Instrumentation Commons^™

Searching For Anomalous Extensive Air Showers Using The Pierre Auger Observatory Fluorescence Detector, Andrew Puyleart

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Anomalous extensive air showers have yet to be detected by cosmic ray observatories. Fluorescence detectors provide a way to view the air showers created by cosmic rays with primary energies reaching up to hundreds of EeV . The resulting air showers produced by these highly energetic collisions can contain features that deviate from average air showers. Detection of these anomalous events may provide information into unknown regions of particle physics, and place constraints on cross-sectional interaction lengths of protons. In this dissertation, I propose measurements of extensive air shower profiles that are used in a machine learning pipeline to distinguish …

Pathfinding Fast Radio Bursts Localizations Using Very Long Baseline Interferometry, Pranav Rohit Sanghavi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration, bright radio transients of extragalactic origin. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope’s CHIME/FRB instrument and other radio telescopes across the globe have detected hundreds of FRBs. Their origins are a mystery. Precise localization within the host is critical to distinguish between progenitor models. This can be achieved through Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). Until now, VLBI localizations have only been carried out in targeted follow-up observations of some repeating sources which comprise a small fraction of the FRBs.

For this work, an interferometric array of 6m dishes was constructed at the Green …

Constraining The Star Formation Histories Of Galaxies In The Swift/Uvot + Manga (Swim) Value-Added Catalog, Nikhil Ajgaonkar

Theses and Dissertations--Physics and Astronomy

Although our understanding about galaxy evolution has improved in the past few
decades, we still do not understand how galaxies suddenly stop forming stars and move towards a quiescent phase. In order to do that, we must derive the Star Formation Histories (SFHs) of galaxies, that trace the change in Star Formation (SF) inside the galaxy over the cosmic timescale. This is achieved by using a set of spatially resolved near-ultraviolet (NUV) and optical spectroscopic images of the galaxies. We generate the Swift/UVOT + MaNGA value added catalog (SwiM VAC; Molina et al., 2020b) which comprises 150 galaxies having a …

Inferential Statistics And Information Theoretical Measures: An Approach To Interference Detection In Radio Astronomy, Morgan R. Dameron

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In a time when technology is rapidly growing, radio observatories are now able to expand their computational power to achieve higher receiver sensitivity power and a more flexible realtime computing approach to probe the universe for its composition and study new astronomical phenomena. This allows searches to go deeper into the universe, and results in the recording of massive quantities of observed data. At the same time, this increases the amount of radio frequency interference (RFI) found in the obtained observatory data. The high power of RFI easily masks the low power of extraterrestrial signals, making them hard to detect …

Impact Of Radio Frequency Interference And Real-Time Spectral Kurtosis Mitigation, Evan T. Smith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

We catalog the ubiquity of Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) plaguing every modern radio telescope and investigate several ways to mitigate it in order to create better science-ready data products for astronomers. There are a myriad of possible RFI sources, including satellite uplinks and downlinks, cellular communications, air traffic radar, and natural sources such as lightning. Real-time RFI mitigation strategies must take these RFI characteristics into account, as the interfering signals can look significantly different at very high time and frequency resolutions.

We examine Spectral Kurtosis (SK) as a real-time statistical RFI detection method, and compare its flagging efficacy against simulated …

Solution-Processed Flexible Broadband Zno Photodetector Modified By Ag Nanoparticles, N. P. Klochko, K. S. Klepikova, I. V. Khrypunova, V. R. Kopach, I. I. Tyukhov, S. I. Petrushenko, S. V. Dukarov, V. M. Sukhov, M. V. Kirichenko, A. L. Khrypunova

