Topics in Observation and Instrumentation in Astronomy

Code:

AST614

Acronym:

AST614

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Astronomy

Instance: 2020/2021 - A

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Physics and Astronomy
Course/CS Responsible:	Doctoral Program in Astronomy

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
PDA	0	P.E. do Programa Doutoral em Astronomia	1	-	6	30	162

Teaching language

English

Objectives

This curricular unit provides advanced training in relevant topics of current research on the different components of observation and instrumentation in Astronomy, through specific modules in active areas of research and development. The aim is to address in detail the tools and fundamental principles that are necessary for a research activity in this area intervention of modern Astronomy.

The student is expected to acquire knowledge and skills necessary to plan, implement and reduce observations in different wavelengths and to understand the development and operation of astronomical instrumentation used in these observations. The student should also be able to understand the technology used and the methods for collecting information in astronomy and how those observations can be transformed into useful scientific data for research in Astronomy.

Learning outcomes and competences

Each module of the course will be presented by an expert, covering active areas of research and development, so that in specific cases relevant for the future it is possible to address the critical aspects of observation in astronomy and development of instrumentation that are required to implement a thesis project in astronomy with international relevance. The contents of each module are defined to ensure it achieves the objectives of the course that is part of a 3rd cycle in astronomy.

Working method

Presencial

Program

Course splitted in two modules
1) IR photometry










2) High resolution spectroscopy
CCD detectors; The first step for CCD image reduction; Pipelines tutorial, retrieving data from ESO archives. Demonstration of UVES pipeline; IRAF bsics; Introduction to spectral analysis; Spectral Synthesis methodology

Mandatory literature

Howell; HandBook of CCD Astronomy, Cambridge University Press
Massey & Hanson; Astronomical Spectroscopy (arXiv:1010.5270)
ESO; UVES Pipeline User Manual (ftp://ftp.eso.org/pub/dfs/pipelines/uves/uves-pipeline-manual-22.4.pdf)
David L. Clements; Infrared Astronomy – Seeing the Heat: from William Herschel to the Herschel Space Observatory, CRC Press. ISBN: 978-1482237276
Michael Rowan-Robinson; Night Vision: Exploring the Infrared Universe, Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 978-1107024762
Frank J., Low, G. H. Rieke, and R. D. Gehrz; The Beginning of Modern Infrared Astronomy, Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics Vol. 45:43-75

Teaching methods and learning activities

Contact hours include presentations of material, working groups on specific tasks, project development, problem solving of key issues in observation and instrumentation, familiarization with the state of the art through the literature and the analysis of active projects or in preparation for instrumentation and / or space missions.

keywords

Physical sciences > Astronomy

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	20,00
Participação presencial	5,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	75,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	132,00
Frequência das aulas	30,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Frequency of 50% of classes

Calculation formula of final grade

The final mark will be computed averaging the marks obtained in the two modules (ie. each module contributes with a weight of 50%).

The classification of each module will depend on the module and will take in consideration the student participation and the practical tasks/exercises.

Classification improvement

There is no option for improving the classification or to repeat the evaluation in this course.