TECHNIQUES OF MODERN OBSERVATIONAL ASTROPHYSICS

Prerequisites & course information

Requisites: ASTRON 310 , 320 , 330 , 335 , 340 , or graduate/professional standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Natural Science & Wellness + Lab Level - Advanced L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Grad 50% - Counts toward 50% graduate coursework requirement Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Fall 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Perform conversions between instrumental units (e.g., pixels, ADU), astronomical units (e.g., arcseconds, magnitudes), and physical quantities (e.g., distance, luminosity). Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Describe limiting cases for signal-to-noise in astronomical observing and how signal-to-noise limitations impact observation planning or instrument design. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Explain steps required for calibrating photometric and spectroscopic data. Describe how Earth’s atmosphere impacts ground-based imaging and spectroscopy. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Identify fundamental components of telescopes, imagers, and spectrographs within a conceptual design or diagram. Compare variations in telescope or instrument design and tradeoffs between multiple dimensions of performance. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Compare technology for observing in different electromagnetic regimes (e.g., X-ray, UV, optical, infrared, radio), as well as observing challenges and limitations. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 6. Predict an astronomical instrument’s performance using instrument specifications, and characterize the instrument’s actual performance using empirical data. Audience: Graduate 7. Compose technical pieces of an observing proposal: identify an appropriate facility and instrument, and develop an observing plan to achieve science requirements. Audience: Graduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Perform conversions between instrumental units (e.g., pixels, ADU), astronomical units (e.g., arcseconds, magnitudes), and physical quantities (e.g., distance, luminosity). Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Describe limiting cases for signal-to-noise in astronomical observing and how signal-to-noise limitations impact observation planning or instrument design. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Explain steps required for calibrating photometric and spectroscopic data. Describe how Earth’s atmosphere impacts ground-based imaging and spectroscopy. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Identify fundamental components of telescopes, imagers, and spectrographs within a conceptual design or diagram. Compare variations in telescope or instrument design and tradeoffs between multiple dimensions of performance. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Compare technology for observing in different electromagnetic regimes (e.g., X-ray, UV, optical, infrared, radio), as well as observing challenges and limitations. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 6. Predict an astronomical instrument’s performance using instrument specifications, and characterize the instrument’s actual performance using empirical data. Audience: Graduate 7. Compose technical pieces of an observing proposal: identify an appropriate facility and instrument, and develop an observing plan to achieve science requirements. Audience: Graduate