![]() |
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
|
Your cart is empty |
||
|
Books > Science & Mathematics > Astronomy, space & time > Observatories, equipment & methods
Despite its apparent unchanging appearance in the daytime sky, the Sun is incredibly dynamic and shrouded in mystery. In this guide, Dr. Ryan French explores history, science, and modern observations to uncover the mysteries of the Sun. From ancient astronomers who hailed the Sun as a deity, to new age space exploration, the way we observe the Sun has come a long way. Humanity’s scientific journey to understand the Sun has included many intriguing and humorous tales from over the centuries. In today’s age, it is far easier to become a sun observer. Learn about cutting-edge space observations of the Sun and how to access these images from home. Uncover further methods of observing the Sun safely from your own back garden using off-the-shelf solar telescopes, DIY pin-hole cameras and solar projectors. The perfect gift for anyone wishing to learn more about our local star.
In 2004, it became obvious that Henry Hatfield's original atlas wasn't suitable for all current commercially-made amateur telescopes. Newtonian telescopes and astronomical refractors - for many years the only choice for amateurs - invert the observed image. The standard Hatfield Atlas therefore follows the IAU (International Astronomical Union) convention of having maps (and photographs) with South at the top and West on the left: an inverted image. However, the current ranges of Schmidt-Cassegrain and Maksutov telescopes - that's most of those manufactured by Meade, Celestron, and many others - don't invert the observed image but instead reverse it left-for-right. That's with North at the top and East on the left. Because of the way the human visual system works, it is almost impossible to mentally 'mirror-image' a map to compare it with the view through the eyepiece , so even turning an IAU-standard atlas upside-down doesn't help! This new SCT version of the Atlas solves this problem for observers. Identification of lunar features is made quick and easy. The new, digitally re-mastered second edition vastly improves the clarity and definition of the original photographs - significantly beyond the resolution limits of the photographic grains present in earlier atlas versions - whilst preserving the layout and style of the original publications. This has been achieved by merging computer-visualized Earth-based views of the lunar surface, derived from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data, with scanned copies of Commander Hatfield's photographic plates, using the author's own software. The result is a The Hatfield SCT Lunar Atlas for 21st century amateur telescopes up to and beyond 12-inch aperture. It contains all the features that made the original so widely used: a combination of an index of all International Astronomical Union named primary lunar features, and twelve chart areas help to locate any named lunar features of interest that can each be examined under typically five different states of illumination. Close ups of interesting features are also included. The new Atlas is supplemented by an introduction to its use, a short description of the digital re-mastering technique, and a completely new section describing lunar observing techniques. At the end of the atlas there is an index of all named features and crater diameters, along with a summary table of the dates and times that the original Hatfield images represent.
Astronomer Peter Linde takes the reader through the story of the search for extraterrestrial life in a captivating and thought-provoking way, specifically addressing the new research that is currently devoted towards discovering other planets with life. He discusses the methods used to detect possible signals from other civilizations and the ways that the space sciences are changing as a result of this new field. "Are we alone?" is a mystery that has forever fascinated mankind, gaining momentum by scientists since the 1995 discovery of the existence of exoplanets began to inspire new ways of thinking in astronomy. Here, Linde tries to answer many philosophical questions that derive from this area of research: Is humanity facing a change of paradigm, that we are not unique as intelligent beings? Is it possible to communicate with others out there, and even if we can-should we?
This book describes the fundamentals of particle detectors as well as their applications. Detector development is an important part of nuclear, particle and astroparticle physics, and through its applications in radiation imaging, it paves the way for advancements in the biomedical and materials sciences. Knowledge in detector physics is one of the required skills of an experimental physicist in these fields. The breadth of knowledge required for detector development comprises many areas of physics and technology, starting from interactions of particles with matter, gas- and solid-state physics, over charge transport and signal development, to elements of microelectronics. The book's aim is to describe the fundamentals of detectors and their different variants and implementations as clearly as possible and as deeply as needed for a thorough understanding. While this comprehensive opus contains all the materials taught in experimental particle physics lectures or modules addressing detector physics at the Master's level, it also goes well beyond these basic requirements. This is an essential text for students who want to deepen their knowledge in this field. It is also a highly useful guide for lecturers and scientists looking for a starting point for detector development work.
