2002 Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
2002 is the 43rd Anniversary of the
NRAO Summer Student Program
!
Research Projects by NRAO Site
Charlottesville
, Virginia (NRAO Headquarters)
There are five students in the 2002 Summer Student Research
Program, four of them under the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates
(REU) program at NRAO-Charlottesville. Highlights of the program included
a series of introductory level lectures on aspects of astronomy, particularly
radio astronomy, spread over a few weeks. These lectures are intended to
aquaint the students with the research which various staff members carry
out. The lectures are listed below.
Earlier in the summer, the Charlottesville students visited Green Bank to
tour the NRAO telescopes located there, to meet members of the Green Bank
staff, and to attend the annual picnic on 29 June.
One highlight will be operation of the Green Bank telescope
( GBT
), the world's largest steerable telescope. It is an offset parabaloid, 110m
across the longest axis, incorporating over 16 million lbs of steel in the
moving structure. In this photo, students stand on a mound built to
hold a metrology laser as Ron Maddalena points out the 'Goldman Effect'.
A movie is also
available, showing the student tour.
The 40 ft telescope there is a student telescope, open for
any project which students would like to carry out on it (though its instrumentation
is limited). If there is interest, we may carry out, probably remotely, a
project on the VLA.
We're very excited about the
Atacama Large Millimeter Array
, which was selected as the top priority for a new astronomical instrument
in the 90s back at the beginning of the decade by the Astronomy Survey Committee.
Students got to see it take shape as the first year of construction gets
underway, highlighted by the arrival of the prototype antenna at the VLA
Antenna Test Facility
.
The students give a series of 15 minute talks on their projects
during a lunch symposium in Charlottesville before they begin leaving for
the summer. They produce short reports describing their summer research.
CV Summer Student Schedule, Summer
2002
Date |
Person |
Item |
Location |
Time |
To Be Determined |
open |
Students begin arriving |
|
|
7 Jun |
open |
Public Night at McCormick Observatory |
at the Observatory. |
9pm |
17 June |
Wootten |
Welcome, |
NRAO,Auditorium, Stone Hall |
9am |
21 June |
Wootten |
Radiotelescopes and Radioastronomical Jargon
|
NRAO,Room 311, Stone Hall |
9am |
21 Jun |
open |
Public Night at McCormick Observatory |
at the Observatory. |
9pm |
24 June |
Condon |
Radio Sources |
NRAO,Room 311, Stone Hall |
9am |
26 June |
Open |
|
NRAO,Auditorium, Stone Hall |
9am |
28 June |
Wootten |
ALMA; Green Bank Preparations |
NRAO,Room 311, Stone Hall |
9am |
29 June |
All |
CV REUs -> Green Bank Picnic |
Green Bank, W. Va. |
9am |
30 June |
All |
CV REUs tour GB; return from Green Bank Picnic |
Green Bank, W. Va. |
noon |
1 July |
Harvey Liszt |
TBD |
NRAO,Room 311, Stone Hall |
9am |
4 July |
Fireworks! |
|
McIntire Park |
Dark |
5 Jul |
NRAO Holiday |
Public Night at McCormick Observatory |
at the Observatory |
9pm |
8 July |
David Hogg |
Radio Stars: Thermal Stars, Flaring Stars, and Stellar Winds |
NRAO,Room 311, Stone Hall |
9am |
10 July |
Juan Uson |
Cosmology I |
NRAO,Auditorium, Stone Hall |
9am |
12 July |
Juan Uson |
Cosmology II |
NRAO,Room 311, Stone Hall |
9am |
15 July |
Anish Roshi |
"Interferometry" |
NRAO,Room 311, Stone Hall |
9am |
17 July |
Open |
TBD |
NRAO,Auditorium, Stone Hall |
9am |
18 Jul |
Hibbard |
Visit of Green Bank Students to Charlottesville |
NRAO,Room 317, Stone Hall |
pm |
18 Jul |
All |
Pizza Lunch with U. Va. |
Anna's Pizza |
12pm |
18 Jul |
Hibbard |
BBQ for CV, GB REUs and NRAO employees |
Edgemont Road Garden |
6pm |
19 Jul |
Bradley |
Central Development Lab Introduction |
Rm 228 Ivy Road |
9am |
19 Jul |
Thacker |
Tour of Central Development Lab |
Rm 228 Ivy Road |
10am |
19 Jul |
