Topic outline

  • Course content and learning outcomes


    Workload
    • Contact hours 48 h (2 x 2 h per week).
    • Independent work 87 h.

    Course content

    • Observational techniques in astronomy and space physics.
    • Scientific payloads of satellites and probes.
    • Effect of space environment on instrumentation.
    • Life cycle of a space mission: researcher's view.
    • Examples of science missions.


    Learning outcomes

    • After this course the student knows why and how information about astronomical and solar system phenomena is collected.
    • She/he can describe the physical principles on which the scientific instruments onboard satellites and probes are based.
    • The student is able to differentiate between various types of instruments and observing techniques and what they are used for, and evaluate which kind of systems are suitable for measuring certain astronomical and solar system phenomena.
    • She/he identifies what kinds of effects space environment has on instrumentation and observations.
    • The student is able to review the state-of-the-art space instrumentation and its immediate possibilities and challenges.
    • She/he can explain the life cycle of a space mission from a researcher's point of view (from long-term planning, such as ESA's Cosmic Vision, to implementation and operation of a space mission, all the way to analysis of the scientific data), and give examples of scientific space missions.

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Course schedule