During the last two decades, optical stellar interferometry has become an important tool in astronomical investigations requiring spatial resolution well beyond that of traditional telescopes. This book, first published in 2006, was the first to be written on the subject. The authors provide an extended introduction discussing basic physical and atmospheric optics, which establishes the framework necessary to present the ideas and practice of interferometry as applied to the astronomical scene. They follow with an overview of historical, operational and planned interferometric observatories, and a selection of important astrophysical discoveries made with them. Finally, they present some as-yet untested ideas for instruments both on the ground and in space which may allow us to image details of planetary systems beyond our own.
Radio astronomers have developed techniques of calibration of large reflector antennas with radio astronomical methods, but these have not been comprehensively described. This text aims to fill this gap, taking a practical approach to the characterisation of antennas. All calculations and results in the form of tables and figures have been made with Mathematica by Wolfram Research. The reader can use the procedures for the implementation of his own input data.
Although astronomical guides were available in the early nineteenth century, they tended to come from continental presses and were rarely in English. This two-volume work by the clergyman and astronomer William Pearson (1767-1847) aimed, with brilliant success, to compile data from extant sources into one of the first English practical guides to astronomy. Most of the tables were updated and improved versions, and some were wholly reconstructed to streamline the calculation processes. Sir John Herschel dubbed it 'one of the most important and extensive works on that subject which has ever issued from the press', and for his efforts Pearson was awarded the gold medal of the Astronomical Society. First published in 1824, Volume 1 chiefly comprises extensive tables to facilitate the reduction of a range of astronomical observations, including solar and sidereal movements, alongside thorough instructions. In the history of science, Pearson's work reflects the contemporary challenges of celestial study.
Spherical or positional astronomy is used primarily to map objects on the celestial sphere. In this technical work, first published in 1908 and intended for advanced students, Sir Robert Stawell Ball (1840-1913) breaks down the field into distinct areas of study. Assuming a good level of geometry and trigonometry, he begins with fundamental formulae before moving into the determination of coordinates, atmospheric refraction, the theory of cartography, and more. Each section contains exercises derived from a variety of sources, including contemporary Cambridge examinations. The coverage ranges from the calculation of stellar parallax to the geometrical principles behind the Mercator projection. Testifying to the knowledge expected of university students in the early twentieth century, Ball's book remains instructive to their modern counterparts. More accessible to the general reader, The Story of the Heavens (1885), Star-Land (1889) and A Popular Guide to the Heavens (1905) are also reissued in this series.
When this highly illustrated work first appeared in 1900, the day-to-day business of an astronomer was prone to misapprehension; the reality tended to be clouded by the temptation to imagine observatories as preoccupied with making awe-inspiring discoveries and glimpsing distant worlds. Describing himself as a hybrid between an engineer and an accountant, astronomer Edward Walter Maunder (1851 1928) explodes the romantic myths and takes the reader on an entertaining tour of the history and real purposes of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. Founded with the sole aim of advancing navigation at sea, the observatory originally confined its activities to the accurate compilation of celestial charts. In exploring the observatory's various departments and the lives of its Astronomers Royal, Maunder shows how its remit slowly expanded into heliography, meteorology, spectroscopy and the study of magnetism, which transformed it from a tool of the Navy to a major institution in contemporary astronomy.
This Ph.D. thesis from the University of Birmingham UK opens new research avenues in the use of Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) to study populations of super-massive black hole binaries through gravitational-wave observations. Chiara Mingarelli's work has shown for the first time that PTAs can yield information about the non-linear dynamics of the gravitational field. This is possible because PTAs capture, at the same time, radiation from the same source emitted at stages of its binary evolution that are separated by thousands of years. Dr. Mingarelli, who is the recipient of a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship, has also been amongst the pioneers of the technique that will allow us to probe the level of anisotropy of the diffuse gravitational-wave background radiation from the whole population of super-massive black hole binaries in the Universe. Indeed, future observations will provide us with hints about the distribution of galaxies harboring massive black holes and insights into end products of hierarchical mergers of galaxies.