Crowe |
Tour of U. Va. Device Fabrication Facility |
U. Virginia |
1:20pm |
19 July |
open |
Public Night at McCormick Observatory |
at the Observatory |
9pm |
22 July |
Barry Turner |
Astrochemistry |
NRAO,Room 311, Stone Hall |
9am |
24 July |
Bob Rood |
Unicorns and Aliens |
NRAO,Auditorium, Stone Hall |
9am |
26 July |
Dan Homan |
Introduction to Extragalactic Radio Jets |
NRAO,Room 311, Stone Hall |
9am |
27 July |
Beach Weekend |
Wootten House, Deltaville, Virginia |
NRAO,Room 311, Stone Hall |
9am |
28 July |
Beach Weekend |
Wootten House, Deltaville, Virginia |
NRAO,Room 311, Stone Hall |
3pm return? |
29 July |
Wootten |
ALMA |
NRAO,Room 311, Stone Hall |
9am |
31 July |
Butler Burton |
The Hydrogen 21-cm line As Applied to the High-velocity Clouds. |
NRAO,Auditorium, Stone Hall |
9am |
2 Aug |
Matthew Lister |
Introduction to Very Long Baseline Interferometry |
NRAO,Room 311, Stone Hall |
9am |
2 Aug |
open |
Public Night at McCormick Observatory |
at the Observatory |
9pm |
6 August (tentative) |
Students |
REU research presentations |
Rm 311, Stone Hall |
high noon |
11 August |
Leonids |
Meteor Shower |
Deltaville, Virginia |
Midnight |
Michele Casey
of Dartmouth College
works with Rich
Bradley
on
Development of an "Era of Reionization" search instrument
For many years, Rich Bradley, Rick Fisher and Don Backer
have been discussing how to conduct such an experiment, and now it's time
to get started. Key to this success of this experiment is the thorough
understanding of foreground contaminants such as synchrotron radiation, discrete
sources, and RFI. Our ultimate goal is a simple yet sensitive, well-characterized
interferometer that is capable of resolving structure at the 10' scale.
However, our first step will be to develop an element of the interferometer
- a inexpensive antenna, calibration load, and receiver that operates in
the 150-300 MHz range and exhibits excellent stability. The student
will take part in the design, fabrication, and evaluation of a suitable antenna,
load, receiver, and data acquisition system. We plan to be recording data
from the single element by the end of the summer. We hope to locate the
instrument at Fan Mountain Observatory during its development.
Antone Kom
of The University of Idaho
will work with Gareth Hunt
on
A Tool for Analyzing Router Statistics
The NRAO has 17 different sites networked together. Although the routers
are configured to collect traffic information, we have no easy mechanism
to monitor and analyze the data for performance and for intrusion detection.
Your main assignment will be to generate a system that will garner this
data systematically, write it into a database, and create tools to analyze
and to display it coherently. The assignment will probably be executed in
a scripting language (probably perl), but some low level C or C++ utilities
may be needed. These tools should be designed to run both on Linux and on
Windows.
Clay Sheaff
of The University of Nebraska, Lincoln
will work with John Effland
on
Circuit Design and Hardware Construction for a SIS Mixer
Test System
Following our specifications and under the guidance of CDL engineering, the
student would design circuits and construct hardware for the SIS mixer test
system. This hardware would consist of measurement subsystems such as control
of LO frequency and power, amplifier or mixer bias supplies. The student
would be required to design analog circuits consisting primarily of op amps,
analyze these circuits with an analysis program such as Engineer's Workbench,
and create mechanical designs using AutoCAD. The student would be expected
to write software in either stand-along Visual Basic or Visual Basis for
Applications in Excel for automated testing of the hardware. CDL engineering
would provide to the student the software design consisting of UML class,
sequence, and activity diagrams. The student would be expected to write and
document object oriented code that meets the software design requirements.
