Atmosphere and Telescope Simulators for
astronomy education Astronomy education or astronomy education research (AER) refers both to the methods currently used to teach the science of astronomy and to an area of pedagogical research that seeks to improve those methods. Specifically, AER includes systematic t ...
, are used because time in
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
-worthy class
telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to obse ...
s are generally expensive and difficult to obtain. Telescope facilities are often uncomfortable for operators working for long periods of time. Researchers have expressed the need for a
laboratory
A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physici ...
tool which could provide better and cheaper accessibility than a real telescope, and better characterization than
computer simulation
Computer simulation is the process of mathematical modelling, performed on a computer, which is designed to predict the behaviour of, or the outcome of, a real-world or physical system. The reliability of some mathematical models can be dete ...
s. A
LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (cor ...
based illumination system in which five Galilean
collimation
A collimated beam of light or other electromagnetic radiation has parallel rays, and therefore will spread minimally as it propagates. A perfectly collimated light beam, with no divergence, would not disperse with distance. However, diffractio ...
systems have been used is reported on. It is part of a
turbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between ...
simulator for the evaluation of on ground telescopes instrumentation developed by
INTA
Inta (russian: Инта́, kv, Инта) is a town in the Komi Republic, Russia. Population:
History
Inta was founded circa 1940 as a settlement to support a geological expedition to explore coal deposits and projecting of mines.
The city's n ...
(optics) and LIDAX (opto-mechanics)
for the IAC called IACATS.
The IACATS instrument simulates a scene consisting of a set of different
binary star
A binary star is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved using a telescope as separate stars, in ...
s simulating the required angular separation between them, and their spectral characteristics. As a result, a
visible and
infrared
Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from aroun ...
multi-spectral illumination system has been integrated as a part of the turbulence simulator. A
wave front
In physics, the wavefront of a time-varying ''wave field'' is the set ( locus) of all points having the same '' phase''. The term is generally meaningful only for fields that, at each point, vary sinusoidally in time with a single temporal fre ...
sensor enables to evaluate the deformation that the phase plates, or the simulated turbulence, produce in the wave front coming from the illumination system and star simulator. Finally, a specific illumination system include different working wavelengths.
Different scenes are simulated from three main controlled parameters:
* Stars Light
*
Atmospheric
An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...
turbulences
* Telescope focal plane
See also
*
List of observatories
This is a list of astronomical observatories ordered by name, along with initial dates of operation (where an accurate date is available) and location. The list also includes a final year of operation for many observatories that are no longer in ...
*
List of telescope types
The following are lists of devices categorized as types of telescopes or devices associated with telescopes. They are broken into major classifications with many variations due to professional, amateur, and commercial sub-types. Telescopes can be ...
References
External links
Consolider Ingenio GTC
Telescopes
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