Astronomical Research Articles

The BRITE Constellation Nanosatellite Mission: Testing, Commissioning, and Operations**Based on data collected by the BRITE Constellation satellite mission, designed, built, launched, operated and supported by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), the University of Vienna, the Technical University of Graz, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS), the Foundation for Polish Science &

BRIght Target Explorer (BRITE) Constellation, the first nanosatellite mission applied to astrophysical research, is a collaboration among Austria, Canada and Poland. The fleet of satellites (6 launched; 5 functioning) performs precise optical photometry of the brightest stars in the night sky. A pioneering mission like BRITE—with optics and instruments restricted to small volume, mass and power in several nanosatellites, whose measurements must be coordinated in orbit—poses many unique challenges. We discuss the technical issues, including problems encountered during on-orbit commissioning (especially higher-than-expected sensitivity of the CCDs to particle radiation). We describe in detail how the BRITE team has mitigated these problems, and provide a complete overview of mission operations. This paper serves as a template for how to effectively plan, build and operate future low-cost niche-driven space astronomy missions.

The Light Within: A pilot study, or a ‘Note from the Field’, examining the spontaneous production of light-emitting astronomical objects in child art

The authors conducted research into the automatic artistic representation of luminous astronomical objects, especially the sun, in children’s art. 25 artworks were collected and analyzed from local-area school-aged children of varying ages (ages 5-17). It was found that 100% of the drawings produced by children displayed some type of luminous astronomical object. Of these, 92% exhibited the sun exclusively. Too, 92% of the qualitative descriptions by the child participants expressed daytime features per se. Furthermore, 88% of the drawings revealed, strictly speaking, preference for either left or right page-orientation. That is, children drew the sun on either the left or right side of the page; children very rarely drew light emitting objects in the center of the page. The authors speculate about the various and compelling meanings associated with the data by way of four theoretical models: 1) Biological; 2) Psychological; 3) Philosophical- Religious; and, 4) Anthropological. Keywords: Psychology of art, Art interpretation, Child art, Philosophy of art, Psychology and Nature interface.

The High Energy Cosmic Radiation Facility onboard China's Space Station

The High Energy cosmic-Radiation Detection (HERD) facility is one of several space astronomy payloads onboard China's Space Station, which is planned for operation starting around 2020. It is designed as a next generation space facility focused on indirect dark matter search, precise cosmic ray spectrum and composition measurements up to the knee energy, and high energy gamma-ray monitoring and survey. HERD is mainly composed of a high granularity cubic calorimeter (CALO) with deep absorption length surrounded by micro-strip silicon trackers (STKs) from five sides, thus maximizing the geometrical acceptance. An overall description of the design will be described. Moreover, R&D is under way for reading out the LYSO signals with optical fiber coupled to image intensified CCD (ICCD) and the prototype of 1/40 CALO for beam test at CERN.

Astronomy for a better world

Astronomy for a better world

Gis Application in Spatial Analysis of Crime in a Developing Nation: A Case of Ogbomoso, Nigeria

Against the background of astronomical rise in crime rate, the increasing and dynamic sophistication in the strategies employed by criminals and the inability of the Nigerian Criminal Justice System to analyze this social malady with improve technology, the study explored the application of Geographic Information System in the spatial analysis of crime in Ogbomoso South Local Government Area. Within the context of residential densities, police crime records from 1999 to 2003 were analyzed. The geometric data were captured from the township map of the study area. Information from 240 questionnaire administered formed the supplementary data used as the socioeconomic attributes of respondents. The analyses were carried out using ArcView 3.2a and Statistical Package for Social Scientist (SSPS) packages. Spatial analyses such as spatial search, buffering and overlay were done. The study revealed that there is a marked variation in the distribution of crime between and within residential areas. Five hot spots of crime were identified. Further observation was made on areas that may not be sufficiently covered when there is a distress call due to inadequate number of police post or station which is a major security infrastructure that signifies the presence of Government Crime Control Personnel. With this observation the study suggests provision of more police post in areas that are not covered. The study posits that Nigeria Police Authority should be equipped with adequate training and technology in order to enhance a wholesome control of crime within the context of the world’s dynamic technologies. This will be effective if other activities within the urban environment are coordinated in order to reduce criminal opportunities.

