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Astronomical Measurement

A Concise Guide

  • Textbook
  • © 2014

Overview

Authors:
  1. Andy Lawrence

    1. Royal Observatory, Institute for Astronomy, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

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  • 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)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xviii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Signal, Distortion, and Noise

    • Andy Lawrence
    Pages 1-24

  3. The Atmosphere and How to Avoid it

    • Andy Lawrence
    Pages 25-54

  4. Mapping the Sky

    • Andy Lawrence
    Pages 55-90

  5. Detection of Light

    • Andy Lawrence
    Pages 91-119

  6. Spectroscopy

    • Andy Lawrence
    Pages 121-144

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 145-192
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Keywords

About this book

This book on astronomical measurement takes a fresh approach to teaching the subject. After discussing some general principles, it follows the chain of measurement through atmosphere, imaging, detection, spectroscopy, timing, and hypothesis testing. The various wavelength regimes are covered in each section, emphasising what is the same, and what is different. The author concentrates on the physics of detection and the principles of measurement, aiming to make this logically coherent.
The book is based on a short self contained lecture course for advanced undergraduate students developed and taught by the author over several years.

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

  • Royal Observatory, Institute for Astronomy, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

    Andy Lawrence

About the author

Andy Lawrence is the Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh. His research interests are in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), observational cosmology, survey astronomy, and e-science (the Virtual Observatory). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

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