MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS and ASTRONOMICAL SCIENCES

NATIONAL ASTRONOMY & IONOSPHERE CENTER

Operated by Cornell University under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation

2006 PROGRESS REPORT

2007 PROGRAM PLAN

Students at the University of Texas, Brownsille control the Arecibo telescope from their remote control center.

March 2007

NATIONAL ASTRONOMY & IONOSPHERE CENTER

Operated by Cornell University under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation

MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS and ASTRONOMICAL SCIENCES

2006 PROGRESS REPORT

2007 PROGRAM PLAN

March 2007

Cooperative Agreement No. AST-0431904

Table of Contents1

Section 1 Introduction and Overview 1 Section 2 Annual Progress Summary 2 2.1 Summary of Achievements in PY2006 2 2.2 Problems Encountered, Solutions and Impact 7 2.3 List of Observing Programs, Investigators, and Hours - PY 2006 8 2.4 Visiting Public at the Observatory 27 Section 3 Accomplishments and Plans of the NAIC Scientific Staff 27 3.1 Cosmology 27 3.2 Early Galaxies 28 3.3 Active Galaxies 28 3.4 Normal Galaxies and Clusters 29 3.5 Intergalactic Gas and Tidal Remnants 30 3.6 Milky Way Galaxy 31 3.7 Pulsars 33 3.8 Solar System 33 3.9 Fundamental Physics 37 Section 4 Technical Accomplishments and Expectations 38 4.1 Radio Astronomy Instrumentation 38 4.2 IF/LO System 40 4.3 Backends 41 4.4 Computing: Storage and Networking 42 Section 5 NAIC Education and Outreach Programs 43 5.1 Angel Ramos Visitor Center 43 5.2 2006 REU Program 46 5.3 Connecting to Arecibo 52 5.4 ALFALFA Visiting Scientists 52 Section 6 Arecibo Observatory Publications - PY2006 54 Section 7 NAIC External Federal Funding and Active Subcontracts 65 Section 8 Division of Effort for Staff 67 Section 9 NAIC Organization Chart and Description 71 9.1 Management Plan: Organization Charts 71 9.2 Vitae of New Professional Staff 74

1 The contents, headings and order of topics presented here are as specified in the NAIC Coopertative Agreement. Table of Contents continued

Section 10 Status Report and Plan for PY2007 75 10.1 Scientific Plans 75 10.2 Technical Plans 87 10.3 Major Project Plans 92 10.4 Operational Changes in Response to the Senior Review Recommendations for NAIC 93 Section 11 Long Range Report and Plan 95 11.1 Major Program Goals and Emphasis 95 11.2 Risk Factors Affecting Program Goals 96 11.3 Management, Contractual, Financial and Technical Issues 97 11.4 Requirements for Support of the Scientific Community 99 Section 12 Budget Report 103

APPENDIX A: Committees 107 tools, to the much wider astronomical community. 1. Introduction and Overview • Routine scheduling of “commensal” observations, simultaneous observations done by two or more academic research groups with different scientific The National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center objectives, each processing the same as- (NAIC) radio/radar telescope located in Arecibo, tronomical signal with its own purpose- Puerto Rico, is the instrument that provides more specific spectrometer; collecting area—more “light gathering power”—for • Completion of the engineering design centimeter-wave radio science than any competi- phase of two new spectrometers, the tive telescope in the world. Operated as a national EALFA spectrometer, designed to en- research facility by Cornell University for the Na- able sensitive spectroscopy of atomic tional Science Foundation (NSF), the Arecibo tele- hydrogen in galaxies to z = 0.2, and the scope in fact provides nearly three times the col- PALFA spectrometer that will triple the lecting area of all the other NSF-sponsored radio analyzed bandwidth used for pulsar telescopes combined. The sheer physical size of searches and timing. Contracts for fab- the Arecibo telescope makes it a uniquely powerful rication of the two new spectrometers research instrument. Unique also to the Arecibo have been let with delivery expected in Observatory is the program of research supported the first quarter of calendar year 2007. by the telescope and the diversity of interests of the • Completion of the contract to clean and scientific user community it serves. Operation of the paint all of the structural steel on the Arecibo Observatory to satisfy the requirements of telescope platform to remove accumu- this interdisciplinary user community is the primary lated corrosion and millscale, and to ap- responsibility of the scientists, engineers and staff ply a coating specifically selected to pro- of the NAIC. Management of NAIC as a national tect the steel for at least 20 years. facility is provided by Cornell University under a Co- operative Agreement with the NSF . In PY2007 the emphasis at NAIC is on making the programmatic and personnel changes necessary Described in this PY2007 NAIC Annual Progress for NAIC to function well at the lower funding level Report and Program Plan (APRPP) are the major recommended by the Senior Review, and to devel- achievements of the past program year, the plans op new scientific partnerships with the NAIC user to meet the major challenges of PY2007, and an community for archiving survey data and making outline of NAIC priorities that inform its long-range the data products accessible for data mining. The planning. highlights include:

Highlights of the NAIC achievements in PY2006 de- • Tailoring Observatory services to the scribed in this APRPP include: ALFA survey consortia to the downstream needs of data archiving and data • Completion of the first year of obser- access through involvement with the vations made by two of the legacy sky Virtual Observatory. In the cost-con- surveys to be done with the Arecibo L- strained environment at NAIC imposed band Feed Array (ALFA) by community- by the reduced funding recommended based ALFA consortia. Scientific results by the Senior Review, this means that published and submitted for publication the data archiving and data access sup- from both the PALFA pulsar survey, and port comes at the expense of services the ALFALFA survey of HI in galaxies in provided to the consortia in the data-tak- the local (z < 0.1) universe, demonstrate ing phase of their survey work. the fruitfulness of the survey programs. They also create data products that are • Using the recommendations of the Are- accessible on-line, and useful as research cibo Users and Scientific Advisory Com- mittee (AUSAC) to develop telescope Cooperative Agreement No. AST-0431904 between the National scheduling procedures that assure the Science Foundation, Arlington, VA 22230 and Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, dated October 1, 2005. survey programs receive the time an-

NAIC APRPP 2007 nually they require for their successful NAIC Arecibo Observatory. There were more us- execution, and the traditional common- ers of the NAIC facilities at the Arecibo Observa- user programs maintain full access to tory, more prospective users proposing to use the the telescope and to Observatory user facilities, more students involved with the research support services. at NAIC, and more publications from research at • Assuring that the staff reductions im- NAIC than at any time in the past. posed by the Senior Review are accompanied by a commensurate reduction in Science Achievement Highlights. NAIC sup- the scope of Observatory tasks so that ports a multidisciplinary science program with re- the burden on the Observatory support search facilities for passive radio astronomy, active staff members remains manageable for radio astronomy done using radar transmitters at each individual. 430 MHz and 2300 MHz to illuminate solar system objects, and upper atmospheric research. In the On the longer term, priorities with a 5-year or great- astronomy program, recent science highlights in- er horizon include (a) organization of academic re- clude: searchers to specify the scientific and technical requirements for a comprehensive search for sources • Best limits ever achieved on dipolar of transient cosmic radio emission; (b) organization gravitational wave emission. Pulsar of academic researchers to specify the scientific J1738+0333 is a 5.85-ms object in a bi- and technical requirements for an incoherent scat- nary system with an orbital period of 8.5 ter ionospheric radar facility to be located at the hours; the companion object is a white Arecibo magnetic conjugate point in Argentina; dwarf. High precision timing of the and (c) refinement of the U.S. participatory role in pulsar orbital dynamics reveals that the the international Square Kilometer Array project. orbit is decaying due to dipolar gravitational wave emission at a rate of 4.4 x As a NSF National Center, the NAIC shares in the 10-14 s/s, a value that is exactly consistent NSF mission: To promote the progress of science; with that expected from General Rela- to advance the national health, prosperity, and tivity. This is the most precise measure- welfare; to secure the national defense; and for ment ever made of the effect of dipolar other purposes. Over the years the phrase “other gravitational wave emission. purposes” has been defined by Congressional ac- • Frequency structure has been observed tion to include (1) fostering the interchange of sci- in pulses from the Crab Nebula pulsar entific and engineering information nationally and that is unresolved with a sampling rate internationally; (2) supporting the development of of 0.4 nanoseconds; the corresponding computer and other methodologies; and (3) ad- physical size of the emission region must dressing issues of equal opportunity in science and be less than 13 cm, about the size of a engineering. The NAIC PY2007 Program Plan fully grapefruit. This is, by far, the smallest embraces all these goals with the suite of programs astronomical object, a plasma cloud or and community support outlined in this APRPP. plasma interaction region, ever detected beyond the solar system. During its short lifetime, the blasts of radio emission from the region have a luminosity that exceeds 10 percent of the total lu- 2. Annual Progress Summary minosity of the sun. • OH emission was observed in the comet 9P /Tempel 1 for two months prior to the NASA Deep Impact penetration of the 2.1 Summary of Achievements in PY2006 comet nucleus, and for several weeks following the impact. OH is a secondary PY2006 was an exceptionally productive year for product arising from the photodissocia- NAIC in all areas. By any objective measure, the tion of water. The OH production rate NAIC Program Years 2005 and 2006 were the most after Deep Impact was immeasurably successful in the more than 40-year history of the different from the OH production rate prior to impact suggesting that the OH National Science Foundation Act of 1950, Public Law 810507. NAIC APRPP 2007 emission is being quenched in the in- tems formed, the properties they share ner coma owing to the increased abun- and the dynamics of their motion. dance of water produced in the impact. • Using the highest resolution radar im- • The supernova rate in the prototypical ages ever made of the moon, planetary ultraluminous infrared galaxy Arp 220 astronomers found no evidence for ice has been measured by means of VLBI in the craters at the lunar south pole. observations of the nucleus. A compari- There had been speculation that reser- son of VLBI observations made on two voirs of water existed in the form of per- epoch separated by a year revealed the manent ice sheets in shadowed lunar presence of 4 new radio supernovae in craters at the pole. The radar images the later epoch that were not present made at Arecibo disprove this conjec- in the earlier epoch. The implied star ture, a result that is important for those formation rate that follows from the planning extended human exploratory observed supernova rate is sufficient to missions on the moon. power all the infrared emission from Arp 220. By including the Arecibo telescope Programmatic Achievements in Support of in the VLBI array, the VLBI observations Scientific Research. The number of scientific were the most sensitive ever made, a proposals scheduled on the Arecibo telescope sensitivity ~5 microJy/beam that was since the major Gregorian upgrade of the tele- crucial to the detection of the new radio scope was completed in 1999 is shown in Figure supernovae. 2.1.1. This plot includes scheduled proposals in all • Discovery of the second relativistic bi- three components of the NAIC scientific program nary pulsar, J1903+03, a system that is at the Arecibo Observatory, astronomy, planetary an ideal “laboratory” for precision tests radar and space and atmospheric sciences (SAS). of General Relativity and for inclusion in the pulsar timing array search for gravi- The growth in the number of proposals scheduled tational waves originating in the big on the telescope annually derives from two factors. bang; First, it reflects a deliberate management decision • Discovery of a “dark galaxy” near NGC to emphasize the research of new investigators, 1156, a galaxy having the mass in neu- student investigators, investigators at small institu- tral atomic hydrogen equivalent to the mass NAIC Scheduled Proposals by Year

of the Milky Way, but 250 no apparent starlight. The newly discovered Radio Astronomy Planetary Radar galaxy is approxi- SAS mately 50 Mpc from 200 Total the Earth and appears to be about 75 kpc in diameter. The rota- 150 tional kinematics are consistent with those expected for a galaxy. 100 • Researchers using the Arecibo Observatory’s ScheduledObservingProposals powerful radar have made the most de- 50 tailed observations ever of a binary near-

Earth asteroid—two 0 clusters of rubble cir- 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 cling each other—of- Program Year fering new clues Figure 2.1.1. The number of scientific proposals scheduled on the Arecibo telescope as a function of year. Figures are shown separately for the three components of the NAIC about how such sys- scientific program at the Arecibo Observatory.

NAIC APRPP 2007 NAIC Users by Year telescope annually and the 350 number of institutions these

NAIC Staff scientists represent has Cornell 300 grown consistently since the Other Users Total completion of the Gregori- an upgrade of the telescope 250 in 1999. The telescope user statistics are shown in Fig- 200 ure 2.1.2. Each person is counted individually and

150 only once in a year, even in

Numberof Users those cases where a person observes multiple times dur- 100 ing the year and/or partici- pates on several scheduled 50 observing proposals. In just the three year period since 2002 the annual number 0 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 of users increased by 71% Program Year (from 193 to 331). Figure 2.1.2. The number of users of the NAIC Arecibo telescope in the period since completion of the Gregorian upgrade. At all the NSF national cen- tions and investigators proposing research that can ters there is an unmistakable only be done with the Arecibo telescope (e.g. HI in trend for the number of scientists/students on ob- low surface brightness dwarf galaxies or timing of serving proposals to increase. The same trend can faint pulsars). In an era when the ALFA survey probe easily seen in astronomical publications where grams are of high scientific importance and com- the average number of authors per paper has been munity agreed priority, the role of the individual increasing steadily for two decades. This growth investigator, curiosity-driven research must be pro- certainly results from many factors among them tected. Second, a conscious effort is made to pack being the greater specialization of contemporary the telescope schedule tightly so that as many pro- astrophysics owing to the expansion in the num- posals as possible will have access to the telescope. ber and sophistication of research tools, including Often this involves careful

consultation between the NAIC Student Users by Year proposers and the Observa- 90 tory telescope scheduler to Students compromise on the time lim- 80 its to be allocated to particular programs. The fact that 70 the number of proposals 60 being scheduled has been increasing, when the total 50 telescope time for science Students observations is nearly con- of Number 40 stant, is one objective measure of the cooperative spirit 30 that exists between the Ob- servatory and its community 20 of users. Clearly, that spirit 10 of goodwill is improving to

the benefit of all. 0 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 The number of scientists Program Year Figure 2.1.3. The number of graduate and undergraduate students conducting thesis using the NAIC Arecibo research observations on the Arecibo telescope.

NAIC APRPP 2007 software and computational tools. Additionally, sions. As described elsewhere in the APRPP, NAIC there is an unmistakable preference for many re- initiates programs focused on student education searchers to prefer to work in supportive teams involving use of the Arecibo telescope, and it pro- rather than to work independently. It is important vides institutional support for programs developed that scientific journals, national research centers and implemented by faculty advisors at their home and funding agencies adapt their processes and colleges and universities. Often such NAIC institu- procedures to changes such as these as they occur. tional support consists of assuring that student pro- Hence, keeping track of the user statistics at NAIC is grams are scheduled on the telescope at the hours vital to the future success of the institution. that are appropriate for classroom activities; in other cases NAIC makes its best efforts to assure that NAIC provides encouragement by means of travel travel support, meeting facilities, data transport or cost reimbursement for graduate and undergradu- software systems are made available to student re- ate students to become actively involved in their searchers. The success of the NAIC initiatives can thesis research programs on the Arecibo tele- be seen quantitatively in the growth of student in- scope. At NAIC, students are encouraged to get volvement with NAIC (Fig. 2.1.3). their (trained) hands on the equipment, to make modifications to the observing procedures, and to The number of institutions from which the users of experiment with novel observing techniques and the Arecibo telescope come as a function of year is data processing algorithms. Largely for this reason, shown in Figure 2.1.4. Here the numbers are sepa- there is an active and growing group of students rated between institutions located in the U.S., and who make use of Arecibo observations as a com- foreign institutions. In this plot a particular insti- ponent of their thesis research. Figure 2.1.3 sum- tution is counted only once a year, even in those marizes the number of graduate students whose cases where several telescope users come from the observations were scheduled on the Arecibo tele- same institution in that year. scope. Again, for each year an individual graduate student was counted only once, even in those Programmatic Achievements in Support of cases where the student observed multiple times Educational Programs in Puerto Rico. For or on multiple scheduled programs. many years, NAIC has exploited the fact that the Arecibo Observatory provides an inspirational set- Growth in the number of student users also results, ting for educational initiatives of many kinds. One in part, from deliberate NAIC management deci- of the most successful of these initiatives is the Angel Ramos Foundation NAIC User Institutions by Year Teacher workshops, a num- 160 ber of one-day workshops

US Institutions are offered frequently during 140 Foreign Institutions the year. These are coordi- Total Institutions nated through local universi-

120 ties with the Puerto Rico De- partment of Education. Par-

100 ticipants at these workshops include pre-service teachers, graduate students in educa- 80 tion and undergraduates who apply for the program 60 Number of Institutions of Number and are selected competi- tively. NAIC staff members 40 present an overview program of studies that empha- 20 sizes the scientific goals and methodology of the astrono-

0 my and aeronomy program 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 at the Arecibo Observatory; Program Year age appropriate materials Figure 2.1.4. The number of institutions represented annually by scheduled users of the NAIC Arecibo telescope. are given to the teachers so

NAIC APRPP 2007 that they may communicate the information to written for many of the non-exempt Ob- their students. servatory staff; • Improving communication materials The success of the NAIC teacher educational work- to ensure that employees all have the shops at the Arecibo Observatory has led to an in- same information regarding their bene- crease in the private funding we have received to fits, especially the health care plan. Fully support the workshops, which in turn has led to bilingual information is now being pro- a further expansion of the program. Figure 2.1.5 duced and distributed; illustrates the growth in the number of teachers in • Implementation of the Cornell standard Puerto Rico served by this important NAIC educa- policy for filling staff vacancies, includ- tional and outreach program. ing internal postings followed by external competition; • Employee Performance Evaluation. All employees are now presented annually with a written evaluation and a performance dialogue is conducted. The evaluations are linked to the employees’ annual performance salary/wage increase. This is the second year of formal performance management at NAIC. Many rough spots in the process were smoothed as a result of the experience last year.

Streamlining the personnel recruit- ment process has been a particular management objective over the past year. The goal is to eliminate Figure 2.1.5. Number of teachers in Puerto Rico attending NAIC science educa- the barriers that have led some re- tion workshops at the Arecibo Observatory shown as a function of year. cent recruitments to be unnecessar- ily protracted. Briefly, the process Management Achievements in PY2006. In by which an open position is filled is coordinated PY2006 significant progress was again made to- by the HR manager. She works with the involved ward assuring that management practices at the supervisor to update the job description, post the Observatory are fully compliant with Cornell proce- job so that all interested have the opportunity to dures and process. Progress in these areas benefits apply for it, conduct the search, interview the ap- directly NAIC personnel, not visiting users, but it is plicants, and select the best qualified candidate. no less critical to the success of NAIC. Substantial This process assures transparency and equal op- steps were taken to assure that NAIC employees portunity. Each supervisor, individually, will learn share fully in Cornell programs that provide oppor- the steps through mentored experience in one of tunities for greater educational, health, and profes- their actual recruitments. Delays in some recent sional advancement. Progress made in PY2006 in hires are the price we are paying for educating our the area of improved employee benefits includes supervisors in the process. the following: • Development of comprehensive posi- Providing employee benefits, knowledge of those tion descriptions and classifications. All benefits, and processes by which access to the ben- Observatory non-academic positions are efits are known to all, and applied equitably to all, is being re-written and re-classified into the a continuing task. Further meaningful progress is Cornell standard classification structure. expected in all these personnel management areas In PY2006 NAIC continued to work with in PY2007. a private consultant to accelerate the process of getting position descriptions

NAIC APRPP 2007 2.2 Problems Encountered, Solutions and The report of the NSF/AST Senior Review has had Impact severe consequences for NAIC staff morale. The NAIC staff members, press reporters doing stories Operationally, the biggest challenge to NAIC is on the Senior Review, government officials and the the lack of budget stability. Figure 2.2.1 shows U.S. community of astronomers all focus on the ex- the change in NSF funding of NAIC, actual and pression of the Senior Review that the Arecibo Ob- projected, over a ten-year period relative to the fi- servatory should be closed in 2011. It is certainly ducial year 1999. Shown on this plot is the actual true that the report expresses ‘closure’ as a last re- funds received by NAIC (yellow), the actual funds sort option to be used only in the event that ~$5M received by the NSF division of astronomical sci- of annual operations funding cannot be found ences (red) and the effect of inflation year-by-year from sponsors other than NSF/AST. But the news relative to 1999 taken as 3% per year. of the Senior Review report is the recommendation that the Arecibo Observatory should be closed. In PY2007 the purchasing power of the NSF funds It is for this reason that all stories in the print and received by NAIC had decreased by approximately broadcast media that discussed the Senior Review 25% relative to 1999. With NSF as a whole in a focused on this as THE story. Everyone who works dramatically expansive phase, the declining NAIC at NAIC and the Arecibo Observatory were stung budget is clearly the result of decisions being made by this recommendation. Particularly so because it annually at NSF/AST that favor other activities at is readily apparent to the NAIC staff that the analy- the expense of on-going NAIC operations. It is a sis presented in the report leading to the Senior Re- serious problem for NAIC that NSF/AST has not ex- view recommendation to close the Arecibo Obser- pressed with clarity the metric being used to de- vatory has clear flaws. Namely, the ALFA surveys termine NAIC annual funding at a time when the will require a decade or longer to be completed Observatory user-base has doubled in three years, once the follow up time is included, not the 3 years the research opportunities have never been great- the SR used as the basis for their analysis; and no er and the scientific output is at an all time high. account was taken by the Senior Review that their recommendations would terminate the Arecibo

Funding History Relative to FY1999

140.00

ǻAST (%) 120.00 ǻNAIC (%) ǻinflation (%)

100.00

80.00

60.00

40.00

20.00 CumulativePercent Change from FY1999 0.00 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

-20.00

-40.00 Fiscal year Figure 2.2.1. Budget history of NAIC and AST, actual and projected, expressed as a percentage change from FY1999. The NAIC budget is shown in yellow, AST in red and inflation in blue (taken as 3% per year).

NAIC APRPP 2007 Planetary radar, a unique scientific program that is NAIC funding be reduced by 25% over the next 3 the only technology capable of determining the or- years has led to a staff reduction of approximately bits of near-Earth asteroids with sufficient precision 30 positions at NAIC and a consequent reduction to assess their potential threat to impact the Earth. in the scope of activities supported by NAIC. An The investment of many hundreds of millions of adjustment of such a large magnitude is a signifi- dollars being made by NSF, DoD, DoE and several cant management challenge. NAIC will work with U.S. universities in Integral, PanStars and LSST with its user community to make the required changes the objective of locating near-Earth asteroids is cer- in a way that preserves the scientific strength of the tainly called into question if the Arecibo planetary Observatory and continues its recent growth path radar system were not available to do the precision but without unduly inconveniencing the user com- orbit determination. munity. Inevitably, this will require NAIC to have the flexibility to experiment and make corrections The reduced NSF/AST budget for NAIC that follows as we learn by experience. from the initial Senior Review recommendation that

2.3 List of Observing Programs, Investigators and Hours - Program Year 2006

Total Hours % of Total Experiment by Group Used Used Radio Astronomy 4301.00 49.10 Solar System Studies 488.75 5.58 Space & Atmospheric Sci. 1441.50 16.45 Commissioning Task 919.00 10.49 Maintenance 1462.00 16.69 Unsched. Maintenance 147.75 1.69 Total 8760.00 100.00

RADIO ASTRONOMY Graduate students are underlined Undergraduate students are italicized NAIC staff members are bolded Spectroscopic and Continuum Observations Hours Observers Project # Title

4.75 Lewis, B.M. (NAIC) A1312 Light Travel-Time Dimensions for |b| > 10 deg OH/IR Stars

2.50 Linz, H. (UPR Rio Piedras) A1582 From Darkness to Light - Star Formation in Infrared Hofner, P. (New Mexico Tech) Dark Clouds Stecklum, B. (TLS Tautenburg) Araya, E. (New Mexico Tech) Bacmann, A. (AIU Jena)

70.25 Lewis, B.M. (NAIC) A1587 The OH Light-Curve of IRAS 22402+1045

56.50 Lewis, B.M. (NAIC) A1589 On the Imminent “Death” of the OH/IR Star 15060+0947

2.00 Ghosh, T. (NAIC) A1653 A λ-21 cm Search for Low-z Damped Ly-α Salter, C. (NAIC) Systems Towards Compact Radio Sources O’Neil, K. (NAIC) 3.00 Kanekar, N. (Kapteyn) A1724 HI and OH in Damped Lyman-α Systems Chengalur, J. (NCRA-TIFR) Ghosh, T. (NAIC) NAIC APRPP 2007 Hours Observers Project # Title

2.00 Lebrón, M. (NAIC) A1767 HI and H2CO Observations of IVCs with Strong Pantoja, C. (UPR Rio Piedras) Continuum Background Sources

3.75 Ghosh, T. (NAIC) A1785 A Search for High-z Water Vapor Masers in Mathur, S. (Ohio State Univ.) Obscured AGNs Salter, C. (NAIC)

219.75 Lewis, B.M. (NAIC) A1852 To Continue the Monitoring of OH Masers in High Galactic Latitude OH/IR Stars

1.00 Momjian, E. (NAIC) A1908 HI 21 cm and OH 18 cm Spectral Line Observations Ghosh, T. (NAIC) of the 2 Jy IRAS-NVSS Sample Salter, C. (NAIC)

23.50 Muller, E.M. (ANTF) A1965 Absorption by the Tidal HI Filaments Associated with NGC 4631

68.00 Pandian, J.D. (Cornell) A1969 Tracing High-Mass Star Formation in the Galaxy Goldsmith, P.F. (JPL) Deshpande, A. (Raman Res.)

7.25 Giovanelli, R. (Cornell) A2010 ALFALFA: The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey Haynes, M. (Cornell) Boselli, A. (Marseilles Obs.) Brosch, N. (Wise Obs.) Catinella, B. (NAIC) Charmandaris, V. (U. Crete) Darling, J. (Univ. Colorado) Davies, J. (Cardiff Univ.) Garcia Lambas, D. (U. Cordoba) Gavazzi, G. (U. Studi di Milano) Hoffman, L. (Lafayette College) Hunt, L. (Arcetri Obs.) Iovino, A. (U. Milano-Brera) Karachentsev, I. (Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russia) Karachentsev, V. (Univ. Kiev) Kent, B. (Cornell) Koopmann, R. (Union College) Marinoni, C. (U. Milano-Brera) Masters, K. (CfA) Minchin, R. (Cardiff Univ.) Momjian, E. (NAIC) Muller, E. (ATNF) Pantoja, C. (UPR Rio Piedras) Putman, M. (U. Michigan) Rosenberg, J. (U. Colorado) Salzer, J. (Wesleyan Univ.) Saintonge, A. (Cornell) Scodeggio, M. (Milano CNR) Skillman, E. (U. Minnesota) Solanes, J. (U. Barcelona) Spekkens, K. (Rutgers Univ.) Springob, C. (NRL)

NAIC APRPP 2007 Hours Observers Project # Title

Stierwalt, S. (Cornell) Valotto, C. (U. Cordoba) van Driel, W. (Obs. Paris) van Zee, L. (Indiana Univ.)

49.25 (see list above) A2010 ALFALFA: The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey and Davies, J.I. (Cardiff Univ.) A2048 The Arecibo Galaxy Environments Survey (AGES)

1042.25 (see list above) A2010 ALFALFA: The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey and Putman, M. (U. Michigan) A2059 Mapping the HI Galaxy and Halo with TOGS (Turn Stanimirovic, S. (UC Berkeley) on GALFA Survey) Heiles, C. (UC Berkeley) Goldston, J.E. (UC Berkeley) Arce, H. (Caltech) Bania, T. (Boston Univ.) Briggs, F. (Australia Nat’l Univ.) Koo, B-C. (Seoul Nat’l Univ.) Korpela, E. (UC Berkeley) Lockman, F.J. (NRAO) van Loon, J. (Keele Univ.)

3.75 Goldston, J.E. (UC Berkeley) A2011 Bipolar Flows in the 21 cm Sky Heiles, C. (UC Berkeley)

1.00 Blanton, M.R. (New York Univ.) A2046 HI Content and Dynamics of Low Luminosity West, A. (U. Washington) Galaxies Geha, M. (Carnegie Obs.) Pizagno, J. (Ohio State Univ.) Weinberg, D. (Ohio State Univ.) Dalcanton, J. (U. Washington) Garcia-Appadoo, D. (Cardiff Univ.)

0.75 Davies, J.I. (Cardiff Univ.) A2048 The Arecibo Galaxy Environments Survey (AGES)

128.75 Davies, J.I. (Cardiff Univ.) A2048 The Arecibo Galaxy Environments Survey (AGES) and Putman, M. (U. Michigan) A2059 Mapping the HI Galaxy and Halo with TOGS (Turn Stanimirovic, S. (UC Berkeley) on GALFA Survey) Heiles, C. (UC Berkeley) Goldston, J.E. (UC Berkeley) Arce, H. (Caltech) Bania, T. (Boston Univ.) Briggs, F. (Australia Nat’l Univ.) Koo, B-C. (Seoul Nat’l Univ.) Korpela, E. (UC Berkeley) Lockman, F.J. (NRAO) van Loon, J. (Keele Univ.)

76.00 Ghosh, T. (NAIC) A2049 The Fate of Cooling Flow Gas: An Arecibo HI 21-cm Salter, C. (NAIC) Absorption Survey Momjian, E. (NAIC)

10 NAIC APRPP 2007 Hours Observers Project # Title

35.00 Goldston, J.E. (UC Berkeley) A2050 Turbulence and Feedback in the Diffuse ISM Lazarian, A. (U. Wisconsin) Esquivel-Salazar, A. (U. Wisconsin) Heiles, C. (UC Berkeley)

30.25 Heiles, C. (UC Berkeley) A2052 The Thinnest Cold HI Clouds in the Diffuse ISM Stanimirovic, S. (UC Berkeley) Kanekar, N. (NRAO Socorro)

10.25 Henning, P. (U. New Mexico) A2053 ALFA HI Survey of the Galactic Plane at 1 = 38 to 45 deg: Galaxies in the Zone of Avoidance and Koo, B-C., (Seoul Nat’l Univ.) A2055 ALFA HI Survey of the Galactic Plane at 1 = 38 to 45 Bania, T. (Boston Univ.) deg: Faint HI 21-cm Emission Line Wings at Heiles, C. (UC Berkeley) Forbidden Velocities Stanimirovic, S. (UC Berkeley) Kang, J. (Seoul Nat’l Univ.) Lee, J-J. (Seoul Nat’l Univ.)

33.25 Korpela, E. (UC Berkeley) A2056 An ALFA Proposal: Testing the Modified Basketweave Koo, B-C. (Seoul Nat’l Univ.) Technique (A Commensal Proposal with the ZOA Heiles, C. (UC Berkeley) Group) Goldston, J.E. (UC Berkeley) Stanimirovic, S. (UC Berkeley) and Henning, P.A. (U. New Mexico) A2051 ALFA HI Survey of the Galactic Plane at 1=192 deg: Galaxies in the Zone of Avoidance, Testing the Modified Basketweave Technique

34.00 Lubowich, D. (Hofstra Univ.) A2057 DI in the Most Deuterated Known Molecular Cloud: Turner, B. (NRAO (C’Ville) A Key to Understanding Deuterium Astrochemistry Robert, H. (U. Manchester) Millar, T. (U. Manchester) Pasachoff, J. (William College)

69.75 Putman, M. (U. Michigan) A2059 Mapping the HI Galaxy and Halo with TOGS (Turn Stanimirovic, S. (UC Berkeley) on GALFA Survey) Heiles, C. (UC Berkeley) Goldston, J.E. (UC Berkeley) Arce, H. (Caltech) Bania, T. (Boston Univ.) Briggs, F. (Australia Nat’l Univ.) Koo, B-C. (Seoul Nat’l Univ.) Korpela, E. (UC Berkeley) Lockman, F.J. (NRAO) van Loon, J. (Keele Univ.)

105.00 Putman, M. (U. Michigan) A2060 A GALFA Study of the Disk-Halo Interface Stanimirovic, S. (UC Berkeley) Lockman, F.J. (NRAO) Kerton, C. (Iowa State) Esquivel-Salazar, A. (U. Wisconsin) Lazarian, A. (U. Wisconsin)

NAIC APRPP 2007 11 Hours Observers Project # Title

Goldston, J.E. (UC Berkeley) Muller, E. (ATNF) Gibson, B. (Swinburne) McClure-Griffiths, N. (ATNF)

50.25 Stanimirovic, S. (UC Berkeley) A2063 The Fifth Session of Pulsar HI Absorption Measure- Weisberg, J.M. (Carleton College) ments of Tiny-Scale Atomic Structure in the Inter- stellar Medium

77.00 Robishaw, T. (UC Berkeley) A2119 OH Megamasers in ULIRGs: The Mega-Obvious Place Heiles, C. (UC Berkeley) to Look for Zeeman Splitting! Quataert, E. (UC Berkeley)

17.75 Chomiuk, L.B. (U. Wisconsin) A2120 Hidden Molecular Gas in the Extreme Outer Disk of Strader, J. (UCO/Lick Observatory) M33? Allen, R. (STScI) Smith, G. (UCO/Lick Observatory)

84.50 Ho, L.C. (Carnegie Obs.) A2121 HI Emission in AGN Hosts: A New Strategy to Test Darling, J. (Univ. Colorado) the Black Hole-Host Galaxy Paradigm

66.00 Kanekar, N. (NRAO) A2123 Do the Fundamental Constants Change with Time? Ghosh, T. (NAIC) Chengalur, J.N. (NCRA-TIFR)

22.25 Kronberg, P.P. (Los Alamos) A2125 Imaging Diffuse Intergalactic 430 MHz Emission in Salter, C.J. (NAIC) an 8 deg x 8 deg Zone of the Perseus-Pisces Super- Kothes, R. (DRAO) cluster Ensslin, T. (MPIfA Garching) Perillat, P. (NAIC)

8.75 Brown, R.L. (NAIC) A2127 Search for Molecular Oxygen in the z=6.28 QSO SDSS J1030+0524

1.50 Stilp, A. (Univ. Wisconsin) A2140 ALFALFA: The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey. Patel, N. (Cornell) The 2005 Summer Undergraduate Observing Altaf, A. (Lafayette College) Program Ayala, J. (UPR) Forsyth, C. (Colgate & Bryn Mawr) Gillin, M. (Union College) Goldstein, J. (Lafayette College) Mahmood, B. (Union College) Mullan, B. (Colgate Univ.) Read, J. (Union College) Walsh, B. (Colgate Univ.) Wortel, S. (Colgate Univ.)

45.50 Douglas, K.A. (UC Berkeley) A2143 The MOlecular State of Galactic Translucent Clouds: Goldston, J.A. (UC Berkeley) OH Scientific Justification Kregenow, J.M. (UC Berkeley) Heiles, C.E. (UC Berkeley) Edelstein, J. (UC Berkeley) Korpela, E.J. (UC Berkeley) Nishikida, K. (UC Berkeley) Magnani, L. (Univ. Georgia) 12 NAIC APRPP 2007 Hours Observers Project # Title

13.00 Osten, R.A. (Univ. Maryland) A2145 Wideband Dynamic Spectroscopy of Coherent Radio Bursts on Active M Dwarfs

5.00 Araya, E. (New Mexico Tech) A2146 An Arecibo Study of the Variability of the New

Hofner, P. (New Mexico Tech) H2CO Maser in IRAS 18566+0408 Olmi, L. (UPR San Juan) Kurtz, S. (UNAM)

14.75 Bieging, J.H. (Steward Obs.) A2147 HI 21 cm Mapping of the Gem OB1 Star-Forming Goldston, J. (UC Berkeley) Region Heiles, C. (UC Berkeley)

38.50 Buyle, P. (Ghent Univ.) A2149 HI Detection in E+A Galaxies Pisano, D. (NRL) De Rijcke, S. (Ghent Univ.) Michielsen, D. (Ghent Univ.) Dejonghe, H. (Ghent Univ.) Freeman, K. (Aust. Nat’l Univ.)

54.00 Magnani, L. (Univ. Georgia) A2154 OH Observations of Two Translucent Cloud Edges Wennerstrom, E. (U. Georgia) Douglas, K.A. (UC Berkeley) Onello, J. (SUNY Cortland)

20.75 Rosenberg, J.L. (CfA) A2156 An HI Study of Star-Forming Dwarf Galaxies Salzer, J.J. (Wesleyan Univ.) Ashby, M.L.N. (CfA)

46.75 Heiles, C. (UC Berkeley) A2172 Mapping HI in a Spectacular Shell Goldston, J. (UC Berkeley)

17.75 Knee, L.B. (NRC of Canada) A2174 An HI Survey of the Perseus Molecular Cloud Di Francesco, J. (NRC) Complex Gibson, S.J. (NAIC) Goldston, J. (UC Berkeley) Heiles, C. (UC Berkeley) Li, D. (JPL) Krco, M. (Cornell)

20.50 Howell, E. (NAIC) A2185 OH Observations of 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann Lovell, A.J. (Agnes Scott College) 3 in Spring of 2006 Schloerb, F.P. (U. Mass Amherst)

25.50 Heiles, C. (UC Berkeley) A2187 Mapping HI in a Spectacular True Filament Goldston, J. (UC Berkeley) 11.50 Krco, M. (Cornell) A2193 Completion of a 2004 Project to Observe the Taurus Goldsmith, P.F. (JPL) Molecular Cloud Complex with GALFA

32.50 Jones, T.J. (Univ. Minnesota) A2195 A Search for OH/IR Stars in M33 McQuinn, K.B. (Univ. Minnesota) Lewis, B. (NAIC)

NAIC APRPP 2007 13 Hours Observers Project # Title

22.75 Ho, L.C. (Carnegie Obs.) A2196 HI Emission Profiles in AGN Hosts: A New Strategy to Darling, J. (U. Colorado) to Test the Black Hole-Hose Galaxy Paradigm Greene, J.E. (Harvard)

23.75 Magnani, L. (Univ. Georgia) A2198 The Distribution of H2CO in the Far Outer Galaxy Lugo, S.K. (U. Georgia) Brand, J. (IRA-INAF) Wouterloot, J. (U. Hawaii)

13.50 Terzian, Y. (Cornell) A2200 HI Content of Distant Galaxy Clusters Chengalur, J.N. (NCRA-TIFR) B. Lewis (NAIC)

28.50 Giovanelli, R. (Cornell) A2215 ALFALFA Follow-up: Enigmatic Virgo Clouds Kent, B. (Cornell) Haynes, M. (Cornell) Boselli, A. (Marseilles Obs.) Brosch, N. (Wise Obs.) Catinella, B. (NAIC) Charmandaris, V. (U. Crete) Darling, J. (Univ. Colorado) Davies, J. (Cardiff Univ.) Garcia Lambas, D. (U. Cordoba) Gavazzi, G. (U. Studi di Milano) Hoffman, L. (Lafayette College) Hunt, L. (Arcetri Obs.) Iovino, A. (U. Milano-Brera) Karachentsev, I. (Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russia) Karachentsev, V. (Univ. Kiev) Koopmann, R. (Union College) Marinoni, C. (U. Milano-Brera) Masters, K. (CfA) Minchin, R. (NAIC) Momjian, E. (NAIC) Muller, E. (ATNF) Pantoja, C. (UPR Rio Piedras) Putman, M. (U. Michigan) Rosenberg, J. (U. Colorado) Salzer, J. (Wesleyan, Univ.) Saintonge, A. (Cornell) Scodeggio, M. (Milano CNR) Skillman, E. (U. Minnesota) Solanes, J. (U. Barcelona) Spekkens, K. (Rutgers Univ.) Springob, C. (NRL) Stierwalt, S. (Cornell) Valotto, C. (U. Cordoba) van Driel, W. (Obs. Paris) Van Zee, L. (Indiana Univ.)

