We present program objectives and specifications for the first generation Ultra-Fast Astronomy (UFA) observatory which will explore a new astrophysical phase space by characterizing the variability of the optical (320 nm - 650 nm) sky in the millisecond to nanosecond timescales. One of the first objectives of the UFA observatory will be to search for optical counterparts to fast radio bursts (FRB) that can be used to identify the origins of FRB and probe the epoch of reionization and baryonic matter in the interstellar and intergalactic mediums. The UFA camera will consist of two single-photon resolution fast-response detector 16x16 arrays operated in coincidence mounted on the 0.7 meter Nazarbayev University Transient Telescope at the Assy-Turgen Astrophysical Observatory (NUTTelA-TAO) located near Almaty, Kazakhstan. We are currently developing two readout systems that can measure down to the microsecond and nanosecond timescales and characterizing two silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) and one photomultiplier tube (PMT) to compare the detectors for the UFA observatory and astrophysical observations in general.
G.V.Juggarow was one of the early pioneers of observational astronomy in India who built his own observatory in 1840 at Vizagapatnam. His legacy was continued by his son-in-law A.V.Nursing Row till 1892, his daughter till 1894, Madras Government till 1898, and his grandson till it became inactive in early 1900s. Observations of comets, planetary transits, stellar occultations etc have been continued along with meteorological observations. Celestial photography was also started at the observatory. After 1898 the observatory's activities were re-oriented towards meteorology. The establishment of…
We present one of the new generations of observatories, the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). This is an airborne observatory consisting of a 2.7-m telescope mounted on a modified Boeing B747-SP airplane. Flying at an up to 45,000 ft (14 km) altitude, SOFIA will observe above more than 99 percent of the Earth's atmospheric water vapor allowing observations in the normally obscured far-infrared. We outline the observatory capabilities and goals. The first-generation science instruments flying on board SOFIA and their main astronomical goals are also presented.
The situation of data sharing in astronomy is positioned in the current general context of a political push towards, and rapid development of, scientific data sharing. Data is already one of the major infrastructures of astronomy, thanks to the data and service providers and to the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA). Other disciplines are moving on in the same direction. International organisations, in particular the Research Data Alliance (RDA), are developing building blocks and bridges to enable scientific data sharing across borders. The liaisons between RDA and astronomy, a…
We characterize the low frequency radio-frequency interference (RFI) environment at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO), the location selected for the low-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array. Data were collected from the BIGHORNS instrument, located at the MRO, which records a contiguous bandwidth between 70 and 300 MHz, between November 2014 to March 2015 inclusive. The data were processed to identify RFI, and we describe a series of statistics in both the time and frequency domain, including modeling of the RFI occupancy and signal power as a series of distribution …
Observatories, Institutes and Centers that support major astronomical facilities have, for decades, played a key role in maximizing the scientific return from their facilities and telescopes. It is crucial to realize that an "observatory" is more than simply a telescope or ensemble of telescopes that provide observing opportunities for astronomers. Observatories are at the heart of an institutional capability to do things beyond what is possible for astronomers themselves to do as individuals. Observatories organize and mobilize a range of multidisciplinary skills for achieving a coherent and …
Herschel was launched on 14 May 2009, and is now an operational ESA space observatory offering unprecedented observational capabilities in the far-infrared and submillimetre spectral range 55-671 μm. Herschel carries a 3.5 metre diameter passively cooled Cassegrain telescope, which is the largest of its kind and utilises a novel silicon carbide technology. The science payload comprises three instruments: two direct detection cameras/medium resolution spectrometers, PACS and SPIRE, and a very high-resolution heterodyne spectrometer, HIFI, whose focal plane units are housed inside a superfluid h…
The Mozambique Radio Astronomy Observatory (MRAO) will be a first milestone towards development of radioastronomy in Mozambique. Development of MRAO will constitute a preparation step towards participation in the upcoming Africa VLBI Network and the Square Kilometer Array project. The MRAO first antenna is planned to serve as a capacitation and training facility and will be installed after the conversion of a 7-meter telecom dish in South Africa. Therefore, this first radiotelescope design has to comply with local spectral and environmental constraints. Furthermore, power availability and long…
The ultraviolet (UV) astronomy is a very demanded branch of space astronomy. Many dozens of short-term UV-experiments in space, as well as long-term observatories, have brought a very important knowledge on the physics and chemistry of the Universe during the last decades. Unfortunately, no large UV-observatories are planned to be launched by most of space agencies in the coming 10 -- 15 years. Conversely, the large UVOIR observatories of the future will appear not earlier than in 2030s. This paper briefly describes the projects that have been proposed by various groups. We conclude that the W…
