ASTRON: Radio Astronomy Research for High School Students

1. Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy Research at ASTRON Vladislav Kondratiev Kurgan high-school students visit, Dwingeloo, April 21, 2011 ASTRON is part of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) 1

2. Outline • ASTRON • Institute, general information • Astronomers • Radio waves • Telescopes of Astron • Study possibilities • Quiz Could you turn off your mobile phones? Research @ ASTRON high-school students 2

3. ASTRON, The Institute for Radio Astronomy • ASTRON departments: • Research and development (R&D) • Radio observatory • Astronomy group • ASTRON is host for: • JIVE • NOVA optical/IR lab • Total 200 people Making discoveries in radio astronomy happen! Research @ ASTRON high-school students 3

4. Goal: Make discoveries possible • Drenthe world-class telescopes: • WSRT (Westerbork telescope) • LOFAR • Preparing for the SKA • Technological development • LOFAR • Technology for the SKA • Optical/IR instruments Research @ ASTRON high-school students 4

5. 1. Research & Development (R&D) • Technical Department • Developing new telescopes and instruments for telescopes • Hardware and software development Example: EMBRACE Research @ ASTRON high-school students 5

6. 2. Radio observatory → Doing observations with the WSRT and LOFAR → Maintaining and repairing telescopes Research @ ASTRON high-school students 6

7. 3. Astronomy group • Find answers to main questions in the world: • What is outside the Earth? • What is the origin of everything? • What is the fate of the Universe? • Using: • Observations with the telescopes • Nature/mathematical theory • Computer simulations Research @ ASTRON high-school students 7

8. 3. Astronomy group • Different topics, such as: • Special stars, like pulsars • Birth of stars • Galaxies with an active central black hole • Study of distant galaxies: structure and evolution You are here Research @ ASTRON high-school students 8

9. Electromagnetic spectrum Research @ ASTRON high-school students 9

10. Electromagnetic spectrum M81 is seen in different EM waves Research @ ASTRON high-school students 10

11. Observations: black holes Research @ ASTRON high-school students 11

12. Observations: black holes Research @ ASTRON high-school students 12

13. Observations: Pulsars Pulsar “lighthouse effect” Lighthouse Ameland Research @ ASTRON high-school students 13

14. Observations: Crab Nebula Research @ ASTRON high-school students 14

15. How do astronomers work? Scientifically Proposal for observations Proposal will be evaluated: • Is the question interesting? • How will an observation help? Look at the data New ideas and questions! Answers??? Write papers and present the results at the conferencies Research @ ASTRON high-school students 15

16. Telescopes: Dwingeloo telescope • 1956 in operation • Largest radio telescope at that moment • Discovery: structure of gas clouds in our Galaxy • Is now managed by foundation CAMRAS Research @ ASTRON high-school students 16

17. Telescopes: WSRT • 14 dishes (10 fixed, 4 movable) • All 14 dishes together form a telescope with a size given by the largest distance between two dishes receiver Research @ ASTRON high-school students 17

18. Telescopes: LOFAR Research @ ASTRON high-school students 18

19. Location of LOFAR LOFAR “Superterp” Research @ ASTRON high-school students 19

20. Location of LOFAR Station “CS302” Research @ ASTRON high-school students 20

21. Location of LOFAR Station “DE601” in Germany Station “SE601” In Sweden Research @ ASTRON high-school students 21

22. LOFAR: operation Research @ ASTRON high-school students 22

23. LOFAR is more geophysics agriculture Research @ ASTRON high-school students

24. Telescopen: SKA Research @ ASTRON high-school students 24

25. Study possibilities • University education: Astronomy • Nijmegen, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Groningen, Leiden • Abroad • College education (exact studies): • engineering, • mathematics, • physics, • space technology, • ICT, • electronics Research @ ASTRON high-school students 25

26. Questions? Research @ ASTRON high-school students 26

27. Quiz Question 1: What image shows the Faraday's cage? A B C 27

28. Single-dish telescopes • 2. How big is the largest single-dish telescope? • 50 meters • 100 meters • 300 meters 28

29. With this energy a fly can do one push-up With this energy a dog can do one push-up With this energy a hippo can do one push-up With this energy an elephant can do one push-up Energy of radio waves 3. How much energy was received in the last 50 years of all radio telescopes in the world? 29

30. Size of the Milky Way • 4 What is the size of our Galaxy? • 1000 light years • 10.000 light years • 100.000 light years • 1.000.000 light years 30

31. Pulsar 5 Which statement is true? A pulsar is a neutron star A pulsar can rotate ~1000 times per second around its axis A pulsar resembles a lighthouse, but emits radio waves instead of visible light All above is true 31

32. Hubble's law • 6 What is Hubble's law? • The relationship between the mass and the maximum size of a black hole • The relationship between the speed of an object in the universe and the distance from the place where we are. • A law that says something about the number of stars in the universe • A law that Americans have made in response to the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope 32

33. To observe radio waves • 7 When can you observe with the Westerbork radio telescope? • Always • Only if it is not cloudy • Day only • Only at night End of quiz 33

34. Quiz Question 1: What image shows the Faraday's cage? A B C 34

35. Single-dish telescopes 2. How big is the largest single-dish telescope? C 305 meters Arecibo, Puerto Rico (305m) Effelsberg, Germany 100m Green bank telescope, USA 100 m/110 m

36. With this energy a fly can do one push-up With this energy a dog can do one push-up With this energy a hippo can do one push-up With this energy an elephant can do one push-up Energy of radio waves 3. How much energy was received in the last 50 years of all radio telescopes in the world? 36

37. Energy of radio waves 1 Jansky = 10-26 W m-2 Hz-1 64-m Parkes radio telescope 37

38. Size of the Milky Way • 4 What is the size of our Galaxy? • 1000 light years • 10.000 light years • 100.000 light years • 1.000.000 light years 38

39. Pulsar 5 Which statement is true? A pulsar is a neutron star A pulsar can rotate ~1000 times per second around its axis A pulsar resembles a lighthouse, but emits radio waves instead of visible light All above is true 39

40. Pulsar 40

41. Hubble's law • 6 What is Hubble's law? • The relationship between the mass and the maximum size of a black hole • The relationship between the speed of an object in the universe and the distance from the place where we are. • A law that says something about the number of stars in the universe • A law that Americans have made in response to the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope 41

42. Hubble's law 42

43. To observe radio waves • 7 When can you observed with the Westerbork radio telescope? • Always • Only if it is not cloudy • Day only • Only at night 43

44. Quiz answers Right answers: 1 B 2 C 3 A 4 C 5 D 6 B 7 A Who has all the answers right? or Who has the most answers right? 44