FUNDAMENTALS OF ASTRONOMICAL IMAGING (IMGS-112-01)

COURSE LECTURE PLANS & NOTES

SPRING 2016
INSTRUCTOR: JOEL KASTNER
TA: KRISTINA PUNZI

Week 1
Preliminaries.
meet and greet...
name, major, interests, hobbies, etc.
taken prereq.? any astronomy knowledge/background?
course goals, expectations, evaluation
goals/expectations:
gain understanding of how astronomy relies on, uses, pushes limits of
imaging systems
gain understanding of demands put on imaging systems by astronomers
(e.g., wavelength coverage; sizes of telescopes, their resolution & FOV;
immense astronomical distance/size scales; etc)...
The joy of scientific notation! All students will be expected to learn how
to think in powers of ten.
Math is the language of science, so we will show (and use) the basic
equations that describe how the universe works (e.g., c = , E = h).
But (usually) we will only expect students to be able to think/work in
terms of proportions and ratios (e.g., if I make an object 10 times hotter,
it will emit light at a characteristic wavelength 10 times shorter).
evaluation: HW, tests, labs, class participation.
Lab exercises: drawn from:
Google Sky: https://www.google.com/sky/
AladinLite: http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/AladinLite/
1

INSTRUCTOR: JOEL KASTNER TA: KRISTINA PUNZI

ds9: http://ds9.si.edu/site/Home.html
Class participation: daily in-class student presentations of a recent Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD):
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
The Imaging Chain (review). There are many imaging chain variants possible; here
are two I personally find most useful:
Source (plus intervening medium)
Object
Collection
Detection
Processing
Transmission (plus further processing)
then either (essential for non-science applications; desirable/important for science applications):
Display
Perception
or (essential for most science applications, i.e., for astronomy/astrophysics)
reduction (aka further processing)
analysis
interpretation
The Imaging Chain: an example. We will run through a detailed example, using
imaging system of the days (or a recent) APOD.
Discuss/set up HW 1.
Show Powers of Ten movies (on YouTube):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxXf7AJZ73A
Examples of use of scientific notation; introduce concept of angular diameter using
Moon and/or Sun

FUNDAMENTALS OF ASTRONOMICAL IMAGING (IMGS-112-01)COURSE LECTURE PLANS & NOTESSPRING 2016

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Background material on motion of astronomical objects (useful for Lab 1) at

MotionOfAstroObjects.pdf
and on angles, resolution, etc. at
angles-distances-resolution.pdf
Week 2
SOURCE/OBJECT...Properties of light: electromagnetic radiation (review).
concept of light as waves traveling at a speed c = = 3 105 km/s
the full EM spectrum, annotated; see EMRspectrum.pdf
wavelength regimes: radio, IR (far/mid/near), visible, UV (near/far), X-rays
(soft/hard), -rays
associated wavelengths for each regime
light (EMR) carries energy; concept of power (luminosity = light energy output
per unit time)
Week 3
Begin daily student presentations of APOD.
Discuss/set up HW 2. Atmospheric absorption vs. transmission over the broad EM
spectrum.
Properties of light: electromagnetic radiation (cont.)
inverse-square law (conceptually): F = L/(4R2 ); concept of flux (light energy
output per unit time per unit area)
the wave/particle duality of light and the concept of a photon; E = h
run 1.21.3 from Chapter 1 (nature of light) in
http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/light
Weeks 4 & 5
COLLECTION...Optics: lenses, mirrors; light collection and resolution.
basics of lenses
refraction: overview...concepts of index of refraction in a medium, n, and
resulting speed of light in that medium, v = c/n (slower than c, speed of light
in vacuum)

INSTRUCTOR: JOEL KASTNER TA: KRISTINA PUNZI

concept of lens focal length, f , resulting from refraction of rays entering &
leaving lens
how astronomical imaging (almost) always uses the lens equation
1
1
1
+ 0 =
s s
f
at its s limit (i.e., the source lies at infinity); hence s0 f , i.e., the
image forms at the lenss focal point.
EXAMPLE: if the focal length of a lens (or mirror; see below) is 1 meter, then
the image of a distant star, galaxy, etc. forms approximately 1 meter from the
lens. Its that simple.
concept of lens (or mirror) f -number: f # = f /D where D is lens (or mirror)
diameter
EXAMPLE: If a lens has a focal length of f = 1 meter and a diameter of
D = 10 cm, then f /D = 10, and we say the lens in question is an f /10 lens.
concept of telescope for visual use: a telescope for viewing w/ human eye is
just is a system of 2 lenses w/ common focal point; yields system magnification
M = f1 /f2 where f1 , f2 are focal lengths of objective & eyepiece
EXAMPLE: If you use a lens with focal length f1 = 1 m as the objective (first
lens) and a second lens with a focal length of f2 = 10 cm as the second lens
(eyepiece), then M = f1 /f2 = 10. So a distant object would appear 10 times
bigger its angular size (i.e., apparent size) would increase by a factor of 10
when viewed through such a system.
basics of mirrors
can construct paraboloid (parabolic) mirror to bring parallel rays to focus;
concept of f for a mirror is perfectly identical to that of a lens (so can use lens
equation; sign of f changes though)
why use a mirror instead of a lens?
(1) lenses suffer from aberrations; mirrors inherently immune from chromatic
aberration; and, if ground to parabolic form, are also free from spherical
aberration (well, then theres the sad Hubble Space Telescope mirror
story...)
(2) mirrors can be supported from behind, so can be made much bigger than
lenses
why make telescope collection element (be it a lens or mirror) as big as possible?

