Astronomical Research and Operations of the Haystack Radio Telescope

抽象的ast - 9420454。直径37米的干草堆射电望远镜是干草堆天文台的主要天文仪器，干草堆天文台是麻省理工学院（MIT）拥有的一个设施，由东北射电天文台公司（NEROC）与麻省理工学院达成协议，东北射电天文台公司（NEROC）是一个由13个教育和研究机构组成的非营利联盟。天文台是一个广泛的多学科设施，不仅包括37米干草堆射电望远镜，还包括大气和卫星跟踪雷达、研究小组、激光雷达、大地测量和天文VLBI小组。干草堆射电望远镜建于1964年，主要用作8-10 GHz范围内的雷达天线。目前，超过80%的望远镜时间用于射电天文学。在20世纪80年代中期，对天线进行了一系列升级，使其能够在7mm波长下进行合理有效的操作，并在115 GHz下进行有限的操作。在干草堆的观测时间只提供给有资格的天文学家，其依据是科学价值。该奖项将支持37m天线的天文学研究和教育，为期三年。鼓励研究生和本科生开展研究项目，为学生提供科学研究、实验设计和仪器开发与使用方面的训练机会。在此期间，望远镜的观测将利用天线的能力，在连续体中以弧分尺度制作天文物体的高分辨率3毫米地图，以及一些分子转变。这项工作将有助于揭示密集分子云核心内的物理条件，从而增强对恒星形成过程的理解，并将探测银河系内射电源的结构。为了研究发生在年轻星系中的星际过程，还将对类星体的高红移发射进行搜索。＊＊＊

ABSTRACT AST-9420454. Salah, Joseph E. The 37m-diameter Haystack radio telescope is the primary astronomical instrument of the Haystack Observatory, a facility owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and operated under agreement with MIT by the Northeast Radio Observatory Corporation (NEROC), a nonprofit consortium of 13 educational and research institutions. The Observatory is a broadly multidisciplinary facility, and includes not only the 37m Haystack Radio Telescope, but atmospheric and satellite tracking radars and research groups, lidars, and geodetic and astronomical VLBI groups. The Haystack radio telescope was built in 1964, primarily for use as a radar antenna in the 8-10 GHz range. At present, more than 80% of telescope time is used for radio astronomy. In the middle 1980's, a series of upgrades to the antenna were carried out which have permitted reasonably efficient operation at 7mm wavelength and limited operation at 115 GHz. Observing time at Haystack is made available to qualified astronomers solely on the basis of scientific merit. This award will support astronomical research and education with the 37m antenna for a period of three years. Graduate and undergraduate research projects will be encouraged in order to provide training opportunities for students in scientific research, experiment design and instrumentation development and usage. Observations with the telescope during this period will exploit the antenna's abilities to make high-resolution 3mm maps of astronomical objects on arcminute scales in the continuum as well as in a number of molecular transitions. This work will help reveal physical conditions within dense molecular cloud cores, thus enhancing understanding of the star formation process, and will probe the structure of radio sources within the Galaxy. A search will also be carried out for highly redshifted emission from quasars in order to investigate the interstellar processes which occur in young galaxies. ***