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

Autorentext

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 Coordinator 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.

Inhalt

Part 1: The basics.- Chapter 1: Setting the scene.- Chapter 2: Pointing the telescope: astronomical coordinates and sky catalogs.- Part 2: Optical Astronomy.- Chapter 3: Optical astronomy: telescopes.- Chapter 4: Telescopes: ground based or in space?.- Chapter 5: Optical astronomy: detectors.- Chapter 6: Optical photometry.- Chapter 7: Optical spectroscopy.- Part 3: The low energy side of classical astronomy.- Chapter 8: Infrared astronomy.- Chapter 9: Radio and submillimeter astronomy: radiotelescopes.- Chapter 10: Radio and submillimeter astronomy: receivers and spectrometers.- Part 4: Instruments acting together: interferometry.- Chapter 11: Interferometry and aperture synthesis.- Chaper 12: Interferometers .- Part 5: Observing.- Chapter 13: Observations: preparation and execution.- Chapter 14: After observation: data analysis.- Chapter 15: Conclusions.