Glast Science Writer's Guide

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Glast Science Writer's Guide National Aeronautics Space Administration GLAST SCIENCE WRITER’S GUIDE “Exploring the Extreme Universe” Credit: NASA E/PO, Sonoma State University, Aurore Simonnet A guide for reporters to understand the mission and purpose of the GAMMA-RAY LARGE AREA SPACE TELESCOPE (GLAST) A NASA mission in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and many domestic and international partners www.nasa.gov February 2008 NASA NASA Science Mission Directorate Science Mission Directorate NASA’s Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) is a powerful GLAST space observatory that will: (Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope) 1. Explore the most extreme environments in the Universe, where nature SCIENCE WRITER’S GUIDE harnesses energies far beyond anything possible on Earth. 2. Search for signs of new laws of physics and what composes the mysterious Dark Matter. 3. Explain how black holes accelerate immense jets of material to nearly light speed. Table of Contents 4. Help crack the mysteries of the stupendously powerful explosions known as gamma-ray bursts. Page Topic 5. Answer long-standing questions across a broad range of topics, including solar flares, pulsars, and the origin of cosmic rays. 4 ...................... QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE Black hole-powered jet 5 ...................... GLAST KEY SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES of electrons and other 5 ...................... Q&A ON THE GLAST MISSION subatomic particles stream from the center of Galaxy M87 5 .................................. Mission Facts/Science Credit: NASA and The Hubble 7 .................................. Instruments Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) 8 .................................. Launch/Data 10 ................................ Partners 13 .................... HISTORY OF COSMIC DISCOVERY: OPENING NEW WINDOWS 15 .................... A TIMELINE OF GAMMA-RAY ASTRONOMY 17-31 ............... FEATURES: WHAT KINDS OF THINGS WILL GLAST STUDY? 17-18 ........................... FEATURE 1: ..Blazars and Active Galaxies 19-20 ........................... FEATURE 2: ..Gamma-ray Bursts TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE CREDITS GLAST, NASA’s new gamma-ray 21-22 ........................... FEATURE 3: ..Neutron Stars Lead Editors/Layout: observatory, will open a wide 23 ................................ FEATURE 4: ..Cosmic Rays and Supernova Remnants Lynn Cominsky, Sonoma State University, Calif. window on the universe. Gamma 24 ................................ FEATURE 5: ..Milky Way Galaxy Rob Gutro, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center rays are the highest-energy form (GSFC) of light and the gamma-ray sky 24-25 ........................... FEATURE 6: ..The Gamma-ray Background Robert Naeye, NASA GSFC is spectacularly different from 25-26 ........................... FEATURE 7: ..The Early Universe Layout Designer: Ruth Jennings, NASA GSFC the one we perceive with our 25-26 ........................... FEATURE 8: ..Solar System: Sun, Moon, and Earth own eyes. With a huge leap in 28-29 ........................... FEATURE 9: ..Dark Matter Contributing Authors and Editors: all key capabilities, GLAST data J.D. (Dan) Blackwood, NASA Headquarters (HQ) will enable scientists to answer 29-30 ........................... FEATURE 10: Testing Fundamental Physics Neil Calder, U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE), Stanford persistent questions across a 25-26 ........................... FEATURE 11: . Unidentified Sources and the Unknown Linear Accelerator Center broad range of topics, including 32 .................... GLAST LAUNCH AND OPERATION QUICK FACTS Neil Gehrels, NASA GSFC supermassive black-hole systems, Kevin Grady, NASA GSFC pulsars, the origin of cosmic rays, 33 .................... GLAST INSTRUMENTS Mike Greenwood, General Dynamics, AIS and searches for signals of 37 ................... GLAST WEB SITES new physics. F. Rick Harnden, Jr., NASA HQ 38 .................... ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM BASICS Grey Hautaluoma, NASA HQ 39 .................... EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH PRODUCTS Julie McEnery, NASA GSFC NASA’s GLAST mission is Charles “Chip” Meegan, Marshall Space Flight an astrophysics and particle 41 .................... GLAST SCIENCE GLOSSARY Center physics partnership, developed 46 .................... GLAST-RELATED ACRONYMS Peter Michelson, Stanford University in collaboration with the U.S. Steve Ritz, NASA GSFC Department of Energy, along Mark Seidleck, NASA GSFC with important contributions David Thompson, NASA GSFC from academic institutions and Kathy Turner, U.S. DOE partners in France, Germany, Italy, Marcus Woo, Freelance Science Writer Japan, Sweden, and the U.S. 2 3 NASA NASA Science Mission Directorate Science Mission Directorate GLAST QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE GLAST KEY SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES SCIENTIFIC GLAST PROJECT GLAST LARGE AREA GLAST BURST NASA’s Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) is a powerful SCIENTIST: TELESCOPE (LAT) MONITOR (GBM) space observatory that will: Steve Ritz PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Peter Michelson Charles “Chip” Meegan 1. Explore the most extreme environments in the Universe, where nature [email protected] Stanford University NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Tel. 301-286-0941 [email protected] [email protected] harnesses energies far beyond anything possible on Earth. Tel. 650-723-3004 Tel. 256-961-7694 2. Search for signs of new laws of physics and what composes the mysterious Dark Matter. GLAST DEPUTY GLAST DEPUTY GLAST DEPUTY 3. Explain how black holes accelerate immense jets of material to nearly light PROJECT SCIENTIST: PROJECT SCIENTIST: PROJECT SCIENTIST: speed. Neil Gehrels Julie McEnery David Thompson 4. Help crack the mysteries of the stupendously powerful explosions known as NASA Goddard Space Flight Center NASA Goddard Space Flight Center NASA Goddard Space Flight Center [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] gamma-ray bursts. Tel. 301-286-6546 Tel. 301-286-1632 Tel. 301-286-8168 5. Answer long-standing questions across a broad range of topics, including solar flares, pulsars, and the origin of cosmic rays. GLAST RELATED PUBLICATIONS • GLAST Brochure: http://glast.sonoma.edu/resources/brochure/glastbroch04.pdf Q&A ON THE GLAST MISSION • GLAST Fact Sheets: http://glast.gsfc.nasa.gov/public/resources/pubs/factsheet/Sci_Fact_Sheet.pdf • http://www.fisica.uniud.it/~glast/docs/a06518glastfa1.pdf MISSION FACTS / SCIENCE: WHAT DOES “GLAST” STAND FOR? Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACTS: WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE GLAST MISSION? NASA Headquarters Goddard Space Flight Center Marshall Space Flight Center The Universe is home to numerous exotic and beautiful phenomena, some of which can J.D. Harrington Rob Gutro Jennifer Morcone generate inconceivable amounts of energy. GLAST will open this high-energy world. 202-358-5241 301-286-4044 256-544-7199 Astronomers will have a superior tool to study how black holes, notorious for pulling matter [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] in, can accelerate jets of gas outward at fantastic speeds. Physicists will be able to search for signals of new fundamental processes that are inaccessible in ground-based accelerators and NASA-TV Sonoma State University U.S. Dept. of Energy, SLAC observatories. Deanna Kekesi Lynn Cominsky Kelen Tuttle Television Producer GLAST Press Officer 650-926-2585 301-286-0041 707-664-2655 [email protected] WHAT ARE GLAST’S MAIN