We present a novel approach to quality control during the processing of astronomical data. Quality control in the Astro-WISE Information System is integral to all aspects of data handing and provides transparent access to quality estimators for all stages of data reduction from the raw image to the final catalog. The implementation of quality control mechanisms relies on the core features in th...

We report on the search results of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) from three Gamma- ray (GRBs) at 2256 MHz using 40-m radio telescope located YunNan Astronomical Observatory (YNAO). The for signals was triggered by Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on- board Swift satellite. single pulses are searched in data over a large range dispersion measure 0 to 5000 pc/cm3 step 50 pc/cm3. No FRB-like emission prompt...

The use of deformable mirrors (DMs) in adaptive optics (AO) systems allows for compensation of various external and internal optical disturbances during image aquisition. For example, an astronomical telescope equipped with a fast deformable secondary mirror can compensate for atmospheric disturbances and wind shake of the telescope structure resulting in higher image resolution [1–4]. In micro...

The European Southern Observatory's planned Astronomical Weather Station for the Very Large Telescope which is currently under construction at Cerro Paranal in Chile includes (i) advance temperature prediction, which would permit air conditioning in the telescope enclosure to be preset as a function of the next night's expected temperature; and (ii) prediction of seeing, a few hours in advance,...

Deep hard X-ray and near infrared observations of a type-2 radio-quiet QSO candidate at z = 0.9, AX J08494+4454, are reported. The 0.5–10 keV Chandra X-ray Observatory spectrum of AX J08494+4454 is hard, and is explained well with a power-law continuum absorbed by a hydrogen column density of (2.3± 1.1)× 10 cm. The 2–10 keV luminosity of the object is estimated to be 7.2 −2.0× 10 44 erg s, afte...

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a project to build a new generation ground-based gammaray observatory. The FRAM – F(/Ph)otometric Robotic Atmospheric Monitor – is a device, which can provide it with the Vertical Aerosol Optical Depth (VAOD) maps in the field of view of the CTA in almost real time (delay in minutes). The FRAM is a small fast robotic astronomical telescope with a large fie...

We have carried out a wide-field imaging survey for [O ii]λ3727 emitting galaxies at z ≈ 1.2 in the HST COSMOS 2 square degree field using the Suprime-Cam on the Subaru Telescope. The survey covers a sky area of 6700 arcmin2 in the COSMOS field, and a redshift range between 1.17 and 1.20 (∆z = 0.03), corresponding to a survey volume of 5.56×105 Mpc3. We obtain a sample of 3176 [O ii] emitting g...

Any recorded image is blurred whenever the instrument used to obtain it has a finite resolving power. For example, the image of a point source seen through a telescope has an angular size which is inversely proportional to the diameter of the primary mirror of the telescope. If the instrument is ground-based, the image is additionally degraded by the turbulent motions in the earth’s atmosphere....

We present the characterization of additional properties of the night-sky at the Calar Alto observatory, following the study started in Sánchez et al. (2007), hereafter Paper I. We focus here on the night sky-brightness at the near-infrared, the telescope seeing, and the fraction of useful time at the observatory. For this study we have collected a large dataset comprising 7311 near-infrared im...

This paper presents a concept for a multi-aperture space telescope built up of autonomous reconfigurable spacecraft elements which, when docked together, can synthesise a large aperture through the use of adaptive optics. The eventual aim is to develop telescopes with apertures exceeding 20m, and thus to move on a generation from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) planned for launch in 2014....