It has been about 115 years since the establishment of Kodaikanal Observatory as an extension of the original Madras Observatory, which has evolved into the present Indian Institute of Astrophysics at Bangalore. It is also the first mountain observatory in India. Charles Michie Smith was the man who selected the site, established the observatory and directed it for the first 12 years. He was also the man who recruited John Evershed, discoverer of the famous Evershed effect and established Kodaikanal Observatory as a major centre for solar physics. Michie Smith, the person and the establishment…
The Seoul Radio Astronomy Observatory (SRAO) operates a 6.1-meter radio telescope on the Gwanak campus of Seoul National University. We present the efforts to reform SRAO to a Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) station, motivated by recent achievements by millimeter interferometer networks such as Event Horizon Telescope, East Asia VLBI Network, and Korean VLBI Network (KVN). For this goal, we installed a receiver that had been used in the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy and a digital backend, including an H-maser clock. The existing hardware and software were al…
We present the upGREAT THz heterodyne arrays for far-infrared astronomy. The Low Frequency Array (LFA) is designed to cover the 1.9-2.5 THz range using 2x7-pixel waveguide-based HEB mixer arrays in a dual polarization configuration. The High Frequency Array (HFA) will perform observations of the [OI] line at ~4.745 THz using a 7-pixel waveguide-based HEB mixer array. This paper describes the common design for both arrays, cooled to 4.5 K using closed- cycle pulse tube technology. We then show the laboratory and telescope characterization of the first array with its 14 pixels (LFA), which culmi…
We present results from ongoing science projects conducted by members of the Faulkes Telescope (FT) team and Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope (LCOGT). Many of these projects incorporate observations carried out and analysed by FT users, comprising amateur astronomers and schools. We also discuss plans for the further development of the LCOGT network.
We present the first survey of radio frequency interference (RFI) at the future site of the low frequency Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO), that both temporally and spatially resolves the RFI. The survey is conducted in a 1 MHz frequency range within the FM band, designed to encompass the closest and strongest FM transmitters to the MRO (located in Geraldton, approximately 300 km distant). Conducted over approximately three days using the second iteration of the Engineering Development Array in an all-sky imaging mode, we find a range of RFI signals…
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is an airborne observatory consisting of a specially modified Boeing 747SP with a 2.7-m telescope, flying at altitudes as high as 13.7 km (45,000 ft). Designed to observe at wavelengths from 0.3 micron to 1.6 mm, SOFIA operates above 99.8 % of the water vapor that obscures much of the infrared and submillimeter. SOFIA has seven science instruments under development, including an occultation photometer, near-, mid-, and far-infrared cameras, infrared spectrometers, and heterodyne receivers. SOFIA, a joint project between NASA and the …
The Virtual Observatory (VO) is realizing global electronic integration of astronomy data. One of the long-term goals of the U.S. VO project, the Virtual Astronomical Observatory (VAO), is development of services and protocols that respond to the growing size and complexity of astronomy data sets. This paper describes how VAO staff are active in such development efforts, especially in innovative strategies and techniques that recognize the limited operating budgets likely available to astronomers even as demand increases. The project has a program of professional outreach whereby new services …
The next major advancement in astronomy and cosmology will be driven by deep observations using very sensitive telescopes with high spatial and spectral resolution capabilities. An international consortium of astronomers, including Indian astronomers are building the Thirty Meter Telescope to achieve breakthroughs in different areas of astronomy starting from studies of the solar system to that of the early universe. This article provides a brief overview of the telescope, science objectives and details of the first light instruments.
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint U.S./German project, is a 2.5-meter infrared airborne telescope carried by a Boeing 747-SP that flies in the stratosphere at altitudes as high as 45,000 feet (13.72 km). This facility is capable of observing from 0.3 μm to 1.6 mm with an average transmission greater than 80 percent. SOFIA will be staged out of the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center aircraft operations facility at Palmdale, CA. The SOFIA Science Mission Operations (SMO) will be located at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. First science flights beg…
The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory is an air-shower array located in Mexico. It is sensitive to the highest energy photons we detect at the Earth, reaching energies of several tens of TeV. The observatory was completed more than one year ago and we are presenting in this contribution the first results about its performance. We also show the results of the first-year survey, the first flaring events detected by the observatory, its sensitivity to extended sources and the plans for the upgrade that is currently taking place.