MISSION OBJECTIVES? [email protected] [email protected] • To understand the mechanisms of particle acceleration in active galactic nuclei (AGNs), neutron stars, and supernova remnants (SNRs). • Resolve the gamma-ray sky: characterize unidentified sources and diffuse emission. Stanford University U.S. Dept of Energy Goddard Space Flight Center Dan Stober, Science Writer Peter Lincoln Robert Naeye • Determine the high-energy behavior of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and variable sources. Standford News Service 202-586-9010 301-286-4453 • Probe dark matter and the early Universe. 650-721-6965 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] WHAT KINDS OF THINGS WILL GLAST STUDY? (See Features section of this guide) 1. Blazars and Active Galaxies GLAST RELATED WEB SITES 2. Gamma-ray Bursts MAIN NASA GLAST WEB SITE: http://www.nasa.gov/glast 3. Neutron Stars NASA GLAST MISSION WEB SITE: http://glast.gsfc.nasa.gov 4. Cosmic Rays and Supernova Remnants EDUCATION WEB SITE SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY: http://glast.sonoma.edu 5. Milky Way Galaxy GLAST Multimedia Gallery: http://glast.sonoma.edu/resources 6. The Gamma-ray Background 7. The Early Universe 8. Solar System: Sun, Moon, and Earth MAIN GLAST INSTRUMENT WEB SITES: Q & A 9. Dark Matter LAT instrument at Stanford University: http://glast.stanford.edu/ 10. Testing Fundamental Physics GBM instrument at Marshall Space Flight Center: http://www.batse.msfc.nasa.gov/gbm/ 11. Unidentified Sources and the Unknown GLAST is NASA’s next-generation mission designed to explore the WHAT'S NEW AND REVOLUTIONARY ABOUT THIS MISSION? most energetic phenomena in our Universe. GLAST is the first imaging gamma-ray observatory to survey the entire sky every day and with high sensitivity. It will give scientists a unique opportunity to learn about the ever-changing QUICK REFERENCE 4 5 NASA NASA Science Mission Directorate Science Mission Directorate Universe at extreme energies. GLAST will detect thousands of gamma-ray sources, most of GLAST WILL STUDY THE ORIGIN OF COSMIC RAYS. HOW DO COSMIC RAYS AFFECT which will be supermassive black holes in
Recommended publications
  • Urania Nr 5/2001
    Eta Carinae To zdjęcie mgławicy otaczającej gwiazdę // Carinae uzyskano za po­ mocą telskopu kosmicznego Hubble a (K. Davidson i J. Mors). Porównując je z innymi zdjęciami, a w szczególności z obrazem wyko­ nanym 17 miesięcy wcześniej, Auto­ rzy stwierdzili rozprężanie się mgła­ wicy z szybkością ok. 2,5 min km/h, co prowadzi do wniosku, że rozpo­ częła ona swe istnienie około 150 lat temu. To bardzo ciekawy i intrygujący wynik. Otóż największy znany roz­ błysk )j Carinae miał miejsce w roku 1840. Wtedy gwiazda ta stała się naj­ jaśniejszą gwiazdą południowego nie­ ba i jasność jej przez krótki czas znacznie przewyższała blask gwiaz­ dy Canopus. Jednak pyłowy dysk ob­ serwowany wokół)/ Carinae wydaje się być znacznie młodszy - jego wiek (ekspansji) jest oceniany na 100 lat, co może znaczyć, że powstał w cza­ sie innego, mniejszego wybuchu ob­ serwowanego w roku 1890. Więcej na temat tego intrygują­ cego obiektu przeczytać można we­ wnątrz numeru, w artykule poświę­ conym tej gwieździe. NGC 6537 Obserwacje przeprowadzone teleskopem Hubble’a pokazały istnienie wielkich falowych struktur w mgławicy Czerwonego Pająka (NGC 6537) w gwiazdozbiorze Strzelca.Ta gorąca i „wietrzna” mgławica powstała wokół jednej z najgorętszych gwiazd Wszech­ świata, której wiatr gwiazdowy wiejący z prędkością 2000-4500 kilometrów na sekundę wytwarza fale o wysokości 100 miliardów kilometrów. Sama mgławica rozszerza się z szybkością 300 km/s. Jest też ona wyjątkowo gorąca — ok. 10000 K. Sama gwiazda, która utworzyła mgławicę, jest obecnie białym karłem i musi mieć temperaturę nie niższą niż pół miliona stopni — jest tak gorąca, że nie widać jej w obszarach uzyskanych teleskopem Hubble’a, a świeci głównie w promieniowaniu X.
