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The High Road to Astronomical Photometric Precision: Differential Photometry

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Astronomical Photometry

Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Library ((ASSL,volume 373))

Abstract

Differential photometry offers the most precise method for measuring the brightness of astronomical objects. We attempt to demonstrate why this should be the case, and then describe how well it has been done through a review of the application of differential techniques from the earliest visual methods to photoelectric and CCD photometry. We pay special attention to the work of Theodore Walraven and his legacy.

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Acknowledgements

It is a pleasure for EFM to acknowledge the encouragement of Dr. A. J. Wesselink in developing the RADS, and who, with Adrian A. Disko, who had worked at Leiden in the 1950s and was employed at Yale Observatory beginning in the 1960s, provided information about the Walraven experiments. University of Calgary Professor Alan Clark provided a great deal of advice in getting the RADS program started, and additional ideas came from Professor René Racine of the Université de Montréal. Charles H. Hanson of the University of Calgary EPR Group helped realize the system. It is important to acknowledge that for nearly a quarter of a century, the management of the RADS hardware and support of its use was in the capable hands of RAO Technician Fred M. Babott of the University of Calgary Physics and Astronomy Department. Not only did he rebuild and maintain parts of instrument when needed, he often took an active role in helping students to learn its operation and the software to reduce their data. This was indeed true for all of the instruments in active use at the RAO over this interval. The Rapid Alternate Detection System was developed with the help of grants to EFM from the National Research Council of Canada, and research with it was supported later also by the Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. Finally we thank Andrew T. Young for critiquing an earlier version of this paper. This paper is No. 77 in the Publications of the RAO reprint series.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. RAO, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive, NW, Calgary, AB, Canada, T2N 1N4

    E. F. Milone

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  1. E. F. Milone
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  2. Jan Willem Pel
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Correspondence to E. F. Milone .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Physics & Astronomy, University of Calgary, University Drive NW., 2500, Calgary, T2N 1N4, Alberta, Canada

    Eugene F. Milone

  2. University of Bruxelles, Pleinlaan 2, Bruxelles, 1050, Belgium

    C. Sterken

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Milone, E.F., Pel, J.W. (2011). The High Road to Astronomical Photometric Precision: Differential Photometry. In: Milone, E., Sterken, C. (eds) Astronomical Photometry. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 373. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8050-2_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8050-2_2

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