Since its foundation in 1904, the Mount Wilson Observatory has been at the centre of the development of astrophysics. Perched atop a mountain wilderness, two mammoth solar tower telescopes and the 60- and 100-inch behemoth night-time reflectors were all the largest in the world. Research has centred around two main themes - the evolution of stars and the development of the universe. This first volume in a series of five histories of the Carnegie Institution describes the people and events, the challenges and successes that the Observatory has witnessed. It includes biographical sketches of forty of the most famous Mount Wilson pioneer astronomers working during the first half of the twentieth century. Contemporary photographs illustrate the development and use of some of the innovative instruments that filled the observatory during this time. This story brings together the elements that formed modern theories of stellar evolution and cosmology.
This translation of"A Brief History of Radio Astronomy in the USSR"makes descriptions of the antennas and instrumentation used in the USSR, the astronomical discoveries, as well as interesting personal backgrounds of many of the early key players in Soviet radio astronomy available in the English language for the first time. This book is a collection of memoirs recounting an interesting but largely still dark era of Soviet astronomy. The arrangement of the essays is determined primarily by the time when radio astronomy studies began at the institutions involved. These include the Lebedev Physical Institute (FIAN), Gorkii State University and the affiliated Physical-Technical Institute (GIFTI), Moscow State University Sternberg Astronomical institute (GAISH) and Space Research Institute (IKI), the Department of Radio Astronomy of the Main Astronomical Observatory in Pulkovo (GAO), Special Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO), Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Academy of Sciences of the Ukraine (SSR), Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics of the USSR Academy of Sciences (IRE), Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, the Ionosphere and Radio-Wave Propagation Institute (IZMIRAN), Siberian Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, the Ionosphere and Radio-Wave Propagation (SibIZMIRAN), the Radio Astrophysical Observatory of the Latvian Academy of Sciences and Leningrad State University. "A Brief History of Radio Astronomy in the USSR"is a fascinating source of information on a past era of scientific culture and fields of research including the Soviet SETI activities. Anyone interested in the recent history of science will enjoy reading this volume. "
Constituting the first holistic overview including practical remedies, this handbook provides the background needed by anyone grappling with the complex issue of outdoor lighting and its effects. It describes not only the problems that astronomers and other night sky observers face in reducing the problems of information loss due to light pollution, as well as the problems lighting technologists face in optimising outdoor lighting installations that cause little or no light pollution. The first part is directed to decision makers and managers of outdoor space and covers the areas of general interest, culminating in recommendations to reduce the impact of light pollution. The second part is directed primarily to scientists and engineers, as a support to the design and maintenance of outdoor lighting installations, with special reference to astronomical observations. Elaborating issues from the first part, these contributions include examples that refer to specific outdoor lighting projects and to more general policy and educational measures. Written for designers of lighting equipment and managers of astronomical observatories, but also aimed at the authorities and decision makers responsible for the organization and maintenance of the public space, it will serve a good purpose in graduate or postgraduate curricula for scientists, engineers, economists and law students. This handbook fills the gap that exists between astronomical textbooks, engineering texts and popular brochures about light pollution.
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will provide more than one
order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity compared with any
existing radio telescope over a wavelength range of several hundred
to one, from decametric to microwave wavelengths. It will
revolutionize the study of the most abundant element in the
Universe, hydrogen, from the epoch of reionisation to the
present-day, probing the onset formation period of the very first
stars, will closely scan proto-planets and, through the precision
timing of pulsars, will detect the distortions of space-time due to
gravitational radiation. The SKA is a sensing network spanning 3000
km from its centre and with a collecting area of more than 1 square
kilometre, using technologies of the 21st century. The SKA will
make the study of a wide range of phenomena initially studied at
other wavelengths possible at radio wavelengths, as well as opening
a new discovery window on new phenomena at radio wavelengths.
