1 / 19

Lecture on Infrared Telescopes

Dive into the world of infrared telescopes, from their historical evolution to solving challenges and capturing cool states of matter. Explore how these telescopes unlock hidden secrets of the universe.

stevei
Download Presentation

Lecture on Infrared Telescopes

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Lecture on Infrared Telescopes www.assignmentpoint.com

  2. Infrared…wait what?!?!? • Infrared is a certain region in the light spectrum • Ranges from .7µ to 1000µ or .1mm • Broken into near, mid, and far infrared • One step up on the light spectrum from visible light • Measure of heat www.assignmentpoint.com

  3. Infrared Telescopes • Infrared telescopes work much like visible light telescopes • Light hits parabolic mirror • Light is sent to focal point • Light is recorded by computer and translated into visible light www.assignmentpoint.com

  4. History of Infrared • Thirty years ago images were created by crude temperature readings and simple recording devices • In 1980’s the military dedicated the first large sum of money towards infrared advancement (high background infrared) • Recently scientists have changed the technology to focus on lower background heat and high sensitivity to fit the applications needed for astronomy www.assignmentpoint.com

  5. Problems with Infrared • 99% of infrared rays are absorbed by water in our atmosphere • The use of airplanes, weather balloons, and space bound telescopes help to solve these problems Infrared www.assignmentpoint.com

  6. Another Problemo • Everything in the universe above absolute zero radiates heat (infrared) • This means the heat from the telescope may interfere with data • Everything is cooled to almost absolute 0 www.assignmentpoint.com

  7. Why Do We Need Infrared Telescopes? • Infrared telescopes allow astronomers to gain information about regions in space that might otherwise remain invisible. www.assignmentpoint.com http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/ir_tutorial/psc_allsky.html

  8. These regions include: • Cool states of matter • Regions obscured by clouds of dust or gas particles http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/ir_tutorial/animation.html www.assignmentpoint.com

  9. Cool States of Matter • Most solid bodies in space vary in temperature from 3 Kelvin’s to 1500 Kelvin's. • This means that extremely cool objects undetectable to the human eye can be studied using infrared telescopes. • These can include… http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/picturegallery/index.shtml www.assignmentpoint.com

  10. http://www.iras.ucalgary.ca/~volk/crab_infrared_lg.gif • Stars • Infrared galaxies • Clouds of particles around stars • Nebulae • Interstellar molecules • Brown dwarfs • Planets http://swtrekking.com/photo_gallery/images/stars.jpg www.assignmentpoint.com http://www.astr.tohoku.ac.jp/~tohru/AGgroup/arp220image.jpg http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/ContentMedia/M16WF2.jpg

  11. Clouds of Dust and Gas • Some bodies of matter in space are hidden behind huge clouds of dust particles or gas. • Infrared telescopes allow scientists to view these regions much more easily • These include the centers of galaxies and clouds containing forming stars and planets. www.assignmentpoint.com

  12. The Early Universe • The Universe is constantly expanding • Because of this, most of the radiation emitted from distant stars is in the infrared spectrum. • Our views of these distant bodies of matter in space actually show us how they looked a long, long time ago. www.assignmentpoint.com http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/cosmic_reference/redshift.html

  13. To gain a greater knowledge about bodies of matter in space, we need information about all of the different forms of radiation that they emit. www.assignmentpoint.com

  14. SOFIA • Airborne Observatory • Reduces Atmospheric Interference • Will begin observing in 2005 www.assignmentpoint.com

  15. SOFIA • 747SP Aircraft • 2.5 meter reflector • Largest telescope put in an aircraft www.assignmentpoint.com

  16. UKIRT • Earth-based • Largest infrared telescope • Located on Mauna Kea in Hawaii • 3.8 meter reflector • A lot of atmospheric interference www.assignmentpoint.com

  17. Spitzer Space Telescope • Largest infrared telescope in space • No atmospheric interference • .85 m reflector • Cryogenically cooled so not to interfere with signals www.assignmentpoint.com

  18. Spitzer’s Cryostat • Infrared is mostly heat waves, Spitzer is cool so its own heat does not interfere with signals • 1.4 degrees kelvin www.assignmentpoint.com

  19. Spitzer Images www.assignmentpoint.com

More Related