THE MAGELLANIC STREAM: AGING, EXTENSION, AND ORBITS OF THE MAGELLANIC CLOUDS

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)提供资金的。根据这一奖项，威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的Snezana Stamirovic博士将开展一项研究，研究银河系高温大气如何塑造麦哲伦流(MS)的演化，麦哲伦流(MS)是一条壮观的100度长的中性氢(HI)尾巴，尾随在我们最近的邻居麦哲伦云(MCS)后面。这项研究的动机是最近发现的一个重要的扩展和MS GAS的复杂性。MS气体复杂的小尺度结构表明，与热的银河系大气的动力相互作用正在发挥作用，特别是在MS的北部延伸部，这个区域以几个长丝的形式存在，不能用传统的银河系和MC之间的相互作用模型来解释。该项目将使用阿雷西博和绿岸射电望远镜以及威斯康星-印第安纳-耶鲁-国家光学天文天文台光学望远镜获得迄今为止对MS沿线几个地区最灵敏的射电和光学观测。将进行的深度观测将被用来搜索银河系大气和MS之间相互作用的形态和光谱特征。这些观测是评估这两种介质相遇的界面区域不同类型不稳定性的普遍性和重要性的基本样本。这项研究将是威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校博士论文的核心主题，因此代表着研究和教育的重点融合。该项目的另一个方面将是与阿雷西博射电望远镜的工作人员合作，设计和集成一种新的方法，以抑制全球定位系统造成的强烈无线电干扰信号，该系统消除了1381兆赫频率的天文观测。开发的方法将适用于世界范围内的所有射电望远镜。此外，威斯康星大学将开发基于三个小型射电望远镜的新一代教育和研究设施，将研究与本科课程相结合。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Under this award, Dr. Snezana Stanimirovic (University of Wisconsin - Madison) will carry out a study of how the hot Galactic atmosphere shapes the evolution of the Magellanic Stream (MS), a spectacular 100-degree long tail of neutral hydrogen (HI) trailing behind our closest neighbors, the Magellanic Clouds (MCs). This study is motivated by the recent discovery of a significant extension and of the complexity of MS gas. The complex small-scale structure of the MS gas suggests that dynamic interactions with the hot Galactic atmosphere are at work, especially at the northern extension of the MS. This area, in the form of several long filaments, is not explained by traditional models of the interactions between the Galaxy and the MCs. This project will obtain the most sensitive radio and optical observations to date of several regions along the MS with the Arecibo and Green Bank radio telescopes, and the Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-National Optical Astronomy Observatory optical telescopes. The deep observations to be made will be used to search for morphological and spectral signatures of interactions between the Galactic atmosphere and the MS. The observations are essential samples to assess the prevalence and importance of different types of instabilities in the interface regions where these two media meet.This research will be the core topic of a Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and, therefore, represents a focused confluence of research and education. Another aspect of this project will be a collaboration with the staff at the Arecibo radio telescope to design and integrate a new method for the suppression of a strong radio interference signal caused by the Global Positioning System, which obliterates astronomical observations at a frequency of 1381 Megahertz. The developed method will be applicable to all radio telescopes world-wide. In addition, a new-generation education and research facility, based on three small radio telescopes, will be developed at the University of Wisconsin to integrate research with undergraduate classes.