to enhance any observed cometary coma morphological features. We compare the observed coma features across the observed species and over the different observation periods in order to constrain possible rotational states of the observed comets, as well as determine possible source differences in the coma between the observed radical species. We will present results for several comets, including C/2009 P1 (Garradd) and 260P (McNaught).

Possible GRB Observation with the MAGIC Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Bastieri, D.; Bigongiari, C.; Mariotti, M.; Peruzzo, L.; Saggion, A.

2001-08-01

The MAGIC Telescope, with its reflecting parabolic dish of 17 m of diameter and its careful design of a robust, lightweight, alto-azimuthal mount, is an ideal detector for GRB phenomena. The telescope is an air Cherenkov telescope that, even in the first phase, equipped with standard PMTs, can reach an energy threshold below 30 GeV. The threshold is going to drop well below 10 GeV in the envisaged second phase, when chamber PMTs will be substituted by high quantum efficiency APDs. The telescope can promptly respond to GRB alerts coming, for instance, from GCN, and can reposition itself in less than 30 seconds, 20 seconds being the time to turn half a round for the azimuth bearing. In this report, the effective area of the detector as a function of energy and zenith angle is taken into account, in order to evaluate the expected yearly occurrence and the response to different kinds of GRBs.

Early GRB optical and infrared afterglow observations with the 2-m robotic Liverpool Telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomboc, A.; Ljubljana Univ., Ljubljana; Mundell, C.G.; Guidorzi, C.

2005-01-01

We present the first optical observations of a Gamma Ray Burst IGRB) afterglow using the 2-m robotic Liverpool Telescope (LT), which is owned and operated by Liverpool John Moores University and situated on La Palma. We briefly discuss the capabilities of LT and its suitability for rapid follow-up observations of early optical and infrared GRB light curves. In particular, the combination of aperture, site, instrumentation and rapid response (robotic over-ride mode aided by telescope's rapid slew and fully-opening enclosure) makes the LT ideal for investigating the nature of short bursts, optically-dark bursts, and GRB blast-wave physics in general. We briefly describe the LT's key position in the RoboNet-1.0 network of robotic telescopes. We present the LT observations of GRB041006 and use its gamma-ray properties to predict the time of the break in optical light curve, a prediction consistent with the observations

Habitable Exoplanet Imager Optical Telescope Concept Design

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H Philip

2017-01-01

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

Habitable exoplanet imager optical telescope concept design

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H. Philip

2017-09-01

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

The central pixel of the MAGIC telescope for optical observations

Science.gov (United States)

Lucarelli, F.; Barrio, J. A.; Antoranz, P.; Asensio, M.; Camara, M.; Contreras, J. L.; Fonseca, M. V.; Lopez, M.; Miranda, J. M.; Oya, I.; Reyes, R. De Los; Firpo, R.; Sidro, N.; Goebel, F.; Lorenz, E.; Otte, N.

2008-05-01

The MAGIC telescope has been designed for the observation of Cherenkov light generated in Extensive Air Showers initiated by cosmic particles. However, its 17 m diameter mirror and optical design makes the telescope suitable for direct optical observations as well. In this paper, we report about the development of a system based on the use of a dedicated photo-multiplier (PMT) for optical observations. This PMT is installed in the centre of the MAGIC camera (the so-called central pixel). An electro-to-optical system has been developed in order to transmit the PMT output signal by an optical fibre to the counting room, where it is digitized and stored for off-line analysis. The performance of the system using the optical pulsation of the Crab nebula as calibration source is presented. The time required for a 5σ detection of the Crab pulsar in the optical band is less than 20 s. The central pixel will be mainly used to perform simultaneous observations of the Crab pulsar both in the optical and γ-ray regimes. It will also allow for periodic testing of the precision of the MAGIC timing system using the Crab rotational optical pulses as a very precise timing reference.

Development of the Phase-up Technology of the Radio Telescopes: 6.7 GHz Methanol Maser Observations with Phased Hitachi 32 m and Takahagi 32 m Radio Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Takefuji, K.; Sugiyama, K.; Yonekura, Y.; Saito, T.; Fujisawa, K.; Kondo, T.

2017-11-01

For the sake of high-sensitivity 6.7 GHz methanol maser observations, we developed a new technology for coherently combining the two signals from the Hitachi 32 m radio telescope and the Takahagi 32 m radio telescope of the Japanese Very long baseline interferometer Network (JVN), where the two telescopes were separated by about 260 m. After the two telescopes were phased as a twofold larger single telescope, the mean signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of the 6.7 GHz methanol masers observed by the phased telescopes was improved to 1.254-fold higher than that of the single dish, through a very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) experiment on the 50 km baseline of the Kashima 34 m telescope and the 1000 km baseline of the Yamaguchi 32 m telescope. Furthermore, we compared the S/Ns of the 6.7 GHz maser spectra for two methods. One is a VLBI method and the other is the newly developed digital position switching that is a similar technology to that used in noise-canceling headphones. Finally, we confirmed that the mean S/N of method of the digital position switching (ON-OFF) was 1.597-fold higher than that of the VLBI method.

Mosaic3: a red-sensitive upgrade for the prime focus camera at the Mayall 4m telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Dey, Arjun; Rabinowitz, David; Karcher, Armin; Bebek, Chris; Baltay, Charles; Sprayberry, David; Valdes, Frank; Stupak, Bob; Donaldson, John; Emmet, Will; Hurteau, Tom; Abareshi, Behzad; Marshall, Bob; Lang, Dustin; Fitzpatrick, Mike; Daly, Phil; Joyce, Dick; Schlegel, David; Schweiker, Heidi; Allen, Lori; Blum, Bob; Levi, Michael

2016-08-01

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is under construction and will be used to measure the expansion history of the Universe using the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) technique and the growth of structure using redshift-space distortions (RSD). The spectra of 30 million galaxies over 14000 sq deg will be measured over the course of the experiment. In order to provide spectroscopic targets for the DESI survey, we are carrying out a three-band (g,r,z ) imaging survey of the sky using the NOAO 4-m telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) and the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory (CTIO). At KPNO, we will use an upgraded version of the Mayall 4m telescope prime focus camera, Mosaic3, to carry out a z-band survey of the Northern Galactic Cap at declinations δ>=+30 degrees. By equipping an existing Dewar with four 4kx4k fully depleted CCDs manufactured by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), we increased the z-band throughput of the system by a factor of 1.6. These devices have the thickest active area fielded at a telescope. The Mosaic3 z-band survey will be complemented by g-band and r-band observations using the Bok telescope and 90 Prime imager on Kitt Peak. We describe the upgrade and performance of the Mosaic3 instrument and the scope of the northern survey.

Observational results of a multi-telescope campaign in search of interstellar urea [(NH2)2CO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Remijan, Anthony J.; Snyder, Lewis E.; Kuo, Hsin-Lun; Looney, Leslie W.; Friedel, Douglas N.; McGuire, Brett A.; Golubiatnikov, G. Yu; Lovas, Frank J.; Ilyushin, V. V.; Alekseev, E. A.; Dyubko, S. F.; McCall, Benjamin J.; Hollis, Jan M.

2014-01-01

In this paper, we present the results of an observational search for gas phase urea [(NH 2 ) 2 CO] observed toward the Sgr B2(N-LMH) region. We show data covering urea transitions from ∼100 GHz to 250 GHz from five different observational facilities: the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland-Association (BIMA) Array, the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA), the NRAO 12 m telescope, the IRAM 30 m telescope, and the Swedish-ESO Submillimeter Telescope (SEST). The results show that the features ascribed to urea can be reproduced across the entire observed bandwidth and all facilities by best-fit column density, temperature, and source size parameters which vary by less than a factor of two between observations merely by adjusting for telescope-specific parameters. Interferometric observations show that the emission arising from these transitions is cospatial and compact, consistent with the derived source sizes and emission from a single species. Despite this evidence, the spectral complexity of both (NH 2 ) 2 CO and of Sgr B2(N) makes the definitive identification of this molecule challenging. We present observational spectra, laboratory data, and models, and discuss our results in the context of a possible molecular detection of urea.

The VANDELS ESO public spectroscopic survey

Science.gov (United States)

McLure, R. J.; Pentericci, L.; Cimatti, A.; Dunlop, J. S.; Elbaz, D.; Fontana, A.; Nandra, K.; Amorin, R.; Bolzonella, M.; Bongiorno, A.; Carnall, A. C.; Castellano, M.; Cirasuolo, M.; Cucciati, O.; Cullen, F.; De Barros, S.; Finkelstein, S. L.; Fontanot, F.; Franzetti, P.; Fumana, M.; Gargiulo, A.; Garilli, B.; Guaita, L.; Hartley, W. G.; Iovino, A.; Jarvis, M. J.; Juneau, S.; Karman, W.; Maccagni, D.; Marchi, F.; Mármol-Queraltó, E.; Pompei, E.; Pozzetti, L.; Scodeggio, M.; Sommariva, V.; Talia, M.; Almaini, O.; Balestra, I.; Bardelli, S.; Bell, E. F.; Bourne, N.; Bowler, R. A. A.; Brusa, M.; Buitrago, F.; Caputi, K. I.; Cassata, P.; Charlot, S.; Citro, A.; Cresci, G.; Cristiani, S.; Curtis-Lake, E.; Dickinson, M.; Fazio, G. G.; Ferguson, H. C.; Fiore, F.; Franco, M.; Fynbo, J. P. U.; Galametz, A.; Georgakakis, A.; Giavalisco, M.; Grazian, A.; Hathi, N. P.; Jung, I.; Kim, S.; Koekemoer, A. M.; Khusanova, Y.; Fèvre, O. Le; Lotz, J. M.; Mannucci, F.; Maltby, D. T.; Matsuoka, K.; McLeod, D. J.; Mendez-Hernandez, H.; Mendez-Abreu, J.; Mignoli, M.; Moresco, M.; Mortlock, A.; Nonino, M.; Pannella, M.; Papovich, C.; Popesso, P.; Rosario, D. P.; Salvato, M.; Santini, P.; Schaerer, D.; Schreiber, C.; Stark, D. P.; Tasca, L. A. M.; Thomas, R.; Treu, T.; Vanzella, E.; Wild, V.; Williams, C. C.; Zamorani, G.; Zucca, E.

2018-05-01

VANDELS is a uniquely-deep spectroscopic survey of high-redshift galaxies with the VIMOS spectrograph on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). The survey has obtained ultra-deep optical (0.48 studies. Using integration times calculated to produce an approximately constant signal-to-noise ratio (20 motivation, survey design and target selection.

Spectroscopic studies of the molecular parentage of radical species in cometary comae

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Benjamin; Pierce, Donna; Cochran, Anita

2015-11-01

We have observed several comets using an integral-field unit spectrograph (the George and Cynthia Mitchell Spectrograph) on the 2.7m Harlan J. Smith telescope at McDonald Observatory. Full-coma spectroscopic images were obtained for various radical species (C2, C3, CH, CN, NH2). By constructing azimuthal average profiles from the full-coma spectroscopic images we can test Haser model parameters with our observations. The Haser model was used to determine production rates and possible parent lifetimes that would be consistent with the model. By iterating through a large range of possible parents lifetimes, we can see what range of values in which the Haser model is consistent with observations. Also, this type of analysis gives us perspective on how sensitive the model's fit quality is to changes in parent lifetimes. Here, we present the work completed to date, and we compare our results to other comet taxonomic surveys.

Antarctic observations at long wavelengths with the IRAIT-ITM Telescope at Dome C

Science.gov (United States)

Durand, Gilles A.; Tremblin, Pascal; Minier, Vincent; Reinert, Yann; Leroy dos Santos, Christophe; Rodriguez, Louis; Joffrin, Xavier; Busso, Maurizio; Tosti, Gino; Nucciarelli, Giuliano; Dolci, Mauro; Straniero, Oscar; Valentini, Angelo; Abia, Carlos; Christille, Jean Marc; Doumayrou, Eric; Lortholary, Michel; Charron, Patrice; Lotrus, Paul; Walter, Christian; Ronayette, Samuel; Challita, Zalpha; Fromont, Laurent; Condamin, Mathieu; Kwon, Min Kyong; Tavagnacco, Daniele

2014-07-01

We illustrate the status of the international infra-red telescope IRAIT-ITM, a project developed thanks to an Italian- Spanish-French collaboration and now sited at the Dome C Antarctic base. The telescope and its subsystems were installed at DomeC by a team of Italian and French scientists. The 80 cm telescope is placed on a small snow hill next to a laboratory of astronomy. The operations started in January 2013, with the Nasmyth focal planes equipped with the midinfrared camera AMICA for 1.25 to 25 μm and the sub-millimetre camera CAMISTIC for observation of the sky noise at 200 and 350 μm using a bolometer camera. During 2013 the two winter-overs worked mainly on technological duties, learning how to operate the telescope, while temperatures decreased down to -80°C. The cryogenic systems could be operated respectively at 0.25K and 4K at all times, with satisfactory use of the heat from the compressors of the cryocoolers to the warm-up the laboratory through a closed loop glycol system. The lack of tests and reliability in extreme conditions of some components and difficult access to maintenance hampered regular observations below -50°C. Using the lessons of this first winter, the summer team improves the robustness of the failing systems and ease the access to maintenance. The winter 2014 is the first one with programmed observations. Because of power restrictions, the two instruments are used each one at a time by periods of 2 weeks. The Camistic camera continues to observe the stability of the sky at a fixed altitude in chopping mode and performs skydips. The TCS is being upgraded in order to prepare the next summer season with extensive observations of the sun with Camistic.

Identifying the Young Low-mass Stars within 25 pc. I. Spectroscopic Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Shkolnik, Evgenya; Liu, Michael C.; Reid, I. Neill

2009-07-01

We have completed a high-resolution (R ≈ 60,000) optical spectroscopic survey of 185 nearby M dwarfs identified using ROSAT data to select active, young objects with fractional X-ray luminosities comparable to or greater than Pleiades members. Our targets are drawn from the NStars 20 pc census and the Moving-M sample with distances determined from parallaxes or spectrophotometric relations. We limited our sample to 25 pc from the Sun, prior to correcting for pre-main-sequence overluminosity or binarity. Nearly half of the resulting M dwarfs are not present in the Gliese catalog and have no previously published spectral types. We identified 30 spectroscopic binaries (SBs) from the sample, which have strong X-ray emission due to tidal spin-up rather than youth. This is equivalent to a 16% SB fraction, with at most a handful of undiscovered SBs. We estimate upper limits on the age of the remaining M dwarfs using spectroscopic youth indicators such as surface gravity-sensitive indices (CaH and K I). We find that for a sample of field stars with no metallicity measurements, a single CaH gravity index may not be sufficient, as higher metallicities mimic lower gravity. This is demonstrated in a subsample of metal-rich radial velocity (RV) standards, which appear to have low surface gravity as measured by the CaH index, yet show no other evidence of youth. We also use additional youth diagnostics such as lithium absorption and strong Hα emission to set more stringent age limits. Eleven M dwarfs with no Hα emission or absorption are likely old (>400 Myr) and were caught during an X-ray flare. We estimate that our final sample of the 144 youngest and nearest low-mass objects in the field is less than 300 Myr old, with 30% of them being younger than 150 Myr and four very young (lap10 Myr), representing a generally untapped and well-characterized resource of M dwarfs for intensive planet and disk searches. Based on observations collected at the W. M. Keck Observatory and

Remote observing from the bottom up: the architecture of the WIYN telescope control system

Science.gov (United States)

Percival, Jeffrey W.

1995-06-01

Remote observing has many definitions, ranging from unattended batch-mode use through simple remote logins to fully faithful off-site observing centers indistinguishable from the on- site telescope control room. There are problems with each of these ideas: batch mode operation, for example, precludes remote interactive target acquisition and remote access to targets of opportunity. Simple remote login suffers from network problems such as full-duplex character latency; shipping screens instead of the underlying data can cause bandwidth problems and interferes with analyzing or archiving data. Brute-force reproduction of the control room requires expensive fiber or satellite connections. The WIYN Telescope control system was designed to be inexpensive to build and inexpensive to maintain. We emphasized the use of standard tools, portable implementations, and network friendliness. These techniques and features are precisely those that underlie a powerful remote observing capability. The WIYN Telescope control system therefore supports remote observing from the very lowest levels, and does so effectively and inexpensively using a carefully planned architecture, standard software and network tools, and innovative methods to ship large digital images over low bandwidth connections such as phone lines. Even before the construction was complete, these techniques proved their value by allowing remote access for the purposes of eavesdropping, troubleshooting, and servo tuning. This paper presents a block diagram and detailed descriptions of the WIYN Telescope control system architecture. Each aspect of the control system is discussed with respect to its contribution to the overall goal of remote observing, including multi-user access, bandwidth conservation, interoperability, and portability.

Observing the Future: Simulating Next-Generation Radio Telescopes with MeqTrees

Science.gov (United States)

Willis, A. G.

2008-08-01

Future radio telescopes such as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) present us with a number of unprecedented challenges. To select a design that will be able to achieve the SKA requirements, we need good models of the instrument and the observed sky. This makes detailed SKA simulations a vital part of any design effort. The Measurement Equation (ME) that grew out of aips++ development provides a succinct mathematical framework in which a radio telescope and the observed sky may be described. The MeqTrees software package, originally developed at ASTRON for the purpose of calibrating the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR), provides a flexible software system for implementing MEs of arbitrary structure and complexity, and for solving for arbitrary subsets of their parameters. This poster will examine how the ME and MeqTrees can be applied to SKA simulations. In particular we simulate an SKA pathfinder consisting of small dishes with phased-array focal-plane arrays mounted at the primary focus, and show some of the instrumental effects expected and their impact on observations.

A telescope for observation from space of extreme lightnings in the upper atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nam, S.; Artikova, S.; Chung, T.; Garipov, G.; Jeon, J.A.; Jeong, S.; Jin, J.Y.; Khrenov, B.A.; Kim, J.E.; Kim, M.; Kim, Y.K.; Klimov, P.; Lee, J.; Lee, H.Y.; Na, G.W.; Oh, S.J.; Panasyuk, M.; Park, I.H.; Park, J.H.; Park, Y.-S.

2008-01-01

A new type of telescope with a wide field-of-view and functions of fast zoom-in has been introduced. Two kinds of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) micromirrors, digital and analog, are used for reflectors of the telescope, placed at different focal lengths. We apply this technology to the observation from space of TLE (Transient Luminous Events), extremely large transient sparks occurring at the upper atmosphere. TLE are one type of important backgrounds to be understood for future space observation of UHECR (Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays). The launch of the payload carried by a Russian microsatellite is foreseen in the middle of 2008

Early-type galaxies at intermediate redshift observed with Hubble space telescope WFC3: perspectives on recent star formation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rutkowski, Michael J. [Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, University of Minnesota, 116 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Jeong, Hyunjin; Yi, Sukyoung K. [Department of Astronomy, Yonsei University 134, Shinchon-dong, Sudaemun-gu, Seoul 120-179 (Korea, Republic of); Cohen, Seth H.; Windhorst, Rogier A. [School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1404 (United States); Kaviraj, Sugata [Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield AL10 9AB (United Kingdom); Ryan, Russell E. Jr.; Koekemoer, Anton [Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Hathi, Nimish P. [Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, LAM, UMR 7326, F-13388, Marseille (France); Dopita, Michael A. [Research School of Physics and Astronomy, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2611 (Australia)

2014-12-01

We present an analysis of the stellar populations of 102 visually selected early-type galaxies (ETGs) with spectroscopic redshifts (0.35 ≲ z ≲ 1.5) from observations in the Early Release Science program with the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We fit one- and two-component synthetic stellar models to the ETGs UV-optical-near-IR spectral energy distributions and find that a large fraction (∼40%) are likely to have experienced a minor (f{sub YC} ≲ 10% of stellar mass) burst of recent (t{sub YC} ≲ 1 Gyr) star formation. The measured age and mass fraction of the young stellar populations do not strongly trend with measurements of galaxy morphology. We note that massive (M > 10{sup 10.5} M {sub ☉}) recent star-forming ETGs appear to have larger sizes. Furthermore, high-mass, quiescent ETGs identified with likely companions populate a distinct region in the size-mass parameter space, in comparison with the distribution of massive ETGs with evidence of recent star formation (RSF). We conclude that both mechanisms of quenching star formation in disk-like ETGs and (gas-rich, minor) merger activity contribute to the formation of young stars and the size-mass evolution of intermediate redshift ETGs. The number of ETGs for which we have both HST WFC3 panchromatic (especially UV) imaging and spectroscopically confirmed redshifts is relatively small, therefore, a conclusion about the relative roles of both of these mechanisms remains an open question.

EARLY OPTICAL OBSERVATIONS OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS BY THE TAROT TELESCOPES: PERIOD 2001-2008

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klotz, A.; Boer, M.; Atteia, J. L.; Gendre, B.

2009-01-01

The Telescopes a Action Rapide pour les Objets Transitoires telescopes are two robotic observatories designed to observe the prompt optical emission counterpart and the early afterglow of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We present data acquired between 2001 and 2008 and discuss the properties of the optical emission of GRBs, noting various interesting results. The optical emission observed during the prompt GRB phase is rarely very bright: we estimate that 5%-20% of GRBs exhibit a bright optical flash (R < 14) during the prompt gamma-ray emission, and that more than 50% of the GRBs have an optical emission fainter than R = 15.5 when the gamma-ray emission is active. We study the apparent optical brightness distribution of GRBs at 1000 s showing that our observations confirm the distribution derived by other groups. The combination of these results with those obtained by other rapid slewing telescopes allows us to better characterize the early optical emission of GRBs and to emphasize the importance of very early multiwavelength GRB studies for the understanding of the physics of the ejecta.

Mechanical Design of NESSI: New Mexico Tech Extrasolar Spectroscopic Survey Instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Santoro, Fernando G.; Olivares, Andres M.; Salcido, Christopher D.; Jimenez, Stephen R.; Jurgenson, Colby A.; Hrynevych, Michael A.; Creech-Eakman, Michelle J.; Boston, Penny J.; Schmidt, Luke M.; Bloemhard, Heather;

A Speckle survey of Southern Hipparcos Visual Doubles and Geneva-Copenhagen Spectroscopic Binaries

Science.gov (United States)

Mendez, R. A.; Tokovinin, A.; Horch, E.

2018-01-01

We present a speckle survey of Hipparcos visual doubles and spectroscopic binary stars identified by the Geneva-Copenhagen spectroscopic survey with the SOAR 4m telescope + HRCam. These systems represent our best chance to take advantage of Gaia parallaxes for the purpose of stellar mass determinations. Many of these systems already have mass fractions (although generally no spectroscopic orbit - an astrometric orbit will determine individual masses), metallicity information, and Hipparcos distances. They will be used to improve our knowledge of the mass-luminosity relation, particularly for lower-metallicity stars. Our survey will create the first all-sky, volume-limited, speckle archive for the two primary samples, complementing a similar effort that has been recently been completed at the WIYN 3.5-m telescope in the Northern Hemisphere. This extension to the Southern Hemisphere will fill out the picture for a wider metallicity range.

The Galactic O-Star Catalog (GOSC) and the Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey (GOSSS): current status

Science.gov (United States)

Maíz Apellániz, J.; Alonso Moragón, A.; Ortiz de Zárate Alcarazo, L.; The Gosss Team

2017-03-01

We present the updates of the Galactic O-Star Catalog (GOSC) that we have undertaken in the last two years: new spectral types, more objects, additional information, and coordination with CDS. We also present updates for the Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey (GOSSS). A new paper (GOSSS-III) has been published and ˜ 1000 targets have been observed since 2014. Four new setups have been added to our lineup and for two of them we have already obtained over 100 spectra: with OSIRIS at the 10.4 m GTC we are observing northern dim stars and with FRODOspec at the 2.0 m Liverpool Telescope we are observing northern bright stars. Finally, we also make available new versions of MGB, the spectral classification tool associated with the project, and of the GOSSS grid of spectroscopic standards.

Hard X-ray Vela supernova observation on rocket experiment WRX-R

Science.gov (United States)

Stehlikova, V.; Urban, M.; Nentvich, O.; Daniel, V.; Sieger, L.; Tutt, J.

2017-07-01

This paper presents a hard X-ray telescope for the Vela nebula observation during a sounding rocket flight. The Water Recovery X-ray Rocket (WRX-R) experiment is organised by the Pennsylvania State University (PSU), USA with a primary payload of a soft X-ray spectroscope. The Czech team developed a hard X-ray Lobster-eye telescope as a secondary payload. The Czech experiment’s astrophysical object of study is the Vela pulsar in the centre of the Vela nebula.

An afocal telescope configuration for the ESA Ariel mission

Science.gov (United States)

Da Deppo, V.; Middleton, K.; Focardi, M.; Morgante, G.; Pace, E.; Claudi, R.; Micela, G.

2017-09-01

ARIEL (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey) is one of the three candidates for the next ESA medium-class science mission (M4) expected to be launched in 2026. This mission will be devoted to observing spectroscopically in the infrared (IR) a large population of known transiting planets in the neighborhood of the Solar System, opening a new discovery space in the field of extrasolar planets and enabling the understanding of the physics and chemistry of these far away worlds. ARIEL is based on a 1-m class telescope ahead of two spectrometer channels covering the band 1.95 to 7.8 microns. In addition there are four photometric channels: two wide band, also used as fine guidance sensors, and two narrow band. During its 3.5 years of operations from L2 orbit, ARIEL will continuously observe exoplanets transiting their host star. The ARIEL optical design is conceived as a fore-module common afocal telescope that will feed the spectrometer and photometric channels. The telescope optical design is composed of an off-axis portion of a two-mirror classic Cassegrain coupled to a tertiary off-axis paraboloidal mirror. The telescope and optical bench operating temperatures, as well as those of some subsystems, will be monitored and fine tuned/stabilised mainly by means of a thermal control subsystem (TCU-Telescope Control Unit) working in closed-loop feedback and hosted by the main Payload electronics unit, the Instrument Control Unit (ICU). Another important function of the TCU will be to monitor the telescope and optical bench thermistors when the Payload decontamination heaters will be switched on (when operating the instrument in Decontamination Mode) during the Commissioning Phase and cyclically, if required. Then the thermistors data will be sent by the ICU to the On Board Computer by means of a proper formatted telemetry. The latter (OBC) will be in charge of switching on and off the decontamination heaters on the basis of the thermistors readout

IPS observation system for the Miyun 50 m radio telescope and its commissioning observation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Xinying; Zhang Xizhen; Zhang Hongbo; Kong Deqing; Qu Huipeng

2012-01-01

Ground-based observation of Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) is an important approach for monitoring solar wind. A ground-based IPS observation system has been newly implemented on a 50 m radio telescope at Miyun station, managed by the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences. This observation system has been constructed for the purpose of observing solar wind speed and the associated scintillation index by using the normalized cross-spectrum of a simultaneous dual-frequency IPS measurement. The system consists of a universal dual-frequency front-end and a dual-channel multi-function back-end specially designed for IPS. After careful calibration and testing, IPS observations on source 3C 273B and 3C 279 have been successfully carried out. The preliminary observation results show that this newly-developed observation system is capable of performing IPS observation. The system's sensitivity for IPS observation can reach over 0.3 Jy in terms of an IPS polarization correlator with 4 MHz bandwidth and 2 s integration time. (research papers)

The LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area (LaCoSSPAr) in the Southern Galactic Cap. I. The Spectroscopic Redshift Catalog

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Ming; Wu, Hong; Yang, Fan; Lam, Man I.; Cao, Tian-Wen; Wu, Chao-Jian; Zhao, Pin-Song; Zhang, Tian-Meng; Zhou, Zhi-Min; Wu, Xue-Bing; Zhang, Yan-Xia; Shao, Zheng-Yi; Jing, Yi-Peng; Shen, Shi-Yin; Zhu, Yi-Nan; Du, Wei; Lei, Feng-Jie; He, Min; Jin, Jun-Jie; Shi, Jian-Rong; Zhang, Wei; Wang, Jian-Ling; Wu, Yu-Zhong; Zhang, Hao-Tong; Luo, A.-Li; Yuan, Hai-Long; Bai, Zhong-Rui; Kong, Xu; Gu, Qiu-Sheng; Zhou, Xu; Ma, Jun; Hu, Zou; Nie, Jun-Dan; Wang, Jia-Li; Zhang, Yong; Hou, Yong-Hui; Zhao, Yong-Heng

2018-01-01

We present a spectroscopic redshift catalog from the LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area (LaCoSSPAr) in the Southern Galactic Cap (SGC), which is designed to observe all sources (Galactic and extragalactic) by using repeating observations with a limiting magnitude of r=18.1 {mag} in two 20 {\\deg }2 fields. The project is mainly focusing on the completeness of LAMOST ExtraGAlactic Surveys (LEGAS) in the SGC, the deficiencies of source selection methods, and the basic performance parameters of the LAMOST telescope. In both fields, more than 95% of galaxies have been observed. A post-processing has been applied to the LAMOST 1D spectrum to remove the majority of remaining sky background residuals. More than 10,000 spectra have been visually inspected to measure the redshift by using combinations of different emission/absorption features with an uncertainty of {σ }z/(1+z)visual inspection. Our analysis also indicates that up to one-fourth of the input targets for a typical extragalactic spectroscopic survey might be unreliable. The multi-wavelength data analysis shows that the majority of mid-infrared-detected absorption (91.3%) and emission line galaxies (93.3%) can be well separated by an empirical criterion of W2-W3=2.4. Meanwhile, a fainter sequence paralleled to the main population of galaxies has been witnessed both in M r /W2-W3 and M */W2-W3 diagrams, which could be the population of luminous dwarf galaxies but contaminated by the edge-on/highly inclined galaxies (∼ 30 % ).

End-to-End Assessment of a Large Aperture Segmented Ultraviolet Optical Infrared (UVOIR) Telescope Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Feinberg, Lee; Rioux, Norman; Bolcar, Matthew; Liu, Alice; Guyon, Oliver; Stark, Chris; Arenberg, Jon

2016-01-01

Key challenges of a future large aperture, segmented Ultraviolet Optical Infrared (UVOIR) Telescope capable of performing a spectroscopic survey of hundreds of Exoplanets will be sufficient stability to achieve 10^-10 contrast measurements and sufficient throughput and sensitivity for high yield Exo-Earth spectroscopic detection. Our team has collectively assessed an optimized end to end architecture including a high throughput coronagraph capable of working with a segmented telescope, a cost-effective and heritage based stable segmented telescope, a control architecture that minimizes the amount of new technologies, and an Exo-Earth yield assessment to evaluate potential performance. These efforts are combined through integrated modeling, coronagraph evaluations, and Exo-Earth yield calculations to assess the potential performance of the selected architecture. In addition, we discusses the scalability of this architecture to larger apertures and the technological tall poles to enabling it.

The Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey. I. Classification System and Bright Northern Stars in the Blue-violet at R ~ 2500

Science.gov (United States)

Sota, A.; Maíz Apellániz, J.; Walborn, N. R.; Alfaro, E. J.; Barbá, R. H.; Morrell, N. I.; Gamen, R. C.; Arias, J. I.

2011-04-01

We present the first installment of a massive spectroscopic survey of Galactic O stars, based on new, high signal-to-noise ratio, R ~ 2500 digital observations from both hemispheres selected from the Galactic O-Star Catalog of Maíz Apellániz et al. and Sota et al. The spectral classification system is rediscussed and a new atlas is presented, which supersedes previous versions. Extensive sequences of exceptional objects are given, including types Ofc, ON/OC, Onfp, Of?p, Oe, and double-lined spectroscopic binaries. The remaining normal spectra bring this first sample to 184 stars, which is close to complete to B = 8 and north of δ = -20° and includes all of the northern objects in Maíz Apellániz et al. that are still classified as O stars. The systematic and random accuracies of these classifications are substantially higher than previously attainable, because of the quality, quantity, and homogeneity of the data and analysis procedures. These results will enhance subsequent investigations in Galactic astronomy and stellar astrophysics. In the future, we will publish the rest of the survey, beginning with a second paper that will include most of the southern stars in Maíz Apellániz et al. The spectroscopic data in this article were gathered with three facilities: the 1.5 m telescope at the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada (OSN), the 3.5 m telescope at Calar Alto Observatory (CAHA), and the du Pont 2.5 m telescope at Las Campanas Observatory (LCO). Some of the supporting imaging data were obtained with the 2.2 m telescope at CAHA and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The rest were retrieved from the DSS2 and Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) surveys. The HST data were obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

Liverpool Telescope and Liverpool Telescope 2

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-12-01

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

Innovative enclosure dome/observing aperture system design for the MROI Array Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Busatta, A.; Marchiori, G.; Mian, S.; Payne, I.; Pozzobon, M.

2010-07-01

The close-pack array of the MROI necessitated an original design for the Unit Telescope Enclosure (UTE) at Magdalena Ridge Observatory. The Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer (MROI) is a project which comprises an array of up to ten (10) 1.4m diameter mirror telescopes arranged in a "Y" configuration. Each of these telescopes will be housed inside a Unit Telescope Enclosure (UTE) which are relocatable onto any of 28 stations. The most compact configuration includes all ten telescopes, several of which are at a relative distance of less than 8m center to center from each other. Since the minimum angle of the field of regard is 30° with respect to the horizon, it is difficult to prevent optical blockage caused by adjacent UTEs in this compact array. This paper presents the design constraints inherent in meeting the requirement for the close-pack array. An innovative design enclosure was created which incorporates an unique dome/observing aperture system. The description of this system focuses on how the field of regard requirement led to an unique and highly innovative concept that had to be able to operate in the harsh environmental conditions encountered at an altitude of 10,460ft (3,188m). Finally, we describe the wide use of composites materials and structures (e.g. glass/carbon fibres, sandwich panels etc.) on the aperture system which represents the only way to guarantee adequate thermal and environmental protection, compactness, structural stability and limited power consumption due to reduced mass.

Eta Carinae’s 2014.6 Spectroscopic Event: The Extraordinary He II and N II Features

Science.gov (United States)

Davidson, Kris; Mehner, Andrea; Humphreys, Roberta M.; Martin, John C.; Ishibashi, Kazunori

2015-03-01

Eta Carinae’s spectroscopic events (periastron passages) in 2003, 2009, and 2014 differed progressively. He ii λ4687 and nearby N ii multiplet 5 have special significance because they respond to very soft X-rays and the ionizing UV radiation field (EUV). Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/STIS observations in 2014 show dramatic increases in both features compared to the previous 2009.1 event. These results appear very consistent with a progressive decline in the primary wind density, proposed years ago on other grounds. If material falls onto the companion star near periastron, the accretion rate may now have become too low to suppress the EUV. Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, which is opera ted by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

Observations Of The LCROSS Impact With NIFS On The Gemini North Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, Katherine; Stephens, A. W.; Trujillo, C. A.; McDermid, R. M.; Woodward, C. E.; Walls, B. D.; Coulson, D. M.; Matulonis, A. C.; Ball, J. G.; Wooden, D. H.

2010-01-01

The Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Centaur rocket impacted a permanently shadowed crater near the south pole of the Moon at 11:31 UTC 2009 October 09. Gemini, one of several telescopes in a coordinated network observing the impact, conducted observations using NIFS to obtain 3D K-band imaging spectroscopy to detect water ice in the ejected plume of material. The spectral slope of the NIFS data can constrain the grain size and height distribution as the plume evolves, measuring the total mass and the water ice concentration in the plume. These observations provided an engineering challenge for Gemini, including the need to track non-sidereal with constantly changing track rates and guide on small bright moon craters, in order to keep the impact site within the NIFS field-of-view. High quality images taken by GMOS-N, NIRI and the acquisition camera during engineering periods at specific lunar libration and illumination were also used by the LCROSS ground based observing team to supplement slit positioning and offset plans for other ground based observatories. LCROSS mission support and engineering has resulted in improved telescope functionality for non-sidereal targets, including the ability to upload and import target ephemerides directly into the TCS, starting in semester 2010B. In this poster we present the engineering results and observing improvements which will facilitate enhanced user capabilities of the Gemini telescopes arising from the intensive LCROSS support challenge. Gemini Observatory is operated by AURA, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the NSF on behalf of the Gemini partnership: the NSF (United States), the STFC (United Kingdom), the NRC (Canada), CONICYT (Chile), the ARC (Australia), Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia (Brazil), and Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva (Argentina). In part this research was supported by NASA through contracts to SWRI and NSF grant AST-0706980 to the U

CONTEMPORANEOUS VLBA 5 GHz OBSERVATIONS OF LARGE AREA TELESCOPE DETECTED BLAZARS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Linford, J. D.; Taylor, G. B. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico, MSC07 4220, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001 (United States); Romani, R. W. [Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Helmboldt, J. F. [Naval Research Laboratory, Code 7213, 4555 Overlook Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Readhead, A. C. S.; Reeves, R.; Richards, J. L. [Astronomy Department, California Institute of Technology, Mail Code 247-17, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)

2012-01-10

The radio properties of blazars detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have been observed contemporaneously by the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). In total, 232 sources were observed with the VLBA. Ninety sources that were previously observed as part of the VLBA Imaging and Polarimetry Survey (VIPS) have been included in the sample, as well as 142 sources not found in VIPS. This very large, 5 GHz flux-limited sample of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) provides insights into the mechanism that produces strong {gamma}-ray emission. In particular, we see that {gamma}-ray emission is related to strong, uniform magnetic fields in the cores of the host AGN. Included in this sample are non-blazar AGNs such as 3C84, M82, and NGC 6251. For the blazars, the total VLBA radio flux density at 5 GHz correlates strongly with {gamma}-ray flux. The LAT BL Lac objects tend to be similar to the non-LAT BL Lac objects, but the LAT flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) are significantly different from the non-LAT FSRQs. Strong core polarization is significantly more common among the LAT sources, and core fractional polarization appears to increase during LAT detection.

CONTEMPORANEOUS VLBA 5 GHz OBSERVATIONS OF LARGE AREA TELESCOPE DETECTED BLAZARS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Linford, J. D.; Taylor, G. B.; Romani, R. W.; Helmboldt, J. F.; Readhead, A. C. S.; Reeves, R.; Richards, J. L.

2012-01-01

The radio properties of blazars detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have been observed contemporaneously by the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). In total, 232 sources were observed with the VLBA. Ninety sources that were previously observed as part of the VLBA Imaging and Polarimetry Survey (VIPS) have been included in the sample, as well as 142 sources not found in VIPS. This very large, 5 GHz flux-limited sample of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) provides insights into the mechanism that produces strong γ-ray emission. In particular, we see that γ-ray emission is related to strong, uniform magnetic fields in the cores of the host AGN. Included in this sample are non-blazar AGNs such as 3C84, M82, and NGC 6251. For the blazars, the total VLBA radio flux density at 5 GHz correlates strongly with γ-ray flux. The LAT BL Lac objects tend to be similar to the non-LAT BL Lac objects, but the LAT flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) are significantly different from the non-LAT FSRQs. Strong core polarization is significantly more common among the LAT sources, and core fractional polarization appears to increase during LAT detection.

Contemporaneous VLBA 5 GHz Observations of Large Area Telescope Detected Blazars

Science.gov (United States)

Linford, J. D.; Taylor, G. B.; Romani, R. W.; Helmboldt, J. F.; Readhead, A. C. S.; Reeves, R.; Richards, J. L.

2012-01-01

The radio properties of blazars detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have been observed contemporaneously by the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). In total, 232 sources were observed with the VLBA. Ninety sources that were previously observed as part of the VLBA Imaging and Polarimetry Survey (VIPS) have been included in the sample, as well as 142 sources not found in VIPS. This very large, 5 GHz flux-limited sample of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) provides insights into the mechanism that produces strong γ-ray emission. In particular, we see that γ-ray emission is related to strong, uniform magnetic fields in the cores of the host AGN. Included in this sample are non-blazar AGNs such as 3C84, M82, and NGC 6251. For the blazars, the total VLBA radio flux density at 5 GHz correlates strongly with γ-ray flux. The LAT BL Lac objects tend to be similar to the non-LAT BL Lac objects, but the LAT flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) are significantly different from the non-LAT FSRQs. Strong core polarization is significantly more common among the LAT sources, and core fractional polarization appears to increase during LAT detection.

Development of an automated data acquisition and processing pipeline using multiple telescopes for observing transient phenomena

Science.gov (United States)

Savant, Vaibhav; Smith, Niall

2016-07-01

We report on the current status in the development of a pilot automated data acquisition and reduction pipeline based around the operation of two nodes of remotely operated robotic telescopes based in California, USA and Cork, Ireland. The observatories are primarily used as a testbed for automation and instrumentation and as a tool to facilitate STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) promotion. The Ireland node is situated at Blackrock Castle Observatory (operated by Cork Institute of Technology) and consists of two optical telescopes - 6" and 16" OTAs housed in two separate domes while the node in California is its 6" replica. Together they form a pilot Telescope ARrAy known as TARA. QuickPhot is an automated data reduction pipeline designed primarily to throw more light on the microvariability of blazars employing precision optical photometry and using data from the TARA telescopes as they constantly monitor predefined targets whenever observing conditions are favourable. After carrying out aperture photometry, if any variability above a given threshold is observed, the reporting telescope will communicate the source concerned and the other nodes will follow up with multi-band observations, taking advantage that they are located in strategically separated time-zones. Ultimately we wish to investigate the applicability of Shock-in-Jet and Geometric models. These try to explain the processes at work in AGNs which result in the formation of jets, by looking for temporal and spectral variability in TARA multi-band observations. We are also experimenting with using a Twochannel Optical PHotometric Imaging CAMera (TOΦCAM) that we have developed and which has been optimised for simultaneous two-band photometry on our 16" OTA.

{sup 13}C-METHYL FORMATE: OBSERVATIONS OF A SAMPLE OF HIGH-MASS STAR-FORMING REGIONS INCLUDING ORION-KL AND SPECTROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Favre, Cécile; Bergin, Edwin A.; Crockett, Nathan R.; Neill, Justin L. [Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Carvajal, Miguel [Dpto. Física Aplicada, Unidad Asociada CSIC, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad de Huelva, E-21071 Huelva (Spain); Field, David [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Aarhus, Ny Munkegade 120, DK-8000 Aarhus C (Denmark); Jørgensen, Jes K.; Bisschop, Suzanne E. [Centre for Star and Planet Formation, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø (Denmark); Brouillet, Nathalie; Despois, Didier; Baudry, Alain [Univ. Bordeaux, LAB, UMR 5804, F-33270, Floirac (France); Kleiner, Isabelle [Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA), CNRS, UMR 7583, Université de Paris-Est et Paris Diderot, 61, Av. du Général de Gaulle, F-94010 Créteil Cedex (France); Margulès, Laurent; Huet, Thérèse R.; Demaison, Jean, E-mail: cfavre@umich.edu, E-mail: miguel.carvajal@dfa.uhu.es [Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, Atomes et Molécules, UMR CNRS 8523, Université Lille I, F-59655 Villeneuve d' Ascq Cedex (France)

2015-01-01

We have surveyed a sample of massive star-forming regions located over a range of distances from the Galactic center for methyl formate, HCOOCH{sub 3}, and its isotopologues H{sup 13}COOCH{sub 3} and HCOO{sup 13}CH{sub 3}. The observations were carried out with the APEX telescope in the frequency range 283.4-287.4 GHz. Based on the APEX observations, we report tentative detections of the {sup 13}C-methyl formate isotopologue HCOO{sup 13}CH{sub 3} toward the following four massive star-forming regions: Sgr B2(N-LMH), NGC 6334 IRS 1, W51 e2, and G19.61-0.23. In addition, we have used the 1 mm ALMA science verification observations of Orion-KL and confirm the detection of the {sup 13}C-methyl formate species in Orion-KL and image its spatial distribution. Our analysis shows that the {sup 12}C/{sup 13}C isotope ratio in methyl formate toward the Orion-KL Compact Ridge and Hot Core-SW components (68.4 ± 10.1 and 71.4 ± 7.8, respectively) are, for both the {sup 13}C-methyl formate isotopologues, commensurate with the average {sup 12}C/{sup 13}C ratio of CO derived toward Orion-KL. Likewise, regarding the other sources, our results are consistent with the {sup 12}C/{sup 13}C in CO. We also report the spectroscopic characterization, which includes a complete partition function, of the complex H{sup 13}COOCH{sub 3} and HCOO{sup 13}CH{sub 3} species. New spectroscopic data for both isotopomers H{sup 13}COOCH{sub 3} and HCOO{sup 13}CH{sub 3}, presented in this study, have made it possible to measure this fundamentally important isotope ratio in a large organic molecule for the first time.

Spectroscopic Observations of the Outflowing Wind in the Lensed Quasar SDSS J1001+5027

Science.gov (United States)

Misawa, Toru; Inada, Naohisa; Oguri, Masamune; Charlton, Jane C.; Eracleous, Michael; Koyamada, Suzuka; Itoh, Daisuke

2018-02-01

We performed spectroscopic observations of the small-separation lensed quasar SDSS J1001+5027, whose images have an angular separation θ =2\\buildrel{\\prime\\prime}\\over{.} 86, and placed constraints on the physical properties of gas clouds in the vicinity of the quasar (i.e., in the outflowing wind launched from the accretion disk). The two cylinders of sight to the two lensed images go through the same region of the outflowing wind and they become fully separated with no overlap at a very large distance from the source (∼330 pc). We discovered a clear difference in the profile of the C IV broad absorption line (BAL) detected in the two lensed images in two observing epochs. Because the kinematic components in the BAL profile do not vary in concert, the observed variations cannot be reproduced by a simple change of ionization state. If the variability is due to gas motion around the background source (i.e., the continuum source), the corresponding rotational velocity is {v}rot} ≥ 18,000 km s‑1, and their distance from the source is r≤slant 0.06 pc assuming Keplerian motion. Among three Mg II and three C IV NAL systems that we detected in the spectra, only the Mg II system at {z}abs} = 0.8716 shows a hint of variability in its Mg I profile on a rest-frame timescale of {{Δ }}{t}rest} ≤slant 191 days and an obvious velocity shear between the sightlines whose physical separation is ∼7 kpc. We interpret this as the result of motion of a cosmologically intervening absorber, perhaps located in a foreground galaxy. Based on data collected at the Subaru Telescope, which is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

Spectroscopic Confirmation of a z = 6.740 Galaxy behind the Bullet Cluster

Science.gov (United States)

Bradač, Maruša; Vanzella, Eros; Hall, Nicholas; Treu, Tommaso; Fontana, Adriano; Gonzalez, Anthony H.; Clowe, Douglas; Zaritsky, Dennis; Stiavelli, Massimo; Clément, Benjamin

2012-08-01

We present the first results of our spectroscopic follow-up of 6.5 dropout behind the Bullet Cluster. We detect an emission line at λ = 9412 Å at >5σ significance using a 16 hr long exposure with FORS2 VLT. Based on the absence of flux in bluer broadband filters, the blue color of the source, and the absence of additional lines, we identify the line as Lyα at z = 6.740 ± 0.003. The integrated line flux is f = (0.7 ± 0.1 ± 0.3) × 10-17 erg-1 s-1 cm-2 (the uncertainties are due to random and flux calibration errors, respectively) making it the faintest Lyα flux detected at these redshifts. Given the magnification of μ = 3.0 ± 0.2 the intrinsic (corrected for lensing) flux is f int = (0.23 ± 0.03 ± 0.10 ± 0.02) × 10-17 erg-1 s-1 cm-2 (additional uncertainty due to magnification), which is ~2-3 times fainter than other such measurements in z ~ 7 galaxies. The intrinsic H 160W-band magnitude of the object is m^int_{H_160W}=27.57+/- 0.17, corresponding to 0.5 L* for LBGs at these redshifts. The galaxy is one of the two sub-L* LBG galaxies spectroscopically confirmed at these high redshifts (the other is also a lensed z = 7.045 galaxy), making it a valuable probe for the neutral hydrogen fraction in the early universe. Observations were carried out using the Very Large Telescope at the ESO Paranal Observatory under Program ID 088.A-0542. Also based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555 and NNX08AD79G. These observations are associated with programs GO10200, GO10863, and GO11099.

Spectroscopic observations of the symbiotic star AG Draconis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, S E; Bopp, B W [Toledo Univ., OH (USA)

1981-06-01

Spectroscopic observations, covering the lambdalambda 3500-7000 region, of the symbiotic star AG Draconis are reported. The Balmer and He I line profiles were found to show pronounced blueward asymmetries. Changes in the line profiles of the Balmer lines were observed, and found to be well correlated with the 554-day photometric period of Meinunger, with a second, blueward component being visible in the Balmer emissions at photometric minimum. The weak, blueshifted component in the Balmer emission lines is explained in terms of a stellar wind from the hot secondary at of the order of 60 kms s/sup -1/. The behaviour of the broad emission feature at lambda6380 has been investigated. This feature was found to originate from an ion with an ionization potential in the range 77-101 eV. Various models for AG Dra are discussed.

Infrared-faint radio sources are at high redshifts. Spectroscopic redshift determination of infrared-faint radio sources using the Very Large Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Herzog, A.; Middelberg, E.; Norris, R. P.; Sharp, R.; Spitler, L. R.; Parker, Q. A.