FUNDAMENTALS OF ASTRONOMICAL IMAGING (IMGS-112-01)COURSE LECTURE PLANS & NOTESSPRING 2016

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(1) light collecting power: goes like D2 for collecting element of diameter D;
specifically, collecting area A = R2 = (D/2)2 (where A is typically
expressed as m2 or cm2 )
(2) angular resolution: angular resolution limit (blur or smear angle)
is given by
/D
for in radians. The smaller , the better the image quality. So one
wants D as big as possible for a given .
(3) Basic types of reflector telescopes (use mirrors as main collecting element):
prime focus: single (primary, concave) mirror; brings light to a focus in front of the mirror, where it can (e.g.) be imaged with a
camera
Newtonian: (concave) primary mirror plus diagonal secondary mirror to divert focal point to the outside of telescope tube, where it
can be viewed with an eyepiece
Cassegrain: (concave) primary mirror plus (usually convex) secondary
mirror to divert focal point through a hole in the primary, where it
can be imaged, viewed with an eyepiece, etc.
Review of geometrical optics: 2.52.7 from Chapter 2 in
http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/light
Discuss/set up HW 3. Optics in astronomical imaging.
Week 6
DETECTION...Sensors: turning EM energy into an electric signal.
CCDs and how they work: powerpoint
Week 7 (8)
Temperature and wavelength (color) regimes in astronomy. Highlights from
star_temperatures.pdf: slides 13, 1517, 24, 2628, 31, which cover...
Wiens Law: p 1/T
star colors & luminosities as probes of temperatures and radii and (hence) masses
Sun asuniversal standard (T , R , L , M )

INSTRUCTOR: JOEL KASTNER TA: KRISTINA PUNZI

L? = 4R?2 T?4 and the comparison of Betelgeuse (red supergiant) and Rigel
(normal hot star)
EMR regimes (e.g., IR, X-ray, radio) as probes of the universes incredibly wide
range of temperature regimes
Weeks 9 & 10
The optical imaging chain.
The optical imaging chain: powerpoint [under revision]
In-class demo describing response of a CCD pixel to incoming photons of different energies (wavelengths):
http://www.olympusmicro.com/primer/java/digitalimaging/ccd/quantum/index.html
Discuss/set up HW 4. Sensors in astronomical imaging; the relationship between temperature, color, and wavelength regime.
The Hubble Space Telescope. Overview of the most famous(?) telescope in the world.
Selected material from:
http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/archive/category/spacecraft/
http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/hst15_chapter01/
http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/hst15_chapter02/
http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/nuts_.and._bolts/
http://hubblesite.org/gallery/behind_the_pictures/
Week 11
The infrared imaging chain.
The IR astronomy imaging chain is basically a variant on the optical (visiblewavelength) astronomy imaging chain, with two important differences:
(1) The sensor (detector) array material must be sensitive to lower-energy photons; silicon doesnt work for photon wavelengths > 1.0 m ( > 1000 nm).
To get a better idea why photon energy matters when detecting light, have a
look at (and play with) this Java applet:
http://www.olympusmicro.com/primer/java/digitalimaging/ccd/quantum/index.html
Note how photons with energies corresponding to wavelengths 1 m pass
right through the sensor. It turns out that to detect photons with wavelengths

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longer than 1 m, one must turn away from silicon, and instead use materials
like germanium, arsenic, indium, and antimony.
(2) The IR telescope/sensor system must be cooled to a temperature well below
the (blackbody) temperature corresponding to the wavelength of interest. To
understand why, recall Wiens Law: p 1/T ; and remember that the Sun,
with a surface temperature T 6000 K, puts out most of its light in the visual
range so, 0.5 m. This leads to the following table:
Table 1. Relationship between T and
object T ( K)
6000
300
30
3

approx. peak
0.5 m (=500 nm)
10 m
100 m
1000 m (= 1 mm)

Moral of the story: if you want to detect mid-IR radiation, you need to cool
at least the sensors and preferably your entire telescope/camera system
down way below room temperature...preferably down to temperatures rivaling
the blank sky of the cold universe itself (a mere 3 K).
Overview of ground- and space-based IR telescopes & their instrumentation. Selected material from:
http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/missions
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/
http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/
http://sci.esa.int/herschel/

Week 12
Discuss/set up HW 5. Optical and IR imaging chains.

The X-ray imaging chain and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Powerpoint and
web-based overview of the worlds most powerful X-ray telescope. Selected material from:
http://chandra.harvard.edu/

INSTRUCTOR: JOEL KASTNER TA: KRISTINA PUNZI

Week 13
The radio imaging chain. Overview of single dish radio telescope and radio interferometer systems. Material from:
http://www.haystack.mit.edu/edu/undergrad/materials/RA_tutorial.html
Weeks 14/15
New Frontiers: ALMA, Gaia, JWST, ...
http://www.almaobservatory.org/
http://sci.esa.int/gaia/
http://jwst.nasa.gov/