On Science and the construction of identities: Remembering Ibn al-Haytham (965-1039)

Ibn al-Haytham (965–1039), best known as Alhazen, is one of the main figures of medieval Arabic science. He worked on mathematics, astronomy, optics, logic, philosophy and medicine, and, as a “modern” scientist, questioned previous theories, challenging, for instance, the Ptolemaic theory of vision. His works on light and optics, based on experimentation, established the basis for the development of Newton’s physics. Due to his great influence on the development of human knowledge, especially on the fields related to light, Ibn al-Haytham must be remembered during the commemorations of the United Nations International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015.

Ghulam Husain Jaunpuri, an Early 19th Century Modern Indian Astronomer

In this study, I look into the writings of Ghulam Husain Jaunpurī (1790-1862), a well-known mathematician and communicator of modern astronomy in Persian in the early 19th century, probably the first Indian traditional astronomer on record to systematically make modern astronomical observations, namely those of a bright comet in 1825 with a sextant, and of Uranus, Ceres and Pallas in 1826 with a telescope.

Another way of looking at the sky: Neutrino telescopes

Neutrinos are weakly-interacting neutral particles, which makes them powerful sources of information about the most energetic processes in the universe, such as the origin of ultra-energetic cosmic rays or gamma-ray bursts. However, a price must be paid in order to detect them: gargantuan detectors at the bottom of the sea or under the Antarctic ice are required. The detection of the first high-energy cosmic neutrinos in 2013 by the IceCube observatory represented the start of so-called neutrino astronomy, a new way of observing the universe, which can play a key role in future discoveries. In this article, we describe how neutrino telescopes work, as well as the different initial configurations that made this new twenty-first century astronomy possible. &nbsp

Astronomers ink deal to build record telescope

Astronomers ink deal to build record telescope

Star’s mysterious dimming continues to confound astronomers

Star’s mysterious dimming continues to confound astronomers

Quality metric in matched Laplacian of Gaussian response domain for blind adaptive optics image deconvolution

Adaptive optics (AO) in conjunction with subsequent postprocessing techniques have obviously improved the resolution of turbulence-degraded images in ground-based astronomical observations or artificial space objects detection and identification. However, important tasks involved in AO image postprocessing, such as frame selection, stopping iterative deconvolution, and algorithm comparison, commonly need manual intervention and cannot be performed automatically due to a lack of widely agreed on image quality metrics. In this work, based on the Laplacian of Gaussian (LoG) local contrast feature detection operator, we propose a LoG domain matching operation to perceive effective and universal image quality statistics. Further, we extract two no-reference quality assessment indices in the matched LoG domain that can be used for a variety of postprocessing tasks. Three typical space object images with distinct structural features are tested to verify the consistency of the proposed metric with perceptual image quality through subjective evaluation.

ET search: Look for the aliens looking for Earth

Astronomers propose hunting for civilizations on worlds that can see our planet cross the Sun.

Russian Virtual Observatory: Data Sources

Abstract The purpose of this review is to analyze main directions of creation and functioning of major data sources developed by Russian astronomers or with their participation and to compare them with the worldwide trends in these fields. We discuss astronomical space missions of the past, present, and future (Astron, INTEGRAL, WSO-UV, Spectrum Roentgen Gamma, Lyra-B), high-quality photometric atlases and catalogues, and spectroscopic data sources, primarily VALD and the global VAMDC framework for the maintenance and distribution of atomic and molecular data. We describe collection, analysis, and dissemination of astronomical data on minor bodies of the Solar System and on variable stars. Also described is the project joining data for all observational types of binary and multiple stars, Binary star DataBase (BDB).

