Fundamentals of Radio Astronomy: Observational Methods

ISBN: 036757523X

Author: Jonathan M. Marr

Fundamentals of Radio Astronomy: Observational Method is the first undergraduate-level textbook exclusively devoted to radio astronomy telescopes and observation methods. The book explains the instrumentation and techniques needed to make successful observations in radio astronomy. With examples interspersed throughout and problems at the end of each chapter, it prepares students to contribute to a radio astronomy research team. Requiring no prior knowledge of astronomy, the text begins with a review of pertinent astronomy basics. It then discusses radiation physics, the collection and detection of astronomical radio signals using radio telescopes, the functioning of various components of radio telescopes, and the processes involved in making successful radio observations. The book also provides a conceptual understanding of the fundamental principles of aperture synthesis and a more advanced undergraduate-level discussion of real-world interferometry observations. Describes the radio astronomy instruments and techniques that observers use to make successful observations, Emphasizes the use and functioning of radio telescopes, Covers the physics and measurements of radiation, Provides lab exercises on the book's CRC Press web page, giving students hands-on experience with interferometry, The 50-meter diameter Large Millimeter Telescope/Gran Telescopio Milimétrico is located at an altitude of 4600 meters on the summit of Sierra Negra located in central Mexico. This is the world's largest single-dish millimeter-wavelength telescope designed specifically for astronomical observations in the wavelength range of 0.85 to millimeters. Photo credit: James D. Lowenthal, Smith College Department of Astronomy. Book jacket.