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In this work, we present flexible broadband photodetectors (PDs) fabricated by a deposition of nanostructured zinc oxide (ZnO) films on polyimide (PI) substrates by using cheap and scalable aqueous method Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR). In order to increase the long-wavelength absorption of the nanostructured ZnO layer, we created its intrinsic defects, including oxygen vacancies by post-treatment at 300 °C in vacuum and thus the light-sensitive material ZnO/PI was obtained. Then we applied silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) from a silver sol onto a nanostructured ZnO film, which were visualized using SEM in the form of spheres up to …

Modeling Cherenkov Light Detection Timing For The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System, Keilan Finn Ramirez

Physics

The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) is an array of four 12-meter telescopes which use the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique to conduct high-energy gamma-ray astronomy. VERITAS detects magnitude and location information associated with Cherenkov light, and uses this information to indirectly observe gamma-rays through a software reconstruction process. VERITAS also records timing information corresponding to Cherenkov light detection, and this additional information could theoretically be incorporated into the reconstruction process to improve the accuracy of gamma-ray observations. The first step to including timing information is to understand when Cherenkov light detection would be expected from a known …

On The Mobility Of Small Aperture Telescopes For Initial Orbit Determination And Apparent Magnitude Derivation Of Low Earth Satellites, Jonathan Ian Hernandez

Master's Theses

Maintaining Space Domain Awareness (SDA) of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) requires effective methods of tracking and characterization. Optical measurements of these objects are generally sparse due to limited access intervals and high angular rates. Light pollution and geographic obstructions may also preclude consistent observations. However, a mobile small aperture telescope grants the ability to minimize such environmental effects, thereby increasing capture likelihoods for objects within this regime. By enhancing LEO satellite visibility in this way, extensive orbital and visual data are obtainable.

An 8-inch Meade LX200GPS telescope equipped with a Lumenera SKYnyx2-0M CCD camera comprises the system that …

The Large Area Burst Polarimeter (Leap) A Nasa Mission Of Opportunity For The Iss, Bing Zhang, Numerous Authors, See Full List Below

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

The LargE Area Burst Polarimeter (LEAP) will radically improve our understanding of some of the most energetic phenomena in our Universe by exposing the underlying physics that governs astrophysical jets and the extreme environment surrounding newborn compact objects. LEAP will do this by making the highest fidelity polarization measurements to date of the prompt gamma-ray emission from a large sample of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). The science objectives are met with a single instrument deployed as an external payload on the ISS-a wide FOV Compton polarimeter that measures GRB polarization from 50-500 keV and GRB spectra from ∼10 keV to 5 …

Dark Matter Detection Materials, James E. Harrison Iv

PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas

The purpose of this paper is to review the different methods and materials used in the detection of dark matter. Special attention is given to materials in the solid state, but other materials are briefly mentioned for the sake of completeness. After a review, we discuss the viability of each material as a detector, and determine what advantages each material has, and what method of detection works best for each material. We conclude by discussing the potential outcomes of a null detection.

Transmission Telescope Optical Dynamic Alignment, Viviana Vladutescu, Aaron J. Swank, Dzu K. Le, Calvin R. Robinson, O. Scott Sands

Publications and Research

The Integrated Radio Optical Communication System (iROC) is designed to transmit data between Mars and Earth by means of radio waves at 32.67 GHz (Ka band) and laser beam (LB) at 1550 nm, both transmitted via a combined telescope/antenna called a teletenna. The iROC terminal will provide “beaconless” operations to allow full function from the outer planets. In order to point without the aid of an uplink beacon, the proof of concept presented here is addressing the need for an accurate determination and control of the relative position of the LB with respect to a reference star.

