Astrophysical Lasers

Astrophysical Lasers PDF Author: Vladilen Letokhov
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 0199548277
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
Progress in modern radio astronomy led to the discovery of space masers in the microwave range, and it became a powerful tool for studies of interstellar star-forming molecular clouds. Progress in observational astronomy, particularly with ground-based huge telescopes and the space-based Hubble Space Telescope, has led to recent discoveries of space lasers in the optical range. These operate in gas condensations in the vicinity of the mysterious star Eta Carinae (one of the most luminous and massive stars of our Galaxy). Both maser and laser effects, first demonstrated under laboratory conditions, have now been discovered to occur under natural conditions in space too. This book describes consistently the elements of laser science, astrophysical plasmas, modern astronomical observation techniques, and the fundamentals and properties of astrophysical lasers. A book with such an interdisciplinary scope has not been available to date. The book will also be useful for a wider audience interested in modern developments of the natural sciences and technology.

Astrophysical Lasers

Astrophysical Lasers PDF Author: Vladilen Letokhov
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 0199548277
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 271

Get Book Here

Book Description
Progress in modern radio astronomy led to the discovery of space masers in the microwave range, and it became a powerful tool for studies of interstellar star-forming molecular clouds. Progress in observational astronomy, particularly with ground-based huge telescopes and the space-based Hubble Space Telescope, has led to recent discoveries of space lasers in the optical range. These operate in gas condensations in the vicinity of the mysterious star Eta Carinae (one of the most luminous and massive stars of our Galaxy). Both maser and laser effects, first demonstrated under laboratory conditions, have now been discovered to occur under natural conditions in space too. This book describes consistently the elements of laser science, astrophysical plasmas, modern astronomical observation techniques, and the fundamentals and properties of astrophysical lasers. A book with such an interdisciplinary scope has not been available to date. The book will also be useful for a wider audience interested in modern developments of the natural sciences and technology.

Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics for Astronomy

Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics for Astronomy PDF Author: N. Ageorges
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401596247
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
Adaptive optics allows the theoretical limit of angular resolution to be achieved from a large telescope, despite the presence of turbulence. Thus an eight meter class telescope, such as one of the four in the Very Large Telescope operated by ESO in Chile, will in future be routinely capable of an angular resolution of almost 0.01 arcsec, compared tot he present resolution of about 0.5 arcsec for conventional imaging in good condition. All the world's major telescopes either have adaptive optics or are in the process of building AO systems. It turns out that a reasonable fraction of the sky can be observed using adaptive optics, with moderately good imaging quality, provided imaging in done in the near IR. To move out of the near IR, with its relatively poor angular resolution, astronomers need a laser guide star. There is a layer of Na atoms at approximately 90 km altitude that can be excited by a laser to produce such a source, or Rayleigh scattering can be employed lower in the atmosphere. But the production and use of laser guide stars is not trivial, and the key issues determining their successful implementation are discussed here, including the physics of the Na atom, the cone effect, tilt determination, sky coverage, and numerous potential astronomical applications.

Research in Space Science, SAO Special Report

Research in Space Science, SAO Special Report PDF Author: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Artificial satellites
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description


Scientific Applications of Lunar Laser Ranging

Scientific Applications of Lunar Laser Ranging PDF Author: J.D. Mulholland
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401012083
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
The progress of science during the past centuries has been in some measure energized by the development of new technologies. People are no more intelligent now than they were five centuries ago, or indeed five millenia ago. The differences are in the pool of past experience and the availability of means for manipulating the physical and mental environment. Until fairly recently, the development of new technologies in astronomy and geodesy has served primarily either to broaden the scope of phenomena that could be studied or to improve the precision with which one could examine already-studied phenomena. There seemed to be no likelihood that a situation could arise similar to that in particle physics, where the uncertainty principle indicates that the observation of the state of an object alters that state, affecting the observation. Indeed, we have not yet reached that point, but certain of the new techniques have introduced a degree of complication and inter dependence perhaps not previously encountered in the macro sciences. When observational capability is so fine that the data can be corrupted by the tidal motions of the instruments, for example, then there are a myriad of physical effects that must be considered in analyzing the data; the happy aspect of this is that the data can be used to study exactly these same effects. The complication does not, however, extend only to predictive computations against which the data are compared.