Circuit Design and Hardware Construction for a SIS Mixer
Test System
Following our specifications and under the guidance of CDL
engineering, the student would design circuits and construct hardware for
the SIS mixer test system. This hardware would consist of measurement
subsystems such as control of LO frequency and power, amplifier bias supplies,
or mixer bias supplies. The student would be required to design analog
circuits consisting primarily of op amps and would create mechanical designs
using AutoCAD. The student would be expected to write software for automated
testing of the hardware. CDL engineering would provide to the student
the software design consisting of UML class, sequence, and activity diagrams.
The student would be expected to write and document object oriented code
that meets the software design requirements.
VLBA investigation of AGN jets
Modelling a set of 10 AGN jets observed with the VLBA at 4 frequencies.
I would have the student measuring the frequency dependant core-shifts in
these sources. The measured core-shifts would then be compared to the canoical
Blandford-Konigl jet model to extract physical parameters (Doppler factors,
B-field, particle density) from the measurements. To do this, the student
may need to make additional measurements of the source properties.
Socorro, New Mexico (NRAO VLA and VLBA Telescopes; ALMA
Test Facility)
The summer REU program at NRAO/Socorro in 2002 consists of
4 main categories of activity:
1 - student research projects
, in collaboration with an NRAO advisor
2 - lectures
to the students by NRAO staff members
3 - a joint student project
, involving observations with the
Very Large Array (VLA)
4 - guided tours of the VLA, given by the students on weekends
The 2002 REU program at NRAO/Socorro is under the direction
of Crystal Brogan
and Greg Taylor. Dr. Brogan is
Jansky Postdoctoral Researcher
at NRAO/Socorro, and Dr. Taylor is a member of the scientific research staff.
For AOC-specific information on the New Mexico summer student program, please
visit
Information for Summer Students coming to Socorro
.
Lectures, etc...
Several lectures about radio astronomy and interferometry
will be presented, allowing the students to obtain a good understanding of
the technique. Talks were also given on general topics in astronomy, presented
by members of the scientific staff. The astronomy talks were designed to
give the students an understanding of what sort of research goes on at NRAO,
and in radio astronomy in general. The detailed list of lectures and events
for the summer is in the following table and at the
AOC WWW site
.
Preliminary 2002 Summer Student Calendar of
Events
June 2002
June 1: 8:30am-2:30pm. Volunteer Orientation for AAS
June 2: 10:00am-4:30pm. AAS Tours
June 3-6: 7am-8pm. Summer AAS meeting in Albuquerque
June 10: 2:00pm. Prelim. meeting on Summer Student
observations, upper conference room
June 13: 2:00-5:00 pm. Safety Lecture #1 by
Jon Spargo, 1st floor conference room
June 14: 9:00am-3:00 pm. VLA Tour #1 by Crystal
Brogan and Vivek Dhawan, VLA site
June 17: 2:00pm. Info. on VLA Tours by Dave Finley,
1st floor conference room
June 18-25: 9am-6pm.
VLA Synthesis Imaging Summer School
June 26: 2:00-5:00 pm. Safety Lecture #2 by Jon
Spargo, 1st floor conference room
June 27: 9:00am-3:00 pm. VLA Tour #2 by Crystal
Brogan and Vivek Dhawan, VLA site
June 30: 11:00am-1:30 pm. VLA Observations
July 2002
July 1: 2:00 pm. "Planetary Radio
Astronomy" by Bryan Butler, Auditorium
July 3: 1:00 pm. EMRTC Tour & Demo
July 4-5: NRAO Holidays
July 8: 2:00 pm. "The Hectic World of Transients" by Michael Rupen,
Auditorium
July 13: 7:00am Sac Peak/Apache Point Observatories
Tour (Mandatory)
July 15: 2:00 pm. "Active Galactic Nuclei and their Environments" Greg
Taylor, Auditorium
July 22: 2:00 pm. "Galactic Star Formation" by Debra Shepherd, Auditorium
July 29: 2:00 pm. "AGB Stars in the Galaxy" by Lorant Sjouwerman, Auditorium
August 2002
Aug 5: 2:00 pm. "Magnetic Fields in the Universe" Crystal Brogan, Auditorium
Other Stuff
A Basic Information Letter is available from the WWW pages.