The experiment presented …

Corrigendum: The Remote Observatories Of The Southeastern Association For Research In Astronomy (Sara), William C. Keel, Terry Oswalt, Peter Mack, Gary Henson, Todd Hillwig, Daniel Batcheldor, Robert Berrington, Chris De Pree, Dieter Hartmann, Martha Leake, Javier Licandro, Brian Murphy, James Webb, Matt A. Wood

Publications

Bill Gray of Project Pluto brought to our attention an error of 0.03° in the listed latitude of our Kitt Peak telescope. While correcting the table where this occurred, we also take the opportunity to update the instrument properties and weather statistics of our remote telescopes

Standard Non-Uniform Noise Dataset, Andres Imperial, John M. Edwards

Browse all Datasets

Fixed Pattern Noise Non-Uniformity Correction through K-Means Clustering

Fixed pattern noise removal from imagery by software correction is a practical approach compared to a physical hardware correction because it allows for correction post-capture of the imagery. Fixed pattern noise presents a unique challenge for de-noising techniques as the noise does not present itself where large number statistics are effective. Traditional noise removal techniques such as blurring or despeckling produce poor correction results because of a lack of noise identification. Other correction methods developed for fixed pattern noise can often present another problem of misidentification of noise. This problem can result …

Systematical Uncertainties In The Measurement Of A Gamma-Ray Burst’S Isotropic Equivalent Energy, Kimberly Zoldak

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) are the most energetic and luminous explosions in the Universe since the Big Bang, enabling them to be observed out to extremely large redshifts (z~9). Consequently, this makes them a promising cosmological standard candle candidate. Unfortunately, however, they have proven to be quite challenging to standardize. The GRB community has worked tirelessly at this task, and to date, has put forth several luminosity-distance relations, some more propitious than others. The most prevailing problem with these relations is in their sizable amount of scatter, likely due to measurement inconsistencies and errors in the variables they employ. This arises …

Testing Spiral Density-Wave Theory In Disk Galaxies Using Multi-Wavelength Image Data, Star Formation History Maps And Spatially Resolved Stellar Clusters, Mohamed Shameer Abdeen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Studying galaxy structures using different wavebands enables us to observe a varietyof intrinsic galactic features and to test the validity of underlying theories in detail. Density wave theory, originally proposed by C.C. Lin and F. Shu (Lin & Shu 1964), explains the nature of the spiral arm patterns in disk galaxies as density waves that propagate through the galactic disk. From spiral galaxies to the rings of Saturn, density wave theory has had success in providing qualitative explanations of disk dynamics. However, it is now widely believed that galactic disks are dissipative systems which raises the question of whether they …

The James Webb Space Telescope And Scientific Progress, Robert Astle

Quest

Independent Research Paper

Research in progress for PHYS 2425: University Physics I

Faculty Mentor: Raji Kannampuzha, Ph.D.

The following paper represents research work done by students in University Physics 2425, the first half of a two-semester introductory course in physics. It is a calculus- based physics course, intended primarily for physics, chemistry, math, and engineering majors. Students are introduced to the concept of academic research by learning to ask research-focused questions and then use the library resources to pursue outside research to find answers. For this assignment, students are asked to investigate a physical science, biological science, or technology problem …

Transform Based Approaches For The Detection Of Astrophysical Signals, Marwan Mahfud Alkhweldi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Development of new algorithms for the detection of isolated astrophysical pulses is of interest to radio astronomers. Both Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) and several Rotating Radio Transients (RRATs) were detected through the application of a single pulse search algorithm. The conventional approach to detect astronomical pulses requires an exhaustive search for the correct dispersion measure. Its accelerated versions involve signal processing in Fourier transform space.

In this dissertation, we present several new transform-based approaches for the detection and analysis of astrophysical signals with the latest being the most effective and advanced of all. It is implemented in several steps. First, …

Magnetic Properties Of Lsmo/Sto Thin Films: Magnetocaloric, Spin Dynamics And Magnetic Viscosity Investigations, Navid Mottaghi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

While other films are discussed, this dissertation will focus on detailed studies of the dc and ac bulk magnetometry in a characteristic 7.6 nm thin film of La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ grown on SrTiO₃ (001). The dc bulk magnetometry measurements show that the sample is magnetically inhomogeneous. Temperature variation of magnetization (M vs. T) was measured in zero-field-cooled and field-cooled protocols to determine the blocking temperature T_B in different applied magnetic fields. The field variation of T_B is interpreted as the presence of embedded spin clusters of 1.4 nm. Moreover, the M vs. …

