Infrared Astronomy
in the heat of the night
Michael Burton
Infrared Astronomy
◊ What is the infrared
◊ Infrared Science
• Imaging
• Spectroscopy
◊ History and the Future
◊ Infrared Movies
William Herschel
“Calorific Rays” in 1800
Infrared is Heat
Thermal Radiation
Two views of a geyser
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1. Dust Extinction
Exploring the hidden universe
Galactic Centre
Cygnu
s
2. Thermal Radiation
Detecting Cool Objects
3. Redshift
Exploring the Early Universe
Atmospheric Windows
Infrared Windows
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IR Observatories
on the ground, in the air and in space
The Horsehead Nebula
Visible
Near-IR
Mid-IR
Massive Star Formation
Triffid Nebula
The Galactic Centre
Visible
Near-IR
Three Spectral Regimes
Detector Technology
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Some infrared science
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Solar System
Star Formation
Stars
Disks and Planets
Galaxies
Venus
Infrared emission vs. Visible reflection
Jupiter
Bright belts, volcanic Io, methane absorption
Star Formation
Orion Constellation
Far-IR Dust
Orion Nebula
Near-IR Young Stars
Nearby Globule
Mid-IR Dust + Protostars
Massive Stars
◊ Pistol Star
• Most luminous star in
Galaxy
• ~107 L
◊ Quintuplet Cluster
• Most massive star
cluster in Galaxy
• Max mass of a star?
Dust Disks and Planets
Beta Pictoris
HR4796A
The Galaxy
Near + mid-IR
Galactic Centre
Red Giants + Hot Dust
Far--IR
Galactic Plane
Zodiacal Light + Warm Dust
Other Galaxies: Spiral M81
◊ Old Stars (blue)
◊ Heated Dust (red)
◊ Hot Dust and MSF
(green + knots)
Global Star Formation
Spiral Galaxy M51
Hidden Black Holes in the IR
Infrared Spectroscopy
◊ Cooling Lines
• Molecules
• Fine structure lines
◊ Ices
◊ Dust
Infrared Spectroscopy
Water in the Solar System
Hydrocarbons, Ices, Dust mineralology
Cooling Lines in the ISM
[OI] 63µm + [CII] 158µm
Cooling Lines across the Galaxy
[CII] 158µm + [NII] 205µm
Water and Ices in Molecular Clouds
Elements and Minerals in Red
Giants and PN winds
Recycling of the elements
Star Formation in the Galactic Centre
Hot massive stars, ionized gas, ~107 yrs
Molecules in Dusty Galaxies
Spiral NGC891
Starburst Arp 220
Probing the Excitation of Galaxies
A potted history of IR astronomy
1800:
William Herschel
Discovery of IR
1870:
4th Earl of Rosse
Temperature of Moon
From IR on dark side
1856:
Charles Piazzi
IR from the Moon
Thermocouple & heat
1948:
Moon must be covered
By fine powder
IR Facilities: the early days
1961:
Frank Low
Germanium bolometer
Cooled, in dewar
Detect far-IR
Change in conductivity
1967:
Cooled IR telescopes
in rockets
AFGL IR sky survey
4+10+20µm
2363 sources in 30 mins
1960’s:
Balloons carry high
altitude payloads
1967:
Mauna Kea
Observatory
established
High & dry!
IR Facilities Develop
1968:
Leighton & Neugebauer
Mt Wilson
2.2µm IR survey
5,500 sources
1974:
Kuiper Airborne
Observatory
Rings of Uranus
Water in Jupiter
Early 1970’s:
Most galaxies found
to emit strongly in
IR (M31)
Mid 1970’s:
Far-IR spectrometers
from balloons at
T = 1K
CMBR
IR Facilities Mature
1980’s:
IR arrays
1985:
IR telescope
on Shuttle
1983:
IRAS satellite
12+25+60+100µm
500,000 sources
Vega Disk
ULIRGs
1989:
COBE
MM + Far-IR sky
CMBR
IR in the 90s
1994:
SPIREX at the
South Pole
1996:
DENIS
Near-IR sky survey
La Silla, Chile
1995:
ESA ISO
2.5-240µm +
spectroscopy
1996:
MSX
Military satellite
8+11+14+21µm
IR Astronomy Today
1997:
2MASS
All-sky
1.2 + 1.6 + 2.2µm
2001:
Keck Interferometer
1997:
NICMOS on HST
1-2.5µm
2004:
Spitzer Space
Telescope
IR Astronomy Tomorrow
2007?: SOFIA - IR spectroscopy
2008?:
Planck
CMBR
2008?: Herschel - far-IR
2???:
TPF/Darwin
Other Earths?!
Infrared Astronomy for Australia
◊ Siding Spring Observatory
• AAT/IRIS
1-2.5µm Imager/Spectrometer
• 2.3m/CASPIR 1-5µm Imager
◊ Gemini
• 1-5µm NIFS + 8-25µm Michelle / TReCS
◊ Public Databases
• 2MASS (1-2µm), MSX (8-21µm), GLIMPSE (48µm), IRAS (12-100µm)
◊ Antarctica
• Finest ground-based sites on the Earth!
Dark Cloud + HH46-47
Optical to Infrared (Spitzer)
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Dark Globule IC1396
Visible to Infrared (Spitzer)
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Massive Star Formation
Triffid: Visible to IR (Spitzer)
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Spiral Galaxy M51
Visible to Infrared (Spitzer)
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2MASS 1-2µm View
Galactic Centre
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MSX 8-21µm view of the Galaxy
PAHs along the Milky Way
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Eta Carina Star Forming Complex