Measuring the universe: a multiwavelength perspective

355 Pages·2017·5.721 MB·English

by  George H. Rieke

MEASURING THE UNIVERSE
Astronomy is an observational science, renewed and even revolutionized
bynewdevelopmentsininstrumentation.Withtheresultinggrowthofmulti-
wavelength investigation as an engine of discovery, it is increasingly import-
ant for astronomers to understand the underlying physical principles and
operational characteristics for a broad range of instruments.
This comprehensive text is ideal for graduate students, active researchers,
and instrument developers. It is a thorough review of how astronomers
obtaintheirdata,coveringcurrentapproachestoastronomicalmeasurements
from radio to gamma rays. The focus is on current technology rather than
the history of the field, allowing each topic to be discussed in depth. Areas
covered include telescopes, detectors, photometry, spectroscopy, adaptive
optics and high-contrast imaging, millimeter-wave and radio receivers, radio
and optical/infrared interferometry, and X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy,
allatalevelthatbridgesthegapbetweenthebasicprinciplesofopticsandthe
subject’s abundant specialist literature.
Color versions of figures and solutions to selected problems are available
online at www.cambridge.org/9780521762298.
george h. rieke isRegentsProfessorofAstronomyandPlanetarySciences
attheUniversityofArizona,DeputyDirectorofStewardObservatory,anda
memberoftheUSNationalAcademyofSciences.ProfessorRiekeisScience
Lead for the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) for NASA’s James Webb
Space Telescope and was Principal Investigator of the Multiband Imaging
PhotometerforSpitzer(MIPS).Hehasalsoledconstructionofabroadrange
of groundbased instruments and has taught core graduate courses on instru-
mentation throughout his career.
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Published online by Cambridge University Press
MEASURING THE UNIVERSE
A Multiwavelength Perspective
GEORGE H. RIEKE
UniversityofArizona
Illustrated by Shiras Manning
Published online by Cambridge University Press
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noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithout
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Firstpublished2012
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
IllustratedbyShirasManning
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationdata
Rieke,G.H.(GeorgeHenry)
Measuringtheuniverse:amultiwavelengthperspective/GeorgeH.Rieke,
UniversityofArizona.
pagescm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-521-76229-8
1. Radioastronomy. 2. Infraredastronomy. 3. Gammarayastronomy.
4. X-rayastronomy. I. Title.
QB476.5.R542012
522–dc23
2011046216
ISBN978-0-521-76229-8Hardback
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Published online by Cambridge University Press
To Foster Rieke (my father),
Trevor Weekes, and Frank Low,
who introduced me to the
challenge and fun of
scientific instrumentation
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Contents
Preface page xi
1 Radiometry, optics, statistics 1
1.1 Basics of radiometry 1
1.2 Image formation and the wave nature of light 3
1.3 Power received by an optical system 6
1.4 Optical systems 11
1.5 Statistics and noise 17
1.6 Exercises 22
2 Telescopes 25
2.1 Basic principles 25
2.2 Telescope design 31
2.3 Matching telescopes to instruments 34
2.4 Telescope optimization 44
2.5 Modern optical-infrared telescopes 51
2.6 Exercises 55
3 Detectors for the ultraviolet through the infrared 58
3.1 Basic properties of photodetectors 58
3.2 Photon absorption 59
3.3 Basic photodetector characteristics 62
3.4 Photon detector types for the infrared 65
3.5 Infrared arrays 73
3.6 Charge coupled devices (CCDs) 78
3.7 Image intensifiers 86
3.8 Photomultipliers 89
3.9 Exercises 90
vii
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viii Contents
4 Optical and infrared imaging; astrometry 92
4.1 Imagers 92
4.2 Optical imager design 92
4.3 Infrared imagers 94
4.4 Nyquist sampling 95
4.5 Imager data reduction 98
4.6 Astrometry 106
4.7 Astrometric instrumentation and surveys 114
4.8 Exercises 118
5 Photometry and polarimetry 120
5.1 Introduction 120
5.2 Stellar photometry 121
5.3 Photometric refinements 127
5.4 Physical photometry 131
5.5 Other types of photometry 138
5.6 Polarimetry 140
5.7 Exercises 150
6 Spectroscopy 154
6.1 Introduction 154
6.2 Prism spectrometers 155
6.3 Grating spectrometers 156
6.4 Fabry–Pe´rot spectrometers 178
6.5 Fourier transform spectrometers 183
6.6 Interference filters 186
6.7 Exercises 187
7 Adaptive optics and high-contrast imaging 189
7.1 Overview 189
7.2 Speckle imaging 190
7.3 Atmospheric behavior 191
7.4 Natural Guide Star AO systems 198
7.5 Enhancements to NGS AO 206
7.6 Cautions in interpreting AO observations 211
7.7 Deconvolution 212
7.8 High-contrast imaging 215
7.9 Exercises 227
8 Submillimeter and radio astronomy 230
8.1 Introduction 230
8.2 Bolometers 231
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Contents ix
8.3 Heterodyne receivers for the submm- and mm-wave 238
8.4 Radio astronomy 247
8.5 Characterizing heterodyne receivers 259
8.6 Observatories 262
8.7 Exercises 264
9 Interferometry and aperture synthesis 266
9.1 Introduction 266
9.2 Radio two-element interferometry 268
9.3 Aperture synthesis 272
9.4 Optical and infrared interferometry 284
9.5 Exercises 290
10 X- and gamma-ray astronomy 293
10.1 Introduction 293
10.2 X-rays from 0.5keV to 10–15keV 294
10.3 X-rays from 15 to 100keV 304
10.4 100keV to 5MeV 305
10.5 Gamma rays to 100GeV 308
10.6 Gamma rays from 100GeV to 100TeV 313
10.7 Exercises 315
11 Epilogue: cosmic rays, neutrinos, gravitational waves 318
11.1 Introduction 318
11.2 Cosmic rays 318
11.3 Neutrinos 321
11.4 Gravitational waves 323
Appendix A Useful constants 326
Appendix B Common Fourier transforms and relations 327
References 329
Index 338
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Published online by Cambridge University Press