Introductory Radio Astronomy and SETI
HET608
Overview
To enrol in this unit, you must be accepted into a course from the provider.
Read before you start
Level of study: What does Postgraduate mean?
Postgraduate
EFTSL: What does EFTSL mean?
0.125
Delivery Method: What does delivery method mean?
Fully Online
Prerequisites: What are the prerequisites?
No
Duration:
13 weeks
Government loans available:
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Domestic student fee:
$1,600.00 (AUD)
International student fee:
$1,825.00 (AUD)
Description
This unit provides an overview of both single- and multiple-dish radio astronomy and their applications, plus a study of the history, principles, techniques and societal issues of an area where radio astronomy plays a key part of the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI).
Enrolment Restriction
In order to enrol in this unit, you must be accepted into one of the following courses:
If you wish to seek approval to enrol in this unit without being accepted in a course, please contact OUA regarding the process.
Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this unit students will be able to:
- understand the basic principles and techniques of single- and multi-dish astronomy
- describe common sources of astronomical radio emission and have an awareness of the major areas of radio astronomy research
- understand the historical background and societal context of the search for extra-terrestrial life, and, in particular, the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI)
- appreciate both general principles and key technical issues involved in SETI
- discuss the basic principles and concepts underlying both radio astronomy in general and SETI in particular in a non-technical way understandable to the wider public
- recognise the social and scientific implications of the search for extra-terrestrial life in general and SETI in particular, and also of campaigns to build new generations of radio astronomy facilities
- research an astronomy topic in depth, using dependable sources of astronomical information on the internet.
Topics
This unit addresses the following topics.
| Number | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1 | The electromagnetic spectrum and radio waves; the sky at radio wavelengths; a brief history of radio astronomy |
| 2 | Radio emission: line emission & continuum emission; thermal and non-thermal emission: Blackbody radiation, synchrotron and maser emission |
| 3 | Sources of radio emission: Solar System & Milky Way; local & distance Universe; radio surveys & case-study HIPASS, HI all-sky survey |
| 4 | Single-dish radio astronomy: optical versus radio astronomy, properties of single-dish telescopes: beams, mounts, drives, receivers, amplifiers |
| 5 | Fourier transforms and digitising radio signals; backends, feeds, amplifiers, correlators |
| 6 | Multi-dish radio astronomy: interferometry, arrays and aperture synthesis; resolving power, signal-to-noise, array design, source visibility |
| 7 | Imaging and analysis: single-dish data & multi-dish analysis and image reconstruction; raw data, calibration, imaging, deconvolution, mosaicing |
| 8 | Radio astronomy case studies: VLBI and pulsar astronomy; interference; amateur radio astronomy |
| 9 | The future of radio astronomy: millimetre astronomy; SKA |
| 10 | Introduction to SETI: what is SETI? Are we alone and where to look? The Drake equation, habitable zones, intelligence versus technology, lifetimes |
| 11 | How to look: planning a SETI search: all-sky versus targeted searches; where to look and at what wavelength; examples of past, present and future SETI |
Study Resources
This unit is delivered using the following methods and materials:
Instructional Methods
- Discussion Forum/Discussion Board
- Embedded Multimedia
- Online Quizzes/Tests
- Online assignment submission
- Standard Media
- Web links
Textbooks are subject to change within the academic year. Students are advised to purchase their books no earlier than one to two months before the start of a unit.
Click on the titles of the listed books below to find out more:
Required textbooks
By:Burke Bernard F.
ISBN: -
Format:Print
Supplier:Go to Unibooks
Recommended textbooks
Relevant Courses
This unit is a core requirement in the following courses:
This unit is an approved elective in the following courses:
This unit may be eligible for credit towards other courses:
- Many undergraduate courses on offer through OUA include 'open elective' where any OUA unit can be credited to the course. You need to check the Award Requirements on the course page for the number of allowed open electives and any level limitations.
- In other cases, the content of this unit might be relevant to a course on offer through OUA or elsewhere. In order to receive credit for this unit in the course you will need to supply the provider institution with a copy of the Unit Profile in the approved format, which you can download here. Note that the Unit Profile is set at the start of the year, and if textbooks change this may not match the Unibooks textbook list.