Student Research Projects
Each of the REU students will work with one or more advisors on one or more
projects throughout the summer. This is the main focus of the program, and
the majority of the students' time will be spent on these research endeavors.
These projects involved observing, data reduction and analysis, equipment
development, and theoretical studies. At the end of the program, each student
gave a lunch talk explaining the main project(s) he or she worked on during
the summer. The possibility exists for the students to present their original
research at scientific meetings deemed appropriate by their advisor(s). Following
is a detailed list of the specific projects carried out by the NRAO/Socorro
REU students:
High-frequency VLBA imaging of Low Luminosity AGNs
This project involves the VLBA imaging of three Low-Luminosity Active Galactic
Nuclei, NGC 3147, NGC 4203, and NGC 4579. The three objects previously have
been imaged at frequencies up through 8 GHz with the VLBA, showing slightly
inverted (and straight) spectra, as well as being unresolved on scales of
1000-10,000 Schwarzschild radii of their central massive black holes. A
VLBA proposal has been approved, and is in the dynamic scheduling queue,
to image the three galaxies at frequencies from 8 to 43 GHz in order to attempt
to resolve the central sources and to measure the high-frequency spectra of
the central unresolved cores. These data will be used to distinguish between
models involving jets and those where the radio emission is generated by
low-efficiency accretion flows.
works withLorant Sjouwerman
on
43 GHz SiO masers in Galactic center OH/IR stars
This is a VLA D-array survey for 42.8 and 43.1 GHz SiO masers in OH/IR stars
found in 1998 within 15 arcmin of SgrA*. It complements a similar survey
in previously known OH/IR stars. It aims to find 43 GHz masers that can be
used for proper motion studies, with positions more accurate than the available
1612 MHz positions, as well as to investigate the occurrence of 43 GHz masers
in OH/IR stars - their dependence on mass-loss rates, luminosity etc. Furthermore
it appears that there is a homogeneous population of OH/IR stars that were
formed in a nuclear star burst some 2 Gyr ago; are these stars distinguishable
in their 43 GHz properties from the others? A recent 43 GHz SiO VLA D-array
survey in IRAM 30m 86 GHz masers within 1-2 degrees of SgrA* that do not
show OH masers can be combined with these OH maser searches for comparison.
Binary Star Systems with a Compact Primary
Binary star systems with a compact primary (black hole or neutron star)
occasionally undergo extremely luminous X-ray flares, due either to a
sudden outburst in the mass loss of the secondary, or an instability in
the accretion disk which mediates the transfer of mass from the secondary
to the primary. At the same time these X-ray transients may also produce
radio-emitting relativistic jets. Generally after these episodes of very
high brightness both the X-ray and the radio emission vanish, at least
to the sensitivity of short monitoring observations. There are however
a few counter-examples, which maintain residual radio emission long after
the initial fireworks; these include V404 Cyg, CI Cam, and X1748-288, which
may be related to such long-lived sources as SS433 and Cygnus X-3. One
of the key questions is whether X-ray transients in general retain low-luminosity
radio jets, and whether those jets deposit significant energy into the
interstellar medium. This summer we intend co-adding our monitoring observations
of a number of these sources, to see whether much deeper integrations
detect either a residual, very faint core, or some indication that previous
outbursts have left behind radio lobes or shock waves, as seen for example
in the remnant surrounding SS433.
A Neutral Hydrogen Image of the Galactic Center Region
This project involves the analysis of the 5 field galactic center HI mosaic
. This is a project observed during the 2001 CnB and DnC arrays. The members
of the team are Lang ( U MAss ), Zhao ( CfA) , Sung Kim ( CfA ) and Goss
( NRAO ). The images of the five field mosaic were made using the MIRIAD
last October during a visit by Kim and Lang . The quality of the data is
excellent ; the angular resolution is 15 arc sec and the velocity resolution
is 2.5 km/s over a velocity range of about 310 km/s. The main goal of the
analysis is to investigate the physical nature of the high velocity HI absorption
gas in the galactic center region. The distance of many of the continuum
components can be determinded using the pattern of HI absorption .
