Interstellar Scattering in Radio Astronomy

当无线电波穿过我们的银河系时，它们被星际空间中的不均匀等离子体扭曲了。这给射电天文学家带来了一个“看”的问题，就像光学天文学家看到大气一样。光源模糊，脉冲变宽，恒定光源出现波动（闪烁）。必须识别闪烁，并将其与天文来源固有的波动区分开来。与此同时，闪烁提供了电离星际介质中湍流的独特探测。Drs。加州大学圣地亚哥分校的Barney Rickett和William Coles在这类现象的理论和观察方面有相当丰富的经验。有了这个奖项，他们将改进目前对星际等离子体的空间和光谱分布的理解，他们将把结果应用于电离星际介质和极其紧凑的河外射电源的研究，包括伽马射线暴源的余辉。该奖项由银河天文学计划资助

AST 9988398RickettAs radio waves travel through our Galaxy they are distorted by the inhomogeneous plasma in interstellar space. This creates a "seeing" problem for radio astronomers, comparable to atmospheric seeing for optical astronomers. The source is blurred, pulses are broadened, and constant sources appear to fluctuate (scintillate). The scintillations have to be recognized and separated from fluctuations which are intrinsic to the astronomical source. At the same time the scintillations provide a unique probe of the turbulence in the ionized interstellar medium. Drs. Barney Rickett and William Coles, at the University of California at San Diego, have considerable experience in the theory and observation of such phenomena. With this award they will refine the current understanding of the spatial and spectral distribution of the interstellar plasma, and they will apply the results to the study of the ionized interstellar medium and to extremely compact extragalactic radio sources, including the afterglows from Gamma-Ray Burst sources. This award is funded through the Galactic Astronomy Program.***