2014-07-01

Context. Infrared-faint radio sources (IFRS) are characterised by relatively high radio flux densities and associated faint or even absent infrared and optical counterparts. The resulting extremely high radio-to-infrared flux density ratios up to several thousands were previously known only for high-redshift radio galaxies (HzRGs), suggesting a link between the two classes of object. However, the optical and infrared faintness of IFRS makes their study difficult. Prior to this work, no redshift was known for any IFRS in the Australia Telescope Large Area Survey (ATLAS) fields which would help to put IFRS in the context of other classes of object, especially of HzRGs. Aims: This work aims at measuring the first redshifts of IFRS in the ATLAS fields. Furthermore, we test the hypothesis that IFRS are similar to HzRGs, that they are higher-redshift or dust-obscured versions of these massive galaxies. Methods: A sample of IFRS was spectroscopically observed using the Focal Reducer and Low Dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The data were calibrated based on the Image Reduction and Analysis Facility (IRAF) and redshifts extracted from the final spectra, where possible. This information was then used to calculate rest-frame luminosities, and to perform the first spectral energy distribution modelling of IFRS based on redshifts. Results: We found redshifts of 1.84, 2.13, and 2.76, for three IFRS, confirming the suggested high-redshift character of this class of object. These redshifts and the resulting luminosities show IFRS to be similar to HzRGs, supporting our hypothesis. We found further evidence that fainter IFRS are at even higher redshifts. Conclusions: Considering the similarities between IFRS and HzRGs substantiated in this work, the detection of IFRS, which have a significantly higher sky density than HzRGs, increases the number of active galactic nuclei in the early universe and adds to the problems of explaining the formation of

The 2016 Transit of Mercury Observed from Major Solar Telescopes and Satellites

Science.gov (United States)

Pasachoff, Jay M.; Schneider, Glenn; Gary, Dale; Chen, Bin; Sterling, Alphonse C.; Reardon, Kevin P.; Dantowitz, Ronald; Kopp, Greg A.

2016-10-01

We report observations from the ground and space of the 9 May 2016 transit of Mercury. We build on our explanation of the black-drop effect in transits of Venus based on spacecraft observations of the 1999 transit of Mercury (Schneider, Pasachoff, and Golub, Icarus 168, 249, 2004). In 2016, we used the 1.6-m New Solar Telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory with active optics to observe Mercury's transit at high spatial resolution. We again saw a small black-drop effect as 3rd contact neared, confirming the data that led to our earlier explanation as a confluence of the point-spread function and the extreme solar limb darkening (Pasachoff, Schneider, and Golub, in IAU Colloq. 196, 2004). We again used IBIS on the Dunn Solar Telescope of the Sacramento Peak Observatory, as A. Potter continued his observations, previously made at the 2006 transit of Mercury, at both telescopes of the sodium exosphere of Mercury (Potter, Killen, Reardon, and Bida, Icarus 226, 172, 2013). We imaged the transit with IBIS as well as with two RED Epic IMAX-quality cameras alongside it, one with a narrow passband. We show animations of our high-resolution ground-based observations along with observations from XRT on JAXA's Hinode and from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Further, we report on the limit of the transit change in the Total Solar Irradiance, continuing our interest from the transit of Venus TSI (Schneider, Pasachoff, and Willson, ApJ 641, 565, 2006; Pasachoff, Schneider, and Willson, AAS 2005), using NASA's SORCE/TIM and the Air Force's TCTE/TIM. See http://transitofvenus.info and http://nicmosis.as.arizona.edu.Acknowledgments: We were glad for the collaboration at Big Bear of Claude Plymate and his colleagues of the staff of the Big Bear Solar Observatory. We also appreciate the collaboration on the transit studies of Robert Lucas (Sydney, Australia) and Evan Zucker (San Diego, California). JMP appreciates the sabbatical hospitality of the Division of Geosciences and

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 ...

Solar System Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Norwood, James; Hammel, Heidi; Milam, Stefanie; Stansberry, John; Lunine, Jonathan; Chanover, Nancy; Hines, Dean; Sonneborn, George; Tiscareno, Matthew; Brown, Michael;

The Soft State of Cygnus X-1 Observed With NuSTAR: A Variable Corona and a Stable Inner Disk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Walton, D. J.; Tomsick, J. A.; Madsen, K. K.

2016-01-01

We present a multi-epoch hard X-ray analysis of Cygnus X-1 in its soft state based on four observations with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR). Despite the basic similarity of the observed spectra, there is clear spectral variability between epochs. To investigate this variabilit...

NuSTAR and SWIFT Observations of the Black Hole Candidate XTE J1908+094 during its 2013 Outburst

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tao, Lian; Tomsick, John A.; Walton, Dominic J.

2015-01-01

The black hole (BH) candidate XTE J1908+094 went into outburst for the first time since 2003 in 2013 October. We report on an observation with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and monitoring observations with Swift during the outburst. NuSTAR caught the source in the soft state...

The NASA/AFRL Meter Class Autonomous Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Cowardin, H.; Lederer, S.; Buckalew, B.; Frith, J.; Hickson, P.; Glesne, T.; Anz-Meador, P.; Barker, E.; Stansbery, G.; Kervin, P.

2016-01-01

For the past decade, the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) has relied on using various ground-based telescopes in Chile to acquire statistical survey data as well as photometric and spectroscopic data of orbital debris in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). The statistical survey data have been used to supply the Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM) v.3.0 with debris detections in GEO to better model the environment at altitudes where radar detections are limited. The data produced for the statistical survey ranged from 30 to 40 nights per year, which only accounted for 10% of the possible observing time. Data collection was restricted by ODPO resources and weather conditions. In order to improve the statistical sampling in GEO, as well as observe and sample other orbits, NASA's ODPO with support from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), has constructed a new observatory dedicated to orbital debris - the Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT) on Ascension Island. This location provides MCAT with the unique ability to access targets orbiting at an altitude of less than 1,000 km and low inclinations (< 20 deg). This orbital regime currently has little to no coverage by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network. Unlike previous ODPO optical assets, the ability to operate autonomously will allow rapid response observations of break-up events, an observing mode that was only available via radar tasking prior to MCAT's deployment. The primary goal of MCAT is to statistically characterize GEO via daily tasking files uploaded from ODPO. These tasking files define which operating mode to follow, providing the field center, rates, and/or targets to observe over the entire observing period. The system is also capable of tracking fast-moving targets in low Earth orbit (LEO), middle Earth orbit (MEO), as well as highly eccentric orbits like geostationary transfer orbits. On 25 August 2015, MCAT successfully acquired scientific first light, imaging the Bug Nebula and

SPT-GMOS: A GEMINI/GMOS-SOUTH SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY OF GALAXY CLUSTERS IN THE SPT-SZ SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bayliss, M. B.; Ruel, J.; Stubbs, C. W.; Allen, S. W.; Applegate, D. E.; Ashby, M. L. N.; Bautz, M.; Benson, B. A.; Carlstrom, J. E.; Chang, C. L.; Crawford, T. M.; Bleem, L. E.; Bocquet, S.; Brodwin, M.; Capasso, R.; Chiu, I.; Cho, H-M.; Clocchiatti, A.; Crites, A. T.; Haan, T. de

2016-01-01

We present the results of SPT-GMOS, a spectroscopic survey with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South. The targets of SPT-GMOS are galaxy clusters identified in the SPT-SZ survey, a millimeter-wave survey of 2500 deg 2 of the southern sky using the South Pole Telescope (SPT). Multi-object spectroscopic observations of 62 SPT-selected galaxy clusters were performed between 2011 January and 2015 December, yielding spectra with radial velocity measurements for 2595 sources. We identify 2243 of these sources as galaxies, and 352 as stars. Of the galaxies, we identify 1579 as members of SPT-SZ galaxy clusters. The primary goal of these observations was to obtain spectra of cluster member galaxies to estimate cluster redshifts and velocity dispersions. We describe the full spectroscopic data set and resulting data products, including galaxy redshifts, cluster redshifts, and velocity dispersions, and measurements of several well-known spectral indices for each galaxy: the equivalent width, W , of [O ii] λλ 3727, 3729 and H- δ , and the 4000 Å break strength, D4000. We use the spectral indices to classify galaxies by spectral type (i.e., passive, post-starburst, star-forming), and we match the spectra against photometric catalogs to characterize spectroscopically observed cluster members as a function of brightness (relative to m ⋆ ). Finally, we report several new measurements of redshifts for ten bright, strongly lensed background galaxies in the cores of eight galaxy clusters. Combining the SPT-GMOS data set with previous spectroscopic follow-up of SPT-SZ galaxy clusters results in spectroscopic measurements for >100 clusters, or ∼20% of the full SPT-SZ sample.

SPT-GMOS: A Gemini/GMOS-South Spectroscopic Survey of Galaxy Clusters in the SPT-SZ Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Bayliss, M. B.; Ruel, J.; Stubbs, C. W.; Allen, S. W.; Applegate, D. E.; Ashby, M. L. N.; Bautz, M.; Benson, B. A.; Bleem, L. E.; Bocquet, S.; Brodwin, M.; Capasso, R.; Carlstrom, J. E.; Chang, C. L.; Chiu, I.; Cho, H.-M.; Clocchiatti, A.; Crawford, T. M.; Crites, A. T.; de Haan, T.; Desai, S.; Dietrich, J. P.; Dobbs, M. A.; Doucouliagos, A. N.; Foley, R. J.; Forman, W. R.; Garmire, G. P.; George, E. M.; Gladders, M. D.; Gonzalez, A. H.; Gupta, N.; Halverson, N. W.; Hlavacek-Larrondo, J.; Hoekstra, H.; Holder, G. P.; Holzapfel, W. L.; Hou, Z.; Hrubes, J. D.; Huang, N.; Jones, C.; Keisler, R.; Knox, L.; Lee, A. T.; Leitch, E. M.; von der Linden, A.; Luong-Van, D.; Mantz, A.; Marrone, D. P.; McDonald, M.; McMahon, J. J.; Meyer, S. S.; Mocanu, L. M.; Mohr, J. J.; Murray, S. S.; Padin, S.; Pryke, C.; Rapetti, D.; Reichardt, C. L.; Rest, A.; Ruhl, J. E.; Saliwanchik, B. R.; Saro, A.; Sayre, J. T.; Schaffer, K. K.; Schrabback, T.; Shirokoff, E.; Song, J.; Spieler, H. G.; Stalder, B.; Stanford, S. A.; Staniszewski, Z.; Stark, A. A.; Story, K. T.; Vanderlinde, K.; Vieira, J. D.; Vikhlinin, A.; Williamson, R.; Zenteno, A.

2016-11-01

We present the results of SPT-GMOS, a spectroscopic survey with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South. The targets of SPT-GMOS are galaxy clusters identified in the SPT-SZ survey, a millimeter-wave survey of 2500 deg2 of the southern sky using the South Pole Telescope (SPT). Multi-object spectroscopic observations of 62 SPT-selected galaxy clusters were performed between 2011 January and 2015 December, yielding spectra with radial velocity measurements for 2595 sources. We identify 2243 of these sources as galaxies, and 352 as stars. Of the galaxies, we identify 1579 as members of SPT-SZ galaxy clusters. The primary goal of these observations was to obtain spectra of cluster member galaxies to estimate cluster redshifts and velocity dispersions. We describe the full spectroscopic data set and resulting data products, including galaxy redshifts, cluster redshifts, and velocity dispersions, and measurements of several well-known spectral indices for each galaxy: the equivalent width, W, of [O II] λλ3727, 3729 and H-δ, and the 4000 Å break strength, D4000. We use the spectral indices to classify galaxies by spectral type (i.e., passive, post-starburst, star-forming), and we match the spectra against photometric catalogs to characterize spectroscopically observed cluster members as a function of brightness (relative to m⋆). Finally, we report several new measurements of redshifts for ten bright, strongly lensed background galaxies in the cores of eight galaxy clusters. Combining the SPT-GMOS data set with previous spectroscopic follow-up of SPT-SZ galaxy clusters results in spectroscopic measurements for >100 clusters, or ∼20% of the full SPT-SZ sample.

Survey Strategy Optimization for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-01-01

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

A very bright (i = 16.44) quasar in the 'redshift desert' discovered by the Guoshoujing Telescope (LAMOST)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Xuebing; Chen Zhaoyu; Jia Zhendong; Zuo Wenwen; Zhao Yongheng; Luo Ali; Bai Zhongrui; Chen Jianjun; Zhang Haotong; Yan Hongliang; Ren Juanjuan; Sun Shiwei; Wu Hong; Zhang Yong; Li Yeping; Lu Qishuai; Wang You; Ni Jijun; Wang Hai; Kong Xu

2010-01-01

The redshift range from 2.2 to 3 is known as the 'redshift desert' of quasars because quasars with redshifts in this range have similar optical colors as normal stars and are thus difficult to find in optical sky surveys. A quasar candidate, SDSS J085543.40-001517.7, which was selected by a recently proposed criterion involving near-IR Y - K and optical g - z colors, was identified spectroscopically as a new quasar with a redshift of 2.427 by the Guoshoujing Telescope (LAMOST) commissioning observation in 2009 December and confirmed by the observation made with the NAOC/Xinglong 2.16 m telescope in 2010 March. This quasar was not identified in the SDSS spectroscopic survey. Comparing with other SDSS quasars, we found that this new quasar, with an i magnitude of 16.44, is apparently the brightest one in the redshift range from 2.3 to 2.7. From its spectral properties, we derived its central black hole mass to be (1.4 ∼ 3.9) x 10 10 M o-dot and its bolometric luminosity to be 3.7 x 10 48 erg s -1 , which indicates that this new quasar is intrinsically very bright and belongs to the class of the most luminous quasars in the universe. Our identification supports the notion that quasars in the redshift desert can be found by the quasar selection criterion involving the near-IR colors. More missing quasars are expected to be uncovered by future LAMOST spectroscopic surveys, which is important to the study of the cosmological evolution of quasars at redshifts higher than 2.2. (research papers)

Spectroscopic classification of SN 2018brz as a type Ia supernova before maximum

Science.gov (United States)

Galbany, Lluis; Lopez-Sanchez, Angel R.; Ascasibar, Yago; Fiegert, Kristin

2018-05-01

We report the spectroscopic classification of SN 2018brz (RA=08:33:22.27, DEC=-76:37:39.8) in an anonymous host galaxy. The candidate was discovered by the All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN: Shappee et al. 2014) on UT 2018-05-15 at 16.5 mag. Observations were performed on the 4m Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory on 2018 May 19 9:15 UT, using Koala+AAOmega and Grisms 580V+1000R (3500-6000A and 6300-7300A).

Search for neutrinos from transient sources with the ANTARES telescope and optical follow-up observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ageron, Michel; Al Samarai, Imen; Akerlof, Carl; Basa, Stéphane; Bertin, Vincent; Boer, Michel; Brunner, Juergen; Busto, Jose; Dornic, Damien; Klotz, Alain; Schussler, Fabian; Vallage, Bertrand; Vecchi, Manuela; Zheng, Weikang

2012-01-01

The ANTARES telescope is well suited to detect neutrinos produced in astrophysical transient sources as it can observe a full hemisphere of the sky at all the times with a duty cycle close to unity and an angular resolution better than 0.5°. Potential sources include gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), core collapse supernovae (SNe), and flaring active galactic nuclei (AGNs). To enhance the sensitivity of ANTARES to such sources, a new detection method based on coincident observations of neutrinos and optical signals has been developed. A fast online muon track reconstruction is used to trigger a network of small automatic optical telescopes. Such alerts are generated one or two times per month for special events such as two or more neutrinos coincident in time and direction or single neutrinos of very high energy. Since February 2009, ANTARES has sent 37 alert triggers to the TAROT and ROTSE telescope networks, 27 of them have been followed. First results on the optical images analysis to search for GRBs are presented.

Search for neutrinos from transient sources with the ANTARES telescope and optical follow-up observations

Science.gov (United States)

Ageron, Michel; Al Samarai, Imen; Akerlof, Carl; Basa, Stéphane; Bertin, Vincent; Boer, Michel; Brunner, Juergen; Busto, Jose; Dornic, Damien; Klotz, Alain; Schussler, Fabian; Vallage, Bertrand; Vecchi, Manuela; Zheng, Weikang

2012-11-01

The ANTARES telescope is well suited to detect neutrinos produced in astrophysical transient sources as it can observe a full hemisphere of the sky at all the times with a duty cycle close to unity and an angular resolution better than 0.5°. Potential sources include gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), core collapse supernovae (SNe), and flaring active galactic nuclei (AGNs). To enhance the sensitivity of ANTARES to such sources, a new detection method based on coincident observations of neutrinos and optical signals has been developed. A fast online muon track reconstruction is used to trigger a network of small automatic optical telescopes. Such alerts are generated one or two times per month for special events such as two or more neutrinos coincident in time and direction or single neutrinos of very high energy. Since February 2009, ANTARES has sent 37 alert triggers to the TAROT and ROTSE telescope networks, 27 of them have been followed. First results on the optical images analysis to search for GRBs are presented.

Search for neutrinos from transient sources with the ANTARES telescope and optical follow-up observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ageron, Michel [CPPM, CNRS/IN2P3 - Universite de Mediterranee, 163 avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09 (France); Al Samarai, Imen, E-mail: samarai@cppm.in2p3.fr [CPPM, CNRS/IN2P3 - Universite de Mediterranee, 163 avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09 (France); Akerlof, Carl [Randall Laboratory of Physics, University of Michigan, 450 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1040 (United States); Basa, Stephane [LAM, BP8, Traverse du siphon, 13376 Marseille Cedex 12 (France); Bertin, Vincent [CPPM, CNRS/IN2P3 - Universite de Mediterranee, 163 avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09 (France); Boer, Michel [OHP, 04870 Saint Michel de l' Observatoire (France); Brunner, Juergen; Busto, Jose; Dornic, Damien [CPPM, CNRS/IN2P3 - Universite de Mediterranee, 163 avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09 (France); Klotz, Alain [OHP, 04870 Saint Michel de l' Observatoire (France); IRAP, 9 avenue du colonel Roche, 31028 Toulouse Cedex 4 (France); Schussler, Fabian; Vallage, Bertrand [CEA-IRFU, centre de Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Vecchi, Manuela [CPPM, CNRS/IN2P3 - Universite de Mediterranee, 163 avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09 (France); Zheng, Weikang [Randall Laboratory of Physics, University of Michigan, 450 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1040 (United States)

2012-11-11

The ANTARES telescope is well suited to detect neutrinos produced in astrophysical transient sources as it can observe a full hemisphere of the sky at all the times with a duty cycle close to unity and an angular resolution better than 0.5 Degree-Sign . Potential sources include gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), core collapse supernovae (SNe), and flaring active galactic nuclei (AGNs). To enhance the sensitivity of ANTARES to such sources, a new detection method based on coincident observations of neutrinos and optical signals has been developed. A fast online muon track reconstruction is used to trigger a network of small automatic optical telescopes. Such alerts are generated one or two times per month for special events such as two or more neutrinos coincident in time and direction or single neutrinos of very high energy. Since February 2009, ANTARES has sent 37 alert triggers to the TAROT and ROTSE telescope networks, 27 of them have been followed. First results on the optical images analysis to search for GRBs are presented.

Gaia science alerts and the observing facilities of the Serbian-Bulgarian mini-network telescopes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Damljanović G.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The astrometric European Space Agency (ESA Gaia mission was launched in December 19, 2013. One of the tasks of the Gaia mission is production of an astrometric catalog of over one billion stars and more than 500000 extragalactic sources. The quasars (QSOs, as extragalactic sources and radio emitters, are active galactic nuclei objects (AGNs whose coordinates are well determined via Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI technique and may reach sub-milliarcsecond accuracy. The QSOs are the defining sources of the quasi-inertial International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF because of their core radio morphology, negligible proper motions (until sub-milliarcsecond per year, and apparent point-like nature. Compact AGNs, visible in optical domain, are useful for a direct link of the future Gaia optical reference frame with the most accurate radio one. Apart from the above mentioned activities, Gaia has other goals such as follow-up of transient objects. One of the most important Gaia's requirements for photometric alerts is a fast observation and reduction response, that is, submition of observations within 24 hours. For this reason we have developed a pipeline. In line with possibilities of our new telescope (D(cm/F(cm=60/600 at the Astronomical Station Vidojevica (ASV, of the Astronomical Observatory in Belgrade, we joined the Gaia-Follow-Up Network for Transients Objects (Gaia-FUN-TO for the photometric alerts. Moreover, in view of the cooperation with Bulgarian colleagues (in the frst place, SV, one of us (GD initiated a local mini-network of Serbian { Bulgarian telescopes useful for the Gaia-FUN-TO and other astronomical purposes. During the next year we expect a new 1.4 m telescope at ASV site. The speed of data processing (from observation to calibration server could be one day. Here, we present an overview of our activities in the Gaia-FUN-TO which includes establishing Serbian { Bulgarian mini-network (of five telescopes at three sites

Observational artifacts of Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array: Ghost rays and stray light

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Kristin K.; Christensen, Finn Erland; Craig, William W.

2017-01-01

photons that do not undergo the focused double reflections in the optics, and we term these ghost rays. We present detailed analysis and characterization of these two components and discuss how they impact observations. Finally, we discuss how they could have been prevented and should be in future...

Silicon Telescope Detectors

CERN Document Server

Gurov, Yu B; Sandukovsky, V G; Yurkovski, J

2005-01-01

The results of research and development of special silicon detectors with a large active area ($> 8 cm^{2}$) for multilayer telescope spectrometers (fulfilled in the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems, JINR) are reviewed. The detector parameters are listed. The production of totally depleted surface barrier detectors (identifiers) operating under bias voltage two to three times higher than depletion voltage is described. The possibility of fabrication of lithium drifted counters with a very thin entrance window on the diffusion side of the detector (about 10--20 $\\mu$m) is shown. The detector fabrication technique has allowed minimizing detector dead regions without degradation of their spectroscopic characteristics and reliability during long time operation in charge particle beams.

New Insight into the Observation of Spectroscopic Strength Reduction in Atomic Nuclei: Implication for the Physical Meaning of Spectroscopic Factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timofeyuk, N. K.

2009-01-01

Experimental studies of one-nucleon knockout from magic nuclei suggest that their nucleon orbits are not fully occupied. This conflicts a commonly accepted view of the shell closure associated with such nuclei. The conflict can be reconciled if the overlap between initial and final nuclear states in a knockout reaction are calculated by a nonstandard method. The method employs an inhomogeneous equation based on correlation-dependent effective nucleon-nucleon interactions and allows the simplest wave functions, in which all nucleons occupy only the lowest nuclear orbits, to be used. The method also reproduces the recently established relation between reduction of spectroscopic strength, observed in knockout reactions on other nuclei, and nucleon binding energies. The implication of the inhomogeneous equation method for the physical meaning of spectroscopic factors is discussed.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Ryan P.

2009-06-01

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

Hubble Space Telescope Observations of cD Galaxies and Their Globular Cluster Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Jordán, Andrés; Côté, Patrick; West, Michael J.; Marzke, Ronald O.; Minniti, Dante; Rejkuba, Marina

2004-01-01

We have used WFPC2 on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to obtain F450W and F814W images of four cD galaxies (NGC 541 in Abell 194, NGC 2832 in Abell 779, NGC 4839 in Abell 1656, and NGC 7768 in Abell 2666) in the range 5400 km s-1cluster (GC) systems reveals no anomalies in terms of specific frequencies, metallicity gradients, average metallicities, or the metallicity offset between the globular clusters and the host galaxy. We show that the latter offset appears roughly constant at Δ[Fe/H]~0.8 dex for early-type galaxies spanning a luminosity range of roughly 4 orders of magnitude. We combine the globular cluster metallicity distributions with an empirical technique described in a series of earlier papers to investigate the form of the protogalactic mass spectrum in these cD galaxies. We find that the observed GC metallicity distributions are consistent with those expected if cD galaxies form through the cannibalism of numerous galaxies and protogalactic fragments that formed their stars and globular clusters before capture and disruption. However, the properties of their GC systems suggest that dynamical friction is not the primary mechanism by which these galaxies are assembled. We argue that cD's instead form rapidly, via hierarchical merging, prior to cluster virialization. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555 Based in part on observations obtained at the European Southern Observatory, for VLT program 68.D-0130(A).

Hubble Space Telescope STIS observations of GRB 000301C: CCD imaging and near-ultraviolet MAMA spectroscopy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Smette, A.; Fruchter, A.S.; Gull, T.R.

2001-01-01

We present Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph observations of the optical transient (OT) counterpart of the c-ray burster GRB 000301C obtained 5 days after the burst, on 2000 March 6. CCD clear-aperture imaging reveals a R similar or equal to 21.50 +/- 0.15 source with no apparent host galaxy...... Telescope images appear to lie on the stellar field of a host galaxy, and as the large H I column density measured here and in later ground-based observations is unlikely on a random line of sight, we believe we are probably seeing absorption from H I in the host galaxy. In any case, this represents...

Event Horizon Telescope observations as probes for quantum structure of astrophysical black holes

Science.gov (United States)

Giddings, Steven B.; Psaltis, Dimitrios

2018-04-01

The need for a consistent quantum evolution for black holes has led to proposals that their semiclassical description is modified not just near the singularity, but at horizon or larger scales. If such modifications extend beyond the horizon, they influence regions accessible to distant observation. Natural candidates for these modifications behave like metric fluctuations, with characteristic length scales and timescales set by the horizon radius. We investigate the possibility of using the Event Horizon Telescope to observe these effects, if they have a strength sufficient to make quantum evolution consistent with unitarity, without introducing new scales. We find that such quantum fluctuations can introduce a strong time dependence for the shape and size of the shadow that a black hole casts on its surrounding emission. For the black hole in the center of the Milky Way, detecting the rapid time variability of its shadow will require nonimaging timing techniques. However, for the much larger black hole in the center of the M87 galaxy, a variable black-hole shadow, if present with these parameters, would be readily observable in the individual snapshots that will be obtained by the Event Horizon Telescope.

SPECTROSCOPIC EVIDENCE FOR SN 2010ma ASSOCIATED WITH GRB 101219B

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sparre, M.; Fynbo, J. P. U.; Malesani, D.; De Ugarte Postigo, A.; Hjorth, J.; Leloudas, G.; Milvang-Jensen, B.; Watson, D. J.; Sollerman, J.; Goldoni, P.; Covino, S.; Tagliaferri, G.; D'Elia, V.; Flores, H.; Hammer, F.; Jakobsson, P.; Schulze, S.; Kaper, L.; Levan, A. J.; Tanvir, N. R.

2011-01-01

We report on the spectroscopic detection of supernova SN 2010ma associated with the long gamma-ray burst GRB 101219B. We observed the optical counterpart of the GRB on three nights with the X-shooter spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope. From weak absorption lines, we measure a redshift of z = 0.55. The first-epoch UV-near-infrared afterglow spectrum, taken 11.6 hr after the burst, is well fit by a power law consistent with the slope of the X-ray spectrum. The second- and third-epoch spectra (obtained 16.4 and 36.7 days after the burst), however, display clear bumps closely resembling those of the broad-lined type-Ic SN 1998bw if placed at z = 0.55. Apart from demonstrating that spectroscopic SN signatures can be observed for GRBs at these large distances, our discovery makes a step forward in establishing a general connection between GRBs and SNe. In fact, unlike most previous unambiguous GRB-associated SNe, GRB 101219B has a large gamma-ray energy (E iso = 4.2 x 10 51 erg), a bright afterglow, and obeys the 'Amati' relation, thus being fully consistent with the cosmological population of GRBs.

An afocal telescope configuration for the ESA ARIEL mission

Science.gov (United States)

Da Deppo, Vania; Focardi, Mauro; Middleton, Kevin; Morgante, Gianluca; Pascale, Enzo; Grella, Samuele; Pace, Emanuele; Claudi, Riccardo; Amiaux, Jérôme; Colomé Ferrer, Josep; Hunt, Thomas; Rataj, Miroslaw; Sierra-Roig, Carles; Ficai Veltroni, Iacopo; Eccleston, Paul; Micela, Giuseppina; Tinetti, Giovanna

2017-12-01

Atmospheric Remote-Sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large Survey (ARIEL) is a candidate as an M4 ESA mission to launch in 2026. During its 3.5 years of scientific operations, ARIEL will observe spectroscopically in the infrared (IR) a large population of known transiting planets in the neighbourhood of the solar system. ARIEL aims to give a breakthrough in the observation of exoplanet atmospheres and understanding of the physics and chemistry of these far-away worlds. ARIEL is based on a 1 m class telescope feeding a collimated beam into two separate instrument modules: a spectrometer module covering the waveband between 1.95 and 7.8 μm and a combined fine guidance system/visible photometer/NIR spectrometer. The telescope configuration is a classic Cassegrain layout used with an eccentric pupil and coupled to a tertiary off-axis paraboloidal mirror. To constrain the thermo-mechanically induced optical aberrations, the primary mirror (M1) temperature will be monitored and finely tuned using an active thermal control system based on thermistors and heaters. They will be switched on and off to maintain the M1 temperature within ± 1 K by the telescope control unit (TCU). The TCU is a payload electronics subsystem also responsible for the thermal control of the spectrometer module detectors as well as the secondary mirror mechanism and IR calibration source management. The TCU, being a slave subsystem of the instrument control unit, will collect the housekeeping data from the monitored subsystems and will forward them to the master unit. The latter will run the application software, devoted to the main spectrometer management and to the scientific data on-board processing.

Small Aperture Telescope Observations of Co-located Geostationary Satellites

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, R.; Wallace, B.

As geostationary orbit (GEO) continues to be populated, satellite operators are increasing usage of co-location techniques to maximize usage of fewer GEO longitude slots. Co-location is an orbital formation strategy where two or more geostationary satellites reside within one GEO stationkeeping box. The separation strategy used to prevent collision between the co-located satellites generally uses eccentricity (radial separation) and inclination (latitude separation) vector offsets. This causes the satellites to move in relative motion ellipses about each other as the relative longitude drift between the satellites is near zero. Typical separations between the satellites varies from 1 to 100 kilometers. When co-located satellites are observed by optical ground based space surveillance sensors the participants appear to be separated by a few minutes of arc or less in angular extent. Under certain viewing geometries, these satellites appear to visually conjunct even though the satellites are, in fact, well separated spatially. In situations where one of the co-located satellites is more optically reflective than the other, the reflected sunglint from the more reflective satellite can overwhelm the other. This less frequently encountered issue causes the less reflective satellite to be glint masked in the glare of the other. This paper focuses on space surveillance observations on co-located Canadian satellites using a small optical telescope operated by Defence R&D Canada - Ottawa. The two above mentioned problems (cross tagging and glint masking) are investigated and we quantify the results for Canadian operated geostationary satellites. The performance of two line element sets when making in-frame CCD image correlation between the co-located satellites is also examined. Relative visual magnitudes between the co-located members are also inspected and quantified to determine the susceptibility of automated telescopes to glint masking of co-located satellite members.

Large Binocular Telescope Observations of Europa Occulting Io's Volcanoes at 4.8 μm

Science.gov (United States)

Skrutskie, Michael F.; Conrad, Albert; Resnick, Aaron; Leisenring, Jarron; Hinz, Phil; de Pater, Imke; de Kleer, Katherine; Spencer, John; Skemer, Andrew; Woodward, Charles E.; Davies, Ashley Gerard; Defrére, Denis

2015-11-01

On 8 March 2015 Europa passed nearly centrally in front of Io. The Large Binocular Telescope observed this event in dual-aperture AO-corrected Fizeau interferometric imaging mode using the mid-infrared imager LMIRcam operating behind the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) at a broadband wavelength of 4.8 μm (M-band). Occultation light curves generated from frames recorded every 123 milliseconds show that both Loki and Pele/Pillan were well resolved. Europa's center shifted by 2 kilometers relative to Io from frame-to-frame. The derived light curve for Loki is consistent with the double-lobed structure reported by Conrad et al. (2015) using direct interferometric imaging with LBTI.

NuSTAR Observations of X-ray Bursts from the Magnetar 1E 1048.1-5937

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

An, Hongjun; Kaspi, Victoria M.; Beloborodov, Andrei M.

2014-01-01

We report the detection of eight bright X-ray bursts from the 6.5 s magnetar 1E 1048.1–5937, during a 2013 July observation campaign with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array. We study the morphological and spectral properties of these bursts and their evolution with time. The bursts resulte...

The James Webb Space Telescope's Plan for Operations and Instrument Capabilities for Observations in the Solar System

Science.gov (United States)

Milam, Stefanie N.; Stansberry, John A.; Sonneborn, George; Thomas, Cristina

2016-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is optimized for observations in the near- and mid-infrared and will provide essential observations for targets that cannot be conducted from the ground or other missions during its lifetime. The state-of-the-art science instruments, along with the telescope's moving target tracking, will enable the infrared study, with unprecedented detail, for nearly every object (Mars and beyond) in the Solar System. The goals of this special issue are to stimulate discussion and encourage participation in JWST planning among members of the planetary science community. Key science goals for various targets, observing capabilities for JWST, and highlights for the complementary nature with other missions/observatories are described in this paper.

SETI OBSERVATIONS OF EXOPLANETS WITH THE ALLEN TELESCOPE ARRAY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harp, G. R.; Richards, Jon; Tarter, Jill C.; Dreher, John; Jordan, Jane; Shostak, Seth; Smolek, Ken; Kilsdonk, Tom; Wilcox, Bethany R.; Wimberly, M. K. R.; Ross, John; Barott, W. C.; Ackermann, R. F.; Blair, Samantha [SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043 (United States)

2016-12-01

We report radio SETI observations on a large number of known exoplanets and other nearby star systems using the Allen Telescope Array (ATA). Observations were made over about 19000 hr from 2009 May to 2015 December. This search focused on narrowband radio signals from a set totaling 9293 stars, including 2015 exoplanet stars and Kepler objects of interest and an additional 65 whose planets may be close to their habitable zones. The ATA observations were made using multiple synthesized beams and an anticoincidence filter to help identify terrestrial radio interference. Stars were observed over frequencies from 1 to 9 GHz in multiple bands that avoid strong terrestrial communication frequencies. Data were processed in near-real time for narrowband (0.7–100 Hz) continuous and pulsed signals with transmitter/receiver relative accelerations from −0.3 to 0.3 m s{sup −2}. A total of 1.9 × 10{sup 8} unique signals requiring immediate follow-up were detected in observations covering more than 8 × 10{sup 6} star-MHz. We detected no persistent signals from extraterrestrial technology exceeding our frequency-dependent sensitivity threshold of 180–310 × 10{sup −26} W m{sup −2}.

Simultaneous NuSTAR/Chandra Observations of The Bursting Pulsar GRO J1744-28 During Its Third Reactivation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Younes, G.; Kouveliotou, C.; Grefenstette, B. W.

2015-01-01

We report on a 10 ks simultaneous Chandra/High Energy Transmission Grating (HETG)-Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) observation of the Bursting Pulsar, GRO J1744-28, during its third detected outburst since discovery and after nearly 18 yr of quiescence. The source is detected up to 60...

NITROGEN ISOTOPIC RATIO OF COMETARY AMMONIA FROM HIGH-RESOLUTION OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF C/2014 Q2 (LOVEJOY)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shinnaka, Yoshiharu [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan); Kawakita, Hideyo, E-mail: yoshiharu.shinnaka@nao.ac.jp [Koyama Astronomical Observatory, Kyoto Sangyo University, Motoyama, Kamigamo, Kita-Ku, Kyoto 603-8555 (Japan)

2016-11-01

The icy materials present in comets provide clues to the origin and evolution of our solar system and planetary systems. High-resolution optical spectroscopic observations of comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) were performed on 2015 January 11 (at 1.321 au pre-perihelion) with the High Dispersion Spectrograph mounted on the Subaru Telescope on Maunakea, Hawaii. We derive the {sup 14}N/{sup 15}N ratio of NH{sub 2} (126 ± 25), as well as the ortho-to-para abundance ratios (OPRs) of the H{sub 2}O{sup +} ion (2.77 ± 0.24) and NH{sub 2} (3.38 ± 0.07), which correspond to nuclear spin temperatures of >24 K (3 σ lower limit) and 27 ± 2 K, respectively. We also derive the intensity ratio of the green-to-red doublet of forbidden oxygen lines (0.107 ± 0.007). The ammonia in the comet must have formed under low-temperature conditions at ∼10 K or less to reproduce the observed {sup 14}N/{sup 15}N ratio in this molecule if it is assumed that the {sup 15}N-fractionation of ammonia occurred via ion–molecule chemical reactions. However, this temperature is inconsistent with the nuclear spin temperatures of water and ammonia estimated from the OPRs. The interpretation of the nuclear spin temperature as the temperature at molecular formation may therefore be incorrect. An isotope-selective photodissociation of molecular nitrogen by protosolar ultraviolet radiation might play an important role in the {sup 15}N-fractionation observed in cometary volatiles.

Spectroscopic and asteroseismic analysis of the remarkable main-sequence A star KIC 11145123

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Takada-Hidai, Masahide; Kurtz, Donald W.; Shibahashi, Hiromoto

2017-01-01

A spectroscopic analysis was carried out to clarify the properties of KIC 11145123 - the first main-sequence star with a directly measured core-to-surface rotation profile - based on spectra observed with the High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS) of the Subaru telescope. The atmospheric parameters (T......-eff = 7600 K, log g = 4.2, xi = 3.1 kms(-1) and [Fe/H] = -0.71 dex), the radial and rotation velocities, and elemental abundances were obtained by analysing line strengths and fitting line profiles, which were calculated with a 1D LTE model atmosphere. The main properties of KIC 11145123 are: (1) a low [Fe...

DMD-based multi-object spectrograph on Galileo telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Zamkotsian, Frederic; Spano, Paolo; Lanzoni, Patrick; Bon, William; Riva, Marco; Nicastro, Luciano; Molinari, Emilio; Di Marcantonio, Paolo; Zerbi, Filippo; Valenziano, Luca

2013-03-01

Next-generation infrared astronomical instrumentation for ground-based and space telescopes could be based on MOEMS programmable slit masks for multi-object spectroscopy (MOS). This astronomical technique is used extensively to investigate the formation and evolution of galaxies. We propose to develop a 2048x1080 DMD-based MOS instrument to be mounted on the Galileo telescope and called BATMAN. A two-arm instrument has been designed for providing in parallel imaging and spectroscopic capabilities. The two arms with F/4 on the DMD are mounted on a common bench, and an upper bench supports the detectors thanks to two independent hexapods. Very good optical quality on the DMD and the detectors will be reached. ROBIN, a BATMAN demonstrator, has been designed, realized and integrated. It permits to determine the instrument integration procedure, including optics and mechanics integration, alignment procedure and optical quality. First images have been obtained and measured. A DMD pattern manager has been developed in order to generate any slit mask according to the list of objects to be observed; spectra have been generated and measured. Observation strategies will be studied and demonstrated for the scientific optimization strategy over the whole FOV. BATMAN on the sky is of prime importance for characterizing the actual performance of this new family of MOS instruments, as well as investigating the operational procedures on astronomical objects. This instrument will be placed on the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo at the beginning of next year, in 2014.

Galaxy Evolution Spectroscopic Explorer: Scientific Rationale

Science.gov (United States)

Heap, Sara; Ninkov, Zoran; Robberto, Massimo; Hull, Tony; Purves, Lloyd

2016-01-01

GESE is a mission concept consisting of a 1.5-m space telescope and UV multi-object slit spectrograph designed to help understand galaxy evolution in a critical era in the history of the universe, where the rate of star-formation stopped increasing and started to decline. To isolate and identify the various processes driving the evolution of these galaxies, GESE will obtain rest-frame far-UV spectra of 100,000 galaxies at redshifts, z approximately 1-2. To obtain such a large number of spectra, multiplexing over a wide field is an absolute necessity. A slit device such as a digital micro-mirror device (DMD) or a micro-shutter array (MSA) enables spectroscopy of a hundred or more sources in a single exposure while eliminating overlapping spectra of other sources and blocking unwanted background like zodiacal light. We find that a 1.5-m space telescope with a MSA slit device combined with a custom orbit enabling long, uninterrupted exposures (approximately 10 hr) are optimal for this spectroscopic survey. GESE will not be operating alone in this endeavor. Together with x-ray telescopes and optical/near-IR telescopes like Subaru/Prime Focus Spectrograph, GESE will detect "feedback" from young massive stars and massive black holes (AGN's), and other drivers of galaxy evolution.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-02-01

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

Young Astronomers' Observe with ESO Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

1995-11-01

Today, forty 16-18 year old students and their teachers are concluding a one-week, educational `working visit' to the ESO Headquarters in Garching (See ESO Press Release 14/95 of 8 November 1995). They are the winners of the Europe-wide contest `Europe Towards the Stars', organised by ESO with the support of the European Union, under the auspices of the Third European Week for Scientific and Technological Culture. From November 14-20, they have worked with professional ESO astronomers in order to get insight into the methods and principles of modern astronomy and astrophysics, as carried out at one of the world's foremost international centres. This included very successful remote observations with the ESO 3.5-m New Technology Telescope (NTT) and the 1.4-m Coude Auxiliary Telescope (CAT) via a satellite link between the ESO Headquarters and the La Silla observatory in Chile, 12,000 kilometres away. After a general introduction to modern astronomy on the first day of the visit, the participants divided into six teams, according to their interests. Some chose to observe distant galaxies, others prefered to have a closer look on binary stars, and one team decided to investigate a star which is thought to be surrounded by a proto-planetary system. Each team was supported by an experienced ESO astronomer. Then followed the observations at the remote consoles during three nights, the first at the NTT and the following at the CAT. Each team had access to the telescope during half a night. Although the work schedule - exactly as in `real' science - was quite hard, especially during the following data reduction and interpretative phase, all teams managed extremely well and in high spirits. The young astronomers' observations were favoured by excellent atmospheric conditions. At the NTT, the seeing was better than 0.5 arcsecond during several hours, an exceptional value that allows very good images to be obtained. All observations represent solid and interesting science, and

Catalog of 3 < z < 5.5 Quasar Candidates Selected among XMM-Newton Sources and Its Spectroscopic Verification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khorunzhev, Georgii; Sazonov, Sergey; Burenin, Rodion [High Energy Astrophysics, Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow (Russian Federation); Eselevich, Maxim, E-mail: horge@iki.rssi.ru [Laboratory of Infrared Methods in Astrophysics, Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk (Russian Federation)

2017-11-13

We have compiled a catalog of 903 quasar candidates (including known quasars) at 3 < z < 5.5 selected among X-ray sources from the XMM-Newton serendipitous survey (3XMM-DR4 catalog). We used photometric SDSS, 2MASS, and WISE data to select the objects. The surface number density of objects in our sample exceeds that in the SDSS spectroscopic quasar sample at the same redshifts by a factor of 1.5. We have performed spectroscopic observations of a subsample of new quasar candidates using a new low- and medium-resolution spectrograph at the 1.6-m AZT-33IK telescope (Mondy, Russia) and demonstrated that the purity of these candidates is about 65%. We have discovered one of the most distant (z = 5.08) X-ray selected quasars.

Catalog of 3 < z < 5.5 Quasar Candidates Selected among XMM-Newton Sources and Its Spectroscopic Verification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Georgii Khorunzhev

2017-11-01

Full Text Available We have compiled a catalog of 903 quasar candidates (including known quasars at 3 < z < 5.5 selected among X-ray sources from the XMM-Newton serendipitous survey (3XMM-DR4 catalog. We used photometric SDSS, 2MASS, and WISE data to select the objects. The surface number density of objects in our sample exceeds that in the SDSS spectroscopic quasar sample at the same redshifts by a factor of 1.5. We have performed spectroscopic observations of a subsample of new quasar candidates using a new low- and medium-resolution spectrograph at the 1.6-m AZT-33IK telescope (Mondy, Russia and demonstrated that the purity of these candidates is about 65%. We have discovered one of the most distant (z = 5.08 X-ray selected quasars.

OBSERVATIONS OF BINARY STARS WITH THE DIFFERENTIAL SPECKLE SURVEY INSTRUMENT. IV. OBSERVATIONS OF KEPLER, CoRoT, AND HIPPARCOS STARS FROM THE GEMINI NORTH TELESCOPE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horch, Elliott P.; Howell, Steve B.; Everett, Mark E.; Ciardi, David R.

2012-01-01

We present the results of 71 speckle observations of binary and unresolved stars, most of which were observed with the DSSI speckle camera at the Gemini North Telescope in 2012 July. The main purpose of the run was to obtain diffraction-limited images of high-priority targets for the Kepler and CoRoT missions, but in addition, we observed a number of close binary stars where the resolution limit of Gemini was used to better determine orbital parameters and/or confirm results obtained at or below the diffraction limit of smaller telescopes. Five new binaries and one triple system were discovered, and first orbits are calculated for other two systems. Several systems are discussed in detail.

DUST EXTINCTION FROM BALMER DECREMENTS OF STAR-FORMING GALAXIES AT 0.75 {<=} z {<=} 1.5 WITH HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE/WIDE-FIELD-CAMERA 3 SPECTROSCOPY FROM THE WFC3 INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC PARALLEL SURVEY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dominguez, A.; Siana, B.; Masters, D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521 (United States); Henry, A. L.; Martin, C. L. [Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Scarlata, C.; Bedregal, A. G. [Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Malkan, M.; Ross, N. R. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Atek, H.; Colbert, J. W. [Spitzer Science Center, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Teplitz, H. I.; Rafelski, M. [Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); McCarthy, P.; Hathi, N. P.; Dressler, A. [Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Bunker, A., E-mail: albertod@ucr.edu [Department of Physics, Oxford University, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom)

2013-02-15

Spectroscopic observations of H{alpha} and H{beta} emission lines of 128 star-forming galaxies in the redshift range 0.75 {<=} z {<=} 1.5 are presented. These data were taken with slitless spectroscopy using the G102 and G141 grisms of the Wide-Field-Camera 3 (WFC3) on board the Hubble Space Telescope as part of the WFC3 Infrared Spectroscopic Parallel survey. Interstellar dust extinction is measured from stacked spectra that cover the Balmer decrement (H{alpha}/H{beta}). We present dust extinction as a function of H{alpha} luminosity (down to 3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 41} erg s{sup -1}), galaxy stellar mass (reaching 4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 8} M {sub Sun }), and rest-frame H{alpha} equivalent width. The faintest galaxies are two times fainter in H{alpha} luminosity than galaxies previously studied at z {approx} 1.5. An evolution is observed where galaxies of the same H{alpha} luminosity have lower extinction at higher redshifts, whereas no evolution is found within our error bars with stellar mass. The lower H{alpha} luminosity galaxies in our sample are found to be consistent with no dust extinction. We find an anti-correlation of the [O III] {lambda}5007/H{alpha} flux ratio as a function of luminosity where galaxies with L {sub H{alpha}} < 5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 41} erg s{sup -1} are brighter in [O III] {lambda}5007 than H{alpha}. This trend is evident even after extinction correction, suggesting that the increased [O III] {lambda}5007/H{alpha} ratio in low-luminosity galaxies is likely due to lower metallicity and/or higher ionization parameters.

Spectroscopic confirmation of an ultra-faint galaxy at the epoch of reionization

Science.gov (United States)

Hoag, Austin; Bradač, Maruša; Trenti, Michele; Treu, Tommaso; Schmidt, Kasper B.; Huang, Kuang-Han; Lemaux, Brian C.; He, Julie; Bernard, Stephanie R.; Abramson, Louis E.; Mason, Charlotte A.; Morishita, Takahiro; Pentericci, Laura; Schrabback, Tim

2017-04-01

Within one billion years of the Big Bang, intergalactic hydrogen was ionized by sources emitting ultraviolet and higher energy photons. This was the final phenomenon to globally affect all the baryons (visible matter) in the Universe. It is referred to as cosmic reionization and is an integral component of cosmology. It is broadly expected that intrinsically faint galaxies were the primary ionizing sources due to their abundance in this epoch1,2. However, at the highest redshifts (z > 7.5 lookback time 13.1 Gyr), all galaxies with spectroscopic confirmations to date are intrinsically bright and, therefore, not necessarily representative of the general population3. Here, we report the unequivocal spectroscopic detection of a low luminosity galaxy at z > 7.5. We detected the Lyman-α emission line at ˜10,504 Å in two separate observations with MOSFIRE4 on the Keck I Telescope and independently with the Hubble Space Telescope's slitless grism spectrograph, implying a source redshift of z = 7.640 ± 0.001. The galaxy is gravitationally magnified by the massive galaxy cluster MACS J1423.8+2404 (z = 0.545), with an estimated intrinsic luminosity of MAB = -19.6 ± 0.2 mag and a stellar mass of M⊙=3.0-0.8+1.5×108 solar masses. Both are an order of magnitude lower than the four other Lyman-α emitters currently known at z > 7.5, making it probably the most distant representative source of reionization found to date.

SPECTROSCOPIC CONFIRMATION OF A MASSIVE RED-SEQUENCE-SELECTED GALAXY CLUSTER AT z = 1.34 IN THE SpARCS-SOUTH CLUSTER SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, Gillian; Demarco, Ricardo; Muzzin, Adam; Yee, H. K. C.; Lacy, Mark; Surace, Jason; Gilbank, David; Blindert, Kris; Hoekstra, Henk; Majumdar, Subhabrata; Gardner, Jonathan P.; Gladders, Michael D.; Lonsdale, Carol

2009-01-01

The Spitzer Adaptation of the Red-sequence Cluster Survey (SpARCS) is a z'-passband imaging survey, consisting of deep (z' ≅ 24 AB) observations made from both hemispheres using the CFHT 3.6 m and CTIO 4 m telescopes. The survey was designed with the primary aim of detecting galaxy clusters at z > 1. In tandem with pre-existing 3.6 μm observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope SWIRE Legacy Survey, SpARCS detects clusters using an infrared adaptation of the two-filter red-sequence cluster technique. The total effective area of the SpARCS cluster survey is 41.9 deg 2 . In this paper, we provide an overview of the 13.6 deg 2 Southern CTIO/MOSAIC II observations. The 28.3 deg 2 Northern CFHT/MegaCam observations are summarized in a companion paper by Muzzin et al. In this paper, we also report spectroscopic confirmation of SpARCS J003550-431224, a very rich galaxy cluster at z = 1.335, discovered in the ELAIS-S1 field. To date, this is the highest spectroscopically confirmed redshift for a galaxy cluster discovered using the red-sequence technique. Based on nine confirmed members, SpARCS J003550-431224 has a preliminary velocity dispersion of 1050 ± 230 km s -1 . With its proven capability for efficient cluster detection, SpARCS is a demonstration that we have entered an era of large, homogeneously selected z > 1 cluster surveys.

