Jump to most recent lecture.
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January 20
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Astronomical coordinate systems; Alt-Az, Equatorial, Galactic, Hour-angle/dec | |
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22
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Coordinate transformations; Time: Universal time, dynamical time, Equation of time; sidereal vs. solar time | |
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27
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Julian date; Coordinate corrections: Precession, nutation, proper motion; aberration, refraction, parallax | |
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29
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Nomenclature; Printed catalogs; Web resources; sky surveys | Homework 1 due |
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February 3
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Statistics and signal detection: Distributions, mean, variance; Binomial distribution; Gaussian and Poisson distributions; | |
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5
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Central limit theorem; Gaussian Probabilities; Least-squares fitting; Brief discussion of other types of statistical techniques and presentation of data. | Homework 2 due |
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10
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Chi-squared fitting and probabilities; Telescope design: Image scale, f-ratio | |
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12
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Aberrations; Types of telescope designs and mounts; Image scale; sampling theorem | Homework 3 due |
| Feb. 13 is unrestricted withdrawal deadline. | ||
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17
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CCDs: Historical background and comparison to photographic plates | |
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19
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CCD physics | |
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24
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Details of CCD operations and calibration: Charge transfer, bias, dark current, read noise; Observing with CCDs: Issues for planning observations; imaging | |
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26
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CCD noise calculations and the "CCD equation"; Photometry: Atmospheric extinction and extinction corrections. | |
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March 3
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Photometry continued: photometric standards, extinction curves, color terms; Filter systems, narrow vs. wide | |
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5
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Photometry: Differential vs. absolute; Aperture photometry | |
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10
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Midterm exam | |
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12
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No class; Steward Internal Symposium in Tucson | |
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17
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Spring Break | |
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19
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Spring Break | |
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24
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Photometry concluded: PSF fitting. Infrared observing: Infrared defined; implications of a thermal background; atmosphere; Required changes in telescope and instrument design | |
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26
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Infrared: Detectors; IR arrays compared to CCDs; bolometers | |
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31
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Infrared: space observing; calibration issues; IR filter systems | |
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April 2
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Spectroscopy: terminology; hardware | |
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7
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Spectroscopy: spectrograph design | |
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9
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Spectroscopy: Observing issues; data acquisition and processing; calibration of spectra | |
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14
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Paul Scowen on "What to look for (and look out for) in your CCD data" | EJ observing at UKIRT |
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16
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Radio, millimeter and submillimeter astronomy: atmosphere, terminology | |
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21
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Radio/millimeter astronomy: instrumentation. Millimeter/Submillimeter vs. radio observing | |
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23
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Radio interferometry; Optical interferometry and adaptive optics | |
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28
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High-energy astronomy: Detectors: microchannel plates, proportional counters; observing issues | |
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30
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High energy astronomy: telescopes | |
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May 5
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Future instrumentation and telescopes | |
| Final exam |
Last modified: Fri May 8 11:53:19 1998 ;