17.75 Dedes, L. (Univ. Bonn) A2221 HI Halo Clouds in the Outskirts of the Milky Way Kalberla, P. (Univ. Bonn) Stanimirovic, S. (UC Berkeley)

14 NAIC APRPP 2007 Hours Observers Project # Title

32.75 Goldston, J.E. (UC Berkeley) A2222 The Anti-Center Waterfall Heiles, C. (UC Berkeley) Putman, M. (U. Michigan) Stanimirovic, S. (UC Berkeley)

5.00 Hofner, P. (New Mexico Tech) A2224 Radio Line Observations Toward Star Forming Araya, E. (New Mexico Tech) Urgent Regions An Undergraduate Educational Project Using the Arecibo 305m Telescope

3.75 Darling, J. (Univ. Colorado) A2230 OH Masers in Extrasolar Planetary Atmospheres

4.50 Robishaw, T. (UC Berkeley) A2258 Urgent Update for A2119 - OH Megamasers in Heiles, C. (UC Berkeley) Urgent ULIRGs: The Mega-Obvious Place to Look for Zeeman Splitting!

2909.75 (Total Hours - Spectroscopic and Continuum)

Pulsar Astronomy

7.25 Freire, P. (NAIC) P1567 High Precision Timing of Pulsars in Globluar Clusters

3.00 Freire, P.(NAIC) P1681 Timing Millisecond Pulsars. II. The PSR Anderson, S.B. (Caltech) J2016+1947 Binary System

17.75 Freire, P. (NAIC) P1684 Timing Millisecond Pulsars. I. The PSR Jacoby, B. (NRL) J1738+0335 Binary System

116.50 Freire, P. (NAIC) P1693 Pilot Observations for a Drift-Scan Pulsar Cordes, J. (Cornell) Search at 327 MHz Lorimer, D.R. (West Virginia U.) McLaughlin, M. (West Virginia U.) Kramer, M. (U. Manchester) Lyne, A.G. (U. Manchester) Bhat, R.N.D. (Swinburne Univ.) Gupta, Y. (NCRA/TIFR)

7.25 Hankins, T.H. (New Mexico Tech) P1830 Intrinsic Shape of Giant Pulses from the Kern, J.S. (New Mexico Tech) Millisecond Pulsar B1937+21 Popov, M.V. (Astro Space Ctr) Soglasnov, V.A. (Astro Space Ctr) Kondratiev, V.I. (Astro Space Ctr)

5.00 Hankins, T. (New Mexico Tech) P1976 High Time Resolution Measurements of Pulsar Eilek, J.A. (New Mexico Tech) Microstructure Crossley, J. (New Mexico Tech) Sheckard, J. (New Mexico Tech)

49.00 Nice, D.J. (Bryn Mawr College) P2016 Precision Millisecond Pulsar Timing Backer, D.C. (UC Berkeley) Demorest, P. (UC Berkeley)

NAIC APRPP 2007 15 Hours Observers Project # Title

Ramachandran, R. (UC Berkeley) Stairs, I. (U. British Columbia) Ferdman, R. (U. British Columbia) Lommen, A. (Franklin & Marshall)

12.25 Stairs, I. (U. British Columbia) P2017 Long-Term Timing of PSR B1534+12 Thorsett, S. (UC Santa Cruz)

8.75 Stairs, I. (U. British Columbia) P2019 High-Precision Timing of Parkes Multibeam Ferdman, R. (U. British Columbia) Millisecond Pulsars: Velocities and Evolution Faulkner, A. (U. Manchester) Lyne, A.G. (U. Manchester) Kramer, M. (U. Manchester) McLaughlin, M. (U. Manchester) Lorimer, D. (U. Manchester) Manchester, R. (ATNF-CSIRO) Hobbs, G. (ATNF-CSIRO) Camilo, F. (Columbia Univ.) D’Amico, N. (Oss. Ast. Cagliari) Possenti, A. (Oss. Ast. Cagliari) Burgay, M. (Oss. Ast. Cagliari) Nice, D.J. (Bryn Mawr College) Backer, D.C. (UC Berkeley) Ramachandran, R. (UC Berkeley) Demorest, P. (UC Berkeley)

17.75 Stinebring, D.R. (Oberlin College) P2020 Further Scintillation Arc Monitoring of the Pulsar B0834+06

396.50 Cordes, J.M. (Cornell) P2030 An ALFA Pulsar Survey of the Galactic Plane Camilo, F. (Columbia Univ.) Nice, D.J. (Bryn Mawr College) Ramachandran, R. (UC Berkeley) Freire, P.C. (NAIC) Thorsett, S. (UC Santa Cruz) Kaspi, V. (McGill Univ.) Backer, D.C. (UC Berkeley) Arzoumanian, Z. (NASA/GSFC) Chatterjee, S. (CfA) Kramer, M. (U. Manchester) McLaughlin, M. (West Virginia U.) Xiluri, K. (Steward Obs.) Gaensler, B. (CfA) Stairs, I. (U. British Columbia) Weisberg, J. (Carleton College) Lazio, J. (NRL) Han, J-L. (Nat’l Ast. Obs. China) Lommen, A. (Franklin & Marshall) Lorimer, D. (West Virginia U.) Crawford, F. (Haverford College) Stappers, B. (Stichting Astron) Deshpande, A. (Raman Res.) Bhat, R. (Swinburne Univ.) Ransom, S. (NRAO)

16 NAIC APRPP 2007 Hours Observers Project # Title

Vlemmings, W. (U. Manchester) Hessels, J. (McGill Univ.) Giguere, C-A. (McGill Univ.) Deneva, J. (Cornell) Champion, D. (U. Manchester) Reid, B. (Princeton) van Leeuwen, J. (U. British Columbia) Kasian, L. (U. British Columbia)

14.50 Arzoumanian, A. (NASA/GSFC) P2066 Characterizing Orbital Torques and the Origin of Nice, D.J. (Bryn Mawr College) X-ray Emission in the Black Widow Pulsar

9.00 Backer, D.C. (UC Berkeley) P2067 Estimation of Pulse Arrival Times for PSR B1937+21 Ramachandran, R. (UC Berkeley) Using Interstellar Holography Demorest, P. (UC Berkeley) Walker, M.A. (Kapteyn Institute) Jenet, F. (Univ. Texas) Johnston, S. (ATNF) Cordes, J.M. (Cornell)

12.00 Champion, D. (U. Manchester) P2068 High-Precision Timing of Two Recycled Pulsars Lorimer, D. (West Virginia U.) McLaughlin, M. (West Virginia U.)

6.25 Lorimer, D. (West Virginia U.) P2072 One More Orbit: Long-Term Timing of PSR J0407+ McLaughlin, M. (West Virginia U.) 1607

15.25 McLaughlin, M. (West Virginia U.) P2074 PSR J1453+19 - Another Pulsar Planetary System? Lorimer, D. (West Virginia U.) Champion, D. (U. Manchester) Cordes, J.M. (Cornell) Arzoumanian, A. (NASA/GSFC) Xilouris, K. (Steward Obs.) Stairs, I. (U. British Columbia)

34.00 Stinebring, D. (Oberlin College) P2076 Scintillation Arc Observations of PSR B1737+13

1.25 Lorimer, D. (West Virginia U.) P2099 Rapid Observations of the Relativistic Binary Pulsar Cordes, J.M. (Cornell) Urgent J1906+07 P-ALFA Consortium

11.50 McLaughlin, M. (West Virginia U.) P2109 Investigating New Transient Radio Sources Lorimer, D. (West Virginia U.) Lyne, A.G. (U. Manchester) O’Brien, J. (U. Manchester)

39.75 Rankin, J.M. (U. Vermont) P2110 Polarimetric Pulse-Sequence Observations of Bright Wright, G.A.E. (Sussex Univ.) Unstudied Arecibo Pulsars Srostlik, Z. (U. Vermont)

49.75 Wolszczan, A. (Penn State) P2111 Timing Observations of the Planets Pulsar, PSR B1257+12

NAIC APRPP 2007 17 Hours Observers Project # Title

8.75 Donovan, J. (Columbia Univ.) P2112 Deep Searches for Young Pulsars in “Shell” Camilo, F. (Columbia Univ.) Supernova

30.00 Bhat, R. (Swinburne Univ.) P2113 An L-band (ALFA) Search for Giant Pulses from M33 Cordes, J.M. (Cornell) Deneva, J. (Cornell) Lazio, J. (NRL) McLaughlin, M. (West Virginia U.) Hankins, T. (New Mexico Tech)

13.50 Nowakowski, L. (UPR Mayaguez) P2115 Possible Radius-to-Intensity Mapping and Mode Rankin, J.M. (Univ. Vermont) Bhat, R. (Swinburne Univ.) Sotero, N. (UPR Arecibo)

30.00 van Leeuwen, J. (U. British P2116 Exposing Drifting Subpulses from the Slowest to the Columbia) Fastest Pulsars Stairs, I. (U. British Columbia) Ferdman, R. (U. British Columbia) Ramachandran, R. (UC Berkeley) Backer, D. (UC Berkeley) Demorest, P. (UC Berkeley) Nice, D. (Bryn Mawr College)

18.25 Hankins, T. (New Mexico Tech) P2160 Ultra-High Time Resolution Measurements of the Sheckard, J.L. (New Mexico Tech) Crab “Giant” Radio Pulsars

7.50 Hankins, T. (New Mexico Tech) P2161 Giant Pulses from J1752+2359 Sheckard, J.L. (New Mexico Tech)

7.50 Arzoumanian, Z. (NASA-GSFC) P2175 A Pulsar Search to Solve a 50 Year-Old Mystery Cordes, J. (Cornell) Deneva, J. (Cornell)

99.00 Freire, P.C. (NAIC) P2176 Timing the PSR J1741+1354 Binary System Stairs, I.H. (U. British Columbia)

37.50 Nice, D.J. (Bryn Mawr College) P2177 Exploring Pulsars Discovered by PAL Cordes, J. (Cornell)

70.50 Nice, D.J. (Bryn Mawr College) P2178 Precision Millisecond Pulsar Timing Stairs, I.H. (U. British Columbia)

9.50 Stairs, I.H. (U. British Columbia) P2179 Long-Term Timing of PSR B1534+12 Thorsett, S.E. (UC Santa Cruz)

13.00 Stairs, I.H. (U. British Columbia) P2180 Timing the First Relativistic Binary from the Arecibo Lorimer, D. (West Virginia U.) Arzoumanian, Z. (NASA-GSFC) Backer, D. (UC Berkeley) Bhat, R. (Swinburne Univ.) Camilo, F. (Columbia Univ.) Champion, D. (CfA) Chatterjee, S. (CfA)

18 NAIC APRPP 2007 Hours Observers Project # Title

Cordes, J. (Cornell) Crawford, F. (Franklin & Marshall) Deneva, J. (Cornell) Deshpande, A. (Raman Res.) Freire, P.C. (NAIC) Gaensler, B. (Harvard) Han, J.L. (Nat’l Ast. Obs.of China) Hessels, J. (McGill Univ.) Kasian, L. (U. British Columbia) Kaspi, V. (McGill Univ.) Kramer, M. (U. Manchester) Lazio, J. (NRL) van Leeuwen, J. (U. British Columbia) Lommen, A. (Franklin & Marshall) McLaughlin, M. (West Virginia U.) Nice, D. (Bryn Mawr College) Ransom, S. (NRAO) Stappers, B. (Astron. Inst.) Vlemmings, W. (U. Manchester) Weisberg, J. (Carleton College)

13.25 Stinebring, D. (Oberlin College) P2189 50 MHz Scintillation Observations of Several Nearby Stappers, B. (U. Amsterdam) Pulsars

6.50 Ilardo, M.A. (N. Carolina School P2201 Search for Giant Pulses in Three High Edot Pulsars of Science & Math)

16.25 Rankin, J.M. (U. Vermont) P2202 Polarimetric Pulse-Sequence Observations of Bright Wright, G.A.E. (Sussex Univ.) Unstudied Arecibo Pulsars

7.25 Stairs, I.H. (U. British Columbia) P2203 High-Precision Timing of Binary and Millisecond Ferdman, R. (U. British Columbia) Pulsars Lyne, A.G. (U. Manchester) Faulkner, A. (U. Manchester) Kramer, M. (U. Manchester) McLaughlin, M. (West Virginia U.) Lorimer, D. (West Virginia U.) Manchester, R. (ATNF-CSIRO) Hobbs, G. (ATNF-CSIRO) Camilo, F. (Columbia Univ.) D’Amico, N. (Oss. Ast. Cagliari) Possenti, A. (Oss. Ast. Cagliari) Burgay, M. (Oss. Ast. Cagliari) Nice, D. (Bryn Mawr College) Backer, D. (UC Berkeley) Demorest, P. (UC Berkeley)

3.50 van Leeuwen, J. (U. British P2204 Soft X-ray Transient 1H 1906+000: The Closest Columbia) Counterpart to the Millisecond Radio Pulsars Jonker, P. (CfA & SRON) Bildsten, L. (UC Santa Barbara) Ransom, S. (NRAO C’ville) Nelemans, G. (Radboud U.) Stairs, I. (U. British Columbia)

NAIC APRPP 2007 19 Hours Observers Project # Title

9.50 McLaughlin, M. (W. Virginia U.) P2205 Monitoring and Timing of RRAT Sources Cordes, J.M. (Cornell) Lorimer, D. (West Virginia U.)

51.00 Weisberg, J. (Carleton College) P2206 Studies of Relativistic Gravitation and Pulsar Physics Nice, D.J. (Bryn Mawr College) with the First Binary Pulsar B1913+16

10.50 Nice, D.J. (Bryn Mawr College) P2239 Two Massive Neutron Stars Stairs, I.H. (U. British Columbia) Backer, D. (UC Berkeley) Demorest, P. (UC Berkeley) Ferdman, R. (U. British Columbia) van Leeuwen, J. (U. British Columbia)

1297.00 (total hours – Pulsar Astronomy)

Special Projects

7.00 Salter, C. (NAIC) S1662 Summer Students Hands-on Project Ghosh, T. (NAIC) The Detection of Formaldehyde in a Molecular Cloud Lebrón, M. (NAIC) Seen at Half the Present Age of the Universe Brooks, H. (Reed College) Buckley, S. (Trinity College) Colón, K.. (College of New Jersey) Graf, K. (Cornell) Hanson, H. (Univ. Wyoming) Mielke, C. (Univ. Arizona, Tucson) Ojalvo, I. (Rensselaer Polytechnic) Rucker, D. (Univ. Arkansas) Bowen, D. (Cornell) Fernandez, M.X. (Dartmouth) Taylor, B. (Univ. Texas, Austin) Cabassa-Miranda, E. (UPR Mayaguez) Gonzalez-Perez, I. (UPR Mayaguez) Rivera, M. (UPR Mayaguez)

7.00 (Total Hours – Special Projects)

20 NAIC APRPP 2007 Hours Observers Project # Title

VLBI

2.75 Barvainis, R. (NSF) BB191 6cm HAS Ulvestad, J. (NRAO)

2.75 Boyce, E. (MIT) BB217 Central Image in Grav. Lens B2319+051

4.50 Bietenholz, M. (York Univ.) BB219 2nd epoch of obs. Of SN2001em in UGC11794: VLBA/MkIV 4 pol.

4.50 Forbrich, J. (MPIfR, Bonn) BF089 Two Taurus Protostars

3.75 Hough, D.H. (Trinity Univ.) BH139 Imaging of the Extremely Faint Nucleus in FRII Radio Galaxy 3C441

6.25 Knudsen, K. (MPIfA, Heidelberg) BK127 Resolving the AGN and the Starburst in an Intensely Starforming Quasar

1.75 More, A. (MPIfR, Bonn) BM241 HSA-4cm-2016+112

4.00 Doyle, G. (Armagh Observatory, ED026 Brown Dwarf 2MASS0036 N. Ireland)

3.75 etest

6.00 eVLBI

1.25 Paragi, Z. (JIVE) F06L2 L-band ftp test

1.25 Paragi, Z. (JIVE) F06C2 C-band ftp test

6.75 Brisken, W. (NRAO) GB057 VLBI Observation of Scintillation Arcs

7.50 Diamond, P. (Jodrell Bank) GD021 Primary fringe finder 1613+341

15.75 Lonsdale, C. (NRAO) GL028 High Sensitivity Study of ULIGs

5.75 Orienti, M. (INAF Bologna) GM062 What Causes the Very Broad HI Absorption in Radio Galaxies?

5.25 Vermeulen, R. (NFRA) GV017 OH Megamaser at z~0.25

1.25 Paragi, Z. (JIVE) N05L5 Network Monitoring Experiment

1.50 Paragi, Z. (JIVE) N06C2 Network Monitoring Experiment

1.00 VLBI

87.25 (Total Hours – VLBI)

4301.00 (Radio Astronomy Total Hours)

NAIC APRPP 2007 21 Solar System Studies Hours Observers Project # Title

51.75 Magri, C. (U. Maine) R1885 Radar and Visible/Near-Infrared Investigation of Howell, E.S. (NAIC) Primitive Main-Belt Asteroids Nolan, M.C. (NAIC) Ostro, S.J. (JPL) Giorgini, J. (JPL)

11.50 Campbell, D.B. (Cornell) R2023 S-Band Radar Mapping of the Lunar Poles Campbell, B.A. (NASM) Carter, L. (NASM) Margot, J.L. (Cornell) Stacy, N. (Defence Science & Tech)

15.50 Shepard, M.K. (Bloomsburg U.) R2026 A Radar Survey of X/M/E/ Type Asteroids: A Search Clark, B.E. (Ithaca College) for Metallic Cores

30.25 Harmon, J.K. (NAIC) R2079 Radar Observations of Mercury During the Summer Slade, M.A. (JPL) 2005 Conjunction

2.75 Nolan, M.C. (NAIC) R2086 Radar Imaging of Asteroid 1999 RQ36 Benner, L.A.M. (JPL) Howell, E.S. (NAIC) Ostro, S.J. (JPL) Giorgini, J. (JPL) Margot, J.L. (Cornell)

83.25 Ostro, S.J. (JPL) R2101 Proposal for Radar Imaging of Apollo, Phobos, Benner, L.A.M. (JPL) Deimos, and Several Mainbelt Asteroids Magri, C. (Univ. Maine) Nolan, M.C. (NAIC) Giorgini, J. (JPL) Shepard, M.K. (Bloomsburg U.) Howell, E.S. (NAIC) Margot, J.L. (Cornell)

16.25 Campbell, B.A. (NASM) R2102 Radar Mapping of the Moon at 70-cm Wavelength Campbell, D.B. (Cornell) Using Arecibo and the GBT Carter, L.M. (NASM)

40.00 Campbell, D.B. (Cornell) R2103 Surface Properties of Titan from Arecibo Radar Black, G.J. (Univ. Virginia) Observations Carter, L.M. (NASM)

8.50 Campbell, D.B. (Cornell) R2104 S-Band Radar Observations of Enceladus, Dione, and Black, G.J. (Univ. Virginia) Tethys

6.75 Carter, L.M. (NASM) R2105 A Radar Search for Regolith on the Asteroid 2004 Campbell, D.B. (Cornell) VG64 Nolan, M.C. (NAIC)

15.75 Nicholson, P.D. (Cornell) R2106 S-Band Radar Mapping of Saturn’s Rings French, R.G. (Wellesley College) Campbell, D.B. (Cornell)

22 NAIC APRPP 2007 Hours Observers Project # Title

10.00 Campbell, B.A. (NASM) R2107 70-cm Wavelength Radar Observations of Mars Campbell, D.B. (Cornell) Carter, L.M. (NASM) Harmon, J.K. (NAIC) Freeman, A. (JPL)

13.00 Haldemann, A.F. (JPL) R2108 Arecibo-Goldstone Mars Radar Interferometric Harmon, J.K. (NAIC) Mapping Larsen, K.W. (Univ. Colorado) Jurgens, R.F. (JPL)

7.25 Nolan, M.C. (NAIC) R2137 Radar Imaging of Near-Earth Asteroids 1998 ST49 Howell, E.S. (NAIC) and 2002 HW Benner, L.A.M. (JPL) Ostro, S.J. (JPL) Giorgini, J.D. (JPL)

11.00 Benner, L.A.M. (JPL) R2167 Radar Astrometry of Near-Earth Asteroid 99942 Nolan, M.C. (NAIC) Apophis Giorgini, J.D. (JPL) Ostro, S.J. (JPL)

0.75 Busch, M.W. (Caltech) R2168 Radar Imaging and Shape Reconstruction of Ostro, S.J. (JPL) Asteroids 10115 (1992 SK), 23187 (2000 PN9), 9 Metis, and 105 Artemis

8.75 Margot, J.L. (Cornell) R2169 Radar Observations of High Perihelion Asteroid 2000 Giorgini, J.D. (JPL) BD19 to Quantify General Relativity and Solar Quadrupole Moments

24.50 Shepard, M.K. (Bloomsburg U.) R2170 Observations of Asteroid 68950 (2002 QF15) and Nolan, M.C. (NAIC) Continuation of a Long-Term XME Main-Belt Survey

18.50 Campbell, D.B. (Cornell) R2182 Lunar Surface Studies via S-Band Radar Imagery and Campbell, B.A. (NASM) Interferometry

35.75 Nolan, M.C. (NAIC) R2183 Radar Observations of Comet 73P/Schwassmann- Harmon, J.K. (NAIC) Wachmann 3 Howell, E.S. (NAIC) Campbell, D.B. (Cornell) Margot, J.L. (Cornell) Ostro, S.J. (JPL) Benner, L.A.M. (JPL) Giorgini, J.D. (JPL)

23.75 Nolan, M.C. (NAIC) R2184 Radar Imaging of Near-Earth Asteroids 2004 WB1 Howell, E.S. (NAIC) and 2001 SG276 Benner, L.A.M. (JPL) Ostro, S.J. (JPL) Giorgini, J.D. (JPL)

2.00 Nolan, M.C. (NAIC) R2188 Radar Observations of Asteroid 2005 VS Urgent

NAIC APRPP 2007 23 Hours Observers Project # Title

3.00 Nolan, M.C. (NAIC) R2190 Radar Observations of Asteroid 2005 WC1 Benner, L.A.M. (JPL) Urgent

8.00 Howell, E.S. (NAIC) R2191 Rotationally Resolved Radar Observations of 105 Magri, C. (Univ. Maine) Urgent Artemis: Correlation with 3-micron Spectroscopy Nolan, M.C. (NAIC)

10.00 Taylor, P.A. (Cornell) R2208 Physical Characterization of Potentially Hazardous Margot, J.L. (Cornell) Asteroid 2004 DC Nolan, M.C. (NAIC) Ostro, S.J. (JPL) Benner, L.A.M. (JPL) Giorgini, J.D. (JPL) Magri, C. (Univ. Maine)

8.25 Nolan, M.C. (NAIC) R2219 Radar Observations of Asteroid 2005 TF49 Urgent

3.00 Simpson, R. (Stanford) R2223 Bistatic Mars Express-Arecibo Radar Observations of Nolan, M.C. (NAIC) Urgent “Stealth” Region of Mars

5.75 Benner, L.A.M. (JPL) R2225 Arecibo Radar Imaging of Near-Earth Asteroid 2006 Nolan, M.C. (NAIC) Urgent GY2 Giorgini, J.D. (JPL)

11.00 Jensen, E. (UCLA) R2257 Faraday Rotation of the Cassini S-Band Transponder Miralles, M-P. (CfA) Urgent from Solar Corona

2.25 Nolan, M.C. (NAIC) R2260 Radar Observations of Asteroid 2006 QV89 Howell, E.S. (NAIC)

488.75 (Solar System Studies total hours)

Space & Atmospheric Sciences

413.25 Zhou, Q. (Miami U., Ohio) T1193 Coordinated Incoherent Scatter Radar and Aponte, N. (NAIC) Optical Observations During the World Days Friedman, J. (NAIC) During 1999-2000 González, S. (NAIC) MacPherson, B. (UPS) Sulzer, M. (NAIC) Tepley, C. (NAIC)

112.75 Djuth, F.T. (Geospace Research) T1892 A Continuum of Gravity Waves in the Arecibo Sulzer, M. (NAIC) Thermosphere? Mathews, J.D. (Penn State) Tepley, C. (NAIC) Zhou, Q. (Miami U., Ohio)

24 NAIC APRPP 2007 Hours Observers Project # Title

81.75 Zhou, Q. (Miami U., Ohio) T2029 Observations of Gravity Wave Activities in the Meso- Morton, Y.T. (Miami U., Ohio) sphere Using the Dual Beam Incoherent Scatter Zhang, J. (Miami U., Ohio) Radar

23.25 Meisel, D.D. (SUNY Geneseo) T2084 Studies of a Newly Discovered Asteroidal Dust Bauer, E.E. (SUNY Geneseo) Stream Mathews, J.D. (Penn State)

28.50 Meriwether, J.W. (Clemson U.) T2085 Radar and Optical Mapping of the Midnight Tepley, C. (NAIC) Temperature Sulzer, M. (NAIC) Faivre, M. (Clemson U.) Brown, B. (Harvard Univ.)

34.25 Nikoukar, R. (U. Illinois) T2090 A New Approach to the Optimal Extraction of Sulzer, M. (NAIC) Ionospheric Parameters from Incoherent Scatter Radar Measurements

227.50 Waldrop, L.S. (U. Illinois) T2091 A Characterization of Energetic Neutral Atoms in Noto, J. (SSI) Thermospherical Ionosphere/Exosphere Coupling Kerr, R. (NSF) Betremieaux, Y. (SSI)

20.50 Bhatt, A.N. (Cornell) T2131 Gyro Line Observations in E and F Regions During Kelley, M.C. (Cornell) Evening Hours at Arecibo Sulzer, M.P. (NAIC)

10.00 Fernandez, J. (NAIC) T2134 E-Region Seasonal Observations of Ion-Neutral Sulzer, M.P. (NAIC) Collision Frequencies Using Plasma and Ion Line Aponte, N. (NAIC) Measurements

73.75 Riggin, D. (Colorado Research) T2138 Arecibo Studies of Gravity Wave Momentum Flux Fritts, D.C. (Colorado Research) and Meteoric Flux in the MLT Region Janches, D. (Colorado Research) Zhou, Q. (Miami Univ.-Ohio)

17.00 Mathews, J. (Penn State) T2162 Test Time for 430 MHz Interferometer Project Wiig, J. (NAIC)

98.00 Janches, D. (Colorado Research) T2163 A Proposal for Radar Meteor Observations during Chandran, A. (Univ. Colorado) the Seasonal Minimum of the Sporadic Activity at Arecibo: A Crucial Need for the Confirmation of Modeled Predictions and its Relation to the Atmospheric Ca, Ca+ and K Layers

50.75 Zhou, Q. (Miami Univ.-Ohio) T2165 Determination of Ion Composition in the Brenneman, M. (Miami Univ.-Ohio) Intermediate Layers

36.00 Raizada, S. (NAIC) T2166 Measurement of Negative Ions in the D-Region and Sulzer, M.P. (NAIC) Comparison with New Models

NAIC APRPP 2007 25 Hours Observers Project # Title

45.25 Nicolls, M.J. (Cornell) T2211 High-Resolution Electron Temperature Measure- Aponte, N. (NAIC) ments Using the Plasma Line Asymmetry Sulzer, M.P. (NAIC)

22.75 Djuth, F.T. (Geospace Research) T2212 The Natural Plasma Line Revisited as an Aeronomical Carlson, H.C. (AFOSR) Diagnostic Sulzer, M.P. (NAIC)

15.00 Kelley, M.C. (Cornell) T2213 Verification and Calibration of On-Orbit Detection of Wong, V.K. (Cornell) Ionospheric Layers and Conductivity Using the GPS Nicolls, M.J. (Cornell) Occultation Method Sulzer, M.P. (NAIC)

59.00 Lee, M.C. (MIT) T2214 Optical and Radar Diagnostics of Energetic Electron Sulzer, M.P. (NAIC) Precipitation Over Arecibo, Puerto Rico Burton, L. (MIT) Cohen, J. (MIT) Husmann, D. (MIT) Labno, A. (MIT) Pradipta, R. (MIT) Rokusek, D. (MIT)

41.00 Waldrop, L. (Univ. Illinois) T2226 Improved Neutral Atomic Oxygen Density Estimation Sulzer, M.P. (NAIC) Urgent Using the Arecibo Dual-Beam ISR

23.00 Waldrop, L. (Univ. Illinois) T2250 The Burnside Factor Revisited: A Model-Independent González, S. (NAIC) Ion Momentum Balance Study

8.25 Rapp, M. (Inst. Atmos. Phys., T2253 Signatures of Charged Meteoric Smoke Particles in Germany) Incoherent Scatter Radar Spectra Strelnikova, I. (Inst. Atmos. Phys.) Raizada, S. (NAIC) Sulzer, M.P. (NAIC)

1441.50 (Space & Atmospheric Sciences total hours)

26 NAIC APRPP 2007 2.4 Visiting Public at the Observatory 3. Accomplishments and Plans Summary. As in previous years, the Visitor Center hosted many special events for the general public of the NAIC Scientific Staff and for the NAIC/Arecibo Observatory community in general. These included the NAIC/NRAO Single Dish Summer School, Geoscience Workshop, the NAIC Staff scientists are actively engaged in ob- Gordon Lecture, and other scientific and educa- servational investigations and theoretical analysis tional workshops. We updated 15 displays at the in areas of astrophysical research from the cosmo- Visitor Center and are in the process of updating logical structure of the universe to the shape of as- and adding new panels. Three educational work- teroids passing in the vicinity of the Earth. Nearly shops were offered (two for teachers and one for all of the research projects involved collaborations journalists) on the issue of pseudoscience, and we between NAIC staff scientists and colleagues at hosted an astronomy summer camp for 25 middle universities and institutes elsewhere. And, nearly school students. The number of visitors to the Are- all of the research in progress now, or planned to cibo Observatory declined by 9% and we have tak- begin this program year, will extend over several en several measures to make the operation more years as data are taken, reduced, analyzed and fi- efficient. nally written up for publication. For that reason, the research reported here will not be completed General Public. A trend that began in FY2005 in PY2007 but substantial progress is expected in reflecting an annual decrease in the number of all the projects mentioned here. visitors to the Arecibo Observatory is also reflected in the figures for FY2006. The number of visitors 3.1 Cosmology to the facility in FY2006 was 99,496 as compared to 109,108 in FY2005. This 9% decrease is seen in A VLBI visibility-survey of a complete sample of both the general public, and the school children more than 1000 radio sources selected from the visiting A.O. But the main reason affecting the VLA-FIRST catalog to have 1.4 GHz flux density flow of visitors in FY2006 was the drop in the num- greater than 1 mJy has recently been completed. ber of school groups visits. This issue is discussed This VLBI survey used the ultra-high sensitivity in Section 5.1. achievable with the Arecibo and Efflesberg telescopes at 21-cm wavelength with each telescope The Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism industry is also being equipped with VLBA/Mk4 recording at 512 reporting a 10% decrease in room occupancy for Mbits/s. Even for on-source integrations of as little this period. Many businesses in Puerto Rico have as 1-second, all sources with compact components been affected by the lack of economy growth in of flux density greater than 1-mJy are detectable at the region. 8-sigma or higher. This permits a cosmologically important statistical comparison to be made with the few extensive surveys done of brighter (> 10-mJy) sources, e.g. the Person-Readhead survey and the Caltech-Jodrell Bank survey.

All of the VLA-FIRST sources selected for study lie within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey area and all are identified with SDSS objects brighter than V = 24 mag. Redshifts are available for all objects. Thus, the body of data for which inter-comparisons are possible is very extensive thereby leveraging the scientific value of the current dataset. Among the scientific results to be gathered from this work is a determination of the relative fraction of AGN and Starburst galaxies as a function of redshift for Figure 2.4.1. Number of Observatory visitors per year. a faint source population of objects. [C. Salter, T. Ghosh]

NAIC APRPP 2007 27 3.2 Early Galaxies termining the ionization and kinematical properties of the interstellar gas in early and active galaxies. Using the Arecibo telescope and the GMRT, HI [T. Ghosh, C. Salter] and OH observations were made toward a radio sample of 27-objects, seventeen of which were 3.3 Active Galaxies “Gigahertz Peaked Spectrum” (GPS) objects and Compact Steep Spectrum (CSS) objects. No OH As part of the NAIC summer research program for emission or absorption was detected toward any undergraduates, under the supervision of Tapasi of the sources, but the HI detection rate was ap- Ghosh, Emmanuel Momjian, and Chris Salter proximately 25%, including four previously-known (NAIC), María Ximena Fernández (Vassar and HI absorption systems. Dartmouth) worked on a project that focused on 85 galaxies from the 2 Jy IRAS-NVSS Sample with

When the new results are combined from other far-IR luminosities > 109 Lsun. This subsample con- HI searches it is possible to compile a sample of tained objects that lay in the R.A. (B1950) range 96 radio sources consisting of 27 GPS, 35 CSS, 13 20h-00h. The project resulted in several new HI compact flat spectrum and 21 large (LRG) sources. and OH detections, both in emission and absorp- The HI absorption detection rate is highest, ~45%, tion. Among the most interesting of these was the for the compact GPS sources and it is lowest for discovery of HI and OH-megamaser emission from 12 the LRG sources. We find HI column density to be the ULIRG IRAS 23327+2913 (LIR = 1.15 × 10 Lsun; anticorrelated with source size, as reported earlier z ~ 0.107). This ULIRG is a system of two galaxies by Pihlstrom et al., a trend that is consistent with separated by about 20 kpc at the beginning stages inferences from optical spectroscopy. The HI col- of interaction (Dinh-Vi-Trung et al. 2001, ApJ, 556, umn density shows no significant dependence on 141), see Figure 3.3.1. The northern galaxy is dis- either redshift or luminosity, which are themselves turbed, while the southern one is a normal spiral strongly correlated. These results suggest that the with a very thick bar structure. Dinh-Vi-Trung et environments of radio sources on GPS/CSS scales al. report the detection of CO(1-0) only from the are similar at different redshifts. Further, in accor- apparently undisturbed southern component. dance with the unification scheme, the GPS/CSS Follow-up observations of this ULIRG were made galaxies have a HI detection rate, ~40%, that is by the group in October 2006. Figure 3.3.2 shows significantly higher than the detection rate, ~20%, the HI spectrum from IRAS 23327+2913. The cen- toward the GPS/CSS quasars. Also in accord with tral velocity of the dominant spectral feature indi- the unification scheme, the strongest absorption cates that this HI emission is associated with the component detected toward GPS sources appears southern component, while the weaker “shoulder” blue-shifted in a strong majority (65%) of the cases. at ~32000 km/s corresponds to the redshift of the All of these results are in accord with a growing northern component. Figure 3.3.3 shows the OH body of evidence supporting the model in which megamaser spectrum, with the dominant feature jet-cloud interactions play an important role in de- from the 1667 MHz transition: this has a broad,

Figure 3.3.1. Left frame: the contour plots of the CO(1-0) emission from IRAS 23327+2913 overlaid on the R-band image. Central frame: contour plot of the same R-band image at the same scale. Right frame: K-band image (Dinh-Vi- Trung et al. 2001)

28 NAIC APRPP 2007 IRAS 23327+2913 HI 3.4 Normal Galaxies and Clusters 2.5

2.0 The evolution of the Tully-Fisher relation over cosmic time is much debated. If galaxies were more 1.5 luminous in the past, we should observe an offset in the TFR derived independently at high and low 1.0 redshift z (i.e., a change of its zero point). However,

Flux Density (mJy) studies based on optical spectroscopy (e.g. Flores 0.5 et al. 2006, AAP, 455, 107) have reached conflicting conclusions. Results vary from substantial lumi- 0.0 nosity evolution (in excess of one magnitude with 31000 31500 32000 32500 33000 respect to the z=0 TFR) even at modest z, to no sig- Heliocentric Velocity (km/s) nificant change up to z~1. Evidence for evolution Figure 3.3.2. Spectrum of the HI 21-cm line emission from of the TFR, or lack thereof, remains inconclusive. the ULIRG IRAS 23327+2913. The velocity resolution is 29 km/s. Barbara Catinella (NAIC-Arecibo) and collabora- probably double-peaked, structure. The 1665 MHz tors at Cornell (M.P. Haynes and R. Giovanelli) and transition is very tentatively detected and corre- the University of Pittsburgh (J.P. Gardner and A.J. sponds to the feature at ~32700 km/s. The central Connolly) have undertaken a targeted survey with velocity of the OH 1667 MHz line suggests that the the 305-m Arecibo radio telescope to detect HI-line megamaser emission from the system is more likely emission from disk galaxies at z > 0.16 (i.e. at fre- to be associated with the southern component. quencies below 1220 MHz). Among other applica- No megamaser emission is detected at the veloc- tions, this dataset will be used to study the evolu- ity corresponding to the northern, disturbed, com- tion of the TFR at intermediate redshifts. Compared ponent of this ULIRG. The results presented here, to optical widths, HI measurements sample a larger combined with the CO(1-0) observations of Dinh- fraction of the disks, where the rotation curves are Vi-Trung et al. (2001), show that IRAS 23327+2913 typically flat, and are not affected by slit smearing, does not fit into the commonly accepted scenario by misalignment, or by aperture effects. Thus, in for ULIRGS of a merger between two disk galax- contrast to studies based on optical spectroscopy, ies, where the two progenitors of the merger are radio observations allow a direct, technique-inde- strongly disturbed during the interacting phase, pendent comparison with the local TFR. with the final product of the merger resembling an elliptical galaxy (Mihos & Hernquist 1996, ApJ, Naturally, detection of 21 cm emission from galax- 464, 641). [M. Fernandez, E. Momjian, T. Ghosh & ies at z > 0.1 is difficult: the signals are weak, accu- C. Salter] rate redshifts of the targets need to be known in advance, the presence of radio frequency inter- IRAS 23327+2913 OH ference restricts the accessible redshift windows, and the larger number of galaxies sampled by the 1.0 antenna beam at higher redshift leads to increased confusion problems. In fact, these observations have only recently become feasible thanks to technical improvements at Arecibo (Gregorian upgrade, 0.5 a new L-wide receiver in 2003, with access to frequencies down to 1.12 GHz), and to the availability Flux Density (mJy) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey3.. 0.0

31000 31500 32000 32500 33000 Heliocentric Velocity (km/s) 3Funding for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and SDSS-II has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Figure 3.3.3. Spectrum of the OH 18-cm megamaser emis- Institutions, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department sion from IRAS 23327+2913. The broad, probably double- of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, peaked, dominant spectral feature corresponds to the 1667 the Japanese Monbukagakusho, the Max Planck Society, and the MHz transition from the southern component of the system. Higher Education Funding Council for England. The SDSS Web site The 1665 MHz line is tentatively detected and corresponds to at http://www.sdss.org/, hosts its database, which provides high the spectral feature at ~32700 km/s. The velocity resolution quality photometric images, accurate redshifts, and line-emission is 27 km/s. information for a large number of galaxies.

NAIC APRPP 2007 29 (a) (b)

Figure 3.4.1. (Left) SDSS image of the galaxy J142735.69+033434.2 (from the SDSS Sky Server web page at http://cas.sdss. org/dr5/en/); the size of the field shown is 1.3´. (Right) Calibrated, smoothed HI spectrum obtained at Arecibo. The vertical red line indicates the frequency corresponding to the SDSS redshift (z=0.2455). The total on-source integration time is 176 minutes. This represents the highest redshift detection of HI emission from a normal galaxy to date.