The LAMOST spectroscopic survey of stars in the Kepler field of view: Activity indicators and stellar parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Molenda-Żakowicz, Joanna; Frasca, Antonio; De Cat, Peter; Catanzaro, Giovanni

2017-09-01

We summarize the results of the completed first round of the LAMOST-Kepler project, and describe the status of its on-going second round. As a result of the first round of this project, the atmospheric parameters (Teff, log g, and [Fe/H]), the spectral classification (spectral type and luminosity class), and the radial velocities (RV) have been measured for 51,385 stars. For 4031 stars, we were able to measure the projected rotational velocity, while the minimum detectable v sin i was 120 km s-1. For 8821 stars with more than one observation, we computed the χ-square probability that the detected RV variations have a random occurrence. Finally, we classified 442 stars as chromospherically active on the basis of the analysis of their Hα and Ca II-IRT fluxes. All our results have been obtained from the low-resolution (R ˜ 1800) spectroscopic observations acquired with the LAMOST instrument. Based on observations collected with the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) located at the Xinglong Observatory, China.

NuSTAR Observations of the Compton-Thick Active Galactic Nucleus and Ultraluminous X-Ray Source Candidate in NGC 5643

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Annuar, A.; Gandhi, P.; Alexander, D. M.

2015-01-01

We present two Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) observations of the local Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus (AGN) and an ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) candidate in NGC 5643. Together with archival data from Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Swift-BAT, we perform a high-quality broadband s...

The DEIMOS 10K Spectroscopic Survey Catalog of the COSMOS Field

Science.gov (United States)

Hasinger, G.; Capak, P.; Salvato, M.; Barger, A. J.; Cowie, L. L.; Faisst, A.; Hemmati, S.; Kakazu, Y.; Kartaltepe, J.; Masters, D.; Mobasher, B.; Nayyeri, H.; Sanders, D.; Scoville, N. Z.; Suh, H.; Steinhardt, C.; Yang, Fengwei

2018-05-01

We present a catalog of 10,718 objects in the COSMOS field, observed through multi-slit spectroscopy with the Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph (DEIMOS) on the Keck II telescope in the wavelength range ∼5500–9800 Å. The catalog contains 6617 objects with high-quality spectra (two or more spectral features), and 1798 objects with a single spectroscopic feature confirmed by the photometric redshift. For 2024 typically faint objects, we could not obtain reliable redshifts. The objects have been selected from a variety of input catalogs based on multi-wavelength observations in the field, and thus have a diverse selection function, which enables the study of the diversity in the galaxy population. The magnitude distribution of our objects is peaked at I AB ∼ 23 and K AB ∼ 21, with a secondary peak at K AB ∼ 24. We sample a broad redshift distribution in the range 0 0.65 with chance probabilities 10 Mpc. An object-to-object comparison with a multitude of other spectroscopic samples in the same field shows that our DEIMOS sample is among the best in terms of fraction of spectroscopic failures and relative redshift accuracy. We have determined the fraction of spectroscopic blends to about 0.8% in our sample. This is likely a lower limit and at any rate well below the most pessimistic expectations. Interestingly, we find evidence for strong lensing of Lyα background emitters within the slits of 12 of our target galaxies, increasing their apparent density by about a factor of 4. The data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Im, Myungshin; Choi, Changsu; Kim, Kihyun

2015-08-01

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

OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF GAMMA-RAY BLAZAR CANDIDATES. V. TNG, KPNO, AND OAN OBSERVATIONS OF BLAZAR CANDIDATES OF UNCERTAIN TYPE IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Álvarez Crespo, N.; Massaro, F. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Torino, via Pietro Giuria 1, I-10125 Torino (Italy); Masetti, N. [INAF—Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna, via Gobetti 101, I-40129, Bologna (Italy); Ricci, F.; La Franca, F. [Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università Roma Tre, via della Vasca Navale 84, I-00146, Roma (Italy); Landoni, M. [INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Via Emilio Bianchi 46, I-23807 Merate (Italy); Patiño-Álvarez, V.; Chavushyan, V.; Torrealba, J. [Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Óptica y Electrónica, Apartado Postal 51-216, 72000 Puebla, México (Mexico); D’Abrusco, R.; Paggi, A.; Smith, Howard A. [Harvard—Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Jiménez-Bailón, E. [Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apdo. Postal 877, Ensenada, 22800 Baja California, México (Mexico); Latronico, L. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Torino, I-10125 Torino (Italy); Tosti, G. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia (Italy)

2016-02-15

The extragalactic γ-ray sky is dominated by emission from blazars, a peculiar class of active galactic nuclei. Many of the γ-ray sources included in the Fermi-Large Area Telescope Third Source catalog (3FGL) are classified as blazar candidates of uncertain type (BCUs) because there are no optical spectra available in the literature to confirm their nature. In 2013, we started a spectroscopic campaign to look for the optical counterparts of the BCUs and of the unidentified γ-ray sources to confirm their blazar nature. Whenever possible we also determine their redshifts. Here, we present the results of the observations carried out in the northern hemisphere in 2013 and 2014 at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo, Kitt Peak National Observatory, and Observatorio Astronómico Nacional in San Pedro Mártir. In this paper, we describe the optical spectra of 25 sources. We confirmed that all of the 15 BCUs observed in our campaign and included in our sample are blazars and we estimated the redshifts for three of them. In addition, we present the spectra for three sources classified as BL Lacs in the literature but with no optical spectra available to date. We found that one of them is a quasar (QSO) at a redshift of z = 0.208 and the other two are BL Lacs. Moreover, we also present seven new spectra for known blazars listed in the Roma-BZCAT that have an uncertain redshift or are classified as BL Lac candidates. We found that one of them, 5BZB J0724+2621, is a “changing look” blazar. According to the spectrum available in the literature, it was classified as a BL Lac, but in our observation we clearly detected a broad emission line that led us to classify this source as a QSO at z = 1.17.

Three-reflections telescope proposal as flat-field anastigmat for wide field observations at Dome C

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrari, M.; Lemaître, G.; Viotti, R.; La Padula, C.; Comte, G.; Blanc, M.; Boer, M.

It is now evident that the exceptional seeing at Dome C will allow, in the next years, to pursue astronomical programs with conditions better than at any other observatory in the world, and very close to space experiments. Considering a new type of wide-field telescope, particular astronomical programs could be well optimized for observations at Dome C such as surveys for the discovery and follow up of near-Earth asteroids, search for extra-solar planets using transit or micro-lensing events, and stellar luminosity variations. We propose to build a 1.5 2m class three-reflections telescope, with 1 1.5degree FOV, four times shorter than an equivalent Schmidt telescope, and providing a flat field without requiring a triplet- or quadruplet-lens corrector since its design is anastigmatic. We present the preliminary optical tests of such designs: MINITRUST1 and 2 are two 45cm identical prototypes based in France and Italy, and manufactured using active optics techniques.

Hubble space telescope: The GO and GTO observing programs, version 3.0

Science.gov (United States)

Downes, Ron

1992-01-01

A portion of the observing time with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was awarded by NASA to scientists involved in the development of the HST and its instruments. These scientists are the Guaranteed Time Observers (GTO's). Observing time was also awarded to General Observers (GO's) on the basis of the proposal reviews in 1989 and 1991. The majority of the 1989 programs have been completed during 'Cycle 1', while the 1991 programs will be completed during 'Cycle 2', nominally a 12-month period beginning July 1992. This document presents abstracts of these GO and GTO programs, and detailed listings of the specific targets and exposures contained in them. These programs and exposures are protected by NASA policy, as detailed in the HST Call for Proposals (CP), and are not to be duplicated by new programs.

San Pedro Martir Telescope: Mexican design endeavor

Science.gov (United States)

Toledo-Ramirez, Gengis K.; Bringas-Rico, Vicente; Reyes, Noe; Uribe, Jorge; Lopez, Aldo; Tovar, Carlos; Caballero, Xochitl; Del-Llano, Luis; Martinez, Cesar; Macias, Eduardo; Lee, William; Carramiñana, Alberto; Richer, Michael; González, Jesús; Sanchez, Beatriz; Lucero, Diana; Manuel, Rogelio; Segura, Jose; Rubio, Saul; Gonzalez, German; Hernandez, Obed; García, Mary; Lazaro, Jose; Rosales-Ortega, Fabian; Herrera, Joel; Sierra, Gerardo; Serrano, Hazael

2016-08-01

The Telescopio San Pedro Martir (TSPM) is a new ground-based optical telescope project, with a 6.5 meters honeycomb primary mirror, to be built in the Observatorio Astronomico Nacional on the Sierra San Pedro Martir (OAN-SPM) located in Baja California, Mexico. The OAN-SPM has an altitude of 2830 meters above sea level; it is among the best location for astronomical observation in the world. It is located 1830 m higher than the atmospheric inversion layer with 70% of photometric nights, 80% of spectroscopic nights and a sky brightness up to 22 mag/arcsec2. The TSPM will be suitable for general science projects intended to improve the knowledge of the universe established on the Official Mexican Program for Science, Technology and Innovation 2014-2018. The telescope efforts are headed by two Mexican institutions in name of the Mexican astronomical community: the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and the Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica. The telescope has been financially supported mainly by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT). It is under development by Mexican scientists and engineers from the Center for Engineering and Industrial Development. This development is supported by a Mexican-American scientific cooperation, through a partnership with the University of Arizona (UA), and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). M3 Engineering and Technology Corporation in charge of enclosure and building design. The TSPM will be designed to allow flexibility and possible upgrades in order to maximize resources. Its optical and mechanical designs are based upon those of the Magellan and MMT telescopes. The TSPM primary mirror and its cell will be provided by the INAOE and UA. The telescope will be optimized from the near ultraviolet to the near infrared wavelength range (0.35-2.5 m), but will allow observations up to 26μm. The TSPM will initially offer a f/5 Cassegrain focal station. Later, four folded Cassegrain and

SPECTROSCOPIC CONFIRMATION OF z ∼ 7 LYMAN BREAK GALAXIES: PROBING THE EARLIEST GALAXIES AND THE EPOCH OF REIONIZATION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pentericci, L.; Fontana, A.; Castellano, M.; Grazian, A.; Boutsia, K.; Giallongo, E.; Maiolino, R.; Paris, D.; Santini, P.; Vanzella, E.; Cristiani, S.; Dijkstra, M.; Dickinson, M.; Giavalisco, M.; Moorwood, A.

2011-01-01

We present the final results from our ultra-deep spectroscopic campaign with FORS2 at the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) for the confirmation of z ≅ 7 'z-band dropout' candidates selected from our VLT/Hawk-I imaging survey over three independent fields. In particular, we report on two newly discovered galaxies at redshift ∼6.7 in the New Technology Telescope Deep Field. Both galaxies show an Lyα emission line with rest-frame equivalent widths (EWs) of the order of 15-20 Å and luminosities of (2-4) × 10 42 erg s –1 . We also present the results of ultra-deep observations of a sample of i-dropout galaxies, from which we set a solid upper limit on the fraction of interlopers. Out of the 20 z-dropouts observed we confirm 5 galaxies at 6.6 H i ∼0.6 in a time Δz ∼ 1, provided that the escape fraction does not increase dramatically over the same redshift interval.

Spectroscopic Needs for Imaging Dark Energy Experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newman, Jeffrey A.; Abate, Alexandra; Abdalla, Filipe B.; Allam, Sahar; Allen, Steven W.; Ansari, Reza; Bailey, Stephen; Barkhouse, Wayne A.; Beers, Timothy C.; Blanton, Michael R.; Brodwin, Mark; Brownstein, Joel R.; Brunner, Robert J.; Carrasco-Kind, Matias; Cervantes-Cota, Jorge; Chisari, Nora Elisa; Colless, Matthew; Coupon, Jean; Cunha, Carlos E.; Frye, Brenda L.; Gawiser, Eric J.; Gehrels, Neil; Grady, Kevin; Hagen, Alex; Hall, Patrick B.; Hearin, Andrew P.; Hildebrandt, Hendrik; Hirata, Christopher M.; Ho, Shirley; Huterer, Dragan; Ivezic, Zeljko; Kneib, Jean-Paul; Kruk, Jeffrey W.; Lahav, Ofer; Mandelbaum, Rachel; Matthews, Daniel J.; Miquel, Ramon; Moniez, Marc; Moos, H. W.; Moustakas, John; Papovich, Casey; Peacock, John A.; Rhodes, Jason; Ricol, Jean-Stepane; Sadeh, Iftach; Schmidt, Samuel J.; Stern, Daniel K.; Tyson, J. Anthony; Von der Linden, Anja; Wechsler, Risa H.; Wood-Vasey, W. M.; Zentner, A.

2015-01-01

-z algorithms and reduce scatter further, enhancing the science return from planned experiments greatly (increasing the Dark Energy Task Force figure of merit by up to ∼50%); Options: This spectroscopy will most efficiently be done by covering as much of the optical and near-infrared spectrum as possible at modestly high spectral resolution (λ/Δλ > ∼3000), while maximizing the telescope collecting area, field of view on the sky, and multiplexing of simultaneous spectra. The most efficient instrument for this would likely be either the proposed GMACS/MANIFEST spectrograph for the Giant Magellan Telescope or the OPTIMOS spectrograph for the European Extremely Large Telescope, depending on actual properties when built. The PFS spectrograph at Subaru would be next best and available considerably earlier, c. 2018; the proposed ngCFHT and SSST telescopes would have similar capabilities but start later. Other key options, in order of increasing total time required, are the WFOS spectrograph at TMT, MOONS at the VLT, and DESI at the Mayall 4 m telescope (or the similar 4MOST and WEAVE projects); of these, only DESI, MOONS, and PFS are expected to be available before 2020. Table 2-3 of this white paper summarizes the observation time required at each facility for strawman training samples. To attain secure redshift measurements for a high fraction of targeted objects and cover the full redshift span of future experiments, additional near-infrared spectroscopy will also be required; this is best done from space, particularly with WFIRST-2.4 and JWST; Calibration: The first several moments of redshift distributions (the mean, RMS redshift dispersion, etc.), must be known to high accuracy for cosmological constraints not to be systematics-dominated (equivalently, the moments of the distribution of differences between photometric and true redshifts could be determined instead). The ultimate goal of calibration is to characterize these moments for every subsample used in analyses - i

Redshift measurement of Fermi blazars for the Cherenkov telescope array

Science.gov (United States)

Pita, S.; Goldoni, P.; Boisson, C.; Cotter, G.; Lefaucheur, J.; Lenain, J.-P.; Lindfors, E.; Williams, D. A.

2017-01-01

Blazars are active galactic nuclei, and the most numerous High Energy (HE) and Very High Energy (VHE) γ-ray emitters. Their optical emission is often dominated by non-thermal, and, in the case of BL Lacs, featureless continuum radiation. This makes the determination of their redshift extremely difficult. Indeed, as of today only about 50% of γ-ray blazars have a measured spectroscopic redshift. The knowledge of redshift is fundamental because it allows the precise modeling of the VHE emission and also of its interaction with the extragalactic background light (EBL). The beginning of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) operations in the near future will allow the detection of several hundreds of new blazars. Using the Fermi catalogue of sources above 50 GeV (2FHL), we performed simulations which indicate that a significant fraction of the 2FHL blazars detectable by CTA will not have a measured redshift. As a matter of fact, the organization of observing campaigns to measure the redshift of these blazars has been recognized as a necessary support for the AGN Key Science Project of CTA. We are planning such an observing campaign. In order to optimize our chances of success, we will perform preliminary deep imaging observations aimed at detecting or setting upper limits to the host galaxy. We will then take spectra of the candidates with the brightest host galaxies. Taking advantage of the recent success of an X-shooter GTO observing campaign, these observations will be different with respect to previous ones due to the use of higher resolution spectrographs and of 8 meter class telescopes. We are starting to submit proposals for these observations. In this paper we briefly describe how candidates are selected and the corresponding observation program.

Remote observing with the Keck Telescopes from the U.S. mainland

Science.gov (United States)

Kibrick, Robert I.; Allen, Steve L.; Conrad, Albert

2000-06-01

We describe the current status of efforts to establish a high-bandwidth network from the U.S. mainland to Mauna Kea and a facility in California to support Keck remote observing and engineering via the Internet. The California facility will be an extension of the existing Keck remote operations facility located in Waimea, Hawaii. It will be targeted towards short-duration observing runs which now comprise roughly half of all scheduled science runs on the Keck Telescope. Keck technical staff in Hawaii will support remote observers on the mainland via video conferencing and collaborative software tools. Advantages and disadvantages of remote operation from California versus Hawaii are explored, and costs of alternative communication paths examined. We describe a plan for a backup communications path to protect against failure of the primary network. Alternative software models for remote operation are explored, and recent operational results described.

EIT: Solar corona synoptic observations from SOHO with an Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Delaboudiniere, J. P.; Gabriel, A. H.; Artzner, G. E.; Michels, D. J.; Dere, K. P.; Howard, R. A.; Catura, R.; Stern, R.; Lemen, J.; Neupert, W.

1988-01-01

The Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) of SOHO (solar and heliospheric observatory) will provide full disk images in emission lines formed at temperatures that map solar structures ranging from the chromospheric network to the hot magnetically confined plasma in the corona. Images in four narrow bandpasses will be obtained using normal incidence multilayered optics deposited on quadrants of a Ritchey-Chretien telescope. The EIT is capable of providing a uniform one arc second resolution over its entire 50 by 50 arc min field of view. Data from the EIT will be extremely valuable for identifying and interpreting the spatial and temperature fine structures of the solar atmosphere. Temporal analysis will provide information on the stability of these structures and identify dynamical processes. EIT images, issued daily, will provide the global corona context for aid in unifying the investigations and in forming the observing plans for SOHO coronal instruments.

A Spectroscopic and Photometric Study of Gravitational Microlensing Events

Science.gov (United States)

Kane, Stephen R.

2000-08-01

Gravitational microlensing has generated a great deal of scientific interest over recent years. This has been largely due to the realization of its wide-reaching applications, such as the search for dark matter, the detection of planets, and the study of Galactic structure. A significant observational advance has been that most microlensing events can be identified in real-time while the source is still being lensed. More than 400 microlensing events have now been detected towards the Galactic bulge and Magellanic Clouds by the microlensing survey teams EROS, MACHO, OGLE, DUO, and MOA. The real-time detection of these events allows detailed follow-up observations with much denser sampling, both photometrically and spectroscopically. The research undertaken in this project on photometric studies of gravitational microlensing events has been performed as a member of the PLANET (Probing Lensing Anomalies NETwork) collaboration. This is a worldwide collaboration formed in the early part of 1995 to study microlensing anomalies - departures from an achromatic point source, point lens light curve - through rapidly-sampled, multi-band, photometry. PLANET has demonstrated that it can achieve 1% photometry under ideal circumstances, making PLANET observations sensitive to detection of Earth-mass planets which require characterization of 1%--2% deviations from a standard microlensing light curve. The photometric work in this project involved over 5 months using the 1.0 m telescope at Canopus Observatory in Australia, and 3 separate observing runs using the 0.9 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile. Methods were developed to reduce the vast amount of photometric data using the image analysis software MIDAS and the photometry package DoPHOT. Modelling routines were then written to analyse a selection of the resulting light curves in order to detect any deviation from an achromatic point source - point lens light curve. The photometric

CONFRONTING THREE-DIMENSIONAL TIME-DEPENDENT JET SIMULATIONS WITH HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Staff, Jan E.; Niebergal, Brian P.; Ouyed, Rachid; Pudritz, Ralph E.; Cai, Kai

2010-01-01

We perform state-of-the-art, three-dimensional, time-dependent simulations of magnetized disk winds, carried out to simulation scales of 60 AU, in order to confront optical Hubble Space Telescope observations of protostellar jets. We 'observe' the optical forbidden line emission produced by shocks within our simulated jets and compare these with actual observations. Our simulations reproduce the rich structure of time-varying jets, including jet rotation far from the source, an inner (up to 400 km s -1 ) and outer (less than 100 km s -1 ) component of the jet, and jet widths of up to 20 AU in agreement with observed jets. These simulations when compared with the data are able to constrain disk wind models. In particular, models featuring a disk magnetic field with a modest radial spatial variation across the disk are favored.

A study of the inner parts of protoplanetary disks observed by interferometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anthonioz, Fabien

2015-01-01

Observing gas and dusty disks around young stars are of utmost importance for our knowledge about planetary formation. Observations of these disks bring unprecedented details about their structure and composition, and provide stronger and stronger constrains on planetary formation models. However, the inner parts of these disk are still barely known. Indeed, a 100 m diameter telescope would be required in order to resolve these inner region, for the closest young stars; nowadays, the construction of such telescope is impossible technologically and financially. By combining the light of pairs of telescopes, the interferometry technique is able to reach the sufficient resolving power, and permits us to observe the inner parts of circumstellar disks. My thesis has been focused on the observation and study of the inner part of TTauri's circumstellar disks. I present in this manuscript a statistical study on the environment around these stars, along with its modeling by taking into account thermal emission and light scattering of the disk. Finally, I present a more complete modelling for some of these stars, done by constraining spectroscopic, interferometric and photometric datasets with a radiative transfer code. (author)

Telescopes in Near Space: Balloon Exoplanet Nulling Interferometer (BigBENI)

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Petrone, Peter; Mallik, Udayan; Mauk, Robin

2012-01-01

A significant and often overlooked path to advancing both science and technology for direct imaging and spectroscopic characterization of exosolar planets is to fly "near space" missions, i.e. balloon borne exosolar missions. A near space balloon mission with two or more telescopes, coherently combined, is capable of achieving a subset of the mission science goals of a single large space telescope at a small fraction of the cost. Additionally such an approach advances technologies toward flight readiness for space flight. Herein we discuss the feasibility of flying two 1.2 meter telescopes, with a baseline separation of 3.6 meters, operating in visible light, on a composite boom structure coupled to a modified visible nulling coronagraph operating to achieve an inner working angle of 60 milli-arcseconds. We discuss the potential science return, atmospheric residuals at 135,000 feet, pointing control and visible nulling and evaluate the state-or-art of these technologies with regards to balloon missions.

An observation planning algorithm applied to multi-objective astronomical observations and its simulation in COSMOS field

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Yi; Gu, Yonggang; Zhai, Chao

2012-09-01

Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic sky surveys are now booming, such as LAMOST already built by China, BIGBOSS project put forward by the U.S. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and GTC (Gran Telescopio Canarias) telescope developed by the United States, Mexico and Spain. They all use or will use this approach and each fiber can be moved within a certain area for one astrology target, so observation planning is particularly important for this Sky Surveys. One observation planning algorithm used in multi-objective astronomical observations is developed. It can avoid the collision and interference between the fiber positioning units in the focal plane during the observation in one field of view, and the interested objects can be ovserved in a limited round with the maximize efficiency. Also, the observation simulation can be made for wide field of view through multi-FOV observation. After the observation planning is built ,the simulation is made in COSMOS field using GTC telescope. Interested galaxies, stars and high-redshift LBG galaxies are selected after the removal of the mask area, which may be bright stars. Then 9 FOV simulation is completed and observation efficiency and fiber utilization ratio for every round are given. Otherwise,allocating a certain number of fibers for background sky, giving different weights for different objects and how to move the FOV to improve the overall observation efficiency are discussed.

Hard x-ray telescope mission

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

1996-01-01

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

The afocal telescope optical design and tolerance analysis for the ESA ARIEL mission

Science.gov (United States)

Da Deppo, Vania; Middleton, Kevin; Focardi, Mauro; Morgante, Gianluca; Grella, Samuele; Claudi, Riccardo; Pace, Emanuele; Ficai Veltroni, Iacopo; Micela, Giuseppina

2017-11-01

ARIEL (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey) is one of the three present candidates for the next ESA medium-class science mission (M4) to be launched in 2026. During its 3.5 years of scientific operations from L2 orbit, this mission will observe spectroscopically in the infrared (IR) a large population of known transiting planets in the neighbourhood of the Solar System. The aim is to enable a deep understanding of the physics and chemistry of these exoplanets. ARIEL is based on a 1-m class telescope ahead of a suite of instruments: two spectrometer channels covering the band 1.95 to 7.80 µm and four photometric channels (two wide and two narrow band) in the range 0.5 to 1.9 μm. The ARIEL optical design is conceived as a fore-module common afocal telescope that will feed the spectrometer and photometric channels. The telescope optical design is based on an eccentric pupil two-mirror classic Cassegrain configuration coupled to a tertiary paraboloidal mirror. An all-aluminum structure has been considered for the telescope layout, and a detailed tolerance analysis has been conducted to assess the telescope feasibility. This analysis has been done including the different parts of the realization and life of the instrument, from integration on-ground to in-flight stability during the scientific acquisitions. The primary mirror (M1) temperature will be monitored and finely tuned via an active thermal control system based on thermistors and heaters. The heaters will be switched on and off to maintain the M1 temperature within ±1K thanks to a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller.

SSGSS: THE SPITZER–SDSS–GALEX SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Dowd, Matthew J.; Schiminovich, David; Johnson, Benjamin D.; Treyer, Marie A.; Martin, Christopher D.; Wyder, Ted K.; Charlot, Stéphane; Heckman, Timothy M.; Martins, Lucimara P.; Seibert, Mark; Van der Hulst, J. M.

2011-01-01

The Spitzer-SDSS-GALEX Spectroscopic Survey (SSGSS) provides a new sample of 101 star-forming galaxies at z < 0.2 with unprecedented multi-wavelength coverage. New mid- to far-infrared spectroscopy from the Spitzer Space Telescope is added to a rich suite of previous imaging and spectroscopy, including ROSAT, Galaxy Evolution Explorer, Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Two Micron All Sky Survey, and Spitzer/SWIRE. Sample selection ensures an even coverage of the full range of normal galaxy properties, spanning two orders of magnitude in stellar mass, color, and dust attenuation. In this paper we present the SSGSS data set, describe the science drivers, and detail the sample selection, observations, data reduction, and quality assessment. Also in this paper, we compare the shape of the thermal continuum and the degree of silicate absorption of these typical, star-forming galaxies to those of starburst galaxies. We investigate the link between star formation rate, infrared luminosity, and total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon luminosity, with a view to calibrating the latter for spectral energy distribution models in photometric samples and at high redshift. Last, we take advantage of the 5-40 μm spectroscopic and far-infrared photometric coverage of this sample to perform detailed fitting of the Draine et al. dust models, and investigate the link between dust mass and star formation history and active galactic nucleus properties.

GREEN BANK TELESCOPE AND SWIFT X-RAY TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF THE GALACTIC CENTER RADIO MAGNETAR SGR J1745–2900

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lynch, Ryan S.; Archibald, Robert F.; Kaspi, Victoria M.; Scholz, Paul, E-mail: rlynch@physics.mcgill.ca [Department of Physics, McGill University, 3600 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2T8 (Canada)

2015-06-20

We present results from eight months of Green Bank Telescope 8.7 GHz observations and nearly 18 months of Swift X-ray telescope observations of the radio magnetar SGR J1745–2900. We tracked the radio and X-ray flux density, polarization properties, profile evolution, rotation, and single-pulse behavior. We identified two main periods of activity. The first is characterized by approximately 5.5 months of relatively stable evolution in radio flux density, rotation, and profile shape, while in the second these properties varied substantially. Specifically, a third profile component emerged and the radio flux also became more variable. The single pulse properties also changed, most notably with a larger fraction of pulses with pulse widths ∼5–20 ms in the erratic state. Bright single pulses are well described by a log-normal energy distribution at low energies, but with an excess at high energies. The 2–10 keV flux decayed steadily since the initial X-ray outburst, while the radio flux remained stable to within ∼20% during the stable state. A joint pulsar timing analysis of the radio and X-ray data shows a level of timing noise unprecedented in a radio magnetar, though during the time covered by the radio data alone the timing noise was at a level similar to that observed in other radio magnetars. While SGR J1745–2900 is similar to other radio magnetars in many regards, it differs by having experienced a period of relative stability in the radio that now appears to have ended, while the X-ray properties evolved independently.

EIT Observations of Coronal Mass Ejections

Science.gov (United States)

Gurman, J. B.; Fisher, Richard B. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Before the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), we had only the sketchiest of clues as to the nature and topology of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) below 1.1 - 1.2 solar radii. Occasionally, dimmings (or 'transient coronal holes') were observed in time series of soft X-ray images, but they were far less frequent than CME's. Simply by imaging the Sun frequently and continually at temperatures of 0.9 - 2.5 MK we have stumbled upon a zoo of CME phenomena in this previously obscured volume of the corona: (1) waves, (2) dimmings, and (3) a great variety of ejecta. In the three and a half years since our first observations of coronal waves associated with CME's, combined Large Angle Spectroscopic Coronagraph (LASCO) and extreme ultra-violet imaging telescope (EIT) synoptic observations have become a standard prediction tool for space weather forecasters, but our progress in actually understanding the CME phenomenon in the low corona has been somewhat slower. I will summarize the observations of waves, hot (> 0.9 MK) and cool ejecta, and some of the interpretations advanced to date. I will try to identify those phenomena, analysis of which could most benefit from the spectroscopic information available from ultraviolet coronograph spectrometer (UVCS) observations.

Focal plane instrument for the Solar UV-Vis-IR Telescope aboard SOLAR-C

Science.gov (United States)

Katsukawa, Yukio; Suematsu, Yoshinori; Shimizu, Toshifumi; Ichimoto, Kiyoshi; Takeyama, Norihide

2011-10-01

It is presented the conceptual design of a focal plane instrument for the Solar UV-Vis-IR Telescope (SUVIT) aboard the next Japanese solar mission SOLAR-C. A primary purpose of the telescope is to achieve precise as well as high resolution spectroscopic and polarimetric measurements of the solar chromosphere with a big aperture of 1.5 m, which is expected to make a significant progress in understanding basic MHD processes in the solar atmosphere. The focal plane instrument consists of two packages: A filtergraph package is to get not only monochromatic images but also Dopplergrams and magnetograms using a tunable narrow-band filter and interference filters. A spectrograph package is to perform accurate spectro-polarimetric observations for measuring chromospheric magnetic fields, and is employing a Littrow-type spectrograph. The most challenging aspect in the instrument design is wide wavelength coverage from 280 nm to 1.1 μm to observe multiple chromospheric lines, which is to be realized with a lens unit including fluoride glasses. A high-speed camera for correlation tracking of granular motion is also implemented in one of the packages for an image stabilization system, which is essential to achieve high spatial resolution and high polarimetric accuracy.

Exoplanet Biosignatures: Observational Prospects

Science.gov (United States)

Angerhausen, Daniel; Deitrick, Russell; Domagal-Goldman, Shawn; Grenfell, John Lee; Hori, Yasunori; Kane, Stephen R.; Pallé, Enric; Rauer, Heike; Siegler, Nicholas; Stapelfeldt, Karl; Stevenson, Kevin B.

2018-01-01

Abstract Exoplanet hunting efforts have revealed the prevalence of exotic worlds with diverse properties, including Earth-sized bodies, which has fueled our endeavor to search for life beyond the Solar System. Accumulating experiences in astrophysical, chemical, and climatological characterization of uninhabitable planets are paving the way to characterization of potentially habitable planets. In this paper, we review our possibilities and limitations in characterizing temperate terrestrial planets with future observational capabilities through the 2030s and beyond, as a basis of a broad range of discussions on how to advance “astrobiology” with exoplanets. We discuss the observability of not only the proposed biosignature candidates themselves but also of more general planetary properties that provide circumstantial evidence, since the evaluation of any biosignature candidate relies on its context. Characterization of temperate Earth-sized planets in the coming years will focus on those around nearby late-type stars. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and later 30-meter-class ground-based telescopes will empower their chemical investigations. Spectroscopic studies of potentially habitable planets around solar-type stars will likely require a designated spacecraft mission for direct imaging, leveraging technologies that are already being developed and tested as part of the Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission. Successful initial characterization of a few nearby targets will be an important touchstone toward a more detailed scrutiny and a larger survey that are envisioned beyond 2030. The broad outlook this paper presents may help develop new observational techniques to detect relevant features as well as frameworks to diagnose planets based on the observables. Key Words: Exoplanets—Biosignatures—Characterization—Planetary atmospheres—Planetary surfaces. Astrobiology 18, 739–778. PMID:29938537

Spectroscopic Surveys with the ELT: A Gigantic Step into the Deep Universe

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, C.; Puech, M.; Hammer, F.; Gallego, J.; Sánchez, A.; García, L.; Iglesias, J.

2018-03-01

The Phase A design of MOSAIC, a powerful multi-object spectrograph intended for ESO's Extremely Large Telescope, concluded in late 2017. With the design complete, a three-day workshop was held last October in Toledo to discuss the breakthrough spectroscopic surveys that MOSAIC can deliver across a broad range of contemporary astronomy.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-07-01

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

Study of the galactic centre region in the soft γ ray domain from the observations performed by the space telescope SIGMA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cordier, Bertrand

1992-01-01

This research thesis reports the detailed presentation of the SIGMA telescope, and its use for the observation of the galactic centre region. The SIGMA (gamma imagery system with random mask) telescope is based on an imagery technique using a coded aperture mask, and comprises three main components: the code-mask which modulates information and defines the experiment angular resolution, a position detector which provides the coordinates of the point of interaction of photons and their energy, and allows images to be built up, and active and passive shielding to reduce the background noise. The telescope operating modes and performance (space resolution, angular resolution, camera energy response, sensitivity) are presented. The data reduction procedure is described. Then, the author presents the Galaxy centre, discusses previous observations, and reports and comments new observations performed by using SIGMA [fr

The Chrysalis Opens? Photometry from the η Carinae Hubble Space Telescope Treasury Project, 2002-2006

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, J. C.; Davidson, Kris; Koppelman, M. D.

2006-12-01

During the past decade η Car has brightened markedly, possibly indicating a change of state. Here we summarize photometry gathered by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) as part of the HST Treasury Project on this object. Our data include Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) CCD acquisition images, Advanced Camera for Surveys HRC images in four filters, and synthetic photometry in flux-calibrated STIS spectra. The HST's spatial resolution allows us to examine the central star separate from the bright circumstellar ejecta. Its apparent brightness continued to increase briskly during 2002-2006, especially after the mid-2003 spectroscopic event. If this trend continues, the central star will soon become brighter than its ejecta, quite different from the state that existed only a few years ago. One precedent may be the rapid change observed in 1938-1953. We conjecture that the star's mass-loss rate has been decreasing throughout the past century. This research was conducted as part of the η Car Hubble Space Telescope Treasury project via grant GO-9973 from the Space Telescope Science Institute. HST is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. Some of the data presented in this paper were obtained from the Multimission Archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute (MAST). STScI is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. Support for MAST for non-HST data is provided by the NASA Office of Space Science via grant NAG5-7584 and by other grants and contracts.

Charged Coupled Device Debris Telescope Observations of the Geosynchronous Orbital Debris Environment - Observing Year: 1998

Science.gov (United States)

Jarvis, K. S.; Thumm, T. L.; Matney, M. J.; Jorgensen, K.; Stansbery, E. G.; Africano, J. L.; Sydney, P. F.; Mulrooney, M. K.

2002-01-01

NASA has been using the charged coupled device (CCD) debris telescope (CDT)--a transportable 32-cm Schmidt telescope located near Cloudcroft, New Mexico-to help characterize the debris environment in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). The CDT is equipped with a SITe 512 x 512 CCD camera whose 24 m2 (12.5 arc sec) pixels produce a 1.7 x 1.7-deg field of view. The CDT system can therefore detect l7th-magnitude objects in a 20-sec integration corresponding to an approx. 0.6-m diameter, 0.20 albedo object at 36,000 km. The telescope pointing and CCD operation are computer controlled to collect data automatically for an entire night. The CDT has collected more than 1500 hrs of data since November 1997. This report describes the collection and analysis of 58 nights (approx. 420 hrs) of data acquired in 1998.

Observations of Local ISM Emission with the Berkeley EUV/FUV Shuttle Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, C.; Bowyer, S.

1984-01-01

The Berkeley extreme ultraviolet/far ultraviolet shuttle telescope (BEST) will be launched on the Space Shuttle as part of the NASA UVX project. The Berkeley spectrometer will make observations of the cosmic diffuse background in the 600 to 1900 A band, with a spectral resolution of 10 A. The sensitivity and spectral resolution of the instrument make it ideal for the study of components of the interstellar medium in the 10 to the 4th power to 10 to the 6th power K range.

Automatic Photoelectric Telescope Service

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

1987-01-01

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

Cosmological observations with a wide field telescope in space: Pixel simulations of EUCLID spectrometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zoubian, Julien

2012-01-01

The observations of the supernovae, the cosmic microwave background, and more recently the measurement of baryon acoustic oscillations and the weak lensing effects, converge to a Lambda CDM model, with an accelerating expansion of the today Universe. This model need two dark components to fit the observations, the dark matter and the dark energy. Two approaches seem particularly promising to measure both geometry of the Universe and growth of dark matter structures, the analysis of the weak distortions of distant galaxies by gravitational lensing and the study of the baryon acoustic oscillations. Both methods required a very large sky surveys of several thousand square degrees. In the context of the spectroscopic survey of the space mission EUCLID, dedicated to the study of the dark side of the universe, I developed a pixel simulation tool for analyzing instrumental performances. The proposed method can be summarized in three steps. The first step is to simulate the observables, i.e. mainly the sources of the sky. I work up a new method, adapted for spectroscopic simulations, which allows to mock an existing survey of galaxies in ensuring that the distribution of the spectral properties of galaxies are representative of current observations, in particular the distribution of the emission lines. The second step is to simulate the instrument and produce images which are equivalent to the expected real images. Based on the pixel simulator of the HST, I developed a new tool to compute the images of the spectroscopic channel of EUCLID. The new simulator have the particularity to be able to simulate PSF with various energy distributions and detectors which have different pixels. The last step is the estimation of the performances of the instrument. Based on existing tools, I set up a pipeline of image processing and performances measurement. My main results were: 1) to validate the method by simulating an existing survey of galaxies, the WISP survey, 2) to determine the

Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project.I. Ultraviolet Observations of the Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 5548 with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on Hubble Space Telescope

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Rosa, G.; Peterson, B.M.; Ely, J.; Kriss, G.A.; Crenshaw, D.M.; Horne, K.; Korista, K.T.; Netzer, H.; Pogge, R.W.; Arévalo, P.; Barth, A.J.; Bentz, M.C.; Brandt, W.N.; Breeveld, A.A.; Brewer, B.J.; Dalla Bontà, E.; De Lorenzo-Cáceres, A.; Denney, K.D.; Dietrich, M.; Edelson, R.; Evans, P.A.; Fausnaugh, M.M.; Gehrels, N.; Gelbord, J.M.; Goad, M.R.; Grier, C.J.; Grupe, D.; Hall, P.B.; Kaastra, J.; Kelly, B.C.; Kennea, J.A.; Kochanek, C.S.; Lira, P.; Mathur, S.; McHardy, I.M.; Nousek, J.A.; Pancoast, A.; Papadakis, I.; Pei, L.; Schimoia, J.S.; Siegel, M.; Starkey, D.; Treu, T.; Uttley, P.; Vaughan, S.; Vestergaard, M.; Villforth, C.; Yan, H.; Young, S.; Zu, Y.

2015-01-01

We describe the first results from a six-month long reverberation-mapping experiment in the ultraviolet based on 171 observations of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548 with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope. Significant correlated variability is found in the continuum and

Near-infrared Spectroscopic Observations of Comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) by WINERED: CN Red-system Band Emission

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shinnaka, Yoshiharu; Yasui, Chikako; Izumi, Natsuko [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan); Kawakita, Hideyo; Kondo, Sohei; Ikeda, Yuji; Kobayashi, Naoto; Hamano, Satoshi; Sameshima, Hiroaki; Fukue, Kei; Matsunaga, Noriyuki; Otsubo, Shogo; Takenaka, Keiichi; Watase, Ayaka; Kawanishi, Takafumi; Nakanishi, Kenshi; Nakaoka, Tetsuya [Laboratory of Infrared High-resolution Spectroscopy, Koyama Astronomical Observatory, Kyoto Sangyo University, Motoyama, Kamigamo, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8555 (Japan); Mizumoto, Misaki, E-mail: yoshiharu.shinnaka@nao.ac.jp, E-mail: kawakthd@cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp [Department of Astronomy, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan)

2017-08-01

Although high-resolution spectra of the CN red-system band are considered useful in cometary sciences, e.g., in the study of isotopic ratios of carbon and nitrogen in cometary volatiles, there have been few reports to date due to the lack of high-resolution ( R  ≡  λ /Δ λ  > 20,000) spectrographs in the near-infrared region around ∼1 μ m. Here, we present the high-resolution emission spectrum of the CN red-system band in comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy), acquired by the near-infrared high-resolution spectrograph WINERED mounted on the 1.3 m Araki telescope at the Koyama Astronomical Observatory, Kyoto, Japan. We applied our fluorescence excitation models for CN, based on modern spectroscopic studies, to the observed spectrum of comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) to search for CN isotopologues ({sup 13}C{sup 14}N and {sup 12}C{sup 15}N). We used a CN fluorescence excitation model involving both a “pure” fluorescence excitation model for the outer coma and a “fully collisional” fluorescence excitation model for the inner coma region. Our emission model could reproduce the observed {sup 12}C{sup 14}N red-system band of comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy). The derived mixing ratio between the two excitation models was 0.94(+0.02/−0.03):0.06(+0.03/−0.02), corresponding to the radius of the collision-dominant region of ∼800–1600 km from the nucleus. No isotopologues were detected. The observed spectrum is consistent, within error, with previous estimates in comets of {sup 12}C/{sup 13}C (∼90) and {sup 14}N/{sup 15}N (∼150).

Hubble Space Telescope Observations of the Afterglow, Supernova and Host Galaxy Associated with the Extremely Bright GRB 130427A

Science.gov (United States)

Levan, A.J.; Tanvir, N. R.; Fruchter, A. S.; Hjorth, J.; Pian, E.; Mazzali, P.; Hounsell, R. A.; Perley, D. A.; Cano, Z.; Graham, J.;

Hubble space telescope observations of the afterglow, supernova, and host galaxy associated with the extremely bright GRB 130427A

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levan, A. J. [Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL (United Kingdom); Tanvir, N. R.; Wiersema, K. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH (United Kingdom); Fruchter, A. S.; Hounsell, R. A.; Graham, J. [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Hjorth, J.; Fynbo, J. P. U. [Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen (Denmark); Pian, E. [INAF, Trieste Astronomical Observatory, via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste (Italy); Mazzali, P. [Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, IC2 Liverpool Science Park 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF (United Kingdom); Perley, D. A. [Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, MC 249-17, 1200 East California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Cano, Z. [Centre for Astrophysics and Cosmology, Science Institute, University of Iceland, Dunhagi 5, 107 Reykjavik (Iceland); Cenko, S. B. [Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Mail Code 661, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Kouveliotou, C. [Science and Technology Office, ZP12, NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812 (United States); Pe' er, A. [Department of Physics, University College Cork, Cork (Ireland); Misra, K., E-mail: a.j.levan@warwick.ac.uk [Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, Manora Peak, Nainital-263 002 (India)

2014-09-10

We present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of the exceptionally bright and luminous Swift gamma-ray burst (GRB), GRB 130427A. At z = 0.34, this burst affords an excellent opportunity to study the supernova (SN) and host galaxy associated with an intrinsically extremely luminous burst (E {sub iso} > 10{sup 54} erg): more luminous than any previous GRB with a spectroscopically associated SN. We use the combination of the image quality, UV capability, and invariant point-spread function of HST to provide the best possible separation of the afterglow, host, and SN contributions to the observed light ∼17 rest-frame days after the burst, utilizing a host subtraction spectrum obtained one year later. Advanced Camera for Surveys grism observations show that the associated SN, SN 2013cq, has an overall spectral shape and luminosity similar to SN 1998bw (with a photospheric velocity, v {sub ph} ∼ 15, 000 km s{sup –1}). The positions of the bluer features are better matched by the higher velocity SN 2010bh (v {sub ph} ∼ 30, 000 km s{sup –1}), but this SN is significantly fainter and fails to reproduce the overall spectral shape, perhaps indicative of velocity structure in the ejecta. We find that the burst originated ∼4 kpc from the nucleus of a moderately star forming (1 M {sub ☉} yr{sup –1}), possibly interacting disk galaxy. The absolute magnitude, physical size, and morphology of this galaxy, as well as the location of the GRB within it, are also strikingly similar to those of GRB 980425/SN 1998bw. The similarity of the SNe and environment from both the most luminous and least luminous GRBs suggests that broadly similar progenitor stars can create GRBs across six orders of magnitude in isotropic energy.

Dynamic auroral storms on Saturn as observed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Science.gov (United States)

Nichols, J D; Badman, S V; Baines, K H; Brown, R H; Bunce, E J; Clarke, J T; Cowley, S W H; Crary, F J; Dougherty, M K; Gérard, J-C; Grocott, A; Grodent, D; Kurth, W S; Melin, H; Mitchell, D G; Pryor, W R; Stallard, T S

2014-05-28

We present observations of significant dynamics within two UV auroral storms observed on Saturn using the Hubble Space Telescope in April/May 2013. Specifically, we discuss bursts of auroral emission observed at the poleward boundary of a solar wind-induced auroral storm, propagating at ∼330% rigid corotation from near ∼01 h LT toward ∼08 h LT. We suggest that these are indicative of ongoing, bursty reconnection of lobe flux in the magnetotail, providing strong evidence that Saturn's auroral storms are caused by large-scale flux closure. We also discuss the later evolution of a similar storm and show that the emission maps to the trailing region of an energetic neutral atom enhancement. We thus identify the auroral form with the upward field-aligned continuity currents flowing into the associated partial ring current.

THE BOLOCAM GALACTIC PLANE SURVEY. X. A COMPLETE SPECTROSCOPIC CATALOG OF DENSE MOLECULAR GAS OBSERVED TOWARD 1.1 mm DUST CONTINUUM SOURCES WITH 7.°5 ≤ l ≤ 194°

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirley, Yancy L.; Svoboda, Brian; Ellsworth-Bowers, Timothy P.; Schlingman, Wayne M.; Ginsburg, Adam; Battersby, Cara; Stringfellow, Guy; Glenn, Jason; Bally, John; Rosolowsky, Erik; Gerner, Thomas; Mairs, Steven; Dunham, Miranda K.

2013-01-01

The Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS) is a 1.1 mm continuum survey of dense clumps of dust throughout the Galaxy covering 170 deg 2 . We present spectroscopic observations using the Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope of the dense gas tracers, HCO + and N 2 H + 3-2, for all 6194 sources in the BGPS v1.0.1 catalog between 7.°5 ≤ l ≤ 194°. This is the largest targeted spectroscopic survey of dense molecular gas in the Milky Way to date. We find unique velocities for 3126 (50.5%) of the BGPS v1.0.1 sources observed. Strong N 2 H + 3-2 emission (T mb > 0.5 K) without HCO + 3-2 emission does not occur in this catalog. We characterize the properties of the dense molecular gas emission toward the entire sample. HCO + is very sub-thermally populated and the 3-2 transitions are optically thick toward most BGPS clumps. The median observed line width is 3.3 km s –1 consistent with supersonic turbulence within BGPS clumps. We find strong correlations between dense molecular gas integrated intensities and 1.1 mm peak flux and the gas kinetic temperature derived from previously published NH 3 observations. These intensity correlations are driven by the sensitivity of the 3-2 transitions to excitation conditions rather than by variations in molecular column density or abundance. We identify a subset of 113 sources with stronger N 2 H + than HCO + integrated intensity, but we find no correlations between the N 2 H + /HCO + ratio and 1.1 mm continuum flux density, gas kinetic temperature, or line width. Self-absorbed profiles are rare (1.3%)

Frequency and mode identification of γ Doradus from photometric and spectroscopic observations*

Science.gov (United States)

Brunsden, E.; Pollard, K. R.; Wright, D. J.; De Cat, P.; Cottrell, P. L.

2018-04-01

The prototype star for the γ Doradus class of pulsating variables was studied employing photometric and spectroscopic observations to determine the frequencies and modes of pulsation. The four frequencies found are self-consistent between the observation types and almost identical to those found in previous studies (1.3641 d-1, 1.8783 d-1, 1.4742 d-1, and 1.3209 d-1). Three of the frequencies are classified as l, m = (1, 1) pulsations and the other is ambiguous between l, m = (2, 0) and (2, -2) modes. Two frequencies are shown to be stable over 20 yr since their first identification. The agreement in ground-based work makes this star an excellent calibrator between high-precision photometry and spectroscopy with the upcoming TESS observations and a potential standard for continued asteroseismic modelling.

Detection of local non-Gaussianity with future observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Hong; Liu Jie

2012-01-01

In this Letter we estimate the primordial non-Gaussianity (PNG) by simulating future observations. We use the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) as an example and focus on the cross correlation signal between the galaxies and the Integrate Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect of CMB. Our result is optimistical. It shows the potential of LAMOST, particularly its quasar survey, in probing for the PNG by ISW - galaxy cross correlation. This study is particularly relevant because LAMOST is almost parallel to the timetable of the upcoming high precision Planck satellite.

Analyzing the capability of a radio telescope in a bistatic space debris observation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Zhe; Zhao You; Gao Peng-Qi

2013-01-01

A bistatic space debris observation system using a radio telescope as the receiving part is introduced. The detection capability of the system at different working frequencies is analyzed based on real instruments. The detection range of targets with a fixed radar cross section and the detection ability of small space debris at a fixed range are discussed. The simulations of this particular observation system at different transmitting powers are also implemented and the detection capability is discussed. The simulated results approximately match the actual experiments. The analysis in this paper provides a theoretical basis for developing a space debris observation system that can be built in China

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2011-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2011-06-01

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

Encouraging planetary sciences students at the Master level with observations using small telescopes that lead to their publication

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez-Lavega, A.; Ordoñez-Etxeberria, I.; del Rio Gaztelurrutia, T.; Illarramendi, M. A.; Perez-Hoyos, S.; Hueso, R.; Rojas, J. F.

