Difference between revisions of "Background/general reference"

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=[[Light beyond the visible]]=
 
  
There are a LOT of resources available all over the web on this, so just a few links listed here.
+
=Starting from the very beginning=
  
=[[Central wavelengths and zero points]]=
+
[[How science works and other philosophical musings]]  
  
A reference page for bands frequently used in NITARP.
+
[[Light beyond the visible]] -- There are a LOT of resources available all over the web on this, so just a few links listed here.
  
=[[Units]]=
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[[Archives]] -- what an archive is and why it's important.
  
''need to clean up (after math fixes) and separate into two pages''
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[[Astronomers as people]]
  
=[[Literature searching]]=
+
=Reference pages=
How can you find out what scientists already know about a particular astronomy topic or object? Literature searching is an '''essential''' part of doing scientific research! 
 
  
=[[Mosaics]]=
+
[[Central wavelengths and zero points]] -- A reference page for bands frequently used in NITARP.
Typically objects or regions in space we want to study are too large for the telescope to capture in a single image or frame, so the telescope has to take many frames which are combined using software into a single image or what is commonly called a mosaic (or sometimes a map).
 
  
=[[Resolution]]=
+
[[Units]] -- Reference page for units, including flux/flux density
Resolution matters!
 
  
=[[Diffraction]]=
+
=Critically important concepts=
Diffraction matters! The 'rings' you see around some Spitzer sources aren't the dust rings around those sources!
 
  
=[[Confusion]]=
+
[[Literature searching]] -- How can you find out what scientists already know about a particular astronomy topic or object? Literature searching is an '''essential''' part of doing scientific research. 
Depending on where you are looking and what wavelength you are using and specifically what you are doing, confusion can matter!
 
  
=[[Infrared Background]]=
+
[[Resolution]] -- spatial resolution matters!
Depending on where you are looking and what wavelength you are using and specifically what you are doing, the IR background can matter!  
 
  
 +
[[Magnitudes]] -- brightnesses of astronomical things are often given in magnitudes.
  
=[[Photometry]]=
+
[[FITS format]] -- professional astronomy images are usually in FITS format. If you're doing science, you shouldn't be using gifs, jpgs, pngs.
A discussion of what photometry is and why you would want to do it.  Includes where to find already-reduced Spitzer photometry.
 
Also see [[Aperture photometry using APT]].
 
  
=[[Units]]=
+
[[Mosaics]] -- Typically objects or regions in space we want to study are too large for the telescope to capture in a single image or frame, so the telescope has to take many frames which are combined using software into a single image or what is commonly called a mosaic (or sometimes a map).
If you've done photometry before and expect to do it the same way here, BE CAREFUL because IT WILL NOT WORK.  The units of Spitzer images can be tricky. This page has a lot of information about these units and how to convert them into more familiar units.
 
  
=[[Color-Magnitude and Color-Color plots]]=
+
[[Astronomical imaging]] -- includes color tables and stretches
A general discussion of color-magnitude and color-color plots.
 
  
=[[SED plots]]=
+
[[Image artifacts]]
A general discussion of spectral energy distribution (SED) plots.
 
  
=[[What is a periodogram?]]=
+
[[Filters]]
Information on periodograms -- what they are, why you care about them, and how to use the NASA Exoplanet Archive's tool for determining them.
+
 
 +
[[Photometry (concept)]] -- overview of what photometry is. (Mechanics of how to [[Photometry (finding it) | find other people's photometry]] or [[Photometry (doing it)| how to do your own photometry]] are in other pages.)
 +
 
 +
[[Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs)]] -- a way of looking at the energy emitted by a given object at many wavelengths at once. SEDs are ubiquitous in IR astronomy.
 +
 
 +
[[Color-color and color-magnitude diagrams]] -- a way of looking at the brightnesses of up to 4 bands per object for many objects at once. Color-magnitude diagrams and color-color diagrams are ubiquitous in astronomy.
 +
 
 +
[[Color selection]] -- how to find types of objects using color-magnitude and color-color diagrams
 +
 
 +
=Other concepts=
 +
 
 +
 
 +
[[Diffraction]] -- related to, but different from, resolution. Diffraction matters! The 'rings' you see around some Spitzer sources aren't the dust rings around those sources!
 +
 
 +
[[Confusion]] -- Depending on where you are looking and what wavelength you are using and specifically what you are doing, confusion can matter.
 +
 
 +
[[Infrared Background]] -- Depending on where you are looking and what wavelength you are using and specifically what you are doing, the IR background can matter.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
<font color=red>Everything below this is a bookmark to something that needs to be cleaned up and placed properly above</font>
 +
 
 +
 
 +
 
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=Time Series Analysis=
 +
[[What is a periodogram?]] -- what periodograms are, why you care about them, and how to use the NASA Exoplanet Archive's tool for determining them.
  
