Stellar Section
Section Coordinator: Skip Crilly, skip.crilly@gmail.com
Background and Context
Some of the more challenging amateur radio astronomy projects are found in the stellar section.
Supernovae
Supernovae that emit radiation at radio wavelengths are known as radio supernovae. Supernova studies at radio wavelengths provide one of the best means to study the final evolutionary stages of the progenitor before the explosion. They also allow astronomers to determine how a radio supernova becomes a radio supernova remnant.
Related Radio Astronomy Project(s) and/or Information:
http://www.britastro.org/radio/RadioSources/supernova.html
Pulsars
A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. This radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing toward the Earth, and is responsible for the pulsed appearance of emission.
Related Radio Astronomy Project(s) and/or Information:
http://www.britastro.org/radio/RadioSources/pulsars.html
"Gettysburg College folks, through NSF/NASA grants, have produced software and other material for radio astronomy education. The URL below links pulsar educational software. The software demonstrates to an observer the sights and sounds of a radio telescope pointing to various software-simulated pulsars. I found the software very easy to use and very useful." -Skip Crilly. Thank you to Steve Tzikas for telling me about the software, and Gettysburg College folks for Project CLEA.
http://www3.gettysburg.edu/~marschal/clea/CLEAhome.html
"The Pulsar Search Collaboratory is a citizen science organization devoted to advancing education and science in the field of pulsar research. Ryan Lynch of the Green Bank Observatory has written a very informative guide describing the nature of pulsars, and tools and techniques used to detect and analyze pulsars." -Skip Crilly. Thank you, Steve Tzikas, for telling me about the paper and thank you, Ryan.
Searching for and Identifying Pulsars, by Ryan S. Lynch
http://pulsarsearchcollaboratory.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/PSC_search_guide.pdf
Courtesy of:
Green Bank Observatory
Green Bank, West Virginia
Black Holes
A black hole is a region of space from which gravity prevents anything, including light, from escaping. The first evidence for a central black hole came in 1932, when American radio engineer Karl Jansky discovered powerful radio waves coming from the center of the galaxy.
Related Radio Astronomy Project(s) and/or Information:
http://rodstubbingsobservatory.wordpress.com/v4641-sgr-x-ray-binary-blac...
http://radio.galaxyzoo.org/
Fast Radio Bursts
A fast radio burst (FRB) is a transient celestial radio pulse lasting only a few milliseconds, and thought to be of extra-galactic origin, though this notion is contested.
Rotating Radio Transients (RRATs)
RRATs are sources of short, moderately bright, radio pulses, which were first discovered in 2006. RRATs are thought to be pulsars, which emit more sporadically and/or with higher pulse-to-pulse variability than the bulk of the known pulsars.
Related Radio Astronomy Project(s) and/or Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotating_radio_transient
http://astro.wvu.edu/r/download/167746
http://www.aaa.org/node/447
SETI
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is the collective name for a number of activities undertaken to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life. SETI projects use scientific methods in this search. For example, electromagnetic radiation is monitored for signs of transmissions from civilizations on other worlds
Related Radio Astronomy Project(s) and/or Information:
http://www.bambi.net/
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/
Data Template
You can download the data template at this location.
Useful Links
• Radio Observing Award Programs
• Citizen Science Radio Astronomy Award Programs
• Links (including related topics in the SARA Listserv Archive, and SARA Journal Table of Contents)
• References
• Glossary: http://www.radio-astronomy.org/pdf/SARA%20Glossary.pdf
• edX Radio Astronomy Certificate Course
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SARA is dedicated to the exploration of radio astronomy at the amateur level. Many amateurs are engaged in developing hardware, software, and methodologies to expand the limits of amateur radio observation. Such amateurs impose intriguing opportunities. With peer review, they can develop new approaches to radio astronomy observation, or offer an equally valuable dissertation on explanations to misidentified radio observations and their nature. SARA welcomes positive diversity of opinion but does not necessarily embrace those opinions as it own.