The group's targets for HI spectroscopy at Arecibo 3.5 Intergalactic Gas and Tidal Remnants were extracted from the SDSS database on the basis of their redshift, optical emission-line strength, incli- Damped Lyman Alpha (DLA) absorption systems nation, disk morphology, and relative isolation (to are indicative of a large column density of HI along minimize confusion within the beam). HI profiles of the line of sight to a distant object. Always, the adequate quality for velocity-width measurements interpretation is that DLA absorption arises in a were obtained for 20 galaxies with 0.17 ≤ z ≤ 0.25, disk galaxy and, depending on the angular scale with average total integration times between 2 of the background source, it can be the integrated and 6 hours. Figure 3.4.1 shows the highest red- absorption of the entire intervening disk or it could shift detection of HI emission from a normal galaxy be absorption resulting from a single dark cloud in to date (z = 0.2455). The HI spectra of 12 of the the disk. The absorption line width allows us to dis- 20 detections are presented in Figure 5. Analysis criminate between these two cases. DLA absorp- of the selection biases of this sample, necessary to tion systems are commonly seen in the absorption establish if there is a change of the TF zero point spectrum of z ~1-3 QSO, but they are nearly absent based on this dataset, is in progress. [B. Catinella] in the local, z<1 universe. Some of this is certainly a selection effect as the Ly- line is unobservable The Arecibo Galaxy Environment Survey recently from the ground at z<1. Here is where the radio covered five square degrees around the NGC observations have unique utility. 7332/7339 galaxy pair. The survey detected the large spiral galaxy, NGC 7339 along with two Recently, a search has been made of more for HI previously unknown dwarf galaxies in the group absorption searching for DLA systems toward (AGES J2238+2352 and AGES J2236+2343). The more than 200 distant, compact, radio sources. lenticular galaxy NGC 7332 and the dwarf sphe- The search is sensitivity to DLA systems at 0 < z < roidal galaxy KKR 73 were not detected, but upper 0.3. Data are taken using the method of double limits can be set on their neutral hydrogen masses. position switching where the target object and the The survey also found at least twenty galaxies in calibrator object were both objects to be studied the volume behind the group, out to a redshift of and, on the sky, they were a close pair of sources. ~17,000 km/s. With the commissioning of the new DLA absorption toward the “target” would appear E-ALFA correlator early next year, it is expected that as absorption in the spectrum of the “reference” AGES will find more of the distant sources in future object whereas DLA absorption in the “reference” fields. [R. Minchin] would appear as a peak in the ratio spectrum. Analysis of the data is underway with a preliminary indication that the detection rate is unlikely to exceed about 5%.

30 NAIC APRPP 2007 When finalized, this study will help improve both the basis of their MIR colors: 80% of those with the DLA statistics at low redshift, and knowledge of the reddest MIR colors fall near the middle of the locus HI mass fraction at the present epoch. Importantly, rather than at its red end, where they would occur the radio searches are not affected by obscuration if their shells were generated by a constant dM/dt in the intervening galactic disks so the statistical in- (Lewis et al., AJ, 127, 501). This is only explicable formation will remain robust. [T. Ghosh, C. Salter] for thermally pulsing OH/IR stars if these stars have a strongly modulated dM/dt. 3.6 Milky Way Galaxy The second line of evidence comes from model- An important gap in our understanding of the ling the rapid loss of 1612 MHz masers from low- evolution of stars of modest mass, like our Sun, is mass OH/IR stars. Four of those in the Arecibo the absence of an ab initio understanding of mass- sky have completely lost their 1612 MHz masers in loss at their asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase. the last 20 yr, and one, from the 472 day LPV IRAS We have no accepted theoretical constraints on 19479+2111, recently turned ON again. Gray, the rate or on the evolution of dM/dt from AGB Howe and Lewis (MNRAS 364, 783) modelled the stars, and so work with ad hoc relations adapted to speed of the decline in maser intensity, by con- inferred rates of dM/dt. This has been one reason structing the set of time-dependent OH column for studying OH/IR stars. Recent work by Lewis densities arising when dM/dt goes abruptly to shows that the problem has now become more zero after being constant for 300 yr, together with complex, as when NIR and OH observations are a time-dependent radiative transfer model for the combined with modelling results, they suggest that generation of the masers. These models match the the dM/dt of OH/IR stars is strongly modulated on decline of the masers, and show they are pumped a much longer time-scale than the pulsational peri- through the 53 µm transitions. These are sensitive ods of the stars. to the reprocessing of the stellar SED by the inner- most dust shell, which is vacated first when dM/dt Previous pointers to this occur in CO mapping of = 0. This leads to a weakening of the pump and to the carbon star IRC+10216, and in Hubble images the loss of the maser. The rapid switching ON & of the Cat’s Eye and Egg nebulae, which exhibit OFF of these masers is thus shown to be an artifact a sequence of concentric rings underlying all of of a strongly modulated dM/dt from an OH/IR star their other structure. The NIR colors of OH/IR that had a modest progenitor mass. stars define a tight linear locus extending over five orders of magnitude in a 2MASS two-color plot. With both massive and low-mass stars exhibiting Lewis (AJ 132, 489) models this using the radiative strongly modulated mass-loss rates, stellar structure transfer code DUSTY, and finds that the NIR colors calculations are doomed to rely for some time to of a set of models from a range of constant dM/dt come on an average dM/dt, and to infer this from exactly trace the locus provided one uses a cold- observations. This finding also helps us to interpret silicate dust opacity, and starts with a stellar spec- the NIR color - magnitude plots of carbon stars from tral energy distribution (SED) matching its bluest Spitzer observations of Local Group galaxies, which colors. It is then easy to model the detached shell show lightly populated “echo sequences” tracking that grows under the normal expansion of a thick, the fundamental and first overtone sequences. dust-shell model when dM/dt is set to zero: these Cold atomic gas represents ~30% of the ISM mass in models also follow the locus. One byproduct is the our part of the Galaxy. Since hydrogen is the most association of a chronology with their NIR colors, abundant element in interstellar gas, the H I 21-cm which shows that it takes < 100 yr for a shell to tra- line is a natural probe of the cold atomic phase, the verse the entire color locus. And much the most coldest parts of which (T < 50 K) can be detected rapid color evolution naturally occurs while dust is as H I self-absorption (HISA) against brighter back- departing from the vicinity of the dust-formation ground H I emission (Figure 3.6.1). radius, where it has its maximum volume density. This is the key finding. Until recently, HISA studies of cold H I were ham- pered by low angular resolution, limited sky cover- The first evidence for a general deep modulation age, or both, making it difficult to measure the ab- of dM/dt is from massive OH/IR stars, and is based sorption properly and chart the cloud population on combining modelling results with the distribu- in an unbiased way. But these problems have been tion of NIR colors of cohorts of stars selected on overcome with new large-scale, arcminute-resolu-

NAIC APRPP 2007 31 Figure 3.6.1. Left: Dark HISA clouds in the CGPS (Gibson et al., 2000). Some HISA features have CO emission (contours), but some do not. Right: Spectra of two HISA features at v=-40 km/s, with total H I emission (top), ON- OFF absorption strength (middle), and CO emission (bottom).

tion 21cm radio synthesis surveys of the Galactic lack molecular gas entirely. Equilibrium cloud mod- disk. Recent work shows that (1) a rich and varied els have difficulty explaining the low HISA temper- HISA population can be seen at high angular reso- ature without molecular cooling, but equilibrium lution, and (2) most of these cold H I clouds have may not apply. Instead, the HISA may trace cold H I no obvious counterparts in the standard 2.6mm before or after a phase change. In the standard spi- CO J=1-0 line tracer of molecular gas. The latter ral shock picture, gas is compressed downstream contradicts traditional expectations that HISA gas of the shock, where it forms molecular clouds and traces the small fraction of molecular cloud gas then the massive stars that define the spiral arm. If that is atomic, unless the CO proxy for H2 is itself this is correct, HISA is tracing evolving gas as well suspect. as spiral structure.

Algorithms have been developed to identify and The original CGPS longitude coverage has been ex- analyze the CGPS HISA features systematically (Gib- tended to 65 -175 degrees, and we have submitted son et al., 2005a, 2005b; see also Gibson 2002). We a proposal for a second extension to 190 degrees. have found a faint, intricate HISA population that In addition, the VLA Galactic Plane Survey (VGPS; appears ubiquitous and may trace turbulent fluctu- Taylor et al., 2002) has been observed over 18 - ations in the interstellar medium. By contrast, stron- 67 degrees longitude, and the Southern Galactic ger HISA is concentrated into discrete complexes, Plane Survey (McClure-Griffiths et al., 2001) cover- many with radial velocities expected for the density ing 252 - 358 degrees is being extended through wave of the Perseus spiral arm (Roberts, 1972). In- the Galactic center to 20 degrees. Collectively, deed, the strong outer-Galaxy HISA we see in the these and other projects to map molecular gas CGPS requires spiral arm velocity perturbations in and dust in the same areas are now known as the order to exist; otherwise, the velocity-distance rela- International Galactic Plane Survey (IGPS). When tionship is monotonic, and no organized H I emis- the IGPS data are complete, they will allow HISA sion background can occur at the same velocity mapping over most of the Galactic disk. Already, as the absorbing gas. HISA thus probes the spiral these efforts are bearing fruit: a preliminary analy- structure of our galaxy from the inside. We have sis of part of the VGPS (Gibson et al., 2004) showed also found that, statistically, most CGPS HISA does HISA is even more common here than in the CGPS not correspond with significant CO emission. This (Figure 3.6.2). The inner-Galaxy sightlines of the

does not rule out H2 untraced by CO, a possibility VGPS should be more favorable for HISA, since gas under investigation elsewhere. Or, some HISA may on the near side of the Galactic center always has

32 NAIC APRPP 2007 a far-side emission background at the same velocity. The VGPS HISA also shows an improved though still imperfect CO cor- respondence, perhaps because of the same geometric effect. Most intriguing is the prominent concentration of HISA along a number of velocity features that look suspiciously like spiral arms. Spiral structure has traditionally been more difficult to discern in the inner Galaxy, but HISA may help with this situation.

Most sightlines in the sky lack sufficiently bright backgrounds to produce self-absorption, and Figure 3.6.2. HISA line strength integrated over latitude for a 25-degree section of since the population of cold H I the VGPS, with darker features being stronger. Many HISA features run almost parallel to lines of constant Galactocentric radius R (overplotted for a flat rotation curve with R clouds should be randomly dis- 0 = 8.5 kpc and v0 = 220 km/s), which is consistent with the HISA tracing spiral structure tributed with respect to such in the inner Galaxy (Gibson, 2004). backgrounds, the majority of cold H I features should manifest as narrow-line P-ALFA data reduction. They worked on a series of H I emission (NHIE) rather than HISA (one famous python scripts developed to automatically process example is Verschuur’s Cloud A; see Knapp & Ver- the P-ALFA data with full resolution using Scott schuur, 1972). The algorithms used to detect HISA Ransom’s (NRAO) PRESTO routines. These scripts in the CGPS dataset can also be run in an inverse also load the results into a database, to be hosted mode to identify NHIE features. Early tests of this by the Cornell Theory Center. Finally, Patrick devel- facility on CGPS data show considerable promise, oped a viewer that connects to the database and with a great many NHIE features appearing as or- allows candidates to be browsed and flagged. As ganized structures on the sky and in velocity. The part of the testing of the scripts and the pipeline, CGPS NHIE feature population outnumbers the several disks worth of data have been processed, CGPS HISA population considerably, as might be and the pulsars seen in the “quicklook” processing expected. Further work is planned to explore the were again readily detected. In addition, one new spatial distributions of the NHIE features and to pulsar has been discovered, PSR J1903+03. It was constrain their properties with additional data. [S. detected with a S/N of 24.2, a spin period of 2.15 Gibson] ms, and a DM of ~300 cm-3 pc. From the confirmation and timing observations made to date, it is clear that this millisecond pulsar (MSP) is in a binary 3.7 Pulsars system with an orbital period of several hundred days. The P-ALFA survey has discovered 35 new pulsars to date. These were found using the “quicklook” Outside globular clusters this is the 5th fastest processing. This program degrades the data by spinning pulsar known: when globular cluster pul- a factor of 16 in time and resolution to allow for sars are also included, it is the 11th. This object almost real-time searching of pulsars. However, by has the highest DM known for any MSP. This is doing this, the reduction process has systematically extremely important —it confirms the fact that the degraded its sensitivity to fast pulsars and pulsars P-ALFA survey can see MSPs deep into the disk of at high dispersion measures (DMs). The P-ALFA the Galaxy, far from the Solar System, where the consortium intends to re-reduce all its data while vast majority of MSPs await discovery. MSPs, par- exploiting its full frequency and time resolution. ticularly those in binary systems, are important for many areas of astrophysics (see, for instance, article During the past summer, Patrick Lazarus, an under- on PSR J1738+0333). graduate student at McGill University, worked with David Champion, Jason Hessels and Vicky Kaspi on

NAIC APRPP 2007 33 Using models of the electron distribution of the  "Stiff" EOSs predict that matter is Galaxy and the pulsar population, Duncan Lorimer highly incompressible. That would (West Virginia Univ.) predicts that the present produce very large stars that can- observing system (i.e. 100 MHz bandwidth, 268- not withstand large spin frequencies s integrations) will detect 120 MSPs in the area without breaking apart. Finding fast- 32 < l < 77 and |b| < 5. There are currently only spinning pulsars could therefore dis- 9 known MSPs in this area that are not in globu- prove such EOSs. lar clusters. This prediction has to be taken with caution, because the effects of scattering are very  On the contrary, the very "soft" EOSs important in this case, and they are to a large predict, because of their different extent unknown. Nevertheless, they agree with micro-physical assumptions, lower the predictions made by Paulo Freire at the 205th pressures for a given density. More AAS meeting in Washington D.C. (http://www2. compressible matter translates into naic.edu/alfa/pulsar/AAS205.76.06.ppt). He used smaller, compact stars with very pulsar DM distributions to show that, if the Parkes high gravitational fields, with upper Multi-beam survey had the same time (64 µs) and mass limits of about 1.6 solar masses spectral (0.39 MHz) resolution of the P-ALFA survey, (above that limit, the star implodes it would have detected between 40 and 60 MSPs and forms a black hole). Finding a in the portion of the Arecibo sky it surveyed. These more massive star, we can exclude would probably have a flat distribution of DMs such "soft" EOSs. from 0 to 400 cm-3 pc. In reality, it detected four MSPs, all with DMs below 40 cm-3 pc. Pulsars at • Binary pulsars give us the only strong- higher DMs were lost because of dispersive smear- field tests of gravitational theories. Rus- ing across its 3-MHz filters. Furthermore, because sell Hulse and Joe Taylor earned the of the relatively small dwell times, the P-ALFA sur- Nobel Prize in Physics in 1993 for their veys have unprecedented sensitivity to MSPs in discovery of the first binary pulsar, PSR binary systems with short orbital periods. B1916+13. The precise tracking of the motion of this object led to the confir- Discovering 120 new MSPs would triple the number mation of the existence of gravitational of known MSPs in the disk of the Galaxy. Tripling waves, a fundamental prediction of the bandwidth of the system, a feat to be achieved General Relativity. with the new P-ALFA spectrometers, will definitely These two astrophysics experiments are among increase the number of discoveries. Will this pre- the top priorities for research in astrophysics out- diction be verified? Patrick Lazarus found 1 new lined in the report of the National Academies en- MSP after searching 200 pointings (about 1400 titled “From Quarks to the Cosmos: Eleven Science beams). This represents about 4 square degrees; Questions for the New Century” (Board on Physics the full survey is to cover an area of about 440 and Astronomy, 2003, National Academies Press). square degrees. So we may find a large number of MSPs after all. Some of the specific investigations underway include the following: In 2007 work will accelerate on understanding re- • Nine new pulsars have since been found cycled radio pulsars. These objects possess extraor- in Terzan 5. One of them, Terzan 5 ad, is dinary long-term rotational stability; this makes an eclipsing binary system, and it is now them extremely valuable tools in physics experi- the fastest spinning pulsar known. ments: Although it is still not fast enough to • The density of matter at the center of constrain the equation of state seri- neutron stars is one or two orders of ously, other faster pulsars might still be magnitude larger than the density of found in globular clusters. Also, Terzan atomic nuclei. The relation between 5 ad already constrains models of gravi- pressure and density of the neutron flu- tational wave emission, and it might be id (known as equation of state, or EOS) detected by LIGO in the near future. is not known for these regimes. Studies • Continued timing observations will of recycled pulsars can constrain it: be made of the first double pulsar, 34 NAIC APRPP 2007 PSR J0737-3039 A and B at ATNF. probability with the Earth in 2036 by about a factor Timing this pulsar for only three years of two to about 1 in 40,000. has already yielded the most precise strong-field tests of General Rela- A radar-derived shape model of the near-Earth tivity ever! asteroid binary system 1999 KW4 appears in two companion articles to appear in Science (see Figure • The ALFA pulsar survey will benefit 3.8.1). The first paper, by Steve Ostro (JPL) et al. (Sci- from the increased processing band- ence, 2006, doi: 10.1126/science.1133622), uses width made possible by the new NAIC high resolution radar images allow the shape of PALFA spectrometer (see also the Are- the larger component (“Alpha”) to be determined cibo website of this survey and for in- to within 3% in each dimension. Since the binary formation on the spectrometer). This orbit determines the mass, they accurately deter- has recently discovered the second mined the density (1.97±0.24 g/cm3). most relativistic system known, PSR J1906+0746. This system is also Together, Alpha’s size, shape, spin, density, and about 1000 times younger than porosity reveal it to be an unconsolidated gravi- the double pulsar. It belongs to a new tational aggregate close to its breakup point, sug- population of young, binary systems gesting that KW4’s origin involved spin-up and dis- that could include even more eccentric ruptive mass shedding of a loosely bound precur- and compacts orbits! This survey is ex- sor object, probably within the past million years, pected to find many hundreds of new and perhaps much more recently. The disruption pulsars. It is specially sensitive to fast- may have been caused by tidal effects of a close spinning pulsars and pulsars with short encounter with a planet or by torques due to ther- orbital periods, in fact it has just found mal radiation of absorbed sunlight (the “YORP” its first MSP! effect). The near-circularity of Alpha’s pole-on profile further suggests that the disruption may have • Timing the PSR J1738+0333 binary produced a quasi-circular disc of particles rather system at Arecibo have recently result- than merely a prolate elongated body. ed in the lowest limits ever on emission of dipolar gravitational waves. The second paper, by Daniel Scheeres (Univ. of This is very important for constraining Michigan) and collaborators (Science, 2006, doi: alternative theories of gravitation! [P. 10.1126/science.1133599) examines the dynamics Freire] of the binary system. They determined that solid- body effects and a coupling between rotational 3.8 Solar System and orbital motion can be more pronounced and can have different time scales than with the other Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 made a close approach to the Earth in May 2006, and presented an excellent observing opportunity: The best since C/Iras-Araki-Alcock 1983. The comet has split into several fragments, and Mike Nolan and John Harmon (NAIC) obtained radar images of two of the nucleus fragments and the first-ever radar “image” of the coma of fragment “B”. Ellen Howell (NAIC) obtained spatially-resolved OH spectra to determine water outflow flux and velocity.

Radar observations of asteroid (99942) Apophis in May By Lance Benner (JPL) and Mike Nolan reduced the uncer- Figure 3.8.1. Shape of asteroid binary system 1999 KW4, as derived from the tainty in its orbit, reducing the predicted range-Doppler echoes of the Arecibo S-band radar. (Courtesy, Mike Nolan)

NAIC APRPP 2007 35 binaries that nature has provided (binary stars, the Fragmentation events generally result in a dramatic Earth-Moon and Pluto-Charon systems, and much increase in gas production and could lead to total larger binary asteroids like the Ida-Dactyl system). disruption of the body. Observations of split and Previous studies of binary system dynamics have fragmenting comets such as this provide an impor- not had to wrestle with interactions of components tant view of the fresh, unprocessed interior ices that whose shapes are irregular and asymmetrical and are preserved from the time of the formation of the whose interiors are nonrigid, porous assemblages comet in the early solar system. Fortunately, the of granular materials. The new research establishes Arecibo Observatory is quite responsive to targets the techniques needed to investigate binary NEAs of opportunity, particularly during daytime hours and discloses phenomena critical to understanding when many astronomical observations cannot be how these asteroids originated and evolved. done. We observed Comet SWAN on 27-29 Octo- ber, and detected the 1665 and 1667 MHz OH The 3-MW gas turbine generator that powers the lines. We observed using L-wide, centered on the S-band radar system was found to have a serious nucleus position, and in a hexagonal pattern 4.1 fault during a routine inspection in July this year. arcmin away, which corresponds to 179,000 km at It has now been repaired, and operations should the distance of the comet. The 1667 MHz spectra have resumed by the time of publication of this are shown in Figure 3.8.2, with model fits shown as newsletter. dotted lines. The hexagon is oriented with the sun- ward and tailward direction as projected on the Beginning in January 2000, the Saturn system has sky. Over the three-day period, there were only been observable for about half an hour per night at Arecibo: The transmitter is run for 30 minutes, then the telescope performs other observations until it is time to receive the echoes an hour and a half later.

A number of observing programs have been observing Saturn’s rings and satellites. After the 2007 apparition, Saturn will head South of the Arecibo declination range until 2028, and the observers are looking forward to a final observing season in January and February 2007. [M. Nolan, E. Howell and J. Harmon]

The long-period Comet SWAN (C/2006 M4) was discovered 12 July 2006 on SOHO spacecraft images. The comet experienced an outburst on 25 October (IAUC 8766) and had bright- ened by more than 4 visual Figure 3.8.2. The OH 1667 MHz line of Comet SWAN (C/2006 M4) on 27 October 2006. magnitudes. This brighten- The nucleus position is in the center, and each outer position is 4.1 arcminutes away from ing behavior in a long-period the nucleus in the coma, which corresponds to 179,000 km at the comet. The model spectra are shown as dotted lines along with the data. The model assumes hemispherical comet often suggests a frag- symmetry, so deviations in individual off spectra may indicate jets or asymmetries in the mentation of the nucleus. coma. (Courtesy, Ellen Howell)

36 NAIC APRPP 2007 minor changes in observed line strength, and those tion in a way that is impossible for double neutron could be attributed to expected changes in excita- star systems. tion of the OH as the comet moved with respect to the sun. More detailed analysis is continuing. 100 Additional observations may indicate whether this new activity will continue, or if this was a one-time event and the comet will gradually fade back to 0 previous brightness levels. These data will be particularly interesting for comparison with our recent -100 observations of the fragments of periodic Comet m/s) 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3. el (k -200 v 3.9 Fundamental Physics -300 PSR J1738+0333 is a 5.85-ms pulsar in a binary system with an orbital period of 8.5 hours, and -400 a companion white dwarf (WD) with a mass of -0.5 0 0.5 1 ~0.2 solar masses. This millisecond pulsar (MSP) phase (Unitless) was found with the Parkes 64-m radio telescope Figure 3.9.1. Measured radial velocities of the white dwarf in a search led by Bryan Jacoby (then at Caltech) companion to PSR J1738+0333 as a function of orbital phase, and Matthew Bailes (Swinburne). Paulo Freire has from measurements of the Doppler shift of its spectral lines. The blue curve represents the best fit model. The red curve made timing observations of this pulsar for the last represents the line-of-sight velocity of the pulsar as a function 3 years, so preliminary results have been presented of orbital phase; the amplitude of this curve is roughly 8 times here before. However, this is now one of the most smaller (Marten van Kerkwijk). precisely timed pulsars ever, with rms residuals of order 200 ns per WAPP per hour. Its orbit has a This calculated period derivative, which is ~60 small apparent eccentricity of about 0.0000011, times smaller than that of the Hulse-Taylor binary, which implies that the orbit itself does not depart suggests that the orbital period should shorten by from being exactly circular (with a radius of 102,000 ~1 microsecond/yr. After 3 years of timing Paulo km sin i, where i is the inclination) by more than 80 finds a measured value of –(4.4±2.9)×10-14 s/s. The microns (and, yes, this value is correct). difference between the predicted and observed values is the smallest ever measured. This in turn Recent optical work constrains the masses of the introduces the tightest constraints yet on the dipo- pulsar and its companion. Using the Magellan lar gravitational wave emission predicted by alter- telescope Marten van Kerkwijk identified the com- native theories of gravitation. If we interpret the panion star and measured its spectrum, which is limit on the emission of gravitational waves as a very similar to the 0.203 solar mass companion constant “omega” in the Brans-Dicke formulation of PSR J1909-3744. Further, the radial-velocity for gravity, we then obtain w > 2300 (s/0.2)2: the curve was measured using Gemini South (see Fig. previous pulsar limit is w > 1300 (s/0.2)2 (the vari- 3.9.1), from which one can derive its mass ratio of able s is the change in the binding energy of the 8.1±0.3. The pulsar’s mass is therefore ~1.6±0.2 neutron star as a function of the gravitational solar masses (assuming a 10% uncertainty in the constant G which is not fixed for the Brans-Dicke mass of the companion). This is interesting as were theory: it is predicted to be in the range 0.1 to 0.3, it to be measured more precisely, it could exclude depending on the unknown equation of state). some models for the behaviour of matter at densi- However, w is infinite in General Relativity (GR). ties higher than that of the atomic nucleus. It is Hence, Paulo’s result, while less restrictive than the also important because it allows a calculation of w > 40,000 derived from the Cassini spacecraft, is the expected rate of orbital decay due to the emis- obtained in the strong-field regime, which is the sion of quadrupolar gravitational waves (the sort only regime that can constrain all alternative theo- predicted by GR) of –(3.4±0.6)×10-14 s/s. This is ries of gravitation. very important, because asymmetric systems like this (where one of the components has a much There is considerable potential for improving this larger self-gravitational energy than the other) can test of GR. Continued timing of PSR J1738+0333 be used to constrain alternative theories of gravita- over the next 5(10) years should increase the preci-

NAIC APRPP 2007 37 sion of the measured orbital period derivative by a tially assigned to protect the deuterium fine-struc- factor of 10(40). If the measured value then con- ture line. DI searches at Arecibo are made with forms to prediction, the uncertainty of the predic- some regularity, but by far the primary use of the tion itself (6 × 10-15 s/s) becomes the limiting factor receiver at this frequency is for pulsar timing obser- in the precision of this test, as the kinetic effects can vations. Pulsar timing can be done uniquely well be accurately corrected from precise knowledge of at the Arecibo Observatory because of the unsur- the proper motion and parallax. We would then passed sensitivity of the 305-m telescope. Roughly, achieve an order of magnitude improvement on the timing precision achievable is proportional to all previous pulsar limits on dipolar gravitational the sensitivity of the telescope being used for the wave emission, and anticipate a limit of w > 15,000 timing. Here, sensitivity depends not just on the (s/0.2)2. On the other hand, simply by improving collecting area but also on the system temperature our knowledge of the mass ratio through averag- ing more measurements, and by measuring the orbital decay more precisely, we should be able to determine the pulsar and companion masses very accurately, this might be very important for the study of the EOS.

4. Technical Accomplishments and Expectations Figure 4.1.1. Photo of the new 327-MHz cryogenic receiver with the cryostat removed. In PY2006 progress on radio astronomy instrumentation was made in completing the fabrication of and the analyzed bandwidth. Pulsar astronomer a cryogenic receiver for the 327 MHz band pri- users at Arecibo pointed out that still further sen- marily for pulsar timing applications, fabricating a sitivity gains were possible if the existing 327-MHz new receiver for the Arecibo planetary radar sys- receiver were replaced by a new receiver cryogeni- tem, contracts were let for two new spectrometers cally cooled to reduce the receiver temperature, specialized for the needs of the PALFA and EALFA and hence the system temperature, and the front survey consortia respectively, and the IF/LO system end bandwidth was increased. These were the de- bandwidth and flexibility were both increased in fining specifications for the project, just completed response to user requirements. in PY2006.

Progress in computing and data management (backup, archiving, access) was focused on the dramatically increasing data rate from the telescope that results from broader band receivers and signal processing equipment, and from the data-multiply- ing effects of having multiple sky-positions sampled simultaneously as occurs through use of the ALFA multibeam receiver, and through the now-common commensal observing programs. Data management efforts are budget-limited at NAIC.

4.1 Radio Astronomy Instrumentation

327-MHz Cryogenic Receiver. Internationally, radio astronomy shares primary allocation of a nar- Figure 4.1.2. Photo of the new 327-MHz cryogenic re- row slice of the spectrum at 327-MHz that was ini- ceiver with the dewar installed for receiver testing in the lab.

38 NAIC APRPP 2007 The completed receiver is shown in Figure 4.1.1 performance with two new feed horns designed with its cryostat removed. It is a dual polarization for higher gain, and a new low-noise receiver. receiver, linear polarization, that is cooled to 15 K. A filter bank has been installed to reject out-of- Two new feed horns were designed, carefully ana- band RFI. The total bandwidth is 50 MHz. Tests on lyzed and constructed. Each one is optimized to the telescope have demonstrated that the entire its specific task, receive or transmit. The transmit bandwidth is usable at Arecibo, a result that aris- horn has an edge taper of -15 db which is 2 db es because other spectrum users of the band that less edge taper than the nominal of -17 db. Trans- have caused RFI difficulties in the past appear to mit spillover is not an issue. The small amount of have moved their applications to other frequency lost power on transmit is more than compensated bands. by the increased forward gain that results from a more uniform aperture illumination. The receive The 327 MHz cryogenic receiver will be in regular horn has an edge taper of -17 db, the nominal scheduled service for users in PY2007. value for the Gregorian optics. The receive horn optimizes G/T, balancing increased gain from less Planetary Radar Receiver. The existing receiver edge taper with increased noise temperature from and feed horns for the planetary radar system were more spillover. The input match of both horns was constructed in the mid 1990’s during the Arecibo modeled and then measured as better than -35 db Gregorian Upgrade. The receiver was built out of over a 100 MHz bandwidth. The transmit horn was existing parts from the line feed system and other tested and installed on the telescope in PY2006; it surplus equipment. The feed horns for both receive is performing as designed. and transmit are identical and were designed, built The new receiver is in its final stages of assembly. All the component subassemblies have been fabricated, assembled and tested. Photos are included here as figures 4.1.3 and 4.1.4.

The receiver is intended to have a receiver noise temperature of less than 5K. This will be achieved in part by placing the orthomode transducer (OMT) in the dewar cooled to 16K. The present receiver has a turnstile junction at room temperature with associated lossy waveguide runs. The new receiver will only have a short run of round waveguide from the horn leading directly to the Figure 4.1.3. Planetary radar receiver under assembly. cryogenic stages in the dewar. and installed without extensive analysis or any pattern testing. It has become evident from observa- The new receiv- tions and microwave modeling that the feed horns er has amplifi- have too much edge taper, about -20 db. at the ers utilizing InP edge of the tertiary. This under-illumination re- transistors yield- duces the gain of the system on both transmit and ing an amplifier receive. As the scientific users of the S-band plane- noise tempera- tary radar system seek to observe smaller and more ture of less than distant objects including asteroids and the satellites 2K. The ampli- of Saturn and Mars, higher telescope gain and the fiers are an exist- greater sensitivity achievable with a lower noise re- ing, advanced, Figure 4.1.4. Completed cryogenic ceiver is required. The planetary radar system up- design from the dewar for the planetary radar receiv- grade project was initiated to optimize the system microwave de- er.

NAIC APRPP 2007 39 velopment laboratory at Chalmers University in Sweden. The measured performance of the amplifiers meets specifications (see Fig. 4.1.5)

The OMT has a septum polarizer which directly yields circular polarizations. The present turnstile has about -30 db of discrimination between RCP and LCP. The new septum OMT has a predicted performance of -33 db. at band center. The round waveguide components that make the transition from the feed horn to the 16K cryogenic stage are all completed and tested.

Figure 4.1.6 shows the current status of the S-band radar receiver assembly. The receiver will be tested on the telescope in the summer of 2007 and available for visitor use immediately thereafter. Figure 4.1.5. Measured performance of the Chalmers InP-based LNAs that are being used in the new planetary radar receiver. vatory IF and LO systems have to be continually expanded. Presently, the fundamental mixing from RF to IF at Arecibo happens at the receiver; the IF is then brought down to the control room via optical fiber for further processing. Plans are being developed to make use of the rapidly expanding A/D capabilities of commercial hardware, and the declining costs of this hardware and optical fiber transmitters and receivers, to sample the RF at the receiver, bring the RF down to the control room and do all subsequent RF processing in the control room. This has many advantages including that of eliminating the need to maintain IF instrumentation on the telescope platform, there is an important weight savings on the platform, and the convenience of locating all signal processing for all receivers in a single, climate-controlled, room. In PY2007 these plans will be further developed. No hardware purchases are planned in PY2007.

Figure 4.1.6. Assembly of the S-band radar receiver. The capabilities to process still more IF/LO signals in the control room were expanded significantly 4.2 IF/LO System in PY2006 in anticipation of the need to support two new spectrometers in PY2007. Specifically, the The continuing interest of telescope users in ana- IF/LO capabilities were augmented to a total of 16 lyzing wider bandwidths for many science applica- channels. These channels may be divided as need- tions has meant that the capabilities of the Obser- ed, but the driving requirement was to support the

40 NAIC APRPP 2007 for user observations in PY2005. It has run without a fault for nearly two years. Construction was done under NAIC contract at the University of California, Berkeley, Space Sciences Labora- tory by the group led by Dr. Dan Werthimer.

The two new spectrometers are designed for the applications of the PALFA and EALFA consortium groups respectively. The technical requirements for the instruments were established in meetings among the Arecibo Figure 4.2.1. IF/LO racks in the telescope control room at the Arecibo Observatory. technical staff, the Are- cibo scientific staff and 7 ALFA dual-polarization beams with two spares. representatives of the PALFA and EALFA consor- In addition, hardware was installed to enable a sin- tia. The fundamental spectrometer specifications gle-pixel beam to be processed for spectroscopy at are given in the Table. 800-MHz bandwidth. The spectrometer project is a contract arrange- 4.3 Backends ment between NAIC and Jeff Mock. The division of responsibilities is this: PALFA and EALFA Spectrometers. The primary motivation for the ALFA multibeam receiver • Mock delivers to Arecibo FPGA based is to facilitate large-scale surveys of the sky. Major hardware sufficient to process 16 simul- legacy surveys with three distinct scientific objec- taneous IF signals. This includes the IF tives are planned by consortia of telescope users: a sampler, Xilinx processor, control firm- survey of galactic HI (GALFA), a pulsar survey (PAL- ware, Gbit Ethernet interface. FA) and a survey of the local, z<0.2, extragalactic sky (EALFA). The signal processing requirements of these three consortia are sufficiently different that NAIC agreed to provide separate backends for each consortium. This gives an opportunity for the three groups to observe simultaneously: with the receiver IF split and sent separately to each of the three spectrometers, the three surveys can be conducted at the same time without any one survey interfering with the others. We refer to this as “commensal” observing.

The first of the three ALFA spectrometers, the GAL- FA spectrometer, was built and installed in PY2004; Figure 4.3.1. Demonstration units for the PALFA and it was commissioned and put into routine service EALFA spectrometer hardware at Arecibo for testing, Jan- uary 2007.

NAIC APRPP 2007 41 Table 4.3.1 P-ALFA and E-ALFA Basic Spectrometer Specifications P-ALFA E-ALFA (Include GALFACTS) Analog Input 7-beams, 2-pols/beam 7-beams, 2-pols/beam 14 IF signals nominally covering 100- 14 IF signals nominally covering 100- 400 MHz 400 MHz 14 channel IF to quadrature base- 14 channel IF to quadrature baseband converter band converter Sampling Four 12-bit 300 MHz ADCs (2 pols, Four 12-bit 200 MHz ADCs (2 pols, baseband data, I and Q inputs) baseband data, I and Q inputs) Sub-banding in 100 MHz, or smaller, Sub-banding in 100 MHz, or smaller, bands to cover the 300 MHz bands to cover the 200 MHz Flexibility for steering the sub-bands Flexibility for steering the sub-bands Outputs Selectable number (256, 512, 1024, 2048) spectral channels over 300 8192 spectral channels over MHz per polarization 200 MHz per polarization Output bits, 12 Output bits, 12 Selectable time sampling (16 μsec, ~3 msec time sampling for RFI exci- 32 μsec, 64 μsec); 1 msec for GAL- sion--fixed, not selectable FACTS Cross products for RFI Identification Cross products for GALFACTS or External clock and sync polarization summing for pulsars Capability for radar blanking External clock and sync Spectral normalization External winking cal Desirable Options Capability for reprogrammable polyphase filter shapes should not be excluded Computations done in PC whenever possible

• NAIC is responsible for the 300 MHz PY2007 the new spectrometers will cause this fig- bandwidth IF split in 2 bands, I&Q base- ure to increase by at least a factor of between three band sig nals, the clock and LO distribu- and ten. In preparation, we are planning on install- tion, and the necessary high-speed data ing much larger capacity RAID volumes to support storage and data archive. This includes the ongoing observing programs and a tape-based any necessary compute servers. system for longer-term storage.

Mock delivered demonstration hardware to the The Arecibo Observatory has no ambition to be- Observatory in January 2007 for testing. The tests come a computational data center that hosts data- revealed no major deficiencies. The project con- sets to be accessed by external users. Recognizing tinues on toward its planned operational readiness that the needs of the astronomical community in date of June 2007. the U.S. include access to data products from Are- cibo, NAIC is making arrangements with the Cor- 4.4 Computing: Storage and Networking nell Theory Center to host the Arecibo data and to serve the community of database users in access- In PY2006 the science data taken at the telescope ing these data through the VO protocol. and recorded for archival storage or backup at the Observatory amounted to more than 80 TBytes, just for the astronomy program. We can expect that in

42 NAIC APRPP 2007 been affected by the lack of economy growth in 5. NAIC Education and the region. Outreach Programs School Groups. The school visits program allows school groups, from both public and private institutions, to visit by appointment the Arecibo 5.1 Angel Ramos Visitor Center Observatory and tour its Angel Ramos Founda- tion Visitor Center. In PY2006, 350 school groups Summary. This report covers the period between toured the Arecibo Observatory. As compared to July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2006. As in previous the previous year, in PY2005 there was a 21 % de- years, the Visitor Center hosted many special events crease in the number of school groups visiting AO, for the general public and for the NAIC/Arecibo and this accounts for about 8,000 fewer visitors. In Observatory community in general. These includ- addition to the school groups visits, a large number ed the NAIC/NRAO Single Dish Summer School, of additional groups are also scheduled every year. Geoscience Workshop, the Gordon Lecture, and These include university, industry, government, other scientific and educational workshops. We boy scouts, and other community organizations. updated 15 displays at the Visitor Center and are In PY2006 we hosted 53 special groups. in the process of updating and adding new panels. Three educational workshops were offered (two Scheduled Group Visits to the for teachers and one for journalists) on the issue Arecibo Observatory 2000-2006 of pseudoscience, and we hosted an astronomy School Special Total No. of summer camp for 25 middle school students. The PY Groups Groups Groups Visitors number of visitors to the Arecibo Observatory declined by 9 % and we have taken several measures 2000 515 77 592 29,234 to make the operation more efficient. 2001 548 128 676 36,544 2002 532 84 616 34,446 General Public. A trend that began in PY2005 2003 563 102 665 35,838 reflecting an annual decrease in the number of 2004 525 125 650 31,896 visitors to the Arecibo Observatory is also reflected 2005 444 66 516 28,546 in the figures for PY2006. The number of visitors to the facility in PY2006 was 99,496 as compared 2006 350 53 403 20,439 to 109,108 in PY2005. This 9% decrease is seen in The government of Puerto Rico had a large budget both the general public, and the school children deficit in PY06. This problem forced many agen- visiting A.O. But the main reason affecting the flow cies, in particular de Department of Education, to of visitors in PY2006 was the drop in the number of either close or limit their activities. Many schools school groups visits. This issue is discussed in the (and summer camps) had to cancel their scheduled next section. visits to AO due to lack of funds. The Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism industry is also reporting a 10% decrease in room occupancy for Conferences and Special Events. During the this period. Many businesses in Puerto Rico have year, we offered a number of special lectures, tours and workshops to schools, universities, and the community. We provided five (one-day session) workshops for science teachers, two for pre-service teachers, and three for high school students. In addition, we hosted a two-week summer workshop as part of the Arecibo Geoscience Diversity Project.