  
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=Telescopes=
 
=Telescopes=
 
''need better title, sorting''
 
''need better title, sorting''
 +
 +
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZrzxFqWU_s Movie (31:09) on IR missions] -- Dr. Luisa Rebull (2015)
 +
 +
[[Spitzer Space Telescope]]
  
 
[[How does the Spitzer Telescope work?]]
 
[[How does the Spitzer Telescope work?]]
 
A very general introduction to the Spitzer Space Telescope, with links to go to for more information.   
 
A very general introduction to the Spitzer Space Telescope, with links to go to for more information.   
 
 
''need to chase sublinks and file them''
 
''need to chase sublinks and file them''
  
Line 59: Line 77:
 
A general introduction to all of the archives housed at IPAC that are part of NITARP.
 
A general introduction to all of the archives housed at IPAC that are part of NITARP.
  
=[[Comparison of other missions to Spitzer]] (dated; need to update this!)=
+
[[Comparison of other missions to Spitzer]] (dated; need to update this!)
 
 
 
''need to chase sublinks and file them''
 
''need to chase sublinks and file them''

Latest revision as of 20:10, 11 August 2020

Starting from the very beginning

How science works and other philosophical musings

Light beyond the visible -- There are a LOT of resources available all over the web on this, so just a few links listed here.

Archives -- what an archive is and why it's important.

Astronomers as people

Reference pages

Central wavelengths and zero points -- A reference page for bands frequently used in NITARP.

Units -- Reference page for units, including flux/flux density

Critically important concepts

Literature searching -- How can you find out what scientists already know about a particular astronomy topic or object? Literature searching is an essential part of doing scientific research.

Resolution -- spatial resolution matters!

Magnitudes -- brightnesses of astronomical things are often given in magnitudes.

FITS format -- professional astronomy images are usually in FITS format. If you're doing science, you shouldn't be using gifs, jpgs, pngs.

Mosaics -- Typically objects or regions in space we want to study are too large for the telescope to capture in a single image or frame, so the telescope has to take many frames which are combined using software into a single image or what is commonly called a mosaic (or sometimes a map).

Astronomical imaging -- includes color tables and stretches

Image artifacts

Filters

Photometry (concept) -- overview of what photometry is. (Mechanics of how to find other people's photometry or how to do your own photometry are in other pages.)

Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) -- a way of looking at the energy emitted by a given object at many wavelengths at once. SEDs are ubiquitous in IR astronomy.

Color-color and color-magnitude diagrams -- a way of looking at the brightnesses of up to 4 bands per object for many objects at once. Color-magnitude diagrams and color-color diagrams are ubiquitous in astronomy.

Color selection -- how to find types of objects using color-magnitude and color-color diagrams

Other concepts

Diffraction -- related to, but different from, resolution. Diffraction matters! The 'rings' you see around some Spitzer sources aren't the dust rings around those sources!

Confusion -- Depending on where you are looking and what wavelength you are using and specifically what you are doing, confusion can matter.

Infrared Background -- Depending on where you are looking and what wavelength you are using and specifically what you are doing, the IR background can matter.


Everything below this is a bookmark to something that needs to be cleaned up and placed properly above



Time Series Analysis

What is a periodogram? -- what periodograms are, why you care about them, and how to use the NASA Exoplanet Archive's tool for determining them.


Telescopes

need better title, sorting

Movie (31:09) on IR missions -- Dr. Luisa Rebull (2015)

Spitzer Space Telescope

How does the Spitzer Telescope work? A very general introduction to the Spitzer Space Telescope, with links to go to for more information. need to chase sublinks and file them

What other kinds of archival data are part of NITARP? A general introduction to all of the archives housed at IPAC that are part of NITARP.

Comparison of other missions to Spitzer (dated; need to update this!) need to chase sublinks and file them