Документ взят из кэша поисковой машины. Адрес оригинального документа : http://www.atnf.csiro.au/the_atnf/annual_reports/2001/Chapter1.pdf Дата изменения: Mon Nov 18 04:37:08 2002 Дата индексирования: Tue Oct 2 16:22:56 2012 Кодировка:

HIGHLIGHTS
Astronomy highlights
First obser vations of SNR 1987A at 12 mm (page 19)
One of the principal scientific justifications for the 12-mm upg rade on the Compact Ar ray was to obtain higher resolution imag es of continuum sources, in particular for the radio remnant of the supernova SN 1987A. In October 2001, the first 12-mm image of SN 1987A was obtained using three Compact Ar ray antennas equipped with interim 12-mm receivers. The data quality shows that the full 12-mm system will be able to produce excellent high-resolution radio continuum images.

Searching for neutral hydrogen in groups of galaxies (page 24)
The so-called "high-velocity clouds" are clouds of neutral hydrogen that have higher velocities than expected for sources in our Galaxy. It has been proposed that at least some of the high-velocity clouds are primordial material associated with the for mation of the Local Group of galaxies. If so, then other groups of galaxies may also contain similar hydrogen clouds. To test this hypothesis the Parkes radio telescope and multibeam receiver have been used for a sensiti v e sear c h of neutr a l hydrogen emission in loose groups of galaxies. For the galaxy group LGG 93, four new detections of hydrogen were made, with hydrogen masses of 10 ­ 100 million solar masses. For the g roup LGG 180, three detections were made with slightly higher hydrogen masses.

HIPA SS J0352-6602: a nearby galaxy forming its first stars (page 21)
A massive cloud of neutral hydrogen gas has been discovered from obser vations taken with the Parkes radio telescope and the Compact Ar ray. The cloud, known as HIPASS J0352-6602, appears to be a very young galaxy that is just beginning to for m its first generation of stars.

The magnetic fields of barred spiral galaxies (page 26)
Magnetic fields are believed to play an essential role in deter mining the larg e-scale pr oper ties of g alaxies. R adio obser v a tions tak en with the Compact Ar ray ar e being used to produce an atlas showing the magnetic field str uctures in barred spiral galaxies. The data show that galaxies with strong central bars are associated with a high rate of star for mation.

Polarization in methanol masers (page 22)
The role of magnetic fields in star for mation is a matter of heated debate. One way to probe the magnetic fields is to use the polarization properties of masers associated with high-mass star for mation regions. The Compact Ar ray has been used to make the first full polarization obser vations of methanol maser emission at 6.7 GHz. Four sources were obser ved with linear polarization detected in all cases.

PKS 1257-326: a scintillating quasar (page 28)
Compact Ar ray monitoring obser vations of the quasar PKS 1257­326 have demonstrated that rapid variability on time scales shorter than a day is a result of interstellar scintillation. The scintillation patterns are produced by focusing and defocusing the radio emission from the quasar, as it passes through patches of turbulence in the interstellar medium. The radio variations follow an annual c y c le and this sho ws unequiv ocally tha t the variability is due to scintillation.

page 3

Highlights


On the trail of gamma-ray burst progenitors (page 30)
Gamma-ray bursts provide some of the most luminous events in the Universe but they have not given up their secrets easily. Obser vations of the g amma-ray burst GRB 011121, taken with the Compact Array and other telescopes, have provided a direct link between gamma-ray bursts and the death throes of massive stars. The optical and radio data for this source are consistent with a super nova explosion of a star that was at least twenty times as massive as the sun, and the birth of a stellar black hole.

Telescopes, and to develop technologies for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).

Square Kilometre Array (page 55)
The ATNF is one of a consortium of major radio astronom y insititutions in 11 countries no w planning the world's next-generation large radio telescope , the SKA. In collaboration with universities and other CSIRO Divisions the ATNF is contributing to the design of the array in several ke y areas. In 2001, thr ee types of prototype antenna designs were considered, using Luneburg lenses, cylindrical re f lectors and phased ar ray antennas. Other de velopment wo r k involved coherent and incoherent interference mitig ation techniques. Site investig ations within Australia continued to sur vey and char acterize possib le locations for the SKA.

Other highlights
Public outreach (page 35)
In 2001, the number of visitors to the Parkes Visitors Centre more than doubled to appr oximately 125,000. A new Visitors Centre building with upg raded exhibits and audio-visual shows was opened in March 2001. Public Open Days held at the Parkes Obser vatory and at Marsfield, Sydney, were hugely successful, attracting several thousand visitors. Feedback from visitors was entirely positive.

Highlights

MNRF (page 43)
The Major National Research Facilities prog ram funded in 1997 is nearing completion. In 2001 three interim 3- and 12-mm receiver packag es were installed on three antennas at the Compact Array. The first of the new ar ray conf igurations, the EW352 array, was first used in October 2001.

MNRF-2001 (page 53)
On 21 August 2001, the Minister for Industr y, Science and Resources announced the allocation of $23.5M to an ATNF-led proposal put forward by the Australian astronomical community. The MNRF-2001 funding will be used to increase Austr alia's shar e in the inter n a tional Gemini

page 4