2017-12-01

We present a set of practical experiments carried out with the students of the Master in Space Science and Technology of the University of the Basque Country (A. Sanchez-Lavega et al., Eur. J. of Eng. Education. 2014) using small telescopes that have been published in refereed journals. The telescopes (from 15 to 50 cm in aperture) and instruments pertain to the Aula EspaZio Gela Observatory (http://www.ehu.eus/aula-espazio/presentacion.html). The students have participated in some cases as co-authors of the publications or in presentations at meetings which encourages them to continue their scientific career towards PhD studies. Dedicated observations with these small telescopes with the participation of the planetary amateur community have also been employed in scientific research and publications. A series of examples are presented.

Observations of Pulsars with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parent, D.

2009-11-01

The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on Fermi, launched on 2008 June 11, is a space telescope to explore the high energy γ-ray universe. The instrument covers the energy range from 20 MeV to 300 GeV with greatly improved sensitivity and ability to localize γ-ray point sources. It detects γ-rays through conversion to electron-positron pairs and measurement of their direction in a tracker and their energy in a calorimeter. This thesis presents the γ-ray light curves and the phase-resolved spectral measurements of radio-loud gamma-ray pulsars detected by the LAT. The measurement of pulsar spectral parameters (i.e. integrated flux, spectral index, and energy cut-off) depends on the instrument response functions (IRFs). A method developed for the on-orbit validation of the effective area is presented using the Vela pulsar. The cut efficiencies between the real data and the simulated data are compared at each stage of the background rejection. The results are then propagated to the IRFs, allowing the systematic uncertainties of the spectral parameters to be estimated. The last part of this thesis presents the discoveries, using both the LAT observations and the radio and X ephemeris, of new individual γ-ray pulsars such as PSR J0205+6449, and the Vela-like pulsars J2229+6114 and J1048-5832. Timing and spectral analysis are investigated in order to constrain the γ-ray emission model. In addition, we discuss the properties of a large population of γ-ray pulsars detected by the LAT, including normal pulsars, and millisecond pulsars. (author)

FERMI-LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF THE EXCEPTIONAL GAMMA-RAY OUTBURSTS OF 3C 273 IN 2009 SEPTEMBER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Borgland, A. W.; Bouvier, A.; Baldini, L.; Bellazzini, R.; Bregeon, J.; Brez, A.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Bonamente, E.; Brigida, M.; Bruel, P.; Burnett, T. H.

2010-01-01

We present the light curves and spectral data of two exceptionally luminous gamma-ray outbursts observed by the Large Area Telescope experiment on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope from 3C 273 in 2009 September. During these flares, having a duration of a few days, the source reached its highest γ-ray flux ever measured. This allowed us to study, in some details, their spectral and temporal structures. The rise and the decay are asymmetric on timescales of 6 hr, and the spectral index was significantly harder during the flares than during the preceding 11 months. We also found that short, very intense flares put out the same time-integrated energy as long, less intense flares like that observed in 2009 August.

Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope Observations of Head–Tail Radio Galaxies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sebastian, Biny; Lal, Dharam V.; Rao, A. Pramesh, E-mail: biny@ncra.tifr.res.in [National Center for Radio Astrophysics—Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Post Box 3, Ganeshkhind P.O., Pune 41007 (India)

2017-10-01

We present results from a study of seven large known head–tail radio galaxies based on observations using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at 240 and 610 MHz. These observations are used to study the radio morphologies and distribution of the spectral indices across the sources. The overall morphology of the radio tails of these sources is suggestive of random motions of the optical host around the cluster potential. The presence of multiple bends and wiggles in several head–tail sources is possibly due to the precessing radio jets. We find steepening of the spectral index along the radio tails. The prevailing equipartition magnetic field also decreases along the radio tails of these sources. These steepening trends are attributed to the synchrotron aging of plasma toward the ends of the tails. The dynamical ages of these sample sources have been estimated to be ∼10{sup 8} yr, which is a factor of six more than the age estimates from the radiative losses due to synchrotron cooling.

Spectroscopic Characterization of GEO Satellites with Gunma LOW Resolution Spectrograph

Science.gov (United States)

Endo, T.; Ono, H.; Hosokawa, M.; Ando, T.; Takanezawa, T.; Hashimoto, O.

The spectroscopic observation is potentially a powerful tool for understanding the Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) objects. We present here the results of an investigation of energy spectra of GEO satellites obtained from a groundbased optical telescope. The spectroscopic observations were made from April to June 2016 with the Gunma LOW resolution Spectrograph and imager (GLOWS) at the Gunma Astronomical Observatory (GAO) in JAPAN. The observation targets consist of eleven different satellites: two weather satellites, four communications satellites, and five broadcasting satellites. All the spectra of those GEO satellites are inferred to be solar-like. A number of well-known absorption features such as H-alpha, H-beta, Na-D,water vapor and oxygen molecules are clearly seen in thewavelength range of 4,000 - 8,000 Å. For comparison, we calculated the intensity ratio of the spectra of GEO satellites to that of the Moon which is the natural satellite of the earth. As a result, the following characteristics were obtained. 1) Some variations are seen in the strength of absorption features of water vapor and oxygen originated by the telluric atmosphere, but any other characteristic absorption features were not found. 2) For all observed satellites, the intensity ratio of the spectrum of GEO satellites decrease as a function of wavelength or to be flat. It means that the spectral reflectance of satellite materials is bluer than that of the Moon. 3) A characteristic dip at around 4,800 Å is found in all observed spectra of a weather satellite. Based on these observations, it is indicated that the characteristics of the spectrum are mainly derived from the solar panels because the apparent area of the solar cell is probably larger than that of the satellite body.

OBSERVATION AND CONFIRMATION OF SIX STRONG-LENSING SYSTEMS IN THE DARK ENERGY SURVEY SCIENCE VERIFICATION DATA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nord, B.; Buckley-Geer, E.; Lin, H.; Diehl, H. T.; Kuropatkin, N.; Allam, S.; Finley, D. A.; Flaugher, B.; Gaitsch, H.; Merritt, K. W.; Helsby, J.; Amara, A.; Collett, T.; Caminha, G. B.; De Bom, C.; Da Pereira, M. Elidaiana S.; Desai, S.; Dúmet-Montoya, H.; Furlanetto, C.; Gill, M.

2016-01-01

We report the observation and confirmation of the first group- and cluster-scale strong gravitational lensing systems found in Dark Energy Survey data. Through visual inspection of data from the Science Verification season, we identified 53 candidate systems. We then obtained spectroscopic follow-up of 21 candidates using the Gemini Multi-object Spectrograph at the Gemini South telescope and the Inamori-Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph at the Magellan/Baade telescope. With this follow-up, we confirmed six candidates as gravitational lenses: three of the systems are newly discovered, and the remaining three were previously known. Of the 21 observed candidates, the remaining 15 either were not detected in spectroscopic observations, were observed and did not exhibit continuum emission (or spectral features), or were ruled out as lensing systems. The confirmed sample consists of one group-scale and five galaxy-cluster-scale lenses. The lensed sources range in redshift z ∼ 0.80–3.2 and in i -band surface brightness i SB ∼ 23–25 mag arcsec −2 (2″ aperture). For each of the six systems, we estimate the Einstein radius θ E and the enclosed mass M enc , which have ranges θ E ∼ 5″–9″ and M enc ∼ 8 × 10 12 to 6 × 10 13 M ⊙ , respectively.

OBSERVATION AND CONFIRMATION OF SIX STRONG-LENSING SYSTEMS IN THE DARK ENERGY SURVEY SCIENCE VERIFICATION DATA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nord, B.; Buckley-Geer, E.; Lin, H.; Diehl, H. T.; Kuropatkin, N.; Allam, S.; Finley, D. A.; Flaugher, B.; Gaitsch, H.; Merritt, K. W. [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States); Helsby, J. [Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Amara, A. [Department of Physics, ETH Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 16, CH-8093 Zurich (Switzerland); Collett, T. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Caminha, G. B.; De Bom, C.; Da Pereira, M. Elidaiana S. [ICRA, Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150, CEP 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Desai, S. [Excellence Cluster Universe, Boltzmannstrasse 2, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Dúmet-Montoya, H. [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro—Campus Macaé, Rua Aloísio Gomes da Silva, 50—Granja dos Cavaleiros, Cep: 27930-560, Macaé, RJ (Brazil); Furlanetto, C. [University of Nottingham, School of Physics and Astronomy, Nottingham NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); Gill, M., E-mail: nord@fnal.gov [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Collaboration: DES Collaboration; and others

2016-08-10

We report the observation and confirmation of the first group- and cluster-scale strong gravitational lensing systems found in Dark Energy Survey data. Through visual inspection of data from the Science Verification season, we identified 53 candidate systems. We then obtained spectroscopic follow-up of 21 candidates using the Gemini Multi-object Spectrograph at the Gemini South telescope and the Inamori-Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph at the Magellan/Baade telescope. With this follow-up, we confirmed six candidates as gravitational lenses: three of the systems are newly discovered, and the remaining three were previously known. Of the 21 observed candidates, the remaining 15 either were not detected in spectroscopic observations, were observed and did not exhibit continuum emission (or spectral features), or were ruled out as lensing systems. The confirmed sample consists of one group-scale and five galaxy-cluster-scale lenses. The lensed sources range in redshift z ∼ 0.80–3.2 and in i -band surface brightness i {sub SB} ∼ 23–25 mag arcsec{sup −2} (2″ aperture). For each of the six systems, we estimate the Einstein radius θ {sub E} and the enclosed mass M {sub enc}, which have ranges θ {sub E} ∼ 5″–9″ and M {sub enc} ∼ 8 × 10{sup 12} to 6 × 10{sup 13} M {sub ⊙}, respectively.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2014-07-01

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

Graphical User Interface for an Observing Control System for the UK Infrared Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, M.; Bridger, A.; Wright, G. S.; Adamson, A. J.; Currie, M. J.; Economou, F.

A Graphical user interface for the observing control system of UK Infrared Telescope has been developed as a part of the ORAC (Observatory Reduction and Acquisition Control) Project. We analyzed and designed the system using the Unified Modelling Language (UML) with the CASE tool Rational Rose 98. The system has been implemented in a modular way with Java packages using Swing and RMI. This system is component-based with pluggability. Object orientation concepts and UML notations have been applied throughout the development.

Spectroscopic monitoring of bright A-F type candidate hybrid stars discovered by the Kepler mission

Science.gov (United States)

Lampens, Patricia; Frémat, Y.; Vermeylen, Lore; De Cat, Peter; Dumortier, Louis; Sódor, Ádám; Sharka, Marek; Bognár, Zsófia

2018-04-01

We report on a study of 250 optical spectra for 50 bright A/F-type candidate hybrid pulsating stars from the Kepler field. Most of the spectra have been collected with the high-resolution spectrograph HERMES attached to the Mercator telescope, La Palma. We determined the radial velocities (RVs), projected rotational velocities, fundamental atmospheric parameters and provide a classification based on the appearance of the cross-correlation profiles and the behaviour of the RVs with time in order to find true hybrid pulsators. Additionally, we also detected new spectroscopic binary and multiple systems in our sample and determined the fraction of spectroscopic systems. In order to be able to extend this investigation to the fainter A-F type candidate hybrid stars, various high-quality spectra collected with 3-4 m sized telescopes suitably equipped with a high-resolution spectrograph and furthermore located in the Northern hemisphere would be ideal. This programme could be done using the new instruments installed at the Devasthal Observatory.

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF MAIN-BELT COMET (596) SCHEILA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jewitt, David; Weaver, Harold; Mutchler, Max; Larson, Stephen; Agarwal, Jessica

2011-01-01

We present Hubble Space Telescope Observations of (596) Scheila during its recent dust outburst. The nucleus remained point-like with absolute magnitude H V = 8.85 ± 0.02 in our data, equal to the pre-outburst value, with no secondary fragments of diameter ≥100 m (for assumed albedos 0.04). We find a coma having a peak scattering cross section ∼2.2x10 4 km 2 , corresponding to a mass in micron-sized particles of ∼4x10 7 kg. The particles are deflected by solar radiation pressure on projected spatial scales ∼2x10 4 km, in the sunward direction, and swept from the vicinity of the nucleus on timescales of weeks. The coma fades by ∼30% between observations on UT 2010 December 27 and 2011 January 4. The observed mass loss is inconsistent with an origin either by rotational instability of the nucleus or by electrostatic ejection of regolith charged by sunlight. Dust ejection could be caused by the sudden but unexplained exposure of buried ice. However, the data are most simply explained by the impact, at ∼5 km s -1 , of a previously unknown asteroid ∼35 m in diameter.

Extra Solar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph and Science Requirements for the James Webb Telescope Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Clampin, Mark

2004-01-01

1) Extra solar planetary imaging coronagraph. Direct detection and characterization of Jovian planets, and other gas giants, in orbit around nearby stars is a necessary precursor to Terrestrial Planet Finder 0 in order to estimate the probability of Terrestrial planets in our stellar neighborhood. Ground based indirect methods are biased towards large close in Jovian planets in solar systems unlikely io harbor Earthlike planets. Thus to estimate the relative abundances of terrestrial planets and to determine optimal observing strategies for TPF a pathfinder mission would be desired. The Extra-Solar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph (EPIC) is such a pathfinder mission. Upto 83 stellar systems are accessible with a 1.5 meter unobscured telescope and coronagraph combination located at the Earth-Sun L2 point. Incorporating radiometric and angular resolution considerations show that Jovians could be directly detected (5 sigma) in the 0.5 - 1.0 micron band outside of an inner working distance of 5/D with integration times of -10 - 100 hours per observation. The primary considerations for a planet imager are optical wavefront quality due to manufacturing, alignment, structural and thermal considerations. pointing stability and control, and manufacturability of coronagraphic masks and stops to increase the planetary-to- stellar contrast and mitigate against straylight. Previously proposed coronagraphic concepts are driven to extreme tolerances. however. we have developed and studied a mission, telescope and coronagraphic detection concept, which is achievable in the time frame of a Discovery class NASA mission. 2) Science requirements for the James Webb Space Telescope observatory. The James Webb Space Observatory (JWST) is an infrared observatory, which will be launched in 201 1 to an orbit at L2. JWST is a segmented, 18 mirror segment telescope with a diameter of 6.5 meters, and a clear aperture of 25 mA2. The telescope is designed to conduct imaging and spectroscopic

Image processing improvement for optical observations of space debris with the TAROT telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Thiebaut, C.; Theron, S.; Richard, P.; Blanchet, G.; Klotz, A.; Boër, M.

2016-07-01

CNES is involved in the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) and is observing space debris with two robotic ground based fully automated telescopes called TAROT and operated by the CNRS. An image processing algorithm devoted to debris detection in geostationary orbit is implemented in the standard pipeline. Nevertheless, this algorithm is unable to deal with debris tracking mode images, this mode being the preferred one for debris detectability. We present an algorithm improvement for this mode and give results in terms of false detection rate.

Robotic and Survey Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Woźniak, Przemysław

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

A search for photometric and spectroscopic evolutionary changes in the young planetary nebula Vy 2-2

Science.gov (United States)

Arkhipova, V. P.; Burlak, M. A.; Esipov, V. F.; Ikonnikova, N. P.; Komissarova, G. V.

2017-12-01

The results of long-term photometric and spectroscopic observations of the young compact planetary nebula Vy 2-2 (PNG 045.4-02.7) are presented. The UBV photometry in 1990-2016 has revealed a slight brightness trend in the yearly averaged data, most pronounced in the V band. We have measured the relative fluxes of optical emission lines on the spectrograms taken with the 1.25-m telescope at the Southern Station of the SAI MSU in 1999-2016, estimated the absolute flux in the Hβ line to be F(H β) = (2.1 ± 0.4) × 10-12 erg cm-2 s-1, and determined the interstellar extinction constant c(Hβ) = 1.8. The electron temperature and density in the nebula have been estimated from diagnostic line ratios: Te = (10-12) × 103 K and Ne ≥ 105 cm-3. To detect any possible evolutionary changes, we have compared the new observations with the archival data obtained over the entire history of spectroscopic observations of Vy 2-2. No significant changes in the relative intensities of the strongest emission lines and the integrated flux in the H β line exceeding the observational errors have been found. We have revealed a tendency for the intensity ratio F(λ4363)/F(λ4959) to decrease with time, which may be related to a decrease in the electron density in the nebula. Based on our photometric and spectroscopic data, we have estimated the luminosity of the central star of Vy 2-2, which corresponds to the evolutionary tracks for the most massive post-AGB stars of the O-rich sequence.

Telescopic and meteor observation of `Oumuamua, the first known interstellar asteroid

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Quan-Zhi

2018-04-01

1I/2017 U1 ('Oumuamua), a recently discovered asteroid in a hyperbolic orbit, is the first macroscopic object of extrasolar origin identified in the solar system. I will present imaging and spectroscopic observations of 'Oumuamua as well as a search of meteor activity potentially linked to this object using the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar. We find that 'Oumuamua exhibits a moderate spectral gradient of 10%+-6% per 100 nm, a value lower than that of outer solar system bodies, indicative of a formation and/or previous residence in a warmer environment. Imaging observation and spectral line analysis show no evidence that 'Oumuamua is presently active. Negative meteor observation is as expected, since ejection driven by sublimation of commonly known cometary species such as CO requires an extreme ejection speed of ~40 m/s at ~100 au in order to reach the Earth. No obvious candidate stars are proposed as the point of origin for 'Oumuamua. Given a mean free path of ~109 ly in the solar neighborhood, 'Oumuamua has likely spent a very long time in interstellar space before encountering the solar system.

THE BOLOCAM GALACTIC PLANE SURVEY. X. A COMPLETE SPECTROSCOPIC CATALOG OF DENSE MOLECULAR GAS OBSERVED TOWARD 1.1 mm DUST CONTINUUM SOURCES WITH 7.°5 ≤ l ≤ 194°

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shirley, Yancy L.; Svoboda, Brian [Steward Observatory, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Ellsworth-Bowers, Timothy P.; Schlingman, Wayne M.; Ginsburg, Adam; Battersby, Cara; Stringfellow, Guy; Glenn, Jason; Bally, John [CASA, University of Colorado, CB 389, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States); Rosolowsky, Erik [Department of Physics, University of Alberta, 4-181 CCIS Edmonton AB T6G 2E1 (Canada); Gerner, Thomas [Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA), Knigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Mairs, Steven [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3055, STN CSC, Victoria, BC V8W 3P6 (Canada); Dunham, Miranda K. [Department of Astronomy, Yale University, P.O. Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520 (United States)

2013-11-01

The Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS) is a 1.1 mm continuum survey of dense clumps of dust throughout the Galaxy covering 170 deg{sup 2}. We present spectroscopic observations using the Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope of the dense gas tracers, HCO{sup +} and N{sub 2}H{sup +} 3-2, for all 6194 sources in the BGPS v1.0.1 catalog between 7.°5 ≤ l ≤ 194°. This is the largest targeted spectroscopic survey of dense molecular gas in the Milky Way to date. We find unique velocities for 3126 (50.5%) of the BGPS v1.0.1 sources observed. Strong N{sub 2}H{sup +} 3-2 emission (T {sub mb} > 0.5 K) without HCO{sup +} 3-2 emission does not occur in this catalog. We characterize the properties of the dense molecular gas emission toward the entire sample. HCO{sup +} is very sub-thermally populated and the 3-2 transitions are optically thick toward most BGPS clumps. The median observed line width is 3.3 km s{sup –1} consistent with supersonic turbulence within BGPS clumps. We find strong correlations between dense molecular gas integrated intensities and 1.1 mm peak flux and the gas kinetic temperature derived from previously published NH{sub 3} observations. These intensity correlations are driven by the sensitivity of the 3-2 transitions to excitation conditions rather than by variations in molecular column density or abundance. We identify a subset of 113 sources with stronger N{sub 2}H{sup +} than HCO{sup +} integrated intensity, but we find no correlations between the N{sub 2}H{sup +}/HCO{sup +} ratio and 1.1 mm continuum flux density, gas kinetic temperature, or line width. Self-absorbed profiles are rare (1.3%)

A comprehensive near- and far-ultraviolet spectroscopic study of the hot DA white dwarf G191-B2B

Science.gov (United States)

Preval, S. P.; Barstow, M. A.; Holberg, J. B.; Dickinson, N. J.

2013-11-01

We present a detailed spectroscopic analysis of the hot DA white dwarf G191-B2B, using the best signal-to-noise ratio, high-resolution near- and far-UV spectrum obtained to date. This is constructed from co-added Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Space Telescope Imaging Spectrometer (STIS) E140H, E230H and FUSE observations, covering the spectral ranges of 1150-3145 Å and 910-1185 Å, respectively. With the aid of recently published atomic data, we have been able to identify previously undetected absorption features down to equivalent widths of only a few mÅ. In total, 976 absorption features have been detected to 3σ confidence or greater, with 947 of these lines now possessing an identification, the majority of which are attributed to Fe and Ni transitions. In our survey, we have also potentially identified an additional source of circumstellar material originating from Si III. While we confirm the presence of Ge detected by Vennes et al., we do not detect any other species. Furthermore, we have calculated updated abundances for C, N, O, Si, P, S, Fe and Ni, while also calculating, for the first time, a non-local thermodynamic equilibrium abundance for Al, deriving Al III/H=1.60_{-0.08}^{+0.07}× {10}^{-7}. Our analysis constitutes what is the most complete spectroscopic survey of any white dwarf. All observed absorption features in the FUSE spectrum have now been identified, and relatively few remain elusive in the STIS spectrum.

The afocal telescope of the ESA ARIEL mission: analysis of the layout

Science.gov (United States)

Da Deppo, Vania; Middleton, Kevin; Focardi, Mauro; Morgante, Gianluca; Corso, Alain Jody; Pace, Emanuele; Claudi, Riccardo; Micela, Giuseppina

2017-09-01

ARIEL (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey) is one of the three present candidates as an M4 ESA mission to be launched in 2026. During its foreseen 3.5 years operation, it will observe spectroscopically in the infrared a large population of known transiting planets in the neighborhood of the Solar System. The aim is to enable a deep understanding of the physics and chemistry of these exoplanets. ARIEL is based on a 1-m class telescope ahead of a suite of instruments: two spectrometer channels covering the band 1.95 to 7.8 μm and four photometric channels (two wide and two narrow band) in the range 0.5 to 1.9 μm. The ARIEL optical design is conceived as a fore-module common afocal telescope that will feed the spectrometer and photometric channels. The telescope optical design is based on an eccentric pupil two-mirror classic Cassegrain configuration coupled to a tertiary paraboloidal mirror. The temperature of the primary mirror (M1) will be monitored and finely tuned by means of an active thermal control system based on thermistors and heaters. They will be switched on and off to maintain the M1 temperature within ±1 K thanks to a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller implemented within the Telescope Control Unit (TCU), a Payload electronics subsystem mainly in charge of the active thermal control of the two detectors owning to the spectrometer. TCU will collect the housekeeping data of the controlled subsystems and will forward them to the spacecraft (S/C) by means of the Instrument Control Unit (ICU), the main Payload's electronic Unit linked to the S/C On Board Computer (OBC).

Gamma-ray burst observations with new generation imaging atmospheric Cerenkov Telescopes in the FERMI era

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Covino, S.; Campana, S.; Garczarczyk, M.; Galante, N.; Gaug, M.; Antonelli, A.; Bastieri, D.; Longo, F.; Scapin, V.

2009-01-01

After the launch and successful beginning of operations of the FERMI satellite, the topics related to high-energy observations of gamma-ray bursts have obtained a considerable attention by the scientific community. Undoubtedly, the diagnostic power of high-energy observations in constraining the emission processes and the physical conditions of gamma-ray burst is relevant. We briefly discuss how gamma-ray burst observations with ground-based imaging array Cerenkov telescopes, in the GeV-TeV range, can compete and cooperate with FERMI observations, in the MeV-GeV range, to allow researchers to obtain a more detailed and complete picture of the prompt and afterglow phases of gamma-ray bursts.

Status of the MAGIC telescopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2010-07-01

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

SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF AN EVOLVING FLARE RIBBON SUBSTRUCTURE SUGGESTING ORIGIN IN CURRENT SHEET WAVES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brannon, S. R.; Longcope, D. W.; Qiu, J. [Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717 (United States)

2015-09-01

We present imaging and spectroscopic observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph of the evolution of the flare ribbon in the SOL2014-04-18T13:03 M-class flare event, at high spatial resolution and time cadence. These observations reveal small-scale substructure within the ribbon, which manifests as coherent quasi-periodic oscillations in both position and Doppler velocities. We consider various alternative explanations for these oscillations, including modulation of chromospheric evaporation flows. Among these, we find the best support for some form of wave localized to the coronal current sheet, such as a tearing mode or Kelvin–Helmholtz instability.

Millimeter Wavelength Observations of Galactic Sources with the Mobile Anisotropy Telescope (MAT)

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, K. L.; Caldwell, R.; Devlin, M. J.; Dorwart, W. B.; Herbig, T.; Miller, A. D.; Nolta, M. R.; Page, L. A.; Puchalla, J. L.; Torbet, E.; Tran, H. T.

1999-12-01

The Mobile Anisotropy Telescope (MAT) has completed two observing seasons (1997 and 1998) in Chile from the Cerro Toco site. Although the primary goal of MAT was to measure anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation, the chosen observation scheme also allowed daily viewing of the Galactic Plane. We present filtered maps at 30, 40 and 144 GHz of a region of the Galactic Plane which contains several millimeter-bright regions including the Carinae nebula and IRAS 11097-6102. We report the best fit brightness temperatures as well as the total flux densities in the MAT beams (0.9, 0.6 and 0.2 degrees FWHM) . The data are calibrated with respect to Jupiter whose flux is known to better than 8% in all frequency bands. This work was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Packard Foundation.

Contemporaneous VLBA 5 GHz Observations of Large Area Telescope Detected Blazars

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-10

on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is a wide-field telescope covering the energy range from about 20 MeV to more than 300 GeV. It has been... energies via inverse Compton processes (e.g., Björnsson 2010; Tavecchio et al. 2011; Abdo et al. 2011). Meier (2005) expected several reconnection...Astrophys. Space Sci. Libr ., 285, 109 Healey, S. E., Romani, R. W., Cotter, G., et al. 2008, ApJS, 175, 97 Healey, S. E., Romani, R. W., Taylor, G. B

Identification of old tidal dwarfs near early-type galaxies from deep imaging and H I observations

Science.gov (United States)

Duc, Pierre-Alain; Paudel, Sanjaya; McDermid, Richard M.; Cuillandre, Jean-Charles; Serra, Paolo; Bournaud, Frédéric; Cappellari, Michele; Emsellem, Eric

2014-05-01

It has recently been proposed that the dwarf spheroidal galaxies located in the Local Group discs of satellites (DoSs) may be tidal dwarf galaxies (TDGs) born in a major merger at least 5 Gyr ago. Whether TDGs can live that long is still poorly constrained by observations. As part of deep optical and H I surveys with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) MegaCam camera and Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope made within the ATLAS3D project, and follow-up spectroscopic observations with the Gemini-North telescope, we have discovered old TDG candidates around several early-type galaxies. At least one of them has an oxygen abundance close to solar, as expected for a tidal origin. This confirmed pre-enriched object is located within the gigantic, but very low surface brightness, tidal tail that emanates from the elliptical galaxy, NGC 5557. An age of 4 Gyr estimated from its SED fitting makes it the oldest securely identified TDG ever found so far. We investigated the structural and gaseous properties of the TDG and of a companion located in the same collisional debris, and thus most likely of tidal origin as well. Despite several Gyr of evolution close to their parent galaxies, they kept a large gas reservoir. Their central surface brightness is low and their effective radius much larger than that of typical dwarf galaxies of the same mass. This possibly provides us with criteria to identify tidal objects which can be more easily checked than the traditional ones requiring deep spectroscopic observations. In view of the above, we discuss the survival time of TDGs and question the tidal origin of the DoSs.

The Cosmic Abundance of 3He: Green Bank Telescope Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Balser, Dana; Bania, Thomas

2018-01-01

The Big Bang theory for the origin of the Universe predicts that during the first ~1,000 seconds significant amounts of the light elements (2H, 3He, 4He, and 7Li) were produced. Many generations of stellar evolution in the Galaxy modifies these primordial abundances. Observations of the 3He+ hyperfine transition in Galactic HII regions reveals a 3He/H abundance ratio that is constant with Galactocentric radius to within the uncertainties, and is consistent with the primordial value as determined from cosmic microwave background experiments (e.g., WMAP). This "3He Plateau" indicates that the net production and destruction of 3He in stars is approximately zero. Recent stellar evolution models that include thermohaline mixing, however, predict that 3He/H abundance ratios should slightly decrease with Galactocentric radius, or in places in the Galaxy with lower star formation rates. Here we discuss sensitive Green Bank Telescope (GBT) observations of 3He+ at 3.46 cm in a subset of our HII region sample. We develop HII region models and derive accurate 3He/H abundance ratios to better constrain these new stellar evolution models.

The Sloan Lens ACS Survey. I. A large spectroscopically selected sample of massive early-type lens galaxies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bolton, AS; Burles, S; Koopmans, LVE; Treu, T; Moustakas, LA

2006-01-01

The Sloan Lens ACS (SLACS) Survey is an efficient Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Snapshot imaging survey for new galaxy-scale strong gravitational lenses. The targeted lens candidates are selected spectroscopically from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) database of galaxy spectra for having multiple

Undergraduate Education with the WIYN 0.9-m Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Pilachowski, Catherine A.

2017-01-01

Several models have been explored at Indiana University Bloomington for undergraduate student engagement in astronomy using the WIYN 0.9-m telescope at Kitt Peak. These models include individual student research projects using the telescope, student observations as part of an observational techniques course for majors, and enrichment activities for non-science majors in general education courses. Where possible, we arrange for students to travel to the telescope. More often, we are able to use simple online tools such as Skype and VNC viewers to give students an authentic observing experience. Experiences with the telescope motivate students to learn basic content in astronomy, including the celestial sphere, the electromagnetic spectrum, telescopes and detectors, the variety of astronomical objects, date reduction processes, image analysis, and color image creation and appreciation. The WIYN 0.9-m telescope is an essential tool for our program at all levels of undergraduate education

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE PHOTOMETRY OF GLOBULAR CLUSTERS IN M81

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nantais, Julie B.; Huchra, John P.; Zezas, Andreas; Gazeas, Kosmas; Strader, Jay

2011-01-01

We perform aperture photometry and profile fitting on 419 globular cluster (GC) candidates with m V ≤ 23 mag identified in Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys BVI imaging, and estimate the effective radii of the clusters. We identify 85 previously known spectroscopically confirmed clusters, and newly identify 136 objects as good cluster candidates within the 3σ color and size ranges defined by the spectroscopically confirmed clusters, yielding a total of 221 probable GCs. The luminosity function peak for the 221 probable GCs with estimated total dereddening applied is V ∼ (20.26 ± 0.13) mag, corresponding to a distance of ∼3.7 ± 0.3 Mpc. The blue and red GC candidates, and the metal-rich and metal-poor spectroscopically confirmed clusters, respectively, are similar in half-light radius. Red confirmed clusters are about 6% larger in median half-light radius than blue confirmed clusters, and red and blue good GC candidates are nearly identical in half-light radius. The total population of confirmed and 'good' candidates shows an increase in half-light radius as a function of galactocentric distance.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Donglin; Cai, Zheng

2018-02-01

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

VizieR Online Data Catalog: 27 pulsating DA WDs follow-up observations (Hermes+, 2017)

Science.gov (United States)

Hermes, J. J.; Gansicke, B. T.; Kawaler, S. D.; Greiss, S.; Tremblay, P.-E.; Gentile Fusillo, N. P.; Raddi, R.; Fanale, S. M.; Bell, K. J.; Dennihy, E.; Fuchs, J. T.; Dunlap, B. H.; Clemens, J. C.; Montgomery, M. H.; Winget, D. E.; Chote, P.; Marsh, T. R.; Redfield, S.

2017-11-01

All observations analyzed here were collected by the Kepler spacecraft with short-cadence exposures from 2012 to 2016. Full details of the raw and processed Kepler and K2 observations are summarized in Table2. We complemented our space-based photometry of these 27 pulsating hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarfs (DAVs) by determining their atmospheric parameters based on model-atmosphere fits to follow-up spectroscopy obtained from two 4m class, ground-based facilities. Spectra taken with the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope (WHT) on the island of La Palma cover roughly 3800-5100Å at roughly 2.0Å resolution; spanning 2013 Jun 06 to 2014 Jul 25. Spectra taken with the 4.1m Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope on Cerro Pachon in Chile cover roughly 3600-5200Å; spanning 2014 Oct 13 to 2017 Apr 21. We detail these spectroscopic observations and their resultant fits in Table 3. (4 data files).

The MUSE Hubble Ultra Deep Field Survey. II. Spectroscopic redshifts and comparisons to color selections of high-redshift galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Inami, H.; Bacon, R.; Brinchmann, J.; Richard, J.; Contini, T.; Conseil, S.; Hamer, S.; Akhlaghi, M.; Bouché, N.; Clément, B.; Desprez, G.; Drake, A. B.; Hashimoto, T.; Leclercq, F.; Maseda, M.; Michel-Dansac, L.; Paalvast, M.; Tresse, L.; Ventou, E.; Kollatschny, W.; Boogaard, L. A.; Finley, H.; Marino, R. A.; Schaye, J.; Wisotzki, L.

2017-11-01

We have conducted a two-layered spectroscopic survey (1' × 1' ultra deep and 3' × 3' deep regions) in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE). The combination of a large field of view, high sensitivity, and wide wavelength coverage provides an order of magnitude improvement in spectroscopically confirmed redshifts in the HUDF; i.e., 1206 secure spectroscopic redshifts for Hubble Space Telescope (HST) continuum selected objects, which corresponds to 15% of the total (7904). The redshift distribution extends well beyond z> 3 and to HST/F775W magnitudes as faint as ≈ 30 mag (AB, 1σ). In addition, 132 secure redshifts were obtained for sources with no HST counterparts that were discovered in the MUSE data cubes by a blind search for emission-line features. In total, we present 1338 high quality redshifts, which is a factor of eight increase compared with the previously known spectroscopic redshifts in the same field. We assessed redshifts mainly with the spectral features [O II] at zcolor selection (dropout) diagrams of high-z galaxies. The selection condition for F336W dropouts successfully captures ≈ 80% of the targeted z 2.7 galaxies. However, for higher redshift selections (F435W, F606W, and F775W dropouts), the success rates decrease to ≈ 20-40%. We empirically redefine the selection boundaries to make an attempt to improve them to ≈ 60%. The revised boundaries allow bluer colors that capture Lyα emitters with high Lyα equivalent widths falling in the broadbands used for the color-color selection. Along with this paper, we release the redshift and line flux catalog. Based on observations made with ESO telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory under program IDs 094.A-0289(B), 095.A-0010(A), 096.A-0045(A) and 096.A-0045(B).MUSE Ultra Deep Field redshift catalogs (Full Table A.1) are available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http

A telescope with augmented reality functions

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-10-01

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

Probing Very Bright End of Galaxy Luminosity Function at z >~ 7 Using Hubble Space Telescope Pure Parallel Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Haojing; Yan, Lin; Zamojski, Michel A.; Windhorst, Rogier A.; McCarthy, Patrick J.; Fan, Xiaohui; Röttgering, Huub J. A.; Koekemoer, Anton M.; Robertson, Brant E.; Davé, Romeel; Cai, Zheng

2011-02-01

We report the first results from the Hubble Infrared Pure Parallel Imaging Extragalactic Survey, which utilizes the pure parallel orbits of the Hubble Space Telescope to do deep imaging along a large number of random sightlines. To date, our analysis includes 26 widely separated fields observed by the Wide Field Camera 3, which amounts to 122.8 arcmin2 in total area. We have found three bright Y 098-dropouts, which are candidate galaxies at z >~ 7.4. One of these objects shows an indication of peculiar variability and its nature is uncertain. The other two objects are among the brightest candidate galaxies at these redshifts known to date (L>2L*). Such very luminous objects could be the progenitors of the high-mass Lyman break galaxies observed at lower redshifts (up to z ~ 5). While our sample is still limited in size, it is much less subject to the uncertainty caused by "cosmic variance" than other samples because it is derived using fields along many random sightlines. We find that the existence of the brightest candidate at z ≈ 7.4 is not well explained by the current luminosity function (LF) estimates at z ≈ 8. However, its inferred surface density could be explained by the prediction from the LFs at z ≈ 7 if it belongs to the high-redshift tail of the galaxy population at z ≈ 7. Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated with programs 11700 and 11702.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Observed red supergiants in the inner Galaxy (Messineo+, 2016)

Science.gov (United States)

Messineo, M.; Zhu, Q.; Menten, K. M.; Ivanov, V. D.; Figer, D. F.; Kudritzki, R.-P.; Rosie, Chen C.-H.

2018-02-01

Spectroscopic observations were carried out with the Son of ISAAC (SofI; Moorwood et al. 1998Msngr..91....9M) Spectrograph on the ESO/New Technology Telescope (NTT) 3.58 m telescope of the La Silla Observatory, on the three nights from UT 2015 June 16 to 19-program ID 095.D-0252(A). Spectra with the low-resolution red grism, and the 0.6" wide slit, delivering resolution R~980 over the wavelength range λ=1.53-2.52 μm were obtained for 94 targets. For each target a minimum number of four exposures, nodded along the slit, were taken in an ABBA sequence. Typical integration times per frame ranged from 2 to 100 s (DITsxNDITs). (1 data file).

CCD SPECKLE OBSERVATIONS OF BINARY STARS WITH THE WIYN TELESCOPE. VI. MEASURES DURING 2007-2008

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horch, Elliott P.; Anderson, Lisa M.; DeSousa, Michael D.; Miniter, Craig M.; Ahmed, Tasmia; Falta, David; Van Altena, William F.

2010-01-01

Results of 974 speckle observations of 546 binary stars are presented. Observations were obtained at the WIYN 3.5 m Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory during the time interval from 2007 January to 2008 June. In all cases, the relative separation and position angle of the components are measured, and the magnitude difference is determined in 809 cases. The precision of the results as judged from repeat observations and objects with very well-determined orbits is similar to previous papers in this series, namely ∼3 mas in separation and <1 deg. in position angle in most cases. Similarly, the photometric precision remains consistent with previous WIYN speckle data, on average ∼0.1 mag per observation. Six systems of special interest are discussed.

[Galileo and his telescope].

Science.gov (United States)

Strebel, Christoph

2006-01-01

Galileo's publication of observations made with his newly reinvented telescope provoked a fierce debate. In April 1610 Martinus Horky, a young Bohemian astronomer, had an opportunity to make his own observations with Galileo's telescope in the presence of Antonio Magini and other astronomers. Horky and the other witnesses denied the adequacy of Galileo's telescope and therefore the bona fides of his discoveries. Kepler conjectured Horky as well as all his witnesses to be myopic. But Kepler's objection could not stop the publication of Horky's Peregrinatio contra nuncium sidereum (Modena, 1610), the first printed refutation of Galileo's Sidereus nuncius. In his treatise, Horky adresses four questions: 1) Do the four newly observed heavenly bodies actually exist? Horky denies their existence on various grounds: a) God, as every astronomer teaches, has created only seven moveable heavenly bodies and astronomical knowledge originates in God, too. b) Heavenly bodies are either stars or planets. Galileo's moveable heavenly bodies fit into neither category. c) If they do exist, why have they not already been observed by other scholars? Horky concludes that there are no such heavenly bodies. 2) What are these phenomena? They are purely artefactual, and produced by Galileo's telescope. 3) How are they like? Galileo's "stars" are so small as to be almost invisible. Galileo claims that he has measured their distances from each other. This however is impossible due to their diminutive size and other observational problems. Hence, Galileo's claim is a further proof that he is a fraud. 4) Why are they? For Galileo they are a chance to earn money but for astronomers like Horky they are a reason to offer thanks and honour to God. Horky's treatise was favourably received by the enemies of Galileo. But Kepler's critique was devastating. After calling on Kepler in Prague, Horky had to revoke the contents of his book.

Early Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Observations of the Quasar 3C454.3

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abdo, A

2009-05-07

This is the first report of Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope observations of the quasar 3C 454.3, which has been undergoing pronounced long-term outbursts since 2000. The data from the Large Area Telescope (LAT), covering 2008 July 7-October 6, indicate strong, highly variable {gamma}-ray emission with an average flux of {approx} 3 x 10{sup -6} photons cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}, for energies > 100 MeV. The {gamma}-ray flux is variable, with strong, distinct, symmetrically-shaped flares for which the flux increases by a factor of several on a time scale of about three days. This variability indicates a compact emission region, and the requirement that the source is optically thin to pair-production implies relativistic beaming with Doppler factor {delta} > 8, consistent with the values inferred from VLBI observations of superluminal expansion ({delta} {approx} 25). The observed {gamma}-ray spectrum is not consistent with a simple power-law, but instead steepens strongly above {approx} 2 GeV, and is well described by a broken power-law with photon indices of {approx} 2.3 and {approx} 3.5 below and above the break, respectively. This is the first direct observation of a break in the spectrum of a high luminosity blazar above 100 MeV, and it is likely direct evidence for an intrinsic break in the energy distribution of the radiating particles. Alternatively, the spectral softening above 2GeV could be due to -ray absorption via photonphoton pair production on the soft X-ray photon field of the host AGN, but such an interpretation would require the dissipation region to be located very close ({approx}< 100 gravitational radii) to the black hole, which would be inconsistent with the X-ray spectrum of the source.

A telescopic cinema sound camera for observing high altitude aerospace vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, Dan

2014-09-01

Rockets and other high altitude aerospace vehicles produce interesting visual and aural phenomena that can be remotely observed from long distances. This paper describes a compact, passive and covert remote sensing system that can produce high resolution sound movies at >100 km viewing distances. The telescopic high resolution camera is capable of resolving and quantifying space launch vehicle dynamics including plume formation, staging events and payload fairing jettison. Flight vehicles produce sounds and vibrations that modulate the local electromagnetic environment. These audio frequency modulations can be remotely sensed by passive optical and radio wave detectors. Acousto-optic sensing methods were primarily used but an experimental radioacoustic sensor using passive micro-Doppler radar techniques was also tested. The synchronized combination of high resolution flight vehicle imagery with the associated vehicle sounds produces a cinema like experience that that is useful in both an aerospace engineering and a Hollywood film production context. Examples of visual, aural and radar observations of the first SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket launch are shown and discussed.

O-6 Optical Property Degradation of the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera-2 Pick Off Mirror

Science.gov (United States)

McNamara, Karen M.; Hughes, D. W.; Lauer, H. V.; Burkett, P. J.; Reed, B. B.

2011-01-01

Degradation in the performance of optical components can be greatly affected by exposure to the space environment. Many factors can contribute to such degradation including surface contaminants; outgassing; vacuum, UV, and atomic oxygen exposure; temperature cycling; or combinations of parameters. In-situ observations give important clues to degradation processes, but there are relatively few opportunities to correlate those observations with post-flight ground analyses. The return of instruments from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) after its final servicing mission in May 2009 provided such an opportunity. Among the instruments returned from HST was the Wide-Field Planetary Camera-2 (WFPC-2), which had been exposed to the space environment for 16 years. This work focuses on the identifying the sources of degradation in the performance of the Pick-off mirror (POM) from WFPC-2. Techniques including surface reflectivity measurements, spectroscopic ellipsometry, FTIR (and ATR-FTIR) analyses, SEM/EDS, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) with and without ion milling, and wet and dry physical surface sampling were performed. Destructive and contact analyses took place only after completion of the non-destructive measurements. Spectroscopic ellipsometry was then repeated to determine the extent of contaminant removal by the destructive techniques, providing insight into the nature and extent of polymerization of the contaminant layer.

Development and Performances of the Magic Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Bastieri, D.; Bigongiari, C.; Dazzi, F.; Mariotti, M.; Moralejo, A.; Peruzzo, L.; Saggion, A.; Tonello, N.

2002-11-01

The MAGIC Collaboration is building an imaging Čerenkov telescope at La Palma site (2200 m a.s.l.), in the Canary Islands, to observe gamma rays in the hundred-GeV region. The MAGIC telescope, with its reflecting parabolic dish, 17 m in diameter, and a two-level pattern trigger designed to cope with severe trigger rates, is the Čerenkov telescope with the lowest envisaged energy threshold. Due to its lightweight alto-azimuthal mounting, MAGIC can be repositioned in less than 30 seconds, becoming the only detector, with an adequate effective area, capable to observe GRB phenomena above 30 GeV. MAGIC telescope is characterised by a 30 GeV energy threshold and a sensitivity of 6×l0-11 cm-2s-1 for a 5σ-detection in 50-hours of observation. In this report, some future scientific goals for MAGIC will be highlighted and the technical development for the main elements of the telescope will be detailed. Special emphasis will be given to the construction of the individual metallic mirrors which form the reflecting surface and the development of the fast pattern-recognition trigger.

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SPECTROSCOPY OF BROWN DWARFS DISCOVERED WITH THE WIDE-FIELD INFRARED SURVEY EXPLORER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, Adam C.; Cushing, Michael C.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Gelino, Christopher R.; Mace, Gregory N.; Wright, Edward L.; Eisenhardt, Peter R.; Skrutskie, M. F.; Griffith, Roger L.; Marsh, Kenneth A.

2015-01-01

We present a sample of brown dwarfs identified with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) for which we have obtained Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) near-infrared grism spectroscopy. The sample (22 in total) was observed with the G141 grism covering 1.10–1.70 μm, while 15 were also observed with the G102 grism, which covers 0.90–1.10 μm. The additional wavelength coverage provided by the G102 grism allows us to (1) search for spectroscopic features predicted to emerge at low effective temperatures (e.g.,ammonia bands) and (2) construct a smooth spectral sequence across the T/Y boundary. We find no evidence of absorption due to ammonia in the G102 spectra. Six of these brown dwarfs are new discoveries, three of which are found to have spectral types of T8 or T9. The remaining three, WISE J082507.35+280548.5 (Y0.5), WISE J120604.38+840110.6 (Y0), and WISE J235402.77+024015.0 (Y1), are the 19th, 20th, and 21st spectroscopically confirmed Y dwarfs to date. We also present HST grism spectroscopy and reevaluate the spectral types of five brown dwarfs for which spectral types have been determined previously using other instruments

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SPECTROSCOPY OF BROWN DWARFS DISCOVERED WITH THE WIDE-FIELD INFRARED SURVEY EXPLORER

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schneider, Adam C.; Cushing, Michael C. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, 2801 W. Bancroft St., Toledo, OH 43606 (United States); Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Gelino, Christopher R. [Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, MS 100-22, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Mace, Gregory N.; Wright, Edward L. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCLA, 430 Portola Plaza, Box 951547, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1547 (United States); Eisenhardt, Peter R. [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States); Skrutskie, M. F. [Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, 530 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (United States); Griffith, Roger L. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 525 Davey Lab, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Marsh, Kenneth A., E-mail: Adam.Schneider@Utoledo.edu [School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3AA (United Kingdom)

2015-05-10

We present a sample of brown dwarfs identified with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) for which we have obtained Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) near-infrared grism spectroscopy. The sample (22 in total) was observed with the G141 grism covering 1.10–1.70 μm, while 15 were also observed with the G102 grism, which covers 0.90–1.10 μm. The additional wavelength coverage provided by the G102 grism allows us to (1) search for spectroscopic features predicted to emerge at low effective temperatures (e.g.,ammonia bands) and (2) construct a smooth spectral sequence across the T/Y boundary. We find no evidence of absorption due to ammonia in the G102 spectra. Six of these brown dwarfs are new discoveries, three of which are found to have spectral types of T8 or T9. The remaining three, WISE J082507.35+280548.5 (Y0.5), WISE J120604.38+840110.6 (Y0), and WISE J235402.77+024015.0 (Y1), are the 19th, 20th, and 21st spectroscopically confirmed Y dwarfs to date. We also present HST grism spectroscopy and reevaluate the spectral types of five brown dwarfs for which spectral types have been determined previously using other instruments.

Modeling and verification of the diffraction-limited visible light telescope aboard the solar observing satellite HINODE

Science.gov (United States)

Katsukawa, Y.; Suematsu, Y.; Tsuneta, S.; Ichimoto, K.; Shimizu, T.

2011-09-01

HINODE, Japanese for "sunrise", is a spacecraft dedicated for observations of the Sun, and was launched in 2006 to study the Sun's magnetic fields and how their explosive energies propagate through the different atmospheric layers. The spacecraft carries the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), which has a 50 cm diameter clear aperture and provides a continuous series of diffraction-limited visible light images from space. The telescope was developed through international collaboration between Japan and US. In order to achieve the diffraction-limited performance, thermal and structural modeling of the telescope was extensively used in its development phase to predict how the optical performance changes dependent on the thermal condition in orbit. Not only the modeling, we devoted many efforts to verify the optical performance in ground tests before the launch. The verification in the ground tests helped us to find many issues, such as temperature dependent focus shifts, which were not identified only through the thermal-structural modeling. Another critical issue was micro-vibrations induced by internal disturbances of mechanical gyroscopes and momentum wheels for attitude control of the spacecraft. Because the structural modeling was not accurate enough to predict how much the image quality was degraded by the micro-vibrations, we measured their transmission in a spacecraft-level test.