The Visitor Center also hosted a number of scientific meetings during the year. These included the NAIC/NRAO Single Dish Summer School, the Are- cibo Conjugate Workshop, and the Gordon Lec- ture.

NAIC APRPP 2007 43 From Arecibo to the Universe Summer Camp sion by our summer camp staff and a professional (UPR, NSF, Math-Science Partnerships). Dur- lifeguard, participants enjoyed our swimming pool ing the week of June 11 to 16, the Arecibo Obser- and basketball/volleyball facilities. vatory hosted the residential summer camp “From Arecibo to the Universe” for 24 middle school stu- Pseudoscience Workshops (NASA-PR Space dents from participating ALACIMA schools. All Grant). In an effort to improve the level of science participants completed the program successfully. literacy on the Island, a series of workshops were As part of the summer camp activities, students offered on the topic of pseudoscience. The presen- had the opportunity to tour the Arecibo Observa- tation of pseudoscientific topics in the media (radio, tory and meet scientists, engineers, and technical TV, press, web) appears to be increasing. Topics staff. Through these include: UFO’s, astrology, magnetic healing, and interactions, par- many others. Pseudoscientific ideas are many ticipants were able times presented as “scientific knowledge” and this to enrich their ex- creates a serious confusion in the general public; perience and learn particularly in students, teachers and journalists. about professional careers. We offered two residential workshops (3 days each) for science teachers and two workshops (1 day each) for journal- From Arecibo to ists. Each session the Universe was allowed partici- designed as an pants to establish introductory astronomy workshop developed through hands-on activities on the so- the difference be- lar system, stars, galaxies, and the universe. Par- tween science and ticipants learned to use an optical telescope and pseudoscience, and performed astronomical observations on Saturn, to identify the basic Jupiter, and the Sun. In addition, they learned to elements that are identify the summer constellations and the names common to pseudo- of the brightest stars. scientific ideas.

The program included a dedicated period of 2 hrs Arecibo Geoscience Diversity Project (NSF each day for recreation. Under constant supervi- Geoscience Diversity Program). The third

Educational Workshops Offered at AO in PY2006 No. of Date Time Institution Participants Oct 12-14, ’05 Pseudoscience Workshop 25 teachers NASA Space Grant Nov 30, ‘05 Stellar Evolution 30 HS students Vega Baja School Jan 9, ‘06 Space Weather 40 teachers NASA/UPR Mayagüez Scale Models in Feb 24, ‘06 25 undergrads UPR Rio Piedras Astronomy Troop 261, Capitan Mar 3, ‘06 Telescopes 20 Boy Scouts Correa Pseudoscience for the Mar 18-19, ‘06 15 reporters NASA Space Grant Press Mar 22-25, ‘06 Pseudoscience Workshop 25 teachers NASA Space Grant From Arecibo to the 25 middle school June 11-16, ‘06 UPR (NSF-MSP) Universe Summer Camp students

44 NAIC APRPP 2007 Invited Lectures at AO in PY2006 No. of Date Title Institution Participants July 28, ‘05 Radio Astronomy 60 undergrads UPR Mayagüez MSP Teacher Nov 5, ‘05 Universe 300 teachers Conference, San Juan Dec 5, ‘05 Arecibo Observatory 20 Job Corps, Isabela Dec 6, ‘05 Arecibo Observatory 60 San Felipe School Dec 8, ‘05 Universe 30 students Camuy School Jan 27, ‘06 Solar System 30 students Luis F. Perez School Feb 7, ‘06 Universe 150 students La Milagrosa School Academia Discipulos de Cristo Feb 22, ‘06 Universe 45 students (Vega Baja) Apr 5, ‘06 History of Astronomy 60 undergrads Interamerican Univ., Bayamon Apr 20, ‘06 SETI 150 HS students Interamerican Univ., Ponce

year of our NSF sponsored Geoscience Diversity vatory on April 29, 2006. program went very well. Students and teachers from four schools and 8 undergraduates from the Jazz Band in AO. On March 31, 2006, we hosted UPR participated in the program. This year we had the school band from Xavier Highs School in New participation from the Domingo Aponte Collazo York for a special presentation to our staff. Many School in Lares, Ferando Callejo School in Manati, employees came to enjoy this presentation offered the Esther Feliciano Mendoza School in Aguadilla, during the lunch hour at the AO gazebo. and the Enrique Borras School in Arecibo. Each school provided a team of 5 students and a science Bring your Child to Work Day. The Visitor Cen- teacher. Two schools (Lares and Manati) worked ter hosted a 1-hour workshop for AO staff children with the UPR on a research program at the Cano as part of the “Bring your Child to Work Day”. A Tiburones wetland. Here they measured water general overview about AO was provided as well quality and identified bacteria in aquatic plants as a hands-on coloring book activity about the ra- known to absorb metal ions. The Aguadilla and dio telescope. Arecibo schools worked at the Arecibo Observa- tory comparing different galaxy populations using Financial Report. In this section a summary of data collected by the ALFALFA survey. Participants the financial activities associated with the opera- presented their research projects at the Arecibo tion of the Angel Ramos Foundation Visitor Center Geoscience Congress, held at the Arecibo Obser- is presented. The VC operating budget is com-

Scientific Meetings Offered at AO in PY2006 No. of Date Title Institution Participants Single Dish July 10-16, ‘05 50 NAIC/NRAO Summer School Feb 14-16, ‘06 NAIC VC Meeting 50 NAIC Feb 27, ‘06 Microwave Radiometry 40 UPR Mar 8-9, ‘06 AUSAC Meeting 50 NAIC Apr 2, ‘06 National Weather Service Meeting 30 NWS-NOAA Apr 17-19, ‘06 Arecibo Conjugate Workshop 50 NAIC/NSF Apr 29, ‘06 Geoscience Congress 60 NAIC June 27, ‘06 Willian Gordon Lecture 80 Cornell

NAIC APRPP 2007 45 Special Visits and Events at AO in PY2006 No. of Date Title Participants Sept 9, ‘05 Novo-Nordi Pharmaceutical Meeting 15 Oct 4, ‘05 Workers Comp Training 75 Nov 23, ‘05 Bristol-Myers Tour 5 Dec 15, ‘05 AMGEN Meeting & Tour 12 Jan 23-27, ‘06 Cornell HR Training 20 Jan 25, ‘06 Telescope Painting Project Meeting 50 Jan 27, ‘06 NSF Director Visit & Tour 5 Feb 1, ‘06 Medtronic Meeting 25 Mar 12, ‘06 Fordham University 12 Mar 14, ‘06 Philips Academy, Massachusetts 100 Mar 31, ‘06 Xavier High School (Jazz Band) 50 Apr 27, ‘06 Bring Your Child to Work Day 20

prised by the income obtained through admissions were funded by the Partnership for Space Science and store sales, and the operating expenses due Education and Research (PaSSER) program, and to personnel, maintenance, and inventory. Sala- one was supported by ‘Fundación Comunitaria ries and wages account for 48 % of the operating de Puerto Rico’ and worked on a project related costs, store merchandize and vending supplies to education and outreach activity to promote sci- for 34%, and the remaining operating costs for ence for the disabled. Apart from this, there were 18%. In PY2006, the Visitor Center had revenues two graduate students from the University of Colo- for $839,539, and operating expenses of $796,932 rado (CU) supported by Colorado Research Asso- for a net income of $42,603. ciates (CoRA), working with their Ph.D. supervisor Dr. Diego Janches (CoRA), who used the facilities Plan of Action. On November 1, 2005 we in- at the Observatory for their research work. These creased the cost of admission to the Visitor Center students, Amal Chandran and Jonathan Fentzke, by $1.00. This action was necessary given the im- participated in the REU activities and also gave 20- pact of high gas prices on our operating costs. The minute presentations towards the end of the pro- new fee contributed about $50,000 in revenues gram. One of the highlights of this year’s program for PY06. We have also reduced to number of part- was the participation of students from U.S. univer- time employees, and are in the process of building sities, and two from outside the U.S. One student a coffee shop that will provide a new source of in- (Sonia Buckley) attends college in the U.K. and one come. (Ximena Fernández) is originally from Colombia, which allowed students from diverse backgrounds 5.2 2006 REU Program to interact. The Arecibo Observatory organized its 2006 REU Professors Julio Urbina (Penn State University) and summer student program for 10 weeks from the José Rosado (UPR-M) visited the Observatory this end of May to mid August. This program exposes summer and mentored a few REU students. Also, students to various activities with the aim of motivat- Prof. Carmen Pantoja (UPR Rio Piedras — UPR-RP) ing them to pursue their future career in research. and her student spent a month working at the Ob- The selection process is highly competitive with 11 servatory’s Ángel Ramos Visitor Center to develop students getting selected from different universities techniques for promoting science among the vision out of nearly 115 applicants. These eleven students and hearing impaired. Several Observatory staff were funded from different sources, (a) eight were members gave lectures to the students with the supported by the NSF REU grant, (b) two recent objective of introducing them to the fundamentals graduates supported by NAIC, and (c) one was se- and applications of the various instruments avail- lected on the basis of the Observatory Director’s able on site. The talks included a variety of topics discretion. In addition, three students from UPR- covering areas related to astronomy, ionospheric Mayagüez (UPR-M) worked at the Observatory and 46 NAIC APRPP 2007 science, planetary radar, and electronics with focus There is a famous saying that ‘All work and no play on the current research activities using the facilities makes Jack a dull boy’. To make sure that students at the Observatory. This was complemented with got a chance to experience life outside the Obser- a visit to the 500-ft high platform that contains sev- vatory, a variety of activities were arranged that eral receivers. The engineers and technical staff gave them an opportunity to explore the culture showed them the 430 MHz transmitters, which and nature of the Caribbean island. Many thanks was beneficial to the engineering students. A very to all the administrative staff, especially María-Ju- distinguished visitor, Dr. Jocelyn Bell, was invited dith Rodríguez, Lucy López, Wilson Arias, Carmen to the Observatory as the 2006 William E. and Elva Segarra, Carmen Torres, Eva Robles, José Cordero, F. Gordon Distinguished Lecturer. During her visit, and all the drivers for their cooperation and time. she gave a popular lecture on “Reflections on the As a welcome to students, a BBQ was organized Discovery of Pulsars” on 27 June 2006. A get-to- near the recreational area. We encouraged stu- gether was arranged that allowed female scientists dents to give us feedback about their interests and and students to interact with her and gave them tried to organize events accordingly. Some stu- an excellent opportunity to discuss issues related to dents became certified for scuba diving and then women in science. Also, several visitors to the Ob- visited places like the Mona and Vieques Islands servatory gave talks that were attended by the REU that are famous for their beautiful beaches and sea students. This list includes: D. Campbell, P. Taylor, life. This gave them a chance to camp, hike and Eliana Nossa (all Cornell), X. Chu (CU), G. Cortés snorkel in different locations. The students spent (NAIC, Cornell), D. Werthimer (UC Berkeley), and a weekend camping in the El Yunque Rain Forest. J.C. Morales (University of Turabo). Also, a cultural trip to Old San Juan was arranged that was coupled with a visit to the Bacardí factory The research experience for REU students com- that is famous for manufacturing the most popular prised a mandatory project (individual) and an op- rum in the world. There was an educational trip to tional project (group of 3 to 4 students) as a part the Institute of Tropical Ecosystem Studies located of a hands-on experiment. The mandatory project in the Rain Forest, which also hosts REU students involved either real time observations or previously and is coordinated by Dr. Alonso Ramírez. This was obtained data and their analysis/interpretation. later reciprocated by a visit to the Observatory by Those who wanted to obtain experience on the the Rain Forest REU students. A trip to a cultural procedures related to observing were offered par- festival in the nearby town of Hatillo was organized ticipation in hands-on experiments that were con- that exposed students to the local music, dance ducted by Arecibo staff members Mayra Lebrón, and food. On many occasions, students were ac- Chris Salter and Tapasi Ghosh. Three runs were companied by staff members (P. Freire, J. Wiig, P. scheduled that provided students an excellent op- Farias, and H. Vo), who followed along to several portunity to get their ‘hands dirty’. A summary of beaches and other scenic spots. We also took them the hands-on experiments is provided later in this out to the cinema and dance establishments. To- document. ward the end of the summer, another BBQ was arranged to welcome the Rain Forest REU students The students were asked to give 20-minute presen- and also to give a farewell to our own students. tations summarizing the project they worked on The two groups played volleyball and exchanged during their stay at the Observatory. Some of the their experiences. On several occasions, the stu- students will present their work in meetings/confer- dents organized evening get-togethers at the VSQ ences. The aeronomy students plan to participate and invited staff members and vice-versa. in the CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) meeting in June 2007. 2006 Summer Student Projects. Similarly, the astronomy students will present post- • Supported by NSF REU Funds: ers at the meetings of the American Astronomical Society in October 2006 and January 2007. It is Heidi Brooks is currently a senior at Reed College. worth mentioning that one of the students (Ms. X. As an REU student, she worked with Dr. Ellen How- Fernández) who worked with T. Ghosh, C.S. Salter ell and studied the orbits of binary asteroids in the and E. Momijan discovered a new galaxy and has near-earth population as a means for obtaining expressed her interest in participating in follow-up measurements of their densities. She worked pri- work and to pursue astronomy as her future ca- marily with radar-obtained delay Doppler images reer.

NAIC APRPP 2007 47 of 2003 YT1, 2002 BM26, and 2006 GY2. She re- observed on July 4-5, 2005 using the Arecibo Tele- corded the range separation of the primary and sec- scope L-band, C-band and C-high receivers. The ondary asteroids at various time intervals, as well as analysis was completed using Arecibo routines their respective bandwidths. The values obtained for reducing correlator data. Maser emission was for range separation were plotted versus time and confirmed in the 1665, 1667, 6031, and 6035 MHz fitted to sine curves, as would result from the (as- OH lines, and each maser line was accompanied sumed) circular orbits of the secondaries. They by an absorption feature. By comparison with pre- were found to exhibit the following periods: 2003 vious studies, all but the 6031 MHz line appear to YT1, 36.7 ± 1.8 hours; 2002 BM26, either 12.5 ± 0.2 be highly variable. The 6 cm OH lines, the 18 cm or 25.8 ± 0.3; and 2006 GY2, 11.7 ± 0.2 hours. Ad- (ground-state) and 5 cm (excited-state) OH satellite ditional data for YT1, along with the use of a mod- lines, and the absorption features in the four masing eling program called Shape allowed constraints to lines were found to exhibit weak and broad spec- be placed on the geometry of the system. From tral profiles located at velocities slightly higher than these inputs, Heidi was able to calculate the mass that of the source, indicating that their appearance and volume of the primary to be (1.27±0.39)×1012 may be due to a form of quasi-thermal excitation kg and 0.63±0.10 km3, respectively, resulting in a fi- rather than the masing process. Currently there is 3 nal estimate of the density to be 2.01±0.70 g/cm . no evidence for either H2O or CH3OH masers, but massive CO outflows have been detected through Sonia Buckley is a first-year undergraduate student previous studies. Along with the detection of OH at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, studying Natural masers, these properties place IRAS 19111+1048 in Sciences. She worked with Johannes Wiig to cali- a late stage of protostellar evolution in which the brate the Pennsylvania State University all-sky im- H II region has expanded and developed enough ager. The all-sky imager is a sensitive digital camera to allow for conditions that are unable to generate that collects images of the entire night sky for the H2O or CH3OH masers. As a separate result, the purpose of studying airglow events. Sonia’s proj- near and far kinematical distances to this source ect involved the intensity calibration and flat-field- were determined to be, respectively, 4.4 and 7.6 ing of the imager. To do this, many images had to kpc. be taken of a light source of known intensity under different conditions. The imager was dismounted Kevin Graf is a senior at Cornell University and from its position in the airglow laboratory and worked with Ganesh Rajagopalan. His work fo- set up underneath a C14 calibration source. The cused on the C-High Receiver at the Observatory calibration data was collected over the course of that is mostly used for 6.7 GHz Methanol Maser several nights to avoid light contamination. So- line surveys. However, there is interest in upgrad- nia then used IDL to analyze these results and ing the receiver to a dual-beam receiver for con- carry out the calibration. The program doframe. tinuum observations. The receiver possesses two pro for automatically flat-fielding and converting feed horns and two front-end receiver chains. pixel counts to intensity values of any image taken The planned implementation of Dicke-switch- with the camera was created using the results of ing at rates of approximately 10 Hz following the the calibration. All the results and IDL programs dewar should nullify the 1/f-noise from fluctuating will be posted on the web at http://allsky.ee.psu. atmospheric emissions. The type WBA13 MMIC edu along with the images taken every night with amplifiers used at the C-High Receiver front-end, the all-sky imager so that anyone can access the however, possess Heterojunction-FETs, which are data. This means that the calibration data will be known for 1/f-noise that can limit the sensitivity used when studying the images to obtain more ac- of continuum observations. Using the test setups curate, understandable images. assembled and verified this summer, the stability of the type WBA13 MMIC amplifiers, as well as of Knicole Colón is a senior at the College of New Jer- the C-High Receiver as a whole, will be character- sey. She worked with Dr. Mayra Lebrón on reduc- ized. The Allan Variance of the samples should of- ing and analyzing the 18 cm (1665, 1667, 1612, fer recommended integration times and switching and 1720 MHz), 6 cm (4765, 4751, and 4660 MHz) rates. These results should guide the process of and 5 cm (6031, 6035, 6049, and 6017 MHz) OH the dual-beam upgrade as well as provide useful lines, as well as the 4830 MHz H2CO and the 6668 information to observers who use the receiver for

MHz CH3OH lines, all arising in the massive star- continuum observations. forming region IRAS 19111+1048. All lines were

48 NAIC APRPP 2007 Heather Hanson is a senior at the University of Wyoming. She worked with Dr. Mike Nolan and her project focused on the asteroid 105 Artemis, which is a C-type main-belt asteroid that has been observed to contain hydrated minerals on at least a portion of its surface. Seventy- five percent of all asteroids belong to the C-type classification. These asteroids are often observed to have absorption bands near 0.7 microns and 3.0 microns. The 0.7-micron a specific timescale that agreed with theoretical absorption feature indicates the presence of iron models. Unfortunately, the amount of drift has bearing phyllosilicates that are related to hydrated been found to be too small to observe, so although minerals, while the broad 3.0 micron absorption is his code worked well, the binary system is not a

caused by overlapping absorption bands from H2O strong candidate for testing General Relativity. and OH layers in hydrated minerals. Often the 0.7- micron band is not observed but hydrated minerals On his second project, Clinton wrote an orbital fit- are present and absorption at 3.0 microns is seen. ting program that uses the Levenberg-Marquardt To further understand the link between the ab- method to perform a least squares fit. When given sence and/or presence of the different bands, ra- an input file of epochs and periods, the algorithm dar data from the Arecibo Observatory and spectra finds Keplerian orbital elements and a few addition- from the IRTF on Mauna Kea have been obtained al parameters for the particular system in question. for a number of asteroids. Many of the radar data This program will likely become a valuable tool for show irregular, non-symmetric bright features that astronomers in the pulsar community, as no open may be linked to the reflectivity of the surface, and source alternative seems to exist for this particular therefore the composition instead of the shape of application. He will be coordinating his efforts with the asteroid. Both radar observations and near-in- Paulo over the upcoming few months to modify frared spectra of 105 Artemis have been obtained this application and bring it into use amongst all and analyzed. Heather coordinated the radar and who need it. spectral data using lightcurve data obtained from the amateur astronomy community. Through a Isobel Ojalvo is a senior student at Rensselaer Poly- modeling program called Shape, these data were technic Institute in Troy, NY studying physics and used to make a simplified 3D model of 105 Artemis mathematics. Her REU summer project supervisors in order to map the areas where hydrated miner- were Drs. Steven Gibson and Robert Minchin. Her als have been observed. Once mapped, the link REU project was to determine what is needed to between the hydrated minerals and radar-bright put data obtained from the Arecibo L-Band Feed areas can be tested. Array (ALFA) onto the Virtual Observatory (VO) and to implement a preliminary database and Clinton Mielke is a senior at the University of Ari- website. The VO is an international collaboration zona, Tucson. He worked with Dr. Paulo Freire this to make large astronomical surveys available to the summer, the resident pulsar expert. Paulo gave him public with a suite of search and intercomparison the choice between two projects to work on, and tools. Isobel’s focus was on the VO interface for stepping up to the challenge, he decided to under- ALFA surveys of the Galactic interstellar medium take both. First, he worked on a numerical simula- (GALFA) and HI environments around other gal- tion of a particular binary pulsar system. By using axies (AGES), both of which are generating large, the 4th order Runge Kutta algorithm, he tested the 3-dimensional data sets. She used the scripting general relativistic perturbation on the pulsar’s or- language Perl as a common gateway interface to bit, and found a precession of the periastron over access the data and investigated how to provide

NAIC APRPP 2007 49 a web-interface that will allow users outside the ing could exist in a monitoring mode that does not Observatory to extract subsets of the data via the require a runtime engine. Both methods were im- World Wide Web. plemented and are available. The Java client/server pair was also implemented. Java would not require Daniel Rucker is a fourth-year undergraduate stu- a runtime engine and offers a high refresh rate, at dent at University of Arkansas at Little Rock, ma- the cost of more difficult implementation and more joring in Systems Engineering. He worked under difficult future upgrades and modifications. Given the supervision of Prof. Julio Urbina and Ryan a stable Java client/server pair, the Java version Seal on the development and implementation of would be better for scientists who won’t have the an FPGA-based radar controller for the Space and LabVIEW runtime engine. Atmospheric Sciences Group at the Arecibo Ob- servatory. This device will be integrated with the María Ximena Fernández is a senior currently en- recently developed multi-channel digital receiver rolled in a dual degree program, where she stud- acquisition system to conduct radar observations. ies Physics and Astronomy at Vassar College and The radar controller will provide up to 16 control Engineering Sciences at Dartmouth College. At the signals: sample start trigger to the receiver board, Observatory, she worked with Drs. Tapasi Ghosh, T/R switching, RF pulse, blanking, coding, etc. It Emmanuel Momjian, and Chris Salter analyzing HI will also control two 8-bit digital-to-analog con- 21 cm and OH 18 cm spectral line observations of a verters (DACs) for multi-frequency signal genera- group of luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs). These tion. The device is an external module that is pro- galaxies emit most of their energy at infrared wave- grammed via the USB 2.0 port and offers a total of lengths and are found in interacting/merging sys- 11 50 I/O pins. Configuration and operation of the de- tems. The intense infrared luminosity (Lir > 10 Lo) vice is achieved with a general-purpose computer is due to the dust heating from extreme starburst through a graphical interface under Linux OS. and/or active galactic nuclei energy sources. In 2004, Arecibo observations were made using • Supported by NAIC funds: the L-Band Wide receiver of 85 LIRGs from the 2 Jy IRAS-NVSS sample. The sample was observed David Bowen graduated from Cornell University with ON/OFF or double position switching (DPS) in May 2006. This summer he worked with Ganesh modes, depending on the radio continuum flux Rajagopalan on a project related to signal interfer- density of the target sources, and the data were ence. Broadband signal information is vital to iden- reduced with IDL. The team detected HI in 82 gal- tifying and diagnosing signal interference in radio axies (16 new detections), and OH in 7 galaxies astronomy and radar experiments at the Arecibo (5 new detections). In some cases, the HI spectra Observatory. Previously, data available remotely showed the classic Gaussian or double horn dis- has been band-limited and has not revealed effects tributions, while the majority exhibited distorted of system problems and RFI from sources such as features indicating that they are in an interacting/ lightning. Data from an instrument capable of dis- merging system. IRAS 23327+2913 is considered playing the broadband signal needs to be available to be the most intriguing source in the sample. This 12 to remote users at the time of their experiments. ultra-luminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG, Lir > 10 Lo), These remote users include engineers in their which is described in the literature as a pair of nu- homes in the Arecibo area as well as scientists in clei in the beginning stages of interaction, was de- arbitrary locations around the world. tected in both neutral hydrogen and OH megamaser emission from the system, which had not been Using an Agilent E4403B ESA-L series spectrum reported before. analyzer, broadband signal information must be made available. Since the data must reach poten- Brandon Taylor graduated from the University of tially around the world, the data must be available Texas at Austin this past May with a degree in Elec- through an internet gateway, or web server. Two trical Engineering. While there, he worked in iono- solutions were implemented: LabVIEW programs spheric research at the Applied Research Laborato- using the web publishing utility and a Java client/ ries. Prior to coming to the Arecibo Observatory, server program pair. LabVIEW was more easily im- he also spent a summer as an REU student at the plemented, but required the overhead of a runtime MIT Haystack Observatory. engine to be interactive (called embedded mode). At the cost of refresh rate, LabVIEW web publish- This summer, he worked with Dr. Hien Vo on a

50 NAIC APRPP 2007 project to statistically analyze Subauroral Polariza- ments of the temperature and potassium content tion Streams (SAPS). SAPS, which can be detected in the mesosphere during the daytime, utilizing by elevated ion drifts equatorward of the auroral LiDAR technology. The test bed is composed of a oval, are associated with disturbed ionospheric tunable single-mode external cavity diode laser, conditions. A better understanding of these events the filter, a potassium vapor cell in an oven with can improve ionospheric models and reduce errors fluorescence detection, and a Fabry-Perot etalon. in GPS and other satellite communications. The oven and controller circuit, constructed during the summer of 2005, heat a potassium spectrum Brandon’s project was aimed at exploiting the con- cell, and we use the laser to excite fluorescence in tinuous data collection of DMSP satellites to pro- a “Doppler-free” configuration. Since the emission vide a better statistical analysis of SAPS than had lines of the potassium are well known, it is possible previously been performed. He developed an al- to use the system to tune the laser and obtain a gorithm to automatically process a year’s worth of reliable wavelength scale for the filter calibration satellite data and to detect and quantify high ion measurements. drifts as SAPS. Additional code was written to compare various properties of these SAPS in a variety of The challenge for this past summer was to install geomagnetic conditions. In addition to the results the Fabry-Perot etalon and to detect fluorescence achieved this summer, the project will be extended from the vapor cell in the “Doppler-free configura- by Dr. Vo. tion”. Unfortunately, in the course of these measurements it was discovered that the cell did not • Supported by PaSSER funds: actually contain potassium. Another cell was bought for the system and a new oven fabricated Edvier Cabassa-Miranda, a sophomore at The Uni- in order to use it. The work for the summer was versity of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, worked with Prof. basically the modification of the new oven and the Julio Urbina (PSU) and used Coqui II observations construction of the Fabry-Perot etalon. As the sum- from the 50 MHz radar located near Salinas, Puerto mer was ending, Israel was able to get an assign- Rico, to measure observed counts of both specu- ment to finish the project through the University lar and non-specular meteor trails in the E-region of Puerto Rico, thanks to Prof. José Rosado. Israel is ionosphere. These observations were made over now putting the working elements of this system a time span ranging from 18:00 to 08:00 on vari- into a standard arrangement for long-term use. ous days in 1998 and 1999. The Coqui II radar has two sub-arrays, both pointed to the north in Melissa Rivera is currently an undergraduate stu- the magnetic meridian plane, perpendicular to the dent in Electrical Engineering at The University of magnetic field elevation angle of approximately Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, with a strong interest 41 degrees. Traditional meteor radars require trail in Communications, Physics and Astronomy. She specularity (trail perpendicular to radar beam) for is also the Vice-President of the Caribbean Astro- a reflection, but over the last decade, two new nomical Society of Puerto Rico. Her project at the types of radar-meteor reflections, known as meteor Observatory focused on analysis of data from Jica- head echoes and non-specular trails, have become marca Observatory using its radar named JULIA (Ji- known or widely used. He attempted to see if this camarca Unattended Long-term Investigations of radar is capable of detecting the head echoes. He the Ionosphere and Atmosphere), and she was ad- analyzed the signals by removing unwanted inter- vised by Prof. José Rosado (UPR-M). This study ana- ference using some routines that he developed in lyzed perturbations in the electric field as a result IDL. Now the future work is to try to generate RTI of geomagnetic substorms on equatorial latitudes. images to see the head echoes. He would also like The method that she used to obtain conclusions to conduct simulations. for these phenomena is called Superposed Epoch Analysis, which is a very powerful technique. It Israel González-Pérez Jr., who is an undergradu- consists of sorting data into categories and com- ate in electrical engineering at The University of paring means for different categories. This method Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, returned to Arecibo this must be applied carefully and logically. summer to continue a project started during the previous summer under the tutelage of Dr. Jona- The analysis of the radar data shows disturbances than Friedman (NAIC). This is the construction of a in the daytime equatorial geomagnetic H field as- test bed and calibration system for a Faraday filter. sociated with specific phases of isolated substorms. The purpose of the filter system is to take measure- NAIC APRPP 2007 51 Three well-documented substorms were examined cility will allow high school, undergraduate, and in India, but now with this investigation, she has graduate students to work in teams to perform found more than 102 days of perturbations at dif- actual observations of radio pulsars. They will use ferent hours and different days in 2004 and 2005. the data both to search for low-frequency gravita- This pattern of response constitutes the first-time tional waves and constrain the cosmic population evidence for the occurrence of equatorial H-field of super-massive black hole binary systems. The perturbations related to the growth phase as well first project the students will be observing for is the as the expansion phase of individual substorms. PALFA project.

• Funding from Other Sources: The ARCC students have been working on designs of the UTB Remote Command Center for the past Gloria Isidro worked at the Visitor Center under six weeks. During their planning, students worked the supervision of Drs. Carmen Pantoja and José with limited budget and space while dreaming Alonso with a scholarship from the “Fundacion Co- and designing a facility ideally suited for remote munitaria de Puerto Rico.” She is a graduate stu- viewing. Student designs have incorporated items dent at the Department of Mathematics at The Uni- such as a star-field projection onto the ceiling of versity of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. This summer she the room to give a visual representation of the por- developed a guide for the Observatory for blind tion of the sky currently being observed. They also visitors. The guide consists of three documents in designed a conference area for presentations. The Braille with text and high relief figures describing myriad of control windows necessary will be dis- the parts of the telescope, important terms used in played on a series of interlinked projection screens radio astronomy, and frequently asked questions. and monitors. Together with Prof. Carlos La Rosa (UPR-Utuado) a tactile model of the telescope was also developed. One of the unusual aspects of the ARCC program These materials will help in making the Arecibo is the level of integration of high school students. Observatory a more accessible facility and an Ob- Currently, there are 13 high school junior and se- servatory for all. nior students who are a part of the ARCC research group. These students are led by Andy Miller, a 5.3 Connecting to Arecibo Porter High School physics and astronomy teacher. Students in South Texas got their first glimpse into The students attend group meetings at the univer- the Arecibo Observatory Control Room via a new sity campus on Monday nights. These meetings webcam that links UTB and the Puerto Rico obser- give them the opportunity to collaborate with the vatory. On October 23, 2006, operator Wilfredo undergraduate students, graduate students, and Portalatin turned to the camera and waved at the research scientists that form the group. students — they roared with excitement at this first A special thanks to the people at Arecibo who encounter. The cell phone and laptop connection helped with the camera installation: Phil Perillat, is the first step for this group as they start to build Tim Hankins, Arun Venkataraman, and Rey Vélez. an Arecibo Remote Command Center (ARCC). 5.4 ALFALFA Visiting Scientists In a November 16 meeting in Ithaca, Jamie Lo- max presented her senior thesis project based on ALFALFA. Oded Spector had just arrived from Tel Aviv University as well. He is getting started on an ALFALFA-based Ph.D. thesis.

Dr. Rebecca Koopmann, an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Union College is on sabbatical at Cornell as a visiting NAIC scientist (through July 2007) and as a member of the ExtraGalactic group working on the ALFALFA Rick Jenet, a professor at the University of Texas survey. Becky is especially interested in the con- at Brownsville, received an NSF Career Grant that nection between HI and star formation in nearby is funding the construction of the ARCC. This fa- spiral galaxies and has done extensive work on

52 NAIC APRPP 2007 study of star formation in extremely isolated galaxies, ones which are unlikely to have experienced interactions in recent cosmic times. He has been joined most recently by his graduate student Oded Spector. Oded is working on the criteria by which the isolated sample will be selected; the study of these galaxies will serve as the basis how galaxies in the Virgo cluster differ from their for his Ph.D. dissertation research. Noah and Oded more isolated counterparts. While at Cornell, Becky will spend several weeks in Arecibo in December has become immersed in the ALFALFA project, 2006 to conduct the ALFALFA observations. We conducting observations, making grids and ex- wish Noah great success with TAUVEX and look tracting sources. Her particular research focus is forward to finding out just what triggers star for- on the study of early-type galaxies in Virgo that are mation in galaxies that don’t have any neighbors. detected by ALFALFA. This October, Becky visited Georgia Southern University where she gave a col- Dr. Thomas Balonek, a Professor of Physics & As- loquium on ALFALFA and helped Sarah and Jim tronomy at Colgate University, is on sabbatical at Higdon install the ALFALFA IDL-based reduction Cornell as a visiting NAIC scientist (through April pipeline. Sarah will travel to Arecibo for a week 2007) and is a member of the ExtraGalactic group in January 2007 with two GSU undergraduate to work on the ALFALFA survey. His research spe- students to conduct the ALFALFA observations. cialty is the radio and optical variability of quasars Becky has hosted the very successful 2005 and and AGN but, since becoming involved in ALFAL- 2006 undergraduate ALFALFA workshops held at FA last year, he has gotten very excited about the Union College. She is leading the ALFALFA under- study of HI in galaxies and groups of galaxies. Dur- graduate education team development of educa- ing his stay at Cornell, Tom has been participating tional materials and activities especially geared for in the ALFALFA observations both in Arecibo and undergraduates involved in ALFALFA. Through remotely, and is now one of the ALFALFA “expert Becky, we are sure there will be a steady stream of observers”. He just spent Thanksgiving at Arecibo undergraduates who have the thrill of discovering introducing ALFALFA (and Arecibo!) to Aileen new galaxies! O’Donoghue, Jeff Miller and senior Dr. Noah Brosch is on sabbatical from Tel Aviv Jamie Lomax of St. Lawrence University. Tom’s cur- University’s School of Physics and Astronomy and rent ALFALFA project is a study of the spiral-rich from the Directorship of its Wise Observatory. His Zwicky Cluster ZwCL 1400+0949 and its environs. research interests range from star formation pro- Tom began this work last year as the senior re- cesses in dwarf galaxies to small objects in our search project of his student Brian Walsh, who is Solar System (asteroids and meteors). Among his now a graduate student at Boston University. It various tasks, one of the more challenging is be- might be remembered that Tom was a summer stu- ing the Principal Investigator of the UV space tele- dent at Arecibo in 1973, but we both promise to scope TAUVEX built in Israel and scheduled to be keep pictures taken during that summer secret! launched in 2007. The visit to Cornell has allowed Noah to become familiar with the ALFALFA data acquisition and pipeline and to plan out the scientific

NAIC APRPP 2007 53 try of a Candidate Contact Binary, Icarus, 182(2), 6. Arecibo Observatory pp. 474-481, June 2006 Publications (PY2006)  Bogdanov, S., J.E. Grindlay, C.O. Heinke, F. Camilo, P.C.C. Freire, and W. Becker, Chandra X- Ray Observations of 19 Millisecond Pulsars in the October 1, 2005 – September 30, 2006 Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae, Astrophys. J., 646(2), pp. 1104-1115, Aug 2006 In PY2006, 36 astronomy papers were published in refereed journals that presented original  Burgay, M., N. D’Amico, A. Possenti, R. observational data from the Arecibo Observatory. N. Manchester, A.G. Lyne, M. Kramer, M.A. These papers are identified by a blue square (¢). In McLaughlin, D.R. Lorimer, F. Camilo, I.H. Stairs, P. addition, the NAIC/AO staff and other scientists were C.C. Freire, and B.C. Joshi, The Double Pulsar Sys- authors of another 24 papers (identified below by a tem J0737-3039, Memorie della Societa Astronom- red circle ) that were published in refereed journals ica Italiana Supplement, 9, p. 345, 2006 in PY2006 that exclusively involved archival data from  Burgay, M., B.C. Joshi, N. D’Amico, A. Possenti, A. AO, data from other telescopes, or were theoretical G. Lyne, R.N. Manchester, M.A. McLaughlin, M. papers involving no new observational data. Eleven papers presenting original observations from the Kramer, F. Camilo, and P.C.C. Freire, The Parkes Arecibo Observatory are currently in press or have High-Latitude Pulsar Survey, MNRAS, 368(1), pp. recently been submitted to refereed journals. All the 283-292, May 2006 papers are listed below. NAIC/AO staff names are  Busch, M. W., S.J. Ostro, L. A. M. Benner, J. bolded. D. Giorgini, R. F. Jurgens, R. Rose, C. Magri, P. Pravec, D. J. Scheeres, and S. B. Broschart, Radar ASTRONOMY and optical observations and physical modeling of near-Earth Asteroid 10115 (1992 SK), Icarus, Araya, E., P. Hofner, L. Olmi, S. Kurtz, and H. Linz, 181(1), pp. 145-155, March 2006 [Times Cited: 2] Arecibo observations of formaldehyde in L1551, 2006, to appear in Astron. J. ¢ Campbell, B.A. and D.B. Campbell, Regolith properties in the south polar region of the Moon Auld, R., R.F. Minchin, J.I. Davies, B. Catinella, W. from 70-cm radar polarimetry, Icarus, 180(1), pp. 1- van Driel, P.A. Henning, S. Kinder, E. Momjian, E. 7, Jan 2006 [Times Cited: 2] Muller, K. O’Neil, S. Sabatini, S. Schneider, G. Bot- hun, L. Cortese, M. Disney, G.L. Hoffman, M. Put- ¢ Carter, L.M., D.B. Campbell and B.A. Campbell, man, J.L. Rosenberg, M. Baes, W.J.G. de Blok, A. Volcanic deposits in shield fields and highland Boselli, E. Brinks, N. Brosch, J. Irwin, I.D. Karachent- regions on Venus: Surface properties from radar sev, V.A. Kilborn, B. Koribalski, and K. Spekkens, The polarimetry, J. Geophys. Res., 111, E06005, June Arecibo Galaxy Environment Survey: precursor ob- 2006 servations of the NGC 628 group, 2006, to appear ¢ Catinella, B., R. Giovanelli, and M.P. in MNRAS Haynes, Template Rotation Curves for Disk Galax- ies, Astrophys. J., 640(2), pp. 751-761, April 2006 Beelen, A., P. Cox, J. Pety, C.L. Carilli, F. Bertoldi, E. [Times Cited: 2] Momjian, A. Omont, P. Petitjean, A.O. Petric, Star- burst Activity in the Host Galaxy of the z=2.58 Qua- ¢ Champion, D.J., D.R. Lorimer, M.A. sar J1409+5628, 2005, to appear in Astron. Astro- McLaughlin, K.M. Xilouris, Z. Arzoumanian, P. phys. C.C. Freire, A.N. Lommen, J.M. Cordes, and F. Camilo, Arecibo Timing and Single-Pulse Observa- ¢ Benner, L. A. M., J.D. Giorgini, S.J. Ostro, M.C. tions of 17 Pulsars, MNRAS, 363(3), pp. 929-936, Nolan, and M.W. Busch, (99942) Apophis, IAU Nov 2005 [Times Cited: 3] Circ., 8711, 2, Ed. Green, D. W. E., May 2006 ¢ Champion, D.J., M.A. McLaughlin, and D.R. ¢ Benner, A.M., M.C. Nolan, S.J. Ostro, J.D. Gior- Lorimer, A Survey for Pulsars in EGRET Error Boxes, gini, D.P. Pray, A.W. Harris, and C. Magri, Near-Earth MNRAS, 364(3), pp. 1011-1014, Oct 2005 [Times Asteroid 2005 CR37: Radar Images and Photome- Cited: 1]

