Increasing the Range and Accuracy of Current Bright Object High Precision Astrometry

University Of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

AST-0138222 Gatewood, George D. The Multichannel Astrometric Photometer (MAP) at the Thaw Refractor of the University of Pittsburgh will be upgraded to extend the magnitude limit from its current level of twelve to fifteen and will be upgraded to increase its precision by a factor of two better than the current system. Precise, relative astrometry to a few milliarcseconds for a night's observing will be enabled. Unique aspects of the instrument include: a Ronchi grating scanned across the star field to modulate the stellar flux, angular distances between stars measured using the phase of the resulting signals, and the replacement of the old photomultipliers with avalanche photodiodes. ***