Hidden from human view, accessible only to sensitive receivers attached to huge radio telescopes, the invisible universe beyond our senses continues to fascinate and intrigue our imaginations. Closer to home, in the Milky Way galaxy, radio astronomers listen patiently to the ticking of pulsars that tell of star death and states of matter of awesome densities. All of this happens out there in the universe hidden from our eyes, even when aided by the Hubble Space Telescope. This is the story of radio astronomy, of how radio waves are generated by stars, supernova, quasars, colliding galaxies and by the very beginnings of the universe itself. The author discusses what radio astronomers are doing in the New Mexico desert, in a remote valley in Puerto Rico, and in the green Pocahontas Valley in West Virginia, as well as dozens of other remote sites around the world. With each of these observatories, the scientists collect and analyze their data, "listening" to the radio signals from space in order to learn what, or perhaps who, is out there as well. The author specifically highlights enormous changes that have occurred in the field over the past 50 years, including the political reality of radio astronomy and what that could mean for the future.
IAU Symposium 97, Extragalactic Radio Sources, was held at Albuquerque, New Mexico August 3-7, 1981. It was co-sponsored by IAU Commissions 28, 40, 47 and 48 and by URSI Commission J. Financial and organizational support were provided by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the University of New Mexico, and the National Science Foundation. A wide variety of interesting objects and phenomena can be covered under the heading "Extragalactic Radio Sources," and a diverse set of topics was in fact discussed at the symposium. Radio galaxies, quasars, Seyfert galaxies and BL Lacertids received the most attention, but normal galaxies, the galactic center, and even SS433 were also discussed. While the unifying theme of the symposium was radio emission, studies at all wave1engths--X-ray, UV, optical, IR, and radio--were included. In general, the emphasis was on individual objects and the physical processes associated with them, but there were also papers on statistical studies and cosmology. The symposium was attended by 209 scientists from 18 countries.
IAU Symposium 285 addresses studies of variability among the whole gamut of cosmic objects. While new fields involving transients, blazars, gamma-ray bursts, active galactic nuclei and quasars are still emerging, the puzzles posed by longer-term sources of variability still remain. This volume adopts an interdisciplinary theme, examining different manifestations of variability to gain new scientific insights that may be missed when one type of object or variability is studied in isolation. By integrating discussions from participants across the breadth of astronomical science, it addresses the core question: 'How can technology and collaboration be better harnessed to enhance the science requirements and outcomes?' With major new transient surveys coming online soon to lay the groundwork for LSST, the results, research tools and visions presented here will help both researchers and database managers collaborate in the exciting challenges of time-domain astronomy.
The authors measured atomic hydrogen, the principal component of the interstellar medium in the Milky Way, over a five-year period using the 25-meter radio telescope of the Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy. Displayed in several projections, each map corresponds to a particular velocity interval; separation by velocity roughly corresponds to separation by distance, or by energetics. The Leiden/Dwingeloo survey covers the entire sky above declination -300, on a half-degree grid, over a velocity range of 1000 km/s at 1 km/s resolution. The limiting brightness temperature sensitivity is 0.07 K. A CD-ROM also accompanies the Atlas, and contains the entire dataset of the Leiden/Dwingeloo survey in computer-readable form. The CD-ROM also contains color images in GIF format, as well as animations displaying the 3-dimensional data cube.