54 NAIC APRPP 2007 ¢ Cordes, J.M., B. Rickett, W. Coles, and D. Stine- D. Karachentsev, V.E. Karachentseva, R.A. Koop- bring, Theory of Parabolic Arcs in Interstellar Scin- mann, E. Muller, W. van Driel, and L. van Zee, The tillation Spectra, Astrophys. J., 637(1), pp. 346-365, Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey II. Results, Astron. Jan 2006 J., 130(6), pp. 2613-2624, Dec 2005 [Times Cited: 3] ¢ Cordes, J.M., P.C.C. Freire, D.R. Lorimer, F. Camilo, D.J. Champion, D.J. Nice, R. Ramachan-  Gray, M.D., D.A. Howe and B.M. Lewis, Evo- dran, J.W.T. Hessels, W. Vlemmings, J. van Leeu- lution of 1612-MHz maser emission in expanding wen, S.M. Ransom, N.D.R. Bhat, Z. Arzoumanian, circumstellar shells, MNRAS, 364, pp. 783-795, Dec M.A. McLaughlin, V.M. Kaspi, L. Kasian, J.S. Dene- 2005 va, B. Reid, S. Chatterjee, J.L. Han, D.C. Backer, I.H. Stairs, A.A. Deshpande, and C.-A. Faucher-Giguère, ¢ Harmon, J.K., M.C. Nolan, J.L. Margot, D.B. Arecibo Pulsar Survey Using ALFA. I. Survey Strat- Campbell, L.A.M. Benner, and J.D. Giorgini, Radar egy and First Discoveries, Astrophys. J., 637(1), pp. observations of Comet P/2005 JQ5 (Catalina), Ica- 446-455, Jan 2006 [Times Cited: 2] rus, 184(1), p. 285-288, Sept 2006

¢ Davies, J.I., M.J. Disney, R.F. Minchin, R.  Hessels, J.W. T., S.M. Ransom, I.H. Stairs, P.C.C. Auld, and R. Smith, The existence and detection of Freire, V.M. Kaspi, and F. Camilo, A Radio Pulsar optically dark galaxies by 21-cm surveys, MNRAS, Spinning at 716 Hz, Science, 311(5769), pp. 1901- 368(3), pp. 1479-1488, May 2006 1904, March 2006 [Times Cited: 7]

Freire, P.C.C., Solving the Mystery of Iapetus, 2005,  Hodge, J.A. and A.A. Deshpande, HI Density submitted to J. Geophys. Res.-Planets Distribution Driven by Supernova Ejecta: A Simula- tion Study, Astrophys. J., 646(1), pp. 232-239, July ¢ Gavazzi, G., K. O’Neil, A. Boselli, and W. van 2006 Driel, HI Observations of Galaxies: The Coma Su-  Jiménez-Esteban, F.M., P. García-Lario, D. percluster, Astron. Astrophys., 449(3), pp. 929-935, Engels, and J.V. Perea Calderón, An Infrared Study April 2006 [Times Cited: 2] of Galactic OH/IR Stars. II. The ‘GLMP Sample’ of Red Oxygen-Rich AGB Stars, Astron. Astrophys.,  Gibson, S.J. and K.H. Nordsieck, Erratum: The 446(2), pp. 773-783, February 2006 Pleiades Reflection Nebula. II. Simple Model Con- straints on Dust Properties and Scattering Geom-  Klaassen, P.D., R. Plume, S.J. Gibson, A.R. etry, (ApJ, 589, 362 [2003]), Astrophys. J., 643(1), Taylor, and C.M. Brunt, CO in H I Self-absorbed pp. 582-583, May 2006 Clouds in Perseus, Astrophys. J., 631(2), pp. 1001- 1009, Oct 2005 [Times Cited: 2] ¢ Giovanelli, R., M.P. Haynes, B.R. Kent, P. Pe- rillat, A. Saintonge, N. Brosch, B. Catinella, G.L.  Koo, B-C., J. Kang, and C.J. Salter, A “Missing” Hoffman, S. Stierwalt, K. Spekkens, M.S. Lerner, K. Supernova Remnant Revealed by the 21 cm Line L. Masters, E. Momjian, J.L. Rosenberg, C.M. of Atomic Hydrogen, Astrophys. J., 643(1), pp. L49- Springob, A. Boselli, V. Charmandaris, J.K. Dar- L52, May 2006 [Times Cited: 2] ling, J. Davies, D. Garcia Lambas, G. Gavazzi, C. Giovanardi, E. Hardy, L.K. Hunt, A. Iovino, I.D. Ka-  Koopmann, R.A., M.P. Haynes, and B. Catinel- rachentsev, V.E. Karachentseva, R.A. Koopmann, la, A Comparison of H and Stellar Scale Lengths in C. Marinoni, R. Minchin, E. Muller, M. Putman, C. Virgo and Field Spirals, Astron. J., 131(2), pp. 716- Pantoja, J.J. Salzer, M. Scodeggio, E. Skillman, J.M. 735, Feb. 2006 [Times Cited: 4] Solanes, C. Valotto, W. van Driel, and L. van Zee, The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey I. Science Goals, Kramer, M., I.H. Stairs, R.N. Manchester, M.A. Survey Design and Strategy, Astron. J., 130(6), pp. McLaughlin, A.G. Lyne, R.D. Ferdman, M. Burgay, 2598-2612, Dec 2005 [Times Cited: 10] D.R. Lorimer, A. Possenti, N. D’Amico, J.M. Sarkis- sian, G.B. Hobbs, J.E. Reynolds, P.C.C. Freire, and ¢ Giovanelli, R., M.P. Haynes, B.R. Kent, P. F. Camilo, Tests of general relativity from timing the Perillat, B. Catinella, G.L. Hoffman, E. Momjian, J. double pulsar, 2006, to appear in Science L. Rosenberg, A. Saintonge, K. Spekkens, S. Stierwalt, N. Brosch, K.L. Masters, C.M. Springob, I.

NAIC APRPP 2007 55  Lebrón, M., H. Beuther, P. Schilke, and Th. ser Emission from IRAS 17208-0014, 2006, to ap- Stanke, The extremely high-velocity molecular pear in Astrophys. J. outflow in IRAS 20126+4104, Astron. Astrophys., 448(3), pp.1037-1042, March 2006 [Times Cited: ¢ Nice, D.J., E.M. Splaver, I.H. Stairs, O. Löhmer, A.

1] Jessner, M. Kramer, and J.M. Cordes, A 2.1 Msolar Pulsar Measured by Relativistic Orbital Decay, As-  Lee, S., R.T. Pappalardo, and N.C. Makris, Me- trophys.J., 634(2), pp. 1242-1249, Dec 2005 [Times chanics of Tidally Driven Fractures in Europa’s Ice Cited: 35] Shell, Icarus, 177(2), pp. 367-379, Oct 2005 [Times Cited: 1] ¢ Nolan, M.C., J.K. Harmon, E.S. Howell, D.B. Campbell, and J.L. Margot, J.L., Detection of Large ¢ Lewis, B.M., On Modeling the Near-Infrared Grains in the Coma of Comet C/2001 A2 (LINEAR) Two-Color Locus of OH/IR Stars with a Constant from Arecibo Radar Observations, Icarus, 181(2), dM/dt, Astron. J., 132(2), pp. 489-496, Aug 2006 pp. 432-441, April 2006 [Times Cited: 1]

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NAIC APRPP 2007 59 Laboratories of Extreme Physics, American Astro- tion in a Turbulent ISM, International Astronomical nomical Society Meeting 207, #192.05, Dec 2005 Union. Symp. no. 237, held 14-18 August, 2006 in Prague, Czech Republic, S237, #61, Aug 2006 Freire, P., Pulsar Surveys with ALFA, 36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 16 - 23 July 2004, in Bei- Giovanelli, R., M.P. Haynes, B. Kent, A. Saintonge, S. jing, China, p. 1431, 2006 Stierwalt, N. Brosch, L. Hoffman, J. Rosenberg, B. Catinella, and E. Momjian, ALFALFA Discovery Freire, P., B. Jacoby, M. Bailes, I. Stairs, A. Mott, R. of an HI Cloud Complex in the Virgo Cluster, Amer- Ferdman, D. Nice, and D.C. Backer, Discovery And ican Astronomical Society Meeting 207, #179.22, Timing of the PSR J1741+1351 Binary Pulsar, Amer- Dec 2005 ican Astronomical Society Meeting 208, #72.06, June 2006 Haynes, M.P., ALFA Surveys as Complements to other Major Surveys, American Astronomical Soci- Freudling, W., L. Staveley-Smith, M. Calabretta, B. ety Meeting 207, #192.08; Bulletin of the American Catinella, W. van Driel, S. Linder, R. Minchin, E. Astronomical Society, Vol. 37, p. 1489, Dec 2005 Momjian, M. Zwaan, AUDS Team, The ALFA Ultra Deep Survey (AUDS), American Astronomical Soci- Haynes, M.P., R. Giovanelli, B.R. Kent, A. Saintonge, S. ety Meeting 207, #88.08, Dec 2005 Stierwalt, B. Catinella, E.M. Momjian, G.L. Hoffman, J.R. Rosenberg, N. Brosch, J.I. Davies, and Frey, S., L.I. Gurvits, D.C. Gabuzda, C.J. Salter, D.R. R.L. Minchin, Complex Structure in the ALFALFA Altschuler, P. Perillat, M.F. Aller, H.D. Aller, H. Hi- HI Distribution Around VirgoHI21, American Astro- rabayashi, and M.M. Davis, VSOP Monitoring of the nomical Society Meeting 207, #179.23, Dec 2005 Compact BL Lac Object AO 0235+164, Pub. of the Astron. Society of Japan, 58(2), pp. 217-222, April Heinke, C.O., J.E. Grindlay, P.D. Edmonds, H.N. 2006 Cohn, P.M. Lugger, F. Camilo, S. Bogdanov, and P.C. Freire, X-ray Binaries in the Globular Cluster Ghent, R.R., B.A. Campbell, B.R. Hawke, and D.B. 47 Tucanae, in Interacting Binaries: Accretion, Evo- Campbell, Earth-based 70-cm radar observations lution, and Outcomes. AIP Conf. Proc., 797, pp. 40- of the southeast limb of the Moon, American Geo- 45, Oct 2005 physical Union, Fall Meeting, abstract P33D-02, Dec 2005 Henkel, C., K.M. Menten, J. Braatz, R. Mauersberg- er, A. Weiss, M. Lebrón, A. Tarchi, A.B. Peck, C.L. Ghent, R.R., B.A. Campbell, B.R. Hawke, and D.B. Carilli, and D.A. Lubowich, Extragalactic ammonia, Campbell, Remote Sensing and Geologic Studies of Highlights of Astronomy, IAU Symp. 13, pp. 879- the Southeastern Quadrant of the Moon, 37th An- 881, 2005 nual Lunar and Planetary Science Conf., March 13- 17, 2006, League City, TX, abstract no. 1815, Mar Henning, P.A., C.M. Springob, B. Catinella, E. 2006 Momjian, B. Koribalski, K. Masters, E. Muller, C. Pantoja, M. Putman, J.L. Rosenberg, S. Schneider, Gibson, S., GALFACTS: A Full-Stokes Continuum and L. Staveley-Smith, Surveying The Zone Of Survey of the Arecibo Sky, American Astronomical Avoidance With The Arecibo L-band Feed Ar- Society Meeting 207, #192.07, Dec 2005 ray, American Astronomical Society Meeting 208, Gibson, S.J., J.M. Stil, A.R. Taylor, C.M. Brunt, D.W. #53.04, June 2006 Kavars, and J.M. Dickey, Cold Galactic HI in the First and Second Quadrants, American Astronomical Hessels, J., S. Ransom, I. Stairs, P. Freire, S. Begin, V. Society Meeting 207, #81.01, Dec 2005 Kaspi, and F. Camilo, Radio pulsars in globular clusters, 36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 16 - 23 Gibson, S.J., Galactic Spiral Structure in HI Emis- July 2004, in Beijing, China, p. 1436, 2006 sion and Self-Absorption, American Astronomical Society Meeting 208, #49.02, June 2006 Howell, E.S., A.J. Lovell, B. Butler, F.P. Schloerb, and S.A. Torchinsky, Radio OH Observations of Comet Gibson, S.J., A.R. Taylor, J.M. Stil, C.M. Brunt, D.W. 9P/Tempel 1 Before and After Deep Impact, Ameri- Kavars, and J.M. Dickey, Cold HI in Turbulent Eddies can Astronomical Society Meeting 207, #187.04, and Galactic Spiral Shocks, Triggered Star Forma- Dec 2005

60 NAIC APRPP 2007 Howell, E.S., C. Magri, H.M. Hanson, and M.C. No- Kramer, M., Future radio observatories for pulsar lan, Correlating IRTF Spectra and Arecibo Radar studies, On the Present and Future of Pulsar As- Observations of Low-Albedo Main-Belt Asteroids, tronomy, 26th meeting of the IAU, Joint Discussion American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, 2, 16-17 August, 2006, Prague, Czech Republic, #59.08, Sept 2006 JD02, #44, Aug 2006

Kasian, L.E.; PALFA Consortium, New Observations Kronberg, P.P., The Astrophysical Importance of of the Young Relativistic Binary PSR J1906+0746, Low-level, Low Frequency Intergalactic Radiome- American Astronomical Society Meeting 208, try, From Clark Lake to the Long Wavelength Array: #4.02, June 2006 Bill Erickson’s Radio Science ASP Conference Series, Vol. 345, Proc. of the Conf. held 8-11 September, Keeney, B.A., Do Starburst Winds Escape Their 2004 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Edited by N. Parent Galaxies?, American Astronomical Society Kassim, M. Perez, M. Junor, and P. Henning, p. 276, Meeting 207, #43.04; Bulletin of the American As- Jan 2006 tronomical Society, Vol. 37, p.1229, Dec 2005 Lewis, B.M., On the reemergence of 1612 MHz Kent, B.R., R. Giovanelli, M.P. Haynes, A. masers in IRAS 19479+2111, American Astronomi- Saintonge, S. Stierwalt, N. Brosch, B. Catinella, G. cal Society Meeting 207, #104.06; Bulletin of the L. Hoffman, E. Momjian, and J.L. Rosenberg, AL- American Astronomical Society, Vol. 37, p.1335, FALFA Observations of the Virgo cluster and its Dec 2005 environs, American Astronomical Society Meeting 207, #179.20; Bulletin of the American Astronomi- Lewis, B.M., Identifying the Youngest Proto Plan- cal Society, Vol. 37, p. 1457, Dec 2005 etary Nebulae, Planetary Nebulae in our Galaxy and Beyond, Proc. of the International Astronomi- Khachokian, E.Y., G.T. Ter-Kazarian, and Y. cal Union, Symp. #234, M.J. Barlow and R.H. Mén- Terzian, On Multi-Nuclei Features of Some Markari- dez, eds. Cambridge University Press, pp. 449-450, an Galaxies, Galaxy Evolution Across the Hubble 2006 Time, International Astronomical Union. Symp. no. 235, held 14-17 August, 2006 in Prague, Czech Re- Lommen, A.N., R.A. Kipphorn, D.J. Nice, E.M. public, S235, #223, Aug 2006 Splaver, I.H. Stairs, and D.C. Backer, The Parallax and Proper Motion of PSR J0030+0451, American Koopmann, R.A., M.P. Haynes, J. Alonso, R. Astronomical Society Meeting 207, #183.06; Bulle- Giovanelli, G.L. Hoffmann, B.R. Kent, S. tin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 37, Stierwalt, and J.J. Salzer, The ALFALFA Under- p. 1469, Dec 2005 graduate Workshop: Promoting Undergraduate Participation in a Legacy Survey Project, American Lovell, A.J. E.S. Howell, H. Marine, B.J. Butler, and Astronomical Society Meeting 207, #179.24; Bulle- F.P. Schloerb, OH Radio Mapping Observations of tin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 37, Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, American p. 1458, Dec 2005 Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #06.04, Sept 2006 Kornreich, D.A., A.W. Mitschang, and A.K. Furniss, Deep ALFALFA HI Mapping of the Anomalously Mantovani, F., A. Rossetti, W. Junor, D.J. Saikia, and Large Disk of NGC 5701, American Astronomical C.J. Salter, VLBA Polarimetric Observations of Society Meeting 208, #14.17, June 2006 Young Radio Sources, Future Directions in High Resolution Astronomy: The 10th Anniversary of Kouprianova, E.G., A.V. Stepanov, and V.V. the VLBA, ASP Conf. Proc., Vol. 340. Edited by J. Zaitsev, Radio pulsations from AD Leo: diagnostics Romney and M. Reid. San Francisco: Astronomical of electric currents and plasma parameters in stellar Society of the Pacific, 2005, p. 186, Nov 2005 flares, Highlights of Recent Progress in the Seismol- ogy of the Sun and Sun-Like Stars, 26th meeting Margot, J.L., P. Pravec, M.C. Nolan, E.S. Howell, of the IAU, Joint Discussion 17, 23 August 2006, L.A.M. Benner, J.D. Giorgini, R.F. Jurgens, S.J. Ostro, Prague, Czech Republic, JD17, #24, Aug 2006 M.A. Slade, C. Magri, P.A. Taylor, P.D. Nicholson, and D.B. Campbell, Hermes as an Exceptional Case Among Binary Near-Earth Asteroids, Near Earth

NAIC APRPP 2007 61 Objects, Our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunity and Observations of the Sub-DLA at z=0.0063 towards Risk, International Astronomical Union, Symp. 236, PG1216+069, American Astronomical Society held 14-18 August, 2006 in Prague, Czech Repub- Meeting 208, #15.03, June 2006 lic, S236, #35, Aug 2006 Nice, D.J., J.M. Weisberg, and J.H. Taylor, Arecibo Minchin, R.F., E-ALFA Consortium Collaboration, Measurement of the Proper Motion of Binary Pul- AGES, AUDS, ALFALFA, ZOA—Surveying the Ex- sar B1913+16, American Astronomical Society tragalactic Sky from A to Z, American Astronomi- Meeting 207, #183.05; Bulletin of the American As- cal Society Meeting 207, #192.02; Bulletin of the tronomical Society, Vol. 37, p. 1468, Dec 2005 American Astronomical Society, Vol. 37, p. 1488, Dec 2005 Nice, D.J., High precision millisecond and binary pulsar timing at Arecibo, 36th COSPAR Scientific Minchin, R.F., J.I. Davies, M.J. Disney, A.R. Assembly. Held 16 - 23 July 2004, in Beijing, China., Marble, C.D. Impey, P.J. Boyce, D.A. Garcia, M. p. 3227, 2006. Grossi, C.A. Jordan, R.H. Lang, S. Roberts, S. Saba- tini, and W. van Driel, High Resolution H I Imaging Nice, D. J., Pulsar Timing and its Future Perspective, of VIRGOHI 21 - A Dark Galaxy in the Virgo Clus- On the Present and Future of Pulsar Astronomy, ter, American Astronomical Society Meeting 207, 26th meeting of the IAU, Joint Discussion 2, 16-17 #188.13, Dec 2005 August, 2006, Prague, Czech Republic, JD02, #57, Aug 2006 Minchin, R.F., R. Auld, J.I. Davies, B. Catinella, S. Linder, E. Momjian, E. Muller, S. Sabatini, S.E. Nolan, M.C., L.A.M. Benner, G. Black, D.B. Camp- Schneider, M.D. Stage, W. van Driel, AGES Team, bell, J.D. Giorgini, A.A. Hine, E.S. Howell, J.L. First Results from the Arecibo Galaxy Environment Margot, and S.J. Ostro, Radar observations of near- Survey, American Astronomical Society Meeting earth asteroids, Highlights of Astronomy IAU Symp. 208, #53.06, June 2006 13, p. 759, 2005

Minchin, R.F., R. Auld, R., J.I. Davies, B. Catinel- Nolan, M.C., A.A. Hine, E.S. Howell, L.A.M. la, L. Cortese, S. Linder, E. Momjian, E. Muller, K. Benner, J.D. Giorgini, S.J. Ostro, G.J. Black, D.B. O’Neil, K., J. Rosenberg, S. Sabatini, S.E. Schneider, Campbell, J.L. Margot, L.M. Carter, and C. Magri, M.D. Stage, and W. van Driel, The Arecibo Galaxy Extreme Diversity of Near-Earth Asteroid Physical Environments Survey - Description of the Survey Properties from Arecibo Radar Imaging, American and Early Results, Galaxy Evolution Across the Hub- Astronomical Society Meeting 207, #04.15, Bulletin ble Time, International Astronomical Union. Symp. of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 37, p. no. 235, held 14-17 August, 2006 in Prague, Czech 1155, Dec 2005 Republic, S235, #284, Aug 2006 Nolan, M.C., J.K. Harmon, E.S. Howell, L.A.M. Momjian, E., T.H. Troland, J.D. Romney, C.L. Carilli, Benner, J.D. Giorgini, S.J. Ostro, D.B. Campbell, and and G.B. Taylor, Sensitive VLBI Observations of the J.L. Margot, Radar Observations Of Comet 73P/Sch- ULIRG IRAS 17208-0014, Future Directions in High wassmann-Wachmann 3, American Astronomical Resolution Astronomy: The 10th Anniversary of Society, DPS meeting #38, #12.06, Sept 2006 the VLBA, ASP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 340. Edited by J. Romney and M. Reid. San Francisco: As- Ostro, S.J., L. Benner, J.D. Giorgini, C. Magri, J. tronomical Society of the Pacific, p.232, Nov 2005 L. Margot, M.C. Nolan, and M.K. Shepard, Radar Reconnaissance Of Near-Earth Asteroids, Momjian, E., J.D. Romney, C.L. Carilli, and T.H. Near Earth Objects, Our Celestial Neighbors: Op- Troland, HSA observations of OH Megamaser Emis- portunity and Risk, International Astronomical sion from the ULIRG IRAS 17208-0014, American Union. Symp.no. 236, held 14-18 August, 2006 in Astronomical Society Meeting 207, #21.04; Bulletin Prague, Czech Republic, S236, #6, Aug 2006 of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 37, p. 1191, Dec 2005 Ostro, S.J., J.L. Margot, L.A.M. Benner, J.D. Giorgini, D.J. Scheeres, E.G. Fahnestock, S.B. Momjian, E., C.J. Salter, T. Ghosh, J. Chengalur, N. Broschart, J. Bellerose, M.C. Nolan, C. Magri, P. Kanekar, B.A. Keeney, and J.T. Stocke, Arecibo HI Pravec, P. Scheirich, R. Rose, R.F. Jurgens, S. Suzuki,

62 NAIC APRPP 2007 and E.M. de Jong, Radar Investigation of Asteroid Local Universe: Properties of the ADBS HI-Selected 66391 (1999 KW4), American Astronomical Soci- Sample of Galaxies, American Astronomical Society ety, DPS meeting #38, #65.02, Sept 2006 Meeting 207, #179.19; Bulletin of the American As- tronomical Society, Vol. 37, p. 1457, Dec 2005 Pandian, J.D., P.F. Goldsmith, and A.A. Deshpande, The Arecibo Methanol Maser Galac- Sarma, A.P., T.H. Troland, J.D. Romney, and T.H. tic Plane Survey, American Astronomical Society Huynh, T. H., VLBA Zeeman effect observations of Meeting 207, #165.02; Bulletin of the American As- water masers in the star forming region OH43.8- tronomical Society, Vol. 37, p. 1424, Dec 2005 0.1, American Astronomical Society Meeting 207, #195.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical So- Possenti, A., M. Burgay, N. D’Amico, A. Lyne, M. ciety, Vol. 37, p. 1492, Dec 2005 Kramer, M. McLaughlin, D. Lorimer, R. Manchester, F. Camilo, J. Sarkissian, P. Freire, B.C. Joshi, I. Stairs, Scheeres, D.J., E.G. Fahnestock, S.J. Ostro, J. and R. Ferdman, Two Years of Work in the J0737- L. Margot, L.A.M. Benner, S.B. Broschart, J. 3039 Laboratory, in Astrophysical Sources of High Bellerose, J.D. Giorgini, M.C. Nolan, C. Magri, P. Energy Particles and Radiation, AIP Conf. Proc., Pravec, P. Scheirich, R. Rose, R.F. Jurgens, S. Suzuki, 801, pp. 272-277, Nov 2005 and E.M. DeJong, Dynamical Investigation of As- teroid 66391 (1999 KW4), American Astronomical Ransom, S.M., J.W.T. Hessels, I.H. Stairs, P.C.C. Society, DPS meeting #38, #65.03, Sept 2006 Freire, V.M. Kaspi, and F. Camilo, A Globular Clus- ter Pulsar Renaissance with the Green Bank Tele- Shepard, M.K., B.E. Clark, L.A.M. Benner, J.D. scope, American Astronomical Society Meeting Giorgini, C. Magri, M.C. Nolan, and S.J. Ostro, 207, #32.05, Dec 2005 More Results from a Long-Term Radar Survey of M-Class Asteroids, American Astronomical Society, Reddy, V., R.R. Dyvig, P. Pravec, P. Kusnirak, L. DPS meeting #38, #71.01, Sept 2006 Kornos, J. Vilagi, A. Galad, S. Gajdos, D.P. Pray, L. A.M. Benner, M.C. Nolan, J.D. Giorgini, S.J. Ostro, Shore, S.N., T.N. Larosa, L. Magnani, and and P.A. Abell, Photometric and Radar Observa- F.Costagliola, Turbulence in High Latitude Clouds, tions of 2005 AB: A New Binary Near-Earth Aster- in Triggered Star Formation in a Turbulent ISM, oid, 37th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Con- International Astronomical Union. Symp. no. 237, ference, March 13-17, 2006, League City, Texas, held 14-18 August, 2006 in Prague, Czech Repub- abstract no.1755, March 2006 lic, S237, #3, Aug 2006

Roshi, D.A., High-frequency Carbon Recombination Simpson, R.A., G.L. Tyler, M.C. Nolan, M. Line as a Probe to Study the Environment of Ultra- Pätzold, and B. Häusler, Mars Express Bistatic Radar compact HII regions, in Triggered Star Formation in Explores Stealth, American Astronomical Society, a Turbulent ISM, International Astronomical Union. DPS meeting #38, #67.06, Sept 2006 Symp. no. 237, held 14-18 August, 2006 in Prague, Czech Republic, S237, #202, Aug 2006 Spekkens, K., E. Momjian, B.R. Kent, R. Giovanelli, M. P. Haynes, B. Catinella, S. Stierwalt,and A. Saintonge, A., C. Marinoni, K.L. Masters, M.P. Saintonge, ALFALFA Discovery of an HI Cloud Haynes, R. Giovanelli, and T. Contini, Multi-wave- Complex in the Virgo Cluster: Aperture Synthe- length Study of Galaxy Rotation Curves and its sis Observations, American Astronomical Society Application to Cosmology, 2005, to appear in the Meeting 207, #179.25, Dec 2005 proc. of the Vth Marseille International Cosmology Conf. Stacey, G.J., S.R. Golwala, C.M. Bradford, C. D. Dowell, G. Cortes-Medellin, T. Nikola, J. Saintonge, A., R. Giovanelli, M.P. Haynes, B. Zmuidzinas, T.L. Herter, S.J. Radford, J.P. Lloyd, A. Kent, S. Stierwalt, N. Brosch, B. Catinella, and E. W. Blain, R.L. Brown, and 9 coauthors, Instru- Momjian, A Signal Extraction Utility for the ALFAL- mentation for the CCAT Telescope, Millimeter and FA Survey, American Astronomical Society Meeting Submillimeter Detectors and Instrumentation for 207, #187.02, Dec 2005 Astronomy III, J. Zmuidzinas, W.S. Holland, S. With- Salzer, J.J., N.M. Tresser, J.L. Rosenberg, and S. ington, and W.D. Duncan, eds., Proc. of the SPIE, Stevenson, S., An Optically Unbiased Look at the Vol. 6275, July 2006

NAIC APRPP 2007 63 Stairs, I.H., M. Kramer, R. Manchester, M. 2, 16-17 August, 2006, Prague, Czech Republic, McLaughlin, A. Lyne, R. Ferdman, M. Burgay, D. JD02, #46, Aug 2006 Lorimer, A. Possenti, N. D’Amico, B. Joshi, P. Freire, and F. Camilo, Recent Observations of the Double West, A.A., D.A. Garcia-Appadoo, and J.J. Pulsar, American Astronomical Society Meeting Dalcanton, SDSS/HIPASS Volume Limited Galaxy 208, #33.04, June 2006 Survey, American Astronomical Society Meeting 208, #53.01, June 2006 Stanimirovic, S., Recent Results From Galfa: ‘Gold- enEye’ On Disk/halo Interfaces, American Astro- nomical Society Meeting 208, #34.02, June 2006

Stierwalt, S., M.P. Haynes, R. Giovanelli, B. Kent, A. Saintonge, I.D. Karachentsev, V. E. Karachentseva, N. Brosch, B. Catinella, L. Hoffman, and E. Momjian, ALFALFA Survey of the Leo Region, American Astronomical Society Meet- ing 207, #187.03, Dec 2005

Taylor, P.A., J.L. Margot, M.C. Nolan, L.A. Benner, S. J. Ostro, J.D. Giorgini, and C. Magri, Radar Imaging of Binary Near-Earth Asteroid 2004 DC, American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #50.04, Sept 2006

Toribio, M.C., First Results from VLA Observations of Five Spiral Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster Region, Galaxy Evolution Across the Hubble Time, Interna- tional Astronomical Union. Symp. no. 235, held 14- 17 August, 2006 in Prague, Czech Republic, S235, #390, Aug 2006

Troland, T.H., Magnetic Field Strengths in the Cold Neutral Medium of the Galaxy, Astronomical Polar- imetry: Current Status and Future Directions ASP Conference Series, Vol. 343, Proc. of the Conf. held 15-19 March, 2004 in Waikoloa, Hawai’i, USA. A. Adamson, C. Aspin, C. J. Davis, and T. Fujiyoshi, eds., p. 64, Dec 2005

Ulvestad, J.S., K.E. Johnson, and S.G. Neff, A VLBI Search for Radio Supernovae in Super Star Clus- ters, American Astronomical Society Meeting 207, #113.09; Bulletin of the American Astronomical So- ciety, Vol. 37, p. 1346, Dec 2005

Wells, K., D.B. Campbell, B.A. Campbell, and L.M. Carter, The Size-Frequency Distribution of Far-Field Tycho Secondary Craters, American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #57.12, Sept 2006

Weltevrede, P.. B. Stappers, and J. Rankin, and G. Wright, Is PSR B0656+14 a very nearby RRAT source?, On the Present and Future of Pulsar As- tronomy, 26th meeting of the IAU, Joint Discussion

64 NAIC APRPP 2007 7. NAIC External Federal Funding & Active Subcontracts

External Funding Sponsor $$$ PI Period of Award Title of Project CURRENT JPL $37,655 S. Gibson 9/13/06 - 9/30/08 Cold Diffuse Clouds: The Missing Link in Molecular Cloud Formation Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe $412,000 A. TBD EXPReS: A Production Astronomy e- Venkataraman VLBI Infrastructure NASA $244,700 D. Campbell 8/1/03 - 7/31/06 Surface Properties From Radar and Radio Observations NSF $20,000 R. Brown 9/1/06 - 2/28/07 Community Workshop: Building the Foundation for US Astronomy at m/cm Wavelengths in 2010 and Beyond NSF $58,842 J. Friedman 4/1/05 - 3/31/10 Collaborative Research: High- Resolution Resonance Lidar Detection of Meteor Trails NSF $167,899 J. Friedman 11/1/05 - Collaborative Research: CEDAR C. Tepley 10/31/08 Daytime Potassium Lidar at Arecibo

NSF $596,836 J. Alonso 5/1/03 - 12/31/06 The Arecibo Geoscience Diversity S. Gonzalez Program: Enhancing the Education of Hispanics Through Research Experiences Space Environment Corp. (NSF) $95,000 S. Gonzalez 10/1/03 - 9/30/07 Investigation of the Accuracy of Ionospheric Models at Mid- Latitudes...Implementation of Ionospheric Metric at CCMC University of Puerto Rico (NASA) $239,349 C. Tepley 3/13/02 - 8/31/05 Studies of Tropical Weather and Climate at the Arecibo Observatory

University of Puerto Rico (NASA) $72,884 C. Tepley 9/1/04 - 8/31/07 Further Studies of Aerosols and Climate at the Arecibo Observatory

PENDING AFOSR/DURIP $942,000 M. Sulzer, 4/1/07 - 3/31/08 The Arecibo HF Facility: An S. Gonzalez Instrument to Study Ionospheric and Plasma Physics in the Near- Earth Space Environment NSF $289.08 S. Raizada, 2/10/07 - 2/9/10 CEDAR: An Observational and J. Friedman, Theoretical Study of the C. Tepley Climatology of the Ca/Ca+ Layer in the MLT at Arecibo and its Relation to the Sporadic Micrometeor Flux

NSF $966,156 J. Alonso 5/1/07 - 4/30/10 The Arecibo Geoscience Diversity Project: A Track 2 Initiative for a Mentored Research Experience for Pre-College, Teacher, and Undergraduate Hispanics Space Telescope Science Institute $9,916 R. Minchin 1/1/07 - 12/30/07 The Nearest Gas-Rich Giant Galaxy University of Puerto Rico (NASA) $146,690 C. Tepley 7/1/07 - 6/30/10 Understanding Cloud and Aerosol Dynamics in Tropical Coastal Regions University of Puerto Rico (NASA) $207,402 C. Tepley 6/1/05 - 5/31/08 Cloud Studies at the Arecibo Observatory

NAIC APRPP 2007 65 NAIC External Federal Funding & Active Subcontracts continued

Active Subcontracts Subcontractor $$$ PI Period of Award Purpose Ammann & Whitney Consulting $50,000 T. Anderson 4/1/06 - 3/31/10 Engineering Consulting for the Engineers, PC Arecibo Telescope Columbia University $1,750 F. Camillo 4/1/05 - 3/31/07 Software Development on Behalf of the p-ALFA Consortium Jeff Mock $400,000 J. Mock 1/1/06 - 4/30/07 P/E ALFA Spectrometers Northwest Research Associates, Inc. $87,399 D. Janches 4/1/06 - 4/1/07 Developing New AO Programs

Penn State University $60,000 J. Breakall 9/1/06 - 5/31/07 HF Design Penn State University $62,358 J. Mathews 1/1/06 - 9/30/07 Next Generation SAS University of California, Berkeley $16,336 D.B. Backer 4/1/05 - 3/31/07 Software Development on Behalf of the p-ALFA Consortium University of Colorado $61,311 X. Chu 9/1/06 - 11/30/07 Student Support for Collaborative Research CEDAR Daytime Potassium Doppler Lidar at Arecibo

University of Colorado $14,499 X. Chu 6/1/06 - 7/31/07 Study of MLT Thermal Structure and Dynamics in Tropical Area Using Arecibo Data University of Puerto Rico $234,916 M. Ramos 10/1/03 - The Arecibo Geoscience Diversity 12/31/06 Program

66 NAIC APRPP 2007 8. Division of Effort for Staff

Distribution of Effort Name Title FTE HQ AST ATM REU VC CU* Total Key Personnel R.L. Brown Director, NAIC 1.00 x 1.00 1.00 T. Hankins Interim Site Director - R. Kerr AO Dir of Operations 1.00 1.00 1.00 S. Gonzalez Asst Dir, SAS 1.00 0.75 0.25 1.00 Sub-total 3.00 2.75 0.25 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.00 Scientific Staff J.L. Margot Asst Prof 0.35 x 0.35 0.35 M. Haynes Deputy Director, NAIC x B.M. Lewis Head, Astronomy Program 1.00 1.00 1.00 M. Nolan Head, Tech Services; Head, SSS 1.00 0.85 0.15 1.00 B. Catinella Post Doc J. Fernandez Post Doc 1.00 1.00 1.00 P. Santos Post Doc 1.00 1.00 1.00 R. Minchin Post Doc 1.00 1.00 1.00 E. Howell Res Assoc 1.00 1.00 1.00 E. Momjian Res Assoc 1.00 1.00 1.00 H. Vo Res Assoc 1.00 0.70 0.30 1.00 M. Lebron Res Assoc M. Lerner Res Assoc 1.00 1.00 1.00 N. Aponte Res Assoc 1.00 1.00 1.00 P. Freire Res Assoc 1.00 1.00 1.00 S. Gibson Res Assoc 1.00 1.00 1.00 C. Tepley Sr Res Assoc 1.00 1.00 1.00 C.J. Salter Sr Res Assoc 1.00 1.00 1.00 G. Cortes-Medellin Sr Res Assoc x J. Friedman Sr Res Assoc 1.00 1.00 1.00 J.K. Harmon Sr Res Assoc 1.00 1.00 1.00 M. Sulzer Sr Res Assoc 1.00 1.00 1.00 S. Raizada Sr Res Assoc 1.00 0.50 0.50 1.00 T. Ghosh Sr Res Assoc D.R. Altschuler Sr Res Assoc, Dir OPUS A. Lovell Visiting Scientist x L.Waldrop Visiting Scientist x N. Brosch Visiting Scientist x x R. Koopman Visiting Scientist x x T. Balonek Visiting Scientist x x W. Gordon Visiting Scientist Sub-total 18.35 10.20 7.35 0.00 0.00 0.80 18.35 Graduate Students E. Nossa GRA x x J. Pandian GRA x x x Vacant Pre-Doc Student 1.00 1.00 1.00 Vacant Pre-Doc Student 1.00 1.00 1.00 I. Seker Research Intern 1.00 1.00 1.00 Sub-total 3.00 1.00 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.00 Managers D. Marsh Admin Director 1.00 x 0.80 0.20 1.00 J. Cordero Business Manager 1.00 0.85 0.15 1.00 Vacant Chief Telescope Engineer 1.00 1.00 1.00 W. Arias EH&S Officer 1.00 0.80 0.20 1.00 S. Bravo Guard-Security Suprv A.G. VenkataramanHead, Computer Dept 1.00 1.00 1.00 G. Rajagopalan Head, Electronics Dept 1.00 1.00 1.00 J. Alonso Head, Visitor Center 1.00 0.75 0.25 1.00 M. Rodriguez HR Manager 1.00 0.80 0.20 1.00 Sub-total 8.00 6.25 0.75 0.00 0.75 0.25 8.00

