Optical Turbulence: Astronomy Meets Meteorology - Proceedings Of The Optical Turbulence Characterization For Astronomical Applications

Optical Turbulence: Astronomy Meets Meteorology - Proceedings Of The Optical Turbulence Characterization For Astronomical Applications
Author: Elena Masciadri
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 415
Release: 2009-09-14
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1908978171

This book collects most of the talks and poster presentations presented at the 'Optical Turbulence — Astronomy meets Meteorology' international conference held on 15-18 September, 2008 at Nymphes Bay, Alghero, Sardinia, Italy. The meeting aimed to deal with one of the major causes of wavefront perturbations limiting the astronomical high-angular-resolution observations from the ground. The uniqueness of this meeting has been the effort to attack this topic in a synergic and multidisciplinary approach promoting constructive discussions between the actors of this science — the astronomers, meteorologists, physicists of the atmosphere and the experts in adaptive optics and interferometry techniques whose main goal is to correct, in real-time, the wavefront perturbations induced by atmospheric turbulence to restore at the telescope foci the best available image quality./a

Optical Turbulence

Optical Turbulence
Author: Elena Masciadri
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 415
Release: 2009
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1848164858

This book collects most of the talks and poster presentations presented at the "Optical Turbulence ? Astronomy meets Meteorology" international conference held on 15?18 September, 2008 at Nymphes Bay, Alghero, Sardinia, Italy. The meeting aimed to deal with one of the major causes of wavefront perturbations limiting the astronomical high-angular-resolution observations from the ground. The uniqueness of this meeting has been the effort to attack this topic in a synergic and multidisciplinary approach promoting constructive discussions between the actors of this science ? the astronomers, meteorologists, physicists of the atmosphere and the experts in adaptive optics and interferometry techniques whose main goal is to correct, in real-time, the wavefront perturbations induced by atmospheric turbulence to restore at the telescope foci the best available image quality.

Adaptive Optics for Astronomy

Adaptive Optics for Astronomy
Author: D.M. Alloin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 368
Release: 1994-03-31
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780792327486

The blossoming of adaptive optical techniques has brought about a revolution in the field of astronomical observation. Coupled with the new generation of large, ground-based telescopes, it allows us to achieve an unprecendented angular resolution in the analysis of faint astronomical sources at optical wavelengths. This book provides the basic concepts of adaptive optics, discusses the possible instrumental strategies and the state-of-the-art technical achievements of this development and presents the key astrophysical programs which will most benefit from it. Over fifteen well-known experts have contributed to making this volume a comprehensive one, with steady progression as well as full coverage of the various aspects of the field. Students graduating in optical sciences and astrophysics, astronomers, engineers interested in atmospheric turbulence compensation will find this book a reference text on the subject.

New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics

New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2011-02-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309157994

Driven by discoveries, and enabled by leaps in technology and imagination, our understanding of the universe has changed dramatically during the course of the last few decades. The fields of astronomy and astrophysics are making new connections to physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science. Based on a broad and comprehensive survey of scientific opportunities, infrastructure, and organization in a national and international context, New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics outlines a plan for ground- and space- based astronomy and astrophysics for the decade of the 2010's. Realizing these scientific opportunities is contingent upon maintaining and strengthening the foundations of the research enterprise including technological development, theory, computation and data handling, laboratory experiments, and human resources. New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics proposes enhancing innovative but moderate-cost programs in space and on the ground that will enable the community to respond rapidly and flexibly to new scientific discoveries. The book recommends beginning construction on survey telescopes in space and on the ground to investigate the nature of dark energy, as well as the next generation of large ground-based giant optical telescopes and a new class of space-based gravitational observatory to observe the merging of distant black holes and precisely test theories of gravity. New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics recommends a balanced and executable program that will support research surrounding the most profound questions about the cosmos. The discoveries ahead will facilitate the search for habitable planets, shed light on dark energy and dark matter, and aid our understanding of the history of the universe and how the earliest stars and galaxies formed. The book is a useful resource for agencies supporting the field of astronomy and astrophysics, the Congressional committees with jurisdiction over those agencies, the scientific community, and the public.

