Tools of Modern Astronomy
HET606
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?
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 aims to provide a good understanding of electromagnetic radiation, focusing on both its emission mechanisms and its subsequent detection, with an emphasis on telescopes and their observations. The electromagnetic spectrum from gamma rays to radio waves is covered.
Enrolment Restriction
In order to enrol in this unit, you must be accepted into one of the following courses:
- Graduate Certificate of Science (Astronomy)
- Graduate Diploma of Science (Astronomy)
- Master of Science (Astronomy)
If you wish to seek approval to enrol in this unit without being accepted in a course, please contact OUA regarding the process.
Prerequisites
Recommended prerequisites
You are recommended to have completed the following unit(s) or have equivalent knowledge before starting this unit:
- HET603 — Exploring Stars and the Milky Way
Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this unit students will be able to:
- understand the nature of light and appreciate that different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation require different types of detectors
- understand the basic principles of telescope design and their use
- understand the principles and techniques of observational astronomy across the electromagnetic spectrum
- 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 | Celestial co-ordinates and time systems |
| 2 | The nature and production of light: gamma-rays to radio waves; thermal and non-thermal sources; emission lines; earthly and heavenly examples |
| 3 | The electromagnetic spectrum; the sky at different wavelengths; atmospheric windows |
| 4 | Photometry, filters, colour magnitudes and colour indices |
| 5 | Photomultipliers, CCD imaging |
| 6 | Optical spectroscopy, prism and grating spectroscopy; the detection of extrasolar planets via spectroscopic means |
| 7 | The eye as an optical instrument, lens systems, refracting & reflecting telescopes; magnification, light-gathering power, angular resolution |
| 8 | Principles of telescope mount and housing design, control systems. |
| 9 | Optical seeing, active and adaptive optics, laser guide stars, astronomical site selection and light pollution issues |
| 10 | Infrared astronomy: detectors, South Pole infrared astronomy and space missions |
| 11 | Construction and resolving power of single-dish radio telescopes, principles of radio and microwave receivers |
| 12 | Radio interferometry, interferometer arrays and aperture synthesis, VLBI, data analysis |
| 13 | High-energy astronomy: design of UV, X-ray and gamma-ray telescopes and detectors |
| 14 | Neutrino astronomy, gravity wave detectors |
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
Textbook information for this unit is currently being updated and will be available soon. Please check back regularly for updates. Alternatively, visit the Unibooks website and enter the unit details to search for available textbooks.
Relevant Courses
This unit is a core requirement in the following courses:
- Graduate Certificate of Science (Astronomy), Swinburne University of Tnlgy
- Graduate Diploma of Science (Astronomy), Swinburne University of Tnlgy
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.