    [Show full text]
  • Pos(ICRC2019)832 † ∗ [email protected] Speaker
    Probing Particle Diffusion around Two Nearby Pulsars with TeV Gamma-Ray Observations from HAWC PoS(ICRC2019)832 Hao Zhou∗ Los Alamos National Laboratory E-mail: [email protected] for the HAWC Collaborationy Nearby cosmic-ray accelerators, especially pulsar wind nebulae, are possible origins of the local multi-GeV positron excess. Pulsar Geminga and B0656+14, less than 300 pc from the Earth, have been postulated as the main sources of the positron excess. With one and half years of data, the HAWC gamma-ray observatory discovered very extended TeV gamma-ray structures produced from high-energy electrons and positrons around these two nearby middle-aged pulsars. Morphology studies suggest that the diffusion in the vicinity of these two pulsars is 100 times slower than the average in our Galaxy. This result provides important constraints on the origin of positron excess, but raises questions like why diffusion is so slow at high energies near these pulsars. With more than twice of data from the previous results, we now explore the possibility of energy-dependent diffusion at these sources. 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference -ICRC2019- July 24th - August 1st, 2019 Madison, WI, U.S.A. ∗Speaker. yFor a complete author list and acknowledgemets, see PoS(ICRC2019)1177 and http://www.hawc- observatory.org/collaboration/icrc2019.php c Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). http://pos.sissa.it/ Probing Particle Diffusion with HAWC Hao Zhou 1. Introduction Pulsar wind nebulae are known as efficient particle accelerators of electrons and positrons.
    [Show full text]
  • Stars, Constellations, and Dsos [50 Pts]
    Reach for the Stars B – KEY Bonus (+1) TRAPPIST-1 Part I: Stars, Constellations, and DSOs [50 pts] 1. Kepler’s SNR 2. Tycho’s SNR 3. M16 (Eagle Nebula) 4. Radiation pressure (wind) from young stars 5. Cas A 6. Extinction (from interstellar dust) 7. 30 Dor 8. [T10] Tarantula Nebula 9. LMC 10. Sgr A* 11. Gravitational interaction with orbiting stars (based on movement over time) 12. M42 (Orion Nebula) 13. [T8] Trapezium 14. (Charles) Messier 15. NGC 7293 (Helix Nebula) –OR– M57 (Ring Nebula) 16. TP-AGB (thermal pulse AGB) 17. Binary system –OR– stellar winds –OR– stellar rotation –OR– magnetic fields 18. Geminga 19. [T4] Jets from pulsar spin poles 20. X-ray 21. NGC 3603 22. Among the most massive & luminous stars known 23. T Tauri 24. FUors (FU Orionis stars) 25. NGC 602 26. Open cluster 27. LMC –AND– SMC 28. Irregular 29. Tidal forces –OR– gravity of MW 30. M1 (Crab Nebula) 31. PWN (pulsar wind nebula) 32. X-ray 33. M17 (Omega Nebula) 34. Omega Nebula –OR– Swan Nebula –OR– Checkmark Nebula –OR– Horseshoe Nebula 35. NGC 6618 36. Zeta Ophiuchi 37. Bow shock (from moving quickly through the ISM) 38. It “wobbles” across the sky (moves perpendicular to overall proper motion) 39. Procyon (α CMi) 40. Mizar –AND– Alcor 41. Mizar 42. Pollux (β Gem) 43. [T5] High rotational velocity 44. Altair (α Aql) –OR– Regulus (α Leo) –OR– Vega (α Lyr) 45. Polaris (α UMi) 46. Precession 47. Binary with observed Doppler shift of spectral lines 48. Beta Cephei variable (β Cep) 49.
