• Title/Summary/Keyword: optical observations

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Optical Observations with Milliarcsecond Resolution of Stars, Their Environments and Companions

  • Sanborn, Jason J.;Zavala, Robert T.
    • Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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    • v.29 no.1
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    • pp.63-67
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    • 2012
  • Observations with milliarsecond resolution using the Navy Optical Interferometer have been obtained for a number of stellar systems which include high-mass binaries, eclipsing binaries, and radio stars. These observations also reveal the previously unseen companions in single-lined spectroscopic binaries via directly measured flux ratios. We will present examples of published and ongoing research efforts of these systems to illustrate how an optical interferometer contributes to our knowledge of stars, their environment, and companions. These studies include a conclusive revealing of the previously unseen companion in the single-lined binary ${\Phi}$ Herculis, the direct determination of orbital parameters in the wide and close orbits of Algol, and revealing the orbit of ${\beta}$ Lyrae with spatially resolved images of the $H{\alpha}$ emission.

Retrieval of Atmospheric Optical Thickness from Digital Images of the Moon (월면 디지털 영상 분석을 이용한 대기 광학두께 산출)

  • Jeong, Myeong-Jae
    • Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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    • v.29 no.5
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    • pp.555-568
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    • 2013
  • Atmospheric optical thickness during nighttime was estimated in this study using analysis on the images of the moon taken from commercial digital camera. Basically the Langely Regression method was applied to the observations of the moon for the cloudless and optically stable sky conditions. The spectral response functions for the red(R), green(G), and blue(B) channels were employed to derive effective wavelength centers of each channel for the observations of the moon, and the correspondent Rayleigh optical thickness were also calculated. Aerosol optical thickness (AOT) was calculated by subtracting Rayleigh optical thickness from the atmospheric optical thickness derived from the Langley regression method. As there are only handful of nighttime AOT observations, the AOT from the moon observations was compared with the AOT from sun-photometers and the MODIS satellite sensor, which was taken several hours before the moon observations of this study. As a result, the values of AOT from moon observations agree with those from sun-photometers and MODIS within 0.1 for the R, G, B channels of the digital camera. On the other hand, ${\AA}$ngstr$\ddot{o}$m Exponent seems to be subject to larger errors due to its sensitiveness to the spectral errors of AOT. Nevertheless, the results of this study indicate that the method reported in this study is promising as it can provide nighttime AOT relatively easily with a low cost instrument like digital camera. More observations and analyses are warranted to attain improved nighttime AOT observations in the future.

Physical Characteristics of Small Space Objects at High Orbits Based on Optical Methods

  • El-Hameed, Afaf M. Abd;Attia, Gamal F.;Abdel-Aziz, Yehia
    • Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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    • v.34 no.1
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    • pp.31-35
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    • 2017
  • Optical observation is one of the most common techniques used for characterizing the physical properties of unknown objects and debris in space. This research presents measurements and properties of the new object 96019 from ground-based optical methods. Optical observations of this small object were performed using a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera and the Santel-500 telescope at the Zvenigorod Observatory. The orbital elements and physical properties of this object, such as area-to-mass ratio, have been determined. The results show that this small object has a low area-to-mass ratio, between 0.009 and $0.12m^2/kg$. The light curve of object 96019 is given: Over the time intervals, variations in brightness are analyzed and the maximum brightness was found to be 12.4 magnitudes. The observational results show that, this object brightens by about three magnitudes over a time span of three minutes. Based on these observations, the characteristics and physical properties of this object are discussed.

Stellar populations of Galactic Globular Cluster $\omega$ Cen using HST/WFC3 near-UV observations

  • Kim, Eun-Hyeuk;Joo, Seok-Joo;Lee, Young-Wook
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.35 no.1
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    • pp.54.2-54.2
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    • 2010
  • The most massive galactic globular cluster, $\omega$ Cen has been observed using recently mounted WFC3/UVIS cameras of Hubble Space Telescope at both near-UV and optical bands. We present the photometry of stars in the central region of $\omega$ Cen in F225W, F275W and F336W bands. The near-UV color-magnitude diagrams and color-color diagrams of stars in $\omega$ Cen show multiple red giant branches and main sequences as already discovered in both ground-based and HST/ACS observations in the optical bands. We modelled the stellar populations of $\omega$ Cen using Yonsei Isochrone, where $\alpha$-particles and helium enhancement processes have been included properly. We compare the best-fit stellar populations obtained from the current near-UV observations to the suggested stellar population models based on optical band data. We also discuss the methodological issues arising when dealing with the near-UV observations; red-leak in near-UV filters and the huge interstellar extinction in near-UV bands compared to the optical bands and its non-linear effect in color-magnitude diagrams.

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Introduction to sample light curves of optical transients discovered by the KMTNet Supernova Program

  • Lee, Youngdae;Moon, Dae-Sik;Drout, Maria;Antoniadis, John;Ni, Chris;Lee, Jae-Joon;KIM, Sang Chul;Park, Hong Soo;Pak, Mina
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.42 no.1
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    • pp.44.3-44.3
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    • 2017
  • We introduce sample light curves of optical transients discovered by the KMTNet Supernoa Program, focusing on their early discoveries and rapid evolutions decoded in the high-cadence observations of the program. For some sources, we also show their spectra obtained either from rapid Target-of-Opportunity follow-up observations immediately after their discoveries or from regularly-scheduled observations. We expect the program to bring unprecedented insights into what is happening during early phases of various types of optical transients, centered on supernovae.

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SUB-MILLIARCSECOND ACCURACY WITH THE STRUVE ASTROMETRIC SATELLITE

  • YERSHOV V. N.
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.29 no.spc1
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    • pp.427-428
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    • 1996
  • The Struve astrometric satellite which is being developed at Pulkovo Observatory in cooperation with Krasno-yarsk Institute of Applied Mechanics, S.I. Vavilov's State Optical Institute and some others space instrumentation institutes, will produce observations of a second epoch for the Hipparcos stars. The project is devoted to maintaining the Hipparcos coordinate system as well as extending it to a density of $\approx$ 100 stars per square degree. Possibilities of submilliarcsecond accuracy of observations with single aperture on-board telescopes are discussed. Requirements to the optical scheme and to the dynamic properties of the spacecraft are formulated. CCD and microchannel plates are discussed as a focal assembly detectors.

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Preliminary Result of Exoplanet Transit Observation by NYSC 1m Telescope

  • Kang, Wonseok;Kim, Taewoo;Kwon, Sun-gill;Lee, Sang-Gak;Hinse, Tobias C.
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.41 no.2
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    • pp.58.1-58.1
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    • 2016
  • During the year 2016 the newly installed NYSC (National Youth Science Center) 1m optical telescope was officially commissioned. Calls for future observational programmes were announced. During test observations we carried out an observational project aimed at follow-up observations of transiting extrasolar planets. To predict future transits we developed the "TransitSearch" code implemented in Python utilizing transit information from the Open Exoplanet Catalogue. During three nights in April and June 2016 we observed planetary transits of HAT-P-3b and TrES-3b. Preliminary light curves of the transit events are presented alongside with best-fit models. From this experience we plan to improve the optical alignment and photometric performance by operating the 1m NYSC telescope in a strongly out-of-focus mode for transit observations.

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