Scientific achievements, Hardware and methodological developments

2007

Accuracy of Radial Velocity Measurements Enhanced on BTA

As a result of usage of an absorption cell, the accuracy of measurements of Doppler shifts on BTA's stellar spectrographs was increased by more than an order (Δ V_r = 20-30 m/s).

Program for Finding Photometric Distances to Nearby Galaxies

A programme was elaborated to measure high-precision photometric distances to nearby (resolved into stars) galaxies according to the Tip of the Red Giants Branch (TRGB) method. The use of a maximum likelihood method and photometric accuracy assessment with an application of expanded statistical modeling of dense star fields allowed to increase the accuracy of distance finding using the TRGB method up to 5-8%, which is comparable to the accuracy of a Cepheid distance indicator. This method has no equal as of its versatility and short observation times.

Test Observations on RATAN-600 with MARS-3 16-Channel Matrix System

First observations were made on RATAN-600 with a unique MARS-3 16-channel (32 inputs) Matrix Radiometric System that has no analogue in Russian radio astronomy. The use of such system in a mode when radio sources propagate through a fixed diagram of the antenna, allows quadrupling of radiotelescope's sensitivity compared to one-channel radiometer and decreases the time of signal collection from weak objects by 16 times.

Centre for Analysis of Multiwave Observations Created on RATAN-600

An on-line processing centre for analysis of multiwave radio observations of the Sun on RATAN-600 was created in the St. Petersburg Branch of SAO RAS, see http://www.spbf.sao.ru/prognoz/. Its functions include automatic polling of multiwave length data from RATAN-600, all radioheliographs and satellite observatories; full data processing and correlation, and multi-format submission to the end users. The Centre is dedicated to the creation of a generalized forecast of solar activity based on detailed spectrum of radio frequency observations of the Sun and for students' labs.