General Theory of Light Propagation and Imaging Through the Atmosphere

General Theory of Light Propagation and Imaging Through the Atmosphere
Author: T. Stewart McKechnie
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 639
Release: 2015-08-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319182099

This book lays out a new, general theory of light propagation and imaging through Earth’s turbulent atmosphere. Current theory is based on the – now widely doubted – assumption of Kolmogorov turbulence. The new theory is based on a generalized atmosphere, the turbulence characteristics of which can be established, as needed, from readily measurable properties of point-object, or star, images. The pessimistic resolution predictions of Kolmogorov theory led to lax optical tolerance prescriptions for large ground-based astronomical telescopes which were widely adhered to in the 1970s and 1980s. Around 1990, however, it became clear that much better resolution was actually possible, and Kolmogorov tolerance prescriptions were promptly abandoned. Most large telescopes built before 1990 have had their optics upgraded (e.g., the UKIRT instrument) and now achieve, without adaptive optics (AO), almost an order of magnitude better resolution than before. As well as providing a more comprehensive and precise understanding of imaging through the atmosphere with large telescopes (both with and without AO), the new general theory also finds applications in the areas of laser communications and high-energy laser beam propagation.

Integrated Modeling of Telescopes

Integrated Modeling of Telescopes
Author: Torben Andersen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 555
Release: 2011-06-23
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1461401496

Ground- or space-based telescopes are becoming increasingly more complex and construction budgets are typically in the billion dollar range. Facing costs of this magnitude, availability of engineering tools for prediction of performance and design optimization is imperative. Establishment of simulation models combining different technical disciplines such as Structural Dynamics, Control Engineering, Optics and Thermal Engineering is indispensable. Such models are normally called Integrated Models because they involve many different disciplines. The models will play an increasingly larger role for design of future interdisciplinary optical systems in space or on ground. The book concentrates on integrated modeling of optical and radio telescopes but the techniques presented will be applicable to a large variety of systems. Hence, the book will be of interest to optical and radio telescope designers, designers of spacecrafts that include optical systems, and to designers of various complex defense systems. The book may also find use as a textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses within the field. "Adaptive Optics" is an exciting and relatively new field, originally dedicated to correction for blurring when imaging through the atmosphere. Although this objective is still of high importance, the concept of Adaptive Optics has recently evolved further. Today, the objective is not only to correct for atmospheric turbulence effects but also for a range of static and dynamical telescope aberrations. The notion of adaptive optics has expanded to the field of "Wavefront Control", correcting for a variety of system aberrations. Wavefront control systems maintain form and position of optical elements with high precision under static and dynamical load. In many ways, such systems replace the steel structures of traditional optical systems, thereby providing much lighter systems with a performance not possible before. Integrated Modeling is the foremost tool for studies of Wavefront Control for telescopes and complex optics and is therefore now of high importance. Springer has recently published two books on telescopes, "Reflecting Telescope Optics" by R. Wilson, and "The Design and Construction of Large Optical Telescopes" by P. Bely. Noting that a new (and expensive) generation of Extremely Large Telescopes with apertures in the 30-100 m range is on the way, the present book on integrated modeling is a good match to the existing books and an appropriate specialization and continuation of some subjects dealt with in those books.

Astronomical Optics

Astronomical Optics
Author: Daniel J. Schroeder
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 367
Release: 2012-12-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 032313856X

Written by a recognized expert in the field, this clearly presented, well-illustrated book provides both advanced level students and professionals with an authoritative, thorough presentation of the characteristics, including advantages and limitations, of telescopes and spectrographic instruments used by astronomers of today. Written by a recognized expert in the field Provides both advanced level students and professionals with an authoritative, thorough presentation of the characteristics, including advantages and limitations, of telescopes and spectrographic instruments used by astronomers of today

Turbulence and Related Phenomena

Turbulence and Related Phenomena
Author: Regis Barille
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 94
Release: 2019-04-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1838800174

This book presents some of the most important results concerning atmospheric turbulence and some of its effects on the propagation of a light beam. Atmospheric turbulence causes fluctuations in both the intensity and the phase of the beam and still must be understood and modelized for applications in photonics or environmental metrology. The future of free-space optical (FSO) communication through atmospheric turbulence channels is especially of interest and research on high bit-rate communications attracts more and more interest as an alternative to radio links because of bandwidth, spectrum, and security issues. Some of the current solutions for improving FSO communications are presented in this book.