TheideaforthisbookoriginatedintheLaSillaobservatorywheretwoofthe editorsweredoingphase-resolvedspectroscopyofsomecataclysmicvariable starsusingtheNTT. Werealizedthatalthoughindirectimagingtechniques suchaseclipsemappingandDopplertomographyhadbeenaroundformore thanadecadeandhadprovidedsomeofthemostinterestingdiscoveries,no bookexistedwhichcoveredthesetechniques. Moreover,nocolloquiumhadever beenorganizedspeci?callyonthesetopics. Theimplementationoftomographic methodsinastrophysics,inordertoprobestructuresonangularscalesofmic- arcseconds,startedabout15yearsagowiththedevelopmentoftheeclipsem- pingmethod. Thismethodisabletoreconstructlightdistributionsineclipsing binariesbyexploitingtheregularobscurationofthelightsourcebyoneofthe binarycomponents. Asimilarapproachtoregulariseddata?ttingleadtoa- rietyofrelatedmethodsinordertoresolvelightdistributionsoftheaccretion ?owsinbinaries,thesurfacestructuresofstarsandtheinnerregionsofactive galaxies. Thescienti?coutputofthesemethodsisconsiderableandtheyare increasinglybecomingversatiletoolsforawidecommunityofresearchers. Aspecialisedworkshopseemedhighlydesirable,sowedecidedtoorganise the?rstinternationalworkshoponastrotomography. Theideaofthemeeting, whichtookplaceinBrusselsinearlyJuly2000,wastobringtogetherresearchers sharinganinterestinapplyingindirectimagingmethodsinastronomy,andto comparethemethodsusedindi?erent?elds. Duringthemeeting,alargeamount oftimewasdevotedtoextensivereviewsofthevariousreconstructiontechniques. Inconjunctionwiththereviews,shortcontributedtalkshighlightedrecent- sultsanddevelopments. Duetothesmallnumberofparticipants,60,therewas plentyofopportunityfordiscussionandinteraction. Moreover,wewantedthat theproceedingsofthismeetingcouldbeusedasahandbookonthesemethods. Thereviewerswerethereforeaskedtoprovideextensiveaccountsoftheir?eld. Theproceedingsthusconsistof13reviewsofabout25pageseachaswellas 15contributedtalksof6?8pages. Awiderangeoftopicsarediscussed,mostly onthepropertiesofaccretion?owsinsemi-detachedbinarysystemsconta- ingacompactstellarremnant. Othertopicsincludethesurfaceandmagnetic ?eldstructureofsinglestars,theshockwavesofMirastars,theaccretion?ows aroundblackholesinbinariesandactivegalacticnucleiandthestructureof Algolsystems. Thelargevarietyofsubjectscoveredisaclearillustrationofthe importancethatindirectimagingtechniqueshavegainedinastrophysics. Anew VI generationofopticaltelescopesandspectrographsiscomingon-linewhichwill pushthepossibilitiesofindirectimagingevenfurther. Inconjunctionwiththat, specialisedinstrumentsandprojectsonexistingtelescopeswilldeliverdatasets withhightimeandwavelengthresolutionstailoredforaccuratemapping- periments. Wehopethattheseproceedingswillprovideahelpfuloverviewfor anyresearcherinterestedinsuchtechniques. Withthesamespiritofproducing morethanjustproceedings,wealsoincludealistofsomeusefulresourceson theInternet. Wealsohopethatthewebpageoftheworkshopwillbekeptalive andbecomeausefulreferenceonastrotomography. Wewouldliketothankalltheparticipantsformakingthisworkshopas- cess,andinparticularallthecontributingreviewauthorsforhavinggenerously agreedtocometothemeetingattheirownexpense,andfortheire?ortsin providingabalancedsetofreviewpapers. Manythankstoallthemembersof thelocalorganisingcommitteeforthehardworkbefore,duringandafterthe workshop. TheBrusselsPlanetariumisthankedforprovidinguswithameeting venueandexcellentsupport. WealsowishtothanktheDirectoroftheRoyal ObservatoryofBelgium,Prof. PaulPaquet,forhise?orts. RobHynesprovided uswithasuperb'scienti?cimpression'ofaninteractingbinarythatfeaturedon theworkshopposterandvariousotherlocations. Finally,wearegratefulfo- nancialsupportfromprojectG. 