Collaborative Proposal: Science with the OVRO-LWA -- Investigating Space Weather in Young Stellar Systems

这项拟议的工作是对其他太阳系的空间天气进行的首批系统研究之一。该团队试图了解年轻行星系统中的空间天气，与行星磁层的相互作用，以及行星系统寿命的前10亿年中空间天气的演变。该团队将利用欧文斯山谷射电天文台--长波阵列--一个新的低频射电天文台，对大约2000个年轻的(不到10亿年的)恒星系统进行观测。该团队将寻找与日冕物质抛射有关的射电爆发，以及由恒星风、行星磁层和卫星之间的电动相互作用产生的行星发射，就像木星-木卫一系统的情况一样。该团队将实施一项双管齐下的教育计划，旨在改善休斯顿地区中小学的STEM教育，并利用莱斯大学、加州理工大学和OVRO-LWA工作人员之间的合作，为本科生和研究生开发一个协同射电天文学实验室。莱斯大学的团队将为每年一度的水稻初级模型STEM实验室和水稻应用数学项目开发天文学模块，目标是3-8年级的数学/科学教师。这一更大的合作将在小型射电望远镜的建造基础上建立一个射电天文实验室，并包括OVRO-LWA工作人员的参与。OVRO-LWA的动态频谱具有短节奏(10s)和高频率分辨率(24 KHz)的特点，将用于约束导致观测到的发射的物理过程，并测量恒星日冕物质抛射的质量和动能，以及行星的磁场。利用这个大的来源样本，该团队将测量恒星和行星演化的头10亿年期间空间天气的时间变化，并研究这些现象如何随着恒星质量和年龄的变化而变化。该团队将利用这些观测，首次直接测量太阳以外恒星中日冕物质抛射的质量和动能，以及年轻系外行星的磁场强度。另一个科学目标将是通过120-167兆赫频率范围内的射电发射发现行星。这代表了一种搜索和确认系外行星存在的全新方式。这一裁决反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The proposed work constitutes one of the first systematic studies of space weather in other solar systems. The team seeks to understand space weather in young planetary systems, interactions with planetary magnetospheres, and the evolution of space weather over the first billion years of a planetary system’s lifetime. The team will make observations of approximately 2000 young (less than a billion years old) stellar systems with the Owens Valley Radio Observatory - Long Wavelength Array, a new, low-frequency radio observatory. The team will search for radio bursts associated with Coronal Mass Ejections and planetary emission arising from the electrodynamic interaction between stellar winds, planet magnetospheres, and moons, as in the case of the Jupiter-Io system. The team will conduct a two-pronged educational plan aimed at improving STEM education in elementary and middle schools in the Houston area, and developing a synergetic Radio Astronomy Laboratory for undergraduate and graduate students that exploits the collaboration between Rice University, Caltech, and the staff of the OVRO-LWA. The Rice University team will develop Astronomy modules for the annual Rice Elementary Model STEM Lab and the Rice Applied Mathematics Program, which target 3rd-8th grade Math/Science teachers. The larger collaboration will develop a Radio Astronomy Laboratory based on the constructions of small radio telescopes and including the participation of OVRO-LWA staff.Dynamic spectra from OVRO-LWA, characterized by short cadence (10s) and high resolution in frequency (24 kHz), will be used to constrain the physical processes responsible for the observed emission and measure the mass and kinetic energy of stellar CMEs, and well as the magnetic field of planets. With this large source sample, the team will measure the temporal variation of space weather during the first billion years of the stellar and planetary evolution, and study how these phenomena vary as a function of the stellar mass and age. The team will use these observations to obtain the first direct measurements of the mass and kinetic energy of Coronal Mass Ejections in stars other than the Sun, and the intensity of magnetic fields of young exoplanets. Another science objective will be the discovery of planets through their radio emission in the frequency range of 120-167 MHz. This represents a completely new way to search for and confirm the existence of exoplanets.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.