1. Welcome to the Pulsar Search Collaboratory (PSC) – West! NRAO University Wisconsin – Milwaukee West Virginia University Yerkes Observatory University of Chicago

2. Let’s introduce ourselves to each other... (checks lab)

3. Pretests/Post-tests The grant needs to have data! Mosart Astro test was taken before arriving (If not, please take it now!) 7 multiple choice questions on pulsars – Take now – Take at end of today’s session There will also be the always needed evaluations

4. Intro to project... Let’s start!

5. Citizen Scientists So much of scientific research today relies on the analysis of incredible amounts of data. Scientists cannot possibly look at it all – Computers do most, but human element is an essential ingredient, as it always will be We already see some “citizen scientists” at work – Galaxy Zoo – Einstein at Home – Other “Zoo” type things

6. Educational outreach is important to scientists, and NSF is willing to bridge the gap! – Involving high school, and even middle school students is highly desirable Can undo stereotypes Can ignite the interest in science Can make science accessible to underserved students (and to under achievers) – Involving science teachers is also a plus! An opportunity is also available at UWM

7. Astronomy! It can really grab the interest of kids, They like to ask the big questions: – What’s out there? – How do we know? – Are there Aliens? Here is a way you can involve a student of any ability.

8. This opportunity... National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia (NRAO) University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee (UWM) West Virginia University (Morgantown) ARCC@UWM NRAO, WVU, Funded by the NSF

9. Some of the people involved.. Sue Ann Heatherly Education Director, NRAO Rachel Rosen Astronomer, Program Director of PSC Maura McLaughlin, Astronomer, WVU Duncan Lorimer Astronomer, WVU

10. From UWM Xavier Siemens, Physicist, UWM Larry Price, postdoc, UWM Jean Creighton, Planetarium Director David Kaplan, Astronomer, UWM Dawn Erb, Astronomer, UWM

11. (Sherry and my involvement – more pictures?)

12. The group of teachers Sherry and I worked with summer 2009

13. Students at last May’s Capstone at WVU

14. For this project.. Data is collected by Radio telescopes The data is screened by a computer to a certain point – Then a human must look at it to see if it is worth a follow up This is where students come in!

16. NRAO/AUI/NSF16 A light wave is a light wave, no matter how long...

17. NRAO/AUI/NSF17 Electromagnetic radiation  A traveling, massless packet of energy --OR an oscillating electric and magnetic field  Also known as: radiation, light wave, photon Animation from Nick Strobel’s Astronomy Notes (www.astronomynotes.com) Travels at the speed of light (by definition). Remarkably, all radiation travels at this speed, regardless of whether is carries a lot of energy or only a little

18. All EM waves follow the equation: Let’s try a problem: – What do the above variables stand for? – (one or two problems will be added – simple,

19. What is the difference between radio waves and sound waves? This is a confusing point to a lot of students and non-science people

20. NRAO/AUI/NSF20 Radio Waves are NOT sound!

21. NRAO/AUI/NSF21 The spectrum allows us to “see” the sky differently!

22. NRAO/AUI/NSF22 The Visible Sky, Sagittarius Region

23. NRAO/AUI/NSF23 The Radio Sky

24. Activity Time! Detecting Invisible Waves

25. Let’s look at radio telescopes...

26. Radio waves can be detected night or day They also can travel through dust and gas So we can see further into our galaxy with radio waves than with light waves.

27. NRAO/AUI/NSF27 Optical and Radio can be done from the ground!

28. NRAO/AUI/NSF28 Radio Telescope Optical Telescope Nowadays, there are more similarities between optical and radio telescopes than ever before.

32. Itty Bitty telescope Radio Jove Let’s go outside....

33. Radio Astronomy is a relatively young science

34. Pioneer of Radio Astronomy Karl Jansky 1928: Karl Jansky, working for Bell Laboratories discovers radio waves coming from space.

35. Chart recordings from Reber's telescope made in 1943. First Surveys of the Radio Sky Pioneer of Radio Astronomy Grote Reber

36. In 1967, Cambridge graduate student Jocelyn Bell was using a radio array to study interplanetary scintillation – SURPRISE!

38. NRAO/AUI/NSF38 Accelerating charged particles emit radio waves. One Way: high speed electrons and magnetic fields How Radio Waves are produced

39. NRAO/AUI/NSF39 Electrons accelerate around magnetic field lines

40. NRAO/AUI/NSF40

41. NRAO/AUI/NSF41

42. NRAO/AUI/NSF42

43. NRAO/AUI/NSF43

46. What we’re looking for! pulsars – spinning, neutron stars

47. – Pulsars signals are used to find gravitational waves. – Pulsars are used to study interstellar space. – Pulsars are inherently interesting in themselves!

48. A pulsar is the collapsed core of a massive star It is like taking the mass of the sun and making it into a ball the size of Milwaukee. It spins very fast, like an ice skater who has brought their arms in.

49. Pulsars are neutron stars Pressure becomes so high that electrons and protons combine to form stable neutrons throughout the object. Typical size: R ~ 10 km Mass: M ~ 1.4 – 3 M sun

50. What kinds of properties might we expect?

51. Angular momentum conservation => Collapsing stellar core spins up to periods of ~ a few milliseconds. Magnetic fields are amplified up to B ~ 10 9 – 10 15 G. (up to 10 12 times the average magnetic field of the Sun)

52. Extremely dense - 100,000,000,000,000,000 kg m -3 = Pulsar Properties

53. Extremely dense - 100,000,000,000,000,000 kg m - 3 Very rapid rotation - up to 700 Hz Pulsar Properties

54. Extremely dense - 100,000,000,000,000,000 kg m -3 Very rapid rotation - up to 700 Hz Ultrahigh magnetic fields - 1,000,000,000,000 times Earth’s Pulsar Properties

55. Extremely dense - 100,000,000,000,000,000 kg m -3 Very rapid rotation - up to 700 Hz Ultrahigh magnetic fields - 1,000,000,000,000 times Earth’s High space velocities - up to 1,000 km/s sprinter - 10 m/s f1 car - 100 m/s normal stars - 10 km/s Pulsar Properties

56. Why do they pulse? Pulsars sweep their beam of radio (electromagnetic) waves across the face of the earth at a very periodic rate. beam of radio waves magnetic field rotation axis

57. What do the telescopes “see”?

58. Back to the telescopes:

59. Process... A computer program analyzes the data for possible candidates A “viewer” page is produced Ratings are made and submitted Potential pulsars are followed up with additional observations This is what we will learn next time!

60. The basic question: Is it a Pulsar? – Or is it Radio Frequency Interference (RFI)?

61. Let’s visit the GBT control room..