UBAT of UFFO/ Lomonosov: The X-Ray Space Telescope to Observe Early Photons from Gamma-Ray Bursts

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, S.; Panasyuk, M. I.; Reglero, V.; Connell, P.; Kim, M. B.; Lee, J.; Rodrigo, J. M.; Ripa, J.; Eyles, C.; Lim, H.; Gaikov, G.; Jeong, H.; Leonov, V.; Chen, P.; Castro-Tirado, A. J.; Nam, J. W.; Svertilov, S.; Yashin, I.; Garipov, G.; Huang, M.-H. A.; Huang, J.-J.; Kim, J. E.; Liu, T.-C.; Petrov, V.; Bogomolov, V.; Budtz-Jørgensen, C.; Brandt, S.; Park, I. H.

2018-02-01

The Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory (UFFO) Burst Alert and Trigger Telescope (UBAT) has been designed and built for the localization of transient X-ray sources such as Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs). As one of main instruments in the UFFO payload onboard the Lomonosov satellite (hereafter UFFO/ Lomonosov), the UBAT's roles are to monitor the X-ray sky, to rapidly locate and track transient sources, and to trigger the slewing of a UV/optical telescope, namely Slewing Mirror Telescope (SMT). The SMT, a pioneering application of rapid slewing mirror technology has a line of sight parallel to the UBAT, allowing us to measure the early UV/optical GRB counterpart and study the extremely early moments of GRB evolution. To detect X-rays, the UBAT utilizes a 191.1 cm2 scintillation detector composed of Yttrium Oxyorthosilicate (YSO) crystals, Multi-Anode Photomultiplier Tubes (MAPMTs), and associated electronics. To estimate a direction vector of a GRB source in its field of view, it employs the well-known coded aperture mask technique. All functions are written for implementation on a field programmable gate array to enable fast triggering and to run the device's imaging algorithms. The UFFO/ Lomonosov satellite was launched on April 28, 2016, and is now collecting GRB observation data. In this study, we describe the UBAT's design, fabrication, integration, and performance as a GRB X-ray trigger and localization telescope, both on the ground and in space.

POLARIZATION OBSERVATIONS OF 100 PULSARS AT 774 MHz BY THE GREEN BANK TELESCOPE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, J. L.; Demorest, P. B.; Van Straten, W.; Lyne, A. G.

2009-01-01

We report on polarimetric observations of 100 pulsars centered on 774 MHz, made using the Green Bank Telescope, presenting their polarization profiles and polarized flux densities and comparing them with previous observations when possible. For 67 pulsars, these are the first such measurements made. Polarization profiles of 8 millisecond-pulsars in our sample show wide profiles and flat position-angle curves. Strong linear polarization, sometimes approaching 100% of the total intensity, has been detected in all or a part of the average pulse profiles of some pulsars. In general, circular polarization is very weak, although it is observed to be extremely strong in the leading component of PSR J1920+2650. Sense reversal of circular polarization as a function of pulse phase has been detected from both core and other components of more than 20 pulsars. Any relationship between the spin-down luminosity and the percentage of linear polarization is not evident in our data at this frequency.

A free market in telescope time?

Science.gov (United States)

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

2004-09-01

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

Observations of a nearby filament of galaxy clusters with the Sardinia Radio Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Vacca, Valentina; Murgia, M.; Loi, F. Govoni F.; Vazza, F.; Finoguenov, A.; Carretti, E.; Feretti, L.; Giovannini, G.; Concu, R.; Melis, A.; Gheller, C.; Paladino, R.; Poppi, S.; Valente, G.; Bernardi, G.; Boschin, W.; Brienza, M.; Clarke, T. E.; Colafrancesco, S.; Enßlin, T.; Ferrari, C.; de Gasperin, F.; Gastaldello, F.; Girardi, M.; Gregorini, L.; Johnston-Hollitt, M.; Junklewitz, H.; Orrù, E.; Parma, P.; Perley, R.; Taylor, G. B.

2018-05-01

We report the detection of diffuse radio emission which might be connected to a large-scale filament of the cosmic web covering a 8° × 8° area in the sky, likely associated with a z≈0.1 over-density traced by nine massive galaxy clusters. In this work, we present radio observations of this region taken with the Sardinia Radio Telescope. Two of the clusters in the field host a powerful radio halo sustained by violent ongoing mergers and provide direct proof of intra-cluster magnetic fields. In order to investigate the presence of large-scale diffuse radio synchrotron emission in and beyond the galaxy clusters in this complex system, we combined the data taken at 1.4 GHz with the Sardinia Radio Telescope with higher resolution data taken with the NRAO VLA Sky Survey. We found 28 candidate new sources with a size larger and X-ray emission fainter than known diffuse large-scale synchrotron cluster sources for a given radio power. This new population is potentially the tip of the iceberg of a class of diffuse large-scale synchrotron sources associated with the filaments of the cosmic web. In addition, we found in the field a candidate new giant radio galaxy.

Very-high-energy gamma-ray observations of the Type Ia Supernova SN 2014J with the MAGIC telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Ahnen, M. L.; Ansoldi, S.; Antonelli, L. A.; Antoranz, P.; Arcaro, C.; Babic, A.; Banerjee, B.; Bangale, P.; Barres de Almeida, U.; Barrio, J. A.; Becerra González, J.; Bednarek, W.; Bernardini, E.; Berti, A.; Biasuzzi, B.; Biland, A.; Blanch, O.; Bonnefoy, S.; Bonnoli, G.; Borracci, F.; Bretz, T.; Carosi, R.; Carosi, A.; Chatterjee, A.; Colin, P.; Colombo, E.; Contreras, J. L.; Cortina, J.; Covino, S.; Cumani, P.; Da Vela, P.; Dazzi, F.; De Angelis, A.; De Lotto, B.; de Oña Wilhelmi, E.; Di Pierro, F.; Doert, M.; Domínguez, A.; Dominis Prester, D.; Dorner, D.; Doro, M.; Einecke, S.; Eisenacher Glawion, D.; Elsaesser, D.; Engelkemeier, M.; Fallah Ramazani, V.; Fernández-Barral, A.; Fidalgo, D.; Fonseca, M. V.; Font, L.; Frantzen, K.; Fruck, C.; Galindo, D.; García López, R. J.; Garczarczyk, M.; Garrido Terrats, D.; Gaug, M.; Giammaria, P.; Godinović, N.; Gora, D.; Guberman, D.; Hadasch, D.; Hahn, A.; Hayashida, M.; Herrera, J.; Hose, J.; Hrupec, D.; Hughes, G.; Idec, W.; Kodani, K.; Konno, Y.; Kubo, H.; Kushida, J.; La Barbera, A.; Lelas, D.; Lindfors, E.; Lombardi, S.; Longo, F.; López, M.; López-Coto, R.; Majumdar, P.; Makariev, M.; Mallot, K.; Maneva, G.; Manganaro, M.; Mannheim, K.; Maraschi, L.; Marcote, B.; Mariotti, M.; Martínez, M.; Mazin, D.; Menzel, U.; Miranda, J. M.; Mirzoyan, R.; Moralejo, A.; Moretti, E.; Nakajima, D.; Neustroev, V.; Niedzwiecki, A.; Nievas Rosillo, M.; Nilsson, K.; Nishijima, K.; Noda, K.; Nogués, L.; Paiano, S.; Palacio, J.; Palatiello, M.; Paneque, D.; Paoletti, R.; Paredes, J. M.; Paredes-Fortuny, X.; Pedaletti, G.; Peresano, M.; Perri, L.; Persic, M.; Poutanen, J.; Prada Moroni, P. G.; Prandini, E.; Puljak, I.; Garcia, J. R.; Reichardt, I.; Rhode, W.; Ribó, M.; Rico, J.; Saito, T.; Satalecka, K.; Schroeder, S.; Schweizer, T.; Sillanpää, A.; Sitarek, J.; Snidaric, I.; Sobczynska, D.; Stamerra, A.; Strzys, M.; Surić, T.; Takalo, L.; Tavecchio, F.; Temnikov, P.; Terzić, T.; Tescaro, D.; Teshima, M.; Torres, D. F.; Toyama, T.; Treves, A.; Vanzo, G.; Vazquez Acosta, M.; Vovk, I.; Ward, J. E.; Will, M.; Wu, M. H.; Zanin, R.

2017-06-01

Context. In this work we present data from observations with the MAGIC telescopes of SN 2014J detected on January 21 2014, the closest Type Ia supernova since Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes started to operate. Aims: We aim to probe the possibility of very-high-energy (VHE; E ≥ 100 GeV) gamma rays produced in the early stages of Type Ia supernova explosions. Methods: We performed follow-up observations after this supernova (SN) explosion for five days, between January 27 and February 2 2014. We searched for gamma-ray signals in the energy range between 100 GeV and several TeV from the location of SN 2014J using data from a total of 5.5 h of observations. Prospects for observing gamma rays of hadronic origin from SN 2014J in the near future are also being addressed. Results: No significant excess was detected from the direction of SN 2014J. Upper limits at 95% confidence level on the integral flux, assuming a power-law spectrum, dF/dE ∝ E- Γ, with a spectral index of Γ = 2.6, for energies higher than 300 GeV and 700 GeV, are established at 1.3 × 10-12 and 4.1 × 10-13 photons cm-2 s-1, respectively. Conclusions: For the first time, upper limits on the VHE emission of a Type Ia supernova are established. The energy fraction isotropically emitted into TeV gamma rays during the first 10 days after the supernova explosion for energies greater than 300 GeV is limited to 10-6 of the total available energy budget ( 1051 erg). Within the assumed theoretical scenario, the MAGIC upper limits on the VHE emission suggest that SN 2014J will not be detectable in the future by any current or planned generation of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes.

A RADIAL VELOCITY STUDY OF COMPOSITE-SPECTRA HOT SUBDWARF STARS WITH THE HOBBY-EBERLY TELESCOPE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barlow, Brad N.; Wade, Richard A.; Liss, Sandra E. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Lab, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Ostensen, Roy H.; Van Winckel, Hans [Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, K.U. Leuven, B-3001 Leuven (Belgium)

2012-10-10

Many hot subdwarf stars show composite spectral energy distributions indicative of cool main-sequence (MS) companions. Binary population synthesis (BPS) models demonstrate such systems can be formed via Roche lobe overflow or common envelope evolution but disagree on whether the resulting orbital periods will be long (years) or short (days). Few studies have been carried out to assess the orbital parameters of these spectroscopic composite binaries; current observations suggest the periods are long. To help address this problem, we selected 15 moderately bright (V {approx} 13) hot subdwarfs with F-K dwarf companions and monitored their radial velocities from 2005 January to 2008 July using the bench-mounted Medium Resolution Spectrograph on the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET). Here we describe the details of our observing, reduction, and analysis techniques, and present preliminary results for all targets. By combining the HET data with recent observations from the Mercator Telescope, we are able to calculate precise orbital solutions for three systems using more than six years of observations. We also present an up-to-date period histogram for all known hot subdwarf binaries, which suggests those with F-K MS companions tend to have orbital periods on the order of several years. Such long periods challenge the predictions of conventional BPS models, although a larger sample is needed for a thorough assessment of the models' predictive success. Lastly, one of our targets has an eccentric orbit, implying some composite-spectrum systems might have formerly been hierarchical triple systems, in which the inner binary merged to create the hot subdwarf.

FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATION OF A GAMMA-RAY SOURCE AT THE POSITION OF ETA CARINAE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Allafort, A.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R. D.; Borgland, A. W.; Bouvier, A.; Baldini, L.; Bellazzini, R.; Bregeon, J.; Brez, A.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Bonamente, E.; Brandt, T. J.; Brigida, M.; Bruel, P.

2010-01-01

The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected a γ-ray source that is spatially consistent with the location of Eta Carinae. This source has been persistently bright since the beginning of the LAT survey observations (from 2008 August to 2009 July, the time interval considered here). The γ-ray signal is detected significantly throughout the LAT energy band (i.e., up to ∼100 GeV). The 0.1-100 GeV energy spectrum is well represented by a combination of a cutoff power-law model ( 10 GeV). The total flux (>100 MeV) is 3.7 +0.3 -0.1 x 10 -7 photons s -1 cm -2 , with additional systematic uncertainties of 10%, and consistent with the average flux measured by AGILE. The light curve obtained by Fermi is consistent with steady emission. Our observations do not confirm the presence of a γ-ray flare in 2008 October, as reported by Tavani et al., although we cannot exclude that a flare lasting only a few hours escaped detection by the Fermi LAT. We also do not find any evidence for γ-ray variability that correlates with the large X-ray variability of Eta Carinae observed during 2008 December and 2009 January. We are thus not able to establish an unambiguous identification of the LAT source with Eta Carinae.

A closer look at the quadruply lensed quasar PSOJ0147: spectroscopic redshifts and microlensing effect

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Chien-Hsiu

2018-04-01

I present a timely spectroscopic follow-up of the newly discovered, quadruply lensed quasar PSOJ0147 from the Pan-STARRS 1 survey. The newly acquired optical spectra with GMOS onboard the Gemini North Telescope allow us to pin down the redshifts of both the foreground lensing galaxy and the background lensed quasar to be z = 0.572 and 2.341, providing a firm basis for cosmography with future high-cadence photometric monitoring. I also inspect difference spectra from two of the quasar images, revealing the microlensing effect. Long-term spectroscopic follow-ups will shed lights on the structure of the active galactic nucleus and its environment.

FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF THE VELA PULSAR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Bartelt, J.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Bogart, J. R.; Atwood, W. B.; Bagagli, R.; Baldini, L.; Bellardi, F.; Bellazzini, R.; Ballet, J.; Band, D. L.; Barbiellini, G.; Baring, M. G.; Bastieri, D.; Bisello, D.; Baughman, B. M.

2009-01-01

The Vela pulsar is the brightest persistent source in the GeV sky and thus is the traditional first target for new γ-ray observatories. We report here on initial Fermi Large Area Telescope observations during verification phase pointed exposure and early sky survey scanning. We have used the Vela signal to verify Fermi timing and angular resolution. The high-quality pulse profile, with some 32,400 pulsed photons at E ≥ 0.03 GeV, shows new features, including pulse structure as fine as 0.3 ms and a distinct third peak, which shifts in phase with energy. We examine the high-energy behavior of the pulsed emission; initial spectra suggest a phase-averaged power-law index of Γ = 1.51 +0.05 -0.04 with an exponential cutoff at E c = 2.9 ± 0.1 GeV. Spectral fits with generalized cutoffs of the form e -(E/E c ) b require b ≤ 1, which is inconsistent with magnetic pair attenuation, and thus favor outer-magnetosphere emission models. Finally, we report on upper limits to any unpulsed component, as might be associated with a surrounding pulsar wind nebula.

The Hubble Space Telescope: UV, Visible, and Near-Infrared Pursuits

Science.gov (United States)

Wiseman, Jennifer

2010-01-01

The Hubble Space Telescope continues to push the limits on world-class astrophysics. Cameras including the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the new panchromatic Wide Field Camera 3 which was installed nu last year's successful servicing mission S2N4,o{fer imaging from near-infrared through ultraviolet wavelengths. Spectroscopic studies of sources from black holes to exoplanet atmospheres are making great advances through the versatile use of STIS, the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. The new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, also installed last year, is the most sensitive UV spectrograph to fly io space and is uniquely suited to address particular scientific questions on galaxy halos, the intergalactic medium, and the cosmic web. With these outstanding capabilities on HST come complex needs for laboratory astrophysics support including atomic and line identification data. I will provide an overview of Hubble's current capabilities and the scientific programs and goals that particularly benefit from the studies of laboratory astrophysics.

EUSO-TA prototype telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2016-07-11

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

EUSO-TA prototype telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Bisconti, Francesca; JEM-EUSO Collaboration

2016-07-01

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

Simulation of Telescope Detectivity for Geo Survey and Tracking

Science.gov (United States)

Richard, P.

2014-09-01

As the number of space debris on Earths Orbit increases steadily, the need to survey, track and catalogue them becomes of key importance. In this context, CNES has been using the TAROT Telescopes (Rapid Telescopes for Transient Objects owned and operated by CNRS) for several years to conduct studies about space surveillance and tracking. Today, two testbeds of services using the TAROT telescopes are running every night: one for GEO situational awareness and the second for debris tracking. Additionally to the CNES research activity on space surveillance and tracking domain, an operational collision avoidance service for LEO and GEO satellites is in place at CNES for several years. This service named CAESAR (Conjunction Analysis and Evaluation: Alerts and Recommendations) is used by CNES as well as by external customers. As the optical debris tracking testbed based on TAROT telescopes is the first step toward an operational provider of GEO measures that could be used by CAESAR, simulations have been done to help choosing the sites and types of telescopes that could be added in the GEO survey and debris tracking telescope network. One of the distinctive characteristics of the optical observation of space debris compared to traditional astronomic observation is the need to observe objects at low elevations. The two mains reasons for this are the need to observe the GEO belt from non-equatorial sites and the need to observe debris at longitudes far from the telescope longitude. This paper presents the results of simulations of the detectivity for GEO debris of various telescopes and sites, based on models of the GEO belt, the atmosphere and the instruments. One of the conclusions is that clever detection of faint streaks and spread sources by image processing is one of the major keys to improve the detection of debris on the GEO belt.

A Research on the Primary Mirror Manipulator of Large Segmented-mirror Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Zuo, H.

2012-09-01

Since Galileo firstly used the telescope to observe the sky 400 years ago, the aperture of the telescope has become larger and larger to observe the deeper universe, and the segmented-mirror telescope is becoming more and more popular with increasing aperture. In the early 21st century, a series of segmented-mirror telescopes have been constructed including the Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) of China. LAMOST is a meridian reflecting Schmidt telescope, and the dimension of the primary mirror is about 6.7 m× 6 m, which is composed of 37 hexagonal sub-mirrors. However, a problem about the mirror installation appears with the increasing aperture. If there are hundreds of sub-mirrors in the telescope, it is a challenging job to mount and dismount them to the truss. This problem is discussed in this paper and a manipulator for the primary mirror of LAMOST is designed to perform the mount and dismount work. In chapter 1, all the segmented-mirror telescopes in the world are introduced and how the sub-mirrors of these telescopes are installed has been investigated. After comparing with the serial and the parallel robot, a serial robot manipulator proposal, which has several redundant degrees of freedom (DOFs), has been chosen from a series of design proposals. In chapter 2, the theoretical analysis has been carried out on the basis of the design proposal, which includes the forward kinematics and the inverse kinematics. Firstly the D-H coordinate is built according to the structure of the manipulator, so it is possible to obtain the end-effector position and orientation from the individual joint motion thanks to the forward kinematics. Because of the redundant DOFs of the manipulator, the inverse kinematics solution can be a very trick task, and the result may not be only, therefore a kind of simulation is carried out to get the numerical solution using ADAMS (Automatic Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical System). In the dynamics analysis the

NEW OBSERVATIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE υ ANDROMEDAE SYSTEM WITH DATA FROM THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE AND HOBBY-EBERLY TELESCOPE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McArthur, Barbara E.; Benedict, G. Fritz.; Martioli, Eder; Barnes, Rory; Korzennik, Sylvain; Nelan, Ed; Butler, R. Paul

2010-01-01

We have used high-cadence radial velocity (RV) measurements from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope with existing velocities from the Lick, Elodie, Harlan J. Smith, and Whipple 60'' telescopes combined with astrometric data from the Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensors to refine the orbital parameters and determine the orbital inclinations and position angles of the ascending node of components υ And A c and d. With these inclinations and using M * = 1.31M sun as a primary mass, we determine the actual masses of two of the companions: υ And A c is 13.98 +2.3 -5.3 M JUP , and υ And A d is 10.25 +0.7 -3.3 M JUP . These measurements represent the first astrometric determination of mutual inclination between objects in an extrasolar planetary system, which we find to be 29. 0 9 ± 1 0 . The combined RV measurements also reveal a long-period trend indicating a fourth planet in the system. We investigate the dynamic stability of this system and analyze regions of stability, which suggest a probable mass of υ And A b. Finally, our parallaxes confirm that υ And B is a stellar companion of υ And A.

NGC 1866: First Spectroscopic Detection of Fast-rotating Stars in a Young LMC Cluster

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dupree, A. K.; Dotter, A.; Johnson, C. I. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Marino, A. F.; Milone, A. P. [Australian National University, The Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mount Stromlo Observatory, Weston Creek, ACT 2611 (Australia); Bailey, J. I. III [Leiden Observatory, Niels Bohrweg 2, NL-2333 CA Leiden (Netherlands); Crane, J. D. [The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Mateo, M. [Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Olszewski, E. W. [The University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)

2017-09-01

High-resolution spectroscopic observations were taken of 29 extended main-sequence turnoff (eMSTO) stars in the young (∼200 Myr) Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) cluster, NGC 1866, using the Michigan/ Magellan Fiber System and MSpec spectrograph on the Magellan -Clay 6.5 m telescope. These spectra reveal the first direct detection of rapidly rotating stars whose presence has only been inferred from photometric studies. The eMSTO stars exhibit H α emission (indicative of Be-star decretion disks), others have shallow broad H α absorption (consistent with rotation ≳150 km s{sup −1}), or deep H α core absorption signaling lower rotation velocities (≲150 km s{sup −1}). The spectra appear consistent with two populations of stars—one rapidly rotating, and the other, younger and slowly rotating.

NuSTAR OBSERVATIONS OF GRB 130427A ESTABLISH A SINGLE COMPONENT SYNCHROTRON AFTERGLOW ORIGIN FOR THE LATE OPTICAL TO MULTI-GEV EMISSION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kouveliotou, C.; Granot, J.; Racusin, J. L.; Gehrels, N.; McEnery, J. E.; Zhang, W. W.; Bellm, E.; Harrison, F. A.; Vianello, G.; Oates, S.; Fryer, C. L.; Boggs, S. E.; Craig, W. W.; Christensen, F. E.; Dermer, C. D.; Hailey, C. J.; Melandri, A.; Tagliaferri, G.; Mundell, C. G.; Stern, D. K.

2013-01-01

GRB 130427A occurred in a relatively nearby galaxy; its prompt emission had the largest GRB fluence ever recorded. The afterglow of GRB 130427A was bright enough for the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope ARray (NuSTAR) to observe it in the 3-79 keV energy range long after its prompt emission (∼1.5 and 5 days). This range, where afterglow observations were previously not possible, bridges an important spectral gap. Combined with Swift, Fermi, and ground-based optical data, NuSTAR observations unambiguously establish a single afterglow spectral component from optical to multi-GeV energies a day after the event, which is almost certainly synchrotron radiation. Such an origin of the late-time Fermi/Large Area Telescope >10 GeV photons requires revisions in our understanding of collisionless relativistic shock physics

The TACTIC atmospheric Cherenkov imaging telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2007-01-01

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

Development of the focal plane PNCCD camera system for the X-ray space telescope eROSITA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meidinger, Norbert; Andritschke, Robert; Ebermayer, Stefanie; Elbs, Johannes; Haelker, Olaf; Hartmann, Robert; Herrmann, Sven; Kimmel, Nils; Schaechner, Gabriele; Schopper, Florian; Soltau, Heike; Strueder, Lothar; Weidenspointner, Georg

2010-01-01

A so-called PNCCD, a special type of CCD, was developed twenty years ago as focal plane detector for the XMM-Newton X-ray astronomy mission of the European Space Agency ESA. Based on this detector concept and taking into account the experience of almost ten years of operation in space, a new X-ray CCD type was designed by the 'MPI semiconductor laboratory' for an upcoming X-ray space telescope, called eROSITA (extended Roentgen survey with an imaging telescope array). This space telescope will be equipped with seven X-ray mirror systems of Wolter-I type and seven CCD cameras, placed in their foci. The instrumentation permits the exploration of the X-ray universe in the energy band from 0.3 up to 10 keV by spectroscopic measurements with a time resolution of 50 ms for a full image comprising 384x384 pixels. Main scientific goals are an all-sky survey and investigation of the mysterious 'Dark Energy'. The eROSITA space telescope, which is developed under the responsibility of the 'Max-Planck-Institute for extraterrestrial physics', is a scientific payload on the new Russian satellite 'Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma' (SRG). The mission is already approved by the responsible Russian and German space agencies. After launch in 2012 the destination of the satellite is Lagrange point L2. The planned observational program takes about seven years. We describe the design of the eROSITA camera system and present important test results achieved recently with the eROSITA prototype PNCCD detector. This includes a comparison of the eROSITA detector with the XMM-Newton detector.

Nonlinear adaptive observer-based sliding mode control for LAMOST mount driving

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Wangping; Guo Wei; Yu Li; Yang Changsong; Zheng Yi

2010-01-01

Heavy disturbances caused mainly by wind and friction in the mount drive system greatly impair the pointing accuracy of the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST). To overcome this negative effect, a third order Higher Order Sliding Mode (HOSM) controller is proposed. The key part of this approach is to design an appropriate observer which obtains the acceleration state. A nonlinear adaptive observer is proposed in which a novel polynomial model is applied to estimate the internal disturbances of the mount drive system. Theoretical analysis demonstrates the stability of the proposed observer. Simulation results show that this nonlinear adaptive observer can obtain a high precision acceleration signal which completes the HOSM controller. Furthermore, the HOSM approach can easily satisfy the position tracking requirements of the LAMOST mount drive system.

Spectra of globular clusters in the Sombrero galaxy: evidence for spectroscopic metallicity bimodality

Science.gov (United States)

Alves-Brito, Alan; Hau, George K. T.; Forbes, Duncan A.; Spitler, Lee R.; Strader, Jay; Brodie, Jean P.; Rhode, Katherine L.

2011-11-01

We present a large sample of over 200 integrated-light spectra of confirmed globular clusters (GCs) associated with the Sombrero (M104) galaxy taken with the Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph (DEIMOS) instrument on the Keck telescope. A significant fraction of the spectra have signal-to-noise ratio levels high enough to allow measurements of GC metallicities using the method of Brodie & Huchra. We find a distribution of spectroscopic metallicities in the range -2.2 < [Fe/H] < +0.1 that is bimodal, with peaks at [Fe/H]˜-1.4 and -0.6. Thus, the GC system of the Sombrero galaxy, like a few other galaxies now studied in detail, reveals a bimodal spectroscopic metallicity distribution supporting the long-held belief that colour bimodality reflects two metallicity subpopulations. This further suggests that the transformation from optical colour to metallicity for old stellar populations, such as GCs, is not strongly non-linear. We also explore the radial and magnitude distribution with metallicity for GC subpopulations but small number statistics prevent any clear trends in these distributions. Based on observations obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

A TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA AT REDSHIFT 1.55 IN HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE INFRARED OBSERVATIONS FROM CANDELS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodney, Steven A.; Riess, Adam G.; Jones, David O.; Dahlen, Tomas; Ferguson, Henry C.; Casertano, Stefano; Grogin, Norman A.; Strolger, Louis-Gregory; Hjorth, Jens; Frederiksen, Teddy F.; Weiner, Benjamin J.; Mobasher, Bahram; Challis, Peter; Kirshner, Robert P.; Faber, S. M.; Filippenko, Alexei V.; Garnavich, Peter; Hayden, Brian; Graur, Or; Jha, Saurabh W.

2012-01-01

We report the discovery of a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) at redshift z = 1.55 with the infrared detector of the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3-IR) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This object was discovered in CANDELS imaging data of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and followed as part of the CANDELS+CLASH Supernova project, comprising the SN search components from those two HST multi-cycle treasury programs. This is the highest redshift SN Ia with direct spectroscopic evidence for classification. It is also the first SN Ia at z > 1 found and followed in the infrared, providing a full light curve in rest-frame optical bands. The classification and redshift are securely defined from a combination of multi-band and multi-epoch photometry of the SN, ground-based spectroscopy of the host galaxy, and WFC3-IR grism spectroscopy of both the SN and host. This object is the first of a projected sample at z > 1.5 that will be discovered by the CANDELS and CLASH programs. The full CANDELS+CLASH SN Ia sample will enable unique tests for evolutionary effects that could arise due to differences in SN Ia progenitor systems as a function of redshift. This high-z sample will also allow measurement of the SN Ia rate out to z ≈ 2, providing a complementary constraint on SN Ia progenitor models.

The Infrared-Optical Telescope (IRT) of the Exist Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Kutyrev, Alexander; Bloom, Joshua; Gehrels, Neil; Golisano, Craig; Gong, Quan; Grindlay, Jonathan; Moseley, Samuel; Woodgate, Bruce

2010-01-01

The IRT is a 1.1m visible and infrared passively cooled telescope, which can locate, identify and obtain spectra of GRB afterglows at redshifts up to z 20. It will also acquire optical-IR, imaging and spectroscopy of AGN and transients discovered by the EXIST (The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope). The IRT imaging and spectroscopic capabilities cover a broad spectral range from 0.32.2m in four bands. The identical fields of view in the four instrument bands are each split in three subfields: imaging, objective prism slitless for the field and objective prism single object slit low resolution spectroscopy, and high resolution long slit on single object. This allows the instrument, to do simultaneous broadband photometry or spectroscopy of the same object over the full spectral range, thus greatly improving the efficiency of the observatory and its detection limits. A prompt follow up (within three minutes) of the transient discovered by the EXIST makes IRT a unique tool for detection and study of these events, which is particularly valuable at wavelengths unavailable to the ground based observatories.

FACT. Bokeh alignment for Cherenkov telescopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mueller, Sebastian Achim [ETH Zurich (Switzerland); Buss, Jens [TU Dortmund (Germany)

2016-07-01

Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) need fast and large imaging optics to map the faint Cherenkov light emitted in cosmic ray air showers onto their image sensors. Segmented reflectors are inexpensive, lightweight and offer good image quality. However, alignment of the mirror facets remains a challenge. A good alignment is crucial in IACT observations to separate gamma rays from hadronic cosmic rays. We present a simple, yet extendable method, to align segmented reflectors using their Bokeh. Bokeh alignment does not need a star or good weather nights but can be done anytime, even during the day. Bokeh alignment optimizes the facet orientations by comparing the segmented reflector's Bokeh to a predefined template. The Bokeh is observed using the out of focus image of a nearby point like light source in a distance of about ten times the focal lengths. We introduce Bokeh alignment on segmented reflectors and present its use on the First Geiger-mode Avalanche Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) on Canary Island La Palma, as well as on the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) Medium Size Telescope (MST) prototype in Berlin Adlershof.

Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 Observations of Neptune

Science.gov (United States)

1995-01-01

Two groups have recently used the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC 2) to acquire new high-resolution images of the planet Neptune. Members of the WFPC-2 Science Team, lead by John Trauger, acquired the first series of images on 27 through 29 June 1994. These were the highest resolution images of Neptune taken since the Voyager-2 flyby in August of 1989. A more comprehensive program is currently being conducted by Heidi Hammel and Wes Lockwood. These two sets of observations are providing a wealth of new information about the structure, composition, and meteorology of this distant planet's atmosphere.Neptune is currently the most distant planet from the sun, with an orbital radius of 4.5 billion kilometers (2.8 billion miles, or 30 Astronomical Units). Even though its diameter is about four times that of the Earth (49,420 vs. 12,742 km), ground-based telescopes reveal a tiny blue disk that subtends less than 1/1200 of a degree (2.3 arc-seconds). Neptune has therefore been a particularly challenging object to study from the ground because its disk is badly blurred by the Earth's atmosphere. In spite of this, ground-based astronomers had learned a great deal about this planet since its position was first predicted by John C. Adams and Urbain Leverrier in 1845. For example, they had determined that Neptune was composed primarily of hydrogen and helium gas, and that its blue color caused by the presence of trace amounts of the gas methane, which absorbs red light. They had also detected bright cloud features whose brightness changed with time, and tracked these clouds to infer a rotation period between 17 and 22 hours.When the Voyager-2 spacecraft flew past the Neptune in 1989, its instruments revealed a surprising array of meteorological phenomena, including strong winds, bright, high-altitude clouds, and two large dark spots attributed to long-lived giant storm systems. These bright clouds and dark spots were tracked as they moved

Calibration of the Nustar High-Energy Focusing X-Ray Telescope

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Kristin K.; Harrison, Fiona A.; Markwardt, Craig B.

2015-01-01

We present the calibration of the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) X-ray satellite. We used the Crab as the primary effective area calibrator and constructed a piece-wise linear spline function to modify the vignetting response. The achieved residuals for all off-axis angles...... and energies, compared to the assumed spectrum, are typically better than +/- 2% up to 40 keV and 5%-10% above due to limited counting statistics. An empirical adjustment to the theoretical two-dimensional point-spread function (PSF) was found using several strong point sources, and no increase of the PSF half-power...

Hubble Space Telescope-NICMOS Observations of M31'S Metal-Rich Globular Clusters and Their Surrounding Fields. I. Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, Andrew W.; Frogel, Jay A.; Freedman, Wendy; Gallart, Carme; Jablonka, Pascale; Ortolani, Sergio; Renzini, Alvio; Rich, R. Michael; Davies, Roger

2001-05-01

Astronomers are always anxious to push their observations to the limit-basing results on objects at the detection threshold, spectral features barely stronger than the noise, or photometry in very crowded regions. In this paper we present a careful analysis of photometry in crowded regions and show how image blending affects the results and interpretation of such data. Although this analysis is specifically for our NICMOS observations in M31, the techniques we develop can be applied to any imaging data taken in crowded fields; we show how the effects of image blending will limit even the Next Generation Space Telescope. We have obtained HST-NICMOS observations of five of M31's most metal-rich globular clusters. These data allow photometry of individual stars in the clusters and their surrounding fields. However, to achieve our goals-obtain accurate luminosity functions to compare with their Galactic counterparts, determine metallicities from the slope of the giant branch, identify long-period variables, and estimate ages from the AGB tip luminosity-we must be able to disentangle the true properties of the population from the observational effects associated with measurements made in very crowded fields. We thus use three different techniques to analyze the effects of crowding on our data, including the insertion of artificial stars (traditional completeness tests) and the creation of completely artificial clusters. These computer simulations are used to derive threshold- and critical-blending radii for each cluster, which determine how close to the cluster center reliable photometry can be achieved. The simulations also allow us to quantify and correct for the effects of blending on the slope and width of the RGB at different surface brightness levels. We then use these results to estimate the limits blending will place on future space-based observations. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science

FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF PSR J1836+5925

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Borgland, A. W.; Atwood, W. B.; Belfiore, A.; Baldini, L.; Bellazzini, R.; Bregeon, J.; Brez, A.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Baring, M. G.; Bastieri, D.; Bonamente, E.; Brigida, M.

2010-01-01

The discovery of the γ-ray pulsar PSR J1836+5925, powering the formerly unidentified EGRET source 3EG J1835+5918, was one of the early accomplishments of the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Sitting 25 0 off the Galactic plane, PSR J1836+5925 is a 173 ms pulsar with a characteristic age of 1.8 million years, a spindown luminosity of 1.1 x 10 34 erg s -1 , and a large off-peak (OP) emission component, making it quite unusual among the known γ-ray pulsar population. We present an analysis of one year of LAT data, including an updated timing solution, detailed spectral results, and a long-term light curve showing no indication of variability. No evidence for a surrounding pulsar wind nebula is seen and the spectral characteristics of the OP emission indicate it is likely magnetospheric. Analysis of recent XMM-Newton observations of the X-ray counterpart yields a detailed characterization of its spectrum, which, like Geminga, is consistent with that of a neutron star showing evidence for both magnetospheric and thermal emission.

Characterization of Jupiter's Atmosphere from Observation of Thermal Emission by Juno and Ground-Based Supporting Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Orton, G. S.; Momary, T.; Tabataba-Vakili, F.; Janssen, M. A.; Hansen, C. J.; Bolton, S. J.; Li, C.; Adriani, A.; Mura, A.; Grassi, D.; Fletcher, L. N.; Brown, S. T.; Fujiyoshi, T.; Greathouse, T. K.; Kasaba, Y.; Sato, T. M.; Stephens, A.; Donnelly, P.; Eichstädt, G.; Rogers, J.

2017-12-01

Ground-breaking measurements of thermal emission at very long wavelengths have been made by the Juno mission's Microwave Radiometer (MWR). We examine the relationship between these and other thermal emission measurements by the Jupiter Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) at 5 µm and ground-based supporting observations in the thermal infrared that cover the 5-25 µm range. The relevant ground-based observations of thermal emission are constituted from imaging and scanning spectroscopy obtained at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF), the Gemini North Telescope, the Subaru Telescope and the Very Large Telescope. A comparison of these results clarifies the physical properties responsible for the observed emissions, i.e. variability of the temperature field, the cloud field or the distribution of gaseous ammonia. Cross-references to the visible cloud field from Juno's JunoCam experiment and Earth-based images are also useful. This work continues an initial comparison by Orton et al. (2017, GRL 44, doi: 10.1002/2017GL073019) between MWR and JIRAM results, together with ancillary 5-µm IRTF imaging and with JunoCam and ground-based visible imaging. These showed a general agreement between MWR and JIRAM results for the 5-bar NH3 abundance in specific regions of low cloud opacity but only a partial correlation between MWR and 5-µm radiances emerging from the 0.5-5 bar levels of the atmosphere in general. Similar to the latter, there appears to be an inconsistent correlation between MWR channels sensitive to 0.5-10 bars and shorter-wavelength radiances in the "tails" of 5-µm hot spots , which may be the result of the greater sensitivity of the latter to particulate opacity that could depend on the evolution history of the particular features sampled. Of great importance is the interpretation of MWR radiances in terms of the variability of temperature vs. NH3 abundances in the 0.5-5 bar pressure range. This is particularly important to understand MWR results in

A virtual reality environment for telescope operation

Science.gov (United States)

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

2010-07-01

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

FRAM telescope - monitoring of atmospheric extinction and variable star photometry

Science.gov (United States)

Jurysek, J.; Honkova, K.; Masek, M.

2015-02-01

The FRAM (F/(Ph)otometric Robotic Atmospheric Monitor) telescope is a part of the Pierre Auger Observatory (PAO) located near town Malargüe in Argentina. The main task of the FRAM telescope is the continuous night - time monitoring of the atmospheric extinction and its wavelength dependence. The current methodology of the measurement of a atmospheric extinction and for instrumentation properties also allows simultaneous observation of other interesting astronomical targets. The current observations of the FRAM telescope are focused on the photometry of eclipsing binaries, positional refinement of minor bodies of the Solar system and observations of optical counterparts of gamma ray bursts. In this contribution, we briefly describe the main purpose of the FRAM telescope for the PAO and we also present its current astrono mical observing program.

Polarimetry of 600 pulsars from observations at 1.4 GHz with the Parkes radio telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, Simon; Kerr, Matthew

2018-03-01

Over the past 13 yr, the Parkes radio telescope has observed a large number of pulsars using digital filter bank backends with high time and frequency resolution and the capability for Stokes recording. Here, we use archival data to present polarimetry data at an observing frequency of 1.4 GHz for 600 pulsars with spin-periods ranging from 0.036 to 8.5 s. We comment briefly on some of the statistical implications from the data and highlight the differences between pulsars with high and low spin-down energy. The data set, images and table of properties for all 600 pulsars are made available in a public data archive maintained by the CSIRO.

BD -22 5866: A Low-Mass, Quadruple-lined Spectroscopic and Eclipsing Binary

Science.gov (United States)

Shkolnik, Evgenya; Liu, Michael C.; Reid, I. Neill; Hebb, Leslie; Cameron, Andrew C.; Torres, Carlos A.; Wilson, David M.

2008-08-01

We report our discovery of an extremely rare, low-mass, quadruple-lined spectroscopic binary BD -22 5866 (=NLTT 53279, integrated spectral type = M0 V), found during an ongoing search for the youngest M dwarfs in the solar neighborhood. From the cross-correlation function, we are able to measure relative flux levels, estimate the spectral types of the components, and set upper limits on the orbital periods and separations. The resulting system is hierarchical, composed of a K7 + K7 binary and an M1 + M2 binary with semimajor axes of aAsin iA system was unresolved with published adaptive optics imaging, limits the projected physical separation of the two binaries at the time of the observation to dABlesssim 4.1 AU at the photometric distance of 51 pc. The maximum observed radial velocity difference between the A and B binaries limits the orbit to aABsin iAB systems, we speculate that an early dynamical process reduced the size of the system, such as the interaction of the two binaries with a circumquadruple disk. Intensive photometric, spectroscopic, and interferometric monitoring, as well as a parallax measurement of this rare quadruple system, is certainly warranted. Based on observations collected at the W. M. Keck Observatory and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). The Keck Observatory is operated as a scientific partnership between the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA, and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation. The CFHT is operated by the National Research Council of Canada, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France, and the University of Hawaii.

Brown dwarf photospheres are patchy: A Hubble space telescope near-infrared spectroscopic survey finds frequent low-level variability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buenzli, Esther; Apai, Dániel; Radigan, Jacqueline; Reid, I. Neill; Flateau, Davin

2014-01-01

Condensate clouds strongly impact the spectra of brown dwarfs and exoplanets. Recent discoveries of variable L/T transition dwarfs argued for patchy clouds in at least some ultracool atmospheres. This study aims to measure the frequency and level of spectral variability in brown dwarfs and to search for correlations with spectral type. We used Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Camera 3 to obtain spectroscopic time series for 22 brown dwarfs of spectral types ranging from L5 to T6 at 1.1-1.7 μm for ≈40 minutes per object. Using Bayesian analysis, we find six brown dwarfs with confident (p > 95%) variability in the relative flux in at least one wavelength region at sub-percent precision, and five brown dwarfs with tentative (p > 68%) variability. We derive a minimum variability fraction f min =27 −7 +11 % over all covered spectral types. The fraction of variables is equal within errors for mid-L, late-L, and mid-T spectral types; for early-T dwarfs we do not find any confident variable but the sample is too small to derive meaningful limits. For some objects, the variability occurs primarily in the flux peak in the J or H band, others are variable throughout the spectrum or only in specific absorption regions. Four sources may have broadband peak-to-peak amplitudes exceeding 1%. Our measurements are not sensitive to very long periods, inclinations near pole-on and rotationally symmetric heterogeneity. The detection statistics are consistent with most brown dwarf photospheres being patchy. While multiple-percent near-infrared variability may be rare and confined to the L/T transition, low-level heterogeneities are a frequent characteristic of brown dwarf atmospheres.

Origins Space Telescope: 3D infrared surveys of star formation and black hole growth in galaxies over cosmic time

Science.gov (United States)

Pope, Alexandra; Armus, Lee; bradford, charles; Origins Space Telescope STDT

2018-01-01

In the coming decade, new telescope facilities and surveys aim to provide a 3D map of the unobscured Universe over cosmic time. However, much of galaxy formation and evolution occurs behind dust, and is only observable through infrared observations. Previous extragalactic infrared surveys were fundamentally limited to a 2D mapping of the most extreme populations of galaxies due to spatial resolution and sensitivity. The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is the mission concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor, one of the four science and technology definition studies sponsored by NASA to provide input to the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal survey. OST is planned to be a large aperture, actively-cooled telescope covering a wide span of the mid- to far-infrared spectrum, which will achieve spectral line sensitivities up to 1000 times deeper than previous infrared facilities. With powerful instruments such as the Medium Resolution Survey Spectrometer (MRSS), capable of simultaneous imaging and spectroscopy, the extragalactic infrared sky can finally be surveyed in 3D. In addition to spectroscopic redshifts, the rich suite of lines in the infrared provides unique diagnostics of the ongoing star formation (both obscured and unobscured) and the central supermassive black hole growth. In this poster, we present a simulated extragalactic survey with OST/MRSS which will detect millions of galaxies down to well below the knee of the infrared luminosity function. We demonstrate how this survey can map the coeval star formation and black hole growth in galaxies over cosmic time.

Modeling active region transient brightenings observed with X-ray telescope as multi-stranded loops

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kobelski, Adam R.; McKenzie, David E. [Department of Physics, P.O. Box 173840, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-3840 (United States); Donachie, Martin, E-mail: kobelski@solar.physics.montana.edu [University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G128QQ, Scotland (United Kingdom)

2014-05-10

Strong evidence exists that coronal loops as observed in extreme ultraviolet and soft X-rays may not be monolithic isotropic structures, but can often be more accurately modeled as bundles of independent strands. Modeling the observed active region transient brightenings (ARTBs) within this framework allows for the exploration of the energetic ramifications and characteristics of these stratified structures. Here we present a simple method of detecting and modeling ARTBs observed with the Hinode X-Ray Telescope (XRT) as groups of zero-dimensional strands, which allows us to probe parameter space to better understand the spatial and temporal dependence of strand heating in impulsively heated loops. This partially automated method can be used to analyze a large number of observations to gain a statistical insight into the parameters of coronal structures, including the number of heating events required in a given model to fit the observations. In this article, we present the methodology and demonstrate its use in detecting and modeling ARTBs in a sample data set from Hinode/XRT. These initial results show that, in general, multiple heating events are necessary to reproduce observed ARTBs, but the spatial dependence of these heating events cannot yet be established.

Modeling active region transient brightenings observed with X-ray telescope as multi-stranded loops

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobelski, Adam R.; McKenzie, David E.; Donachie, Martin

2014-01-01

Strong evidence exists that coronal loops as observed in extreme ultraviolet and soft X-rays may not be monolithic isotropic structures, but can often be more accurately modeled as bundles of independent strands. Modeling the observed active region transient brightenings (ARTBs) within this framework allows for the exploration of the energetic ramifications and characteristics of these stratified structures. Here we present a simple method of detecting and modeling ARTBs observed with the Hinode X-Ray Telescope (XRT) as groups of zero-dimensional strands, which allows us to probe parameter space to better understand the spatial and temporal dependence of strand heating in impulsively heated loops. This partially automated method can be used to analyze a large number of observations to gain a statistical insight into the parameters of coronal structures, including the number of heating events required in a given model to fit the observations. In this article, we present the methodology and demonstrate its use in detecting and modeling ARTBs in a sample data set from Hinode/XRT. These initial results show that, in general, multiple heating events are necessary to reproduce observed ARTBs, but the spatial dependence of these heating events cannot yet be established.

Current Sheet Structures Observed by the TESIS EUV Telescope during a Flux Rope Eruption on the Sun

Science.gov (United States)

Reva, A. A.; Ulyanov, A. S.; Kuzin, S. V.

2016-11-01

We use the TESIS EUV telescope to study the current sheet signatures observed during flux rope eruption. The special feature of the TESIS telescope was its ability to image the solar corona up to a distance of 2 {R}⊙ from the Sun’s center in the Fe 171 Å line. The Fe 171 Å line emission illuminates the magnetic field lines, and the TESIS images reveal the coronal magnetic structure at high altitudes. The analyzed coronal mass ejection (CME) had a core with a spiral—flux rope—structure. The spiral shape indicates that the flux rope radius varied along its length. The flux rope had a complex temperature structure: cold legs (70,000 K, observed in He 304 Å line) and a hotter core (0.7 MK, observed in Fe 171 Å line). Such a structure contradicts the common assumption that the CME core is a cold prominence. When the CME impulsively accelerated, a dark double Y-structure appeared below the flux rope. The Y-structure timing, location, and morphology agree with the previously performed MHD simulations of the current sheet. We interpreted the Y-structure as a hot envelope of the current sheet and hot reconnection outflows. The Y-structure had a thickness of 6.0 Mm. Its length increased over time from 79 Mm to more than 411 Mm.

ATST telescope mount: telescope of machine tool

Science.gov (United States)

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

2012-09-01

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

The Status of the Telescope Array experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tokuno, H; Azuma, R [Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo (Japan); Abu-Zayyad, T; Allen, M; Barcikowski, E; Belz, J W; Blake, S A; Brusova, O; Cady, R [University of Utah, High Energy Astrophysics Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah (United States); Aida, R [University of Yamanashi, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, Kofu, Yamanashi (Japan); Benno, T; Chikawa, M; Doura, K [Kinki University, Higashi Osaka, Osaka (Japan); Bergman, D R [Rutgers University, Piscataway (United States); Cheon, B G; Cho, E J [Hanyang University, Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Chiba, J [Tokyo University of Science, Noda, Chiba (Japan); Cho, L S; Cho, W R [Yonsei University, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Cohen, F, E-mail: htokuno@cr.phys.titech.ac.jp [Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba (Japan)

2011-04-01

The purpose of The Telescope Array experiment is to identify origin of the ultra high energy cosmic rays. The Telescope Array is a hybrid detector consists of a surface detector array and air fluorescence detectors. This hybrid detector is observing extensive air showers to measure the energy spectrum, anisotropy and composition of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays. The detector construction has been completed in March 2008, and the hybrid observation with the full configuration has been running since that time. In this talk, the status of observation and our prospects are described.

Hunting for Supermassive Black Holes in Nearby Galaxies With the Hobby-Eberly Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

van den Bosch, Remco C. E.; Gebhardt, Karl; Gültekin, Kayhan; Yıldırım, Akin; Walsh, Jonelle L.

2015-05-01

We have conducted an optical long-slit spectroscopic survey of 1022 galaxies using the 10 m Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) at McDonald Observatory. The main goal of the HET Massive Galaxy Survey (HETMGS) is to find nearby galaxies that are suitable for black hole mass measurements. In order to measure accurately the black hole mass, one should kinematically resolve the region where the black hole dominates the gravitational potential. For most galaxies, this region is much less than an arcsecond. Thus, black hole masses are best measured in nearby galaxies with telescopes that obtain high spatial resolution. The HETMGS focuses on those galaxies predicted to have the largest sphere-of-influence, based on published stellar velocity dispersions or the galaxy fundamental plane. To ensure coverage over galaxy types, the survey targets those galaxies across a face-on projection of the fundamental plane. We present the sample selection and resulting data products from the long-slit observations, including central stellar kinematics and emission line ratios. The full data set, including spectra and resolved kinematics, is available online. Additionally, we show that the current crop of black hole masses are highly biased toward dense galaxies and that especially large disks and low dispersion galaxies are under-represented. This survey provides the necessary groundwork for future systematic black hole mass measurement campaigns.

