F4200 Astronomical observation

Faculty of Science
Spring 2015
Extent and Intensity
2/1/0. 2 credit(s) (fasci plus compl plus > 4). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
RNDr. Jan Janík, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Jan Okleštěk (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
prof. RNDr. Zdeněk Mikulášek, CSc.
Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics – Physics Section – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: RNDr. Jan Janík, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics – Physics Section – Faculty of Science
Timetable
Mon 17:00–17:50 F4,03017, Wed 10:00–11:50 F1 6/1014
Prerequisites
Graduation of first two the terms of physics and the course Common astronomy.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
Course objectives
2 hours of classical readings weekly + 1 hour of exercises. Students will acknowledge here with the basic types of astronomical observations and with basic astronomical instruments. The course is an immediate continuation of the course "Common astronomy".
Syllabus
  • Proper motion, radial velocity. The distance of moving star clusters. Gravitational effects.
  • Earth atmosphere and its influence on the observations. Structure and composition of the atmosphere. Circulation in the atmosphere. Dust particles. Refraction, scintillation, seeing. Heaven's sphere. Sky light. The transmission of the earth atmosphere. Extinction and its measurement. The moments of rises, sets and culminations of celestial bodies. Twilight, the visibility of satellites.
  • Motions of the Moon. Eclipses. The orbit of the Moon and its perturbations. The motion of the Moon on the sky. Lunar phases. Rotation and librations of the Moon. Lunar occultation of stars and planets. Solar and lunar eclipses. Saros.
  • Stellar catalogues, atlases and annual ephemerides. Sky – naming of stars and constellations. Stellar catalogues. Ephemerides of the Sun, Moon, planets and their moons. Astronomical manual.
  • Astrophysical observational instruments.   Radiation. Transparency of the atmosphere in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. The ground and cosmic astronomy. The human eye, its structure, astronomical observations done by naked eyes – advantages, limitations.
  • Optical telescopes.   Types of optical systems. Refractors, reflectors. Mountings. The biggest telescopes in the world. Adaptive optics. Telescopes on the satellites HST, Hipparcos).
  • Detectors of the radiation. Photometry.   Photographic emulsion – its properties, the density curve. Photoeffect. Photomultiplier. Photoelectric photometry and its methods. Photometric systems. Photometric processing.   CCD elements – the principle. CCD observations specifics. UV and IR photometry.
  • Spectroscopy   Types of spectrographs and their astrophysical applications. The basic spectroscopic concepts (continuum, line profile, equivalent width, radial velocity). The processing of spectroscopic observations. What can we reproach from a stellar spectrum – a review.
  • Radioastronomy – a reviews. Antennas, radiotelescopes. Point-like and areal radio sources, continuous and discrete radiation. Interferometry, aperture synthesis VLBI, Measurements in mm and sub mm region.
  • Ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma-astronomy.   Detectors, objectives, telescopes. Cosmic radiation, neutrinos, gravitational waves – their detection.
Literature
  • Písemné poznámky Z. Mikuláška
  • BUIL, Christian. CCD astronomy :construction and use of an astronomical CCD camera. 1st pub. Richmond: Willmann-Bell, 1991, xiv, 321 s. ISBN 0-943396-29-8. info
Teaching methods
2 hours classical lectures + 1 hour class exercises, consultations, all is ended by the oral examination
Assessment methods
2 hours lecture, 1 hour class exercises. Potential for examination is credit for active participation on class exercises. In case of interest will be consultation. During the examination student draws lots 2 question and has 30 minutes for preparation, student may use own helps including lecture notes. Examination is 30 minutes long, it is individual and relatively hard, aim of examination is determine if student can understand of subject matter.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2008 - for the purpose of the accreditation, Spring 2011 - only for the accreditation, Spring 2001, Spring 2003, Spring 2005, Spring 2006, Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, spring 2012 - acreditation, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2015, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/sci/spring2015/F4200