F9145 Astronomical excercises

Faculty of Science
Spring 2015
Extent and Intensity
0/4/0. 5 credit(s) (fasci plus compl plus > 4). Type of Completion: graded credit.
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Filip Hroch, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Matúš Kocka (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Filip Münz, PhD. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
prof. RNDr. Zdeněk Mikulášek, CSc.
Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics – Physics Section – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: Mgr. Filip Hroch, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics – Physics Section – Faculty of Science
Prerequisites (in Czech)
F3190 Astronomical excercises && F4191 Astronomical excercises
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This course is beginning to understanding of modern astronomical methods. Students will learn about methods for treating astrophysical data from various space missions, such as Chandra, INTEGRAL, Fermi, etc. Also part of the course will be devoted to ultra-high energy astrophysics. The course will allow a deeper understanding of astrophysical phenomena observable in high-energy bands. We also get an overview of how individual detectors work how obtain data, process the data, interpret the results physically and how publish them. We will use MetaCentrum for analyzing huge data-sets (http://www.metacentrum.cz/en/).
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to high-energy astrophysics: X-ray optics, detectors, cosmic objects observed in high energies, space missions.

  • 2. Obtaining data from different space mission of various objects (like Crab, M87, Cyg-X1) and processing them (work with FITS, object detection in images, calibration, filtering).

  • 3. Physical analysis of processed data (eg. interpretation of the spectra).

  • 4. Statistical methods used for processing.

  • 5. Work with selected software tools: heasoft (general high-energy astrophysics package), ciao (for data processing of Chandra data).

Literature
  • Keith Arnaud, Handbook of X-ray Astronomy, Cambridge University Press, 2011
  • C. R. Kitchin, Astrophysical Techniques, Fifth Edition, CRC Press, 2008
  • Malcolm S. Longair, High Energy Astrophysics 3rd edition, Cambridge University Press, 2011
  • Carroll, Ostlie, An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics (2nd Edition)
  • http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/
Teaching methods
Advanced use of computers. Presentations of working examples. The individual processing of the examples on different datasets. Homeworks for student's groups.
Assessment methods
Astrophysical processing and interpretation of observation of a selected object.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms 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/F9145