Long Wavelength Array (LWA) Observations of Meteor Trail Radio Emission: A Laboratory for Terrestrial Plasma Physics

流星尾迹无线电发射的长波阵列 (LWA) 观测：地面等离子体物理实验室

• 批准号: 1708855
• 负责人: Gregory Taylor
• 金额: $ 27.61万
• 依托单位: University of New Mexico
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-09-01 至 2021-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1708855&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Long; Wavelength; Array; LWA; Observations

This project addresses the relatively recently observed phenomenon of radio wave emission by meteor trails. Ionized meteor trails have long been providing temperature and wind information in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere by reflecting radio signals. However, the mechanism for radio wave emission by ablating meteors is largely unknown. Knowledge of meteor emissions is highly pertinent to ongoing searches for extraterrestrial objects on similar time scales (seconds to minutes). This project will use radio and video measurements to explore the structure, time evolution, and formation mechanism of the meteor radio emissions.  The areas near the PI's telescope arrays are instrumented with video cameras. This suite of radio and video measurements will be used to triangulate the trajectories of the meteors, and take detailed images to measure the trail's expansion. The telescopes are a community resource that facilitates astronomical research, and involve undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students at a university serving a large minority population. The telescope arrays are situated within the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, and engage the public through a dedicated exhibit at the wildlife visitor center.

该项目针对最近观测到的流星尾迹发射无线电波的现象。长期以来，电离流星踪迹通过反射无线电信号，提供了中间层和较低热层的温度和风信息。然而，流星消融的无线电波发射机制在很大程度上是未知的。有关流星发射的知识与正在进行的类似时间尺度(几秒到几分钟)的外星物体搜索高度相关。该项目将利用射电和视频测量来探索流星射电发射的结构、时间演化和形成机制。所有PI望远镜阵列附近的区域都安装了摄像机。这套无线电和视频测量将被用来三角测量流星的轨迹，并拍摄详细的图像来测量轨迹的扩展。望远镜是促进天文研究的社区资源，涉及一所服务于大量少数民族人口的大学的本科生、研究生和博士后。望远镜阵列位于塞维莱塔国家野生动物保护区内，通过野生动物游客中心的专门展览吸引公众。

项目成果

Broadband Imaging to Study the Spectral Distribution of Meteor Radio Afterglows

• DOI: 10.1029/2021ja029296
• 发表时间: 2021-03
• 期刊: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
• 作者: S. S. Varghese-S.;J. Dowell;K. Obenberger;G. Taylor;J. Malins

Testing the Radiation Pattern of Meteor Radio Afterglow

测试流星射电余辉的辐射模式

• DOI: 10.1029/2019ja026922
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
• 作者: Varghese, S. S.;Obenberger, K. S.;Taylor, G. B.;Dowell, J.
• 通讯作者: Dowell, J.

Detection of a Low-frequency Cosmic Radio Transient Using Two LWA Stations

使用两个 LWA 站检测低频宇宙射电瞬变

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab07c6
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: The Astrophysical Journal
• 作者: Varghese, S. S.;Obenberger, K. S.;Dowell, J.;Taylor, G. B.
• 通讯作者: Taylor, G. B.