Collaborative Research: Booming or Beaming? Sorting out the Dynamic Radio Universe

对不同波长随时间变化的天空的研究揭示了大量意想不到的现象，其中一些现象具有巨大的科学影响，如射电脉冲星和伽马射线暴。在无线电波长，大规模和敏感的检查是缺乏的，而且发现空间的大片地区仍未被探索。该项目将探测和描述超大阵列（VLA）档案记录中的瞬态和可变源，VLA是一个跨越30年的大型现有资源，由当今最灵敏的干涉望远镜获得。在此过程中开发的算法、软件管道和专业知识将应用于扩展甚大阵列（EVLA）的新观测，它们将为下一代宽视场、高灵敏度的新望远镜调查提供算法门户。该大学将与美国国家射电天文台合作(i)在VLA档案的本地副本上开发和部署自动化软件管道，（ii）构建算法来检测和分类档案中的瞬变和可变射电源，（iii）对感兴趣的源进行多波长后续观测，以及（iv）开发统计描述并深入了解射电瞬变天空的物理过程。这项研究将发现许多已知类别的瞬态源的新例子，允许定量分析，并有可能发现未知的源类别，从而建立更全面的表征和对动态射电天空更深入的物理理解。目标人群至少包括褐矮星，低质量恒星，附近的太阳系外类木行星，中子星，x射线双星，微类星体，射电超新星和隐藏伽马射线爆发的孤儿射电余辉。下一代射电望远镜目前正在建设或开发中，有望在天空覆盖、灵敏度和数据速率方面实现巨大飞跃。通过在档案数据上开发、测试和部署算法和软件管道，这项研究是处理这些新的大型调查的重要一步，特别是因为它将测试软件管道在实时射电天文学应用中的操作。它还将在这一新兴领域培养研究生和博士后研究人员，并让本科生参与动手研究。与高中生和普通公众的外展活动将展示“不变”的天堂实际上是如何动态的，充满了动荡，暴力和神秘。

AST-1008213/1008353/1009421Chatterjee/Kaplan/BowerStudies of the time-variable sky at various wavelengths have revealed a vast range of unexpected phenomena, some of which have had enormous scientific impact, such as radio pulsars and gamma-ray bursters. At radio wavelengths, large-scale and sensitive examinations have been lacking, and large regions of discovery space remain unexplored. This project will detect and characterize transient and variable sources in the archival record of the Very Large Array (VLA), a large existing resource spanning 30 years, obtained with the most sensitive interferometric telescope in operation today. The algorithms, software pipelines, and expertise developed in the process will be applied to new observations with the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA), and they will provide an algorithmic portal to the next generation of wide-field, high sensitivity surveys with new telescopes. The university collaboration will work with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory to (i) develop and deploy automated software pipelines on local copies of the VLA archive, (ii) construct algorithms to detect and classify transient and variable radio sources in the archive, (iii) conduct multi-wavelength follow-up observations of sources of interest, and (iv) develop a statistical description and a deeper understanding of the physical processes underlying the radio transient sky. This study will find many new examples of known classes of transient sources, allowing for quantitative analysis, and is likely to discover as-yet-unknown source classes, thus building to a fuller characterization and deeper physical understanding of the dynamic radio sky. The target population includes at least brown dwarfs, low mass stars, nearby extra-solar Jovian planets, neutron stars, X-ray binaries, micro-quasars, radio supernovae and orphan radio afterglows of hidden gamma-ray bursts.The next generation of radio telescopes is now under construction or development, promising a quantum leap in sky coverage, sensitivity, and data rates. By developing, testing, and deploying algorithms and software pipelines on archival data, this research is an essential step toward handling those new large surveys, especially since it will test the operation of software pipelines in real-time radio astronomy applications. It will also train graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in this burgeoning field, and involve undergraduate students in hands-on research. Outreach activities with high school students and the general public will show how the 'unchanging' heavens are in fact dynamic, full of upheaval, violence, and mystery.