Collaborative Research: Submillimeter Polarimetry with SHARP

AST-0505230/Novak（西北）& Hildebrand（芝加哥）该项目将资助加州理工学院亚毫米天文台使用的亚毫米偏振计的调试。偏振计的光学元件将把入射波分成两种偏振，然后同时记录在天文台现有的288像素成像阵列的两个144像素分段上。该偏振计将用于各种研究，包括探测银河系中心黑洞视界附近等离子体的偏振发射；对磁化云中湍流漩涡的观测，目的是检验关于湍流如何控制恒星形成的理论观点；以及确定发生初始坍缩的原恒星附近的磁场形状。

AST-0505230/Novak (Northwestern) & Hildebrand (Chicago)This project will fund the commissioning of a sub-mm polarimeter to be used at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. The optics of the polarimeter will split the incoming waves into two polarizations that will then be recorded simultaneously on two 144-pixel subsections of the existing 288-pixel imaging array at the observatory. The polarimeter will be used for various investigations, including detection of polarized emission from plasma near the event horizon of the black hole at the Galactic center; observations of turbulent eddies in magnetized clouds, for the purpose of testing theoretical ideas concerning how turbulence controls star formation; and determination of the shape of magnetic fields in the immediate vicinity of protostars where initial collapse has occurred.