When the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) was conceived and its first science cases defined, exoplanets had not been detected. Later studies, however, showed that optical and near-infrared photometric and spectrophotometric follow-up observations during planetary transits and eclipses are feasible with SOFIA's instrumentation, in particular with the HIPO-FLITECAM and FPI+ optical and near infrared (NIR) instruments. Additionally, the airborne-based platform SOFIA has a number of unique advantages when compared to other ground- and space-based observatories in this field…
ALTO is a concept/project in the exploratory phase since 2013 aiming to build a wide-field VHE gamma-ray observatory at very high altitude in the Southern hemisphere. The operation of such an observatory will complement the Northern hemisphere observations performed by HAWC and will make possible the exploration of the central region of our Galaxy and the hunt for PeVatrons, and to search for extended Galactic objects such as the Vela Supernova Remnant and the Fermi bubbles. The ALTO project is aiming for a substantial improvement of the Water Cherenkov Detection Technique by increasing the al…
An updated Science Vision for the SOFIA project is presented, including an overview of the characteristics and capabilities of the observatory and first generation instruments. A primary focus is placed on four science themes: 'The Formation of Stars and Planets', 'The Interstellar Medium of the Milky Way', 'Galaxies and the Galactic Center' and 'Planetary Science'.
SOFIA presents a number of interesting challenges for the development of a data reduction environment which, at its initial phase, will have to incorporate pipelines from seven different instruments. Therefore, the SOFIA data reduction software must run code which has been developed in a variety of dissimilar environments which will only increase in future generations of instrumentation. We investigated three distinctly different situations for performing pipelined data reduction in SOFIA: automated data reduction after data archival at the end of a mission, re-pipelining of science data with …
South Africa has played a leading role in radio astronomy in Africa with the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO). It continues to make strides with the current seven-dish MeerKAT precursor array (KAT-7), leading to the 64-dish MeerKAT and the giant Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which will be used for transformational radio astronomy research. Ghana, an African partner to the SKA, has been mentored by South Africa over the past six years and will soon emerge in the field of radio astronomy. The country will soon have a science-quality 32m dish converted from a redundant satelli…
We report on the design, deployment, and first results from a scintillation detector deployed at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO). The detector is a prototype for a larger array -- the Square Kilometre Array Particle Array (SKAPA) -- planned to allow the radio-detection of cosmic rays with the Murchison Widefield Array and the low-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array. The prototype design has been driven by stringent limits on radio emissions at the MRO, and to ensure survivability in a desert environment. Using data taken from Nov.\ 2018 to Feb.\ 2019, we character…
BIGHORNS is a total power radiometer developed to identify the signal from the Epoch of Reionisation in the all-sky averaged radio spectrum at low frequencies (70-300 MHz). In October 2014, the system with a conical log spiral antenna was deployed at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) and has been collecting data since then. The system has been monitoring the radio frequency interference (RFI) environment at the future site of the low-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array. We have analyzed almost two years of data (October 2014 - August 2016 inclusive) in search for ev…
In the era of big data astronomy, next generation telescopes and large sky surveys produce data sets at the TB or even PB level. Due to their large data volumes, these astronomical data sets are extremely difficult to transfer and analyze using personal computers or small clusters. In order to offer better access to data, data centers now generally provide online science platforms that enable analysis close to the data. The Chinese Virtual Observatory (China-VO) is one of the member projects in the International Virtual Observatory Alliance and it is dedicated to providing a research and educa…
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), a member of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian, is in discussions with the Space Applications Centre (SAC) of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and its partners in the newly formed Indian Sub-millimetre-wave Astronomy Alliance (ISAA), to collaborate in the construction of a sub-millimeter-wave astronomy observatory in the high altitude deserts of the Himalayas, initially at the 4500 m Indian Astronomical Observatory, Hanle. Two primary science goals are targeted. One is the mapping of the distribution of neutral at…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) will be the largest and most advanced ground-based facility for gamma-ray astronomy. Several dozens of telescopes will be operated at both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. With the advent of multi-messenger astronomy, many new large science infrastructures will start science operations and target-of-opportunity observations will play an important role in the operation of the CTAO. The Array Control and Data Acquisition (ACADA) system deployed on each CTAO site will feature a dedicated sub-system to manage external and internal scientific al…
Work in time-domain astronomy necessitates robust, automated data processing pipelines that operate in real time. We present the BANZAI pipeline which processes the thousands of science images produced across the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope (LCOGT) network of robotic telescopes each night. BANZAI is designed to perform near real-time preview and end-of-night final processing for four types of optical CCD imagers on the three LCOGT telescope classes. It performs instrumental signature removal (bad pixel masking, bias and dark removal, flat-field correction), astrometric fitting and…
This paper describes the main characteristics of the Virtual Observatory as a research infrastructure in Astronomy, and identifies those fields in which it can be of help for the community of spectral stellar libraries.