HUNTING FOR SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES IN NEARBY GALAXIES WITH THE HOBBY–EBERLY TELESCOPE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bosch, Remco C. E. van den; Yıldırım, Akin; Gebhardt, Karl; Walsh, Jonelle L.; Gültekin, Kayhan

2015-01-01

We have conducted an optical long-slit spectroscopic survey of 1022 galaxies using the 10 m Hobby–Eberly Telescope (HET) at McDonald Observatory. The main goal of the HET Massive Galaxy Survey (HETMGS) is to find nearby galaxies that are suitable for black hole mass measurements. In order to measure accurately the black hole mass, one should kinematically resolve the region where the black hole dominates the gravitational potential. For most galaxies, this region is much less than an arcsecond. Thus, black hole masses are best measured in nearby galaxies with telescopes that obtain high spatial resolution. The HETMGS focuses on those galaxies predicted to have the largest sphere-of-influence, based on published stellar velocity dispersions or the galaxy fundamental plane. To ensure coverage over galaxy types, the survey targets those galaxies across a face-on projection of the fundamental plane. We present the sample selection and resulting data products from the long-slit observations, including central stellar kinematics and emission line ratios. The full data set, including spectra and resolved kinematics, is available online. Additionally, we show that the current crop of black hole masses are highly biased toward dense galaxies and that especially large disks and low dispersion galaxies are under-represented. This survey provides the necessary groundwork for future systematic black hole mass measurement campaigns

BATMAN: a DMD-based multi-object spectrograph on Galileo telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Zamkotsian, Frederic; Spano, Paolo; Lanzoni, Patrick; Ramarijaona, Harald; Moschetti, Manuele; Riva, Marco; Bon, William; Nicastro, Luciano; Molinari, Emilio; Cosentino, Rosario; Ghedina, Adriano; Gonzalez, Manuel; Di Marcantonio, Paolo; Coretti, Igor; Cirami, Roberto; Zerbi, Filippo; Valenziano, Luca

2014-07-01

Next-generation infrared astronomical instrumentation for ground-based and space telescopes could be based on MOEMS programmable slit masks for multi-object spectroscopy (MOS). This astronomical technique is used extensively to investigate the formation and evolution of galaxies. We are developing a 2048x1080 Digital-Micromirror-Device-based (DMD) MOS instrument to be mounted on the Galileo telescope and called BATMAN. A two-arm instrument has been designed for providing in parallel imaging and spectroscopic capabilities. The field of view (FOV) is 6.8 arcmin x 3.6 arcmin with a plate scale of 0.2 arcsec per micromirror. The wavelength range is in the visible and the spectral resolution is R=560 for 1 arcsec object (typical slit size). The two arms will have 2k x 4k CCD detectors. ROBIN, a BATMAN demonstrator, has been designed, realized and integrated. It permits to determine the instrument integration procedure, including optics and mechanics integration, alignment procedure and optical quality. First images and spectra have been obtained and measured: typical spot diameters are within 1.5 detector pixels, and spectra generated by one micro-mirror slits are displayed with this optical quality over the whole visible wavelength range. Observation strategies are studied and demonstrated for the scientific optimization strategy over the whole FOV. BATMAN on the sky is of prime importance for characterizing the actual performance of this new family of MOS instruments, as well as investigating the operational procedures on astronomical objects. This instrument will be placed on the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo mid-2015.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2012-09-01

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

Neutrino telescopes in the World

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ernenwein, J.-P.

2007-01-01

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

Prospects for Observing Ultracompact Binaries with Space-Based Gravitational Wave Interferometers and Optical Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Littenberg, T. B.; Larson, S. L.; Nelemans, G.; Cornish, N. J.

2012-01-01

Space-based gravitational wave interferometers are sensitive to the galactic population of ultracompact binaries. An important subset of the ultracompact binary population are those stars that can be individually resolved by both gravitational wave interferometers and electromagnetic telescopes. The aim of this paper is to quantify the multimessenger potential of space-based interferometers with arm-lengths between 1 and 5 Gm. The Fisher information matrix is used to estimate the number of binaries from a model of the Milky Way which are localized on the sky by the gravitational wave detector to within 1 and 10 deg(exp 2) and bright enough to be detected by a magnitude-limited survey.We find, depending on the choice ofGW detector characteristics, limiting magnitude and observing strategy, that up to several hundred gravitational wave sources could be detected in electromagnetic follow-up observations.

James Webb Space Telescope Observations of Stellar Occultations by Solar System Bodies and Rings

Science.gov (United States)

Santos-Sanz, P.; French, R. G.; Pinilla-Alonso, N.; Stansberry, J.; Lin, Z-Y.; Zhang, Z-W.; Vilenius, E.; Mueller, Th.; Ortiz, J. L.; Braga-Ribas, F.;

The Falcon Telescope Network

Science.gov (United States)

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

2014-09-01

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

THE DISTANCE TO THE MASSIVE GALACTIC CLUSTER WESTERLUND 2 FROM A SPECTROSCOPIC AND HST PHOTOMETRIC STUDY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vargas Álvarez, Carlos A.; Kobulnicky, Henry A.; Bradley, David R.; Kannappan, Sheila J.; Norris, Mark A.; Cool, Richard J.; Miller, Brendan P.

2013-01-01

We present a spectroscopic and photometric determination of the distance to the young Galactic open cluster Westerlund 2 using WFPC2 imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and ground-based optical spectroscopy. HST imaging in the F336W, F439W, F555W, and F814W filters resolved many sources previously undetected in ground-based observations and yielded photometry for 1136 stars. We identified 15 new O-type stars, along with two probable binary systems, including MSP 188 (O3 + O5.5). We fit reddened spectral energy distributions based on the Padova isochrones to the photometric data to determine individual reddening parameters R V and A V for O-type stars in Wd2. We find average values (R V ) = 3.77 ± 0.09 and (A V ) = 6.51 ± 0.38 mag, which result in a smaller distance than most other spectroscopic and photometric studies. After a statistical distance correction accounting for close unresolved binaries (factor of 1.08), our spectroscopic and photometric data on 29 O-type stars yield that Westerlund 2 has a distance (d) = 4.16 ± 0.07 (random) +0.26 (systematic) kpc. The cluster's age remains poorly constrained, with an upper limit of 3 Myr. Finally, we report evidence of a faint mid-IR polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon ring surrounding the well-known binary candidate MSP 18, which appears to lie at the center of a secondary stellar grouping within Westerlund 2.

THE DISTANCE TO THE MASSIVE GALACTIC CLUSTER WESTERLUND 2 FROM A SPECTROSCOPIC AND HST PHOTOMETRIC STUDY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vargas Alvarez, Carlos A.; Kobulnicky, Henry A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming, Dept. 3905, Laramie, WY 82071 (United States); Bradley, David R.; Kannappan, Sheila J.; Norris, Mark A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, CB 3255, Phillips Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3255 (United States); Cool, Richard J. [Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Miller, Brendan P., E-mail: cvargasa@uwyo.edu, E-mail: chipk@uwyo.edu, E-mail: davidbradley512@gmail.com, E-mail: sheila@physics.unc.edu, E-mail: manorris@physics.unc.edu, E-mail: rcool@obs.carnegiescience.edu, E-mail: mbrendan@umich.edu [Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 745 Dennison Building, 500 Church St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)

2013-05-15

We present a spectroscopic and photometric determination of the distance to the young Galactic open cluster Westerlund 2 using WFPC2 imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and ground-based optical spectroscopy. HST imaging in the F336W, F439W, F555W, and F814W filters resolved many sources previously undetected in ground-based observations and yielded photometry for 1136 stars. We identified 15 new O-type stars, along with two probable binary systems, including MSP 188 (O3 + O5.5). We fit reddened spectral energy distributions based on the Padova isochrones to the photometric data to determine individual reddening parameters R{sub V} and A{sub V} for O-type stars in Wd2. We find average values (R{sub V} ) = 3.77 {+-} 0.09 and (A{sub V} ) = 6.51 {+-} 0.38 mag, which result in a smaller distance than most other spectroscopic and photometric studies. After a statistical distance correction accounting for close unresolved binaries (factor of 1.08), our spectroscopic and photometric data on 29 O-type stars yield that Westerlund 2 has a distance (d) = 4.16 {+-} 0.07 (random) +0.26 (systematic) kpc. The cluster's age remains poorly constrained, with an upper limit of 3 Myr. Finally, we report evidence of a faint mid-IR polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon ring surrounding the well-known binary candidate MSP 18, which appears to lie at the center of a secondary stellar grouping within Westerlund 2.

A spectroscopic survey of EC4, an extended cluster in Andromeda's halo

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, M. L. M.; Chapman, S. C.; Irwin, M.; Ibata, R.; Martin, N. F.; Ferguson, A. M. N.; Huxor, A.; Lewis, G. F.; Mackey, A. D.; McConnachie, A. W.; Tanvir, N.

2009-07-01

We present a spectroscopic survey of candidate red giant branch stars in the extended star cluster, EC4, discovered in the halo of M31 from our Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/MegaCam survey, overlapping the tidal streams, Streams`Cp' and `Cr'. These observations used the DEep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph mounted on the Keck II telescope to obtain spectra around the CaII triplet region with ~1.3 Å resolution. Six stars lying on the red giant branch within two core radii of the centre of EC4 are found to have an average vr = -287.9+1.9-2.4kms-1 and σv,corr = 2.7+4.2-2.7kms-1, taking instrumental errors into account. The resulting mass-to-light ratio for EC4 is M/L = 6.7+15-6.7Msolar/Lsolar, a value that is consistent with a globular cluster within the 1σ errors we derive. From the summed spectra of our member stars, we find EC4 to be metal-poor, with [Fe/H] = -1.6 +/- 0.15. We discuss several formation and evolution scenarios which could account for our kinematic and metallicity constraints on EC4, and conclude that EC4 is most comparable with an extended globular cluster. We also compare the kinematics and metallicity of EC4 with Streams `Cp' and`Cr', and find that EC4 bears a striking resemblance to Stream`Cp' in terms of velocity, and that the two structures are identical in terms of both their spectroscopic and photometric metallicities. From this, we conclude that EC4 is likely related to Stream`Cp'. The data presented herein were obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation. E-mail: mlmc2@ast.cam.ac.uk

Sub-millimeter science with the Heinrich-Hertz-Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Dumke, Michael

The Heinrich-Hertz-Telescope on Mt. Graham, Arizona, is a state-of-the-art single-dish radio telescope for observations in the sub-millimeter wavelength range. It is operated by the Sub-Millimeter Telescope Observatory (SMTO), which is a collaboration between the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn. In this talk I give an overview over the telescope and its instrumentation, and show some examples of forefront research performed by astronomers from both the U.S. and Europe using this instrument. The telescope is located on Mt. Graham, Arizona, at an altitude of 3178 m, which ensures sub-mm weather conditions during a significant amount of available observing time. It has a primary reflector of 10 m diameter, mounted on a carbon fiber backup structure, and is equipped with a corotating enclosure. The surface accuracy of the primary reflector is 12 microns rms, what makes the HHT the most accurate radio telescope ever built. For spectral line observations, SIS receivers covering the frequency range from 200 to 500 GHz are available. Furthermore, a Hot-Electron-Bolometer, developed at the CfA, can be used for spectral line observations above 800 GHz. The continuum receivers are a 4-color bolometer, observing at 1300, 870, 450, and 350 microns, and a 19-channel bolometer array, developed at the MPIfR, which is sensitive around 850 microns. In the last few years, the HHT has been used by several groups to perform astronomical research. The most notable result was the measurement of the CO(9--8) line in Orion at 1.037 THz with the Hot-Electron Bolometer -- the first radioastronomical observation above 1 THz from a ground-based telescope. Several galactic molecular line sources have been mapped in the CO(7--6) line at 806 GHz, and in two fine-structure lines of atomic carbon. A continuum map of the galactic center at 850 microns could be produced using the new 19-channel bolometer array. Even external galaxies, where

VizieR Online Data Catalog: AIMSS Project. I. Compact Stellar Systems (Norris+, 2014)

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, M. A.; Kannappan, S. J.; Forbes, D. A.; Romanowsky, A. J.; Brodie, J. P.; Faifer, F. R.; Huxor, A.; Maraston, C.; Moffett, A. J.; Penny, S. J.; Pota, V.; Smith-Castelli, A.; Strader, J.; Bradley, D.; Eckert, K. D.; Fohring, D.; McBride, J.; Stark, D. V.; Vaduvescu, O.

2015-04-01

The majority of our southern spectroscopic observations to date have been obtained using the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope and the Goodman spectrograph in longslit and MOS modes. We used the South African Large Telescope (SALT) to observe fainter targets requiring exposure times impractically long to be used as filler targets for SOAR observing and which cannot be observed with Keck. As part of a study examining the GCs and UCDs of the shell elliptical NGC 3923 we obtained deep Gemini/GMOS spectroscopy of three UCDs (see Norris et al., 2012MNRAS.421.1485N, Cat. J/MNRAS/421/1485 for further details). The observations were made in MOS mode. The majority of our Northern hemisphere candidates were spectroscopically confirmed using the DEIMOS and ESI instruments on the Keck telescope . We also obtained spectra of NGC 4649 UCD1 with the IDS instrument on the Isaac Newton Telescope. (2 data files).

History of Robotic and Remotely Operated Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Genet, Russell M.

2011-03-01

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

A Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopic survey of the faint M31 satellites AndIX, AndXI, AndXII and AndXIII†

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, M. L. M.; Chapman, S. C.; Irwin, M. J.; Martin, N. F.; Ibata, R. A.; Zucker, D. B.; Blain, A.; Ferguson, A. M. N.; Lewis, G. F.; McConnachie, A. W.; Peñarrubia, J.

2010-10-01

We present the first spectroscopic analysis of the faint M31 satellite galaxies, AndXI and AndXIII, as well as a re-analysis of existing spectroscopic data for two further faint companions, AndIX (correcting for an error in earlier geometric modelling that caused a misclassification of member stars in previous work) and AndXII. By combining data obtained using the Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph (DEIMOS) mounted on the Keck II telescope with deep photometry from the Suprime-Cam instrument on Subaru, we have identified the most probable members for each of the satellites based on their radial velocities (precise to several down to i ~ 22), distance from the centre of the dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) and their photometric [Fe/H]. Using both the photometric and spectroscopic data, we have also calculated global properties for the dwarfs, such as systemic velocities, metallicities and half-light radii. We find each dwarf to be very metal poor ([Fe/H] ~ -2 both photometrically and spectroscopically, from their stacked spectrum), and as such, they continue to follow the luminosity-metallicity relationship established with brighter dwarfs. We are unable to resolve dispersion for AndXI due to small sample size and low signal-to-noise ratio, but we set a 1σ upper limit of σv financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation. Based in part on data collected at Subaru Telescope, which is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. ‡ E-mail: mlmc2@ast.cam.ac.uk

Solar Flares Observed with the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI)

Science.gov (United States)

Holman, Gordon D.

2004-01-01

Solar flares are impressive examples of explosive energy release in unconfined, magnetized plasma. It is generally believed that the flare energy is derived from the coronal magnetic field. However, we have not been able to establish the specific energy release mechanism(s) or the relative partitioning of the released energy between heating, particle acceleration (electrons and ions), and mass motions. NASA's RHESSI Mission was designed to study the acceleration and evolution of electrons and ions in flares by observing the X-ray and gamma-ray emissions these energetic particles produce. This is accomplished through the combination of high-resolution spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging, including the first images of flares in gamma rays. RHESSI has observed over 12,000 solar flares since its launch on February 5, 2002. I will demonstrate how we use the RHESSI spectra to deduce physical properties of accelerated electrons and hot plasma in flares. Using images to estimate volumes, w e typically find that the total energy in accelerated electrons is comparable to that in the thermal plasma. I will also present flare observations that provide strong support for the presence of magnetic reconnection in a large-scale, vertical current sheet in the solar corona. RHESSI observations such as these are allowing us to probe more deeply into the physics of solar flares.

Observations of cometary parent molecules with the IRAM radio telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Colom, P.; Despois, D.; Paubert, G.; Bockelee-Morvan, D.; Crovisier, Jacques

1992-01-01

Several rotational transitions of HCN, H2S, H2CO, and CH3OH were detected in comets P/Brorsen-Metcalf 1989 X, Austin (1989c1) and Levy (1990c) with the Institute for Millimeter Radioastronomy (IRAM) 30-m radio telescope. This allows us to determine the production rates of these molecules and to probe the physical conditions of the coma.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-08-01

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

Processing of data from innovative parabolic strip telescope.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2015-12-01

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

The South Pole Telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2004-11-04

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

NuSTARand Swift observations of the very high state in GX 339-4: Weighing the black hole with X-rays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parker, M. L.; Tomsick, J. A.; Kennea, J. A.

2016-01-01

We present results from spectral fitting of the very high state of GX 339-4 with Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and Swift. We use relativistic reflection modeling to measure the spin of the black hole and inclination of the inner disk and find a spin of a = 0.95(-0.08)(+0.02) and ......We present results from spectral fitting of the very high state of GX 339-4 with Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and Swift. We use relativistic reflection modeling to measure the spin of the black hole and inclination of the inner disk and find a spin of a = 0...

Relating a Prominence Observed from the Solar Optical Telescope on the Hinode Satellite to Known 3-D Structures of Filaments

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, S. F.; Panasenco, O.; Agah, Y.; Engvold, O.; Lin, Y.

2009-12-01

We address only a first step in relating limb and disk observations by illustrating and comparing the spines and barbs of three different quiescent prominences and filaments observed in Hα by three different telescopes. Although the appearance of the three quiescent prominences is quite different, we show that each consists of a spine, barbs extending from the spine, and arcs at the base of some of the curtains of barb threads.

SPECKLE OBSERVATIONS OF BINARY STARS WITH THE WIYN TELESCOPE. VII. MEASURES DURING 2008-2009

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horch, Elliott P.; Bahi, Lizzie Anne P.; Gaulin, Joseph R.; Howell, Steve B.; Sherry, William H.; Baena Gallé, Roberto; Van Altena, William F.

2012-01-01

Five hundred thirty-one speckle measures of binary stars are reported. These data were taken mainly during the period 2008 June through 2009 October at the WIYN 3.5 m Telescope at Kitt Peak and represent the last data set of single-filter speckle observations taken in the WIYN speckle program prior to the use of the current two-channel speckle camera. The astrometric and photometric precision of these observations is consistent with previous papers in this series: we obtain a typical linear measurement uncertainty of approximately 2.5 mas, and the magnitude differences reported have typical uncertainties in the range of 0.1-0.14 mag. In combination with measures already in the literature, the data presented here permit the revision of the orbit of A 1634AB (= HIP 76041) and the first determination of visual orbital elements for HDS 1895 (= HIP 65982).

Automation of the Lowell Observatory 0.8-m Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Buie, M. W.

2001-11-01

In the past year I have converted the Lowell Observatory 0.8-m telescope from a classically scheduled and operated telescope to an automated facility. The new setup uses an existing CCD camera and the existing telescope control system. The key steps in the conversion were writing a new CCD control and data acquisition module plus writing communication and queue control software. The previous CCD control program was written for DOS and much of the code was reused for this project. The entire control system runs under Linux and consists of four daemons: MOVE, PCCD, CMDR, and PCTL. The MOVE daemon is a process that communciates with the telescope control system via an RS232 port, keeping track of its state and forwarding commands from other processes to the telescope. The PCCD daemon controls the CCD camera and collects data. The CMDR daemon maintains a FIFO queue of commands to be executed during the night. The PCTL daemon receives notification from any other deamon of execution failures and sends an error code to the on-duty observer via a numeric pager. This system runs through the night much as you would traditionally operate a telescope. However, this system permits queuing up all the commands for a night and they execute one after another in sequence. Additional commands are needed to replace the normal human interaction during observing (ie., target acquisition, field registration, focusing). Also, numerous temporal synchronization commands are required so that observations happen at the right time. The system was used for this year's photometric monitoring of Pluto and Triton and is in general use for 2/3 of time on the telescope. Pluto observations were collected on 30 nights out of a potential pool of 90 nights. Detailed system design and capabilites plus sample observations will be presented. Also, a live demonstration will be provided if the weather is good. This work was supported by NASA Grant NAG5-4210 and the NSF REU Program grant to NAU.

BAYESIAN TECHNIQUES FOR COMPARING TIME-DEPENDENT GRMHD SIMULATIONS TO VARIABLE EVENT HORIZON TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Junhan; Marrone, Daniel P.; Chan, Chi-Kwan; Medeiros, Lia; Özel, Feryal; Psaltis, Dimitrios, E-mail: junhankim@email.arizona.edu [Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)

2016-12-01

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a millimeter-wavelength, very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) experiment that is capable of observing black holes with horizon-scale resolution. Early observations have revealed variable horizon-scale emission in the Galactic Center black hole, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). Comparing such observations to time-dependent general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations requires statistical tools that explicitly consider the variability in both the data and the models. We develop here a Bayesian method to compare time-resolved simulation images to variable VLBI data, in order to infer model parameters and perform model comparisons. We use mock EHT data based on GRMHD simulations to explore the robustness of this Bayesian method and contrast it to approaches that do not consider the effects of variability. We find that time-independent models lead to offset values of the inferred parameters with artificially reduced uncertainties. Moreover, neglecting the variability in the data and the models often leads to erroneous model selections. We finally apply our method to the early EHT data on Sgr A*.

HUBBLE AND KECK TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF ACTIVE ASTEROID 288P/300163 (2006 VW139)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agarwal, Jessica; Jewitt, David; Weaver, Harold; Mutchler, Max; Larson, Stephen

2016-01-01

We present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Keck 10 m telescope observations of active asteroid 288P/300163 (2006 VW139) taken to examine ejected dust. The nucleus is a C-type object with absolute magnitude H V = 17.0 ± 0.1 and estimated diameter ∼2.6 km (for assumed visual geometric albedo p V = 0.04). Variations in the brightness of the nucleus at the 10%–15% level are significant in both 2011 December and 2012 October but we possess too few data to distinguish variations caused by activity from those caused by rotation. The dust scattering cross-section in 2011 December is ∼40 km 2 , corresponding to a dust mass ∼9 × 10 6 kg (88 μm mean particle radius assumed). The FWHM of the debris sheet varies from ∼100 km near the nucleus to ∼1000 km 30″ (40,000 km) east of it. Dust dynamical models indicate ejection speeds between 0.06 and 0.3 m s −1 , particle sizes between 10 and 300 μm and an inverse square-root relation between particle size and velocity. Overall, the data are most simply explained by prolonged, low velocity ejection of dust, starting in or before 2011 July and continuing until at least 2011 October. These properties are consistent with the sublimation of near-surface ice aided by centrifugal forces. The high spatial resolution of our HST images (52 km pixel −1 ) reveals details that remained hidden in previous ground-based observations, such as the extraordinarily small vertical extent of the dust sheet, ejection speeds well below the nucleus escape speed, and the possibility of a binary nucleus

HUBBLE AND KECK TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF ACTIVE ASTEROID 288P/300163 (2006 VW139)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agarwal, Jessica [Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, D-37077 Göttingen (Germany); Jewitt, David [Department Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences, UCLA, 595 Charles Young Drive East, Box 951567 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1567 (United States); Weaver, Harold [The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723 (United States); Mutchler, Max [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Larson, Stephen, E-mail: agarwal@mps.mpg.de [Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, 1629 E. University Blvd. Tucson AZ 85721-0092 (United States)

2016-01-15

We present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Keck 10 m telescope observations of active asteroid 288P/300163 (2006 VW139) taken to examine ejected dust. The nucleus is a C-type object with absolute magnitude H{sub V} = 17.0 ± 0.1 and estimated diameter ∼2.6 km (for assumed visual geometric albedo p{sub V} = 0.04). Variations in the brightness of the nucleus at the 10%–15% level are significant in both 2011 December and 2012 October but we possess too few data to distinguish variations caused by activity from those caused by rotation. The dust scattering cross-section in 2011 December is ∼40 km{sup 2}, corresponding to a dust mass ∼9 × 10{sup 6} kg (88 μm mean particle radius assumed). The FWHM of the debris sheet varies from ∼100 km near the nucleus to ∼1000 km 30″ (40,000 km) east of it. Dust dynamical models indicate ejection speeds between 0.06 and 0.3 m s{sup −1}, particle sizes between 10 and 300 μm and an inverse square-root relation between particle size and velocity. Overall, the data are most simply explained by prolonged, low velocity ejection of dust, starting in or before 2011 July and continuing until at least 2011 October. These properties are consistent with the sublimation of near-surface ice aided by centrifugal forces. The high spatial resolution of our HST images (52 km pixel{sup −1}) reveals details that remained hidden in previous ground-based observations, such as the extraordinarily small vertical extent of the dust sheet, ejection speeds well below the nucleus escape speed, and the possibility of a binary nucleus.

Portable Telescopic Observations of the 3 June 2017 Stellar Occultation by New Horizons Kuiper Extended Mission Target (486958) 2014 MU69

Science.gov (United States)

Verbiscer, Anne J.; Buie, Marc W.; Porter, Simon Bernard; Tamblyn, Peter; Terrell, Dirk; Benecchi, Susan; Parker, Alex; Soto, Alejandro; Wasserman, Lawrence H.; Young, Eliot F.; Zangari, Amanda Marie; New Horizons MU69 Occultation Team

2017-10-01

The New Horizons spacecraft will encounter the cold classical Kuiper Belt Object (486958) 2014 MU69 on 1 January 2019. Because it is extremely faint (V mag ~27), MU69 has only been directly observed by the Hubble Space Telescope since its discovery (by HST) in 2014 (Spencer et al. 2015 EPSC 10, 417S). Current knowledge of the physical properties of MU69 is therefore limited to its red color (F606W-F814W = 0.99 ± 0.18, Benecchi et al. 2017) and a crude estimate on its size (20-40 km) based on association with other cold classical KBO visible albedos (0.04-0.15). Stellar occultations are powerful tools with which to measure the size and shape of objects whose distance and faintness precludes any spatially resolved observations. Here we report the results of a stellar occultation of a g’=15.33 magnitude star by MU69 on 3 June 2017. The shadow path crossed both southern Africa and South America. We deployed 12 portable telescopes from Mendoza, Argentina and 13 portable telescopes from Clanwilliam, Western Cape, South Africa. Although 24 of these 25 telescopes successfully observed the occultation star at the predicted event time, no solid body detection appeared in any of the acquired lightcurves. Following the successful detection of MU69 by stellar occultation on 17 July 2017, revised predictions of the location of the shadow path on 3 June now allow the lightcurves obtained on 3 June to place important constraints on the environment surrounding MU69 as well as upper limits on the size of any small satellites in the regions probed. This work would not have been possible without the financial support of NASA, the New Horizons Project, the astrometric support of the Gaia mission, and logistical support from the South African Astronomical Observatory, the US Embassies in Buenos Aires and Pretoria and the US Consulate in Cape Town.

LAMOST OBSERVATIONS IN THE KEPLER FIELD: SPECTRAL CLASSIFICATION WITH THE MKCLASS CODE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gray, R. O. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608 (United States); Corbally, C. J. [Vatican Observatory Research Group, Steward Observatory, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065 (United States); Cat, P. De [Royal Observatory of Belgium, Ringlaan 3, B-1180 Brussel (Belgium); Fu, J. N.; Ren, A. B. [Department of Astronomy, Beijing Normal University, 19 Avenue Xinjiekouwai, Beijing 100875 (China); Shi, J. R.; Luo, A. L.; Zhang, H. T.; Wu, Y.; Cao, Z.; Li, G. [Key Laboratory for Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012 (China); Zhang, Y.; Hou, Y.; Wang, Y. [Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210042 (China)

2016-01-15

The LAMOST-Kepler project was designed to obtain high-quality, low-resolution spectra of many of the stars in the Kepler field with the Large Sky Area Multi Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) spectroscopic telescope. To date 101,086 spectra of 80,447 objects over the entire Kepler field have been acquired. Physical parameters, radial velocities, and rotational velocities of these stars will be reported in other papers. In this paper we present MK spectral classifications for these spectra determined with the automatic classification code MKCLASS. We discuss the quality and reliability of the spectral types and present histograms showing the frequency of the spectral types in the main table organized according to luminosity class. Finally, as examples of the use of this spectral database, we compute the proportion of A-type stars that are Am stars, and identify 32 new barium dwarf candidates.

Exploring Galileo's Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Straulino, Samuele; Terzuoli, Alessandra

2010-01-01

In the first months of 2009, the International Year of Astronomy, the authors developed an educational project for middle-level students connected with the first astronomical discoveries that Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) made 400 years ago. The project included the construction of a basic telescope and the observation of the Moon. The project, if…

Construction of the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Rimmele, T. R.; Keil, S.; McMullin, J.; Knölker, M.; Kuhn, J. R.; Goode, P. R.; Rosner, R.; Casini, R.; Lin, H.; Tritschler, A.; Wöger, F.; ATST Team

2012-12-01

The 4m Advance Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) will be the most powerful solar telescope and the world's leading ground-based resource for studying solar magnetism that controls the solar wind, flares, coronal mass ejections and variability in the Sun's output. The project has entered its construction phase. Major subsystems have been contracted. As its highest priority science driver ATST shall provide high resolution and high sensitivity observations of the dynamic solar magnetic fields throughout the solar atmosphere, including the corona at infrared wavelengths. With its 4m aperture, ATST will resolve features at 0.″03 at visible wavelengths and obtain 0.″1 resolution at the magnetically highly sensitive near infrared wavelengths. A high order adaptive optics system delivers a corrected beam to the initial set of state-of-the-art, facility class instrumentation located in the Coudé laboratory facility. The initial set of first generation instruments consists of five facility class instruments, including imagers and spectro-polarimeters. The high polarimetric sensitivity and accuracy required for measurements of the illusive solar magnetic fields place strong constraints on the polarization analysis and calibration. Development and construction of a four-meter solar telescope presents many technical challenges, including thermal control of the enclosure, telescope structure and optics and wavefront control. A brief overview of the science goals and observational requirements of the ATST will be given, followed by a summary of the design status of the telescope and its instrumentation, including design status of major subsystems, such as the telescope mount assembly, enclosure, mirror assemblies, and wavefront correction

LADEE UVS Observations of Atoms and Dust in the Lunar Tail

Science.gov (United States)

Wooden, Diane H.; Colaprete, Anthony; Cook, Amanda M.; Shirley, Mark H.; Vargo, Kara E.; Elphic, Richard C.; Stubbs, Timothy J.; Glenar, David A.

2014-01-01

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) was a lunar orbiter launched in September 2013 that investigated the composition and temporal variation of the tenuous lunar exosphere and dust environment. A major goal of the mission was to characterize the dust exosphere prior to future lunar exploration activities, which may alter the lunar environment. The Ultraviolet/Visible Spectrometer (UVS) onboard LADEE addresses this goal, utilizing two sets of optics: a limbviewing telescope, and a solar-viewing telescope. We report on spectroscopic (approximately 280 - 820 nm) observations viewing down the lunar wake or along the 'lunar tail' from lunar orbit. Prior groundbased studies have observed the emission from neutral sodium atoms extended along the lunar tail, so often this region is referred to as the lunar sodium tail. UVS measurements were made on the dark side of the moon, with the UVS limb-viewing telescope pointed outward in the direction of the Moon's wake (almost anti-sun), during different lunar phases. These UVS observation activities sample a long column and allow the characterization of scattered light from dust and emission lines from atoms in the lunar tail. Observations in this UVS configuration show the largest excess of scattered blue light in our data set, indicative of the presence of small dust grains in the tail. Once lofted, nanoparticles may become charged and picked up by the solar wind, similar to the phenomena witnessed above Enceladus's northern hemisphere or by the STEREO/WAVES instrument while close to Earth's orbit. The UVS data show that small dust grains as well as atoms become entrained in the lunar tail.

First Steps Toward K-12 Teacher Professional Development Using Internet-based Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Berryhill, K. J.; Gershun, D.; Slater, T. F.; Armstrong, J. D.

2012-12-01

How can science teachers become more familiar with emerging technology, excite their students and give students a taste of astronomy research? Astronomy teachers do not always have research experience, so it is difficult for them to convey to students how researchers use telescopes. The nature of astronomical observation (e.g., remote sites, expensive equipment, and odd hours) has been a barrier to providing teachers with insight into the process. Robotic telescopes (operated automatically with queued observing schedules) and remotely controlled telescopes (controlled by the user via the Internet) allow scientists to conduct observing sessions on research-grade telescopes half a world away. The same technology can now be harnessed by STEM educators to engage students and reinforce what is being taught in the classroom, as seen in some early research in elementary schools (McKinnon and Mainwaring 2000 and McKinnon and Geissinger 2002), and middle/high schools (Sadler et al. 2001, 2007 and Gehret et al. 2005). However, teachers need to be trained to use these resources. Responding to this need, graduate students and faculty at the University of Wyoming and CAPER Center for Astronomy & Physics Education Research are developing teacher professional development programs using Internet-based telescopes. We conducted an online course in the science education graduate program at the University of Wyoming. This course was designed to sample different types of Internet-based telescopes to evaluate them as resources for teacher professional development. The 10 participants were surveyed at the end of the course to assess their experiences with each activity. In addition, pre-test/post-test data were collected focusing specifically on one of the telescopes (Gershun, Berryhill and Slater 2012). Throughout the course, the participants learned to use a variety of robotic and remote telescopes including SLOOH Space Camera (www.slooh.com), Sky Titan Observatory (www

A synthetic aperture radio telescope for ICME observations as a potential payload of SPORT

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, C.; Sun, W.; Liu, H.; Xiong, M.; Liu, Y. D.; Wu, J.

2013-12-01

We introduce a potential payload for the Solar Polar ORbit Telescope (SPORT), a space weather mission proposed by the National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences. This is a synthetic aperture radio imager designed to detect radio emissions from interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs), which is expected to be an important instrument to monitor the propagation and evolution of ICMEs. The radio telescope applies a synthetic aperture interferometric technique to measure the brightness temperature of ICMEs. Theoretical calculations of the brightness temperature utilizing statistical properties of ICMEs and the background solar wind indicate that ICMEs within 0.35 AU from the Sun are detectable by a radio telescope at a frequency <= 150 MHz with a sensitivity of <=1 K. The telescope employs a time shared double rotation scan (also called a clock scan), where two coplanar antennas revolve around a fixed axis at different radius and speed, to fulfill sampling of the brightness temperature. An array of 4+4 elements with opposite scanning directions are developed for the radio telescope to achieve the required sensitivity (<=1K) within the imaging refreshing time (~30 minutes). This scan scheme is appropriate for a three-axis stabilized spacecraft platform while keeping a good sampling pattern. We also discuss how we select the operating frequency, which involves a trade-off between the engineering feasibility and the scientific goal. Our preliminary results indicate that the central frequency of 150 MHz with a bandwidth of 20 MHz, which requires arm lengths of the two groups of 14m and 16m, respectively, gives an angular resolution of 2°, a field of view of ×25° around the Sun, and a time resolution of 30 minutes.

New planetary nebulae in the outskirts of the Andromeda Galaxy discovered with the Guoshoujing Telescope (LAMOST)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan Haibo; Liu Xiaowei; Huo Zhiying; Zhang Huihua; Zhang Huawei; Zhao Yongheng; Chen Jianjun; Bai Zhongrui; Zhang Haotong; Yan Hongliang; Ren Juanjuan; Sun Shiwei; GarcIa-Benito, Ruben; Xiang Maosheng; Zhang Yong; Li Yeping; Lu Qishuai; Wang You; Ni Jijun; Wang Hai

2010-01-01

Planetary nebulae (PNe) are good tracers of the stellar populations, chemical composition and dynamics of their host galaxies. This paper reports the discovery of new PNe in the outskirts of the Andromeda Galaxy (M 31) with the Guoshoujing Telescope (GSJT, formerly named the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope-LAMOST) during its early commissioning phase. In total, 36 candidates selected from SDSS photometry are confirmed in terms of their PN nature, including 17 new discoveries and another 19 previously known emission line objects. Their positions, spectra, radial velocities and m 5007 magnitudes are presented. We discuss the potential for detecting more PNe in M31 with GSJT's multi-object spectroscopy and the related applications in studies of the dynamics and chemistry of M 31 and its assemblage history. (editor's recommendation)

New background quasars in the vicinity of the Andromeda Galaxy discovered with the Guoshoujing Telescope (LAMOST)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huo Zhiying; Liu Xiaowei; Yuan Haibo; Zhang Huihua; Zhang Huawei; Zhao Yongheng; Chen Jianjun; Bai Zhongrui; Zhang Haotong; Yan Hongliang; Ren Juanjuan; Sun Shiwei; GarcIa-Benito, Ruben; Xiang Maosheng; Zhang Yong; Li Yeping; Lu Qishuai; Wang You; Ni Jijun; Wang Hai

2010-01-01

We present preliminary analyses of spectra of quasar candidates in two Guoshoujing Telescope (GSJT, formerly named the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope - LAMOST) test fields near M 31 where one is close to the optical center of the disk and the other is towards the northeastern outskirts of the halo, obtained during the early stage of the GSJT commissioning in the last season of 2009. Both fields contain background low-redshift quasar candidates selected from the SDSS photometry. In total, 14 new quasars with redshifts up to 2 and i magnitudes between 16.7 and 19.2, are discovered, including 7 within the 2.5 0 central region of M 31. We briefly discuss the potential applications of these newly discovered bright quasars. (editor's recommendation)

Eta Carinae's 2014.6 spectroscopic event: Clues to the long-term recovery from its Great Eruption

Science.gov (United States)

Mehner, A.; Davidson, K.; Humphreys, R. M.; Walter, F. M.; Baade, D.; de Wit, W. J.; Martin, J.; Ishibashi, K.; Rivinius, T.; Martayan, C.; Ruiz, M. T.; Weis, K.

2015-06-01

the past two to three cycles. The ionizing UV radiation dramatically weakened during each pre-2014 event but not in 2014. The strengthening of He i and N ii emission and the weakening of the lower-excitation Hα and Fe ii wind featuresin our direct line of sight implies a substantial change in the physical parameters of the emitting regions. The polar spectrum at FOS4 shows fewer changes in the broad wind emission lines, which may be explained by the latitude-dependent wind structure of η Car. The quick and strong recovery of the He ii emission in 2014 supports a scenario, in which the wind-wind shock may not have completely collapsed as was proposed for previous events. As a result, the companion did not accrete as much material as in previous events. All this may be the consequence of just one elementary change, namely a strong decrease in the primary's mass-loss rate. This would mark the beginning of a new phase, in which the spectroscopic events can be described as an occultation by the primary's wind. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained (from the Data Archive) at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated with programmes #7302, 8036, 8327, 8483, 8619, 9083, 9242, 9337, 9420, 9973, 11506, 11612, 12013, 12508, 12750, 13377, and 13789. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile under Prog-IDs: 60.A-9022(A), 70.D-0607(A), 71.D-0168(A), 072.D-0524(A), 074.D-0141(A), 077.D-0618(A), 380.D-0036(A), 381.D-0004(A), 282.D-5073(A,B,C,D,E), 089.D-0024(A), 592.D-0047(A,B,C). Based in part on data obtained with the SMARTS/CTIO 1.5 m, operated by the SMARTS Consortium.Tables 1-3 are available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

A magnetic diverter for charged particle background rejection in the SIMBOL-X telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Spiga, D.; Fioretti, V.; Bulgarelli, A.; Dell'Orto, E.; Foschini, L.; Malaguti, G.; Pareschi, G.; Tagliaferri, G.; Tiengo, A.

2008-07-01

Minimization of charged particle background in X-ray telescopes is a well known issue. Charged particles (chiefly protons and electrons) naturally present in the cosmic environment constitute an important background source when they collide with the X-ray detector. Even worse, a serious degradation of spectroscopic performances of the X-ray detector was observed in Chandra and Newton-XMM, caused by soft protons with kinetic energies ranging between 100 keV and some MeV being collected by the grazing-incidence mirrors and funneled to the detector. For a focusing telescope like SIMBOL-X, the exposure of the soft X-ray detector to the proton flux can increase significantly the instrumental background, with a consequent loss of sensitivity. In the worst case, it can also seriously compromise the detector duration. A well-known countermeasure that can be adopted is the implementation of a properly-designed magnetic diverter, that should prevent high-energy particles from reaching the focal plane instruments of SIMBOL-X. Although Newton-XMM and Swift-XRT are equipped with magnetic diverters for electrons, the magnetic fields used are insufficient to effectively act on protons. In this paper, we simulate the behavior of a magnetic diverter for SIMBOL-X, consisting of commercially-available permanent magnets. The effects of SIMBOL-X optics is simulated through GEANT4 libraries, whereas the effect of the intense required magnetic fields is simulated along with specifically-written numerical codes in IDL.

An evaluation of the effectiveness of observation camera placement within the MeerKAT radio telescope project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heyns, Andries

2015-08-01

Full Text Available A recent development within the MeerKAT sub-project of the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope network was the placement of a network of three observation cameras in pursuit of two specific visibility objectives. In this paper, we evaluate the effectiveness of the locations of the MeerKAT observation camera network according to a novel multi-objective geographic information systems-based facility location framework. We find that the configuration chosen and implemented by the MeerKAT decision-makers is of very high quality, although we are able to uncover slightly superior alternative placement configurations. A significant amount of time and effort could, however, have been saved in the process of choosing the appropriate camera sites, had our solutions been available to the decision-makers.

Extending Supernova Spectral Templates for Next Generation Space Telescope Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts-Pierel, Justin; Rodney, Steven A.; Steven Rodney

2018-01-01

Widely used empirical supernova (SN) Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) have not historically extended meaningfully into the ultraviolet (UV), or the infrared (IR). However, both are critical for current and future aspects of SN research including UV spectra as probes of poorly understood SN Ia physical properties, and expanding our view of the universe with high-redshift James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) IR observations. We therefore present a comprehensive set of SN SED templates that have been extended into the UV and IR, as well as an open-source software package written in Python that enables a user to generate their own extrapolated SEDs. We have taken a sampling of core-collapse (CC) and Type Ia SNe to get a time-dependent distribution of UV and IR colors (U-B,r’-[JHK]), and then generated color curves are used to extrapolate SEDs into the UV and IR. The SED extrapolation process is now easily duplicated using a user’s own data and parameters via our open-source Python package: SNSEDextend. This work develops the tools necessary to explore the JWST’s ability to discriminate between CC and Type Ia SNe, as well as provides a repository of SN SEDs that will be invaluable to future JWST and WFIRST SN studies.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Green Bank Telescope observations of NGC 2403 (de Blok+, 2014)

Science.gov (United States)

de Blok, W. J. G.; Keating, K. M.; Pisano, D. J.; Fraternali, F.; Walter, F.; Oosterloo, T.; Brinks, E.; Bigiel, F.; Leroy, A.

2014-08-01

We observed NGC 2403 with the Green Bank Telescopes in the 21-cm line of neutral hydrogen, in 21 sessions between 29 May and 30 September 2009. The beam size of the observations is 8.7'. We include a FITS file containing the data-cube (pos-pos-vel) of the HI emission line of NGC 2403. We used equatorial coordinates for the spatial dimensions and VLSR for the spectral dimension. The pixel size is 1.75' in spatial dimension and the spectral resolution is 5.2km/s. All values are in Jy/beam. The data-cube spans an area of about 4x4 degrees (RAxDec) around the center of the maps at 07:35:29.9 +65:35:48.5 (EQ=J2000) and the velocity ranges from -895.6 to 1745.0km/s. (2 data files).

FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATION OF SUPERNOVA REMNANT S147

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Katsuta, J.; Uchiyama, Y.; Tanaka, T.; Tajima, H.; Bechtol, K.; Funk, S.; Lande, J. [W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Ballet, J. [Laboratoire AIM, CEA-IRFU/CNRS/Universite Paris Diderot, Service d' Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette (France); Hanabata, Y. [Department of Physical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526 (Japan); Lemoine-Goumard, M. [Universite Bordeaux 1, CNRS/IN2p3, Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan, 33175 Gradignan (France); Takahashi, T., E-mail: katsuta@slac.stanford.edu, E-mail: uchiyama@slac.stanford.edu [Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210 (Japan)

2012-06-20

We present an analysis of gamma-ray data obtained with the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in the region around supernova remnant (SNR) S147 (G180.0-1.7). A spatially extended gamma-ray source detected in an energy range of 0.2-10 GeV is found to coincide with SNR S147. We confirm its spatial extension at >5{sigma} confidence level. The gamma-ray flux is (3.8 {+-} 0.6) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -8} photons cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}, corresponding to a luminosity of 1.3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 34} (d/1.3 kpc){sup 2} erg s{sup -1} in this energy range. The gamma-ray emission exhibits a possible spatial correlation with the prominent H{alpha} filaments of SNR S147. There is no indication that the gamma-ray emission comes from the associated pulsar PSR J0538+2817. The gamma-ray spectrum integrated over the remnant is likely dominated by the decay of neutral {pi} mesons produced through the proton-proton collisions in the filaments. The reacceleration of the pre-existing cosmic rays and subsequent adiabatic compression in the filaments is sufficient to provide the energy density required of high-energy protons.

Analysis of the GPS Observations of the Site Survey at Sheshan 25-m Radio Telescope in August 2008

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, L.; Cheng, Z. Y.; Li, J. L.

2010-01-01

The processing of the GPS observations of the site survey at Sheshan 25-m radio telescope in August 2008 is reported. Because each session in this survey is only about six hours, not allowing the subdaily high frequency variations in the station coordinates to be reasonably smoothed, and because there are serious cycle slips in the observations and a large volume of data would be rejected during the software automatic adjustment of slips, the ordinary solution settings of GAMIT needed to be adjusted by loosening the constraints in the a priori coordinates to 10 m, adopting the "quick" mode in the solution iteration, and combining Cview manual operation with GAMIT automatic fixing of cycle slips. The resulting coordinates of the local control polygon in ITRF2005 are then compared with conventional geodetic results. Due to large rotations and translations in the two sets of coordinates (geocentric versus quasi-topocentric), the seven transformation parameters cannot be solved for directly. With various trial solutions it is shown that with a partial pre-removal of the large parameters, high precision transformation parameters can be obtained with post-fit residuals at the millimeter level. This analysis is necessary to prepare the follow-on site and transformation survey of the VLBI and SLR telescopes at Sheshan

Chromospheric telescope of Baikal Astrophysical Observatory. New light

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Skomorovsky V.I.

2016-06-01

Full Text Available A chromospheric telescope is an important instrument for synoptic observations and solar research. After several decades of observations with the chromospheric telescope at the Baikal Astrophysical Observatory, a need arose to improve the characteristics of this telescope and filter. A new reimaging lens to produce full-disk solar images 18 mm in diameter at the CCD camera Hamamatsu C-124 with a 36×24 mm detector (4000×2672 pixels was designed and manufactured to replace the out-of-operation 50×50 mm Princeton Instruments camera. A contrast interference blocking filter and new calcite and quartz crystal plates were made and installed instead of damaged ones in the Hα birefringent filter (BF, manufactured by Bernhard Hallе Nachfl. The optical immersion in the filter was changed. All telescope optics was cleaned and adjusted. We describe for the first time the design features and their related BF passband tuning. The wavefront interferograms of optical elements and telescope as a whole show that the wavefront distortion of the optical path is within 0.25 λ. The BF and prefilter spectral parameters provide high-contrast monochromatic images. Besides, we give examples of solar chromospheric images in the Hα line core and wing.

Accretion Disk Reverberation with Hubble Space Telescope Observations of NGC 4593: Evidence for Diffuse Continuum Lags

Science.gov (United States)

Cackett, Edward M.; Chiang, Chia-Ying; McHardy, Ian; Edelson, Rick; Goad, Michael R.; Horne, Keith; Korista, Kirk T.

2018-04-01

The Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4593 was monitored spectroscopically with the Hubble Space Telescope as part of a reverberation mapping campaign that also included Swift, Kepler, and ground-based photometric monitoring. During 2016 July 12–August 6, we obtained 26 spectra across a nearly continuous wavelength range of ∼1150–10000 Å. These were combined with Swift data to produce a UV/optical “lag spectrum,” which shows the interband lag relative to the Swift UVW2 band as a function of wavelength. The broad shape of the lag spectrum appears to follow the τ ∝ λ 4/3 relation seen previously in photometric interband lag measurements of other active galactic nuclei (AGNs). This shape is consistent with the standard thin disk model, but the magnitude of the lags implies a disk that is a factor of ∼3 larger than predicted, again consistent with what has been previously seen in other AGNs. In all cases these large disk sizes, which are also implied by independent gravitational microlensing of higher-mass AGNs, cannot be simply reconciled with the standard model. However, the most striking feature in this higher-resolution lag spectrum is a clear excess around the 3646 Å Balmer jump. This strongly suggests that diffuse emission from gas in the much larger broad-line region (BLR) must also contribute significantly to the interband lags. While the relative contributions of the disk and BLR cannot be uniquely determined in these initial measurements, it is clear that both will need to be considered to comprehensively model and understand AGN lag spectra.

MROI Array telescopes: the relocatable enclosure domes

Science.gov (United States)

Marchiori, G.; Busatta, A.; Payne, I.

2016-07-01

The MROI - Magdalena Ridge Interferometer is a project which comprises an array of up to 10 1.4m diameter mirror telescopes arranged in a "Y" configuration. Each of these telescopes will be housed inside a Unit Telescope Enclosure (UTE) which are relocatable onto any of 28 stations. EIE GROUP Srl, Venice - Italy, was awarded the contract for the design, the construction and the erection on site of the MROI by the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. The close-pack array of the MROI - including all 10 telescopes, several of which are at a relative distance of less than 8m center to center from each other - necessitated an original design for the Unit Telescope Enclosure (UTE). This innovative design enclosure incorporates a unique dome/observing aperture system to be able to operate in the harsh environmental conditions encountered at an altitude of 10,460ft (3,188m). The main characteristics of this Relocatable Enclosure Dome are: a Light insulated Steel Structure with a dome made of composites materials (e.g. glass/carbon fibers, sandwich panels etc.), an aperture motorized system for observation, a series of louvers for ventilation, a series of electrical and plants installations and relevant auxiliary equipment. The first Enclosure Dome is now under construction and the completion of the mounting on site id envisaged by the end of 2016. The relocation system utilizes a modified reachstacker (a transporter used to handle freight containers) capable of maneuvering between and around the enclosures, capable of lifting the combined weight of the enclosure with the telescope (30tons), with minimal impacts due to vibrations.