0265. 97oftheResearchProgrammeoftheFund forScienti?cResearch-Flanders(F. W. O. -Vlaanderen). Brussels,Southampton, HenriBo?n, November2000 DannySteeghs, JanCuypers Workshopwebpage:http://www. astro. oma. be/DopplerWorkshop/ Contents DopplerTomography T. R. Marsh...1 MappingthePeculiarBinaryGPCom L. Morales-Rueda,T. R. Marsh,R. C. North...27 H?-EmissionDopplerTomography ofLong-PeriodCataclysmicVariableStars R. C. North,T. R. Marsh,C. K. J. Moran,U. Kolb,R. C. Smith,R. Stehle. . 33 DopplerTomographyoftheDwarfNovaIYUMa duringQuiescence D. J. Rolfe,T. M. C. Abbott,C. A. Haswell...39 SpiralWavesinAccretionDiscs-Observations D. Steeghs...45 SpiralWavesinAccretionDiscs-Vlaanderen). Brussels,Southampton, HenriBo?n, November2000 DannySteeghs, JanCuypers Workshopwebpage:http://www. astro. oma. be/DopplerWorkshop/ Contents DopplerTomography T. R. Marsh...1 MappingthePeculiarBinaryGPCom L. Morales-Rueda,T. R. Marsh,R. C. North...27 H?-EmissionDopplerTomography ofLong-PeriodCataclysmicVariableStars R. C. North,T. R. Marsh,C. K. J. Moran,U. Kolb,R. C. Smith,R. Stehle. . 33 DopplerTomographyoftheDwarfNovaIYUMa duringQuiescence D. J. Rolfe,T. M. C. Abbott,C. A. Haswell...39 SpiralWavesinAccretionDiscs-Observations D. Steeghs...45 SpiralWavesinAccretionDiscs-TheideaforthisbookoriginatedintheLaSillaobservatorywheretwoofthe editorsweredoingphase-resolvedspectroscopyofsomecataclysmicvariable starsusingtheNTT. Werealizedthatalthoughindirectimagingtechniques suchaseclipsemappingandDopplertomographyhadbeenaroundformore thanadecadeandhadprovidedsomeofthemostinterestingdiscoveries,no bookexistedwhichcoveredthesetechniques. Moreover,nocolloquiumhadever beenorganizedspeci?callyonthesetopics. Theimplementationoftomographic methodsinastrophysics,inordertoprobestructuresonangularscalesofmic- arcseconds,startedabout15yearsagowiththedevelopmentoftheeclipsem- pingmethod. Thismethodisabletoreconstructlightdistributionsineclipsing binariesbyexploitingtheregularobscurationofthelightsourcebyoneofthe binarycomponents. Asimilarapproachtoregulariseddata?ttingleadtoa- rietyofrelatedmethodsinordertoresolvelightdistributionsoftheaccretion ?owsinbinaries,thesurfacestructuresofstarsandtheinnerregionsofactive galaxies. Thescienti?coutputofthesemethodsisconsiderableandtheyare increasinglybecomingversatiletoolsforawidecommunityofresearchers. Aspecialisedworkshopseemedhighlydesirable,sowedecidedtoorganise the?rstinternationalworkshoponastrotomography. Theideaofthemeeting, whichtookplaceinBrusselsinearlyJuly2000,wastobringtogetherresearchers sharinganinterestinapplyingindirectimagingmethodsinastronomy,andto comparethemethodsusedindi?erent?elds. Duringthemeeting,alargeamount oftimewasdevotedtoextensivereviewsofthevariousreconstructiontechniques. Inconjunctionwiththereviews,shortcontributedtalkshighlightedrecent- sultsanddevelopments. Duetothesmallnumberofparticipants,60,therewas plentyofopportunityfordiscussionandinteraction. Moreover,wewantedthat theproceedingsofthismeetingcouldbeusedasahandbookonthesemethods. Thereviewerswerethereforeaskedtoprovideextensiveaccountsoftheir?eld. Theproceedingsthusconsistof13reviewsofabout25pageseachaswellas 15contributedtalksof6?8pages. Awiderangeoftopicsarediscussed,mostly onthepropertiesofaccretion?owsinsemi-detachedbinarysystemsconta- ingacompactstellarremnant. Othertopicsincludethesurfaceandmagnetic ?eldstructureofsinglestars,theshockwavesofMirastars,theaccretion?ows aroundblackholesinbinariesandactivegalacticnucleiandthestructureof Algolsystems. Thelargevarietyofsubjectscoveredisaclearillustrationofthe importancethatindirectimagingtechniqueshavegainedinastrophysics. Anew VI generationofopticaltelescopesandspectrographsiscomingon-linewhichwill pushthepossibilitiesofindirectimagingevenfurther. Inconjunctionwiththat, specialisedinstrumentsandprojectsonexistingtelescopeswilldeliverdatasets withhightimeandwavelengthresolutionstailoredforaccuratemapping- periments. Wehopethattheseproceedingswillprovideahelpfuloverviewfor anyresearcherinterestedinsuchtechniques. Withthesamespiritofproducing morethanjustproceedings,wealsoincludealistofsomeusefulresourceson theInternet. Wealsohopethatthewebpageoftheworkshopwillbekeptalive andbecomeausefulreferenceonastrotomography. Wewouldliketothankalltheparticipantsformakingthisworkshopas- cess,andinparticularallthecontributingreviewauthorsforhavinggenerously agreedtocometothemeetingattheirownexpense,andfortheire?ortsin providingabalancedsetofreviewpapers. Manythankstoallthemembersof thelocalorganisingcommitteeforthehardworkbefore,duringandafterthe workshop. TheBrusselsPlanetariumisthankedforprovidinguswithameeting venueandexcellentsupport. WealsowishtothanktheDirectoroftheRoyal ObservatoryofBelgium,Prof. PaulPaquet,forhise?orts. RobHynesprovided uswithasuperb'scienti?cimpression'ofaninteractingbinarythatfeaturedon theworkshopposterandvariousotherlocations. Finally,wearegratefulfo- nancialsupportfromprojectG. 0265. 97oftheResearchProgrammeoftheFund forScienti?cResearch-Flanders(F. W. O. -Vlaanderen). Brussels,Southampton, HenriBo?n, November2000 DannySteeghs, JanCuypers Workshopwebpage:http://www. astro. oma. be/DopplerWorkshop/ Contents DopplerTomography T. R. Marsh...1 MappingthePeculiarBinaryGPCom L. Morales-Rueda,T. R. Marsh,R. C. North...27 H?-EmissionDopplerTomography ofLong-PeriodCataclysmicVariableStars R. C. North,T. R. Marsh,C. K. J. Moran,U. Kolb,R. C. Smith,R. Stehle. . 33 DopplerTomographyoftheDwarfNovaIYUMa duringQuiescence D. J. Rolfe,T. M. C. Abbott,C. A. Haswell...39 SpiralWavesinAccretionDiscs-Observations D. Steeghs...45 SpiralWavesinAccretionDiscs-Theory H. M. J. Bo?n...69 SpiralShocksinanInviscidSimulationofAccretionFlow inaCloseBinarySystem M. Makita,H. Fujiwara,T. Matsuda,H. M. J. Bo?n...88 ImagingtheSecondaryStarsinCataclysmicVariables V. S. Dhillon,C. A. Watson...9 4 StatisticsofIsolatedEmissionSourcesinCataclysmicVariables C. Tappert,R. Hanuschik...119 TomographyofPolars A. Schwope...127 TomographyofMagneticAccretionFlows G. Wynn...155 VIII Contents TheGeometricalCon?gurationofPolars andPossibleReconstructionArtefacts ofEclipseMappingMethods J. Kube...175 SpotMappinginCoolStars A. CollierCameron...183 ImagingtheMagneticTopologiesofCoolActiveStars J. -F. Donati...207 Di?erentialRotationofCloseBinaryStars: ApplicationtoHR1099 P. Petit, J. -F. Donati, G. A. Wade, J. D. Landstreet, J. M. Oliveira, S. L. S. Shorlin,T. A. A. Sigut,A. C. Cameron...232 MagneticDopplerImagingofChemicallyPeculiarStars N. Piskunov,O. Kochukhov...238 StokesImagingoftheAccretionRegion inMagneticCataclysmicVariables S. Potter,E. Romero-Colmenero,D. A. H. Buckley,M. Cropper, P. Hakala...244 DopplerImagesoftheMDwarfRE1816+541 J. R. Barnes,A. CollierCameron...252 TheMethodofSpectraDisentangling andItsLinkstoDopplerTomography P. Hadrava...
