1 / 25

Understanding Radio Astronomy: Exploring the Universe Through Electromagnetic Waves

Radio astronomy is a vital tool in studying the cosmos, utilizing radiowaves from various celestial sources like the Sun, planets, and distant galaxies. By examining the electromagnetic spectrum, radio telescopes detect phenomena such as star formation, supernova remnants, and quasi-stellar objects. This field reveals insights into molecular chemistry and the dynamics of cosmic structures. Techniques like interferometry enhance resolution, allowing for a clearer understanding of objects like black holes and jets in active galactic nuclei, ultimately expanding our knowledge of the universe.

laurence-lemaitre
Download Presentation

Understanding Radio Astronomy: Exploring the Universe Through Electromagnetic Waves

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. What is Radio Astronomy? MIT Haystack Observatory This material was developed under a grant from the National Science Foundation

  2. The Electromagnetic Spectrum • Spans a range of wavelengths • Visible is just a narrow range • Radiowaves span a large range - from under 1mm to several meters

  3. Sources of Radio emission • Solar System - sun, planets • Milky way - star forming regions, old stars, supernova remnants • Extragalactic - quasars, radio jets • Molecules

  4. SunOPTICAL RADIO XRAY

  5. SaturnRADIO INFRARED OPTICAL ULTRAVIOLET

  6. Orion Nebula: Stars are born…RADIO INFRARED OPTICAL XRAY

  7. Crab Nebula: a star that died in 1054RADIO OPTICAL XRAY

  8. Cassiopeia A: a star that died in ~1700RADIO INFRARED OPTICAL XRAY

  9. Sagittarius A: Mystery Mass in Galaxy CenterRADIO OPTICAL

  10. Virgo A: Hidden Massive Black Hole shooting out a JetRADIO OPTICAL

  11. Molecules

  12. What are molecules good for? • Detections - newest one - “glycoaldehyde” (sugar) • Probes - measure temperature, density, chemistry • Kinematics - velocities - doppler effect

  13. HC3N as a density probe in the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC-1)

  14. CH3CCH as a temperature probe in TMC-1

  15. Model of H2O maser emission around NGC4258

  16. How do radio telescopes work?

  17. What is Resolution?

  18. Interferometry Getting better “resolution”

  19. NRAO/AUI Compare the radio image on the right, made with the Haystack 37-m single dish telescope at a frequency of 43 GHz with the radio image above made with the 27-element Very Large Array.

  20. VLBI images of SiO maser emission in Orion and a possible model

  21. SiO Masers around a highly evolved star - R Cassiopeia

  22. VLBI sequence of a supernova in M81

  23. Magnetic Fields in Active Galactic Nuclei • The Blazar 1055+018 • Active Galactic Nuclei • 15 billion light years distant • AGN are 40 times more luminous and 10,000 times larger than the brightest “normal” galaxies • Displays a colossal jet of relativistic plasma • Powered by a supermassive, rotating black hole

More Related