OBSERVING PROJECT | ASTR 511 TOPICS |
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1. THE PROPOSAL*Award of observing time on major astronomical facilities is a competitive process, in which proposals for observing projects are reviewed and ranked by a Time Allocation Committee (TAC). For almost all public, national facilities, competition is tough.
2. OBSERVING RUN PREPARATIONInstrument documentation Exposure estimation Target selection: coordinates & key properties Calibration planning, select calibrators Finding charts Instrument configuration files Observing strategy & sequences3. MAKING OBSERVATIONSPrime & secondary targets Calibration On-line assessment Assessment of sky & other interfering conditions Documentation of observations4. DATA REDUCTIONRemoval of instrumental signatures Correction for Earth's atmosphere, IS dust Calibration Conversion to fluxes, colors, positions, spectra, line strengths, etc.5. DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION*Extract scientifically meaningful information from reduced data Answer the questions you posed Place in larger context Be alert: anything new, unexpected?6. PUBLICATION7. PUBLIC RELATIONS*Most challenging phases |
EM bands & phenomena
UVOIR capabilities
Nature of astrophysical sources
ROMPS & SWAGS
Optics
Available telescopes & instruments
Exposure Time Calculators (ETCs)
Sky surveys
Databasing
Detectors
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Last modified December 2020 by rwo