Stargazing basics: getting started in recreational astronomy

Introduction Part I. Stargazing Techniques and Equipment: 1. With the naked eye alone 2. Binoculars: the next step 3. 'But I want a telescope!' Part II. What's Up There?: 4. The Solar System 5. The deep sky Part III. A Stargazing Glossary: Appendix 1. The Greek alphabet Appendix 2: The Constellations Some simple star charts Index.

THE STUDY OF SELF-ACTUALIZED PIRAN VISEH IN FERDOWSI’S SHAHNAMEH BASED ON MASLOW’S HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY THEORY

Literature, beside its artistic dimension, which can serve as a soothing feature for the human spirit and can respond to his aesthetic needs, is an efficient tool for a better life. Studying the valuable works of the Persian literature by various scientists and writing books in conjunction with literature and politics, psychology, philosophy, astronomy, and so on represent that literature does not only belong to the sphere of sense and taste, but rather is a wide field of casual sensory experience based on objective facts. On the other hand, psychology has an integral relationship with human life. The combination of these two areas (literature and psychology) and implementation of a practical pattern consistent with native culture is extremely helpful to those interested in the fields. Alongside guiding us to pay attention to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs , Firdausi’s detailed and critical description of personification leads to study the characteristics of a self-actualized individual in the character of Piran Viseh, who in spite of being one of Turanian, is among popular characters of Shahnameh. Ethics and actions of Piran show that he is on the top ofthe Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and could reach self-actualization.

Measuring mode indices of a partially coherent vortex beam with Hanbury Brown and Twiss type experiment

It is known that the cross-correlation function (CCF) of a partially coherent vortex (PCV) beam shows a robust link with the radial and azimuthal mode indices. However, the previous proposals are difficult to measure the CCF in practical system, especially in the case of astronomical objects. In this letter, we demonstrate experimentally that the Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect can be used to measure the mode indices of the original vortex beam and investigate the relationship between the spatial coherent width and the characterization of CCF of a PCV beam. The technique we exploit is quite efficient and robust, and it may be useful in the field of free space communication and astronomy which are related to the photon's orbital angular momentum.

Astronomers: never blinded by science

Astronomers: never blinded by science

Astronomers find five new ‘superstars’

Astronomers find five new ‘superstars’

Astronomers measure the clouds that formed the first galaxies

Astronomers measure the clouds that formed the first galaxies

Deconvolution increases the accuracy of measurements by image analysis in a model of trimethyltin-induced reactive gliosis of the rat entorhinal cortex

Digital images were used in applications such as astronomy, medicine, physics and biology, to record and analyze results from experiments Due to the features of the imaging system, the recorded images can be degraded by blurring and noise. Image deconvolution, or image deblurring, is the process of reconstructing or estimating the true image from the degraded one [1]. In order to optimize morphometrical analysis of Glial Fibrillary Acidic protein (GFAp)-immunoreactive astrocyte of the whole rat entorhinal cortex of both trimethyltin hydrochloride- and saline treated rats, large images of it (about 30 000 x 20 000 pixels) were digitized by a microscope with a X – Y motorized computer-managed stage and an autofocusing system, using an objective 40x, a digital camera 2560x1920 RGB. Moreover it has been optimized a procedure of deconvolution and segmentation under the NIH ImageJ system. Such large images were first deblurred, by Modified Residual Norm Steepest Descent (MRNSD) and Wiener Filter Preconditioned Landweber (WPL) algoritms, and segmented, then analyzed, to measure the % of the area (in µm2) occupied by GFAp-immunoreactive cell bodies and processes, and classical morphometrical parameters. Statistical analysis was performed to describe obtained data and to point out differences between segmented only versus deblurred-segmented images. Our results can be summarized as follows. 1. Large images can be an useful tool to identify precisely the distribution of reactive astrocytes in the rat entorhinal cortex. 2. Deconvolution avoid an overestimation of the area of immunoreative astrocytes of about 10-15%. Segmentation allow a measurement with improved accuracy, precision and uncertainty. 3. This approach is time consuming and requires a multi-core hardware with a large amount of available RAM.