The Starburst Program

该项目将使用位于欧文斯谷射电天文台的两个大型无线电天线串联，以监测附近活跃恒星的一个样本，以寻找与大型恒星耀斑或日冕物质抛射（cme）相关的无线电爆发。将建造必要的定制电子硬件来处理信号，并利用望远镜上的新接收器的优势；所有这些都是为了允许宽光谱带宽观测，这提供了高灵敏度，以及高时间分辨率。对射电暴的搜索将以实时、自动化的方式进行。科学目标包括年轻的恒星物体（YSOs），紧密的双星和活跃的M矮星。目标样本由15颗恒星组成，这些恒星将被监测2.5年，每颗恒星累积500小时的观测时间。这将为评估活跃恒星及其轨道行星系统周围的日冕和行星际条件提供一个独特的数据集。通过在欧文斯谷使用新的低频阵列，将同时对观测到的每个目标进行低频覆盖。结果将是跨越20年的频率（28兆赫到6千兆赫）的观测，从而跟踪日冕物质从恒星日冕到行星际介质的抛射事件。同时还将进行光谱观测，以及触发VLBI的后续观测。这些观测应该以公众利益的形式记录下大量更广泛的影响，这在当前太阳活动极大期尤为明显。项目组积极参与公共宣传讲座等活动。该项目由美国国家科学基金会天文科学部通过其先进技术和仪器计划提供资金。

This project will use in tandem two large radio antennas located at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory to monitor a sample of nearby active stars for radio bursts associated with large stellar flares or coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The necessary custom electronic hardware to process the signals will be constructed, and advantage will be taken of new receivers on the telescopes; all of these are designed to permit broad spectral bandwidth observations, which give high sensitivity, as well as high time resolution. The search for radio bursts will be carried out in a real-time, automated fashion.Scientific targets include young stellar objects (YSOs), close binary stars, and active M dwarf stars. The target sample consists of 15 stars, and these will be monitored for 2.5 years, accumulating 500 hours of observation time per star. This will give a unique data set for assessing coronal and interplanetary conditions around active stars and their orbiting planetary systems. There will be simultaneous low frequency coverage for every target observed, by using a new low frequency array at Owens Valley. The result will be observations spanning 2 decades of frequency (28 MHz to 6 GHz), thus tracking coronal mass ejection events from the stellar corona into the interplanetary medium. Simultaneous optical spectroscopic observations will also be made, as well as triggered VLBI follow-up observations.These observations should register substantial broader impacts in the form of public interest, which is particularly keen around the current time of Solar maximum. The project team is active in public outreach lectures and other activities. Funding for this project is being provided by NSF's Division of Astronomical Sciences through its Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation program.