Investigation On The Use Of Small Aperture Telescopes For Leo Satellite Orbit Determination, Luis R. Curiel Iii

Master's Theses

The following thesis regards the use of small aperture telescopes for space domain awareness efforts. The rapidly populating space domain was motivation for the development of a new operation scheme to conduct space domain awareness feasibility studies using small telescopes. Two 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes at the California Polytechnic State University and the Air Force Research Lab in Kirtland AFB, NM, in conjunction with a dedicated CCD camera and a commercial DSLR camera, were utilized to conduct optical observations on satellites in Earth orbit.

Satellites were imaged during August 2019, and from January 2020 to March 2020, resulting in the collection …

Tidal Locking And The Gravitational Fold Catastrophe, Andrea Ferroglia, Miguel C. N. Fiolhais

Publications and Research

The purpose of this work is to study the phenomenon of tidal locking in a pedagogical framework by analyzing the effective gravitational potential of a two-body system with two spinning objects. It is shown that the effective potential of such a system is an example of a fold catastrophe. In fact, the existence of a local minimum and saddle point, corresponding to tidally locked circular orbits, is regulated by a single dimensionless control parameter that depends on the properties of the two bodies and on the total angular momentum of the system. The method described in this work results in …

Measurements And Mitigation Of Scattered Light Noise In Ligo, Corey Daniel Austin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Advanced LIGO (aLIGO) detectors use 1064 nm lasers to measure the tiny fluctuations in spacetime that occur when gravitational waves pass through the earth. LIGO makes use of advanced coating methods and materials to limit the amount of light that scatters from the main beam, but some amount of light does scatter. This stray light can interact with surfaces inside the interferometer that are not seismically isolated and then recombine with the main beam, introducing excess noise into the gravitational wave channel. This thesis reviews the methods for modeling scattered light with ray tracing software and analytical models, for …

Telescope Parallel Actuator Mount: Control And Testing, Samuel S. Artho-Bentz

Master's Theses

This thesis approaches the task of designing a control system for the Parallel Actuator Mount developed by Dr. John Ridgely and Mr. Garrett Gudgel. It aims to create a base framework that directly controls the telescope and can be expanded to accept external command. It incorporates lower priced components and develops more easily approachable software with great functionality. An open-loop method for velocity control is established. Developing repeatable tests is a major focus. Testing finds the control methods developed result in velocity error of less than 5% and position error of less than 1.5% despite several mechanical issues and inaccuracies. …

Topics In Gravitational Wave Physics, Aaron David Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We begin with a brief introduction to gravitational waves. Next we look into the origin of the Chandrasekhar transformations between the different equations found by perturbing a Schwarzschild black hole. Some of the relationships turn out to be Darboux transformations. Then we turn to GW150914, the first detected black hole binary system, to see if the nonlinear memory might be detectable by current and future detectors. Finally, we develop an updated code for computing equatorial extreme mass ratio inspirals which will be open sourced as soon as it has been generalized for arbitrary inclinations.

The Planetary Luminosity Problem: " Missing Planets" And The Observational Consequences Of Episodi Accretion, Sean D. Brittain, Joan R. Najita, Ruobing Dong, Zhaohuan Zhu

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

The high occurrence rates of spiral arms and large central clearings in protoplanetary disks, if interpreted as signposts of giant planets, indicate that gas giants commonly form as companions to young stars (Myr) at orbital separations of 10–300 au. However, attempts to directly image this giant planet population as companions to more mature stars (>10 Myr) have yielded few successes. This discrepancy could be explained if most giant planets form by "cold start," i.e., by radiating away much of their formation energy as they assemble their mass, rendering them faint enough to elude detection at later times. In that …