NEW PRECISION ORBITS OF BRIGHT DOUBLE-LINED SPECTROSCOPIC BINARIES. IV. 66 ANDROMEDAE, HR 6979, AND HR 9059

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fekel, Francis C.; Williamson, Michael H.; Tomkin, Jocelyn

2010-01-01

We have determined improved spectroscopic orbits for three double-lined binaries, 66 And (F4 V), HR 6979 (Am), and HR 9059 (F5 IV) using radial velocities from the 2.1 m telescope at McDonald Observatory, the coude feed telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, and 2 m telescope at Fairborn Observatory. The orbital periods range from 11.0 to 14.3 days, and all three systems have eccentric orbits. The new orbital dimensions (a 1 sin i and a 2 sin i) and minimum masses (m 1 sin 3 i and m 2 sin 3 i) have accuracies of 0.2% or better. All six components of the three binary systems are rotating more slowly than their predicted pseudosynchronous rotational velocities. Hipparcos photometry of HR 9059 shows that this system has partial eclipses. Its components are nearly identical in mass and are at the very end of their main-sequence lifetimes or perhaps have just begun to traverse the Hertsprung gap.

Coronagraphic Wavefront Control for the ATLAST-9.2m Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, RIchard G.; Oegerle, William R.; Feinberg, Lee D.; Bolcar, Matthew R.; Dean, Bruce H.; Mosier, Gary E.; Postman, Marc

2010-01-01

The Advanced Technology for Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) concept was assessed as one of the NASA Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concepts (ASMC) studies. Herein we discuss the 9.2-meter diameter segmented aperture version and its wavefront sensing and control (WFSC) with regards to coronagraphic detection and spectroscopic characterization of exoplanets. The WFSC would consist of at least two levels of sensing and control: (i) an outer coarser level of sensing and control to phase and control the segments and secondary mirror in a manner similar to the James Webb Space Telescope but operating at higher temporal bandwidth, and (ii) an inner, coronagraphic instrument based, fine level of sensing and control for both amplitude and wavefront errors operating at higher temporal bandwidths. The outer loop would control rigid-body actuators on the primary and secondary mirrors while the inner loop would control one or more segmented deformable mirror to suppress the starlight within the coronagraphic field-of view. Herein we discuss the visible nulling coronagraph (VNC) and the requirements it levies on wavefront sensing and control and show the results of closed-loop simulations to assess performance and evaluate the trade space of system level stability versus control bandwidth.

Coronagraphic wavefront control for the ATLAST 9.2m telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Oegerle, William R.; Feinberg, Lee D.; Bolcar, Matthew R.; Dean, Bruce H.; Mosier, Gary E.; Postman, Marc

2010-07-01

The Advanced Technology for Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) concept was assessed as one of the NASA Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concepts (ASMC) studies. Herein we discuss the 9.2-meter diameter segmented aperture version and its wavefront sensing and control (WFSC) with regards to coronagraphic detection and spectroscopic characterization of exoplanets. The WFSC would consist of at least two levels of sensing and control: (i) an outer coarser level of sensing and control to phase and control the segments and secondary mirror in a manner similar to the James Webb Space Telescope but operating at higher temporal bandwidth, and (ii) an inner, coronagraphic instrument based, fine level of sensing and control for both amplitude and wavefront errors operating at higher temporal bandwidths. The outer loop would control rigid-body actuators on the primary and secondary mirrors while the inner loop would control one or more segmented deformable mirror to suppress the starlight within the coronagraphic field-of-view. Herein we discuss the visible nulling coronagraph (VNC) and the requirements it levies on wavefront sensing and control and show the results of closed-loop simulations to assess performance and evaluate the trade space of system level stability versus control bandwidth.

Artificial Intelligence in Autonomous Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Mahoney, William; Thanjavur, Karun

2011-03-01

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is key to the natural evolution of today's automated telescopes to fully autonomous systems. Based on its rapid development over the past five decades, AI offers numerous, well-tested techniques for knowledge based decision making essential for real-time telescope monitoring and control, with minimal - and eventually no - human intervention. We present three applications of AI developed at CFHT for monitoring instantaneous sky conditions, assessing quality of imaging data, and a prototype for scheduling observations in real-time. Closely complementing the current remote operations at CFHT, we foresee further development of these methods and full integration in the near future.

THE TIME DOMAIN SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY: VARIABLE SELECTION AND ANTICIPATED RESULTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morganson, Eric; Green, Paul J. [Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Anderson, Scott F.; Ruan, John J. [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Myers, Adam D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 (United States); Eracleous, Michael; Brandt, William Nielsen [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 525 Davey Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Kelly, Brandon [Department of Physics, Broida Hall, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9530 (United States); Badenes, Carlos [Department of Physics and Astronomy and Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology Center (PITT PACC), University of Pittsburgh, 3941 O’Hara St, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Bañados, Eduardo [Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Blanton, Michael R. [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003 (United States); Bershady, Matthew A. [Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin, 475 N. Charter St., Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Borissova, Jura [Instituto de Física y Astronomía, Universidad de Valparaíso, Av. Gran Bretaña 1111, Playa Ancha, Casilla 5030, and Millennium Institute of Astrophysics (MAS), Santiago (Chile); Burgett, William S. [GMTO Corp, Suite 300, 251 S. Lake Ave, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Chambers, Kenneth, E-mail: emorganson@cfa.harvard.edu [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States); and others

2015-06-20

We present the selection algorithm and anticipated results for the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS). TDSS is an Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)-IV Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) subproject that will provide initial identification spectra of approximately 220,000 luminosity-variable objects (variable stars and active galactic nuclei across 7500 deg{sup 2} selected from a combination of SDSS and multi-epoch Pan-STARRS1 photometry. TDSS will be the largest spectroscopic survey to explicitly target variable objects, avoiding pre-selection on the basis of colors or detailed modeling of specific variability characteristics. Kernel Density Estimate analysis of our target population performed on SDSS Stripe 82 data suggests our target sample will be 95% pure (meaning 95% of objects we select have genuine luminosity variability of a few magnitudes or more). Our final spectroscopic sample will contain roughly 135,000 quasars and 85,000 stellar variables, approximately 4000 of which will be RR Lyrae stars which may be used as outer Milky Way probes. The variability-selected quasar population has a smoother redshift distribution than a color-selected sample, and variability measurements similar to those we develop here may be used to make more uniform quasar samples in large surveys. The stellar variable targets are distributed fairly uniformly across color space, indicating that TDSS will obtain spectra for a wide variety of stellar variables including pulsating variables, stars with significant chromospheric activity, cataclysmic variables, and eclipsing binaries. TDSS will serve as a pathfinder mission to identify and characterize the multitude of variable objects that will be detected photometrically in even larger variability surveys such as Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

Fundamental spectroscopic studies of carbenes and hydrocarbon radicals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gottlieb, C.A.; Thaddeus, P. [Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)

1993-12-01

Highly reactive carbenes and carbon-chain radicals are studied at millimeter wavelengths by observing their rotational spectra. The purpose is to provide definitive spectroscopic identification, accurate spectroscopic constants in the lowest vibrational states, and reliable structures of the key intermediates in reactions leading to aromatic hydrocarbons and soot particles in combustion.

Radio telescope control

CERN Document Server

Schraml, J

1972-01-01

An on-line computer control process developed for the 100-m radio telescope of the Max-Planck-Institut fur Radioastronomie in Bonn is described. The instrument is the largest fully steerable antenna in the world. Its operation started on May 31st 1972. It is controlled by a Ferranti Argus 500 on-line computer. The first part of the paper deals with the process itself, the radio telescope and its operation, and the demands resulting for the control program. The second part briefly describes the computer and its hardware. The final part introduces the architecture of the executive program in general, which has been tailored to meet the demands of the process and the hardware. The communication between the observer and the system, the format of data on magnetic tape and an on-line reduction of position measurements are considered. (0 refs).

Using All-Sky Imaging to Improve Telescope Scheduling (Abstract)

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, G. M.

2017-12-01

(Abstract only) Automated scheduling makes it possible for a small telescope to observe a large number of targets in a single night. But when used in areas which have less-than-perfect sky conditions such automation can lead to large numbers of observations of clouds and haze. This paper describes the development of a "sky-aware" telescope automation system that integrates the data flow from an SBIG AllSky340c camera with an enhanced dispatch scheduler to make optimum use of the available observing conditions for two highly instrumented backyard telescopes. Using the minute-by-minute time series image stream and a self-maintained reference database, the software maintains a file of sky brightness, transparency, stability, and forecasted visibility at several hundred grid positions. The scheduling software uses this information in real time to exclude targets obscured by clouds and select the best observing task, taking into account the requirements and limits of each instrument.

The ARC (Astrophysical Research Consortium) telescope project.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, K. S.

A consortium of universities intends to construct a 3.5 meter optical-infrared telescope at a site in south-central New Mexico. The use of innovative mirror technology, a fast primary, and an alt-azimuth mounting results in a compact and lightweight instrument. This telescope will be uniquely well-suited for addressing certain observational programs by virtue of its capability for fully remote operation and rapid instrument changes.

FIRST SPECTROSCOPIC IMAGING OBSERVATIONS OF THE SUN AT LOW RADIO FREQUENCIES WITH THE MURCHISON WIDEFIELD ARRAY PROTOTYPE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oberoi, Divya; Matthews, Lynn D.; Lonsdale, Colin J.; Benkevitch, Leonid; Cairns, Iver H.; Lobzin, Vasili; Emrich, David; Wayth, Randall B.; Arcus, Wayne; Morgan, Edward H.; Williams, Christopher; Prabu, T.; Vedantham, Harish; Williams, Andrew; White, Stephen M.; Allen, G.; Barnes, David; Bernardi, Gianni; Bowman, Judd D.; Briggs, Frank H.

2011-01-01

We present the first spectroscopic images of solar radio transients from the prototype for the Murchison Widefield Array, observed on 2010 March 27. Our observations span the instantaneous frequency band 170.9- 201.6 MHz. Though our observing period is characterized as a period of 'low' to 'medium' activity, one broadband emission feature and numerous short-lived, narrowband, non-thermal emission features are evident. Our data represent a significant advance in low radio frequency solar imaging, enabling us to follow the spatial, spectral, and temporal evolution of events simultaneously and in unprecedented detail. The rich variety of features seen here reaffirms the coronal diagnostic capability of low radio frequency emission and provides an early glimpse of the nature of radio observations that will become available as the next generation of low-frequency radio interferometers come online over the next few years.

The Mass of the Candidate Exoplanet Companion to HD 33636 from Hubble Space Telescope Astrometry and High-Precision Radial Velocities

Science.gov (United States)

Bean, Jacob L.; McArthur, Barbara E.; Benedict, G. Fritz; Harrison, Thomas E.; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Nelan, Edmund; Smith, Verne V.

2007-08-01

We have determined a dynamical mass for the companion to HD 33636 that indicates it is a low-mass star instead of an exoplanet. Our result is based on an analysis of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) astrometry and ground-based radial velocity data. We have obtained high-cadence radial velocity measurements spanning 1.3 yr of HD 33636 with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory. We combined these data with previously published velocities to create a data set that spans 9 yr. We used this data set to search for, and place mass limits on, the existence of additional companions in the HD 33636 system. Our high-precision astrometric observations of the system with the HST Fine Guidance Sensor 1r span 1.2 yr. We simultaneously modeled the radial velocity and astrometry data to determine the parallax, proper motion, and perturbation orbit parameters of HD 33636. Our derived parallax, πabs=35.6+/-0.2 mas, agrees within the uncertainties with the Hipparcos value. We find a perturbation period P=2117.3+/-0.8 days, semimajor axis aA=14.2+/-0.2 mas, and system inclination i=4.1deg+/-0.1deg. Assuming the mass of the primary star to be MA=1.02+/-0.03 Msolar, we obtain a companion mass MB=142+/-11 MJup=0.14+/-0.01 Msolar. The much larger true mass of the companion relative to its minimum mass estimated from the spectroscopic orbit parameters (Msini=9.3 MJup) is due to the nearly face-on orbit orientation. This result demonstrates the value of follow-up astrometric observations to determine the true masses of exoplanet candidates detected with the radial velocity method. Based on data obtained with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET). The HST observations were obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. The HET is a joint project of the University of Texas at Austin, Pennsylvania State University, Stanford

Space telescopes capturing the rays of the electromagnetic spectrum

CERN Document Server

English, Neil

2017-01-01

Space telescopes are among humankind’s greatest scientific achievements of the last fifty years. This book describes the instruments themselves and what they were designed to discover about the Solar System and distant stars. Exactly how these telescopes were built and launched and the data they provided is explored. Only certain kinds of radiation can penetrate our planet's atmosphere, which limits what we can observe. But with space telescopes all this changed. We now have the means to "see" beyond Earth using ultraviolet, microwave, and infrared rays, X-rays and gamma rays. In this book we meet the pioneers and the telescopes that were built around their ideas. This book looks at space telescopes not simply chronologically but also in order of the electromagnetic spectrum, making it possible to understand better why they were made.

Cross-Calibrating Sunspot Magnetic Field Strength Measurements from the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope and the Dunn Solar Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Fraser T.; Beck, Christian; Penn, Matthew J.; Tritschler, Alexandra; Pillet, Valentín Martinez; Livingston, William C.

2015-11-01

In this article we describe a recent effort to cross-calibrate data from an infrared detector at the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope and the Facility InfraRed Spectropolarimeter (FIRS) at the Dunn Solar Telescope. A synoptic observation program at the McMath-Pierce has measured umbral magnetic field strengths since 1998, and this data set has recently been compared with umbral magnetic field observations from SOHO/MDI and SDO/HMI. To further improve on the data from McMath-Pierce, we compared the data with measurements taken at the Dunn Solar Telescope with far greater spectral resolution than has been possible with space instrumentation. To minimise potential disruption to the study, concurrent umbral measurements were made so that the relationship between the two datasets can be most accurately characterised. We find that there is a strong agreement between the umbral magnetic field strengths recorded by each instrument, and we reduced the FIRS data in two different ways to successfully test this correlation further.

Unique Spectroscopy and Imaging of Mars with the James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Villanueva, Geronimo L.; Altieri, Francesca; Clancy, R. Todd; Encrenaz, Therese; Fouchet, Thierry; Hartogh, Paul; Lellouch, Emmanuel; Lopez-Valverde, Miguel A.; Mumma, Michael J.; Novak, Robert E.;

Method of composing two-dimensional scanned spectra observed by the New Vacuum Solar Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Yun-Fang; Xu, Zhi; Chen, Yu-Chao; Xu, Jun; Li, Zheng-Gang; Fu, Yu; Ji, Kai-Fan

2018-04-01

In this paper we illustrate the technique used by the New Vacuum Solar Telescope (NVST) to increase the spatial resolution of two-dimensional (2D) solar spectroscopy observations involving two dimensions of space and one of wavelength. Without an image stabilizer at the NVST, large scale wobble motion is present during the spatial scanning, whose instantaneous amplitude can reach 1.3″ due to the Earth’s atmosphere and the precision of the telescope guiding system, and seriously decreases the spatial resolution of 2D spatial maps composed with scanned spectra. We make the following effort to resolve this problem: the imaging system (e.g., the TiO-band) is used to record and detect the displacement vectors of solar image motion during the raster scan, in both the slit and scanning directions. The spectral data (e.g., the Hα line) which are originally obtained in time sequence are corrected and re-arranged in space according to those displacement vectors. Raster scans are carried out in several active regions with different seeing conditions (two rasters are illustrated in this paper). Given a certain spatial sampling and temporal resolution, the spatial resolution of the composed 2D map could be close to that of the slit-jaw image. The resulting quality after correction is quantitatively evaluated with two methods. A physical quantity, such as the line-of-sight velocities in multiple layers of the solar atmosphere, is also inferred from the re-arranged spectrum, demonstrating the advantage of this technique.

The Thirty-Meter Telescope

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2016-01-27

Jan 27, 2016 ... The Thirty-Meter Telescope international observatory will enable transformational observations over the full cosmic timeline all the way from the first luminous objects in the Universe to the planets and moons of our own solar system. To realize its full scientific potential, TMT will be equipped with a powerful ...

UBAT of UFFO/Lomonosov: The X-Ray Space Telescope to Observe Early Photons from Gamma-Ray Bursts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jeong, S.; Panasyuk, M. I.; Reglero, V.

2018-01-01

. To estimate a direction vector of a GRB source in its field of view, it employs the well-known coded aperture mask technique. All functions are written for implementation on a field programmable gate array to enable fast triggering and to run the device’s imaging algorithms. The UFFO/Lomonosov satellite...... was launched on April 28, 2016, and is now collecting GRB observation data. In this study, we describe the UBAT’s design, fabrication, integration, and performance as a GRB X-ray trigger and localization telescope, both on the ground and in space....

A project of a two meter telescope in North Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Benkhaldoun, Zouhair

2015-03-01

Site testing undertaken during the last 20 years by Moroccan researchers through international studies have shown that the Atlas mountains in Morocco has potentialities similar to those sites which host the largest telescopes in world. Given the quality of the sites and opportunities to conduct modern research, we believe that the installation of a 2m diameter telescope will open new horizons for Astronomy in Morocco and north Africa allowing our region to enter definitively into the very exclusive club of countries possessing an instrument of that size. A state of the art astrophysical observatory on any good astronomical observation site should be equipped with a modern 2m-class, robotic telescope and some smaller telescopes. Our plan should be to operate one of the most efficient robotic 2m class telescopes worldwide in order to offer optimal scientific opportunities for researchers and maintain highest standards for the education of students. Beside all categories of astronomical research fields, students will have the possibility to be educated intensively on the design, manufacturing and operating of modern state of the art computer controlled instruments. In the frame of such education and observation studies several PhD and dissertational work packages are possible. Many of the observations will be published in articles worldwide and a number of guest observers from other countries will have the possibility to take part in collaborations. This could be a starting point of an international reputation of our region in the field of modern astronomy.

FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF THE CYGNUS LOOP SUPERNOVA REMNANT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katagiri, H.; Tibaldo, L.; Ballet, J.; Grenier, I. A.; Giordano, F.; Porter, T. A.; Uchiyama, Y.; Roth, M.; Tibolla, O.; Yamazaki, R.

2011-01-01

We present an analysis of the gamma-ray measurements by the Large Area Telescope onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in the region of the supernova remnant (SNR) Cygnus Loop (G74.0–8.5). We detect significant gamma-ray emission associated with the SNR in the energy band 0.2-100 GeV. The gamma-ray spectrum shows a break in the range 2-3 GeV. The gamma-ray luminosity is ∼1 × 10 33 erg s –1 between 1 and 100 GeV, much lower than those of other GeV-emitting SNRs. The morphology is best represented by a ring shape, with inner/outer radii 0. 0 7 ± 0. 0 1 and 1. 0 6 ± 0. 0 1. Given the association among X-ray rims, Hα filaments, and gamma-ray emission, we argue that gamma rays originate in interactions between particles accelerated in the SNR and interstellar gas or radiation fields adjacent to the shock regions. The decay of neutral pions produced in nucleon-nucleon interactions between accelerated hadrons and interstellar gas provides a reasonable explanation for the gamma-ray spectrum.

Fermi Large Area Telescope Observations of the Cygnus Loop Supernova Remnant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Katagiri, H.; /Ibaraki U., Mito; Tibaldo, L.; /INFN, Padua /Padua U. /Paris U., VI-VII; Ballet, J.; /Paris U., VI-VII; Giordano, F.; /Bari U. /Bari Polytechnic /INFN, Bari; Grenier, I.A.; /Paris U., VI-VII; Porter, T.A.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC; Roth, M.; /Washington U., Seattle; Tibolla, O.; /Wurzburg U.; Uchiyama, Y.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC; Yamazaki, R.; /Sagamihara, Aoyama Gakuin U.

2011-11-08

We present an analysis of the gamma-ray measurements by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in the region of the supernova remnant (SNR) Cygnus Loop (G74.0-8.5). We detect significant gamma-ray emission associated with the SNR in the energy band 0.2-100 GeV. The gamma-ray spectrum shows a break in the range 2-3 GeV. The gamma-ray luminosity is {approx} 1 x 10{sup 33} erg s{sup -1} between 1-100 GeV, much lower than those of other GeV-emitting SNRs. The morphology is best represented by a ring shape, with inner/outer radii 0{sup o}.7 {+-} 0{sup o}.1 and 1{sup o}.6 {+-} 0{sup o}.1. Given the association among X-ray rims, H{alpha} filaments and gamma-ray emission, we argue that gamma rays originate in interactions between particles accelerated in the SNR and interstellar gas or radiation fields adjacent to the shock regions. The decay of neutral pions produced in nucleon-nucleon interactions between accelerated hadrons and interstellar gas provides a reasonable explanation for the gamma-ray spectrum.

Fermi Large Area Telescope Observations of the Cygnus Loop Supernova Remnant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katagiri, H.; Tibaldo, L.; Ballet, J.; Giordano, F.; Grenier, I.A.; Porter, T.A.; Roth, M.; Tibolla, O.; Uchiyama, Y.; Yamazaki, R.

2011-01-01

We present an analysis of the gamma-ray measurements by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in the region of the supernova remnant (SNR) Cygnus Loop (G74.0-8.5). We detect significant gamma-ray emission associated with the SNR in the energy band 0.2-100 GeV. The gamma-ray spectrum shows a break in the range 2-3 GeV. The gamma-ray luminosity is ∼ 1 x 10 33 erg s -1 between 1-100 GeV, much lower than those of other GeV-emitting SNRs. The morphology is best represented by a ring shape, with inner/outer radii 0 o .7 ± 0 o .1 and 1 o .6 ± 0 o .1. Given the association among X-ray rims, Hα filaments and gamma-ray emission, we argue that gamma rays originate in interactions between particles accelerated in the SNR and interstellar gas or radiation fields adjacent to the shock regions. The decay of neutral pions produced in nucleon-nucleon interactions between accelerated hadrons and interstellar gas provides a reasonable explanation for the gamma-ray spectrum.

Launch Will Create a Radio Telescope Larger than Earth

Science.gov (United States)

Baseline Interferometry project at JPL. "Observations of cosmic masers -- naturally-occurring microwave radio amplifiers -- will tell us new things about the process of star formation and activity in the heart of other galaxies." "By the 1980s, radio astronomers were observing the universe with assemblages of radio telescopes whose resolving power was limited only by the size of the Earth. Now, through a magnificent international effort, we will be able to break this barrier and see fine details of celestial objects that are beyond the reach of a purely ground-based telescope array. We anticipate a rich harvest of new scientific knowledge from VSOP," said Dr. Paul Vanden Bout, Director of NRAO. In the first weeks after launch, scientists and engineers will "test the deployment of the reflecting mesh telescope in orbit, the wide-band data link from the satellite to the ground, the performance of the low noise amplifiers in orbit, and the high-precision orbit determination and attitude control necessary for VLBI observations with an orbiting telescope," according to Dr. Joel Smith, manager of the U.S. Space VLBI project at JPL. Scientific observations are expected to begin in May. The 26-foot diameter orbiting radio telescope will observe celestial radio sources in concert with a number of the world's ground-based radio telescopes. The 1,830-pound satellite will be launched from ISAS' Kagoshima Space Center, at the southern tip of Kyushu, one of Japan's main islands, and will be the first launch with ISAS' new M-5 series rocket. The satellite will go into an elliptical orbit, varying between 620 to 12,400 miles above the Earth's surface. This orbit provides a wide range of distances between the satellite and ground-based telescopes, which is important for producing a high-quality image of the radio source being observed. One orbit of the Earth will take about six hours. The satellite's observations will concentrate on some of the most distant and intriguing objects in the

THE zCOSMOS 10k-BRIGHT SPECTROSCOPIC SAMPLE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lilly, Simon J.; Maier, Christian; Carollo, Marcella; Caputi, Karina; Le Brun, Vincent; Kneib, Jean-Paul; Le Fevre, Olivier; De la Torre, Sylvain; De Ravel, Loic; Mainieri, Vincenzo; Mignoli, Marco; Zamorani, Gianni; Bardelli, Sandro; Bolzonella, Micol; Coppa, Graziano; Scodeggio, Marco; Contini, Thierry; Renzini, Alvio; Bongiorno, Angela; Cucciati, Olga

2009-01-01

We present spectroscopic redshifts of a large sample of galaxies with I AB -1 , independent of redshift. The reliability of individual redshifts is described by a Confidence Class that has been empirically calibrated through repeat spectroscopic observations of over 600 galaxies. There is very good agreement between spectroscopic and photometric redshifts for the most secure Confidence Classes. For the less secure Confidence Classes, there is a good correspondence between the fraction of objects with a consistent photometric redshift and the spectroscopic repeatability, suggesting that the photometric redshifts can be used to indicate which of the less secure spectroscopic redshifts are likely right and which are probably wrong, and to give an indication of the nature of objects for which we failed to determine a redshift. Using this approach, we can construct a spectroscopic sample that is 99% reliable and which is 88% complete in the sample as a whole, and 95% complete in the redshift range 0.5 < z < 0.8. The luminosity and mass completeness levels of the zCOSMOS-bright sample of galaxies is also discussed.

A planetary telescope at the ISS

Science.gov (United States)

Korablev, O.; Moroz, V.; Avanesov, G.; Rodin, V.; Bellucci, G.; Vid Machenko, A.; Tejfel, V.

We present the development of a 40-cm telescope to be deployed at the Russian segment of International Space Station (ISS) dedicated to the observations of planets of Solar system, which primary goal will be tracking climate-related changes and other variable phenomena on planets. The most effective will be the observations of Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and comets, while other interesting targets will be certainly considered. This space-based observatory will perform monitoring of Solar System objects on regular basis The observatory includes the 40-cm narrow-field (f:20) telescope at a pointing platform with guidance system assuring pointing accuracy of ~10", and an internal tracking system with an accuracy inferior to 1" during tens of minutes. Four focal plane instruments, a camera, two spectrometers and a spectropolarimeter, will perform imaging and spectral observations in the range from ~200 nm to ~3 μm.

Speckle Interferometry with the McMath-Pierce East Auxiliary Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Harshaw, Richard; Ray, Jimmy; Douglass, David; Prause, Lori; Genet, Russell

2015-09-01

Engineering runs and tests on the McMath-Pierce 0.8 meter East Auxiliary telescope successfully configured the telescope for speckle interferometry observations of close visual double stars. This paper reports the procedure and results of the speckle analysis of four double stars.

NuSTAR Hard X-Ray Observation of a Sub-A Class Solar Flare

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Glesener, Lindsay [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (United States); Krucker, Säm; Hudson, Hugh [Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley (United States); Hannah, Iain G. [SUPA School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow (United Kingdom); Grefenstette, Brian W. [Cahill Center for Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (United States); White, Stephen M. [Air Force Research Laboratory, Albuquerque (United States); Smith, David M.; Marsh, Andrew J. [Santa Cruz Institute of Particle Physics and Department of Physics, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz (United States)

2017-08-20

We report a Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array ( NuSTAR ) observation of a solar microflare, SOL2015-09-01T04. Although it was too faint to be observed by the GOES X-ray Sensor, we estimate the event to be an A0.1 class flare in brightness. This microflare, with only ∼5 counts s{sup −1} detector{sup −1} observed by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager ( RHESSI ), is fainter than any hard X-ray (HXR) flare in the existing literature. The microflare occurred during a solar pointing by the highly sensitive NuSTAR astrophysical observatory, which used its direct focusing optics to produce detailed HXR microflare spectra and images. The microflare exhibits HXR properties commonly observed in larger flares, including a fast rise and more gradual decay, earlier peak time with higher energy, spatial dimensions similar to the RHESSI microflares, and a high-energy excess beyond an isothermal spectral component during the impulsive phase. The microflare is small in emission measure, temperature, and energy, though not in physical size; observations are consistent with an origin via the interaction of at least two magnetic loops. We estimate the increase in thermal energy at the time of the microflare to be 2.4 × 10{sup 27} erg. The observation suggests that flares do indeed scale down to extremely small energies and retain what we customarily think of as “flare-like” properties.

Thirty New Low-mass Spectroscopic Binaries

Science.gov (United States)

Shkolnik, Evgenya L.; Hebb, Leslie; Liu, Michael C.; Reid, I. Neill; Collier Cameron, Andrew

2010-06-01

As part of our search for young M dwarfs within 25 pc, we acquired high-resolution spectra of 185 low-mass stars compiled by the NStars project that have strong X-ray emission. By cross-correlating these spectra with radial velocity standard stars, we are sensitive to finding multi-lined spectroscopic binaries. We find a low-mass spectroscopic binary fraction of 16% consisting of 27 SB2s, 2 SB3s, and 1 SB4, increasing the number of known low-mass spectroscopic binaries (SBs) by 50% and proving that strong X-ray emission is an extremely efficient way to find M-dwarf SBs. WASP photometry of 23 of these systems revealed two low-mass eclipsing binaries (EBs), bringing the count of known M-dwarf EBs to 15. BD-22 5866, the ESB4, was fully described in 2008 by Shkolnik et al. and CCDM J04404+3127 B consists of two mid-M stars orbiting each other every 2.048 days. WASP also provided rotation periods for 12 systems, and in the cases where the synchronization time scales are short, we used P rot to determine the true orbital parameters. For those with no P rot, we used differential radial velocities to set upper limits on orbital periods and semimajor axes. More than half of our sample has near-equal-mass components (q > 0.8). This is expected since our sample is biased toward tight orbits where saturated X-ray emission is due to tidal spin-up rather than stellar youth. Increasing the samples of M-dwarf SBs and EBs is extremely valuable in setting constraints on current theories of stellar multiplicity and evolution scenarios for low-mass multiple systems. Based on observations collected at the W. M. Keck Observatory, the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and by the WASP Consortium. The Keck Observatory is operated as a scientific partnership between the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA, and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation. The CFHT is operated by the National Research Council of Canada

Search for neutrinos from transient sources with the ANTARES telescope and optical follow-up observations (TAToO)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dornic, Damien; Brunner, Jurgen; Basa, Stephane; Al Samarai, Imen; Bertin, Vincent; Boer, Michel; Busto, Jose; Escoffier, Stephanie; Klotz, Alain; Mazure, Alain; Vallage, Bertrand

2011-01-01

The ANTARES telescope has the opportunity to detect transient neutrino sources, such as gamma-ray bursts, core-collapse supernovae, flares of active galactic nuclei. In order to enhance the sensitivity to these sources, we have developed a new detection method based on the follow-up by optical telescopes of 'golden' neutrino events, such as neutrino doublets coincident in time and space or single neutrinos of very high energy. The ANTARES collaboration has therefore implemented a very fast on-line reconstruction with a good angular resolution. These characteristics allow us to trigger an optical telescope network. Since February 2009, ANTARES is sending alert triggers once or twice per month to the two 25 cm robotic telescope of TAROT. This optical follow-up of such special events would not only give access to the nature of the sources, but also would improve the sensitivity to transient neutrino sources.

Search for neutrinos from transient sources with the ANTARES telescope and optical follow-up observations (TAToO)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dornic, Damien, E-mail: dornic@cppm.in2p3.f [CPPM, CNRS/IN2P3-Universite de la Mediterranee, 163 avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09 (France); IFIC, Edificios Investigacion de Paterna, CSIC-Universitat de Valenciaa, Apdo. de correos 22085, 46071 Valencia (Spain); Brunner, Jurgen [CPPM, CNRS/IN2P3-Universite de la Mediterranee, 163 avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09 (France); Basa, Stephane [LAM, BP8, Traverse du siphon, 13376 Marseille Cedex 12 (France); Al Samarai, Imen; Bertin, Vincent [CPPM, CNRS/IN2P3-Universite de la Mediterranee, 163 avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09 (France); Boer, Michel [OHP, 04870 Saint Michel de l' Observatoire (France); Busto, Jose; Escoffier, Stephanie [CPPM, CNRS/IN2P3-Universite de la Mediterranee, 163 avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09 (France); Klotz, Alain [OHP, 04870 Saint Michel de l' Observatoire (France); CESR, Observatiore Midi-Pyrenees, CNRS Universite de Toulouse, BP4346, 31028 Toulouse Cedex 04 (France); Mazure, Alain [LAM, BP8, Traverse du siphon, 13376 Marseille Cedex 12 (France); Vallage, Bertrand [CEA-IRFU, Centre de Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France)

2011-01-21

The ANTARES telescope has the opportunity to detect transient neutrino sources, such as gamma-ray bursts, core-collapse supernovae, flares of active galactic nuclei. In order to enhance the sensitivity to these sources, we have developed a new detection method based on the follow-up by optical telescopes of 'golden' neutrino events, such as neutrino doublets coincident in time and space or single neutrinos of very high energy. The ANTARES collaboration has therefore implemented a very fast on-line reconstruction with a good angular resolution. These characteristics allow us to trigger an optical telescope network. Since February 2009, ANTARES is sending alert triggers once or twice per month to the two 25 cm robotic telescope of TAROT. This optical follow-up of such special events would not only give access to the nature of the sources, but also would improve the sensitivity to transient neutrino sources.

The advanced cosmic microwave explorer - A millimeter-wave telescope and stabilized platform

Science.gov (United States)

Meinhold, P. R.; Chingcuanco, A. O.; Gundersen, J. O.; Schuster, J. A.; Seiffert, M. D.; Lubin, P. M.; Morris, D.; Villela, T.

1993-01-01

We have developed and flown a 1 m diameter Gregorian telescope system for measurements of anisotropy in the Cosmic Background Radiation (CBR). The telescope is incorporated in a balloon-borne stabilized platform with arcminute stabilization capability. To date, the system has flown four times and observed from the ground at the South Pole twice. The telescope has used both coherent and incoherent detectors. We describe the development of the telescope, pointing platform, and one of the receivers employed in making measurements of the CBR. Performance of the system during the first flight and operation on the ground at the South Pole are described, and the quality of the South Pole as a millimeter wave observing site is discussed.

Hubble Space Telescope via the Web

Science.gov (United States)

O'Dea, Christopher P.

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) makes available a wide variety of information concerning the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) via the Space Telescope Electronic Information Service (STEIS). STEIS is accessible via anonymous ftp, gopher, WAIS, and WWW. The information on STEIS includes how to propose for time on the HST, the current status of HST, reports on the scientific instruments, the observing schedule, data reduction software, calibration files, and a set of publicly available images in JPEG, GIF and TIFF format. STEIS serves both the astronomical community as well as the larger Internet community. WWW is currently the most widely used interface to STEIS. Future developments on STEIS are expected to include larger amounts of hypertext, especially HST images and educational material of interest to students, educators, and the general public, and the ability to query proposal status.

Engaging Undergraduate Students in Transiting Exoplanet Research with Small Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, Denise C.; Stoker, E.; Gaillard, C.; Ranquist, E.; Lara, P.; Wright, K.

2013-10-01

Brigham Young University has a relatively large undergraduate physics program with 300 to 360 physics majors. Each of these students is required to be engaged in a research group and to produce a senior thesis before graduating. For the astronomy professors, this means that each of us is mentoring at least 4-6 undergraduate students at any given time. For the past few years I have been searching for meaningful research projects that make use of our telescope resources and are exciting for both myself and my students. We first started following up Kepler Objects of Interest with our 0.9 meter telescope, but quickly realized that most of the transits we could observe were better analyzed with Kepler data and were false positive objects. So now we have joined a team that is searching for transiting planets, and my students are using our 16" telescope to do ground based follow-up on the hundreds of possible transiting planet candidates produced by this survey. In this presentation I will describe our current telescopes, the observational setup, and how we use our telescopes to search for transiting planets. I'll describe some of the software the students have written. I'll also explain how to use the NASA Exoplanet Archive to gather data on known transiting planets and Kepler Objects of Interests. These databases are useful for determining the observational limits of your small telescopes and teaching your students how to reduce and report data on transiting planets. Once that is in place, you are potentially ready to join existing transiting planet missions by doing ground-based follow-up. I will explain how easy it can be to implement this type of research at any high school, college, or university with a small telescope and CCD camera.

Liverpool Telescope 2: beginning the design phase

Science.gov (United States)

Copperwheat, Christopher M.; Steele, Iain A.; Barnsley, Robert M.; Bates, Stuart D.; Bode, Mike F.; Clay, Neil R.; Collins, Chris A.; Jermak, Helen E.; Knapen, Johan H.; Marchant, Jon M.; Mottram, Chris J.; Piascik, Andrzej S.; Smith, Robert J.

2016-07-01

The Liverpool Telescope is a fully robotic 2-metre telescope located at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the Canary Island of La Palma. The telescope began routine science operations in 2004, and currently seven simultaneously mounted instruments support a broad science programme, with a focus on transient followup and other time domain topics well suited to the characteristics of robotic observing. Work has begun on a successor facility with the working title `Liverpool Telescope 2'. We are entering a new era of time domain astronomy with new discovery facilities across the electromagnetic spectrum, and the next generation of optical survey facilities such as LSST are set to revolutionise the field of transient science in particular. The fully robotic Liverpool Telescope 2 will have a 4-metre aperture and an improved response time, and will be designed to meet the challenges of this new era. Following a conceptual design phase, we are about to begin the detailed design which will lead towards the start of construction in 2018, for first light ˜2022. In this paper we provide an overview of the facility and an update on progress.

The Telescope: Outline of a Poetic History

Science.gov (United States)

Stocchi, M. P.

2011-06-01

Amongst the first editions of Galileo's books, only the Saggiatore has on its frontispiece the image of the telescope. Indeed, the telescope is not pictured on the very emphatic frontispieces of the other books in which Galileo was presenting and defending the results achieved by his celestial observations, such as the Sidereus Nuncius. Many contemporary scientists denied the reliability of the telescope, and some even refused to look into the eyepiece. In the 16th and 17th century, the lenses, mirrors, and optical devices of extraordinary complexity did not have the main task of leading to the objective truth but obtaining the deformation of the reality by means of amazing effects of illusion. The Baroque art and literature had the aim of surprising, and the artists gave an enthusiastic support to the telescope. The poems in praise of Galileo's telescopic findings were quite numerous, including Adone composed by Giovanni Battista Marino, one of the most renowned poets of the time. The Galilean discoveries were actually accepted by the poets as ideologically neutral contributions to the "wonder" in spite they were rejected or even condemned by the scientists, philosophers, and theologians.

Near-infrared spectroscopic observations of massive young stellar object candidates in the central molecular zone

Science.gov (United States)

Nandakumar, G.; Schultheis, M.; Feldmeier-Krause, A.; Schödel, R.; Neumayer, N.; Matteucci, F.; Ryde, N.; Rojas-Arriagada, A.; Tej, A.

2018-01-01

Context. The central molecular zone (CMZ) is a 200 pc region around the Galactic centre. The study of star formation in the central part of the Milky Way is of great interest as it provides a template for the closest galactic nuclei. Aims: We present a spectroscopic follow-up of photometrically selected young stellar object (YSO) candidates in the CMZ of the Galactic centre. Our goal is to quantify the contamination of this YSO sample by reddened giant stars with circumstellar envelopes and to determine the star formation rate (SFR) in the CMZ. Methods: We obtained KMOS low-resolution near-infrared spectra (R 4000) between 2.0 and 2.5 μm of sources, many of which have been previously identified by mid-infrared photometric criteria as massive YSOs in the Galactic centre. Our final sample consists of 91 stars with good signal-to-noise ratio. We separated YSOs from cool late-type stars based on spectral features of CO and Brγ at 2.3 μm and 2.16 μm, respectively. We made use of spectral energy distribution (SED) model fits to the observed photometric data points from 1.25 to 24 μm to estimate approximate masses for the YSOs. Results: Using the spectroscopically identified YSOs in our sample, we confirm that existing colour-colour diagrams and colour-magnitude diagrams are unable to efficiently separate YSOs and cool late-type stars. In addition, we define a new colour-colour criterion that separates YSOs from cool late-type stars in the H-KS vs. H -[8.0] diagram. We use this new criterion to identify YSO candidates in the |l| rate than predicted by various star forming models. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile, programme number 097.C-0208(A).

High resolution solar observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Title, A.

1985-01-01

Currently there is a world-wide effort to develop optical technology required for large diffraction limited telescopes that must operate with high optical fluxes. These developments can be used to significantly improve high resolution solar telescopes both on the ground and in space. When looking at the problem of high resolution observations it is essential to keep in mind that a diffraction limited telescope is an interferometer. Even a 30 cm aperture telescope, which is small for high resolution observations, is a big interferometer. Meter class and above diffraction limited telescopes can be expected to be very unforgiving of inattention to details. Unfortunately, even when an earth based telescope has perfect optics there are still problems with the quality of its optical path. The optical path includes not only the interior of the telescope, but also the immediate interface between the telescope and the atmosphere, and finally the atmosphere itself

Thermal Design and Thermal Behaviour of Radio Telescopes and their Enclosures

CERN Document Server

Greve, Albert

2010-01-01

Radio telescopes as well as communication antennas operate under the influence of gravity, temperature and wind. Among those, temperature influences may degrade the performance of a radio telescope through transient changes of the focus, pointing, path length and sensitivity, often in an unpredictable way. Thermal Design and Thermal Behaviour of Radio Telescopes and their Enclosures reviews the design and construction principles of radio telescopes in view of thermal aspects and heat transfer with the variable thermal environment; it explains supporting thermal model calculations and the application and efficiency of thermal protection and temperature control; it presents many measurements illustrating the thermal behaviour of telescopes in the environment of their observatory sites. The book benefits scientists and radio/communication engineers, telescope designers and construction firms as well as telescope operators, observatory staff, but also the observing astronomer who is directly confronted with the t...

Beyond JWST: Science Drivers for the Next Great UVOIR Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Tumlinson, Jason; Seager, Sara; Dalcanton, Julianne; Postman, Marc; Aigrain, Suzanne; battel, Steven; Brandt, W. Niel; Conroy, Charlie; Feinberg, Lee; Gezari, Suvi; Guyon, Olivier; Harris, Walter M.; Hirata, Chris; Mather, John C.; Redding, David; Schiminovich, David; Stahl, H. Philip

2015-01-01

We report on the AURA 'Beyond JWST' committee's considerations and conclusions regarding the science case for the development of a large UVOIR observatory, to be launched following JWST and WFIRST-AFTA. We find that a space-based UVOIR telescope of 10 meters or more in aperture will uniquely enable a wide range of transformational science investigations by itself and in tandem with ground-based OIR and radio facilities in its era. The chief goal of this facility is to assess the possibility of life beyond our Solar System by discovering Earth-like planets in the habitable zones of their host stars, via direct imaging, and by searching spectroscopically for biosignature gases in the atmospheres of the best exo-Earth candidates. The large aperture and mission architecture required to characterize the atmospheres of a significant number of potentially life-bearing planets will also transform studies of the galaxies and stars that led up to them. At 10 meters or larger, the telescope will spatially resolve scales of 100 AU everywhere in the Milky Way, 0.1 parsec everywhere in the Local Group, and 100 parsec everywhere in the observable Universe. This unprecedented spatial resolution over large fields, with stable optics and low backgrounds, will allow astronomers to follow, in high definition, the formation and evolution of the star forming regions inside galaxies over the past 10 Gyr, to robustly determine the complete star formation histories in every galaxy within the local volume (to 10 Mpc), and to track the motions of virtually any star in the Milky Way. High spectral resolution and multi-object spectroscopy in the UV will enable revolutionary new studies of gas flows in galaxies, bodies in the outer solar system, and the evolution of the most massive stars. We present these compelling science drivers and their associated observational requirements here; we summarize the technology requirements for high angular resolution, sensitivity, wavefront stability

Off-limb EUV observations of the solar corona and transients with the CORONAS-F/SPIRIT telescope-coronagraph

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Slemzin

2008-10-01

Full Text Available The SPIRIT telescope aboard the CORONAS-F satellite (in orbit from 26 July 2001 to 5 December 2005, observed the off-limb solar corona in the 175 Å (Fe IX, X and XI lines and 304 Å (He II and Si XI lines bands. In the coronagraphic mode the mirror was tilted to image the corona at the distance of 1.1...5 R_sun from the solar center, the outer occulter blocked the disk radiation and the detector sensitivity was enhanced. This intermediate region between the fields of view of ordinary extreme-ultraviolet (EUV telescopes and most of the white-light (WL coronagraphs is responsible for forming the streamer belt, acceleration of ejected matter and emergence of slow and fast solar wind. We present here the results of continuous coronagraphic EUV observations of the solar corona carried out during two weeks in June and December 2002. The images showed a "diffuse" (unresolved component of the corona seen in both bands, and non-radial, ray-like structures seen only in the 175 Å band, which can be associated with a streamer base. The correlations between latitudinal distributions of the EUV brightness in the corona and at the limb were found to be high in 304 Å at all distances and in 175 Å only below 1.5 R_sun. The temporal correlation of the coronal brightness along the west radial line, with the brightness at the underlying limb region was significant in both bands, independent of the distance. On 2 February 2003 SPIRIT observed an expansion of a transient associated with a prominence eruption seen only in the 304 Å band. The SPIRIT data have been compared with the corresponding data of the SOHO LASCO, EIT and UVCS instruments.

The Northwest Indiana Robotic Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Slavin, Shawn D.; Rengstorf, A. W.; Aros, J. C.; Segally, W. B.

2011-01-01

The Northwest Indiana Robotic (NIRo) Telescope is a remote, automated observing facility recently built by Purdue University Calumet (PUC) at a site in Lowell, IN, approximately 30 miles from the PUC campus. The recently dedicated observatory will be used for broadband and narrowband optical observations by PUC students and faculty, as well as pre-college students through the implementation of standards-based, middle-school modules developed by PUC astronomers and education faculty. The NIRo observatory and its web portal are the central technical elements of a project to improve astronomy education at Purdue Calumet and, more broadly, to improve science education in middle schools of the surrounding region. The NIRo Telescope is a 0.5-meter (20-inch) Ritchey-Chrétien design on a Paramount ME robotic mount, featuring a seven-position filter wheel (UBVRI, Hα, Clear), Peltier (thermoelectrically) cooled CCD camera with 3056 x 3056, square, 12 μm pixels, and off-axis guiding. It provides a coma-free imaging field of 0.5 degrees square, with a plate scale of 0.6 arcseconds per pixel. The observatory has a wireless internet connection, local weather station which publishes data to an internet weather site, and a suite of CCTV security cameras on an IP-based, networked video server. Control of power to every piece of instrumentation is maintained via internet-accessible power distribution units. The telescope can be controlled on-site, or off-site in an attended fashion via an internet connection, but will be used primarily in an unattended mode of automated observation, where queued observations will be scheduled daily from a database of requests. Completed observational data from queued operation will be stored on a campus-based server, which also runs the web portal and observation database. Partial support for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation's Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) program under Award No. 0736592.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-11-01

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

ProtoDESI: First On-Sky Technology Demonstration for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Fagrelius, Parker; Abareshi, Behzad; Allen, Lori; Ballester, Otger; Baltay, Charles; Besuner, Robert; Buckley-Geer, Elizabeth; Butler, Karen; Cardiel, Laia; Dey, Arjun; Duan, Yutong; Elliott, Ann; Emmet, William; Gershkovich, Irena; Honscheid, Klaus; Illa, Jose M.; Jimenez, Jorge; Joyce, Richard; Karcher, Armin; Kent, Stephen; Lambert, Andrew; Lampton, Michael; Levi, Michael; Manser, Christopher; Marshall, Robert; Martini, Paul; Paat, Anthony; Probst, Ronald; Rabinowitz, David; Reil, Kevin; Robertson, Amy; Rockosi, Connie; Schlegel, David; Schubnell, Michael; Serrano, Santiago; Silber, Joseph; Soto, Christian; Sprayberry, David; Summers, David; Tarlé, Greg; Weaver, Benjamin A.

2018-02-01

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is under construction to measure the expansion history of the universe using the baryon acoustic oscillations technique. The spectra of 35 million galaxies and quasars over 14,000 square degrees will be measured during a 5-year survey. A new prime focus corrector for the Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory will deliver light to 5,000 individually targeted fiber-fed robotic positioners. The fibers in turn feed ten broadband multi-object spectrographs. We describe the ProtoDESI experiment, that was installed and commissioned on the 4-m Mayall telescope from 2016 August 14 to September 30. ProtoDESI was an on-sky technology demonstration with the goal to reduce technical risks associated with aligning optical fibers with targets using robotic fiber positioners and maintaining the stability required to operate DESI. The ProtoDESI prime focus instrument, consisting of three fiber positioners, illuminated fiducials, and a guide camera, was installed behind the existing Mosaic corrector on the Mayall telescope. A fiber view camera was mounted in the Cassegrain cage of the telescope and provided feedback metrology for positioning the fibers. ProtoDESI also provided a platform for early integration of hardware with the DESI Instrument Control System that controls the subsystems, provides communication with the Telescope Control System, and collects instrument telemetry data. Lacking a spectrograph, ProtoDESI monitored the output of the fibers using a fiber photometry camera mounted on the prime focus instrument. ProtoDESI was successful in acquiring targets with the robotically positioned fibers and demonstrated that the DESI guiding requirements can be met.

