Orbital studies of interplanetary and Interstellar dust upgrading a sophisticated meteor radar

AST-0908118这个奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。这个项目将通过跟踪进入的流星的速度和方向，显著扩大我们对太阳系尘埃环境的了解，从而使我们能够重建它们的轨道。这将通过升级阿根廷南部的Agile流星雷达来实现，该雷达目前在阿根廷火地岛的里奥格兰德运行。这些改进将使这个已经比传统流星雷达强大十倍的系统能够连续运行，探测小到一微克的粒子质量，并更准确地确定数百万外星粒子的流星轨道参数。这项为期四年的科研项目重点是对星际和星际尘埃环境的高分辨率研究。新的能力与确定轨道参数的新软件和更详细的质量确定方法相结合，将提供数据，极大地促进星际尘埃表征方面的科学水平。特别重要的是改进的低质量探测极限，它有可能探测星际颗粒的起源。探测到这些颗粒，例如确认贝塔皮克托尘埃流，将对我们理解恒星之间的物质具有重要意义。将进行的研究是阿根廷、加拿大和美国之间的国际合作。该雷达由来自格兰德河天文学研究所(EARG)和拉普拉塔国立大学(UNLP)天文学和地球科学系的人员维护，他们将作为全面的研究合作者参与。这项工作还涉及与加拿大西安大略大学和科罗拉多大学的合作，增加了强大的教育成分。来自美国和墨西哥的研究生将接受流星轨道科学、星际尘埃环境以及数据分析和解释方面的培训。

AST-0908118JanchesThis award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This project will significantly expand our knowledge of the dust environment of our solar system by tracking the speeds and directions of incoming meteors, thereby allowing their orbits to be reconstructed. This will be enabled by an upgrade to the Southern Argentinean Agile Meteor Radar now operating in Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. The modifications will allow the system, already ten times more powerful than traditional meteor radars, to operate continuously, to detect particle masses as small as one microgram, and more accurately to determine meteoroid orbital parameters for millions of extraterrestrial particles. The four year scientific research project focuses on high resolution studies of the interplanetary and interstellar dust environment. The new capabilities, combined with new software for determining orbital parameters and a more detailed method of mass determination, will provide data that will greatly advance the scientific state of the art in characterizing interplanetary dust. Of particular significance is the improved low-mass detection limit, which has the potential to probe the origin of interstellar grains. The detection of these grains, for example the confirmation of the beta Pictoris dust stream, would have important implications for our understanding of the material between stars.The research to be carried out is an international collaboration between Argentina, Canada, and the US. The radar is maintained by personnel from the Estacion Astronomica Rio Grande (EARG) and the Department of Astronomy and Geosciences of the National University of La Plata (UNLP), who will participate as full research collaborators. The work also involves collaboration with the University of Western Ontario in Canada and the University of Colorado, adding a strong educational component. Graduate students from the US and Mexico will be trained in meteor orbital science, interplanetary dust environment and data analysis and interpretation.