Department of Physics

10ΕΚ112 Observational Techniques and Data Analysis in Astrophysics (postgraduate)

Course webpage: https://eclass.uoa.gr/courses/PHYS194

Course outline

Course content

• Spectroscopic techniques in Astrophysics. Applications in stars, (exo)planets, nebulae, Sun in optical wavelengths. Theory and principles of optical spectroscopy. Instruments – spectrographs. Data acquisition. Laboratory applications. Chemical composition and spectral classification of stars and nebulae. Broadening Function data analysis. Mass measurement of exoplanets.
• Contemporary X-ray observatories – data types. Main classes of X-ray sources and their characteristics. Basic X-ray data analysis tools for photometry, spectroscopy, time series. Data analysis is performed using dedicated packages and own python routines. Characterization of unknown X-ray sources and derivation of physical parameters. 
• Determination of properties of the interstellar gas of a galaxy from Integral Field Unit (IFU) data from the Very Large Telescope (VLT). Theory and principles of IFU data. SINFONI data processing (cube creation), using archival data and its pipeline. Data analysis and modeling with own python routines (spectral fitting with stellar continuum and gas emission lines).
• Preparation of proposal for telescope time in ground-based or space observatories.