SIMG 217, Winter 2006/2007: Fundamentals of Astronomical Imaging

ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 2006, CHESTER F. CARLSON CENTER FOR IMAGING SCIENCE AT ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY



Course Syllabus (NOW OBSOLETE...) (Word document)


Lecture Notes and Slides (Powerpoint)
Overview
Telescopes, Angles, Magnification, Resolution
Understanding and Measuring Star Temperatures (Colors) and Luminosities
The Optical (visible light) Astronomy Imaging Chain
The Spitzer Space Telescope and the IR Astronomy Imaging Chain
The X-ray Astronomy Imaging Chain
Radio astronomy tutorial (courtesy Haystack Radio Observatory)
CCDs: mechanics and artifacts
CCD image processing: issues and solutions


Assignments/labs, Winter quarter 2006-07:
Click here

Spitzer Data for Assignment 3:
Click here to access the directory with 24 and 70 micron images of the V1647 Ori field (shift-click on images to download)...

Chandra X-ray Observatory Data for Assignments 4, 6, and Final Project:
Click here to access the directory with 120 kilosecond Chandra X-ray images of the V1647 Ori field and 50 kilosec images of the IC 348 field (shift-click on image to download)...

XMM-Newton X-ray Observatory Data for Assignment 5:
Click here to access the directory with 100 kilosecond XMM-Newton X-ray image of the V1647 Ori field (shift-click on image to download)...

Final Projects (Spring 2006)

CCD imaging project:
Sky Image Processing software (SIP) (courtesy John Simonetti at Virginia Tech)
Sample images obtained with the RIT Observatory telescope and CCD camera in 2001: to test SIP, or to serve as your project data. Use the sequence of images of the Berkeley 87 star cluster (names starting with 'be_87' and ending in 'fits'). These consist of a series of 5 images, with individual exposure times of 30 seconds, in each of the four standard filters used in visible-wavelength CCD imaging (B,V,R,I: wavelengths of 440, 550, 650, and 850 nm). A corresponding set of 10 30-second-exposure dark images is also included (no flat field though).
Recent (2006) images obtained with the RIT Observatory telescope and CCD camera: a sequence of 25 R-band images of the lovely spiral galaxy M109 (names starting with 'm109_r' and ending in 'fit'). These consist of a series of images with individual exposure times of 30 seconds. A corresponding set of dark images and flat field images is also included. For a terrific, detailed description of what you should do and see as you work your way through processing this very same image set, see Prof. Michael Richmond's image processing tutorial. Note that this tutorial describes processing the images using Prof. Richmond's "XVista" software; but the basic steps are the same if you use SIP.

Haystack/SOHO solar imaging project:
Haystack radio images from the years 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006 and some (though not all) corresponding SOHO UV images can be found here. Be sure to check the wavelengths of the SOHO images, to be sure you have a complete set at a given wavelength; please contact me if you need help in this regard and/or with downloading additional images from the SOHO data archive.

Description of "essay option"



Labs





Resources:
Blackbody spectrum generator
The Doppler effect: demo
Chandra X-ray Telescope: educational materials
Hubble Space Telescope: educational materials
Hubble Space Telescope: a brief history of telescopes
The Haystack Observatory Radio Astronomy education website
Explore NASA's Observatorium