Astronomy 174 – Major's Seminar

2. Astronomy 174 – Major's Seminar • Course schedule • Jan 24 Mike Skrutskie Infrared instrumentation • Jan 31 Kelsey Johnson Massive star formation and Galaxies • Feb 7 Craig Sarazin X-rays and Clusters of Galaxies • Feb 14 Mark Whittle Observational Cosmology • Feb 21 Bob O'Connell Star formation and Galactic Evolution • Feb 28 Sean Matt Computer simulation of accretion disks • Mar 7 Spring Break Week • Mar 14 Roger Chevalier Theoretical understanding of supernovae • Mar 21 Anne Verbiscer The Icy Satellites of Saturn • Mar 28 John Hawley Modelling Black Hole Accretion • Apr 4 Steve Majewski Constructing the Milky Way • Apr 11 Bob Rood Visiting Green Bank – Radio Astronomy • Apr 18 Ed Murphy The Ultraviolet Sky • Apr 25 Zhi-Yun Li Simulation of protoplanetary disks • May 2 Mike Skrutskie Fan Mountain tour

3. Infrared Astronomy and Instrumentation at UVa The Path to Progress in Astronomy Infrared Astronomy UVa's potential to contribute

4. The Engine of Astrophysical Discovery? Walter Baade Heber Curtis Edwin Hubble

5. The Engine of Astrophysical Discovery Edwin Hubble

6. The Engine of Astrophysical Discovery Walter Baade - Carpenter Heber Curtis - Barber Edwin Hubble - Plumber

7. The Engine of Astrophysical Discovery Most... discoveries came as huge surprises, which shows that theoretical anticipation had little to do with discovery. What mattered most was the implementation of powerful new observing tools. -- Martin Harwit Cosmic Discovery: The Search, Scope and Heritage of Astronomy

8. Delivering Capability - Bigger Apertures

9. Delivering Capability - Better Resolution

10. Delivering Capability - Spectral Coverage

11. Delivering Capability - Spectral Coverage

12. Detectors

13. Delivering Capability - Spectral Coverage

14. Delivering Capability - Spectral Resolution

15. Delivering Capability - Spectral Resolution

16. Translating Capabilities into Discoveries

17. Translating Capabilities into Discoveries

18. Infrared Astronomy

19. Infrared Astronomy - Detectors

20. Infrared Astronomy - Challenges

21. Infrared Astronomy - Advantages

22. Infrared Astronomy - Advantages

23. Infrared Astronomy - Advantages

24. Infrared Astronomy - Advantages

25. Infrared Astronomy - Advantages

26. Infrared Astronomy - Advantages

27. Infrared Astronomy and Instrumentation at UVa Provide broad experience in optical, electronic, and mechanical design to UVa graduate and undergraduate students. Involve students in the development of moderate-scale instrumentation for modest-aperture telescopes. • Affordable and scientifically productive • ``End-to-end'' instrumentation experiences. • Explore unique observational ``phase-space'' • Posture UVa to contribute directly to instrument development for LBT-scale projects.

28. The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT)

29. Small Telescope Astronomy

30. UVa Astronomical Instrumentation Lab

31. UVa Astronomical Instrumentation Lab

32. A Mistake Tolerant Environment

33. A Focus on the Near-Infrared (0.8-2.5um) Ground-based science (the atmosphere is transparent) Thermal emission is a weak (but manageable) contaminant Cryogenics are modest (70-80K)

34. A Focus on the Near-Infrared (0.8-2.5um) Ground-based science (the atmosphere is transparent) Thermal emission is a weak (but manageable) contaminant Cryogenics are modest (70-80K)

35. A Focus on the Near-Infrared (0.8-2.5um) Ground-based science (the atmosphere is transparent) Thermal emission is a weak (but manageable) contaminant Cryogenics are modest (70-80K)

36. CorMASS to VATT (Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope - 1.8m) R=300 cross-dispersed near-infrared spectrograph, originally designed for the Palomar 60''.

37. CorMASS to VATT (Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope - 1.8m) The VATT was starved for bright-time instrumentation and was a perfect optical match for Cormass. • bigger aperture (1.8m), • better seeing (often <0.5'') • excellent telescope control

38. CorMASS to VATT (Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope - 1.8m) Simple telescope interface and one moving part (flip mirror between slit- view and spectrograph mode).

39. Virginia Instrumentation • Five main projects ranging from commissioned to drawing-board • CorMASS – a peripatetic low resolution (R=300) cross-dispersed near-infrared spectrograph now at the APO 3.5-meter (in operation since 1999).

40. Fan Mountain 31'' Telescope Refurbishment Revitalize existing 31'' Cassegrain reflector Add PC-TCS control, autoguiding... and infrared camera Modernize control room

41. Virginia Instrumentation • Five main projects ranging from commissioned to drawing-board • FanCam – A 1024x1024 near-infrared camera/spectrograph/polarimeter for the Fan Mountain 31” telescope (in operation since 2004).

43. Virginia Instrumentation • Five main projects ranging from commissioned to drawing-board • FanCam – A 1024x1024 near-infrared camera/spectrograph/polarimeter for the Fan Mountain 31” telescope (in operation since 2004).

44. Virginia Instrumentation • Five main projects ranging from commissioned to drawing-board • CorMASS – a peripatetic low resolution (R=300) cross-dispersed near-infrared spectrograph now at the APO 3.5-meter (in operation since 1999). • FanCam – A 1024x1024 near-infrared camera/spectrograph/polarimeter for the Fan Mountain 31” telescope (in operation since 2004). • TripleSpec – A next-generation moderate resolution (R=3000) spectrograph for the APO 3.5-meter (delivery in early 2007) • LMIRcam – A mid-infrared imager for the combined Fizeau interferometric focus of the LBT • InGaAs array development – Collaborate with Sensors Unlimited to introduce a new and “inexpensive” detector material to 0.8-2.3um astronomy.

45. InGaAs Detector Characterization and Testing Explore application of a ''new'' class of detector to ground-based imaging.