A Low Frequency Survey of the Inner Galactic Plane
Data reductions have been completed at 74 and 330 MHz for three fields
in the A,B,C, & D configurations. However, the330 MHz data only cover
the inner 4 degrees of the 12 degree 74 MHz fields. In order to more fully
sample these fields at 330 MHz we plan to augment our survey with archival
data (permission from the respective PIs has already been obtained). In
addition, we will be obtaining GMRT data at 150/235/610 MHz in May toward
two subfields within the survey region. It is also possible that we will
have B-config. VLA data toward a fourth field by summer.
The student would spend approximately half of the time learning to reduce
either the archival or GMRT low frequency data and the rest of the summer
picking either some subregion or subset of objects to fully analyze. The
possibilities for study range from Galactic supernova remnants and HII regions,
to extragalactic steep spectrum objects. Given the wealth of data contained
in the survey, the student will be able to obtain a publication from their
work.
Melissa Douthit
, of Calif. St. Univ. / San Marcos
A Glish Client to Enable Translation of Glish Records to/from XML
NRAO uses the Glish
scripting language for several key applications ranging from telescope
control to astronomical data reduction. Glish is a scripting language which,
together with a related C++ library, makes it very easy to develop distributed,
loosely coupled, applications. The C++ library implements a "software bus"
which allows applications to easily be distributed across a heterogeneous
network. The scripting language itself is a vector oriented calculator with
language constructs designed for control of asynchronous events. It allows
the user to control and connect processes attached to the "software bus".
We plan to develop a Glish client to enable translation of Glish records to
and from XML. This work is motivated by the requirement to serialize Glish
records and objects, as needed for persistence and interchange.
Therese Fukuda
, of University of Denver
works with Athol Kemball
on
VLBA Monitoring of the SiO Maser Emission in the Carbon Star S Perseus
Ms. Fukuda will be reducing a lenghtly series of VLBA monitoring observations
of the v=1, J=1-0 SiO maser emission towards the late-type star S Per.
These data form a complementary set to the regular monitoring of TX Cam,
and have been taken with the primary purpose of exploring the near-circumstellar
kinematics and dynamics of the extended atmosphere in a larger sample of
late-type stars. The data reduction for these datasets is semi-automated
as it needs to be highly uniform across observing epoch. John Kelly (REU)
U of Virginia Henrique Schmitt
Radio and optical imaging of a complete sample of Seyfert galaxies
This project will use new and archival VLA A-configuration 3.5cm data, as
well as DSS optical images of Seyfert galaxies. This data will be combined
with previously published results of another 124 sources, to create a database
for a complete sample of Seyfert galaxies, selected from a mostly isotropic
property, their infrared 60 microns luminosities. This sample avoids the
selection effects present in other samples, and is not biased towards one
Seyfert type with higher luminosities than the other. This dataset will be
used to test problems related to the Unified Model, like the size of the
radio emission in Seyfert 1's and Seyfert 2's, their 3.5cm continuum luminosities,
the effect of the host galaxy inclination on the detection of broad lines,
as well as to study the orientation of jets relative to their host galaxies
axes. The student will work on the reduction and analysis of the radio data,
and in comparing the properties of the two types of galaxies.
The Gamma Ray Burster Program at the VLA
The student will use GRBs as a test bed for an "end-to-end" data processing
system. This has several elements in it, some of which have prototypes already.
One needs to be able to read a GRB position off the Web, automatically write
an observe file, and send it to the VLA. One needs to archive the observe
file, operators log and the FITS file. One also needs to further develop the
data reduction pipeline, so that at the end a user can access a searchable
Web-based database of the observing run and its "products" (images, data,
logs, etc). Daniel Perley Cornell
TBD
Description unavailable.
HI 21 Absorption Towards the Bright, Compact Quasar 3C 232
Ms. Peterson will work on a VLBA spectral line project to image the HI 21
absorption towards the bright, compact quasar 3C 232, for the purpose of
mapping the parsec-scale spatial structure of a halo gas cloud 10 kpc above
the plane of the nearby, edge-on galaxy NGC 3067. This work will address
the question of whether the absorbing gas is uniform over 5pc or it is in
small ~1pc clumps. The spatial structure, along with the velocity of the
gas will be used to accurately determine the temperature and density of the
cloud. The VLBA observations for this project will be completed this January.
