Student assignment · due date set by instructor
Submit complete derivations, units, assumptions, and a short physical interpretation. Include reproducible code for multi-step calculations and show intermediate values. Cite any external catalog or data product with its release/version. Collaboration on methods is allowed; submitted derivations and prose must be your own. Corrections and resubmissions with a change log are encouraged.
For a point source 10 arcsec east of phase center on a 3-km projected baseline at 1.4 GHz, compute fringe phase in cycles and degrees modulo 360. Explain the sign convention.
Required: derivation, units, intermediate values, uncertainty/assumption, and an interpretation that identifies what the result does not prove.
At 100 GHz with Bmax=16 km and Bmin=15 m, estimate synthesized resolution 1.02 lambda/Bmax and largest recoverable scale 0.6 lambda/Bmin. Convert both to arcseconds and identify what each baseline extreme controls.
Required: derivation, units, intermediate values, uncertainty/assumption, and an interpretation that identifies what the result does not prove.
A compact array image has a 40-arcsec beam but a 6-arcminute cloud is mostly absent. Explain why increasing deconvolution iterations cannot reconstruct unconstrained low spatial frequencies. Propose the observing component that supplies those data.
Required: derivation, units, intermediate values, uncertainty/assumption, and an interpretation that identifies what the result does not prove.
OpenStax Astronomy 2e §6.4 and Chapter 6 Review Question 15; ALMA Basics §Interferometry defines the visibility transform and baseline coordinates.
The numbered anchors were checked against the local OpenStax Astronomy 2e extraction; exercise numbers/page breaks can vary by edition. Before assigning through an LMS, the instructor should spot-check each recommendation against the adopted print/PDF edition. Exact source scope and extraction notes are in ../reference-log.md. Do not present the synthetic teaching records as telescope observations.
Three problems, 100 points total. Submit a PDF or HTML report plus code/notebook where requested. Show figures with axes, units, captions, and data provenance.