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Glossary term: 관측

Description: 천체 관측은 별, 행성, 은하 같은 천체에서 오는 빛(전자기 복사)이나 입자, 중력파를 수집하거나 측정하는 활동을 말합니다. 예전에는 눈으로 직접 하늘을 보는 것이 천체 관측이었지만, 1600년대 초 망원경이 발명된 이후에는 관측 능력이 크게 향상되었습니다. 오늘날에는 망원경뿐 아니라 카메라, 분광기, 감지기 등 다양한 정밀 장비가 사용됩니다. 카메라로 촬영한 가공되지 않은 원본 이미지(raw 이미지)처럼, 관측을 통해 얻은 자료를 관측 데이터라고 합니다.

이 데이터에는 천체 자체의 정보뿐만 아니라, 천체와 관측자 사이의 성간 물질(별과 별 사이의 물질)이나 은하 간 물질에 대한 정보도 포함되어 있습니다. 하지만 카메라나 기기의 성능과 특성, 예를 들어 센서의 감도가 부분마다 다르다거나, 대기에서 생기는 산란광 같은 외부 요인(오염 신호) 때문에 데이터가 왜곡되기도 합니다. 그래서 천문학자들은 이런 영향을 제거하고 정확한 정보를 얻기 위해 ‘데이터 전처리’ 과정을 거칩니다.

관측의 결과로 만들어지는 대표적인 자료는 이미지(사진), 스펙트럼(빛의 파장에 따른 밝기 분포), 그리고 시계열 데이터(시간에 따라 변하는 밝기나 신호를 기록한 자료)입니다. 예를 들어, 펄서나 변광성 같은 천체는 일정한 주기로 변하는 데이터를 통해 분석할 수 있습니다. 이런 자료들은 천체 사이의 각도, 관측 시각, 밝기(겉보기 등급) 등 다양한 물리량을 측정하는 데 사용됩니다.

천체 관측은 실험실에서 물질을 직접 다루는 실험과는 다릅니다. 화학자가 두가지 화학물질을 혼합하는 것과 같은 방식으로 천체 자체와 상호작용할 수 없습니다. 천문학자는 천체를 직접 조작할 수 없기 때문에, 관측을 통해 얻은 자연 신호를 해석하는 방식으로 연구합니다. 다만, 운석 분석이나 탐사선을 보내는 행성 탐사처럼, 직접적인 실험적 연구로 관측을 보완할 수도 있습니다.

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Term and definition status: The original definition of this term in English have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher
The translation of this term and its definition is still awaiting approval

The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".

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