Measuring the universe
Subtitle: a multiwavelength perspective
By: George H. Rieke, University of Arizona
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9780521762298
Subjects: Radio astronomy; Gamma ray astronomy; Infrared astronomy; SCIENCE / Astronomy; X-ray astronomy
Description: "Astronomy is an observational science, renewed and even revolutionized by new developments in instrumentation. With the resulting growth of multiwavelength investigation as an engine of discovery, it is increasingly important 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 obtain their data, covering current approaches to astronomical measurements 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, all at a level that bridges the gap between the basic principles of optics and the subject's abundant specialist literature"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction; 2. Gathering light - the telescope; 3. Sensing the light: detectors for the optical and infrared; 4. Imaging and astrometry; 5. Photometry and polarimetry; 6. Spectroscopy; 7. Adaptive optics (AO) and high contrast imaging; 8. Submillimeter and radio astronomy; 9. Interferometry and aperture synthesis; 10. X-ray and gamma-ray; Index.