Discovering New Strong Gravitational Lenses In The Desi Legacy Imaging Surveys, Xiaosheng Huang, Christopher Storfer, A. Gu, V. Ravi, A. Pilon, W. Sheu, R. Venguswamy, S. Bankda, A. Dey, M. Landriau, D. Lang, A. Meisner, J. Moustakas, A. D. Myers, R. Sajith, E. F. Schlafly, D. J. Schlegel

Physics and Astronomy

We have conducted a search for new strong gravitational lensing systems in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Legacy Imaging Surveys’ Data Release 8. We use deep residual neural networks, building on previous work presented in Huang et al. (2020). These surveys together cover approximately one third of the sky visible from the northern hemisphere, reaching a z-band AB magnitude of ∼ 22.5. We compile a training sample that consists of known lensing systems as well as non-lenses in the Legacy Surveys and the Dark Energy Survey. After applying our trained neural networks to the survey data, we visually inspect and …

Determining The Rotational And Orbital Velocities Of Objects In The Solar System, Mark Jones

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Astronomers have been observing the night sky for many centuries to establish a better understanding for our universe and solar system. As part of their observations, astronomers characterize celestial bodies by fundamental properties such as mass, motion, and composition in order to provide further insight about the objects in question. As technology and science have evolved, the methods for measuring these properties have become more precise and accurate. One such methodology is known as spectroscopy, and it is a significant tool for observational astronomy. In this paper, we shall describe how we used astronomical spectroscopy to determine orbital and rotational …

Neusch Automated Filter System: A Custom-Designed Photo-Filter Switching Apparatus For Embry-Riddle’S 1 Meter Telescope, Tyler Neusch

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The one-meter telescope on the roof of Embry-Riddle’s College of Arts and Sciences building in Daytona Beach, FL is an advanced piece of technology supporting education and public outreach. One part of this telescopic system is a custom-made Cassegrain Instrument Mount. This one-of-a-kind mount allows for multiple scientific instruments to be simultaneously mounted to the telescope. However, its mechanical layout prevents the use of a traditional device known as a filter wheel.

Filter wheels store multiple photo-filters each capable of filtering out all but certain wavelengths of light for use with a CCD camera. Therefore, a filter wheel allows the …

Characterizing Plasma With Emission Tomography-Feasibility Study On Synthetic And Experimental Data, M. Nikolić, A. Samolov, A. Godunov, L. Vušković,, S. Popović

Physics Faculty Publications

We present a feasibility study on different tomographic algorithms to overcome the issues of finite sets of projection data, limited viewing angles, and noisy data, which cause the tomographic reconstruction to be an ill-posed inversion problem. We investigated three approaches: single angle Abel inversion, two angle approach, and multiple angle 2D plasma tomography. These methods were tested on symmetric and asymmetric sample functions and on experimental results from a supersonic flowing argon microwave plasma sustained in a cylindrical quartz cavity. The analysis focused on the afterglow region of the microwave flow where a plasmoid-like formation was observed. We investigated the …

Automated Spectroscopic Detection And Mapping Using Alma And Machine Learningtechniques, Steven Cocke, Andrew Wilkins, Josephine Mcdaniel, John Santerre, Conor Nixon

SMU Data Science Review

In this paper we present a methodology for automating theclassification of spectrally resolved observations of multiple emissionlines with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).Molecules in planetary atmospheres emit or absorb different wavelengthsof light thereby providing a unique signature for each species. ALMAdata were taken from interferometric observations of Titan made be-tween UT 2012 July 03 23:22:14 and 2012 July 04 01:06:18 as part ofALMA project 2011.0.00319.S. We first employed a greedy set cover algorithm to identify the most probable molecules that would reproducethe set of frequencies with respective flux greater than 3σaway from themean. We then selected a subset of …

Optics Observatory Conversion From Solar To Stellar, Nicholas Schragal, Logan Curtis, Astronomy Club

Research Horizons Day Posters

No abstract provided.