NAIC APRPP 2007 67 Division of Effort for Staff continued

Distribution of Effort Name Title FTE HQ AST ATM REU VC CU* Total Professional/Technical Vacant ALFA Programmer 1.00 1.00 1.00 A.M. Vazquez Computer Programmer 1.00 1.00 1.00 A. Hine Data Analyst E. Robles Data Analyst 1.00 1.00 1.00 W. Greene Electrical Engr (Transmitters) 1.00 0.50 0.50 1.00 M.A. Morales Electronics Maint Engr V. Iguina Electronics Maint Engr J. Acevedo HR/Scientific Services 1.00 1.00 1.00 G. Comes Info Tech Engr II 1.00 1.00 1.00 J.A. Jimenez Mech Engr/Maintenance 1.00 1.00 1.00 F.O. Soberal Platform Maint Supervisor 1.00 1.00 1.00 D. Whitlow Res Support Spec 1.00 0.85 0.15 1.00 H. Camacho Res Support Spec-Digital 1.00 1.00 1.00 R. Seal Res Support Spec-Digital 1.00 1.00 1.00 T. Hall Res Support Spec-Digital 1.00 1.00 1.00 L.A. Baker Res Support Specialist 1.00 x 1.00 1.00 B. Genter Res Support Spec-Receivers Vacant Res Support Spec-Receivers R. Velez Res Support Spec-RFI 1.00 1.00 1.00 G. Shankaran Sr Compt Staff Supp Spec 0.50 0.50 0.50 J.L. Rodriguez Sr Compt Staff Supp Spec 1.00 1.00 1.00 P.J. Perillat Sr Compt Staff Supp Spec 1.00 0.75 0.25 1.00 N. Despiau Sr Telescope Operator 1.00 1.00 1.00 W. Portalatin Sr Telescope Operator 1.00 1.00 1.00 K.D. Kabelac Tech Serv Supervisor x E.L. Ruiz Tech Support Spec R. Garcia Tech Support Spec 1.00 1.00 1.00 H. Hernandez Telescope Scheduler/SOS 1.00 1.00 1.00 Sub-total 20.50 15.60 4.90 0.00 0.00 0.00 20.50 Administrative/Clerical Vacant Executive Staff Asst 1.00 0.75 0.25 1.00 W. Turner Executive Staff Asst 1.00 x 1.00 1.00 Vacant Finance Specialist x Jose Luis Cruz Head, Telescope Ops 1.00 1.00 1.00 M. Santiago Purchasing Supv 1.00 1.00 1.00 M. Irizarry Store Manager 1.00 1.00 1.00 Sub-total 5.00 3.75 0.25 0.00 1.00 0.00 5.00 Clerical C. Torres Admin Aide 1.00 1.00 1.00 J. Tarbell Admin Asst 1.00 x 0.80 0.20 1.00 W. Perez Admin Asst A. Ortiz Asst. Store Manager 1.00 1.00 1.00 S. Cuevas de Jesus Elect Sup Coord 1.00 1.00 1.00 C. Rosario Executive Secty 1.00 1.00 1.00 M. Mercado Executive Secty 1.00 1.00 1.00 W. Santiago Executive Secty 1.00 1.00 1.00 L. Lopez HR & Benefits Asst 1.00 0.80 0.20 1.00 M. Gerena HR & Payroll Asst C.G. Segarra Library Asst 1.00 1.00 1.00 M. Herrera Office Assistant 1.00 1.00 1.00 C. Caban Purchasing Aide M. Lopez Purchasing Aide 1.00 1.00 1.00 (19) UPR Students VC Tour Guides 6.00 6.00 6.00 S. DeVaul Workstudy Student 0.30 x 0.30 0.30 Sub-total 17.30 8.90 0.40 0.00 8.00 0.00 17.30

68 NAIC APRPP 2007 Division of Effort for Staff continued

Distribution of Effort Name Title FTE HQ AST ATM REU VC CU* Total Technical J.L. Padilla Drafter Vacant Driver E. DeJesus Electrician 1.00 1.00 1.00 M. Alvarez Electrician A. Nolla Electronics Tech 1.00 0.75 0.25 1.00 A. Santoni Ruiz Electronics Tech 1.00 0.50 0.50 1.00 C. Rios-Velez Electronics Tech 1.00 1.00 1.00 J. Capo Electronics Tech J. Rosa Electronics Tech J.A. Soto Electronics Tech 1.00 1.00 1.00 J.E. Vives Electronics Tech 1.00 1.00 1.00 J.M. Rios Electronics Tech 1.00 1.00 1.00 V. Negron Electronics Tech 1.00 0.50 0.50 1.00 W. Iguina Electronics Tech 1.00 1.00 1.00 D.W. Overbaugh Equipment Tech x E. Cruz Martinez Systems Operator I 1.00 1.00 1.00 E. Gonzalez Systems Operator I 1.00 1.00 1.00 J. Marrero Systems Operator I 1.00 1.00 1.00 W. Hernandez Systems Operator I 1.00 1.00 1.00 W. Torres Rivera Telescope Operator Sub-total 13.00 10.75 2.25 0.00 0.00 0.00 13.00 Maintenance J. Velez Air Cond Mech 1.00 1.00 1.00 I. Perez Auto Mech A. Alonzo Carpenter/Plumber A. Rivera Groundskeeper 1.00 1.00 1.00 Antonio Perez Groundskeeper A. Maldonado Guard 1.00 1.00 1.00 C. Lebron Guard D. Padilla-Arce Guard 1.00 1.00 1.00 I. Chico Cruz Guard 1.00 1.00 1.00 J.E. Maldonado Guard 1.00 1.00 1.00 J.M. Velez Guard 1.00 1.00 1.00 M. Lopez Guard 1.00 1.00 1.00 P. Perez Guard 1.00 1.00 1.00 R. Robles Guard 1.00 1.00 1.00 Vacant Guard Vacant Guard A. Correa Guard-Asst Suprv M. Rodriguez Heavy Equip Operator Angel Perez Janitor 1.00 1.00 1.00 E. Batista Laborer 1.00 1.00 1.00 A. Aquino Machine Shop Foreman 1.00 1.00 1.00 J. Perez Sr Mechanic 1.00 1.00 1.00 S. Chico Supply Clerk 1.00 1.00 1.00 J. Rosado Telescope Maint Supv 1.00 1.00 1.00 E. Del Pilar Telescope Mechanic 1.00 1.00 1.00 E. Lopez Martinez Telescope Mechanic 1.00 1.00 1.00 O. Rodriguez Telescope Mechanic 1.00 1.00 1.00 C. Sein Telescope Rigger/Painter 1.00 1.00 1.00 E. Gonzalez Telescope Rigger/Painter 1.00 1.00 1.00

NAIC APRPP 2007 69 Division of Effort for Staff continued

Distribution of Effort Name Title FTE HQ AST ATM REU VC CU* Total F. Rodriguez Perez Telescope Rigger/Painter 1.00 1.00 1.00 H. Crespo Telescope Rigger/Painter 1.00 1.00 1.00 J. Rodriguez-Sein Telescope Rigger/Painter 1.00 1.00 1.00 J.M. Chacon Telescope Rigger/Painter 1.00 1.00 1.00 M. Nieves Telescope Rigger/Painter 1.00 1.00 1.00 N. Gonzalez Correa Telescope Rigger/Painter 1.00 1.00 1.00 V. Santiago Trade Supervisor O. Rolan Trades Helper 1.00 1.00 1.00 G. Milian Util Maint Worker 1.00 1.00 1.00 J.A. Rodriguez Util Maint Worker 1.00 1.00 1.00 Jose Rodriquez Util Maint Worker 1.00 1.00 1.00 R. Cajigas Util Maint Worker 1.00 1.00 1.00 M. Cortes Welder/Mechanic 1.00 1.00 1.00 Sub-total 33.00 31.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.00 4.00 VSQ/Cafeteria Vacant Asst Cook G. Rosario Head Cook 1.00 1.00 1.00 C. Ruiz Housekeeper 1.00 1.00 1.00 E. Santiago Housekeeper 1.00 1.00 1.00 R. Roman Kitchen Helper 1.00 1.00 1.00 Sub-total 4.00 4.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 4.00

Total NAIC Employee Effort 125.15 94.20 17.15 0.00 11.75 1.05 125.15

*Includes Cornell funds and/or salaries paid by other internal or external funding sources.

Note: This listing includes all staff employed at some point during the 2006 program year, up to the publication date of this APRPP. The names shown in italics indicate a staff member who has departed NAIC in the last program year. The positions underlined were eliminated with the November 2006 staff reduction. The sub-totals and totals shown include active positions, up to the publication date of this APRPP

70 NAIC APRPP 2007 Cornell University, as the Cooperative Agreement awardee, is responsible for the performance of the 9. NAIC Organization Chart and NAIC. As illustrated in Figure 9.1, within Cornell Description University the NAIC reports to the Vice Provost for Research. NAIC has the responsibility for scientific operations of the observatory, staffing it and ensur- 9.1 Management Plan: Organization ing adequate oversight of the execution and per- Charts formance of the Observatory in accordance with the requirements of its users. The National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center is conducted in accordance with the Cooperative In the spirit of the NSF-Cornell University Coopera- Agreement between the National Science Founda- tive Agreement for NAIC, communication between 4 tion and Cornell University . The organizational NSF and Cornell is maintained on all institutional hierarchy of the two institutions that are party to levels from that of the Cornell President providing this Cooperative Agreement is as shown on Figure the annual report of the NAIC Visiting Committee 9.1. to the NSF Director, to the day-to-day reporting and programmatic interaction of the NAIC Direc- The NSF is responsible for providing funding, gen- tor with the NSF/AST Division Program Manager. eral oversight, monitoring and evaluation to help Again, this is shown on Figure 9.1. assure that the NAIC is being managed and operated in accordance with approved plans. In sup- The National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center port of a stable operational environment for NAIC, is one of twenty-two research centers managed the NSF strives to make annual funding for NAIC by Cornell University. The NAIC director reports available to Cornell University in a timely fashion through the Vice Provost for Research to the Cor- and to provide the necessary document reviews nell University President. This top level organiza- and approvals as required. tion within the university structure is illustrated in Figure 9.1. Within the NSF, the NAIC contact is the NAIC Pro- gram Manager who is appointed within the Divi- Ultimate responsibility for the management and sion of Astronomical Sciences (AST); he or she is re- operation of NAIC rests with the University Presi- sponsible for scientific, programmatic and budget dent. To carry out this responsibility the President review and for providing the NAIC Director with established an external Visiting Committee to con- agency guidance. In addition, the NAIC Program duct an annual review of the management effec- Manager is responsible for establishing an effective tiveness of NAIC with emphasis on the scientific liaison with the manager within the Upper Atmo- program of the NAIC, long range planning, and sphere Division who has responsibility for the NAIC budget. Aeronomy program to assure that information on NAIC programmatics and review is available and The Cornell University Vice Provost for Research shared. has the responsibility to oversee the programmatic plan, staffing and budget of NAIC. He also serves The NSF Division of Acquisition and Cooperative as the Responsible Executive under the terms of the Support (DACS) is responsible for Cooperative Cooperative Agreement. In this capacity, the Vice Agreement matters between the NSF and Cornell Provost is aided by a Cornell advisory committee, University. Formal communications related to con- the Cornell NAIC Oversight Committee (CNOC), tracts and required Cooperative Agreement des- that regularly reviews the operation and manage- ignated approvals is accomplished by the DACS ment of NAIC monitoring progress and plans. through communication with the NAIC Adminis- tration Director. Annual funding and contractual Cornell management of NAIC is defined in the obligations flow from the NSF DACS to the Cornell NAIC Management Plan5. The Senior NAIC man- University Office of Sponsored Programs as speci- agement consists of the Director, Deputy Director fied in the Cooperative Agreement. and the Administration Director. Although each of

4Cooperative Agreement No. AST-0431904 between the 5NAIC Management Plan, November 2005. Prepared by the National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA 22230 and Cornell National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Cornell University, University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, dated October 1, 2005. Ithaca, NY, 14853

NAIC APRPP 2007 71 Figure 9.1. Institutional relationships between Cornell University and the NSF for management of the NAIC.

these individuals has different, well-defined prima- tory Director is assisted by Department Heads who ry responsibilities as specified in the Management are the responsible managers for the tasks shown Plan, the overall management task is accomplished in Figure 9.2. All of the Department Heads report as the sum of their separate and shared efforts. An to the Observatory Director. The Observatory Di- advisory committee, the Arecibo Users and Scien- rector reports to the NAIC Director. tific Advisory Committee (AUSAC), meets annually to review the scope and specifics of the NAIC sci- The organizational structure of the Arecibo Ob- entific program, to provide advice on observatory servatory enables the observatory staff to serve priorities and to recommend new initiatives. the diverse needs of the multidisciplinary science program at the observatory. Task prioritization is Thus, Cornell University oversight of the NAIC is established by the Observatory director working in provided at three levels: The Visiting Committee weekly, scheduled, consultation with the depart- assesses NAIC management structure and effec- ment heads. tiveness and reports to the Cornell President’s office; the CNOC reviews NAIC programmatics and Major projects at the Observatory require special reports to the Cornell office of the Vice Provost for management attention. Each of these projects, as Research; and the AUSAC provides a users assess- approved for funding by the Observatory director, ment of NAIC operations to the NAIC director. has its own project plan (tasks, resources and schedule). Project management is provided by a project The operational management structure of the Are- manager selected by the Observatory director. For cibo Observatory itself is shown on Figure 9.2. The each project, the director also selects an individual Observatory Director is responsible for the scien- to serve as project scientist. The role of the project tific operation of the Arecibo telescope and all the scientist is to give scientific guidance to the manag- observatory instruments that function in support of er for any project decisions that have implications the Observatory’s scientific program. The Observa- related to the project scope or to the interface of

72 NAIC APRPP 2007 Figure 9.2. Organization Chart for the NAIC Arecibo Observatory

NAIC APRPP 2007 73 the project to the Arecibo system. Every project 3.6 Major Maintenance has a project manager and a project scientist, even those concerned with site building/remodeling. 4. Scientific Research Program Such a management structure helps reinforce the 4.1 Radio/Radar Astronomy idea that things done at the NAIC should be done 4.2 Space and Atmospheric Sciences to benefit scientific objectives. Communicating this understanding to all those involved with the NAIC 5. HF Project is one of the underlying Cornell management 5.1 Project Management goals. 5.2 Transmitter 5.3 Feed System Comprehensive accounting and management 5.4 Electronics of all NAIC activities—operations and projects—is 5.5 Telescope Suspension System made possible by the NAIC Work Breakdown 5.6 Monitor and Control Structure (WBS). The WBS is a tool used by the 5.7 System Engineering NAIC director’s office to track progress and monitor personnel assignhments. The WBS allows the 6. Platform Painting Project NAIC director to measure progress by comparing 6.1 Project Management the annual plan for budget allocation and person- 6.2 Engineering Oversight nel assignment against the year-end actual budget 6.3 Contracts and Labor expenditure and actual personnel effort assigned for each activity. 7. Angel Ramos Foundation Visitors Center At NAIC, personnel assignments and budgets are 7.1 Education and Student Programs made and tracked at WBS level-2. 7.2 Community Outreach Programs 7.3 New Initiatives NAIC Work Breakdown Structure 8. Office for the Public Understanding 1. NAIC Management of Science 1.1 Director’s Office 8.1 Teacher and Public Workshops 1.2 Administration 8.2 Publications 1.3 Program Development 8.3 New Initiatives 1.4 Engineering Design Services 1.5 US SKA Technology Development 9. Major New Initiatives Project 9.1 U.S. SKA Technology Development Project 2. Arecibo Observatory Operations 9.2 Arecibo Geomagnetic Conjugate Fa- 2.1 Management and Administration cility Project 2.2 Business Services and Human Resourc- es 2.3 Scientific Support 9.2 List and Vitae of New Professional 2.4 Site Services and Trades Staff 2.5 Telescope 2.6 Electronics No new professional staff were hired during pro- 2.7 Computing gram year 2006. 2.8 Environment, Safety and Health 2.9 Spectrum Management

3. Arecibo Observatory Technical Pro- gram 3.1 Telescope 3.2 Electronics 3.3 Computing and Communications 3.4 Optical Instrumentation 3.5 Building Infrastructure

74 NAIC APRPP 2007 the Local and nearby superclusters, it will allow measurement of the HI diameter function, and it 10. Status Report and Plan will enable a first wide-area blind search for HI tidal for PY2007 features, HI absorbers at z < 0.06, and OH megamasers in the wavelength range 0.16 < z <0.25.

10.1 Scientific Plans The ALFALFA survey design is based on numerical simulations of galaxy distribution and velocities, in- Scientific proposals made to NAIC for research on cluding peculiar velocities. From these simulations the Arecibo telescope in PY2007 include studies of come the expectations that ALFALFA will detect the gas content, distribution and dynamics of dis- 16,000 objects, sampling a wide range of hosts tant galaxies, studies of the Milky Way galaxy, stud- from local, very low HI mass dwarfs to gas-rich mas- ies of stars and star-forming regions in the Milky sive galaxies seen to z ~ 0.06. HI spectra provide Way, and detailed studies of solar system objects. redshifts, HI masses and rotational widths for nor- These peer-reviewed proposals received from us- mal galaxies, trace the history of tidal events and ers and local staff together comprise the scientific provide quantitative measures of the potential for plans for NAIC in PY2007. No individual or institu- future star formation via comparative HI contents. tion can secure access to the telescope other than As a blind survey, ALFALFA is not biased towards by means of submitting a peer-reviewed research the high surface brightness galaxies typically found proposal. in optical galaxy catalogs and it has adequate angular and spectral resolution to be used on its own, Galaxies. Three major surveys of the HI gas con- without the need for follow up observations to de- tent in galaxies, and in the environment shared termine positions, identifications and HI sizes. The among galaxies, are in progress. These two sur- archival data products from ALFALFA will be linked veys are (1) ALFALFA, the Arecibo Legacy Fast to the National Virtual Observatory and will be in- ALFA Survey that began in PY2005 with an observ- valuable for multi-wavelength data mining by a ing program that will continue through PY2013; wide spectrum of astronomers far more extensive (2) a deeper imaging survey, the Arecibo Galaxy than those engaged in the survey itself. A key ele- Environment Survey (AGES), that begin a seven- ment of this program is to provide broad applica- year program of observations in PY2006, and (3) tion, legacy data products that will maximize the the ALFA Ultra-Deep Survey (AUDS) that will begin science return from the investment of telescope in PY2007 and finish its observational stage in 2013 time. or 2014. All three surveys are being done with the new ALFA multibeam imaging array receiver. AGES is the second major ALFA galaxy survey. It began in PY2006. AGES is studying in detail the Over the course of the next 5-7 years, ALFALFA will atomic hydrogen properties of a wide variety of survey 7000 square degrees of the sky and will de- galactic environments concentrating on low HI tect some 16,000 extragalactic HI sources. It is spe- masses and low HI column densities. The environ- cifically designed to probe the faint end of the HI ments being studied range from apparent voids in mass function in the very local universe and it will the large-scale structure of the local galaxy distribu- provide a complete census of HI in the surveyed tion, to isolated spiral galaxies and their halos, to sky area, making it especially useful in synergy galaxy-rich regions associated with galaxy clusters with other wide area surveys conducted at optical and filamentary structures. The intention is to inves- and infrared wavelengths, such as the Sloan Digi- tigate the HI mass function in each environment, tal Sky Survey (SDSS), and the 2-micron University to measure the spatial distribution of HI selected of Massachusetts survey (2MASS). In conjunction galaxies, to identify individual low mass and low with optical studies of comparable volumes, ALFA column density objects and to compare the results will explore the “missing satellite problem”, the with expectations derived from QSO absorption apparent contradiction between the number of line studies and simulations of galaxy formation. low mass haloes observed in the Local group, and surrounding groups, with that predicted from nu- The specific scientific goals of the AGES survey are merical simulations. ALFALFA will also provide the the following: basis for studies of the dynamics of galaxies within

NAIC APRPP 2007 75 • Investigate the HI mass function in dif- • Serendipitous findings: a large survey ferent environments—around large gal- such as AGES covering large areas of sky axies, in groups of galaxies, clusters of to low mass limits and column densities galaxies and beyond the Local Superclu- has great potential for making unex- ster—for comparison with galaxy evolu- pected discoveries. tion models. • Given the excellent correlation between AUDS will use the new NAIC EALFA spectrometer star formation rate and 20-cm continu- to analyze the entire frequency band 1420 MHz um luminosity, AGES will use the contin- – 1225 MHz carrying out a blind HI survey with uum emission to measure the star forma- unprecedented sensitivity, approximately 50 µJy/ tion rates of a large number of galaxies beam. The frequency coverage corresponds to a selected by their gaseous rather than range of HI redshifts of 0 < z < 0.16. AUDS will study their optical or far-infrared properties. a selected area on the sky of 0.36 square degrees. • Probe the contribution of neutral gas The AUDS survey is more than an order of magni- to the baryonic mass density—the “miss- tude more sensitive than other HI surveys under- ing” baryonic matter problem will be ex- way at Arecibo or anywhere else in the world. plored to greater depth than previously possible. The primary scientific goals of the AUDS survey are • Study the nature of, and possible link be- to investigate the evolution of HI gas in the uni- tween, HVCs and dwarf galaxies search- verse and explore the low-density gas at the edges ing for a solution to the CDM sub-struc- of galaxies. The survey will be the deepest “blind” ture problem. HI survey ever conducted. It will provide for the • Identify gaseous tidal features as signa- first time a direct link between HI absorption line tures of galaxy interactions and merg- measurements at high and intermediate redshifts ers. Seek to understand the importance and 21-cm emission line measurements at low red- of mergers as a mechanism for the as- shifts. The expected number of HI detections made sembly of galaxies, and for gas removal with AUDS at z > 0.1 will be larger than that of all mechanisms in clusters and groups. previous targeted and blind surveys combined. • Probe the nature of dark matter by studying the velocity dispersions of galaxies in The AUDS observing program will begin at Arecibo groups and clusters. with the new EALFA spectrometer in PY2007. • Probe the nature of dark matter by studying the dynamical masses of galax- Apart from the major ALFA surveys, several impor- ies calculated from the measured galaxy tant ‘traditional’ programs are planned in PY2007 rotation curves. to address specific scientific questions. One such • Compute the magnitude of the meta- program will conduct mapping observations of galactic ionizing radiation field by mea- both HI and OH towards and surrounding the ex- suring the truncation of the HI halos of tended, bright, continuum region associated with large galaxies. NGC 383 (3C 31; Arp 331) in the Pisces-Perseus • Identify isolated neutral gas clouds and Supercluster. This group is exceptional for its ex- relate their surroundings to their forma- tended continuum brightness and large spatial ex- tion either as remnants or precursors of tent comprising eight galaxies which form a long the galaxy formation process. galaxy chain. Continuum emission is occasionally • Compare the HI detected by QSO ab- detected with inter-group gas implying dynamic sorption line and 21-cm emission line flows and/or high magnetic fields. These obser- observations. Are these two determina- vations will be the first of their type: in addition tions consistent with each other? to probing the usual three-dimensional (position- • Understand the spatial distribution of HI- position-velocity) neutral gas distribution, velocity selected galaxies. dispersion and halo extent, they will provide two • Compare the AGES galaxy distribution dimensional gas temperature data throughout the with numerical models of galaxy forma- continuum emission region. The group is suitably tion providing input and tests of the va- nearby that it will be useful as a test-bed for prob- lidity of the simulations. ing higher redshift, damped Lyman alpha systems.

76 NAIC APRPP 2007 The observing program will map the large scale for both CO emission and HI emission. The HI ob- distribution of the intra-cluster HI of the NGC 383 servations will be made at Arecibo. An important group. The specific scientific objectives include the objective of these observations is to assess the pos- following: sibility recently discussed that the molecular and atomic gas in elliptical gas has different physical • Ascertain the full distribution of intra- origins. Of the 46 elliptical and SO galaxies in the cluster gas, and therefore the shape of sample, all but 7 have been searched for HI emis- the supporting gravitational potential sion but only 13 have been detected previously. field which results from the mass of the CO emission has been detected in all 46. The Are- constituent galaxies. cibo observations will improve the HI sensitivity lim- • Probe the distribution and strength its by more than an order of magnitude allowing of the absorbed component that will many more of the galaxies to be detected or to pro- uniquely provide information on the duce upper limits that are physically meaningful for temperature and pressure of the intra- answering the fundamental questions. group gas. • Reveal the connectivity of the intra- Weak, redshifted. Ly-α absorption lines are ubiq- group gas, and thereby for the first time, uitous in far-UV spectra of nearby quasars. While understand the complex dynamics and not as common as the high-z Ly-α forest, these line relationships of the large number of nonetheless hold important clues to the baryon group members and their tidal interac- content of the local universe. Some low-z Ly-α ab- tions. sorbers are broad and weak, and may be directly associated with warm-hot filaments of intergalactic Finally, the observations will form part of a larger gas. Narrow absorption lines are more common: long term project aimed at generating a database the strongest often appear to be associated with of absorption measurements through extended galaxies and may trace extended halo gas, while HI features of a number of perturbed systems and weaker absorbers are distributed more randomly, through intra-galaxy cluster gas. Systematic differ- suggesting an intergalactic origin. ences between the characteristics of profiles observed through tidal features, outflow processes The association between galaxies and absorb- and intra-galaxy cluster gas can be analyzed on the ers is important for many reasons. Galaxies and basis of more robust statistics ultimately helping to intergalactic hydrogen are expected to trace the discover fundamental differences and similarities same filamentary distribution of dark matter seen of the thermal conditions of gas in these environ- in cosmological simulations. Thus, such correla- ments. tions can provide a strong test for predictions of the CDM model. Furthermore, the gas probed by The primary research targets for the HI 21-cm ob- the quasar sight-line, if directly associated with a servations are gas-rich spiral galaxies. Elliptical nearby galaxy, provides information on the spatial galaxies, characterized by their old stellar popula- and kinematic distributions of matter in the galaxy tion and little gas content, are more challenging, itself. In cases where the quasar sight-line lies rela- but equally interesting, targets. Several studies in tive far (> 100 kpc) from the center of the galaxy, PY2007 are focused on understanding the history the observed absorption systems may be probing of elliptical galaxies by means of observations of gas in the far reaches of the galaxy’s dark matter their atomic (HI) and molecular (CO) gas. As the halo and can then be used to place constraints on telescopes used for the millimeter-wavelength CO the galaxies’ rotation curves at large radii as well as observations improve the quality of their instru- potentially serving as a hallmark of spiral galaxies mentation, and hence improve their sensitivity, with extremely extended HI disks and/or halos. studies of gas in elliptical galaxies is limited primarily by the paucity of sufficiently sensitive HI 21-cm Although the correlation between galaxies and observations. In PY2007 this deficiency will be ad- Ly-α absorbers at low redshifts has been studied dressed through long integrations with the Are- observationally, not much is known about the cibo telescope. morphologies and dynamical properties of the absorbing galaxies themselves. In particular, data on A complete sample of elliptical galaxies selected the HI morphologies and dynamical properties is from the Nearby Galaxies Catalog will be searched still lacking. Deep observations of the absorbing

NAIC APRPP 2007 77 galaxies themselves such as can be obtained only rate was higher in the past. Luminosity evolution is with the Arecibo telescope are needed to provide also expected based on cosmological simulations. detailed information on the galaxies’ extended HI If galaxies were more luminous in the past, we morphologies and dynamics, and would be com- should observe an offset in the Tully-Fisher relation plementary to the spatial information. derived independently at high and low redshifts. However, studies based on optical spectroscopy In PY2007 a systematic study of Ly-α absorbing have reached conflicting conclusions. Results vary galaxies will be done to address three critical ques- from substantial luminosity evolution in excess of tions: one magnitude with respect to the Tully-Fisher relation derived for galaxies at z = 0, even at mod- • Do the HI properties of galaxies associ- est redshifts to no significant change at z ~ 1. Evi- ated with Ly-α absorbers differ quantita- dence for evolution of the Tully-Fisher relation, or a tively compared to those of field galax- lack thereof, is inconclusive. ies? • For edge-on galaxies, is the Ly-α absorp- Studying the change in the Tully-Fisher relation tion line velocity consistent with the as- at intermediate redshifts using radio HI velocity sociated galaxy’s HI rotation velocity? widths offers many important advantages over the • Does the presence of Ly-α absorption optical studies. Compared to optical widths, HI relatively far (~170 kpc) from a galaxy measurements same a larger fraction of the gal- indicate the existence of an extended HI axy disks, where the rotation curves are typically disk or halo? flat. The radio observations are not affected by slit smearing and misalignment or by aperture effects. By observing several galaxies in a variety of config- Thus, in contrast to studies based on optical spec- urations relative to the Ly-α absorbers, the Arecibo troscopy, HI spectroscopy allows us to perform a di- observations will provide needed insight into the rect comparison with the local Tully-Fisher relation nature of the Ly-α/galaxy connection. that is technique independent. In PY2007 observations will be made with the Arecibo telescope of a By number, dwarf galaxies are the most common sample of 24-galaxies selected from the SDSS that type. Their star forming environments are simpler will provide a suitably discriminating test. than those in massive spirals, making them excellent systems for the study of star formation trigger- Ultraluminous infrared galaxies are a population ing and regulation. A small subset of dwarf galax- of galaxies that emit far-IR radiation with energies ies has been found to be extraordinarily bright in comparable to those of the most luminous quasars. the IR PAH lines indicative of a large reservoir of Nearly every ULIRG appears to have undergone a very small dust grains. Why are these few dwarf merger/interaction and contains massive star for- galaxies so unusual? In PY2007 an attempt will mation and/or an active galactic nucleus induced be made to answer this question by means of HI by gravitational interactions. The extraordinarily 21-cm observations at Arecibo. The results will be high gas densities and energy densities in ULIRGs combined with 8-μ PAH emission maps to deter- make them natural locations to expect very strong mine the physical properties of the star forming re- magnetic fields. Minimum energy arguments sug- gions, such as the atomic gas to stellar mass ratio, gest characteristic field strengths may be ~ 100 μG, gas to dust ratio, star formation efficiency, and gas twenty-times greater than the magnetic field in the depletion timescales. disk of the Milky Way. An alternate approach to estimating the magnetic field in ULIRGs is to appeal The determination of rotational parameters of disk to the equipartition argument that applies in the galaxies is crucial to understanding disk galaxy Milky Way between magnetic field and ISM sur- formation and evolution over cosmic time, and to face density. This would suggest a magnetic field constrain models of galaxy structure. In particu- strength as great as 1-10 mG. In either case, the lar, N-body simulations of cosmological scenarios estimated field strengths should be detectable by must be able to reproduce observed scaling rela- the Zeeman effect in their OH megamaser spectral tions such as the Tully-Fisher relation. Presently, a lines. very lively issue is the question of the evolution of the Tully-Fisher relation over cosmic time. Obser- In PY2007 all the OH megamaser galaxies visible vations suggest that the co-moving star formation from Arecibo will be observed in their OH spectral

78 NAIC APRPP 2007 lines in a systematic search for the Zeeman effect. of gas to accompany star formation. Observations Positive detections will enable one or another of will be made at Arecibo in PY2007 with ~25 times the simple scaling relations noted above to be con- the sensitivity of the HIPASS survey observations to firmed for use in other galaxies lacking such intense try and resolve this logical inconsistency. OH spectral lines. These observations will be critical also in constrain- Understanding the relationship between HI and ing the baryon content of nearby galaxies. HIPASS stars in the ISM of galaxies is critical to the study and SDSS together do a good job of measuring of galaxy evolution. Because stellar populations in most of the baryons in the joint dataset, either galaxies form from collapsed clouds of hydrogen, through their HI mass or the stellar mass computed we can presume that galaxies evolve by converting from their colors. However, for the many galaxies their gas into stars and that galaxies with few stars not detected in HIPASS only the stellar mass can be and large quantities of gas must be less evolved known. Yet, particularly at the low-luminosity end, than those with little gas and many stars. How- the mass in HI could still be significant. This project ever, how a galaxy follows this evolutionary path is will address the missing data, either detecting or far more complicated. Factors such as mass, metal setting strong upper limits on the HI content of all content, gas fraction, internal motions, and other galaxies in the sample. environmental conditions play an important role in determining the rate at which HI gets converted The Milky Way Galaxy. The consortium of users into stars. interested in surveying the Milky Way galaxy with ALFA, the GALFA consortium, has also begun initial The extremes of galaxy evolution are particularly survey observations that will continue in PY2007. illustrative. Galaxies that have few or no stars, but The GALFA emphasis in PY2007 includes study of possess large quantities of HI represent the most turbulence in the ISM and the energy sources for primitive stage of evolution. Galaxies with little gas that turbulence, a comparison of the atomic and but many stars are some of the most evolved ga- molecular components in “molecular” clouds, care- lactic systems in the universe, which have presum- ful large-scale mapping of clouds/regions in the ably consumed all of their HI. Most observed galax- Milky Way of special astrophysical interest. ies fall somewhere between these two extremes. They have some reservoirs of gas and have already If the Milky way was a uniformly-rotating galaxy accumulated populations of stars, and therefore large-scale longitude-velocity, (l,v), HI maps would represent a continuum of intermediately evolved reflect that uniform rotation in smooth contours. galaxies. By collecting a large same of galaxies, us- This is not what is seen. In fact, the (l,v) diagrams ing different techniques, it is possible to cover the of HI 21-cm emission in the Galactic plane usually entire range of evolutionary states. show small high-velocity bumps protruding from their surroundings. These bumps represent line Until recently, the ability to create such a sample wings that extend to velocities beyond the maxi- was impossible. The required observing time mum or minimum values permitted by Galactic ro- placed serious limits on the number of galaxies one tation. These “forbidden velocity” wings are differ- could include in any sample. Fortunately, there are ent from high-velocity clouds in the sense that the many large, unbiased, surveys now underway, giv- wings are extended and not separated from the ing astronomers the ability to access large amounts Galactic HI emission. Since the high-velocity wings of data in a reasonable amount of time. In particu- exist at velocities forbidden by Galactic rotation, lar, a comparison has been made between galax- they must result from local dynamical processes, ies detected by their HI emission in the HIPASS sur- e.g. supernova explosions, stellar winds, collisions vey done at the Parkes telescope, and the galaxies of high-velocity clouds, and such phenomenon. found in that same region of sky detected by the Several examples of such localized forbidden-veloc- Sloan Digital Sky Survey. There are 131 galaxies ity line wings are known in existing data sets, but cataloged by the SDSS with optical redshifts less their root cause is unknown. ALFA will be used to than 3000 km/s that cannot be identified in the probe this phenomenon by examining with much HIPASS survey data. Many of these galaxies have better angular resolution the location and extent optical spectra that suggest active star formation is of the forbidden-velocity line wings and, with this occurring. These systems are especially interesting information, to identify the underlying source of because one would expect an appreciable reservoir the turbulent energy input to the ISM. With this

NAIC APRPP 2007 79 understanding in the known cases, a larger survey many size scales and across a range of interstellar will be conducted to map the phenomenon in the environments. To understand these inter-related Galactic plane visible from Arecibo. phenomena, it is necessary to map the inner Gal- axy thoroughly over a latitude range of at least |b| In our Galaxy, molecular cloud complexes and the ≤ 10˚. Such coverage shows the many disk features atomic disk are distinct entities. The molecular in context, features such as star-forming regions, clouds are more concentrated in space, have more superbubbles, and the HI envelopes of molecular than one order of magnitude higher density, and clouds. It also allows cloud populations, HI relics of are generally much colder than atomic gas. The supernovae, and disk turbulence to be examined as linewidth of the atomic ISM is determined by pres- a function of height above the plane to elevations sure balance and is on the order of tens of km/s. of order 1 kpc, thus probing the transition from the The linewidth of molecular clouds, on the other thin to the thick disk. Most importantly, a broad lat- hand, is on the order of one km/s and is dominated itude range is essential for discerning the Galactic by turbulence in close equipartition with the cloud chimney structures that form the base of the disk- gravitational energy. Thus, unlike atomic gas, mo- halo energy exchange; these features often extend lecular clouds are self-gravitating, turbulent ob- many degrees off the plane and are impossible to jects. The change of balance between gravity and study without proper latitude coverage. internal turbulence leads to star formation. This is the conventional understanding; clearly many The major scientific areas of investigation for the points need verification and clarification. The pri- GALFA inner Galaxy HI survey are the following: mary goal of one of the key GALFA projects is to improve our understanding of the formation and • Characterization of the physical cause of age of molecular clouds by studying the relation- faint, extended, emission-line wings; ship between neutral and molecular hydrogen. • Understanding the causal relation between the cold neutral medium as seen ALFA will be used to map the HI distribution and in emission and in absorption; velocity structure in the Taurus molecular cloud. • Probing the physics of interstellar “chim- These observations will be used to complement neys”, “worms” and the energy transport a CO data set that traces the molecular hydrogen from the Galactic disk to the halo; distribution in this cloud. In order to isolate the HI • Investigating the origin and evolution in the Taurus cloud from that in the foreground of molecular clouds by establishing the and background, observations will be made of the spatial and kinematic association of narrow HI self-absorption lines that arise from HI GMCs with HI features; gas within the cloud. The HI/H2 ratio is a sensitive • Seeking for the physical cause of inter- measure of the elapsed lifetime of the molecular stellar turbulence using statistical analy- cloud. Hence the Arecibo observations will place ses of HI line kinematics and correlations a critical constraint on the evolution of the Taurus with sources of energetic features in the cloud. Specifically, column densities of both cold Galaxy. HI and H2 will be computed from the observations and that ratio will be studied as a function of total As is the case with the study of galaxies at Arecibo, gas density, kinematic environment, and other pa- researchers investigating phenomena in the Milky rameters. The observations will enable the inves- Way not only do so by means of wide area surveys tigators to disentangle the atomic-molecular rela- but also by studying small areas of special interest. tionship in the Taurus cloud. In PY2007 observations will be made of atomic and molecular gas in a wide variety of environments in- In PY2007 the GALFA consortium will make further cluding HI in a spectacular Galactic filament, “dark” progress on a complete, Nyquist-sampled, survey gas in the local ISM, and OH in the edges of trans- of the whole inner Galactic plane to |b| ≤ 10˚ in HI lucent clouds. 21-cm line emission using ALFA. ALFA is uniquely able to address many outstanding questions in the Last year a new population of cold neutral medium field of Galactic astronomy. Its fast mapping abil- (CNM) HI clouds was discovered that are character- ity, high angular resolution, and unparalleled sen- ized by very low HI column densities, the so-called sitivity allow the systematic study of whole cloud “low-N(HI)” clouds. The clouds have peak HI opti- populations, structures and physical processes over cal depths of only 0.1% to 2%, and column densi-

80 NAIC APRPP 2007 ties no more than 1018 cm-2, 30-50 times lower pared with similar parameters from the coincident than characteristic of the larger ensemble of galac- gamma ray event. Scheduling will be challenging tic HI clouds. How are these clouds related to the for the Arecibo telescope. traditional spectrum of CNM clouds? To answer this questions observations were made at Areci- The SGR are exotic stars, perhaps as exotic as stars bo in PY2006 toward 22 extragalactic continuum come in the Milky Way. At the other extreme are sources. At least 18 new low-N(HI) clouds were dMe stars that, by number, account for more than discovered. 75% of the stellar population in the solar neighbor- hood. Many dMe stars exhibit significant levels of In PY2007 19 additional continuum sources will be coronal activity due to the strong magnetic fields observed searching for additional examples of the that cover most of their surface. A recent survey low-N(HI) cloud phenomenon. The focus of these of late-type dwarfs showed that more than 50% of new observations will be on a detailed compari- the stars of spectral class M4 to M9 have high levels son of the observational data with several recent of magnetic activity. theoretical models for the production of low-N(HI) clouds that have appeared in the literature. Flares on the Sun and on dMe stars are now believed to be basically similar in their origin and Stars and Nebulae. Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters development. In general, both phenomena are (SGRs) are a class of unusual sources thought to believed to arise from the rupture of a stressed be very young neutron stars. They are character- magnetic structure which by magnetic buoyancy ized primarily by occasional repeating bursts of is forced upwards through the photosphere into low energy (soft) gamma rays, as well as by rare the corona/transition region where reconnection giant gamma ray flares that are at least two orders of magnetic field occurs followed by considerable of magnitude higher in fluence than the smaller energy release. In this model, the parameters of events. The more common small amplitude bursts the radio emission that derives from the flare can have durations less than ~ 1 sec, have rise times be used reliably to infer the properties of the flare. of a few tens of msec, and have fluences that are roughly correlated with duration. In quiescence, In PY2007 the Arecibo telescope will be used to SGRs display X-ray pulsations with periods in the monitor the well-known dMe flare star AD Leo ob- range 5-8 sec, spin-down rates in the range 10-11 serving simultaneously at both radio frequencies – 10-12, and X-ray emission below 10 keV that is (at Arecibo) and at visual wavelengths from obser- well described by a power law with photon index vatories in Europe. The observations of oscillations ~2. Some SGRs may be associated with supernova in the optical and radio during flares will enable remnants but this is still controversial. the researchers to investigate the properties of the emission and to constrain better the source size via SGRs have been argued as being “magnetars”, iso- the techniques emerging from solar coronal seis- lated ultra-highly magnetized neutron stars. The mology. pulsed emission mechanism was conceived of as being analogous to the radio pulsar mechanism in Pulsars. The third of the ALFA scientific consortia which the rotational spin-down powers the radia- is the PALFA group that is conducting a large-scale tion process. An alternative view recently present- pulsar survey of the Galactic plane. These survey ed argues instead that the gamma ray bursts are observations began in PY2005 and will continue in a result of magnetic energy stored in the non-po- PY2007. The survey is expected to lead to other tential magnetic fields in the magnetosphere that spinoff proposals, including a proposal for timing periodically lead to reconnection-type events such observations of the pulsars discovered. as is common in the sun. Radio pulsars continue to provide unique oppor- In PY2007 these two models will be tested by si- tunities for testing theories of gravity and probing multaneous radio and gamma-ray observations of states of matter otherwise inaccessible to experi- SGR 1900+14 scheduled as target-of-opportunity mental science. In large samples, they also allow de- sessions triggered by spacecraft such as Swift and tailed modeling of the magnetoionic components RXTE. The rise time of the radio event, the time of of the interstellar medium. For these and other its peak brightness and its duration are the obser- reasons a large-scale survey that begain in PY2005 vational parameters of greatest interest to be com- aims to discover rare objects especially suitable for