    [Show full text]
  • VERITAS Prospects for Geminga Pulsar
    VERITAS Prospects for Geminga Pulsar Emily Harris University of Pittsburgh, Department of Physics and Astronomy Columbia University, Nevis Laboratories (Dated: August 7, 2018) Recent observations of the positron excess in Earth's atmosphere by PAMELA and Fermi-LAT suggest that particle acceleration in nearby pulsar wind nebulae play an important role in the local interstellar medium. Measurements show that lepton acceleration by the Geminga pulsar wind nebula reaches multi-TeV energies, which then leads to gamma-ray emission detectable by Cherenkov telescopes such as VERITAS. The high energy emission, close proximity, and old age of Geminga indicates it may be the origin of the positron flux in local interstellar space. In this study, we aim to investigate the prospects for VERITAS detection of Geminga, which has an emission region greater than the field of view of the telescopes. We perform simulations of the gamma-ray emission region around Geminga using the 3-Dimensional Maximum Likelihood Method. We find that by simulating our pointing strategy along with our model of the lepton diffusion around Geminga, VERITAS will be able to detect Geminga with a high significance greater than 11σ. However, the skymaps produced by the tools currently available with the likelihood analysis do not accurately represent the quality of the expected data, and are rather dominated by statistical fluctuations. I. Introduction gamma-ray observatories and is located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Tuscon, Arizona. High-energy gamma-ray astronomy is a relatively It is an array of four 12-meter imaging atmospheric young field when compared to the history of astronomy Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs), with a field of view of in other wavelengths [1].
    [Show full text]
  • Tev Measurements of Young Pulsars and Supernova Remnants P.M
    OG 2.2.21 1 TeV Measurements of Young Pulsars and Supernova Remnants P.M. Chadwick, K. Lyons, T.J.L. McComb, K.J. Orford, M.G.G. O'Connell, J.L. Osborne, S.M. Rayner, S.E. Shaw, and K.E. Turver Department of Physics, Rochester Building, Science Laboratories, University of Durham, Durham, DH1 3LE, U.K. Abstract Observations have been made with the University of Durham Mark 6 telescope of a number of supernova remnants and young pulsars (Vela pulsar, PSR B1055±52, PSR J1105±6107, PSR J0537±6910 and PSR B0540±69). No VHE gamma ray emission, either steady or pulsed, has been detected from these objects. 1 Introduction The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) telescopes have detected pulsed gamma radiation from 7 pulsars so far: Crab, Vela, Geminga, PSR B1509±58, PSR B1706±44, PSR B1951+32 and PSR B1055±52 (see e.g. Thompson et al. 1997). Of these, the Crab and PSR B1706±44 are con®rmed VHE gamma ray emitters, and the Vela remnant has been detected by the CANGAROO group. Although the gamma ray emission from all the pulsars detected with the EGRET telescope is pulsed, thus far no imaging VHE gamma ray telescope has detected pulsed radiation at TeV energies from any of the EGRET pulsars. We have previously presented limits on VHE gamma ray emission from a number of Southern hemisphere pulsars using the University of Durham Mark 3 telescope (Brazier et al. 1990). We present here the results of VHE gamma ray observations of ®ve plerions using the Mark 6 imaging telescope; two EGRET sources (Vela and PSR B1055±52) and three X-ray emitting pulsars, PSR J1105±6107, PSR J0537±6910 and PSR B0540±69.
