ASTR
610: Astronomical Instrumentation and Techniques
Fall 2008 –Approximate Lecture Schedule
This table is a guide to the lecture and exam
schedule. It does not show any
rescheduling of classes.
|
2 Sep |
Introduction; General principles of detection of
radiation Block diagram of detection systems. Photons vs. fields. Direct and heterodyne detection. |
|
4 Sep |
Specific detectors: optical, UV, IR, X-ray, gamma-ray,
radio… CCD: principles, flatfield, dark/bias, median filtering |
|
9 Sep |
" " " " " " " " " High energy detectors: solid state, scintillation, Geiger counter |
|
11 Sep |
" " " " " " " " " Bolometers and calorimeters at X-ray and longer |
|
16 Sep |
" " " " " " " " " Heterodyne: principles, sidebands, mixers, noise cascade |
|
18 Sep |
" " " " " " " " " Calibration and SNR: radiometer equation, NEFD, standard sources |
|
23 Sep |
Statistics review Poisson, |
|
25 Sep |
" " " " " " " Statistical measures, propagation of errors |
|
30 Sep |
" " " " " " " Hypothesis testing, chi-squared, confidence limits, the meaning of 3s |
|
2 Oct |
Geometrical optics Telescopes and reflecting optics: optical layouts (X-ray, prime focus, Cass, Nasmyth…); ray tracing. |
|
7 Oct |
" " " " " " " Imaging, image scales, aberrations. |
|
9 Oct |
Diffraction and introduction to Fourier treatment of
apertures |
|
14 Oct |
Fourier series and transforms Introduction and
review: basic principles, definitions, Dirichlet conditions |
|
16 Oct |
" " " Theorems and applications |
|
21 Oct |
" " " " Examples of sampling, aliasing, convolution |
|
23 Oct |
MIDTERM |
|
28 Oct |
Fourier transforms and filled aperture telescopes Beams, PSF, apodization/taper |
|
30 Oct |
Aperture phases: pointing, OTF. Strehl ratio/Ruze criterion |
|
4 Nov |
Adaptive/active optics. Ziernicke polynomials. Wavefront sensors |
|
6 Nov |
Fourier transforms and interferometry Principles; phased arrays |
|
11 Nov |
" " " " Synthesis arrays and earth rotation |
|
13 Nov |
" " " " Imaging and deconvolution of incompletely sampled data |
|
18 Nov |
" " " " Optical interferometry with multiple and single telescopes. |
|
20 Nov |
Spectral analysis General introduction, filter colors, prisms, calorimeters |
|
25 Nov |
" " Gratings, echelles, filter banks |
|
27 Nov |
THANKSGIVING BREAK |
|
2 Dec |
" " Fabry Perot, multi-layer reflectors and anti-reflection coatings |
|
4 Dec |
" " FTS, correlation spectrometers |
|
9 Dec |
Signals in time and frequency; synchronous detection |
|
11 Dec |
Time and motion |
|
|
|
|
18 Dec |
FINAL EXAMINATION 10:30–12:30 (As scheduled by the University) |