NAIC APRPP 2007 81 their physical and astrophysics payoffs. Of partic- precessional motions. ular importance are pulsars in short-period orbits with relativistic companions, ultrafast milli-second 2. In a full Galactic census the large number of pulsars (MSPs) with periods P < 1.5 ms that provide pulsars can be used to delineate the advanced important constraints on the nuclear equation of stages of stellar evolution that lead to superno- state and MSPs with stable spin rates that can be vae and compact objects. In particular, with a used as detectors of long-period (> years) gravita- large sample the branching ratio can be deter- tional waves. Long period pulsars (> 5 sec) are of mined for the formation of pulsars and magnet- interest for understanding their connection, if any, ars. From a large sample, one can also estimate with magnetars. Additionally, any objects with es- the effective birthrate for MSPs and for those bi- pecially large space velocities, as revealed through nary pulsars that are likely to coalesce on time subsequent astrometry, will help constrain aspects scales short enough to be of interest as sources of the formation of neutron stars in core-collapse of periodic, chirped gravitational waves. supernovae. While particular, rare objects will be the initial focus of survey follow up observations, 3. A maximal pulsar survey can be used to probe long-term payoff will occur from the totality of pul- and map the ISM at an unprecedented level of sar detections, that can be used to map the elec- detail. Measurable propagation effects include tron density and its fluctuations and the Galactic dispersion, scattering, Faraday rotation, and HI magnetic field. Finally, multi-wavelength analyses absorption that provide, respectively, line-of- of selected objects will provide further information sight integrals of the free electron density, of on how neutron stars interact with the ISM, on su- the fluctuating electron density, of the product pernovae-pulsar statistics, and on the relationship of electron density and line of sight magnetic of radio pulsars to unidentified sources found in field, and of the neutral hydrogen density. To- surveys at high energies. gether, these parameters will allow more accurate models of the Galaxy to be constructed. The PALFA consortium will conduct a Galactic census of radio pulsars that aims to detect at least half Canonical pulsars and MSPs account for ~90% and of the active radio pulsars that are beamed at us. ~10% of all pulsars, respectively, with relativistic bi- Taking beaming and the radio lifetimes of pulsars naries and high-field pulsars comprising < 1%. It into account, the fiducial birthrate of neutron stars, would not be surprising to find additional types of one per century, implies that there are 2 x 104 de- pulsars in a high-yield survey. That expectation is a tectable pulsars in the Galaxy. Approximately one- primary driver for the PALFA survey. quarter of these pulsars are in the Arecibo sky so there are about 5000 pulsars accessible to Arecibo, Pulsars, as extremely precise “clocks” fully embed- half of which are at low Galactic latitudes. ded in a variety of astrophysical environments, are used to probe those environments and the physics One can describe three primary motivations for a that applies in that environment. This is done by large scale pulsar survey: repeatedly timing the pulsars—comparing the measured arrival time of a pulsar’s signal to the time 1. The larger the number of pulsar detections the expected on the basis of prior measurements. Any more likely it is to find rare objects that provide departure from these two times can be attributed the greatest opportunities for use as physical to motion of the pulsar resulting from local forces; laboratories. These include binary pulsars as the nature of those forces can be investigated. In described above, and also those with black PY2007 the following pulsar timing programs are hole companions; MSPs that can be used as planned: detectors of cosmological gravitational waves; MSPs spinning faster than 1.5 ms, possibly as 1. High precision timing of the double neutron fast as 0.5 ms, that prove the equation of state star system J1829+2456 over the next year under extreme conditions; hypervelocity pul- will enable a direct measurement of the proper sars with translations speeds in excess of 1000 motion of the system to be made and from that km/s, which constrain both core-collapse phys- one can establish how much of the dP/dt re- ics and the gravitational potential of the Milky sults from secular acceleration. A value of dP/ Way; and objects with unusual spin properties, dt corrected for proper motion will permit the such as those showing “glitches” and apparent age of the pulsar to be calculated. Already the

82 NAIC APRPP 2007 age lower limit is 12.9 Gyr. Such a large age al- 4. Timing of the double neutron star system PSR ready implies that J1829+2456 had a birth spin B1534+12 will (a) improve the measurement period close to its current value, 40.1 msec. of profile variation on orbital timescales, and Knowledge of the transverse velocity can also hence refine the unique measurement of spin- be used to model the kick produced by the orbit coupling in a strongly self-gravitating birth of the neutron star and so constrain the system; (b) improve the measurements of the initial conditions of the system. post-Keplerian timing parameters s and r to improve the purely quasi-static test of general rel- 2. Timing observations will begin of PSR J1903+03, ativity—an important complement to the mixed the first millisecond pulsar to be discovered in quasi-static/radiative test in PSR B1913+16 (the the Arecibo PALFA survey. With a period of Hulse-Taylor pulsar); (c) better determine dP/dt 2.15 ms and a dispersion measure of 297 pc and hence the GR-derived distance to the pul- cm-3, this is a perfect example of a short period, sar, an important input to the expected event high DM pulsar to which the PALFA survey is rates for LIGO; (d) monitor dispersion measure uniquely sensitive. PSR J1903+03 is a unique- changes and provide ephemerides for VLBI ly distant and precise pulsar which will allow observations; and (e) produce a calibrated 2- changes in DM to be tracked accurately. Varia- dimensional map of the pulsar beam shape. tions in DM provide a direct measurement of the integrated spectrum of electron density 5. Continued timing of the young relativistic bi- fluctuations in the ISM along the line-of-sight. nary pulsar PSR J1906+0746 discovered in the Conventional wisdom holds that the amplitude PALFA survey. This young pulsar is in an ec- of DM variations is related to the square root of centric 4-hour orbit. Timing observations over the distance to a pulsar; timing of PSR J1903+03 the last year have facilitated a measurement of will allow this to be tested over a much greater the time dilation as well as the shift of perias- distance than could be done with any previous tron passage, resulting in mass estimates for ms pulsar. the pulsar and its companion. These indicate tht the companion is most likely a second neu- 3. Over the past year, several mysterious neutron tron star. On the timescale of years, we expect stars have been found with very unusual prop- to measure the orbital period decay, which will erties. Among these is the new population of overconstrain the system and provide a test of Rotating Radio Transients (RRATs). These ob- strong-field gravity. The pulsar shows strong jects are characterized by radio bursts with du- profile evolution with time, which is being used rations between 2 and 30 ms and average in- to investigate the pulsar’s 2-dimensional beam tervals between bursts ranging from 4 minutes shape and the phenomenon of geodetic pre- to 3 hours. PSR J0628+09 is a RRAT discovered cession. Finally, an attempt will be made to in the Arecibo PALFA survey with a period of identify radio pulsations from the companion 1.2 s; timing observations will help greatly in star. establishing its nature. PSR B1931+24, a 813- ms pulsar with a typical age and magnetic field, 6. High precision timing of nine millisecond pul- is another mysterious transient pulsar. This sars at monthly intervals over two years will be “sometimes pulsar” mysteriously turns off and used to establish improved determinations of on in a quasi-periodic fashion, with intervals neutron star masses, measure pulsar parallaxes between “on” and “off” periods ranging from and proper motions, set limits on the presence 25 to 35 days and on intervals lasting 5 to 10 of a gravitational wave background, and test days. This is the first time that something like and measure terrestrial clocks, ephemeredes, this has been seen for any pulsar and it points and reference frames. Different applications re- to a massive increase in magnetospheric out- quire different observing strategies. For some flow when the pulsar is on. This object and the applications, such as measurement of relativis- RRATs together have challenged our under- tic secular changes in orbital elements, intense standing of pulsar emission mechanisms and campaigns at several widely spaced epochs are highlighted how little we know about pulsar optimal. For other applications, most notably properties and populations. Timing observa- astrometry and gravitational wave background tions in PY2007 will address this deficiency. measurements, it is best that the observations be made continuously and uniformly over

NAIC APRPP 2007 83 many years. bright pulsars similar to the Crab pulsar will determine whether the dynamic spectra of other, Pulsars are striking sources of coherent radio emis- more ‘normal’ pulsars resemble either type of sion but the nature of their radio emission is far spectral behavior seen in the Crab pulsar. from understood. The physics of the process by which radio frequency emission is generated in the Solar System Studies. The NAIC Arecibo Obser- magnetospheres of neutron stars will be explored vatory has the unique capability to offer its users in PY2006 through several observational programs the opportunity to study solar system objects using at Arecibo, two of which are the following. passive radio astronomy techniques and using active radar observations. Both capabilities will be 1. PSR B1951+32 is a young 39.5-ms pulsar in the used extensively by research groups in PY2006. core of the supernova remnant CTB 80. The pulsar’s spin-down age of 107 kyr is compara- Comets are a primary target as they offer us a ble to the age determined from its proper mo- glimpse of primitive material from the solar nebula tion and to the dynamical age of CTB 80. Lo- that has had little or no chemical or thermal pro- cated near the edge of the core of CTB 80 and cessing since its formation as part of the pre-solar moving rapidly away from the center of the nebula. Many of the trace gases in comet ices have remnant, the system represents the interesting spectral lines in the visible and near-infrared, but stage of pulsar evolution when the neutron the bulk of the comet nucleus is made up of water star penetrates and interacts with the inter- ice, which is difficult to observe from the ground. stellar medium swept up by the remnant. The The radio OH lines at 18-cm wavelength are one pulsar’s relativistic wind then interacts with the of the few ways to measure the water abundance supernova shell, re-energizing and distorting it in the coma of a comet, and to infer the mass loss and causing the emission of electromagnetic rate. radiation over a broad range of wavelengths. One would expect that PSR B1951+32 would The flux of OH emission is related to the total num- exhibit giant pulses because it shares many ber of OH molecules, which in turn is related to the similarities with the prototypical giant pulse water sublimated from the comet nucleus. Passive pulsar in the Crab nebula. The observations to radio spectroscopy has two advantages over small be conducted at Arecibo in PY2007 aim to im- aperture optical and UV spectroscopy. First, the prove out knowledge of giant pulses by search- large radio beam provides an integrated measure- ing for such emission from PSR B1951+32. Be- ment of the amount of OH in the coma and is less sides being very energetic, giant pulses are affected by time variability or outgassing morpholo- characterized by narrow pulse widths, high gy. Second, measurements of the width and shape degrees of polarization, and power law energy of the OH lines may be used to infer the velocity of distributions. It will be very interesting to see if gases in the coma and to assess the uniformity of PSR B1951+32 has all of these characteristics. water production over the nucleus. Determining the water production rate and outgassing veloc- 2. The question of whether the same physical ity is important to determine the production rates mechanism operates to produce pulses in all of trace gases in the coma. The water production pulsars is a challenging one to answer. One rate is also needed in order to compare comets to approach to the answer being pursued at Are- each other and to determine absolute abundances cibo in PY2007 is to study the giant pulses in of trace gases and dust. the pulsar in the Crab nebula and compare them with high time resolution observations Interpretation of radio OH observations depends of three other bright pulsars. In previous ob- on the line excitation mechanism. The excitation servations of the Crab pulsar striking and unex- of the OH ground state Λ doublet in comets is ac- pected intrinsic differences were found in the complished by absorption of solar UV photons fol- dynamic spectrum of the main pulse and the lowed by cascade back to the ground state. The interpulse. The time and spectral signatures rate of excitation depends critically on how the so- of the main pulse are consistent with one pro- lar spectrum is Doppler shifted as seen by the composed model of pulsar radio emission; those et. At some radial velocities, the Λ doublet may of the interpulse cannot be explained by any have its population inverted or anti-inverted, pro- current model. The new observations of other viding a natural amplification or absorption of the

84 NAIC APRPP 2007 cosmic microwave background behind the comet. The unique capability at the Arecibo Observatory At other heliocentric radial velocities, however, the to make radar observations of solar system ob- population in the Λ doublet is thermal and the lines jects—planets, satellites, comets and asteroids—fa- become difficult or impossible to detect. While it is cilitates precise orbital dynamics measurements be- best to observe at times in the comet’s orbit when cause of the exceptional range (time of flight) and the excitation is favorable, it is also a good con- radial velocity precision inherent in radar measure- straint on the inversion predictions to observe near ments. Several observing programs in PY2007 will the time when the excitation crosses from inver- exploit this capability for innovative astrophysical sion to anti-inversion, or zero-crossing velocities. measurements.

In highly productive comets, OH spectral lines in One observing program will obtain precise astrom- the inner coma appear weaker than expected be- etry of the Near Earth Object (NEO) 2000 EE14 to cause gas collisions thermalize and quench the test general relativity. Briefly, NEO 2000 EE14 has maser emission. In less productive comets, the de- a perihelion shift rate of 15 arcseconds per century gree of quenching should be lower—it depends in- due to general relativity and the oblate Sun. The versely on the square root of the production rate. measurements planning for PY2007 constitute one Quenching can strongly affect the water produc- component of a larger observing program in which tion rate inferred from the line flux and hence it is the orbits of a dozen NEOs are monitored over sev- important to gain a better observational and theo- eral years to reduce uncertainties on GR parameters retical understanding of this mechanism. and to provide a dynamical measurement or upper bound on the gravitational quadrupole moment Opportunities to observe comets are rare. In of the Sun (J2). Considerable improvements over PY2007 extending into PY2008 OH observa- previous studies involving measurements of the tions will be made of the following seven comets: perihelion shift of Mercury and Icarus are expectd C/2006 VZ13 LINEAR, 46P/Wirtanen, 8P/Tuttle, because (1) several newly-discovered asteroids 6P/d’Arrest, 15P/Finlay, 144P/Kushida and 19P/ have orbits offering a better sensitivity to the solar Borrelley. For all these comets observations will be J2; (2) the sample of NEOs incorporates a range made three times on two adjacent days over the of heliocentric distances and inclinations that can 3 weeks or so that each comet is visible from Are- unambiguously separate GR and J2 effects; and (3) cibo. Experience with previous OH observations the center of mass locations of small bodies is more of comets done at Arecibo has shown that repeti- accurately determined than that of Mercury. tive observations are indispensable for separating short-term variability from outgassing, while obser- Simulations show that radar measurements of a vational spacing by a week or more are necessary dozen NEOs to be accumulated over the next 15 to characterize long-term variations. years can discriminate changes in the PPN parame- ter β at the 10-4 level and changes in J2 at the 10-8 Comet Tuttle that will be in the 2007 winter sky level. This would improve uncertainties on β by an will be the subject of a worldwide observational order of magnitude and would put the preferred campaign; the Arecibo OH observations will be an helioseismology value of J2 to a very serious test important contribution to the “big picture” for this with a direct dynamical measurement. The radar object. Comet Borrelly was the target of the Deep measurements offer clear prospects for improved Space 1 mission, so it has a known shape, spin pe- and independent estimates of the GR and J2 pa- riod and surface geology. This information makes rameters. observations of OH in this comet particularly desirable: a known nucleus size allows the gas produc- Radar is an exceptionally powerful probe of the tion rates to be used to estimate what fraction of surface composition of asteroids and planetary sur- the surface is active, and a known spin period can faces. In PY2007 radar observations will be made be used to link periodic changes in outgassing to of the asteroids 2005 NW444, 2005 GL and 2005 changing solar flux onto active regions. WJ56 in order to study the surface physical properties and to search for the presence or absence of The sample of seven comets in the next 18-months regolith on these objects. These asteroids make or so will provide a fortuitous sample of objects close approaches to Earth in the coming year; ob- from which important diagnostic comparisons can servations will also provide precise rotation rates be made. and size measurements. If the incident radar wave

NAIC APRPP 2007 85 refracts into a surface and is reflected by buried to-noise. Arecibo is the only radar system in the scatterers, the return echo will have a net linearly world that has sufficient power and sensitivity for polarized component that can be measured using such a project. The objective is to obtain unprec- through a full polarimetric analysis. This technique edented information about the large-scale (several has been used to study the lunar regolith and Ve- kilometer) structure of the radar-facing portions nus volcanic deposits, and has been successfully of the surface. Under ideal circumstances, inver- applied to the astroids 1999 JM8 and 4179 Touta- sion of the images to estimate a global 3D shape tis, both of which show evidence for regolith. The model may be warranted. However, even if too PY2007 observations are part of a larger project much of the surface remains hidden from the radar to observe a sample of asteroids and correlate the (because of a high subradar latitude or a rotation radar polarimetric properties with different sizes, period that precludes thorough Arecibo rotation shapes and compositions. phase coverage), the shape inversion software still can estimate the topography of well-imaged por- Asteroids in general constitute an enormous, di- tions of the surface and can simultaneously use verse population of solid bodies whose study is light curve data to place constraints on the overall essential to our understanding of the origin and shape. These observations will produce the first evolution of the solar system. Some might be rem- comprehensive shape information dataset on main nants of the first material to accrete from conden- belt asteroids. sates in the primitive solar nebula, while others are thought to have undergone varying degrees of Again, in PY2007, NEO observations provide some melting, internal differentiation, and chemical al- important targets. Specifically, observations will teration. Virtually all have suffered collisions, and be made of the asteroids (3200) Phaethon, (4954) many are probably either pieces of ancient dis- Eric, (11500) 1989 UR and 2005 WJ56. These pre- rupted bodies or gravitationally bound collections cision observations will be used to construct physi- of fragments. Asteroids demonstrate primary prin- cal shape models, understand their surface prop- ciples governing planetary evolution at accessible erties, search for satellites and refine the orbital scales, and a comprehensive understanding of as- parameters. Phaethon and Eric are among the teroid formation circumstances and evolutionary largest objects in the NEO population. Phaethon histories is one of the fundamental goals driving is the parent body of the Geminids meteors but un- planetary science. like other meteor parent bodies, it is classified as an asteroid and not a comet. Searches for cometary Radar is the most powerful ground-based tech- activity have been negative, so its origin remains nique for physical characterization of asteroids, pri- enigmatic. The observations planned for PY2007 marily because measurements of the distribution of will resolve a controversy concerning its diameter echo power in time delay (range) and Doppler fre- and optical albedo. 1989 UR has a very slow ro- quency (radial velocity) provide spatially resolved tation period suggestive of non-principal axis rota- images that can be inverted to yield global topo- tion, the origins of which are poorly understood. graphic and shape information. The accuracy of 2005 WJ56 will be an extremely strong target; ra- radar-based shape reconstruction depends on the dar imaging will place thousands of pixels on its echo signal-to-noise ratio and the images’ cover- surface and will reveal surface features in spectacu- age in orientation as well as on the target’s shape, lar detail. spin state, and scattering properties in a manner that has been explored and calibrated. Finally, the Moon will be imaged once again in PY2007 at ever higher angular resolution. The in- Many NEOs have been imaged with the Arecibo creased angular resolution comes from develop- radar, and 3-D shape models have been published ment of more sophisticated ways of focusing radar for twelve of them. However, echoes from main- images collected over long integration periods belt asteroids (MBAs) are much weaker from closely yielding spatial resolution as fine as 20-m at 12.6- approaching NEOs, and a radar-derived 3-D shape cm radar wavelength and 150-m at 70-cm radar model has been published for only one MBA. The wavelength. At 20-m resolution, the images are observations planned for PY2007 will greatly ex- comparable to the best existing large-are space- pand the state of our understanding. Twenty-one craft photos. The observations planned for the large MBAs will be observed that present radar ob- Arecibo telescope this year will address significant serving opportunities with large single-date signal- outstanding questions regarding the geologic his-

86 NAIC APRPP 2007 tory of the Moon’s surface and the resource poten- point to which the tertiary mirror can be driven reli- tial of volcanic ash deposits and shaded polar ar- ably and repeatedly in the event a power failure or eas. The work proposed for this year builds on the a computer failure should occur while the tertiary analysis of similar observations over the past several is in motion. In addition, calibrating the physical years that have addressed issues such as ice at the motion of the tertiary in terms of its effect on the lunar south pole, the origin of dark haloes around telescope pointing is a major task for which Phil many impact craters, and the distribution of Mare Perillat’s involvement and experience will be indis- Orientale related cryptomaria. These subjects are pensable. This will be done as part of the telescope of keen interest to those planning exploratory visits re-pointing following completion of the platform to the Moon. It is satisfying to be able to provide painting project. the fundamental insight from ground-based radar observations made at the Arecibo Observatory. The tertiary mirror control project requires approximately $50k in materials exclusive of any materials 10.2 Technical Plans required to correct RFI problems. Operationally, the plan is to move the tertiary mirror infrequently Telescope: Tertiary Mirror Motion and Con- among two, or a small number of ‘optimum’ po- trol. With the addition of the Gregorian, it was sitions chosen for the requirements of particular understood that the telescope focus would be dif- weather conditions. The drive motors will be pow- ficult to maintain to high precision during the day ered down between motions to eliminate the pos- when solar heating of the main platform suspen- sibility of spurious RFI. NAIC PY2007 funds have sion cables caused the cables to lengthen and the been allocated to this project as has the priority platform to descend slightly. This effect, together time of engineer Comacho. The project is sched- with the asymmetrical load of the Gregorian dome uled for completion early in PY2008. at high zenith angles causes the tie downs to lose tension and, of course, when the tie downs lose Telescope: Platform Painting Project. Con- tension they lose their ability to position the plat- cerned about the condition of the coating on the form at the correct height necessary to keep the platform of the Arecibo telescope, NAIC contracted Gregorian receivers in focus. The problem is most with the consulting firm of KTA-Tator, Inc. of Pitts- acute at high frequencies where a given height er- burgh, PA to conduct a condition analysis of the ror is a larger fractional wavelength error. The de- coating on the structural steel platform. The KTA sign solution to this recognized problem in the Gre- report highlighted a number of concerns, the most gorian upgrade project was to drive the position important of which is that the steel in the original of the tertiary mirror changing the focal position telescope construction is covered with mill scale by the amount necessary to compensate exactly that was not removed at the time the steel was for the slack in the tie downs. All the tertiary drive fabricated in the early 1960s. The mill scale peels motors and controllers were installed as part of the off over time, and has done so on the Arecibo tele- Gregorian upgrade project. But they were never scope, allowing moisture to seep under the mill calibrated and have never been used because the scale and cause corrosion in the base metal. The drive motors were found to be sources of RFI. only remedy for this situation is to clean the steel abrasively (e.g. sandblast it) removing the mill scale With the increased demand for observations at X- down to “white metal” and then prime and recoat band, and especially for the increasingly frequent the steel. use of both X-band and C-band during the day for VLBI observations, it was apparent that it was time NAIC worked with the KTA consultant to define to implement the capability to move and control carefully the scope of work for the entire cleaning the tertiary mirror. In PY2007 a project has begun and coating task including the choice of primer for this task. Hector Comacho, the new lead of the and finish coat to be used. Recommendations as AO digital engineering group, has project respon- to the tools to be used for the job, and the tech- sibility. He is working in close collaboration with niques necessary to apply a durable coating were Mike Nolan and Phil Perillat to define the problem also supplied to NAIC by the KTA consultant. With and effect a solution. the help of KTA, a bid package was prepared and distributed to potential contractors: six bids were The scope of work includes establishing a hard fidu- received. Spensieri painting of Syracuse, NY was cial on the tertiary drive, a fundamental reference selected. The contract with Spensieri was negoti-

NAIC APRPP 2007 87 ated and signed in January 2007. of the critical items mentioned in the A&W 2003 condition report are being inspected regularly with The platform painting project will begin in PY2007. no problems noted. A crack prone sharp corner Work on the telescope will require approximately mentioned in the A&W condition report was dis- 12 weeks. Funding has been arranged from a cussed in the last meeting and recommended for combination of NAIC carryover funds and NSF new modification. Felipe will make this modification in funds provided through the Cooperative Agree- the near future.” ment in PY2007. Owing to the extensive experience of the people Telescope: Structural Condition. In 2003 on the Tiger Team, the Tiger Team is meant to iden- NAIC contracted with Ammann & Whitney to per- tify concerns and propose maintenance tasks that form a thorough survey of the structural condition the team itself believes to be in the best interest of of the Arecibo telescope. The resultant A&W re- NAIC’s stewardship of the Arecibo telescope. They port, Arecibo Radio Telescope Structural Condition do this. What follows is the discussion, recommen- Survey 2003, concluded “The survey finds that the dations and actions from the Tiger Team meeting telescope as a whole is in good condition but that of February 2007. the cables and the feed support system are in need of a complete painting”…”Secondary deficiencies The stresses in the main cables elicited several com- and recommendations can be found in the body ments. Don Campbell reminded [the Tiger Team] of this report”. As described in the above section that we agreed to remeasure the catenary in sev- of this APRPP, NAIC has contracted for the struc- eral cables, especially the ones with unbalanced tural steel platform to be completely cleaned and loads to double check the results from the previ- painted; in this way the principal recommendation ous tension survey. Phil Perillat emphasized that of the A&W telescope condition survey will be im- the measurements be made with consistent set- plemented. The “secondary deficiencies” noted in tings of all drives (dome, carriage house, azimuth the A&W report have been addressed with high arm, tie downs) and consistent temperature. The priority by the Arecibo Observatory site platform cable tension data is taken at a fixed, balanced con- crew in the course of their routine telescope main- dition. A study by A&W to quantify the effect of tenance tasks over the past three years. the dynamic, unbalanced loads the cables encounter during operations is planned. This study has In response to external concerns about the effica- been delayed by preparations for the painting proj- cy of the NAIC responses to the A&W “secondary ect which also has been delayed. Included in this deficiencies”, NAIC established a telescope “Tiger study will be a review of the maximum unbalanced Team” in March 2006 to review the NAIC responses torque allowed (Phil Perillat). The unbalanced and to provide oversight for future telescope struc- torque limit has been repeatedly discussed and tural maintenance tasks. The Tiger Team is made probably changed since the Gregorian upgrading up of seven NAIC and Cornell engineers and sci- and should be finally clarified. entists whose combined experience working with the Arecibo telescope exceeds 150-years. These Felipe Soberal raised a concern about possible cor- people are: rosion just inside the cable end sockets. One back- stay cable has been replaced in the past because of Arecibo Telescope Tiger Team broken strands. The broken strands in that cable Don Campbell were probably due to corrosion inside the socket, Felipe Soberal especially in the outer layer of strands. The corro- Hal Craft sion arises because the zinc potting material does Michael Nolan not “wet out” the individual strands near the exit Phil Perillat point from the socket. The cable interior has dry Wilson Arias air pumped into it and there is dry air pumped into Lynn Baker (Chair) the socket itself which should eliminate the corrosion but these hidden areas remain a concern. On The Tiger Team meets every other month or more a positive note, there has not been a broken strand frequently as required. At the most recent meet- reported since July 2003. ing, February 2007, the Tiger Team minutes record Felipe discussed the Gregorian dome elevation the following: “Felipe Soberal confirmed that all wheels. There have been two wheels that cracked

88 NAIC APRPP 2007 in service. These wheels were analyzed by Lucius structural condition of the Arecibo telescope re- Pitkin, a firm that specializes in inspection and mains sound. failure analysis. Their conclusion was the failures were due to poor quality control in the induction Receivers. As described in Section 4 of this hardening of the exterior. Felipe is sending more APRPP, two new receivers will be completed and wheels, two operational and two spares for analy- made available to telescope users in PY2007. Both sis by Lucius Pitkin to check the quality of the met- receivers represent new generation technology allurgy. Part of the wheel failure problem may be applied to frequency bands of high priority to the due to the poor weight distribution of the original U.S. astronomical community: both replace exist- bogey design. The bogies were upgraded in 2001 ing AO receivers. to an improved design with better weight distribution. One of the cracked wheels occured before A new 2380 MHz radar receiver was designed and this upgrade and one after, although the second built to the requirements of the planetary radar sys- cracked wheel was in service on the old bogies. tem. It’s primary design specification is to achieve There have been no further cracked wheels since a system temperature on the sky of less than 20K, then. The wheels are inspected and lubricated of- and improvement of more than 25% over the sys- ten and microswitches have been fitted to detect tem temperature of the present radar receiver. This any wheel failures. will be the lowest noise receiver on the Arecibo telescope. Further, an advanced feed design will Felipe Soberal also reviewed the state of the eleva- better illuminate the telescope leading to a net im- tion rail rolling surface. There are some cracks in provement in the ratio of telescope gain to system the rolling surface in areas where the dome spends temperature, G/T, of nearly 50%. All components the majority of its time in operation. These sections of the receiver are complete; assembly is proceed- will be replaced after the painting project. The ing at the Observatory. Tests on the telescope will cracks primarily arise where the rail is over a pan- begin after completion of the painting project; the el point which is a very stiff and narrow support receiver will be available for visitor use in the third point. Felipe recommends welding in a support quarter of 2007. plate which will spread the support loading over a longer length of rail and reduce the cracking. The second new receiver to be made available to The committee recomended that Felipe provide a users in PY2007 is the cryogenically cooled 327 drawing to A&W so they can review the reinforce- MHz receiver also described in Section 4 of this ment concept. APRPP. This receiver is complete and in its commissioning phase on the telescope. It’s primary appli- Felipe Soberal discussed loose bolts that attach the cation is expected to be for precision pulsar timing secondary backup structure to the collar truss in programs. the Gregorian dome. A few of these have been found loose and retightened. Felipe expressed The heavily-constrained PY2007 NAIC budget re- some concern that the bolts may have been over- ceived from NSF AST does not allow for any further stressed and that is why they were loose. The sug- receiver design, construction or upgrade mainte- gestion was made to replace some of the bolts nance at NAIC in PY2007. found loose and have the removed bolts tested for an overstress condition. If the bolts are working Planetary Radar Transmitter. The 2380 MHz loose from vibration or thermal cycling then some transmitter operates at a peak power of approxi- method of holding them tight should be applied. mately 1MW with the RF power supplied by two klystrons each of which generates 500 kW. Both Don Campbell reminded that a new condition sur- of these klystrons have needed repair over the last vey should be performed soon, later in 2007 or two program years resulting in an extraordinary early 2008. Consideration should be given to hav- expense of nearly $250k each year. Fortunately, ing another firm besides A&W perform the condi- the best-effort repairs were successful for both klys- tion survey. Whoever does the survey should be trons and the RF transmitter is now running rou- guided by a detailed list of items from NAIC and tinely for all scheduled observations. the Tiger Team committee. The telescope Tiger Team is functioning effectively The 2380 MHz planetary radar transmitter is a CW in an oversight capacity to assure Cornell that the (continuous wave) transmitter that must be sup-

NAIC APRPP 2007 89 plied with uninterrupted electrical power of approximately 2 MW. At the Arecibo Ob- servatory this is done using a purpose-specific diesel turbine generator. The generator, built by Sun Turbines, a division of Caterpil- lar Inc, has reached the point in its usage cycle—a combination of run-time and number of starts—that routine major overhaul is required. We have solicited budgetary estimates for the turbine overhaul from Caterpil- lar and from third-party vendors. The cost will exceed $350k. The heavily-constrained PY2007 NAIC budget received from NSF AST does not allow for the upgrade to be done in PY2007. For budgetary reasons only, we will defer the turbine maintenance until PY2008. Figure 10.2.1. Spectrometer setup in the Arecibo control room.

Backends: Spectrometers. Two new Barbara Catinella and Emmanuel Momjian picked spectrometers will be delivered to AO in PY2007 out a few known EALFA objects that were observ- that are designed for the special requirements of able during the telescope testing time. They point- the PALFA survey and the EALFA survey respec- ed the telescope to collect both on-source and tively. Each of these spectrometers was built by off-source integrations for three objects. All three Jeff Mock under contract to NAIC. The technical objects were reasonably easy to identify, Phil Pe- specifications of each are tabulated in Section 4 of rillat told me how to properly extract the baseline this APRPP. The hardware configuration of both using the off-source signal to produce these plots. is identical. The spectrometers use FPGA-based The A&B polarities are summed after integration, processors that realize the frequency separation the baseline was removed using the off-source ob- using digital polyphase filters with shapes specified servation. by the PALFA and EALFA consortium respectively. Both spectrometers process all 14 IF inputs from NGC 1156 is a reasonably bright object. This is a ALFA (with 2 spares) using 7 processor ‘boxes’, 60-second integration using two overlapping 8k- each of which analyzes 2 polarizations from one of point PFB transforms, each covers 170MHz, the the seven ALFA beams. result covers the 300MHz of ALFA. Data was collected with 10ms integrations and assembled into Jeff Mock brought two ‘boxes’ to Arecibo in Janu- longer integrations during post processing. ary 2007 to test the functionality of these prototype instruments, and to check the interfaces from the boxes to the observatory IF and data management systems. The testing was entirely successful. A brief report of the January 2007 testing at AO from Jeff follows below (http://www.mock.com/ pdev/fl_ealfa.html). Figure 10.2.1 shows the spectrometer setup in the Arecibo control room. The rack in the foreground is temporary. Two spectrometers are mounted in the top of the rack. The middle of the rack contains some random attenuators and test signal generators. The two prototype mixers are in the lower third of the rack, and the server machine for Figure 10.2.2. A 60-second integration using two overlap- dumping data is in the bottom of the rack. The in- ping 8k-point PFB transforms. (Courtesy: Jeff Mock) terface to the telescope is through connections to UGC 1291 is a somewhat dimmer object. This is a the racks in the background. The signal generators 120-second integration using two overlapping 8k- in the background racks are used for the 2nd LOs point PFB transforms, each covers 170MHz. and ADC clock for the spectrometers.

90 NAIC APRPP 2007 Observational Data Storage Backup Research Program Requirements PALFA 50.67 TB GALFA 3.03 TB EALFA 1.54 TB Other Pulsar Programs 22.13 TB Aeronomy 5.16 TB

The server storage at the Observatory is based on scaleable RAID clusters fed by a gigabit Ethernet network. Presently, the RAID volumes cost about $1.50 per GB; removable standalone drives used Figure 10.2.3. A 120-second integration using two over- by many observing teams to transport their data lapping 8k-point PFB transforms. (Courtesy: Jeff Mock) to their home institutions cost about $0.40 per GB. Long term archiving/backup facilities at the Obser- AGC 110443 was the dimmest object we attempt- vatory make use of ½-inch cartridge tape technolo- ed to observe. This is a 120-second integration us- gies and robotic libraries. Two such systems are in ing two overlapping 8k-point PFB transforms, each use at AO: covers 170 MHz. • SDLT-1 (160 GB/tape, write at 15 MB/s, cost $0.25/GB) • Ultrium LTO-3 (400 GB, write at 25 MB/s, cost $0.20/GB)

Computing clusters are being upgraded to use 64-bit processors including the AMD Opteron and CPUs based on the Power 5 core system. Network infrastructure will be expanded to support high- bandwidth “spigots” (e.g. USB2 and Firewire) for copying data to portable media so as to facilitate users’ desires to transport extremely large datasets to their home institutions.

Figure 10.2.4. A 120-second integration using two overlap- The new PALFA and EALFA spectrometers dis- ping 8k-point PFB transforms. (Courtesy: Jeff Mock) cussed in the previous section of this APRPP will increase the data flow generated at the telescope The competed PALFA and EALFA spectrometers many times over. The PALFA spectrometer drives will be commissioned at AO following completion our requirements for data management; it will rou- of the platform painting project and will be made tinely produce data at a rate of 0.5 TB/hour. Our available for scheduled use in the third quarter of plans for coping with this enormous flow are to 2007. provide the following: Data Management, Backup and Archive at • Dual-core Xeon CPU the Arecibo Observatory. The primary goal in • 8-channel SATA II RAID PY2007 for computing hardware and data man- • 6 x 750GB SATA II disks agement is to provide the storage capacity needed • Ultra320 SCSI for tape drive for the ALFA legacy surveys. To illustrate the scale • Dual Gigabit Ethernet of the data management problem at AO quantitatively, here are the data flow statistics at the This is all purchased hardware. The heavily-con- Observatory from the major user programs run in strained PY2007 NAIC budget received from NSF PY2006: AST does not allow for these purchases to be made in PY2007. This means that scheduling of the PAL- FA spectrometer will have to be artificially limited

NAIC APRPP 2007 91 in PY2007 and/or that the staff assigned to copy- Telescope Platform Painting Project. This ing data from disk to tape will have to be increased project was described in Section 10 of the APRPP. in order to cope with the data flow. It is a problem It will begin and be completed in PY2007 with that sufficient, one-time, capital funds can readily funds provided by NSF/AST that are in addition to solve. the funds budgeted in Section 12 of this APRPP.

