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Optical Photometry

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Optical, Infrared and Radio Astronomy

Part of the book series: UNITEXT for Physics ((UNITEXTPH))

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Abstract

Optical photometry measures the apparent brightness of celestial objects in the optical region of the spectrum. The magnitudes and the colors of stars and galaxies allow to derive their physical properties and composition. This chapter presents the photometric systems used in optical astronomy and describes the techniques of securing photometric observations with CCDs. The observations are reduced by removing the effect of the atmosphere and by calibrating with constant brightness stars.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://ulisse.pd.astro.it/Astro/ADPS/.

References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Rosa Poggiani

Authors
  1. Rosa Poggiani
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rosa Poggiani .

Problems

Problems

6.1

Estimate the flux per second per m\(^2\) from stars with magnitude \(V=15\) and \(V=20\).

6.2

Discuss the techniques of aperture photometry and PSF fitting photometry.

6.3

Discuss the difference between absolute photometry and differential photometry.

6.4

Assume an average extinction of 0.14 mag/air mass in the V band. What is the fraction of radiation absorbed by the atmosphere for air masses of 1, 2, 2.5?

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Poggiani, R. (2017). Optical Photometry. In: Optical, Infrared and Radio Astronomy. UNITEXT for Physics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44732-2_6

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