Presently two required laboratory courses are offered to undergraduate astronomy majors - a junior level astronomical techniques course and a senior levels projects course. Both courses need The project is updating two required laboratory courses to include material beyond photoelectric techniques for performing stellar photometry by expanding them to include a variety of topics in imaging, with a special emphasis on noise analysis. The generation, manipulation, detection, and computer processing of images is covered. An imaging lab has been set up to include a uniform light source with a pattern projector, a simple dispersive spectrograph on an optical bench, a high quality optical CCD imaging camera with a programmable readout and control circuit, noise analysis instrumentation, and an image acquisition and processing computer. A variety of experiments are done, including spectroscopy of atomic lines and continuum sources, image acquisition and calibration, noise and signal-to-noise analysis, the statistics of photon detection and Poisson distributions, the concept of a digital image and its processing, image quality and its effect on point source detectability, the effect of electronic noise on image quality, and the theory and practice of computer interfaces to modern instrumentation. These are incorporated into the junior level lab as structured exercises performed in groups of two students alternating with existing projects and classroom lectures. Seniors undertake special projects with one-on-one supervision to develop new experiments for incorporation into the junior level course. The laboratory gives students a comprehensive exposure to imaging theory and techniques in a practical and involved environment.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE)
Type
Standard Grant (Standard)
Application #
9152249
Program Officer
Duncan E. McBride
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
1991-06-01
Budget End
1993-11-30
Support Year
Fiscal Year
1991
Total Cost
$33,321
Indirect Cost
Name
San Diego State University Foundation
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
San Diego
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92182