X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) has been one of the most successful astronomy missions launched by the European Space Agency. It exploits innovative use of replication technology for the X-ray reflecting telescopes that has resulted in an unprecedented combination of effective area and resolution. Three telescopes are equipped with imaging cameras and spectrometers that operate simultaneously, together with a coaligned optical telescope. The key features of the payload are described, and the in-orbit performance and scientific achievements are summarised. Subject terms or keywords: XMM…
The International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) develops the technical standards needed for seamless discovery of and access to astronomy data worldwide, according to the Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) principles, with the goal of realizing the Virtual Observatory (VO). There are 21 member organizations. The Netherlands VO applied for membership in 2020. Astronomical communities from other nations have shown interest in joining the IVOA. This paper describes the activities of the IVOA in 2020 and summarizes the May and November 2020 virtual "interoperability meet…
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile, is the largest astronomical project in existence. While ALMA's capabilities are ramping up, Early Science observations have started. The ALMA Archive is at the center of the operations of the telescope array and is designed to manage the 200 TB of data that will be taken each year, once the observatory is in full operations. We briefly describe design principles. The second part of this paper focuses on how astronomy is likely t…
The landscape of ground-based gamma-ray astronomy is drastically changing with the perspective of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) composed of more than 100 Cherenkov telescopes. For the first time in this energy domain, CTA will be operated as an observatory open to the astronomy community. In this context, a structured high level data model is being developed to describe a CTA observation. The data model includes different classes of metadata on the project definition, the configuration of the instrument, the ambient conditions, the data acquisition and the data processing. This last part…
We show the actual status of the project to implement the Astronomical Observatory of the National University of Engineering (OAUNI), including its first light. The OAUNI was installed with success at the site of the Huancayo Observatory on the peruvian central Andes. At this time, we are finishing the commissioning phase which includes the testing of all the instruments: optical tube, robotic mount, CCD camera, filter wheel, remote access system, etc. The first light gathered from a stellar field was very promissory. The next step will be to start the scientific programs and to bring support …
Virtual Observatory (VO) is a data-intensively online astronomical research and education environment, which takes advantages of advanced information technologies to achieve seamless and global access to astronomical information. AstroCloud is a cyber-infrastructure for astronomy research initiated by Chinese Virtual Observatory (China-VO) project, and also a kind of physical distributed platform which integrates lots of tasks such as telescope access proposal management, data archiving, data quality control, data release and open access, cloud based data processing and analysis. It consists o…
The South Pole is an optimal location for hosting astrophysical observatories. The status of the construction of the IceCube Observatory and some selected physics results will be discussed. Moreover prospects for detection of Ultra-High Energy cosmogenic neutrinos and techniques that can address this energy region will be considered.