The student will work with me to reduce the continuum and HI maps. Collaborators
Chris Carilli and Greg Taylor will also provide assistance.
Radio and Millimeter Observations of High Redshift QSOs
To be described.
BL Lacs with Sheaths like in J1058+0133
The Caltech-Jodrell Bank Flat-spectrum (CJF) sample consists of 293 flat-spectrum
extragalactic sources. The CJF sample is designed to integrate the bulk
of our existing VLBI survey observations (PR, CJ1, CJ2) into a large, homogeneous,
database for statistical studies of a broad range of astrophysical and cosmological
issues. Along with Rene Vermeulen and Silke Britzen I have been monitoring
these sources to do a motion statistics study. In the course of the monitoring
we have obtained polarimetry for about two thirds of the sources in CJF.
There are a number of studies possible with such a large sample. For example
looking at fractional polarization as a function of source type (BL Lac,
Quasar, CSO, etc). The data are all calibrated, but some editing and self-calibration
may be necessary.
Green Bank, West Virginia (NRAO 100m and Other Telescopes)
Students conducting their research at the NRAO Green Bank Site in West Virginia
included the students in the list below, along with others. The program at
Green Bank is under the direction of Dr.
Ron Maddalena
.
2002 Calendar of Events -- West Virginia
The following links to the scheduled
activities
for the GB students.
Rotation Measures of Radio Sources
About 40 sources have been observed in a 10 by 10 degree region of the sky
with the VLA in order to determine the rotation measures (RMs) of these sources.
The summer student will work on calibrating and imaging the data to determine
the RMs of these sources. This data will then be used, along with Halpha
data from the same region of the imaging the data to determine the RMs of
these sources. This data will then be used, along with Halpha data from
the same region of the sky, to deduce properties of the galactic magnetic
field in the observed region.
Brian Kent
, of West Virginia University
works with Jim Braatz
on
We have used the Green Bank Telescope to search for OH
megamasers in ultraluminous infrared galaxies
(ULIRGs). Approximately 104 OH megamasers
(OHMs)rrently known (Darling & Giovanelli 2002). This
project surveyed for OH megamasers with unscheduled
telescope time on the GBT and provided useful data to
the astronomical community. The data will be used in
current efforts to calibrate the OH luminosity
function and relate it to the far-inrafred luminosity.
In addition, we hope to add to the study of merger
rates of galaxies, which can be measured more readily
with OH megamasers. Source candidates were chosen from
the Point Source Catalog redshift survey (PSCz) based
on an FIR luminosity greater than 10^11.4 solar
luminosities and a redshift of z < 0.25. Forty-seven
candidates were surveyed, and ten new OHMs were
detected.
Observations of 3He in Planetary Nebulae
The rare isotope of helium, 3He, is an important diagnostic of Big
Bang nucleosynthesis (BBNS) and for element production in low-mass stars.
Its abundance can be inferred from observations of the 8665 GHz hyperfine
line of 3He+. 3He should be produced in significant quantities by stars
of 1-2 solar masses. Chemical evolution calculations including this 3He
source are in strong disagreement with observations of 3He in HII regions.
However, there has been mounting evidence that suggests that low-mass stars
do not produce significant quantities of 3He and that the the measurements
of 3He in HII regions are probing primordial abundances. So far 3He has
been detected in only one planetary nebula (PN), NGC 3242, with the MPIfR
100m telescope providing observational evidence that at least one object
produced significant amounts of 3He. Additional observations are desired.
Observations of 3He+ in the PNs NGC6572 and J320 have been made with the
VLA. The summer project would be to reduce and analyze the data using primarily
AIPS++. Also we have been granted GBT observing time to in part measure
3He+ in PNe (GBT02A-041). If time is scheduled during the summer period
the student would be involved in observing and reducing the data.