Astrometry encompasses all that is necessary to provide the positions and motions of celestial bodies. This includes observational techniques, instrumentation, processing and analysis of observational data, reference systems and frames, and the resulting astronomical phenomena. Astrometry is fundamental to all other fields of astronomy, from the pointing of telescopes, to navigation and guidance systems, to distance and motion determinations for astrophysics. In the last few decades, new observational techniques have enabled improvements in accuracy by orders of magnitude. Starting from basic principles, this book provides the fundamentals for this new astrometry at milli- and micro-arcsecond accuracies. Topics include: basics of general relativity; co-ordinate systems; vectors, tensors, quaternions, and observational uncertainties; determination and use of the celestial and terrestrial reference systems and frames; applications of new observational techniques; present and future star catalogues and double star astrometry. This comprehensive reference will be invaluable for graduate students and research astronomers.
Reflectance and emittance spectroscopy are increasingly important tools in remote sensing and have been employed in most recent planetary spacecraft missions. They are primarily used to measure properties of disordered materials, especially in the interpretation of remote observations of the surfaces of the Earth and other terrestrial planets. This book gives a quantitative treatment of the physics of the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with particulate media, such as powders and soils. Subjects covered include electromagnetic wave propagation, single particle scattering, diffuse reflectance, thermal emittance and polarisation. This new edition has been updated to include a quantitative treatment of the effects of porosity, a detailed discussion of the coherent backscatter opposition effect, a quantitative treatment of simultaneous transport of energy within the medium by conduction and radiation, and lists of relevant databases and software. This is an essential reference for research scientists, engineers and advanced students of planetary remote sensing.
Astronomy is fundamentally an observational science and as such it is important for astronomers and astrophysicists to understand how their data are collected and analyzed. This book is a comprehensive review of current observational techniques and instruments. Featuring instruments such as Spitzer, Herschel, Fermi, ALMA, Super-Kamiokande, SNO, IceCube, the Auger Observatory, LIGO and LISA, the book discusses the capabilities and limitations of different types of instruments. It explores the sources and types of noise and provides statistical tools necessary for interpreting observational data. Due to the increasingly important role of statistical analysis, the techniques of Bayesian analysis are discussed, along with sampling techniques and model comparison. With topics ranging from fundamental subjects such as optics, photometry and spectroscopy, to neutrinos, cosmic rays and gravitational waves, this book is essential for graduate students in astronomy and physics. Electronic and colour versions of selected figures are available online at www. cambridge.org/9781107010468.
Modern x-ray data, available through online archives, are important for many astronomical topics. However, using these data requires specialized techniques and software. Written for graduate students, professional astronomers and researchers who want to start working in this field, this book is a practical guide to x-ray astronomy. The handbook begins with x-ray optics, basic detector physics and CCDs, before focussing on data analysis. It introduces the reduction and calibration of x-ray data, scientific analysis, archives, statistical issues and the particular problems of highly extended sources. The book describes the main hardware used in x-ray astronomy, emphasizing the implications for data analysis. The concepts behind common x-ray astronomy data analysis software are explained. The appendices present reference material often required during data analysis.
Simultaneously storing both spectral and spatial information, 3D spectroscopy offers a new way to tackle astrophysical problems, and opens up new lines of research. Since its inception in the eighties and early nineties, research in this field has grown enormously. Large telescopes all around the world are now equipped with integral field units, and two instruments of the James Webb Space Telescope will have integral field spectroscopic capabilities. Nowadays, more effort is dedicated to refining techniques for reducing, analysing and interpreting the data obtained with 3D spectrographs. Containing lectures from the seventeenth Winter School of the Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute, this book explores 3D spectroscopy techniques and data. A broad and balanced presentation of research in this field, it introduces astronomers to a new generation of instruments, widening the appeal of integral field spectroscopy and helping it become a powerful tool in tackling astrophysical problems. |
You may like...
Ancient Philosophy - a Treatise of Moral…
Frederick Denison Maurice
Paperback
R500
Discovery Miles 5 000
|