Infrared Telescopes

Andrea, Scott, and Martín

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Infrared…wait what?!?!?• Infrared is a certain region in the light spectrum

• Ranges from .7µ to 1000µ or .1mm

• Broken into near, mid, and far infrared

• One step up on the light spectrum from visible light

• Measure of heat

Infrared Telescopes• Infrared telescopes

work much like visible light telescopes

• Light hits parabolic mirror

• Light is sent to focal point

• Light is recorded by computer and translated into visible light

History of Infrared

• Thirty years ago images were created by crude temperature readings and simple recording devices

• In 1980’s the military dedicated the first large sum of money towards infrared advancement (high background infrared)

• Recently scientists have changed the technology to focus on lower background heat and high sensitivity to fit the applications needed for astronomy

Problems with Infrared

• 99% of infrared rays are absorbed by water in our atmosphere

• The use of airplanes, weather balloons, and space bound telescopes help to solve these problems

Infrared

Another Problemo

• Everything in the universe above absolute zero radiates heat (infrared)

• This means the heat from the telescope may interfere with data

• Everything is cooled to almost absolute 0

Why Do We Need Infrared Telescopes?

• Infrared telescopes allow astronomers to gain information about regions in space that might otherwise remain invisible.

http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/ir_tutorial/psc_allsky.html

These regions include:• Cool states of matter• Regions obscured by clouds of dust or gas particles

http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/ir_tutorial/animation.html

Cool States of Matter• Most solid bodies in

space vary in temperature from 3 Kelvin’s to 1500 Kelvin's.

• This means that extremely cool objects undetectable to the human eye can be studied using infrared telescopes.

• These can include…http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/picturegallery/index.shtml

• Stars• Infrared galaxies• Clouds of particles

around stars • Nebulae • Interstellar molecules• Brown dwarfs• Planets

http://swtrekking.com/photo_gallery/images/stars.jpg

http://www.astr.tohoku.ac.jp/~tohru/AGgroup/arp220image.jpghttp://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/ContentMedia/M16WF2.jpg

http://www.iras.ucalgary.ca/~volk/crab_infrared_lg.gif

Clouds of Dust and Gas

• Some bodies of matter in space are hidden behind huge clouds of dust particles or gas.

• These include the centers of galaxies and clouds containing forming stars and planets.

• Infrared telescopes allow scientists to view these regions much more easily

The Early Universe• The Universe is constantly expanding• Because of this, most of the radiation emitted from

distant stars is in the infrared spectrum. • Our views of these distant bodies of matter in

space actually show us how they looked a long, long time ago.

http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/cosmic_reference/redshift.html

• To gain a greater knowledge about bodies of matter in space, we need information about all of the different forms of radiation that they emit.

SOFIA

• Airborne Observatory

• Reduces Atmospheric Interference

• Will begin observing in 2005

SOFIA

• 747SP Aircraft

• 2.5 meter reflector

• Largest telescope put in an aircraft

UKIRT• Earth-based

• Largest infrared telescope

• Located on Mauna Kea in Hawaii

• 3.8 meter reflector

• A lot of atmospheric interference

Spitzer Space Telescope

• Largest infrared telescope in space

• No atmospheric interference• .85 m reflector• Cryogenically cooled so not to

interfere with signals

Spitzer’s Cryostat

• Infrared is mostly heat waves, Spitzer is cool so its own heat does not interfere with signals

• 1.4 degrees kelvin

Spitzer Images

Bibliography

• http://www.sofia.arc.nasa.gov/Sofia/sofia.html

• http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/about/index.shtml

• http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/JACpublic/UKIRT/home.html