Antenna Test Range Monitor and Control Software
Zachary Manganello
, of Middlebury College
works with Jeff Acree
on
NRAO Green Bank Interference Protection Group (IPG) Studies
The NRAO Green Bank Interference Protection Group (IPG) is responsible
for facilitating the management of the local radio spectrum in a region
known as the National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ). The following proposed summer
student or teacher tasks are intended to support that mission. The NRQZ
Administration task is the top priority, the extent to which the other tasks
may be pursued will be determined by the amount of remaining time. 1.
NRQZ ADMINISTRATION Using geographic and frequency data from FCC applications,
perform computer aided propagation studies, to determine the maximum power
that may be transmitted in the direction of the Green Bank Telescope (GBT)
for a proposed transmitter location. As a prerequisite to running propagation
studies, the student or teacher will examine and interpret topographical
data to verify site location and elevation. Transmitter site visits may
also be required. 2. SPECTRUM MONITORING AND RFI HUNTING / MITIGATION
Given a list of known Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) frequencies, use
the IPG spectrum monitoring assets, FCC data bases, internet, ect. to identify
the source. Update the EMI/RFI database. Assist IPG members with on-the-spot
"RFI hunting" and follow-up mitigation procedures. 3. EMI/RFI DATABASE
Develop an automated, searchable database for astronomers and others to
use in the identification of RFI Load the database with the currently
available RFI data.
GBT Observations to Search for Extra-Solar Planets
All magnetized planets in our solar system emit intense cyclotron maser
radiation. Like Jupiter, the recently discovered extra-solar planets are
probably magnetized. If in addition, there is a source of energetic (keV)
electrons in their magnetospheres, it is likely that extra-solar planets
are also cyclotron-maser emitters. The search and study of planets is
a priority of the Millennium Astronomy Review (2000, {\it National Academy
of Sciences press}) and radio astronomy can make a significant contribution
to this study. Bastian, Dulk and Leblanc have made a sensitive observations,
without success, but superior time and frequency resolution of the GBT spectrometer,
more sensitive observations are now possible. We have proposed observations
for a large number of planets, in order to find those with sufficient magnetic
field strengths to allow detection. Since cyclotron maser emission from
Jupiter is episodic, long observations may be required to detect Extra-solar
planets. We propose to first survey all nearby planets, making three 1000
second observations on each system. For each short period ($< 5$ days),
we will make one observation near orbit apogee and one near perigee.
Brian Tandy
, of University of Houston
works with Dave Parker
on
The Green Bank Telescope Laser System
This project involves work on field testing, lab experiments, and
data reduction.
Tucson, Arizona (NRAO VLBA Telescope and ALMA Development)
Four summer students conduct research at the NRAO Tucson site in Arizona
during the summer of 2002. The program in Tucson is under the direction of
Jeff Mangum. As the NRAO offices are across the street from KPNO/NOAO offices,
the group shares in the activities of the NOAO REU program there. For more
on their activities see
the Tucson Student Page
.
In addition to the general activities carried out at the KPNO/NOAO offices,
the NRAO and KPNO/NOAO REU students participate in group activities organized
by the NRAO staff.
One activity will be a lecture series on millimeter wavelength astronomy given
by members of the NRAO scientific staff. Four lectures were given, as listed
below. Students also visited the Array Operations Center and Very Large Array
in Socorro, NM.
2002 NRAO Tucson Summer Student Calendar of Events
To be determined.
The following are sketches describing the work to be done by each REU student
at NRAO Tucson.
Sarah Flynn
, of State University of New York at Stony Brook
works with Jeff Mangum
Molecular Outflow Properties Toward Protostars
Ms. Flynn will work on the analysis of CO 2-1 measurements of the molecular
outflow properties toward protostellar and young stellar candidates in the
Ophiuchus and Taurus molecular cloud regions.
The ALMA Site
Since late 1997, tipping radiometers have measured the submillimeter (350
um) atmospheric transparency at Chajnantor, Mauna Kea, and the South Pole.
Data from these instruments were edited and processed to produce a uniform
database. Overall observing conditions and diurnal and seasonal variations
in conditions at the three sites were compared. Results will appear in
a journal paper.
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