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Foundation of Astronomy

Course Summery

The History and Evolution of Astronomy

Zodiac, constellations and planetary movements
Astronomy in ancient civilizations
Greek and Indian astronomy and cosmology

Copernican revolution
Galileo's vision
Tycho Brahe's measurements
Kepler's calculations

Theory of gravitation and orbits
Euler and Lagrange’s contribution

Contribution of William Herschel
Discoveries within the solar system
From stars to galaxy and cosmology

The international astronomical union
Special and General relativity- Astronomical consequences
Contribution of quantum physics
Stellar physics and evolution
Galactic and extra-galactic astronomy and astrophysics
Modern cosmology

Clocks, globes and sundials
Telescopes, spectroscope and imaging Photography and Detectors

Optical astronomy
X-ray astronomy
Radio astronomy
Particle astrophysics and Cosmic rays
Gravitational astronomy

Celestial mechanics / Astrodynamics

Newton's theory of gravitation and potential Keplerian orbit Kepler's laws Orbital parameters Orbital energies Planetary orbits Orbits in central force fields Motion in general central force field Perihelion precession of planets

Forces and acceleration Centrifugal acceleration Coriolis force Tidal force and processes Roche radius Lagrangian formulation Rigid body rotation Moment of inertia Earth's Free and forced precession and nutation Cassini's laws and moon's motion

Circular restricted three-body problem Jacobi integral Lagrangian points and stability Zero-velocity surfaces

Two-planet solar system Long term evolution of planetary and asteroid orbits Atmospheric drag

Stability and control of dynamical systems Static and dynamic orbit optimization Gravity Assist Maneuver Low Earth Orbit (LEO) control Geostationary orbit control Hohmann orbit transfer

Rocket propulsion and dynamics Aerodynamics of rockets Wind tunnel experiments

SGP4 Propagator and TLE Sizing the debris Time of closest approach Probability of collision Removal

Astronomical Measurements and Statistics

Celestial sphere
Geographical coordinates
Horizon system
Equatorial system
Barycentric coordinates
Galactic coordinate system
International Celestial Reference System (ICRS)
Conversion of coordinates
Apparent and real motion of the stars

Cosmic distance ladder The astronomical unit Stellar parallax Standard candles, sirens and ruler Atomic time Apparent Solar Time Mean Solar Time Sidereal Time Equation of Time Proper motion Radial velocity Doppler shift

Messengers of astronomy
Signal parameters
Rate of Arrival: Fluxes
Chain of loss of signal and calibration
Distortion and smearing and calibration
Types of noises
Sensitivity
Accuracy and precision and resolution
Estimating uncertainty

Atmospheric windows Atmospheric transmission effect Height, zenith angle, weather Atmospheric noise and backgrounds Terrestrial background Atmospheric scattering Cosmic ray particle background Distortions and blurring Aberration Refraction, chromatic differential refraction Air turbulence Wavefront bending Adaptive optics Ground and space based instruments

Astronomical Techniques and Methods

Messengers of astronomy and astrophysics Photons Particles Neutrino Gravitational waves Basic signal parameters Energy(frequency), position, time, polarization Rate of Arrival: Fluxes Surface brightness, spectral flux, magnitudes

Colors and magnitude Catalogues Photometric filters Photometric response curve Detector properties Geometrical properties Spectral properties Temporal properties Noise Photographic photometry Photoelectric photometers and photomultipliers CCD photometry Monochromatic photometry Multifilter photometry Atmospheric and interstellar extinction

Focusing optics Mirrors and lenses for Optical-IR astronomy Parabolic and spherical reflectors X-Ray mirrors Radio dishes Localization Directional photon counting Shadowing:Hard X-rays Event tracking: Gamma-Rays Triangulation: Gamma-Rays and Gravitational Waves Directional sensitivity of radio waves and antennas Imaging Imaging elements Image brightness Aberrations and distortions Angular resolution and PSF

Spectral bands and lines Frequency filtering: flux and magnitude systems Fourier transform techniques Dispersive spectroscopy X-Ray grating spectroscopy Detector sensitivity and effective area Spectral calibration

Polarized radiation Stokes parameters Degree and angle of polarization The Poincare sphere Muller matrices Optical polarimetry X-ray/gamma ray polarimetry Photoelectric polarimetry Compton polarimetry Pair production polarimetry Polarimetry in radio astronomy

Coherence of astronomical signals Two dish and multiple dishes interferometer Multiple sources Radio interferometry Radio interferometry: Beam forming Optical-IR interferometry X-Ray interferometry

Course Features

  • Duaration : 4-months