Are There Non-Photonic 'Telescopes' for Studying Astrophysical Objects?

[Nereid]

Being a light-hearted discussion!

There are the neutrino telescopes, of which AMANDA is my favourite (though only Super-K has detected (imaged is too strong a term) any astronomical object ... yet).

There are the gravitational wave detectors, of which LIGO gets all the attention; no detections of anything astrophysical ... yet. Of those planned, I think http://lisa.jpl.nasa.gov/ is the most exciting.

While not exactly a 'telescope', the Pierre Auger Observatory might 'see' a point source before tooo long.

AFAIK, the only other 'cosmic ray telescope' that might detect point sources is http://www.lofar.org/p/geninfo.htm , but it's very early days for that.

Did I miss any?

 

[hellfire]

As far as I know LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) is a radio telescope. And I think the Pierre Auger does basically detect photons from Cerenkov radiation (I may be wrong).

 

[SpaceTiger]

One might consider including dust-collectors (like http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/") and rovers. There are also many dark matter detectors being deployed, which could theoretically detect a variety of non-photonic objects.

 

[Chronos]

While not un-photonic, low frequency surveys [like LOFAR as hellfire mentioned] will map the universe to great depths and resolve many current issues. But, like Nereid, I can't wait for a neutrino telescopes to go online.

 

[Nereid]

As far as I know LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) is a radio telescope. And I think the Pierre Auger does basically detect photons from Cerenkov radiation (I may be wrong).

LOFAR is indeed a detector of radio photons.

However, it should also be an extraordinarily http://www.lofar.org/p/ast_sc_cosmicrays.htm ! To quote: "The primary observable is the intense radio pulse that is produced when a primary CR hits the atmosphere and produces an Extensive Air Shower (EAS). An EAS is aligned along the direction of motion of the primary particle, and a substantial part of its component consists of electron-positron pairs which emit radio emission in the terrestrial magnetosphere (e.g., geo-synchrotron emission)."

Pierre Auger is "... a "hybrid detector," employing two independent methods to detect and study high-energy cosmic rays. One technique is ground-based and detects high energy particles through their interaction with water. The other technique tracks the development of air showers by observing ultraviolet light emitted high in the Earth's atmosphere."

There are several (imaging) air cherenkov telescopes (e.g. http://magic.mppmu.mpg.de/index.en.html , H.E.S.S., Cangaroo), but they are photon detectors (hundreds of GeV to TeV gammas).

I thought about dust collectors, and also those folk who tirelessly analyse meteors trajectories, looking for interstellar visitors among the locals http://aquarid.physics.uwo.ca/meteoroids2004/program.html , see Session 10); I guess they are a kind of telescope.

I guess that, in principle, at least some of the DM detectors might provide direction information. Anyway, as ST says, there are several, an initial list:
http://cdms.berkeley.edu/
http://hepwww.rl.ac.uk/ukdmc/project/project.html (at least four different types of detector!)
http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/non_acc/dm.html
http://www.astro.columbia.edu/~lxe/XENON/
http://www.oxford-instruments.com/SCNRMP33.htm

Whew, more than I expected to find!

 

[Danger]

I built a sonic telescope a while back. Haven't managed to pick up anything extraterrestrial yet.

 

[Garth]

I built a sonic telescope a while back. Haven't managed to pick up anything extraterrestrial yet.

Not even Message in the Sky ?

I'm disappointed.

Garth

 

[Danger]

What a hoot!

I'll have to get bigger headphones for my 'scope and try again.

 

[turbo]

What a hoot!
I'll have to get bigger headphones for my 'scope and try again.

Let me know your observing schedule, and I'll try to keep my guitar amp turned down during those periods. I hate light pollution, but I never considered that someone might be observing in the audio frequencies.

Anybody here building an olefactory telescope?

 

[Danger]

Thanks, Turbo. I wish more people were that considerate.

My cousin did indeed attempt observing with a smelloscope a few years ago. Unfortunately, when he got his first serious sniff of vacuum he expired.

 

[turbo]

My cousin did indeed attempt observing with a smelloscope a few years ago. Unfortunately, when he got his first serious sniff of vacuum he expired.

I am devastated! The olefactory properties of the vacuum could not possibly have led to your cousin's demise, but my old hiking boots... How can I live with myself?

 

[Danger]

Well... if he was spying on you hiking instead of doing what he was supposed to be, he got what he deserved.