One of the major institutional challenges of the U.S. SKA Technology Development Project. ALFA surveys is to provide long-term archival data storage and community access. The various ALFA (a) Project Purpose surveys require the construction of large databases at all stages of data reduction from raw data to The U.S. SKA TDP is the first step in a progression of finished data product. These databases require well-defined steps leading to the next generation permanent archiving, management and access by radio telescope for meter and centimeter wave- the science team, construction of data products lengths, the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). and tools to their access and use by other scientists and the interested public. Most of the surveys will The SKA will transform radio astronomy through a deliver irreplaceable datasets, irreplaceable either revolutionary design that combines an increase in because they are unique to the epoch at which the sensitivity of a factor of 20 or more over existing ra- observations were made (astronomical phenom- dio telescopes with the capability to image large re- ena change!) or because they are not likely to be gions of the sky instantaneously over a wide range superceded by future ones for the several decades of angular resolution. The SKA design incorporates that it will take before superior observing facili- a suite of operational modes that enable survey ob- ties are operational. For these reasons, in PY2007 servations, targeted studies for imaging and spec- NAIC will continue its major initiative to secure ar- troscopic analysis, and time-domain sampling for chival database storage and access facilities for the studies of transient or variable objects. The wide ALFA survey data, and do so by means of partner- variety of SKA operational modes, its planned fre- ships formed with the Cornell Theory Center (CTC). quency coverage from ~100 MHz to 22 GHz or The CTC has the interest and the expertise to sat- higher, and the unrivaled sensitivity resulting from isfy the ALFA archive requirements. An important its enormous collecting area, assures that the SKA consideration for NAIC is that the databases are discovery space is extremely rich. Key science ob- constructed in full compliance with the guidelines jectives of the SKA emphasize probes of funda- of the Virtual Observatory (VO) so that the ALFA mental physics such as those encapsulated in the surveys can be “mined” in conjunction with other eleven questions noted in the National Research large astronomical survey datasets constructed at Council publication Connecting Quarks with the other wavelengths. Cosmos. The SKA science objectives include preci- Because database management is a skill new to sion tests of theories of gravity and explorations of NAIC, and because it is the intent of NAIC to part- the nature of dark matter and of dark energy. They ner with the CTC that receives NSF support to man- also include the cosmic origins of magnetic fields, age scientific data, NAIC will recruit for and hire a the origins of black holes and the role played by database expert to organize and implement this the galactic nuclei that harbor supermassive black functionality for the ALFA survey teams. The indi- holes in generating through bursts of star forma- vidual hired for this position must be experienced tion the light that first illuminated the cosmos. Ad- in working with the VO. ditionally, the SKA will lead us to targets that provide keys to an understanding of the origins of life, 10.3 Major Project Plans keys such as organic molecules and amino acids in space, the formation of planetary systems and, per- In PY2007 NAIC is engaged in two major projects, haps, radio signals tracing communications from a project to clean (sandblast) and paint the struc- civilizations elsewhere. tural steel on the telescope platform, and initiation of work on the 5-year U.S. Square Kilometer Array Development of the SKA is an international en- Technology Development Project (TDP) should the deavor that is coordinated through the Interna- TDP proposal be accepted and funded by the NSF. tional SKA Steering Committee (ISSC), one third of whose members are affiliated with institutions in the United States. Presently, several radically differ-

92 NAIC APRPP 2007 ent designs for the SKA are being investigated in observations the performance of feeds, different countries. In the U.S., nine research uni- low noise amplifiers and LNSD concept versities and seven research institutes have joined algorithms; together as the U.S. SKA Consortium to pursue a • To develop a model of LNSD concept ar- telescope concept meeting the science require- ray operations; ments of the SKA that is a synthesis array comprised • To use experience gained with ATA of a large number of small diameter antennas. This operations and detailed studies of the LNSD concept provides the requisite SKA collect- prototype LNSD hardware, to develop a ing area by utilizing approximately 4400 12-me- thorough cost estimate for construction ter diameter parabolic antennas. Each antenna is and operation of the full SKA LNSD proj- equipped with low noise receivers and broadband ect baseline. data acquisition and data transmission systems. By using such conventional technology the technical The successful execution of the TDP will yield a risk inherent in the LNSD concept is low. But the complete project baseline for the LNSD SKA from necessity to cover the enormous SKA frequency which construction can begin. As a means to range, the necessity to combine the signals from all reach this end, the LNSD technology development the antennas over a wide received bandwidth, and project provides a framework that effectively brings the necessity to construct and operate such an ar- together a team of experts from many institutions ray at an affordable cost are significant challenges. all working to assure that the SKA, as the next gen- NAIC, as the managing organization for the TDP, eration radio telescope, will be a worthy research will lead the partnership of U.S. academic institu- complement to existing and planned telescopes tions to demonstrate that these challenges can be across the electromagnetic spectrum as well as to met through the concepts developed in the U.S. non-photonic facilities such as gravitational-wave SKA Technology Development Project. observatories. Together, these facilities will allow scientists and students of the next decades to un- (b) Project Scope tangle the complexity of the cosmos.

The primary objectives of the TDP are the (c) Project Plan, Schedule and Budget following: • To design and construct a prototype The TDP is a stand-alone proposal submitted to 12m antenna that meets the SKA re- the NSF by NAIC/Cornell on behalf of the U.S. SKA quirements and can be used as a cost Consortium. The TDP project plan, schedule and basis for the SKA project baseline; budget is thoroughly outlined in the TDP proposal. • To design and construct prototype re- The TDP does not depend on resources provided ceiving systems, including cryocoolers through the NAIC Cooperative Agreement, and as and optical components, covering the such the budget for the TDP is not included in the entire SKA frequency range; NAIC budget presented in this PY2007 APRPP. • To demonstrate, through tests on an off-the-shelf 6m antenna built using the Should the TDP be funded, the project will use full technology planned for the 12m proto- cost accounting so that the effort of existing NAIC type, that the SKA requirement for col- staff working on the project will be properly, and lecting area divided by system tempera- fully, charged to the project.

ture (A/Tsys) is met for that one antenna; • To develop algorithms suitable for the 10.4 Operational Changes in Response to LNSD concept for array calibration, im- the Senior Review Recommendations for aging, forming of multiple beams simul- NAIC taneously, radio frequency interference management, and data transport. This The NSF division of astronomical sciences (AST) work will leverage and extend ongoing released the report of the Senior Review panel on studies by others on similar issues for the November 3rd. The report, http://www.nsf.gov/ Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) and the mps/ast/ast_senior_review.jsp, includes three rec- Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA); ommendations for NAIC. These are: • To use a 6m test antenna at the Allen 1. Reduce NSF astronomy division support for Telescope Array (ATA) to verify through Arecibo to $8M over the next 3 years;

NAIC APRPP 2007 93 2. Schedule the survey programs for 80% of telescope platform must be removed and the plat- the time used for astronomy on the tele- form re-painted. NSF has endorsed this view and scope through 2010; a plan is in place to clean and paint the platform 3. In 2011, plan either to close Arecibo or in 2007, a multi-million dollar project to be done operate it with a much smaller astronomy via a financial partnership between NSF and Cor- budget; additional funds to be provided by nell. The platform painting will give the telescope other sources. a structural lifetime of 20 years.

The Cornell/NAIC statement in response to the Se- The Senior Review is less sanguine about the pri- nior Review report follows. ority NSF astronomy funding for NAIC deserves in competition with that of other facilities, particular- Cornell/NAIC Statement. Cornell fully supports ly new facilities, in the period beyond 2010. The the goals the Senior Review and shares in the view SR report mentions that NSF may want to reduce that science is a forward-looking enterprise; new NAIC astronomy operations funding even further, research facilities are essential to future progress. below $8M/year, in 2011. The report also suggests Cornell is also proud of the scientific achievements that NSF may want to consider closing the Arecibo that have been made at the NAIC Arecibo Observa- Observatory after 2011. And finally the SR report tory by creative researchers over the more than 40 notes that the SR charge is to advise NSF for the years that Cornell has managed and operated the period between decadal surveys, and hence issues Observatory. We appreciate the supportive words that apply to the post-2010 years are subjects for of praise in the SR report congratulating Cornell on the next decadal survey committee to consider; its effective operation of the facility. they are not issues on which the SR recommendations are germane. Clearly, there is no community The NAIC Arecibo Observatory is a facility of the consensus yet on the priorities for the next decade, National Science Foundation. Cornell manages and there cannot be until the decadal survey is con- NAIC on behalf of the U.S. scientific community for ducted. In light of this situation, Cornell/NAIC will the advancement of radio science. The principal take no actions that will limit the options available stakeholder in NAIC is the U.S. scientific commu- to the decadal survey committee. In particular, no nity. If the U.S. scientific community, through the planning will be done, or actions taken, leading to Senior Review or some similar community-based, closure of the Arecibo Observatory. informed, process recommends that changes should be made in the way NAIC is funded or in The primary recommendation of the SR report for the scope of the services it provides to the commu- NAIC/Arecibo Observatory, that funding for the as- nity, Cornell/NAIC will work conscientiously with tronomy program be reduced from $10.5M annu- the community and its NSF sponsor to implement ally to $8M annually over 3 years, is one that Cor- those changes. nell/NAIC will implement by reducing the scope of the astronomy program. Although this cut of The Senior Review recommends that over the next nearly 25% in the budget of the NAIC astronomy 3 years the NSF funding for support of the NAIC program will necessitate that major changes be astronomy program should be decreased by nearly made, it will also motivate NAIC to focus on devel- 25%, from an annual budget of $10.5M to annual oping new research capabilities, particularly those budget of $8M. Cornell/NAIC is prepared to make that enable high-priority, community-based, radio the changes in the scope of the NAIC astronomy science initiatives such as the international Square program, and in the operating structure of the Kilometer Array to proceed expeditiously to com- Arecibo Observatory, that will enable the adjust- pletion. ment to a much reduced astronomy program to be made. In planning for such changes we recog- In order to accommodate the $8M annual budget nize, as did the Senior Review report, that there is for the astronomy program, the scope of the as- every reason to expect that the Arecibo Observa- tronomy program will change from one in which tory can be scientifically productive for the next de- the NAIC Arecibo Observatory offers a full range cade and even further into the future. In order for of instrumentation and support services for radio this to happen, Cornell has pointed out to the NSF astronomical research, to a more limited program that the long-term safety of the Arecibo telescope that focuses on the unique ability of the world’s requires that the accumulated corrosion on the largest radio telescope to survey and study faint ob-

94 NAIC APRPP 2007 jects in the universe. Specific reductions in scope of more years immediately following that, the NAIC is the astronomy program include the following: working in partnership with the U.S. academic research community toward the following common We will eliminate all AST-supported NAIC program goals: elements that are not directly related to operation of the NAIC astronomy research program. We will • Operate and maintain the first high- reduce the number of telescope observing hours throughput survey instrument at the for astronomy to approximately 3800 hours per Observatory, the Arecibo L-band Feed year. (Now it is 4800 hours per year). Array (ALFA), that is designed to enable rapid, large-scale, sky surveys. This proj- • Nearly all astronomy observations on ect is being done as a cooperation be- the telescope will be scheduled at night, tween NAIC and three very large (50-75 leaving the days free for maintenance member) topical consortia of academic activities. researchers; • We will do telescope and instrument • Develop and provide funding for back- maintenance 8-hours per day, 5-days end instrumentation and software for per week (Monday-Friday). ALFA as joint initiatives between NAIC • Because 80% of the astronomy observa- and experienced university-based re- tions will be for survey observations, we searchers. This includes, but is not lim- will reduce the number of receivers avail- ited to, fabrication, commissioning and able for astronomy observations from 13 operation of the PALFA and EALFA to 6. This will make it easier to maintain spectrometers; the remaining receivers. • Implement and augment “commensal” • The survey observations require less lo- observing, a sharing of telescope time in cal support. Accordingly, scientific and which the signals from the ALFA front support services in many areas will be ends are analyzed simultaneously by reduced. two or more spectrometers operated by • We will encourage remote observations groups with different science objectives, to reduce the number of on-site visitors but with a common need to survey the requiring Observatory assistance. This sky at L-band; will enable us to reduce the cafeteria • Develop and assure the implementa- hours, and trips to the airport, for exam- tion of ALFA legacy databases that are ple. Student visits for training still will be accessible to all researchers through encouraged. the Virtual Observatory so that use of • We will continue to operate the Arecibo the ALFA data products are a primary Planetary Radar in FY2007 as we seek mechanism for students and scientists additional support for it from NSF and of all disciplines to benefit by the pro- other sources. grammatic mission of NAIC; • Build on the multibeam experience of ALFA for the design, prototype and construction of the next generation of 11. Longe Range Report and phased array focal plane receivers for the Arecibo telescope as informed by Plan the desires and involvement of the user community. This technology development initiative has relevance to the 11.1 Major Program Goals and Emphasis technical requirements of the SKA; • Develop further the Arecibo research ca- The overriding program goal of NAIC, on the short pabilities in support of Very Long Base- term as well as on a much longer term, is not to line Interferometry (VLBI) in partnership build and operate large research facilities for the with the U.S. community of researchers academic research community, but rather to build, using the VLBA and the HSA, and the operate and manage major research facilities with community of European researchers us- the community. In PY2007, and in the five years or ing the EVN. The cornerstone task in

NAIC APRPP 2007 95 the next five years is a four-fold increase point in Argentina. in the data rate from Arecibo to the internet backbone in the mainland U.S.; None of these objectives can be achieved without • Evaluate concept designs for low-cost effective partnerships. In the case of the major radio antennas of modest aperture, a scientific initiatives—ALFA, SKA, HF—these partner- prototype of which would be connect- ships are with the U.S. and international scientific ed interferometrically with the 305-m communities. Other partnerships, such as the ini- Arecibo telescope as the foundation of tiative to implement an interferometric capability a major initiative to search for cosmic at Arecibo, are with colleges and universities in sources of transient radio emission; Puerto Rico. Cornell University, through its faculty • Install, operate and maintain an iono- involvement in NAIC, is an effective partner in fos- spheric heating facility (HF) on the Are- tering the multi-institutional collaborations needed cibo telescope with technical specifica- to promote research endeavors. In particular, the tion established through consultation Cornell faculty provide NAIC with an important with the U.S. aeronomy community; interface to the U.S. university-based scholars and • Develop and fund the HF feed design students because they work in the same environ- and fabrication as a joint initiative be- ment and have the same needs as their peers at tween NAIC and experienced university institutions elsewhere. They facilitate partnerships. researchers; Cornell provides the intellectual framework to fos- • Maintain, operate and enhance the ter the growth of several of these partnerships. unique 2.380 GHz planetary radar system at Arecibo in response to commu- 11.2 Risk Factors Affecting Program Goals nity-generated needs. As noted in section 10 of this APRPP a near-term goal The primary risk factors limiting NAIC ability to is to assure that the required overhaul achieve its partnership goals are budget and the of the turbine electric generator can be widely-read recommendations in the NSF/AST Se- completed in the next program year. nior Review report that refer to NAIC as a facility • Serve as the managing organization for “in transition” from a viable national research in- U.S. participation in the International stitution to one slated for closure. Fostering part- Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project, nerships is an investment in trust. If one potential the next generation facility for radio as- partner has the impression that the other potential tronomical research; partner cannot be trusted to carry out his respon- • Establish a Project Office at NAIC for the sibilities in the partnership, that partnership will U.S. SKA Technology Development Proj- never get off the ground. The Senior Review rec- ect (TDP) and provide the project man- ommendation that NAIC be closed in 2011 badly agement for the TDP needed for the eroded the confidence of NAIC partners and po- successful execution of all participating tential partners in the long-term stability of NAIC as university efforts on the TDP; a national center with which major programs may • Create an effective outreach structure to be developed and implemented. foster greater interest and involvement in science by underserved minority pop- The NAIC budget is a related concern. In Section 2 ulations in Puerto Rico and throughout of this APRPP we showed the NSF funding history the U.S. Hispanic community; of NAIC, and of the NSF Division of Astronomical • Develop programs that enhance the re- Sciences (AST), for the decade beginning in 1999. search participation of undergraduate We reproduce that plot in Fig. 11.2.1. In the eight- students in research at NAIC; year period 2000-2007 in which the AST budget • Enhance NAIC involvement in Spectrum doubled, AST funding for NAIC declined steadily in Management, internationally, nationally real terms, never once in those eight years meet- and locally; ing the rate of inflation. These were the 8-years • Organize community meetings to de- in which NAIC took financial responsibility for two fine the scientific requirements and major new research programs—the Arecibo plane- technical specifications for an incoher- tary radar program (formerly funded by NASA), and ent scatter radar research facility to be the ALFA program of legacy sky surveys—both of built at the Arecibo magnetic conjugate which require expenditures of approximately $1M

96 NAIC APRPP 2007 Figure 11.2.1. Funding history of NAIC and NSF/AST expressed as a cumulative percentage change from FY1999. Projections beyond 2007 are based on the Presidential request for FY2008 and the recommendations of the Senior Review.

annually. The net result is that the annual AST op- PALFA) legacy sky surveys. erating budget for the Arecibo Observatory, about • All AO technical leaders ask how can $10.5M, expressed as a fraction of the replacement NAIC retain its superb engineering staff cost of the Arecibo Observatory, >$250M, is <4.2%. members if the engineers cannot be giv- The management guideline for a research facility en intellectually-challenging design/con- is that this ratio should be about 10%. Other AST struction projects and are instead only national centers operate on annual budgets that given routine maintenance tasks. are about 6% of the Observatory replacement cost. • The AO head of the planetary radar sys- NAIC is being asked, annually, to operate on fund- tem would like assurance that if the over- ing that is significantly less than the other observa- haul of the turbine electric generator has tories and as a consequence NAIC has been forced to be postponed beyond PY2007 owing to implement cost-saving operational procedures to a lack of the funds necessary for the that are unique. This is a significant management job (~$350k) that the overhaul can be challenge, especially so as it is one that is re-pre- funded in PY2008. sented to NAIC each and every year! 11.3 Management, Contractual, Financial The specific management concerns to AO over the and Technical Issues budget include the following: In confronting the management, contractual, fi- • The AO head of electronics asks how it nancial and technical issues that inevitably arise is possible for NAIC to keep pace with in the operation of a research facility of the size of advancing technology with a shrinking NAIC, NAIC has access to the extensive problem- technical staff and declining instrumen- solving resources that are available to it by virtue of tation budget. its being part of Cornell University. • The AO head of computing asks how Cornell University is one of the cornerstones of U.S. NAIC can afford the on-line data storage higher education and research. It is a private, en- requirements of the ALFA (especially dowed university and also the federal land-grant

NAIC APRPP 2007 97 institution of New York State. It is composed of fourteen schools and colleges—seven undergradu- All NAIC employees are employees of Cornell Uni- ate units and four graduate and professional in- versity. As a result, they too share in the benefits stitutions in Ithaca, two medical schools and pro- of being part of a large institution. Among the fessional institutions in New York City, and one in most utilitarian of such benefits to the individual Qatar, in the middle east. The university owns, employees are human resources services (counsel- leases or uses approximately 18,000,000 square ing, retirement planning, etc.) and computer ac- feet of classroom, laboratory, office, building and cess to the university library services. The latter is residential space. Corporately, Cornell is a big in- indispensable to the technical staff and, indeed, it stitution with an annual budget that exceeds $2 is this service provided by Cornell that makes it pos- billion. The administrative services of Cornell Uni- sible for NAIC to manage a sophisticated research versity—human resources, legal services, business facility thousands of miles from Ithaca and to con- services, etc.—function to handle this $2 billion per sider managing new initiatives that could well be year institution. This is the scale of the framework located even further removed. that supports the $12 million per year institution that is NAIC. It is very sturdy support. The NAIC By NAIC being an integral part of Cornell Univer- benefits directly and tangibly from Cornell’s man- sity, the resources occasionally needed in many ar- agement; the NSF benefits indirectly from having a eas to manage risk is available. successfully managed research facility. This forms the basis for a cooperative relationship that brings Initiated in PY2006 and continuing now in PY2007, success to both parties—a win-win partnership. the Cornell University Archives, which is part of the Cornell University Library System, has initiated a Without question, the greatest benefit to NAIC project to establish a formal NAIC/Arecibo Obser- being part of Cornell University is the intellectual vatory Archive. This project includes: guidance the university faculty have brought to the management of the observatory for 40 years. • Identifying Cornell offices with relevant In addition to providing the inspiration for the ob- archival material; servatory, the faculty has fostered continued de- • Working with the administrative staff velopment of the Arecibo research capabilities by within NAIC to develop a records and providing consistent and steady advice. They have information management system to also served as an interface to the U.S. research com- ensure that records of enduring value munity both by providing leadership in intellectual are collected, organized, preserved and pursuits and in forging effective multi-institutional made accessible; collaborations for research endeavors at Arecibo. • Identifying and contacting former staff The Cornell faculty can be an effective interface to members, directors, and other key per- US university-based scholars and students because sonnel who have relevant papers and the Cornell faculty work in the same environment collections appropriate for transfer to and have the same needs as their peers at institu- the Archives; tions elsewhere. The NAIC community is enlarged • Transferring historically significant ma- and enriched by the involvement of the Cornell terial to the Archives where it will be faculty and their students. housed in a secure, temperature and hu- midity controlled environment, enhanc- From a business perspective, Cornell brings to the ing access for staff and researchers by NAIC an extensive infrastructure of corporate sup- creating an online guide to the material; port services, including: payroll, accounting, pur- and, chasing, human resources, legal, internal audit, en- • Identifying existing collections within the vironment health and safety, project management, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collec- and risk management. Since these are central ad- tions that have material relevant to this ministrative functions they are funded mainly from project and linking these sites to the new the University’s general budget, which includes NAIC/Arecibo Observatory Archive. facilities and administrative cost recoveries. There are very few support services which the NAIC fi- 11.4 Requirements for Support of the Sci- nances directly from NSF funds (legal expertise in entific Community Puerto Rico is one such example).

98 NAIC APRPP 2007 Generation of the plan for NAIC support of the scientific community is informed by two principal re- On a much larger scale, NAIC has been playing a quirements. First is the recognition that the NAIC, leadership role in organizing the U.S. community as a NSF-funded national research center, supports to promote its interests in developing the future a multi-disciplinary program of research serving of meter/centimeter-wavelength astronomy in mainly the U.S. university community for which the U.S. In August 2006, NAIC lead a communi- education of the next generation of scholars is a ty-based workshop called “Building the Founda- primary responsibility. The multi-disciplinary char- tion for U.S. Astronomy at m/cm Wavelengths in acter of NAIC is true now for the Arecibo Observa- 2010 and Beyond”. The meeting was co-hosted tory where research facilities are provided for radio by NAIC, NRAO and the U.S. SKA Consortium with astronomy, radar probes of solar system objects, much-appreciated financial support from NSF/AST. ionospheric radar studies, and optical studies of the The meeting was one of a series designed to lead upper atmosphere. The addition of the major new to a thoughtful position paper for U.S. radio astron- initiatives currently being pursued by NAIC, the omers to present to the next decadal survey. The SKA in particular, is, potentially, a major new obser- final report of this workshop, reproduced below, vatory that will further increase the multi-disciplin- has important implications for the future of AO and ary character of NAIC. They will also greatly en- other long-wavelength U.S. facilities. Community hance educational opportunities at NAIC. Second, leadership is an essential role for NAIC; NAIC will is the point frequently highlighted in this APRPP, organize a follow up community meeting in the that the Cornell vision for NAIC has no provision second half of calendar year 2007 to be held in in it for NAIC to become a NSF facility that is so Washington, D.C. large and so independent that it can create a research structure (facilities, instruments and people) with the mission of developing research initiatives Building the Foundation for U.S. Astrono- for the community. Instead, the NAIC mission is my at m/cm Wavelengths in 2010 and Be- to develop research initiatives with the communi- yond – A meeting held 3-4 August 2006 ty. As a research university itself, Cornell shares the Tucson, AZ educational goals, and understands first-hand the concerns, and needs, of the university community Recommendations and Actions served by NAIC. 21 August 2006

As noted in section 11.1 above, the motivating The meeting succeeded in bringing together an goal for NAIC is to develop partnerships with the inter-disciplinary cross section of the astronomy U.S. academic research community toward com- community interested in the future development mon goals. We recognize that a national center of m/cm astronomy in the U.S. A discussion of sci- such as NAIC is a natural forum for promoting re- ence opportunities for which observations at long search and education partnerships. On the larg- wavelengths can provide unique scientific insight est scale, university-based scientists and students provided the starting point for the meeting. This have access to all the research facilities of NAIC, discussion was aided by reference to the set of key and the NAIC support staff, without charge. On science areas identified for the Square Kilometre an entire range of smaller scales, the NAIC facili- Array. These areas include topics in fundamental tates the research and education initiatives of the physics and cosmology (Epoch of Reionization, university community by providing technical and dark matter and dark energy, gravity and pulsars, educational services, technical designs, and man- cosmic magnetism), galaxy evolution as probed by agement leadership tailored to specific community HI observations and observations of redshifted CO needs. In return, community researchers bring in- emission, and the important Cradle of Life topics struments, ideas and software to the Observatory (protostellar and protoplanetary disks and young and make them available for the benefit of others. stars, molecules and SETI). Additionally, contrib- This makes for the foundation of a sound partner- uted talks on more recent conceptual ideas stimu- ship, each party sharing its expertise with the oth- lated even broader discussion. ers. Provision of sufficient NSF funding to enable NAIC to facilitate such partnerships is the primary Within these broad science categories, key science NAIC requirement for support of the U.S. academic objectives were identified at the meeting by four research community. topical working groups. Through discussion of the

NAIC APRPP 2007 99 working group reports in a meeting of the whole, er wavelengths owing to dust obscura- two specific key projects of extremely broad scien- tion. tific interest were highlighted as priority opportu- • Imaging lower-order molecular line tran- nities for which m/cm observations are uniquely sitions from the first galaxies. The lower required: order CO transitions provide the clean- est measure of the total molecular gas • Detection and imaging of HI emission mass—the fuel for galaxy formation, as and absorption from the EoR; well as the best method for determining • A massive sky survey for HI emission galaxy dynamics, and hence total from galaxies as a function of redshift. (gravitating) mass. Further, cm-wave The goal of this “billion-galaxy” survey telescopes are the most appropriate to redshifts of z=1.5 or higher is to pa- for studying emission from high dipole- rameterize the properties of dark energy moment molecules, such as HCN and primarily by studying the signature of HCO+, in the first galaxies, due to the baryon oscillations. A determination of large critical densities required for exci- the cosmic evolution of the gas content tation. These molecules are the best trac- in galaxies with unprecedented com- ers of dense gas directly associated with pleteness is also enabled. star formation. • Large area polometric sky surveys to Several other exciting opportunities were discussed study cosmic magnetism in astrophysical and noted as important drivers for future telescopes environments at all epochs. and instrumentation needs, including: The science areas map into observational opportu- • Large sky-area, unbiased searches for nities throughout the 250:1 range of frequencies radio transient sources on time scales (0.1 to 25 GHz) that comprise the m/cm wave- ranging from nanoseconds to years; length spectral band. Several Workshop speakers • Large sky-area searches dedicated to highlighted the fact that covering this enormous identifying as much of the pulsar popu- frequency range necessarily demands that we lation in the Milky Way as possible, up think in terms of multiple technical solutions. As to ~20,000 pulsars. The primary goals a specific example, an array of inexpensive dipole are: (a) to establish a large sample of antennas was agreed to be an optimal technical millisecond pulsars that can be used as a solution for constructing the very large collecting long-term timing array for the detection area needed at frequencies below ~300 MHz for of the nano-Hertz gravity waves, which imaging EoR/HI in emission and absorption. At result from cosmic strings and from su- higher frequencies, from ~300 MHz to 25 GHz, an permassive black-hole mergers; (b) to array (or arrays) of parabolic antennas appears to discover and conduct precise timing ob- be the optimal way to cover the nearly 100:1 broad servations of those rare, compact, rela- spectral bandwidth. tivistic binary pulsars (with neutron star and black-hole companions), which will The discussion on how to realize the key science allow us to probe gravity over a wide opportunities for the U.S. community was framed range of environmental conditions, ex- around three spectral regions. tending to the strong gravity regime of lines-of-sight that graze the event hori- Low-frequency band, 100 – 300 MHz. The en- zon of the black hole; (c) to discover and thusiastic support for the EoR/HI project as a “must conduct precise timing observations of do” project was considered in two phases. The first pulsars orbiting Sgr A* in order to probe phase is dedicated to detection of the phenomenon space-time close to a rotating, massive, and characterization of its signature. This phase, it black hole. was agreed, is best done by means of the many • Imaging protostellar and protoplanetary experiments currently underway (LOFAR, MWA, disks at the earliest stages of formation, PAPER, 21CMA). The second phase, after detec- and edge-on systems at all evolutionary tion, would be dedicated to imaging EoR/HI emis- stages, where the disks are opaque at sion and absorption over a very large sky area. This millimeter wavelengths and at all short- would require an array of much larger collecting

100 NAIC APRPP 2007 area, and one with higher resolution, than those CMB polarization, for redshifted line emission from planned for the pathfinder experiments. The array CO, HCN and HCO+, for astrometric observations must be one that is optimized for surface bright- of redshifted H2O masers, and for “Cradle of Life” ness sensitivity. It must be located on a site with enterprises. There is clear interest in reaching 25 the lowest possible RFI contamination. Currently, GHz (or even higher, if affordable) for the purpose an EoR array is still considered to be part of the SKA of understanding protoplanetary and debris disks project because EoR imaging science is expected that are too dense to probe with ALMA. Long- to require the square kilometer of collecting area baseline capability (1000s of km) is essential for im- and because it is directly germane to the cosmo- aging the details of disks (and for making movies logical history of atomic hydrogen, another major of disks undergoing planet formation over a period emphasis of the SKA. However, technology for of many years), and of the stellar black holes and EoR science can be developed much more quickly neutron stars that reveal the same energy collima- than for the rest of the SKA frequency range. For tion and jet flows that are so ubiquitous in quasars. this reason, the workshop participants considered The radio astrometric precision of 10 microarcsec it appropriate that EoR arrays be constructed inde- will rival the accuracy of future space-based opti- pendently. Given strong interest and activity in the cal telescopes and allow us to obtain fundamental U.S., a roadmap for EoR science should be devel- parameters of stellar masses and distances. In addi- oped for presentation to the next decadal survey tion, relative astrometric measurements of extraga- that outlines a decision tree for deciding whether a lactic water megamasers may lead to values of the larger array needs to be built in the 2010-2020 de- Hubble constant more accurate than 3%, provid- cade, and if so, what are the steps to its realization. ing a critical constraint on the equation of state of The road map should be developed in cooperation dark energy. with our international colleagues who are working on EoR experimental arrays such as LOFAR and The SKA technical plans for research capability MWA. at frequencies > 3 GHz are still being developed. However, high frequency technical development Mid-frequency band, 300 MHz – 3 GHz. An aris a particular strength of the U.S. community ow- ray that covers the mid-frequency band is of great ing to work being done for ALMA, EVLA, ATA and interest particularly for the large-area survey of HI the DSN array. There are many examples in the emission from galaxies at redshifts to 1.5, or high- U.S of innovation and development underway or er. In addition, this band appears to be extremely planned with a solid focus on reducing the cost promising as a large radio synoptic survey telescope of receiving, detecting and processing cosmic sig- (LRSST) that would provide a powerful probe of nals at frequencies > 3 GHz. For this reason, it was the transient radio universe. LRSST would deliver agreed that this band was the best of the three large samples from radio-only populations as well important wavebands for the U.S. to take a lead- as synergistic capabilities to the optical LSST and to ing role. TDP work for this frequency band would gravitational wave observatories. Finally, two of build upon the existing U.S. technical and scien- the key science areas for the SKA, gravity studies tific foundation and focus on maximizing A/T as a with pulsars and cosmic magnetism, are also en- function of frequency for a fixed cost budget. The abled with the extension of this band beyond the implementation roadmap for these capabilities will 1.4 GHz rest frequency of HI to about 3 GHz. The be developed based on the achievements of the international SKA project has also focused major TDP, again in close consultation with the interna- emphasis on the HI redshift survey, and here again tional SKA project. An important question for the it is in the U.S. interest to work with the SKA project U.S. community is whether the key science at fre- to construct a roadmap, including definition of the quencies > 3 GHz requires a new ~$1B telescope U.S. implementation role, leading to this capabil- or whether existing U. S. facilities, augmented with ity. The work plan for the US Technology Develop- additional collection area, is a suitable alternative. ment Project (TDP) for the SKA will include projects that are relevant to this frequency range. Recommendations:

High-frequency band, 3 GHz to 25 GHz. Fre- 1. Encourage strong NSF support for EoR/HI quencies above 3 GHz are of great interest for using pathfinder experiments such as that cur- pulsars to probe the metric around Sgr A*, for map- rently being provided to MWA and other ping Galactic foregrounds relevant to detection of initiatives. The science is extremely com-

NAIC APRPP 2007 101 pelling, and vital, to studies of the physics achieve exceptionally high angular of the early universe. resolution on long baselines. 2. Encourage the U.S. representatives to the • Dark Energy and the Radio LSST. International SKA Steering Committee The task is to outline in detail the sci- (ISSC) to promote development of a road- entific and technical requirements map for EoR/HI science. The plan should for the HI sky survey extending to include a meaningful participatory and high redshifts, along with an all sky contributory role for U.S. researchers and a Faraday rotation survey, a Galactic realistic assessment of the U.S. timescale for census of pulsars, and a synoptic major financial commitment. survey of the transient radio sky. 3. Encourage the U.S. representatives to the • Optimization of pulsar timing for ISSC to promote the development of a probing Sgr A* and for use of mil- roadmap leading to an array optimized for lisecond pulsars as gravitational a very large-scale survey of HI in galaxies wave detectors. to z=1.5 (or higher redshift) and for surveys • Definition of the requirements for for transients, pulsars, and Faraday rota- imaging nearby protoplanetary tion. The plan should include a meaningful disks and for detecting redshifted participatory and contributory role for U.S. molecular lines in the early uni- researchers and a realistic assessment of verse. the U.S. timescale for major financial commitment. 4. Develop the scope of work for the TDP within the U.S. community such that the TDP supports the role agreed for U.S. involvement in item 3 without duplication of efforts underway by other SKA international groups. 5. Develop a roadmap for activities within the TDP that builds on existing capabilities in the U.S. at frequencies > 3 GHz, including capabilities at Arecibo, ATA, EVLA, VLBA, and GBT, that can be used to inform planning by the international SKA project. The roadmap planning should be done in cooperation with the international SKA project.

Action Items:

1. Identify a work plan for the NSF-funded TDP that takes into account activities taking place within the national centers (NAIC and NRAO), and at U.S. universities and institutes, following the recommendations noted above.

2. Set up US Working Groups on:

• EoR (to establish an EoR/HI roadmap for defining the context and plan for a large telescope to image the EoR/HI.) • Precision astrometry that exploits the capability of m/cm astronomy to

102 NAIC APRPP 2007 12. Budget Report

2007 Funding Request All Programs

AST ATM REU Total Senior Personnel 340,000 90,000 430,000 Other Personnel Post Docs/RAs 1,170,000 355,500 1,525,500 Other Prof 1,550,000 220,000 1,770,000 Graduate Students 20,000 - 20,000 Undergrad Students 7,000 - 7,000 Secretarial-Clerical 240,940 10,000 250,940 Other 1,275,000 115,000 1,390,000 Total Personnel 4,602,940 790,500 5,393,440 Fringe Benefits 1,518,970 260,865 1,779,835 Total Salaries, Wages & Benefits 6,121,910 1,051,365 7,173,275

Equipment/Capital 149,030 10,000 159,030

Travel - - Domestic 150,000 55,000 205,000 Foreign 40,000 5,000 45,000

Participant Support Costs Stipends - - 39,600 39,600 Travel 16,000 - 20,800 36,800 Subsistence 6,000 - 550 6,550 Other 3,000 - 11,000 14,000 Total Participant Support Costs 25,000 - 71,950 96,950

Other Direct Costs - - Materials and Supplies 599,060 110,000 709,060 Pub/Doc/Diss 30,000 15,000 45,000 Consultant Services 20,000 - 20,000 Computer Services 100,000 15,000 115,000 Subawards 25,000 120,000 145,000 Other 1,800,000 248,635 2,048,635 Total Other Direct Costs 2,574,060 508,635 3,082,695

Total Direct Costs 9,060,000 1,630,000 71,950 1 0,761,950

Indirect Costs 1,400,000 170,000 - 1,570,000

Total Direct and Indirect Costs 10,460,000* 1,800,000 $71,950 1,871,950

* Note: This AST budget for new funds does not include additional funds to be provided by the NSF for the telescope painting project, estimated at ~$2.9M.

NAIC APRPP 2007 103 Budget Report continued

PY 2007 Budget Justification

New NSF Funds (all programs)

• Salaries and Wages Funds are budgeted as detailed on the effort distribution chart, Section 8. In addition to base salaries, funds are provided for overtime, shift differential, 4% merit increases, and the mandated Puerto Rican Christmas bonus.

• Fringe Benefits The fringe benefit rate applied has been approved by the Department of Health and Human Services for application to federally sponsored programs. A rate of 33% has been applied from October 2006 through September 2007 for all benefits-eligible employees.

• Participant Support Costs REU funds represent $71,950. Additional AST funds ($25K) are budgeted for a workshop (topic TBD) to be hosted at the Arecibo Observatory.

• Equipment/Capital The following is a breakdown of the estimated expenditures in the AST equipment/capital budget line:

Instrumentation Development $19,030 S-Band Radar System 50,000 Focal Phase Array 80,000 TOTAL 149,030

At this time, no individual equipment items in excess of $25K are planned for the ATM program.

• Indirect Costs The rates have been approved by the Department of Health and Human Services for application to sponsored programs. The IDC has been estimated as follows:

AST MTDC IDC rate IDC

AO 5,800,000 11% 640,000 HQ 1,300,000 58/59% 760,000 Total 7,100,000 1,400,000

ATM MTDC IDC rate IDC

AO 1,360,000 11% 149,700 HQ 35,000 58/59% 20,300 Total 1,395,000 170,000

104 NAIC APRPP 2007 Budget Report continued

PY 2006 Subagreements

AST Ammann and Whitney Subcontract

ATM

Penn State University Northwest Research Associates University of Colorado Penn State University

Carryover Funds

Funds remaining at the close of PY 2006 total $3.3M and are allocated as follows:

Platform Painting 2,000,000 ALFA Spectrometers 500,000 Maintenance Trailer Installation 250,000 Misc Commitments 250,000 Turbine Maintenance and Repair 135,000 Instrumentation Development 80,000 Payroll Timekeeping Upgrade 50,000 Tertiary Drive System Upgrade 35,000

NAIC APRPP 2007 105 Budget Report continued

PY 2006 Final Financial Report Cooperative Agreement #9809484/0431904 Expenses by SSOW/CSA AST ATM REU Total Expenses A Senior Personnel 305,904 29,930 335,834 B Other Personnel Post Docs/Research Assoc 1,040,776 427,514 1,468,290 Other Professionals 1,946,361 402,361 2,348,722 Graduate Students 19,502 0 19,502 Undergraduate Students 6,592 1,000 7,592 Secretarial-Clerical 283,675 12,600 296,275 Other 1,679,065 143,903 1,822,968 Total Personnel (A+B) 5,281,875 1,017,308 6,299,183 C Fringe Benefits 1,641,722 315,134 1,956,856 Total Salaries, Wages & Benefits 6,923,597 1,332,442 8,256,039 D Equipment/Capital Construct. 499,757 -14,290 485,467 E Travel Travel-domestic 201,805 74,425 276,230 Travel-foreign 48,733 4,328 53,061 F Participant Support Costs Stipends 0 0 38,035 38,035 Travel 863 18,284 10,749 29,896 Subsistence -3,918 0 686 -3,232 Other 5,943 3,848 14,324 24,115 G Other Direct Costs Materials and Supplies 872,831 152,439 1,025,270 Pub/Doc/Diss 37,948 16,496 54,444 Consultant Services 15,559 0 15,559 Subawards 124,121 71,224 195,345 Computer Services 58,165 50,540 108,705 Other 944,630 143,422 1,088,052 Total Other Direct Costs 2,053,254 434,121 0 2,487,375 H Total Directs Costs (A - G) 9,730,034 1,853,158 63,794 11,646,986 I Indirect Costs 1,367,871 194,433 1,562,304 J Total Direct and Indirect 11,097,905 2,047,591 63,794 13,209,290

106 NAIC APRPP 2007 APPENDIX A:

2007 COMMITTEES

NAIC Visiting Committee (VC):

Philip Diamond, Jodrell Bank Observatory David Fritts, Colorado Research Assocates division/ Northwest Research Associates Gillian Knapp, Princeton University Richard Kron, University of Chicago Robert Schunk, Utah State University Richard Simpson, Stanford University Russ Taylor, University of Calgary Paul Vanden Bout, NRAO

Arecibo Users & Scientific Advisory Committee (AUSAC):

Frank Djuth, Geospace Research, Inc. Sheperd Doeleman, Haystack Observatory Lyle Hoffman, Lafayette College Farzad Kamalabadi, University of Illinois Amy Lovell, Agnes Scott College David Nice, Bryn Mawr College Mary Putman, University of Michigan Scott Ransom, NRAO Liese van Zee, University of Indiana

Cornell-NAIC Oversight Committee (CNOC):

James Alexander, Department of Physics Joseph Burns, Department of Astronomy James Cordes (Chair), Department of Astronomy Donald Farley, School of Electrical Engineering Joseph Veverka, Department of Astronomy

NAIC APRPP 2007 107