Multi-Wavelength Astronomical Imaging

Catalog description

This course surveys multi-wavelength astronomical observing techniques and instrumentation. Students will study the requirements, strengths, and limitations of telescopes, detectors, and instrumentation at major ground-based and space-based observatories spanning the electromagnetic spectrum from radio to X-rays; learn how these facilities function; and gain an understanding of how to process and analyze the data they generate. Examples of facilities to be scrutinized include the largest ground-based observatories (e.g., Keck, Gemini, and the VLT); radio interferometers (e.g., the Very Large Array and the Atacama Large (sub)Millimeter Array); optical/IR space telescopes (e.g., the Spitzer, Hubble, and James Webb Space Telescopes); and X-ray space telescopes (e.g., Chandra and XMM-Newton). Students will plan and carry out a project involving archival multi-wavelength imaging data on a topic of their choice.