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  • Textbook
  • © 2017

Optical, Infrared and Radio Astronomy

From Techniques to Observation

Authors:

  • Serves as a comprehensive reference on instrumentation, observation planning and execution, and data reduction in optical, infrared, and radio astronomy
  • Approaches optical, infrared, and radio astronomy as distinct research areas
  • Presents the state of the art in advanced observational techniques
  • Bridges the gap between specialized books and practical texts
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: UNITEXT for Physics (UNITEXTPH)

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
  2. The Basics

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Setting the Scene

      • Rosa Poggiani
      Pages 3-17
  3. Optical Astronomy

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 31-31
    2. Optical Astronomy: Telescopes

      • Rosa Poggiani
      Pages 33-44
    3. Telescopes: Ground Based or in Space?

      • Rosa Poggiani
      Pages 45-63
    4. Optical Astronomy: Detectors

      • Rosa Poggiani
      Pages 65-73
    5. Optical Photometry

      • Rosa Poggiani
      Pages 75-89
    6. Optical Spectroscopy

      • Rosa Poggiani
      Pages 91-105
  4. The Low Energy Side of Classical Astronomy

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 107-107
    2. Infrared Astronomy

      • Rosa Poggiani
      Pages 109-118
  5. Instruments Acting Together: Interferometry

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 137-137
    2. Interferometry and Aperture Synthesis

      • Rosa Poggiani
      Pages 139-145
    3. Interferometers

      • Rosa Poggiani
      Pages 147-151
  6. Observing

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 153-153
    2. Observations: Preparation and Execution

      • Rosa Poggiani
      Pages 155-164
    3. After Observation: Data Analysis

      • Rosa Poggiani
      Pages 165-176

About this book

This textbook presents the established sciences of optical, infrared, and radio astronomy as distinct research areas, focusing on the science targets and the constraints that they place on instrumentation in the different domains. It aims to bridge the gap between specialized books and practical texts, presenting the state of the art in different techniques. 

For each type of astronomy, the discussion proceeds from the orders of magnitude for observable quantities that drive the building of instrumentation and the development of advanced techniques. The specific telescopes and detectors are then presented, together with the techniques used to measure fluxes and spectra. 

Finally, the instruments and their limits are discussed to assist readers in choice of setup, planning and execution of observations, and data reduction.

The volume also includes worked examples and problem sets to improve student understanding; tables and figures in chapters su

mmarize the state of the art of instrumentation and techniques.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Physics, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Rosa Poggiani

About the author

Rosa Poggiani graduated in Physics from the University of Pisa, Italy, in 1988. Her work has focused especially on the gravitational acceleration of antimatter probes, the detection of gravitational waves with interferometers, and the optical properties of astrophysical compact objects. She has made significant contributions to the physics of low-energy antimatter, suspension systems, high-vacuum compatibility and the cryogenic design of interferometric gravitational wave detectors, the optical spectroscopy of novae and the microvariability of blazars. Dr. Poggiani has been an investigator in a number of research projects and has been involved in various international collaborations. She was Coordinator of Control and DAQ for the P118T experiment on antiproton deceleration and trapping at CERN. She has been a member of the Virgo Collaboration for the interferometric detection of gravitational waves since 1993, and was the Co

ordinator of the last stage of the suspensions and of the vacuum compatibility of the suspension components. The LIGO and Virgo members were awarded the Special Breakthrough Prize In Fundamental Physics and the 2016 Gruber Cosmology Prize for the detection of gravitational waves.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Optical, Infrared and Radio Astronomy

  • Book Subtitle: From Techniques to Observation

  • Authors: Rosa Poggiani

  • Series Title: UNITEXT for Physics

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44732-2

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • 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 Nature Switzerland AG 2017

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-44731-5Published: 15 December 2016

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-83123-7Published: 04 July 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-44732-2Published: 05 December 2016

  • Series ISSN: 2198-7882

  • Series E-ISSN: 2198-7890

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 179

  • Number of Illustrations: 78 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Astronomy, Observations and Techniques, Astrophysics and Astroparticles, Cosmology

Buy it now

Buying options

Softcover Book USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access