    [Show full text]
  • Chandra Observations of Outflows from PSR J1509-5850
    Draft version September 5, 2018 Preprint typeset using LATEX style emulateapj v. 5/2/11 CHANDRA OBSERVATIONS OF OUTFLOWS FROM PSR J1509{5850 Noel Klingler1, Oleg Kargaltsev1, Blagoy Rangelov1, George G. Pavlov2, Bettina Posselt2, C.-Y. Ng3 1The George Washington University, Department of Physics, 725 21st St NW, Washington, DC 20052 2Pennsylvania State University, Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, 525 Davey Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802 3Department of Physics, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Draft version September 5, 2018 ABSTRACT PSR J1509{5850 is a middle-aged pulsar with the period P ≈ 89 ms, spin-down power E_ = 5:1×1035 erg s−1, at a distance of about 3.8 kpc. We report on deep Chandra X-ray Observatory observations of this pulsar and its pulsar wind nebula (PWN). In addition to the previously detected tail extending up to 70 southwest from the pulsar (the southern outflow), the deep images reveal a similarly long, faint diffuse emission stretched toward the north (the northern outflow) and the fine structure of the compact nebula (CN) in the pulsar vicinity. The CN is resolved into two lateral tails and one axial tail pointing southwest (a morphology remarkably similar to that of the Geminga PWN), which supports the assumption that the pulsar moves towards the northeast. The luminosities of the southern and northern outflows are about 1 × 1033 and 4 × 1032 erg s−1, respectively. The spectra extracted from four regions of the southern outflow do not show any softening with increasing distance from the pulsar. The lack of synchrotron cooling suggests a high flow speed or in-situ acceleration of particles.
    [Show full text]
  • 1. Introduction
    THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 498:327È341, 1998 May 1 ( 1998. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A. THE STATISTICS OF GAMMA-RAY PULSARS K. S. CHENG AND L. ZHANG Department of Physics, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong; hrspksc=hkucc.hku.hk, ZhangL=hkuphy1.hku.hk Received 1997 July 15; accepted 1997 December 9 ABSTRACT We use Monte Carlo methods to simulate the properties of a Galactic population of rotation-powered pulsars in the self-consistent outer gap model proposed by Zhang & Cheng, where the initial magnetic Ðeld and spatial and velocity distributions of the neutron stars at birth are obtained from the statistical results of radio pulsars. We obtain the distance, period, age, magnetic Ðeld, and c-ray Ñux distributions of the c-ray pulsars whose c-ray and radio Ñuxes are above the detectable threshold Ñuxes. Furthermore, we simulate the properties of Geminga-like pulsars and obtain the possible parametric region and the number of the Geminga-like pulsars. In our simulations, the di†erent beaming e†ects of radio and c-ray beams are taken into account. We predict that there may be D11 c-ray pulsars that are detectable at both radio and c-ray energies and D37 Geminga-like pulsars in the Galactic plane ( o b o \ 5¡) if the c-ray beaming fraction is 0.67 and the birthrate of the neutron stars is 1 per century. Compared to the Ñux distribution, individual spectrum, and distance distribution obtained by assuming OB star associations of our simulated Geminga-like pulsars and the unidentiÐed EGRET sources at o b o \ 5¡, we conclude that the majority of the unidentiÐed c-ray point sources near the Galactic plane may be Geminga-like pulsars.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploration of Galactic Γ-Ray Supernova Remnants 1. Background
    Exploration of Galactic γ-Ray Supernova Remnants TIAN Wenwu*,ZHANG Jianli National Astronomical Observatories, CAS, Beijing, 100012 New generational very-high-energy telescope arrays have been detecting more than 120 TeV γ-ray sources. Multi-wavelength observations on these Gamma-ray sources have proven to be robust in shedding light on their nature. The coming radio telescope arrays like ASKAP and FAST may find more faint (extended) radio sources due to their better sensitivities and resolutions, might identify more previously un-identified γ-ray sources and set many new targets for future deep surveys by very-high-energy ground-based telescopes like LHAASO. We in the paper summarize a list of known Galactic γ-ray Supernova Remnants (SNRs) with or without radio emissions so far, which includes some SNRs deserving top priority for future multi-wavelength observations. Supernova remnants, gamma-ray sources, Cosmic rays PACS number(s): 98.38.Mz, 98.70.Rz, 98.70.Sa 1. Background Astrophysical shock waves have been considered as efficient accelerators of Cosmic Rays (CRs, mainly composed of nuclei, protons and electrons) since the 1980's [1]. Based on the inferred Galactic CR energy density (1−2 eV/ cm3) and the inferred time (~6x106 yrs) that an average cosmic ray stays in the Galaxy, the Galactic CRs have a total power of ~1041 erg /s. By comparison with the supernova energy and rates (their average explosion energy of ~ 1051 erg and an inferred Galactic supernova rate of ~ 2 - 3 per century), Galactic Supernova Remnant (SNR) shocks accelerating charged particles in the interstellar medium (ISM) and circum-stellar medium (CSM) are able to produce most of the Galactic cosmic rays up to 1015 eV .
