The Pulsar Search Collaboratory Questions We Will Answer What is a pulsar Why do astronomers study pulsars What is the PSC How can you get involved What is a pulsar A pulsar is a ID: 376282
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Your Discovery is Here." is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
Your Discovery is Here.
The Pulsar Search CollaboratorySlide2
Questions We Will Answer
What is a
pulsar
?
Why do astronomers study pulsars?
What is the
PSC
?
How can
you
get involved?Slide3
What is a pulsar?
A pulsar is a
rapidly rotating
neutron star that beam radio waves
towards Earth.
This brings up some new questions...
What is a
neutron star
?
Why is it
rotating
?
Why is it
beaming radio waves
?Slide4
What is a Neutron Star?
A neutron star is the remnant of a
massive star
that has ended its life
It is called a neutron star because it is made primarily of
neutronsSlide5
Life of a Massive StarSlide6
Life of a Massive Star
Stars spend most of their lives
fusing hydrogen into helium
The star is literally blowing itself apart while
gravity
tries to crush it
When a star runs out of hydrogen it tries to fuse heavier elementsSlide7Slide8
Death of a Massive Star
No energy can be extracted by fusing iron
Without a source of energy, what do you think will happen to the star?
Gravity WinsSlide9
Supernovae
Gravity causes the outer layers to collapse at super-sonic speeds
When outer layers hit the Iron core, they pile up and “bounce back”
Most of the star explodesSlide10
A Neutron Star is Born
The star's core is left behind and goes through a wild transformation
What was once a core of Iron is now a super-dense
neutron starSlide11
Neutron Star Facts
1.4 times
as massive as our Sun (500,000 Earth masses)
About
12 miles
across
1 teaspoon would weigh
5.5 billion tons
10 million
º
F
at birth
Some spin
several times a second or faster
Why do neutron stars spin?Slide12
Neutron Star Facts
Neutron stars can also highly
magnetized
Fields
thousands – billions
times stronger than the strongest man made magnets
This has an amazing effect
Neutron stars can emit beams of radio wavesSlide13Slide14
Do You See a Pulsar?
Pulsars are like
interstellar lighthouses
If the beam points towards Earth, we see a
pulse
of radio wavesSlide15
Let's Listen
B0329Slide16
Let's Listen
B1937Slide17
Let's Listen
Crab PulsarSlide18
Let's Listen
Vela PulsarSlide19
Let's Listen
J0437Slide20
What did you notice?Slide21
Pulsar Recycling
Some pulsars spin faster than others
When the pulsar period is a few milliseconds, we call it a
millisecond pulsar
MSPs are actually
recycled pulsars
and are the most exciting kindsSlide22
Millisecond PulsarsSlide23
Why Do We Care?
Pulsars have been used to study...
Einstein's general theory of relativity
Quantum mechanics
Ultra-dense matter
Super strong magnetic fields
Binary star systems
Stellar evolution
The plasma content of our galaxy
The magnetic field of our galaxy
Double pulsars and double neutron star systemsSlide24
Why Do We Care?
...
Old stellar populations
called globular clusters
Emission mechanisms in radio waves, x-rays, and gamma-rays
The fastest rotating pulsar (
716 times a second
!)
And in the future...
Pulsars will be found orbiting black holes
Pulsars will tell us how matter behaves at super high density
Pulsars will directly detect
gravitational wavesSlide25Slide26
To Review...
Pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars that beam radio waves towards the Earth, and...
...Pulsars are some of the most powerful tools in the universe for studying some really awesome science
You have the chance to help us find more!Slide27
The Pulsar Search Collaboratory
In 2007 and international team of astronomers used the
Green Bank Telescope
in Green Bank, WV to hunt for new pulsars
The Green Bank is located in the middle of the National Radio Quiet Zone
Nearest Wal-Mart is ~45 minutes awaySlide28Slide29Slide30
The Pulsar Search Collaboratory
We collected 34 TB of data and observed for 1,500 hours!
Now we want
students to
help
analyze the
data!Slide31
The Pulsar Search Collaboratory
As a member of the PSC you will be a
real astronomer
, working along with professionals
You will have access to data that no one else in the world has access to
You will experience first hand how science is done
You might even make unique and amazing
discoveriesSlide32
PSC DiscoverySlide33Slide34
What We Do
PSC members form teams at their schools and work
together
to analyze the data
We are up to
43
participating schools
Teachers act as guides and mentors but most of the work is up to you!
In the process you will
learn more about
astronomy, science,
and technologySlide35
Collaborating With Each Other
Like professional astronomers, you will collaborate with othersSlide36
Collaborate With Each Other
Active students from each team will be able to present their results at the Capstone each spring at West Virginia University
You will be able to see what others have learned and make new friendsSlide37
We hope you'll join us!