SAO Special Report

SAO Special Report PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Artificial satellites
Languages : en
Pages : 650

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Book Description


Laboratory High-energy Astrophysics on Lasers

Laboratory High-energy Astrophysics on Lasers PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 7

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Book Description
The tremendous range of temperatures and densities spanned by astrophysical plasmas has significant overlap with conditions attainable using high-power laser facilities. These facilities provide an opportunity to create, control, and characterize plasmas in the laboratory that mirror conditions in some of the most important cosmological systems. Moreover, laboratory experiments can enhance astrophysical understanding by focusing on and isolating important physical processes, without necessarily reproducing the exact conditions of the integral system. Basic study of radiative properties, transport phenomena, thermodynamic response and hydrodynamic evolution in plasmas under properly scaled conditions leads both directly and indirectly to improved models of complex astrophysical systems. In this paper, we will discuss opportunities for current and planned highpower lasers to contribute to the study of high-energy astrophysics.

Optics in Astrophysics

Optics in Astrophysics PDF Author: Renaud Foy
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9781402034350
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 448

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Book Description
Astrophysics is facing challenging aims such as deep cosmology at redshift higher than 10 to constrain cosmology models, or the detection of exoplanets, and possibly terrestrial exoplanets, and several others. It requires unprecedented ambitious R&D programs, which have definitely to rely on a tight cooperation between astrophysics and optics communities. The book addresses most of the most critical interdisciplinary domains where they interact, or where they will do. A first need is to collect more light, i.e. telescopes still larger than the current 8-10 meter class ones. Decametric, and even hectometric, optical (from UV to IR wavelengths) telescopes are being studied. Whereas up to now the light collecting surface of new telescopes was approximately 4 times that of the previous generation, now this factor is growing to 10 to 100. This quantum leap urges to implement new methods or technologies developed in the optics community, both in academic labs and in the industry. Given the astrophysical goals and technological constraints, new generation adaptive optics with a huge number of actuators and laser guide stars devices have to be developed, from theoretical bases to experimental works. Two other newcomers in observational astrophysics are interferometric arrays of optical telescopes and gravitational wave detectors. Up-to-date reviews of detectors and of spectrographs are given, as well as forefront R&D in the field of optical coatings and of guided optics. Possible new ways to handle photons are also addressed, based on quantum physics. More and more signal processing algorithms are a part and parcel of any modern instrumentation. Thus finally the book gives two reviews about wavefront processing and about image restoration and deconvolution algorithms for ill conditioned cases.

Transactions of the International Astronomical Union

Transactions of the International Astronomical Union PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Astronomy
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description


High Energy Astrophysical Techniques

High Energy Astrophysical Techniques PDF Author: Rosa Poggiani
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319447297
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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Book Description
This textbook presents ultraviolet and X-ray astronomy, gamma-ray astronomy, cosmic ray astronomy, neutrino astronomy, and gravitational wave astronomy as distinct research areas, focusing on the astrophysics targets and the requirements with respect to instrumentation and observation methods. The purpose of the book is to bridge the gap between the reference books and the specialized literature. For each type of astronomy, the discussion proceeds from the orders of magnitude for observable quantities. The physical principles of photon and particle detectors are then addressed, and the specific telescopes and combinations of detectors, presented. Finally the instruments and their limits are discussed with a view to assisting readers in the planning and execution of observations. Astronomical observations with high-energy photons and particles represent the newest additions to multimessenger astronomy and this book will be of value to all with an interest in the field.

Probes of Multimessenger Astrophysics

Probes of Multimessenger Astrophysics PDF Author: Maurizio Spurio
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319968548
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 591

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Book Description
"I have taught from and enjoyed the first edition of the book. The selection of topics is the best I've seen. Maurizio Spurio gives very clear presentations using a generous amount of observational data. " James Matthews (Louisiana State University) This is the second edition of an introduction to “multi-messenger” astrophysics. It covers the many different aspects connecting particle physics with astrophysics and cosmology and introduces high-energy astrophysics using different probes: the electromagnetic radiation, with techniques developed by traditional astronomy; charged cosmic rays, gamma-rays and neutrinos, with methods developed in high-energy laboratories; and gravitational waves, recently observed using laser interferometers. The book offers a comprehensive and systematic approach to the theoretical background and the experimental aspects of the study of the high-energy universe. The breakthrough discovery of gravitational waves motivated this new edition of the book, to offer a more global and multimessenger vision of high-energy astrophysics. This second edition is updated and enriched with substantial new materials also deriving from the results obtained at the LIGO/Virgo observatories. For the first time it is now possible to draw the connection between gravitational waves, traditional astronomical observations and other probes (in particular, gamma-rays and neutrinos). The book draws on the extensive courses of Professor Maurizio Spurio at the University of Bologna and it is aimed at graduate students and post-graduate researchers with a basic understanding of particle and nuclear physics. It will also be of interest to particle physicists working in accelerator/collider physics who are keen to understand the mechanisms of the largest accelerators in the Universe.