    [Show full text]
  • The Magic Valley Astronomical Society Notes from the President February
    February Highlights Notes from the President Feb. 1st, 6:45 to 9:00 PM Our first general membership meeting for the New Year will be held at 7:00 P.M. on Satur- Family night telescope day the 12th of February, 2011. We will be meeting at the Herrett Center, on the College of viewing. Centennial Obs. Southern Idaho Campus. Admission: $1.50, free for children 6 and under. Free Tom Gilbertson will host our annual telescope workshop "I Have a New Telescope, Now with paid planetarium admis- What?" If you are new to the hobby or if you have new equipment that you would like as- sion. sistance in learning how to operate, please bring it along (as well as any instruction manu- als) and our members will be happy to provide you with whatever assistance is required. Feb 12th, 7:00 pm to mid- This event is open to the general public and we encourage non-members to join us for this night Monthly Membership evening. General Meeting and Monthly free star party. Members in attendance will pair off with new (or old) telescope owners during the break- out sessions and teach them how to operate their new telescope (or old). We could use a Feb 15th, 7:00 to 9:00 PM lot of help from our members, so that no one has to wait to be helped. We had a good turn Family night telescope out last year and we expect more this year as well. Following the meeting we will take viewing. Centennial Obs. everyone with their telescopes up to the Stargazer’s Deck at the Centennial Observatory Admission: $1.50, free for for a evening of observing.
    [Show full text]
  • High-Resolution Timing Observations of Spin-Powered Pulsars with The
    The Astrophysical Journal, in press A Preprint typeset using LTEX style emulateapj v. 08/13/06 HIGH-RESOLUTION TIMING OBSERVATIONS OF SPIN-POWERED PULSARS WITH THE AGILE GAMMA-RAY TELESCOPE1 A. Pellizzoni,2 M. Pilia,2,3 A. Possenti,3 F. Fornari,2 P. Caraveo,2 E. Del Monte,4 S. Mereghetti,2 M. Tavani,4,5 A. Argan,4 A. Trois,4 M. Burgay,3 A. Chen,2,6 I. Cognard,7 E. Costa,4 N. D’Amico,3,8 P. Esposito,2,9,10 Y. Evangelista,4 M. Feroci,4 F. Fuschino,11 A. Giuliani,2 J. Halpern,12 G. Hobbs,13 A. Hotan,14 S. Johnston,13 M. Kramer,15 F. Longo,16 R. N. Manchester,13 M. Marisaldi,11 J. Palfreyman,17 P. Weltevrede,13 G. Barbiellini,16 F. Boffelli,9,10 A. Bulgarelli,11 P. W. Cattaneo,9 V. Cocco,4 F. D’Ammando,4,5 G. De Paris,4 G. Di Cocco,4 I. Donnarumma,4 M. Fiorini,2 T. Froysland,5,6 M. Galli,18 F. Gianotti,11 A. Harding,19 C. Labanti,11 I. Lapshov,4 F. Lazzarotto,4 P. Lipari,20 F. Mauri,9 A. Morselli,21 L. Pacciani,4 F. Perotti,2 P. Picozza,21 M. Prest,22 G. Pucella,4 M. Rapisarda,23 A. Rappoldi,9 P. Soffitta,4 M. Trifoglio,11 E. Vallazza,16 S. Vercellone,2 V. Vittorini,5 A. Zambra,2 D. Zanello,20 C. Pittori,24 F. Verrecchia,24 B. Preger,24 P. Santolamazza,24 P. Giommi,24 and L. Salotti25 The Astrophysical Journal, in press ABSTRACT AGILE is a small gamma-ray astronomy satellite mission of the Italian Space Agency dedicated to high-energy astrophysics launched in 2007 April.