Spectroscopic observations of V443 Herculis - A symbiotic binary with a low mass white dwarf

Science.gov (United States)

Dobrzycka, Danuta; Kenyon, Scott J.; Mikolajewska, Joanna

1993-01-01

We present an analysis of new and existing photometric and spectroscopic observations of the symbiotic binary V443 Herculis. This binary system consists of a normal M5 giant and a hot compact star. These two objects have comparable luminosities: about 1500 solar for the M5 giant and about 1000 solar for the compact star. We identify three nebular regions in this binary: a small, highly ionized volume surrounding the hot component, a modestly ionized shell close to the red giant photosphere, and a less dense region of intermediate ionization encompassing both binary components. The system parameters for V443 Her suggest the hot component currently declines from a symbiotic nova eruption.

Conclusions and suggestions on completing work on automation and modernization of the AZT-2 telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Shavlovskyi, V. I.; Puha, S. P.; Vidmachenko, A. P.; Volovyk, D. V.; Puha, G. P.; Obolonskyi, V. O.; Kratko, O. O.; Stefurak, M. V.

2018-05-01

The telescope AZT-2 of the MAO of NAS of Ukraine in recent years has been widely use for photometric, spectral and polarimetric observations of celestial objects. In 2012-2017 at automation of the operation of telescope AZT-2, we created a control program for a personal computer (PC), which is now used to control as separate nodes of the telescope AZT-2, and for control of the telescope, in remote access mode. Also in 2017, a number of astronomical observations with spectropolarimetric equipment and other astronomical devices were carried out. The results obtained by us have shown that in order to complete work on management of telescope under astronomical observations in the mode of remote access with the help of a PC - need to further refine the control nodes by powerful servo motors of reducer drive for the rapid transfer of the AZT-2 telescope to a new position.

Taiwan Automated Telescope Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dean-Yi Chou

2010-01-01

can be operated either interactively or fully automatically. In the interactive mode, it can be controlled through the Internet. In the fully automatic mode, the telescope operates with preset parameters without any human care, including taking dark frames and flat frames. The network can also be used for studies that require continuous observations for selected objects.

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2014-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2014-06-01

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

Systems budgets architecture and development for the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer

Science.gov (United States)

Mignot, Shan; Flagey, Nicolas; Szeto, Kei; Murowinski, Rick; McConnachie, Alan

2016-08-01

The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE) project is an enterprise to upgrade the existing Canada-France- Hawaii observatory into a spectroscopic facility based on a 10 meter-class telescope. As such, the project relies on engineering requirements not limited only to its instruments (the low, medium and high resolution spectrographs) but for the whole observatory. The science requirements, the operations concept, the project management and the applicable regulations are the basis from which these requirements are initially derived, yet they do not form hierarchies as each may serve several purposes, that is, pertain to several budgets. Completeness and consistency are hence the main systems engineering challenges for such a large project as MSE. Special attention is devoted to ensuring the traceability of requirements via parametric models, derivation documents, simulations, and finally maintaining KAOS diagrams and a database under IBM Rational DOORS linking them together. This paper will present the architecture of the main budgets under development and the associated processes, expand to highlight those that are interrelated and how the system, as a whole, is then optimized by modelling and analysis of the pertinent system parameters.

Revisiting SNR Puppis A with Seven Years of Fermi Large Area Telescope Observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xin, Yu-Liang; Guo, Xiao-Lei; Liao, Neng-Hui; Yuan, Qiang; Liu, Si-Ming; Wei, Da-Ming, E-mail: yuanq@pmo.ac.cn, E-mail: liusm@pmo.ac.cn, E-mail: dmwei@pmo.ac.cn [Key laboratory of Dark Matter and Space Astronomy, Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008 (China)

2017-07-10

Puppis A is a very famous and extensively studied supernova remnant that shows strong evidence of shock-cloud interaction. We reanalyze its GeV γ -ray emission using seven years of Pass 8 data recorded by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. The morphology of the γ -ray emission is more compatible with that of the thermal X-ray and IR emissions than the radio image, which suggests a possible correlation between the gamma-ray-emitting region and dense clouds. The γ -ray spectrum in the energy range of 1–500 GeV shows a break at 7.92 ± 1.91 GeV, with photon indices of 1.81 ± 0.08 below the break and 2.53 ± 0.12 above the break, which can naturally explain the lack of TeV γ -ray emission from Puppis A. The multi-wavelength observations favor a hadronic origin for the γ -ray emission.

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: The Receiver and Instrumentation

Science.gov (United States)

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

MT_RAYOR: a versatile raytracing tool for x-ray telescopes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Westergaard, Niels Jørgen Stenfeldt

2011-01-01

The prediction of the properties of X-ray telescopes is important for the planning of observations and the interpretation of data. The mirror quality in terms of micro-roughness scattering and deformations relative to the idealized shape plays a crucial role for the sensitivity of the telescope...

THERMAL PROPERTIES OF A SOLAR CORONAL CAVITY OBSERVED WITH THE X-RAY TELESCOPE ON HINODE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reeves, Katharine K. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St. MS 58, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Gibson, Sarah E. [HAO/NCAR, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000 (United States); Kucera, Therese A. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 671, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Hudson, Hugh S. [Space Sciences Laboratories, University of California, Berkeley, 7 Gauss Way, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Kano, Ryouhei, E-mail: kreeves@cfa.harvard.edu [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan)

2012-02-20

Coronal cavities are voids in coronal emission often observed above high latitude filament channels. Sometimes, these cavities have areas of bright X-ray emission in their centers. In this study, we use data from the X-ray Telescope (XRT) on the Hinode satellite to examine the thermal emission properties of a cavity observed during 2008 July that contains bright X-ray emission in its center. Using ratios of XRT filters, we find evidence for elevated temperatures in the cavity center. The area of elevated temperature evolves from a ring-shaped structure at the beginning of the observation, to an elongated structure two days later, finally appearing as a compact round source four days after the initial observation. We use a morphological model to fit the cavity emission, and find that a uniform structure running through the cavity does not fit the observations well. Instead, the observations are reproduced by modeling several short cylindrical cavity 'cores' with different parameters on different days. These changing core parameters may be due to some observed activity heating different parts of the cavity core at different times. We find that core temperatures of 1.75 MK, 1.7 MK, and 2.0 MK (for July 19, July 21, and July 23, respectively) in the model lead to structures that are consistent with the data, and that line-of-sight effects serve to lower the effective temperature derived from the filter ratio.

Measuring Visual Double Stars with Robotic Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Boyce, Pat; Boyce, Grady; Genet, Russell M.; Faisal Al-Zaben, Dewei Li, Yongyao Li, Aren Dennis, Zhixin Cao, Junyao Li, Steven Qu, Jeff Li, Michael Fene, Allen Priest, Stephen Priest, Rex Qiu, , and, Bill Riley

2016-06-01

The Astronomy Research Seminars introduce students to scientific research by carrying out the entire process: planning a scientific research project, writing a research proposal, gathering and analyzing observational data, drawing conclusions, and presenting the research results in a published paper and presentation.In 2015 Cuesta College and Russell Genet sponsored a new hybrid format for the seminar enabling distance learning. Boyce Research Initiatives and Education Foundation (BRIEF) conducted the course at The Army and Navy Academy (ANA) in Carlsbad, California, in the spring and fall of 2015.The course objective is to complete the research and publish the paper within one semester. Our program schedule called for observations to be performed within a two week period. Measurement of visual binary stars was chosen because sufficient observations could be made in just two evenings of good weather. We quickly learned that our location by the ocean did not provide reliable weather to use local telescopes.The iTelescope network of robotic telescopes located in Australia, Spain and the U.S. solved the problem. Reservations for these systems are booked online and include date, time, exposure and filters. The high quality telescopes range from 4" to 27" in size with excellent cameras. By watching the weather forecasts for the sites, we were able to schedule our observations within the two week time frame required.Timely and reliable data reduction was the next hurdle. The students were using widely varying equipment (PCs, MACs, tablets, smart phones) with incompatible software. After wasting time trying to be computer technicians, we settled a on standard set of software relying on Mirametrics' Mira Pro x64. We installed the software on an old laptop, downloaded the iTelescope data files, gave the students remote access using GoToMyPC.These efficiencies enabled us to meet the demanding one semester schedule and assure a better learning experience. We have been able to

EVIDENCE FOR TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA DIVERSITY FROM ULTRAVIOLET OBSERVATIONS WITH THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang Xiaofeng [Physics Department and Tsinghua Center for Astrophysics (THCA), Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Wang Lifan [Physics and Astronomy Department, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843 (United States); Filippenko, Alexei V. [Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States); Baron, Eddie [Department of Physics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 (United States); Kromer, Markus [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, 85748 Garching (Germany); Jack, Dennis [Hamburger Sternwarte, Gojenbergsweg 112, 21029 Hamburg (Germany); Zhang Tianmeng [National Astronomical Observatory of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012 (China); Aldering, Greg [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Antilogus, Pierre [Laboratoire de Physique Nucleaire des Hautes Energies, Paris (France); Arnett, W. David [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Baade, Dietrich [European Southern Observatory, 85748 Garching (Germany); Barris, Brian J. [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States); Benetti, Stefano; Cappellaro, Enrico [Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, 35122 Padova (Italy); Bouchet, Patrice [CEA/DSM/DAPNIA/Service d' Astrophysique, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France); Burrows, Adam S. [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Canal, Ramon [Department d' Astronomia i Meterorologia, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona 8007 (Spain); Carlberg, Raymond G. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3J3 (Canada); Di Carlo, Elisa [INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Teramo, 64100 Teramo (Italy); Challis, Peter J., E-mail: wang_xf@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn [Harvard/Smithsonian Center Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); and others

2012-04-20

We present ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy and photometry of four Type Ia supernovae (SNe 2004dt, 2004ef, 2005M, and 2005cf) obtained with the UV prism of the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope. This data set provides unique spectral time series down to 2000 A. Significant diversity is seen in the near-maximum-light spectra ({approx}2000-3500 A) for this small sample. The corresponding photometric data, together with archival data from Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope observations, provide further evidence of increased dispersion in the UV emission with respect to the optical. The peak luminosities measured in the uvw1/F250W filter are found to correlate with the B-band light-curve shape parameter {Delta}m{sub 15}(B), but with much larger scatter relative to the correlation in the broadband B band (e.g., {approx}0.4 mag versus {approx}0.2 mag for those with 0.8 mag < {Delta}m{sub 15}(B) < 1.7 mag). SN 2004dt is found as an outlier of this correlation (at > 3{sigma}), being brighter than normal SNe Ia such as SN 2005cf by {approx}0.9 mag and {approx}2.0 mag in the uvw1/F250W and uvm2/F220W filters, respectively. We show that different progenitor metallicity or line-expansion velocities alone cannot explain such a large discrepancy. Viewing-angle effects, such as due to an asymmetric explosion, may have a significant influence on the flux emitted in the UV region. Detailed modeling is needed to disentangle and quantify the above effects.

Status of the GroundBIRD Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, J.; Génova-Santos, R.; Hattori, M.; Hazumi, M.; Ishitsuka, H.; Kanno, F.; Karatsu, K.; Kiuchi, K.; Koyano, R.; Kutsuma, H.; Lee, K.; Mima, S.; Minowa, M.; Nagai, M.; Nagasaki, T.; Naruse, M.; Oguri, S.; Okada, T.; Otani, C.; Rebolo, R.; Rubiño-Martín, J.; Sekimoto, Y.; Suzuki, J.; Taino, T.; Tajima, O.; Tomita, N.; Uchida, T.; Won, E.; Yoshida, M.

2018-01-01

Our understanding of physics at very early Universe, as early as 10-35 s after the Big Bang, relies on the scenario known as the inflationary cosmology. Inflation predicts a particular polarization pattern in the cosmic microwave background, known as the B-mode yet the strength of such polarization pattern is extremely weak. To search for the B-mode of the polarization in the cosmic microwave background, we are constructing an off-axis rotating telescope to mitigate systematic effects as well as to maximize the sky coverage of the observation. We will discuss the present status of the GroundBIRD telescope.

Nustar Detection of Hard X-Ray Phase Lags from the Accreting Pulsar GS 0834-430

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Miyasaka, Hiromasa; Bachetti, Matteo; Harrison, Fiona A.

2013-01-01

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array hard X-ray telescope observed the transient Be/X-ray binary GS 0834-430 during its 2012 outburst-the first active state of this system observed in the past 19 yr. We performed timing and spectral analysis and measured the X-ray spectrum between 3-79 keV w...

Possibility of observation by the Antares telescope of the gamma ray point sources observed by the Egret detector and study of a prototype

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saouter, S.

2004-09-01

The ANTARES collaboration aims to install an underwater neutrino telescope at 2 500 m deep and 40 km away from Toulon (France). The neutrinos are detected thanks to their interaction by charged current in the medium surrounding the telescope which can be rock or water. The produced muon emits Tcherenkov light along its path in water. This light is detected by a three-dimensional network of 900 photomultipliers divided into 12 independent lines. To validate the chosen techniques, a prototype made up of a fifth of line was deployed in 2003. A reconstruction algorithm was developed on simulated data whose results are presented. However, a technical failure made the data recorded by the prototype unsuitable. The detection potential of Antares to gamma ray sources observed by Egret is studied. Indeed, under the assumption of a gamma ray production via high-energy hadrons, a comparable flux of neutrinos associated is predicted. By supposing the two fluxes equal and an energy spectrum varying as E -2 eleven sources are potentially detectable in one year. The Antares sensitivity to such a spectrum depends on the declination of the source with an optimum of 3.6 10 -4 m -2 s -1 GeV -1 in one year at 90% of confidence level for a declination of - 90 deg C. (author)

Properties of the nuclei and comae of 10 ecliptic comets from Hubble Space Telescope multi-orbit observations

Science.gov (United States)

Lamy, P. L.; Toth, I.; Weaver, H. A.; A'Hearn, M. F.; Jorda, L.

2011-04-01

We report on our on-going effort to detect and characterize cometary nuclei with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). During cycle 9 (2000 July to 2001 June), we performed multi-orbit observations of 10 ecliptic comets with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. Nominally, eight contiguous orbits covering a time interval of ˜11 h were devoted to each comet but a few orbits were occasionally lost. In addition to the standard R band, we could additionally observe four of them in the V band and the two brightest ones in the B band. Time series photometry was used to constrain the size, shape and rotational period of the 10 nuclei. Assuming a geometric albedo of 0.04 for the R band, a linear phase law with a coefficient of 0.04 mag deg-1 and an opposition effect similar to that of comet 19P/Borrelly, we determined the following mean values of the effective radii 47P/Ashbrook-Jackson: 2.86±0.08 km, 61P/Shajn-Schaldach: 0.62±0.02 km, 70P/Kojima: 1.83±0.05 km, 74P/Smirnova-Chernykh: 2.23±0.04 km, 76P/West-Kohoutek-Ikemura: 0.30±0.02 km, 82P/Gehrels 3: 0.69±0.02 km, 86P/Wild 3: 0.41±0.03 km, 87P/Bus: 0.270.01 km, 110P/Hartley 3: 2.15±0.04 km and 147P/Kushida-Muramatsu: 0.21±0.01 km. Because of the limited time coverage (˜11 h), the rotational periods could not be accurately determined, multiple solutions were sometime found and three periods were not constrained at all. Our estimates range from ˜5 to ˜32 h. The lower limits for the ratio a/b of the semi-axis of the equivalent spheroids range from 1.10 (70P) to 2.20 (87P). The four nuclei for which we could measure (V-R) are all significantly redder than the Sun, with 86P/Wild 3 (V-R) = 0.86 ± 0.10 appearing as an ultrared object. We finally determined the dust activity parameter Afρ of their coma in the R band, the colour indices and the reflectivity spectra of four of them. Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the

GISOT: a giant solar telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Hammerschlag, Robert H.; von der Lühe, Oskar F.; Bettonvil, Felix C.; Jägers, Aswin P.; Snik, Frans

2004-10-01

A concept is presented for an extremely large high-resolution solar telescope with an aperture of 11 m and diffraction limited for visual wavelengths. The structure of GISOT will be transparent to wind and placed on a transparent stiff tower. For efficient wind flushing, all optics, including the primary mirror, will be located above the elevation axis. The aperture will be of the order of 11 m, not rotatively symmetrical, but of an elongated shape with dimensions 11 x 4 m. It consists of a central on-axis 4 m mirror with on both sides 3 pieces of 2 m mirrors. The optical layout will be kept simple to guarantee quality and minimize stray light. A Coudé room for instruments is planned below the telescope. The telescope will not be housed in a dome-like construction, which interferes with the open principle. Instead the telescope will be protected by a foldable tent construction with a diameter of the order of 30 m, which doesn"t form any obstruction during observations, but can withstand the severe weather circumstances on mountain sites. Because of the nature of the solar scene, extremely high resolution in only one dimension is sufficient to solve many exciting problems in solar physics and in this respect the concept of GISOT is very promising.

Resolved, Time-Series Observations of Pluto-Charon with the Magellan Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Elliot, J. L.; Person, M. J.; Adams, E. R.; Gulbis, A. A. S.; Kramer, E. A.

2005-08-01

In support of prediction refinements at MIT for stellar occultations by Pluto and Charon, resolved photometric observations of Pluto and Charon at optical wavelengths have been carried out with the Magellan telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory for each apparition since 2001. Both Sloan and Johnson-Kron-Cousins filters have been used. The median natural image quality for the site is about 0.7 arcsec (with some nights better than 0.3 arcsec). These data yield accurate light ratios for the two bodies as a function of: (1) wavelength, (2) Charon's orbital phase, and (3) the sub-Earth latitude for Pluto and Charon. This information is needed to interpret the location of their center of light, relative to their center of mass, for unresolved images of Pluto and Charon taken with wide-field astrometric instruments. The Raymond and Beverly Magellan Instant Camera ("MagIC") -- the instrument used for these observations -- has a focal-plane scale of 0.069 arcsec/pix and a field of 2.3 arcmin. This field is large enough so that many of our Pluto-Charon frames can be tied to the International Coordinate Reference Frame (ICRF) with stars in the UCAC2 catalog. Initial results for this program have been reported by Clancy et al. (Highlights of Astr. vol. 13, in press), who found a strong trend in the Charon to Pluto light ratio over the wavelength range spanned by the Sloan filters. Further results from this program used to predict the 2005 July 11 stellar occultation by Charon will be presented. We gratefully acknowledge support from NASA Grant NNG04GF25G from the Planetary Astronomy program.

VLTI First Fringes with Two Auxiliary Telescopes at Paranal

Science.gov (United States)

2005-03-01

World's Largest Interferometer with Moving Optical Telescopes on Track Summary The Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at Paranal Observatory has just seen another extension of its already impressive capabilities by combining interferometrically the light from two relocatable 1.8-m Auxiliary Telescopes. Following the installation of the first Auxiliary Telescope (AT) in January 2004 (see ESO PR 01/04), the second AT arrived at the VLT platform by the end of 2004. Shortly thereafter, during the night of February 2 to 3, 2005, the two high-tech telescopes teamed up and quickly succeeded in performing interferometric observations. This achievement heralds an era of new scientific discoveries. Both Auxiliary Telescopes will be offered from October 1, 2005 to the community of astronomers for routine observations, together with the MIDI instrument. By the end of 2006, Paranal will be home to four operational ATs that may be placed at 30 different positions and thus be combined in a very large number of ways ("baselines"). This will enable the VLTI to operate with enormous flexibility and, in particular, to obtain extremely detailed (sharp) images of celestial objects - ultimately with a resolution that corresponds to detecting an astronaut on the Moon. PR Photo 07a/05: Paranal Observing Platform with AT1 and AT2 PR Photo 07b/05: AT1 and AT2 with Open Domes PR Photo 07c/05: Evening at Paranal with AT1 and AT2 PR Photo 07d/05: AT1 and AT2 under the Southern Sky PR Photo 07e/05: First Fringes with AT1 and AT2 PR Video Clip 01/05: Two ATs at Paranal (Extract from ESO Newsreel 15) A Most Advanced Device ESO PR Video 01/05 ESO PR Video 01/05 Two Auxiliary Telescopes at Paranal [QuickTime: 160 x 120 pix - 37Mb - 4:30 min] [QuickTime: 320 x 240 pix - 64Mb - 4:30 min] ESO PR Photo 07a/05 ESO PR Photo 07a/05 [Preview - JPEG: 493 x400 pix - 44k] [Normal - JPEG: 985 x 800 pix - 727k] [HiRes - JPEG: 5000 x 4060 pix - 13.8M] Captions: ESO PR Video Clip 01/05 is an extract from

NuSTAR results and future plans for magnetar and rotation‐powered pulsar observations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

An, H.; Kaspi, V.M.; Archibald, R.

2014-01-01

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) is the first focusing hard X‐ray mission in orbit and operates in the 3–79 keV range. NuSTAR's sensitivity is roughly two orders of magnitude better than previous missions in this energy band thanks to its superb angular resolution. Since its lau...

The Telescope Array experiment: status and prospects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tokuno, H; Cohen, F [Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa (Japan); Abbasi, R U; Abu-Zayyad, T; Belz, J W; Blake, S A; Brusova, O; Cady, R; Cao, Z [University of Utah, Salt Lake City (United States); Azuma, R [Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo (Japan); Benno, T; Chikawa, M; Doura, K [Kinki University, Osaka (Japan); Bergman, D R [Rutgers University, Piscataway (United States); Cheon, B G [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Chiba, J [Tokyo University of Science, Noda (Japan); Cho, I S [Yonsei University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Chung, T [Ewha Womans University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Doyle, T [Utah State University, Logan (United States); Endo, A [Saitama University, Saitama (Japan)], E-mail: htokuno@icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp (and others)

2008-07-15

Telescope Array (TA) is a hybrid detector of a surface detector array and fluorescence telescopes. This hybrid detector will measure the energy spectrum, anisotropy and composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) to identify their origin. The almost construction of the detector has been completed in May 2007, and the detector is running under test and adjustments. The first hybrid observation with the full configuration is planned in beginning of 2008. In this paper the status and prospects of TA detector is described.

THE BOSS EMISSION-LINE LENS SURVEY (BELLS). I. A LARGE SPECTROSCOPICALLY SELECTED SAMPLE OF LENS GALAXIES AT REDSHIFT {approx}0.5

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brownstein, Joel R.; Bolton, Adam S.; Pandey, Parul [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States); Schlegel, David J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Eisenstein, Daniel J. [Harvard College Observatory, 60 Garden Street, MS 20, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Kochanek, Christopher S. [Department of Astronomy and Center for Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Connolly, Natalia [Department of Physics, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY 13323 (United States); Maraston, Claudia [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Seitz, Stella [University Observatory Munich, Scheinstrasse 1, 81679 Muenchen (Germany); Wake, David A. [Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520 (United States); Wood-Vasey, W. Michael [Pittsburgh Center for Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology (PITT-PACC), Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Brinkmann, Jon [Apache Point Observatory, P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM 88349 (United States); Schneider, Donald P. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Weaver, Benjamin A. [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, New York University, New York, NY 10003 (United States)

2012-01-01

We present a catalog of 25 definite and 11 probable strong galaxy-galaxy gravitational lens systems with lens redshifts 0.4 {approx}< z {approx}< 0.7, discovered spectroscopically by the presence of higher-redshift emission lines within the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) of luminous galaxies, and confirmed with high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of 44 candidates. Our survey extends the methodology of the Sloan Lens Advanced Camera for Surveys survey (SLACS) to higher redshift. We describe the details of the BOSS spectroscopic candidate detections, our HST ACS image processing and analysis methods, and our strong gravitational lens modeling procedure. We report BOSS spectroscopic parameters and ACS photometric parameters for all candidates, and mass-distribution parameters for the best-fit singular isothermal ellipsoid models of definite lenses. Our sample to date was selected using only the first six months of BOSS survey-quality spectroscopic data. The full five-year BOSS database should produce a sample of several hundred strong galaxy-galaxy lenses and in combination with SLACS lenses at lower redshift, strongly constrain the redshift evolution of the structure of elliptical, bulge-dominated galaxies as a function of luminosity, stellar mass, and rest-frame color, thereby providing a powerful test for competing theories of galaxy formation and evolution.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE UV LEGACY SURVEY OF GALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTERS. III. A QUINTUPLE STELLAR POPULATION IN NGC 2808

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milone, A. P.; Marino, A. F.; Jerjen, H.; Piotto, G.; Renzini, A.; Bedin, L. R.; Anderson, J.; Bellini, A.; Cassisi, S.; Pietrinferni, A.; D’Antona, F.; Ventura, P.

2015-01-01

In this study we present the first results from multi-wavelength Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of the Galactic globular cluster (GC) NGC 2808 as an extension of the Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic GCs (GO-13297 and previous proprietary and HST archive data). Our analysis allowed us to disclose a multiple-stellar-population phenomenon in NGC 2808 even more complex than previously thought. We have separated at least five different populations along the main sequence and the red giant branch (RGB), which we name A, B, C, D, and E (though an even finer subdivision may be suggested by the data). We identified the RGB bump in four out of the five RGBs. To explore the origin of this complex color–magnitude diagram, we have combined our multi-wavelength HST photometry with synthetic spectra, generated by assuming different chemical compositions. The comparison of observed colors with synthetic spectra suggests that the five stellar populations have different contents of light elements and helium. Specifically, if we assume that NGC 2808 is homogeneous in [Fe/H] (as suggested by spectroscopy for Populations B, C, D, E, but lacking for Population A) and that population A has a primordial helium abundance, we find that populations B, C, D, E are enhanced in helium by ΔY ∼ 0.03, 0.03, 0.08, 0.13, respectively. We obtain similar results by comparing the magnitude of the RGB bumps with models. Planned spectroscopic observations will test whether Population A also has the same metallicity, or whether its photometric differences with Population B can be ascribed to small [Fe/H] and [O/H] differences rather than to helium

Performance of the MAGIC telescopes under moonlight

Science.gov (United States)

Ahnen, M. L.; Ansoldi, S.; Antonelli, L. A.; Arcaro, C.; Babić, A.; Banerjee, B.; Bangale, P.; Barres de Almeida, U.; Barrio, J. A.; Becerra González, J.; Bednarek, W.; Bernardini, E.; Berti, A.; Bhattacharyya, W.; Biasuzzi, B.; Biland, A.; Blanch, O.; Bonnefoy, S.; Bonnoli, G.; Carosi, R.; Carosi, A.; Chatterjee, A.; Colin, P.; Colombo, E.; Contreras, J. L.; Cortina, J.; Covino, S.; Cumani, P.; Da Vela, P.; Dazzi, F.; De Angelis, A.; De Lotto, B.; de Oña Wilhelmi, E.; Di Pierro, F.; Doert, M.; Domínguez, A.; Dominis Prester, D.; Dorner, D.; Doro, M.; Einecke, S.; Eisenacher Glawion, D.; Elsaesser, D.; Engelkemeier, M.; Fallah Ramazani, V.; Fernández-Barral, A.; Fidalgo, D.; Fonseca, M. V.; Font, L.; Fruck, C.; Galindo, D.; García López, R. J.; Garczarczyk, M.; Gaug, M.; Giammaria, P.; Godinović, N.; Gora, D.; Griffiths, S.; Guberman, D.; Hadasch, D.; Hahn, A.; Hassan, T.; Hayashida, M.; Herrera, J.; Hose, J.; Hrupec, D.; Hughes, G.; Ishio, K.; Konno, Y.; Kubo, H.; Kushida, J.; Kuveždić, D.; Lelas, D.; Lindfors, E.; Lombardi, S.; Longo, F.; López, M.; Maggio, C.; Majumdar, P.; Makariev, M.; Maneva, G.; Manganaro, M.; Mannheim, K.; Maraschi, L.; Mariotti, M.; Martínez, M.; Mazin, D.; Menzel, U.; Minev, M.; Mirzoyan, R.; Moralejo, A.; Moreno, V.; Moretti, E.; Neustroev, V.; Niedzwiecki, A.; Nievas Rosillo, M.; Nilsson, K.; Ninci, D.; Nishijima, K.; Noda, K.; Nogués, L.; Paiano, S.; Palacio, J.; Paneque, D.; Paoletti, R.; Paredes, J. M.; Paredes-Fortuny, X.; Pedaletti, G.; Peresano, M.; Perri, L.; Persic, M.; Prada Moroni, P. G.; Prandini, E.; Puljak, I.; Garcia, J. R.; Reichardt, I.; Rhode, W.; Ribó, M.; Rico, J.; Rugliancich, A.; Saito, T.; Satalecka, K.; Schroeder, S.; Schweizer, T.; Sillanpää, A.; Sitarek, J.; Šnidarić, I.; Sobczynska, D.; Stamerra, A.; Strzys, M.; Surić, T.; Takalo, L.; Tavecchio, F.; Temnikov, P.; Terzić, T.; Tescaro, D.; Teshima, M.; Torres, D. F.; Torres-Albà, N.; Treves, A.; Vanzo, G.; Vazquez Acosta, M.; Vovk, I.; Ward, J. E.; Will, M.; Zarić, D.

2017-09-01

MAGIC, a system of two imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, achieves its best performance under dark conditions, i.e. in absence of moonlight or twilight. Since operating the telescopes only during dark time would severely limit the duty cycle, observations are also performed when the Moon is present in the sky. Here we develop a dedicated Moon-adapted analysis to characterize the performance of MAGIC under moonlight. We evaluate energy threshold, angular resolution and sensitivity of MAGIC under different background light levels, based on Crab Nebula observations and tuned Monte Carlo simulations. This study includes observations taken under non-standard hardware configurations, such as reducing the camera photomultiplier tubes gain by a factor ∼1.7 (reduced HV settings) with respect to standard settings (nominal HV) or using UV-pass filters to strongly reduce the amount of moonlight reaching the cameras of the telescopes. The Crab Nebula spectrum is correctly reconstructed in all the studied illumination levels, that reach up to 30 times brighter than under dark conditions. The main effect of moonlight is an increase in the analysis energy threshold and in the systematic uncertainties on the flux normalization. The sensitivity degradation is constrained to be below 10%, within 15-30% and between 60 and 80% for nominal HV, reduced HV and UV-pass filter observations, respectively. No worsening of the angular resolution was found. Thanks to observations during moonlight, the maximal duty cycle of MAGIC can be increased from ∼18%, under dark nights only, to up to ∼40% in total with only moderate performance degradation.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-07-01

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

ANTARES: A High Energy Neutrino Undersea Telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hernandez, J.J.

1999-01-01

Neutrinos can reveal a brand new Universe at high energies. The ANTARES collaboration, formed in 1996, works towards the building and deployment of a neutrino telescope. This detector could observe and study high energy astrophysical sources such as X-ray binary systems, young supernova remnants or Active Galactic Nuclei and help to discover or set exclusion limits on some of the elementary particles and objects that have been put forward as candidates to fill the Universe (WIMPS, neutralinos, topological defects, Q-balls, etc.). A neutrino telescope will certainly open a new observational window and can shed light on the most energetic phenomena of the Universe. A review of the progress made by the ANTARES collaboration to achieve this goal is presented. (author)

An application of artificial intelligence to automatic telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Swanson, Keith; Drummond, Mark; Bresina, John

1992-01-01

Automatic Photoelectric Telescopes (APT's) allow an astronomer to be removed form the telescope site in both time and space. APT's 'execute' an observation program (a set of observation requests) expressed in an ASCII-based language (ATIS) and collect observation results expressed in this same language. The observation program is currently constructed by a Principal Astronomer from the requests of multiple users; the execution is currently controlled by a simple heuristic dispatch scheduler. Research aimed at improving the use of APT's is being carried out by the Entropy Reduction Engine (ERE) project at NASA Ames. The overall goal of the ERE project is the study and construction of systems that integrate planning, scheduling, and control. This paper discusses the application of some ERE technical results to the improvement of both the scheduling and the operation of APT's.

3.6-m Devasthal Optical Telescope Project: Completion and first results

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Brijesh; Omar, Amitesh; Maheswar, Gopinathan; Pandey, Anil Kumar; Sagar, Ram; Uddin, Wahab; Sanwal, Basant Ballabh; Bangia, Tarun; Kumar, Tripurari Satyanarayana; Yadav, Shobhit; Sahu, Sanjit; Pant, Jayshreekar; Reddy, Bheemireddy Krishna; Gupta, Alok Chandra; Chand, Hum; Pandey, Jeewan Chandra; Joshi, Mohit Kumar; Jaiswar, Mukeshkuma; Nanjappa, Nandish; Purushottam; Yadav, Rama Kant Singh; Sharma, Saurabh; Pandey, Shashi Bhushan; Joshi, Santosh; Joshi, Yogesh Chandra; Lata, Sneh; Mehdi, Biman Jyoti; Misra, Kuntal; Singh, Mahendra

2018-04-01

We present an update on the 3.6-m aperture optical telescope, which has been installed at Devasthal in the year 2016. In this paper, a brief overview of installation activities at site and first results are presented. The 3.6-m Devasthal Optical Telescope project was initiated in 2007 by the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES; Nainital, India) in partnership with Belgium. The telescope has Ritchey-Chretien optics, an alt-azimuth mount, an active control of the primary and a corrected science field of view of 30' at the Cassegrain focus. The construction of the telescope enclosure building was completed in June 2014 and after successful installation of the telescope. The first engineering light was obtained on 22 March 2015. The on-sky performance of the telescope was carried out till February 2016.

Southern Fireworks above ESO Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

1999-05-01

://www.astro.ku.dk/~jens/grb990510/ at the Copenhagen University Observatory. Complete, regularly updated lightcurves with all published measurements, also from other observatories, may be found at another webpage in Milan at http://www.merate.mi.astro.it/~gabriele/990510/ . This may happen if the explosion emits radiation in a beam which is pointed towards the Earth. Such beams are predicted by some models for the production of gamma-ray bursts. They are also favoured by many astronomers, because they can overcome the fundamental problem that gamma-ray bursts simply produce too much energy. If the energy is not emitted equally in all directions ("isotropically"), but rather in a preferred one along a beam, less energy is needed to produce the observed phenomenon. Such a break has been observed before, but this time it occurred at a very favourable moment, when the source was still relatively bright so that high-quality spectroscopic and multi-colour information could be obtained with the ESO telescopes. Together, these observations may provide an answer to the question whether beams exist in gamma-ray bursts and thus further help us to understand the as yet unknown cause of these mysterious explosions. Latest News ESO PR Photo 22g/99 ESO PR Photo 22g/99 [Normal - JPEG: 453 x 585 pix - 304k] Caption to PR Photo 22g/99 : V(isual) image of the sky field around GRB 990510 (here denoted "OT"), as obtained with the VLT ANTU telescope and FORS1 on May 18 UT during a 20 min exposure in 0.9 arcsec seeing conditions. The reproduction is in false colours to better show differences in intensity. North is up and east is left. Further photometric and spectroscopic observations with the ESO VLT, performed by Klaus Beuermann, Frederic Hessman and Klaus Reinsch of the Göttingen group of the FORS instrument team (Germany), have revealed the character of some of the objects that are seen close to the image of the afterglow of GRB 990510 (also referred to as the "Optical Transient" - OT). Two objects to the North

Secondary mirror system for the European Solar Telescope (EST)

Science.gov (United States)

Cavaller, L.; Siegel, B.; Prieto, G.; Hernandez, E.; Casalta, J. M.; Mercader, J.; Barriga, J.

2010-07-01

The European Solar Telescope (EST) is a European collaborative project to build a 4m class solar telescope in the Canary Islands, which is now in its design study phase. The telescope will provide diffraction limited performance for several instruments observing simultaneously at the Coudé focus at different wavelengths. A multi-conjugated adaptive optics system composed of a tip-tilt mirror and several deformable mirrors will be integrated in the telescope optical path. The secondary mirror system is composed of the mirror itself (Ø800mm), the alignment drives and the cooling system needed to remove the solar heat load from the mirror. During the design study the feasibility to provide fast tip-tilt capabilities at the secondary mirror to work as the adaptive optics tip-tilt mirror is also being evaluated.

GAMMA-RAY OBSERVATIONS OF THE SUPERNOVA REMNANT RX J0852.0-4622 WITH THE FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, T.; Allafort, A.; Funk, S.; Tajima, H.; Uchiyama, Y.; Ballet, J.; Giordano, F.; Hewitt, J.; Lemoine-Goumard, M.; Tibolla, O.

2011-01-01

We report on gamma-ray observations of the supernova remnant (SNR) RX J0852.0-4622 with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. In the Fermi-LAT data, we find a spatially extended source at the location of the SNR. The extension is consistent with the SNR size seen in other wavelengths such as X-rays and TeV gamma rays, leading to the identification of the gamma-ray source with the SNR. The spectrum is well described as a power law with a photon index of Γ = 1.85 ± 0.06 (stat) +0.18 -0.19 (sys), which smoothly connects to the H.E.S.S. spectrum in the TeV energy band. We discuss the gamma-ray emission mechanism based on multiwavelength data. The broadband data can be fit well by a model in which the gamma rays are of hadronic origin. We also consider a scenario with inverse Compton scattering of electrons as the emission mechanism of the gamma rays. Although the leptonic model predicts a harder spectrum in the Fermi-LAT energy range, the model can fit the data considering the statistical and systematic errors.

Chinese large solar telescopes site survey

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yu

2017-04-01

In order to observe the solar surface with unprecedentedly higher resolution, Chinse solar physics society decided to launch their solar site survey project in 2010 as the first step to look for the best candidate sites for the Chinese next-generation large-aperture solar telescopes, i.e., the 5-8 meter Chinese Giant Solar Telescope, and the 1 meter level coronagraph. We have built two long-term monitoring sites in Daocheng, with altitudes of around 4800 meters above the sea level located in the large Shangri-La mountain area, and we have collected systematic site data since 2014. Clear evidence, including the key parameters of seeing factor, sky brightness and water vapor content, has indicated that the large Shangri-La area owns the potential conditions of excellent seeing level and sufficient amount of clear-sky hours suitable for developing large solar telescopes. We will review the site survey progress and present the preliminary statistical results in this talk.

The Swift Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roming, Peter; Hunsberger, S.D.; Nousek, John; Mason, Keith

2001-01-01

The Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) provides the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer with the capability of quickly detecting and characterizing the optical and ultraviolet properties of gamma ray burst counterparts. The UVOT design is based on the design of the Optical Monitor on XMM-Newton. It is a Ritchey-Chretien telescope with microchannel plate intensified charged-coupled devices (MICs) that deliver sub-arcsecond imaging. These MICs are photon-counting devices, capable of detecting low intensity signal levels. When flown above the atmosphere, the UVOT will have the sensitivity of a 4m ground based telescope, attaining a limiting magnitude of 24 for a 1000 second observation in the white light filter. A rotating filter wheel allows sensitive photometry in six bands spanning the UV and visible, which will provide photometric redshifts of objects in the 1-3.5z range. For bright counterparts, such as the 9th magnitude GRB990123, or for fainter objects down to 17th magnitude, two grisms provide low-resolution spectroscopy

Constraints on early-type galaxy structure from spectroscopically selected gravitational lenses

Science.gov (United States)

Bolton, Adam Stallard

2005-11-01

This thesis describes all aspects of a unique spectroscopic survey for strong galaxy-galaxy gravitational lenses: motivation, candidate selection, ground- based spectroscopic follow-up, Hubble Space Telescope imaging, data analysis, and results on the radial density profile of the lens galaxies. The lens candidates are selected from within the spectroscopic database of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) based on the appearance of two significantly different redshifts along the same line of sight, and lenses are confirmed within the candidate sample by follow-up imaging and spectroscopy. The sample of [approximate]20 early-type lenses presented in this thesis represents the largest single strong-lens galaxy sample discovered and published to date. These lenses probe the mass of the lens galaxies on scales roughly equal to one-half effective radius. We find a dynamical normalization between isothermal lens-model velocity dispersions and aperture-corrected SDSS stellar velocity dispersions of f = s lens /s stars = 0.95 +/- 0.03. By combining lens-model Einstein radii and de Vaucouleurs effective radii with stellar velocity dispersions through the Jeans equation, we find that the logarithmic slope [Special characters omitted.] of the density profile in our lens galaxies (r 0 ( [Special characters omitted.] ) is on average slightly steeper than isothermal ([Special characters omitted.] = 2) with a modest intrinsic scatter. Parameterizing the intrinsic distribution in [Special characters omitted.] as Gaussian, we find a maximum-likelihood mean of [Special characters omitted. ] and standard deviation of s[Special characters omitted.] = [Special characters omitted.] (68% confidence, for isotropic velocity-dispersion models). Our results rule out a single universal logarithmic density slope at >99.995% confidence. The success of this spectroscopic lens survey suggests that similar projects should be considered as an explicit science goal of future redshift surveys. (Copies

REMOTES: reliable and modular telescope solution for seamless operation and monitoring of various observation facilities

Science.gov (United States)

Jakubec, M.; Skala, P.; Sedlacek, M.; Nekola, M.; Strobl, J.; Blazek, M.; Hudec, R.

2012-09-01

Astronomers often need to put several pieces of equipment together and have to deploy them at a particular location. This task could prove to be a really tough challenge, especially for distant observing facilities with intricate operating conditions, poor communication infrastructure and unreliable power source. To have this task even more complicated, they also expect secure and reliable operation in both attended and unattended mode, comfortable software with user-friendly interface and full supervision over the observation site at all times. During reconstruction of the D50 robotic telescope facility, we faced many of the issues mentioned above. To get rid of them, we based our solution on a flexible group of hardware modules controlling the equipment of the observation site, connected together by the Ethernet network and orchestrated by our management software. This approach is both affordable and powerful enough to fulfill all of the observation requirements at the same time. We quickly figured out that the outcome of this project could also be useful for other observation facilities, because they are probably facing the same issues we have solved during our project. In this contribution, we will point out the key features and benefits of the solution for observers. We will demonstrate how the solution works at our observing location. We will also discuss typical management and maintenance scenarios and how we have supported them in our solution. Finally, the overall architecture and technical aspects of the solution will be presented and particular design and technology decisions will be clarified.

Deep Sky Diving with the ESO New Technology Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

1998-01-01

Preparations for future cosmological observations with the VLT Within a few months, the first 8.2-meter Unit Telescope of the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) array will open its eye towards the sky above the Atacama desert. As documented by recent Press Photos from ESO, the construction work at the Paranal VLT Observatory is proceeding rapidly. Virtually all of the telescope components, including the giant Zerodur mirror (cf. ESO PR Photos 35a-l/97 ), are now on the mountain. While the integration of the telescope and its many optical, mechanical and electronic components continues, astronomers in the ESO member countries and at ESO are now busy defining the observing programmes that will be carried out with the new telescope, soon after it enters into operation. In this context, new and exciting observations have recently been obtained with the 3.5-m New Technology Telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory, 600 km to the south of Paranal. How to record the faintest and most remote astronomical objects With its very large mirror surface (and correspondingly great light collecting power), as well as an unsurpassed optical quality, the VLT will be able to look exceedingly far out into the Universe, well beyond current horizons. The best technique to record the faintest possible light and thus the most remote celestial objects, is to combine large numbers of exposures of the same field with slightly different telescope pointing. This increases the total number of photons recorded and by imaging the stars and galaxies on different areas (pixels) of the detector, the signal-to-noise ratio and hence the visibility of the faintest objects is improved. The famous Hubble Deep Field Images were obtained in this way by combining over 300 single exposures and they show myriads of faint galaxies in the distant realms of the Universe. The NTT as test bench for the VLT ESO is in the fortunate situation of possessing a `prototype' model of the Very Large Telescope, the 3.5-m New

MID-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF THE DUST-FORMING CLASSICAL NOVA V2676 OPH

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kawakita, Hideyo; Arai, Akira; Shinnaka, Yoshiharu [Koyama Astronomical Observatory, Kyoto Sangyo University, Motoyama, Kamigamo, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8555 (Japan); Ootsubo, Takafumi [Department of Earth Science and Astronomy, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902 (Japan); Nagashima, Masayoshi, E-mail: kawakthd@cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp [Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Kyoto Sangyo University, Motoyama, Kamigamo, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8555 (Japan)

2017-02-01

The dust-forming nova V2676 Oph is unique in that it was the first nova to provide evidence of C{sub 2} and CN molecules during its near-maximum phase and evidence of CO molecules during its early decline phase. Observations of this nova have revealed the slow evolution of its lightcurves and have also shown low isotopic ratios of carbon ({sup 12}C/{sup 13}C) and nitrogen ({sup 14}N/{sup 15}N) in its envelope. These behaviors indicate that the white dwarf (WD) star hosting V2676 Oph is a CO-rich WD rather than an ONe-rich WD (typically larger in mass than the former). We performed mid-infrared spectroscopic and photometric observations of V2676 Oph in 2013 and 2014 (respectively 452 and 782 days after its discovery). No significant [Ne ii] emission at 12.8 μ m was detected at either epoch. These provided evidence for a CO-rich WD star hosting V2676 Oph. Both carbon-rich and oxygen-rich grains were detected in addition to an unidentified infrared feature at 11.4 μ m originating from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules or hydrogenated amorphous carbon grains in the envelope of V2676 Oph.

Spectroscopic characterization of extrasolar planets from ground-, space- and airborne-based observatories

Science.gov (United States)

Angerhausen, Daniel

2010-11-01

This thesis deals with techniques and results of observations of exoplanets from several platforms. In this work I present and then attempt solutions to particular issues and problems connected to ground- and space-based approaches to spectroscopic characterization of extrasolar planets. Furthermore, I present the future prospects of the airborne observatory, SOFIA, in this field of astronomy. The first part of this thesis covers results of an exploratory study to use near-infrared integral-field-spectroscopy to observe transiting extrasolar planets. I demonstrate how adaptive-optics assisted integral field spectroscopy compares with other spectroscopic techniques currently applied, foremost being slit spectroscopy. An advanced reduction method using elements of a spectral-differential decorrelation and optimized observation strategies is discussed. This concept was tested with K-Band time series observations of secondary eclipses of HD 209458b and HD 189733b obtained with the SINFONI at the Very Large Telescope (VLT), at spectral resolution of R~3000. In ground-based near infrared (NIR) observations, there is considerable likelihood of confusion between telluric absorption features and spectral features in the targeted object. I describe a detailed method that can cope with such confusion by a forward modelling approach employing Earth transmission models. In space-based transit spectroscopy with Hubble's NICMOS instrument, the main source of systematic noise is the perturbation in the instrument's configuration due to the near Earth orbital motion of the spacecraft. I present an extension to a pre-existing data analysis sequence that has allowed me to extract a NIR transmission spectrum of the hot-Neptune class planet GJ 436b from a data set that was highly corrupted by the above mentioned effects. Satisfyingly, I was able to obtain statistical consistency in spectra (acquired over a broad wavelength grid) over two distinct observing visits by HST. Earlier

Deploying the NASA Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT) on Ascension Island

Science.gov (United States)

Lederer, S. M.; Pace, L.; Hickson, P.; Cowardin, H. M.; Frith, J.; Buckalew, B.; Glesne, T.; Maeda, R.; Douglas, D.; Nishimoto, D.

2015-01-01

NASA has successfully constructed the 1.3m Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT) facility on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. MCAT is an optical telescope designed specifically to collect ground-based data for the statistical characterization of orbital debris ranging from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) through Middle Earth Orbits (MEO) and beyond to Geo Transfer and Geosynchronous Orbits (GTO/GEO). The location of Ascension Island has two distinct advantages. First, the near-equatorial location fills a significant longitudinal gap in the Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS) network of telescopes, and second, it allows access to objects in Low Inclination Low-Earth Orbits (LILO). The MCAT facility will be controlled by a sophisticated software suite that operates the dome and telescope, assesses sky and weather conditions, conducts all necessary calibrations, defines an observing strategy (as dictated by weather, sky conditions and the observing plan for the night), and carries out the observations. It then reduces the collected data via four primary observing modes ranging from tracking previously cataloged objects to conducting general surveys for detecting uncorrelated debris. Nightly observing plans, as well as the resulting text file of reduced data, will be transferred to and from Ascension, respectively, via a satellite connection. Post-processing occurs at NASA Johnson Space Center. Construction began in September, 2014 with dome and telescope installation occurring in April through early June, 2015. First light was achieved in June, 2015. Acceptance testing, full commissioning, and calibration of this soon-to-be fully autonomous system commenced in summer 2015. The initial characterization of the system from these tests is presented herein.

Spectroscopic Characterization of Key Aromatic Molecules: A Route toward The Origin of Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Puzzarini, Cristina; Baiardi, Alberto; Bloino, Julien; Barone, Vincenzo; Murphy, Thomas E; Drew, Dennis; Ali, Ashraf

2017-08-04

To gain information on the abiotic synthesis of the building blocks of life from simple molecules, and their subsequent chemical evolution to biological systems, the starting point is the identification of target species in Titan-like planets, i.e., planets that resemble the primitive Earth, as well as in Earth-like planets in the habitable zone of their star, namely planets where life can be already originated. In this scenario, molecular spectroscopy plays a crucial role because spectroscopic signatures are at the basis of an unequivocal proof for the presence of these target molecules. Thanks to the advances in many different techniques and to the NASA successful Kepler exoplanet transit mission, thousands of diverse planets outside of our solar system have been discovered. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scheduled to be launched in 2018, will be very helpful in the identification of biosignature gases in Earth-like planets' atmospheres and of prebiotic molecule signatures in Titan-like atmospheres by observing their absorption during transits. While the search for key-target molecules in exoplanet atmospheres can be carried out by the JWST Transit Spectroscopy in the infrared (IR) region (0.6 - 29 µm wavelength range), opportunities for their detection in protostellar cores, protoplanetary disks and on Titan are also offered by the interferometric high spectral and spatial resolution observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). In the present work, target molecules have been selected and their spectroscopic characterization presented in view of supporting their infrared and complementary millimeter/submillimeter-wave spectral observations. In detail, the selected target molecules include: (1) the three-membered oxygen-containing heterocycles: oxirane and protonated oxirane, (2) the cyclopropenyl cation and its methyl derivative, (3) two examples of ortho- and peri-fused tri-cyclic aromatic rings, i.e., the phenalenyl

Gamma-ray observations of the Orion Molecular Clouds with the Fermi Large Area Telescope