I summarize the excitement of my role primarily in the early years of X-ray Astronomy. As a "second-generation" X-ray astronomer, I was privileged to participate in the enormous advance of the field, both technically and astrophysically, that occurred in the late 1960's and 1970's. The remainder of my career has concentrated on the design, construction, calibration, operation, and scientific maintenance of the "cathedral" that is the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. I contrast my early experiences with the current environment for the design and development of instrumentation, especially X-ray optics…
We present results from the first on-sky demonstration of a prototype astronomical integrated photonic spectrograph (IPS) using the Anglo-Australian Telescope near-infrared imaging spectrometer (IRIS2) at Siding Spring Observatory to observe atmospheric molecular OH emission lines. We have succeeded in detecting upwards of 27 lines, and demonstrated the practicality of the IPS device for astronomy. Furthermore, we present a laboratory characterization of the device, which is a modified version of a commercial arrayed-waveguide grating multiplexer. We measure the spectral resolution full-width-…
CASA, the Common Astronomy Software Applications, is the primary data processing software for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), and is frequently used also for other radio telescopes. The CASA software can handle data from single-dish, aperture-synthesis, and Very Long Baseline Interferometery (VLBI) telescopes. One of its core functionalities is to support the calibration and imaging pipelines for ALMA, VLA, VLA Sky Survey (VLASS), and the Nobeyama 45m telescope. This paper presents a high-level overview of the basic structu…
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) has a very long tradition of conducting space astronomy experiments. Within a few years of the discovery of the first non-solar X-ray source in 1962, TIFR leveraged its expertise in balloon technology to make significant contributions to balloon-borne hard X-ray astronomy. This initial enthusiasm led to extremely divergent all-round efforts in space astronomy: balloon-borne X-ray and infrared experiments, rocket and satellite-based X-ray experiments and a host of other new initiatives. In the early eighties, however, TIFR could not keep up with the…
The contemporary astronomy is flooded with an exponentially growing petabyte-scaled data volumes produced by powerful ground and space-based instrumentation as well as a product of extensive computer simulations and computations of complex numerical models. The efficient organisation and seamless handling of this information avalanche stored in a world-wide spread heterogeneous databases and the facilitation of extraction of new physical knowledge about the Universe is a primary goal of the rapidly evolving astronomical Virtual Observatory (VO). We give an overview of current spectroscopic cap…
We present details of two UK based robotic telescope projects, The Faulkes Telescope Project and the National Schools Observatory. We discuss details on how these projects utilise large aperture robotic telescopes for education purposes.
Results of timing measurements of the pulsar PSR B0329+54 obtained in 1968--2012 using the Big Scanning Antenna of the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory (at 102 and 111 MHz), the DSS 13 and DSS 14 telescopes of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2388 MHz), and the 64 m telescope of the Kalyazin Radio Astronomy Observatory (610 MHz) are presented. The astrometric and rotational parameters of the pulsar are derived at a new epoch. Periodic variations in the barycentric timing residuals have been found, which can be explained by the presence of a planet orbiting the pulsar, with an orbital period…
BRICS Southern Observatory (BRICS-SO) Project: Invitation to African countries to invest in Chile
National Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院天文光学与技术研究所）；China Chinese High Angular Resolution Southern Astronomical Laboratory (CHARSAL)/Astro-Photonics Laboratory/Space and Planetary Exploration Laboratory (SPEL), Dept. of Electrical Engineering, FCFM, Universidad de Chile（智利大学FCFM电气工程系中国高分辨率南天天文实验室/光子天文实验室/空间与行星探测实验室）；Centro de Astronomıa (CITEVA), Universidad de Antofagasta（安托法加斯塔大学天文学中心(CITEVA)）；Departamento de Astronomıa, Universidad de Chile（智利大学天文学系）；Instituto de Fisica y Astronomia, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaıso（瓦尔帕莱索大学理学院物理与天文研究所）；Astronomical Observatory, Volgina 7, PO Box 74 11060 Belgrade, Serbia（贝尔格莱德天文台）；Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences（俄罗斯科学院西伯利亚分支丘耶夫大气光学研究所）；Oukaimeden Observatory, Laboratory of High Energy Physics and Astrophysics, FSSM, Cadi Ayyad University（卡迪阿亚德国立大学FSSM高能物理与天体物理学实验室乌凯梅登天文台）；Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, CAS（中国科学院上海天文台）
"You don't look like a librarian" is a phrase we often hear in the astronomy department or observatory library. Astronomy librarians are a breed apart, and are taking on new and non-traditional roles as information technology evolves. This talk will explore the future of librarians and librarianship through the lens of the recent talks given at the sixth "Libraries and Information Services in Astronomy" conference held in Pune, India in February 2010. We will explore the librarian's universe, illustrating how librarians use new technologies to perform such tasks as bibliometrics, how we are re…
The Lazuli Space Observatory: Opportunities for time-domain and multi-messenger astronomy
Schmidt Sciences（施密特科学）；Texas Tech University（德克萨斯理工大学）；Carnegie Mellon University（卡内基梅隆大学）；University of Arizona（亚利桑那大学）；University of Maryland（马里兰大学）；University of Texas Rio Grande Valley（德克萨斯里奥格兰德河谷大学）；South Texas Space Science Institute（南德克萨斯空间科学研究所）；Project Pearl, Schmidt Sciences（珍珠计划，施密特科学）；University of California, San Diego（加州大学圣地亚哥分校）；E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory（E.O.劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室）；Johns Hopkins University（约翰斯·霍普金斯大学）