    [Show full text]
  • Standard Stars for the Infrared Space Observatory, ISO 1 2 1 3 N.S
    PROFILE OF AN ESO KEY PROGRAMME Standard Stars for the Infrared Space Observatory, ISO 1 2 1 3 N.S. VAN DER BUEK , P. BOUCHET , H.J. HABING , M. JOURDAIN OE MUIZON , 1, 5 D. E. BLACKWELL 4, B. GUSTAFSSON , P. L. HAMMERSLEy6, M.F. KESSLER~ T.L. UMS, 9 J. MANFROID , L. METCALFE~ A. SALAMA 7 1Leiden Observatory, the Nether/ands; 2 ESO, La Silla; 3Paris Observatory, France; 4 University ofOxford, Eng/and; 5Uppsa/a Observatory, Sweden; 6/AC, Tenerife, Spain; 7ESA-ESTEC, The Nether/ands; 8/mperia/ College, London, Eng/and; 9/nstitut d'Astrophysique de Liege, Be/gium The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) volves the use both of internal calibra­ servational programmes, but also es­ is a European Space Agency (ESA) tion sources and a range of astronomi­ tablished a collaboration with Black­ satellite to be launched in 1995. Operat­ cal reference sources (i. e. stars and as­ well's group (Oxford) and with Gustafs­ ing at wavelengths ranging from 2.5 to teroids for the photometrie calibration son's group (Uppsala) to carry out the 200 ~lm (Kessler, 1992), ISO will be a and planetary nebulae or HII regions for theoretical part of the project: determin­ unique facility with wh ich to explore the the spectroscopic calibration). ing fundamental parameters of the stars universe. Its targets will range from ob­ A full description of the plans for the and modeling their far-infrared spectra. jects in the solar system, at one ex­ in-flight calibration of the ISO instru­ The goal of the working group is to treme, to distant extragalactic sourees, ments can be found in the "ISO In Orbit deliver a database of standard stars and at the other extreme.
    [Show full text]
  • SEARCH for EXTRASOLAR PLANETS THROUGH HIGH CONTRAST DIFFRACTION LIMITED INTEGRAL FIELD SPECTROSCOPY Jacopo Antichi, Kjetil Dohlen
    SEARCH FOR EXTRASOLAR PLANETS THROUGH HIGH CONTRAST DIFFRACTION LIMITED INTEGRAL FIELD SPECTROSCOPY Jacopo Antichi, Kjetil Dohlen To cite this version: Jacopo Antichi, Kjetil Dohlen. SEARCH FOR EXTRASOLAR PLANETS THROUGH HIGH CON- TRAST DIFFRACTION LIMITED INTEGRAL FIELD SPECTROSCOPY. Astrophysics [astro-ph]. Università degli studi di Padova, 2007. English. tel-00580958 HAL Id: tel-00580958 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00580958 Submitted on 29 Mar 2011 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. SEARCH FOR EXTRASOLAR PLANETS THROUGH HIGH CONTRAST DIFFRACTION LIMITED INTEGRAL FIELD SPECTROSCOPY Jacopo Antichi Department of Astronomy University of Padova Thesis submitted towards the degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 2007 2 UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVA, DIPARTIMENTO DI ASTRONOMIA Coordinatore: Ch.mo Prof. Giampaolo Piotto Relatori: Dott. Raffaele Gratton, INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova Dott. Massimo Turatto, INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova Controrelatore: Dr. Kjetil Dohlen, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille & Observatoire Astronomique de Marseille Provence Data della Discussione: 26 Aprile 2007 3 4 Subject This Dissertation is devoted to high contrast diffraction limited Integral Field Spectroscopy for the direct imaging of extrasolar planets. The aim is to describe this subject in the domain of signals dominated by Speckles residual.
    [Show full text]