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uva_msc_radioastronomy_2013

UvA MSc Radio Astronomy 2013

Lecture Synopsis (date, title, lecturer)

April 2, 2013 - The History of Radio Astronomy: Past to Present - Jason

Lecture 1

  • Introduction to the course: lecture structures, practica, etc.
  • Maxwell, Hertz, Marconi
  • Karl Jansky
  • Grote Reber
  • Technological developments during WWII
  • The post-war dawn of radio astronomy
  • Great discoveries in the first half century of radio astronomy
  • Radio astronomy in the context of multi-wavelength astronomy
  • The radio telescope as IT instrument

April 4, 2013 - The Science of Radio Astronomy: Extragalactic - Michael

Lecture 2

  • Radio Astronomy for Extragalactic Science
  • Nearby Galaxies, Mapping HI, Dynamics, Magnetic Fields
  • Nearby Galaxies, Astrometry, SNR, GRBs, Mapping HI, Dynamics,
  • Star Formation, FIR-Radio Correlation, Lensing
  • Radio Galaxies, AGN, Jets, Quasars, Gas Flows, and Radio Source Evolution
  • Galaxy Groups and Clusters, Feedback, Black Hole Growth, Relics, Halos, and Shocks
  • Cosmic Microwave Background, S-Z Effect, EoR, Cosmology and Large-scale Structure

April 8, 2013 - The Science of Radio Astronomy: Galactic and Solar System - Joeri

Lecture 3

  • The Milky Way
  • Clouds of gas, supernovae, pulsars
  • The Sun
  • The Giant planets
  • Radar imaging of the planets, moon, and near-Earth asteroids

April 11, 2013 - Emission Mechanisms in Radio Astronomy - Jason

Lecture 4

  • Thermal vs. non-thermal observing windows on the Universe
  • Synchrotron radiation

April 15, 2013 - The Radio Telescope - Joeri

Lecture 5

  • Antenna response: resolution and beam shapes
  • Reflector types, collecting area
  • The signal chain: antenna, receivers, amplifiers, and mixers
  • Sensitivity: the radiometer equation

April 18, 2013 - The Techniques of Radio Interferometry I: The Basics - Jason

Lecture 6

  • Motivation for radio interferometry
  • Two-element interferometer
  • Basic interferometer equations
  • Confusion limit
  • Beam shape
  • Understanding the UV-plane

April 22, 2013 - The Techniques of Radio Interferometry II: Calibration - Michael

Lecture 7

  • Definition of Calibration
  • Visibilities, uv Coverage, Gains, Phases
  • Real Data, Data Examination, Data Editing
  • Formalism, Ideal vs. Real Measurements
  • Calibration Strategies and Effectiveness

April 25, 2013 - The Techniques of Radio Interferometry III: Imaging - Michael

Lecture 8

  • Imaging and Deconvolution
  • Image Quality, Noise, Dynamic Range
  • Wide-band imaging, Multi-frequency Synthesis
  • Wide-field imaging, Facet Imaging, W-Projection
  • Mosaicing

May 2, 2013 - Field Trip to LOFAR and Westerbork - Michael + Joeri + Jason

May 6, 2013 - The Techniques of Time-Domain Radio Astronomy I: Single-dish techniques - Joeri

Lecture 9

  • Main differences between imaging and single-dish time domain astronomy
  • High-time resolution recording
  • Pulsar properties
  • Pulsar timing

May 13, 2013 - The Techniques of Time-Domain Radio Astronomy II: High time resolution with interferometers - Jason

Lecture 10

  • Comparison with single-dish observations.
  • Incoherent vs. coherent summation.
  • Fly's Eye observations.
  • Fast imaging.
  • Advanced techniques.

May 16, 2013 - NAC 2013

  • No lecture because of NAC conference.

May 21, 2013 - The Future of Radio Astronomy - Michael

Lecture 11

  • The Square Kilometre Array (SKA)
  • SKA Pathfinders
  • SKA Computational Challenges
  • Data Intensive Astronomy
  • Beyond the SKA

May 23, 2013 - Project Presentations - All

May 24, 2013 - Deadline for written observing proposals and data analysis project

May 28, 2013 - Final Exam (13-16h) - All

Lab Notes

Instructions on installing software to work on the LOFAR Cluster

Proposal Writing

The proposal is 3 page scientific justification, 1 page technical justification, and 1 page references maximum. Final deliverable is a PDF. You can write it as Latex, Word, or otherwise. Templates: PDF | Latex

A few suggestions on writing good observing proposals:

References

Reference books

  • An introdution to Radio Astronomy
  • Radio Astronomy
  • High Energy Astrophysics
  • Tools of Radio Astronomy
  • Antennas
  • Interferometry and Synthesis in Radio Astronomy
uva_msc_radioastronomy_2013.txt · Last modified: 2013/05/23 06:39 by wise