Pioneering study of mid infrared time domain astronomy by newly developed simultaneous observing system

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25247017
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Astronomy
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Miyata Takashi 東京大学, 大学院理学系研究科(理学部), 准教授 (90323500)
• Research Collaborator: KAMIZUKA Takafumi 東京大学, 大学院理学系研究科, 研究員 (30613509)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 赤外線天文学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Mid infrared is one of the most important wavelengths to study circumstellar disks and shells. Recent satellite telescopes have revealed that the mid-infrared radiations from those objects sometimes show strong time variation. It is very informative and interesting result, but the follow-up observations from the ground are quite difficult because of strong time variation of atmosphere in mid-infrared wavelengths.
To overcome this situation a new “2-filed simultaneous observing system” has been developed for mid-infrared observations. It is an optical device to combine two discrete fields in the telescope FoV into a single field and feed it into the astronomical camera. This device enables us to observe a science target and a reference star simultaneously, and improve the photometric accuracy dramatically.
This system can be used for 99% and 60% of known mid-infrared objects at 9 and 18 micron, respectatively.

Free Research Field

天文学