Cosmology with Close Quasar Pairs

Joseph Hennawi博士被授予NSF天文学和天体物理学博士后奖学金，在加州大学伯克利分校开展研究和教育计划。Hennawi博士将利用他的高红移类星体对样本，以小的亚弧分视线（1）探测数十千秒差距尺度的星系际介质，（2）探测和使用横向邻近效应来测量类星体的发射几何和辐射历史，（3）研究类星体照射下吸收线系统的荧光;（4）利用类星体的电离流来识别高密度气体的分布。Hennawi博士还将与哈特内尔社区学院的教职员工和学生一起，为加州萨利纳斯山谷目前没有接受任何科学教育的社会经济弱势小学生提供基于探究的天文学课程。该计划的目的是沟通天文学和天体物理学，发现的兴奋和建议的研究方面的一个代表性不足的群体小学，高中和社区大学的学生，以及公众。

Dr. Joseph Hennawi is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of California-Berkeley. Dr. Hennawi will utilize his sample of high-redshift quasar pairs with small sub-arcminute sightlines to (1) probe the intergalactic medium on scales of tens of kiloparsecs, (2) detect and use the transverse proximity effect to provide measurements of the emission geometry and radiative histories of quasars, (3) study the fluorescent glow of absorption-line systems illuminated by quasars and (4) use a quasar's ionizing flux to discern the distribution of gas in high-redshift galaxies.Dr. Hennawi will also join forces with the faculty, staff, and students at Hartnell Community College to deliver an inquiry-based astronomy curriculum to socio-economically disadvantaged elementary-school students in the Salinas Valley of California who are not currently receiving any science instruction. The program aims to communicate astronomy and astrophysics, the thrill of discovery and aspects of the proposed research to an underrepresented group of elementary-school, high-school, and community-college students, as well as to the general public.