Post by Progenitor A on Feb 18, 2011 18:22:44 GMT 1
Of paramount important in examining the universe in cosmology is the reliabilty of the information signal (light,radio, X-rays etc ) received by telescopes (visual and radio)
The big bug-bear is noise - where noise is defined as anything thta interferes with the required signal. Thus when we look at the night sky for the Cygnus Constellation, it is difficult to find because there is interference from other stars and galaxies
The important parameter in decoding the information we want (the SIGNAL) is something called the (Signal + Noise)/Noise ratio.
If the (S + N)/N ratio is high (say 10db) there is no problem. But as we look deep into the edges of the universe the (S + N)/N ratio becomes smaller and smaller, until the noise is so great and the signal so small that we cannot decipher any information
What is the minimum (S + N)/N ratio so that we can decode the received information from remote stars do you think?
The big bug-bear is noise - where noise is defined as anything thta interferes with the required signal. Thus when we look at the night sky for the Cygnus Constellation, it is difficult to find because there is interference from other stars and galaxies
The important parameter in decoding the information we want (the SIGNAL) is something called the (Signal + Noise)/Noise ratio.
If the (S + N)/N ratio is high (say 10db) there is no problem. But as we look deep into the edges of the universe the (S + N)/N ratio becomes smaller and smaller, until the noise is so great and the signal so small that we cannot decipher any information
What is the minimum (S + N)/N ratio so that we can decode the received information from remote stars do you think?