Astronomical detectors as a research area focuses on the development, characterization, and optimization of sensor technologies used to register electromagnetic or particle signals from astronomical sources with high sensitivity, dynamic range, and temporal and spatial resolution. It encompasses work on charge-coupled devices (CCDs), complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) imagers, infrared arrays, superconducting devices such as transition-edge sensors and kinetic inductance detectors, as well as photon-counting and polarimetric detectors. Research addresses quantum efficiency, noise sources, readout architectures, calibration strategies, radiation hardness, and cryogenic operation, enabling precise photometry, spectroscopy, astrometry, and time-domain observations across multiple wavelength regimes.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) utilizes mid-infrared spectroscopy to precisely analyze molecular components such as water vapor and sulfur dioxide in exoplanet atmospheres. The key to this analysis, where each molecule ...
Optics & Photonics
May 9, 2025
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Published in Nature, scientists at King's College London, Harvard University, UC Berkeley and others have shared the foundation of what they believe will be the most accurate dark matter detector to date.
Astronomy
Apr 16, 2025
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Extreme cosmic events such as colliding black holes or the explosions of stars can cause ripples in spacetime, so-called gravitational waves. Their discovery opened a new window into the universe. To observe them, ultra-precise ...
Astronomy
Apr 15, 2025
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254
In 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a report detailing recently-declassified information on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). Since then, the Department of Defense has released ...
Astrobiology
Apr 9, 2025
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41
From 2035, the Einstein Telescope will be able to study gravitational waves with unprecedented accuracy. For the telescope, researchers from Jena have manufactured highly sensitive sensors made entirely of glass for the first ...
Astronomy
Mar 12, 2025
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For decades, people have been trying to directly detect dark matter: the missing mass in our universe. Now, there's a new, super-sensitive detector on the case—and even though it's still in the research and development phase, ...
Astronomy
Mar 6, 2025
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In a paper published earlier this month in Physical Review Letters, a team of physicists led by Jonathan Richardson of the University of California, Riverside, showcases how new optical technology can extend the detection ...
General Physics
Feb 14, 2025
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261
Finding patterns and reducing noise in large, complex datasets generated by the gravitational wave-detecting LIGO facility just got easier, thanks to the work of scientists at the University of California, Riverside.
Astronomy
Jan 30, 2025
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43
The first trial of an Australian-developed technology has detected mysterious objects by sifting through signals from space like sand on a beach.
Astronomy
Jan 27, 2025
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240
In late July 2024, the Malargüe deep-space communication station completed an important upgrade of its antenna feed that will allow missions to send much more data back to Earth, a capacity increase of almost 80%.
Astronomy
Jan 20, 2025
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