Authors:
- Provides a concise introduction to the physical principles of astronomical measurement - spacecraft, telescopes, detectors, the atmosphere, spectroscopy, and the basics of measured quantities and statistics
- Takes a new approach on teaching astronomical measurement following the chain of measurement through atmosphere, imaging, detection, spectroscopy, timing, and hypothesis testing
- Covers all wavelengths – radio, infrared, optical, UV, X-ray, gamma-ray
- Concentrates on key principles rather than details
- Each chapter concludes with a set of exercises. Solutions provided.
Part of the book series: Springer Praxis Books (PRAXIS)
Part of the book sub series: Astronomy and Planetary Sciences (ASTRONOMY)
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Table of contents (5 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
The book is based on a short self contained lecture course for advanced undergraduate students developed and taught by the author over several years.
Keywords
- Astronomical detectors
- Astronomical imaging
- Astronomical interferometry
- Astronomical optics
- Astronomical spectroscopy
- Atmospheric distortion
- Detection of light
- Introduction to Astronomical measurement
- Light polarisation
- Signal to noise
- Space telescopes
- Spectroscopy in astrophysics
- Statistics in astronomy
- Telescope design
Reviews
From the book reviews:
“In Astronomical Measurement: A Concise Guide, Andy Lawrence … provides a delightfully comprehensive summary of the essential information the budding observational astronomer needs to know. … It is aimed at the advanced undergraduate and the beginning graduate student, but it can also serve as an engaging refresher for the working astronomer who wants to venture into a new wavelength regime.” (Kimberly Weaver, Physics Today, December, 2014)
Authors and Affiliations
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Royal Observatory, Institute for Astronomy, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Andy Lawrence
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Astronomical Measurement
Book Subtitle: A Concise Guide
Authors: Andy Lawrence
Series Title: Springer Praxis Books
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39835-3
Publisher: Springer Berlin, Heidelberg
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature 2014
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-642-39834-6Published: 03 December 2013
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-662-50906-7Published: 27 August 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-3-642-39835-3Published: 20 November 2013
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVIII, 192
Number of Illustrations: 54 b/w illustrations, 15 illustrations in colour
Topics: Astronomy, Observations and Techniques, Classical Electrodynamics, Measurement Science and Instrumentation, Spectroscopy and Microscopy