NSF Award
2307198
It is important to observe all of the light that comes to us from astronomical sources in the universe, including the kinds of light that human eyes cannot see, like the longer wavelength of light called radio waves. In addition to the radio waves that come from bright objects in space that we know about, there is also diffuse radio emission which comes from every direction in the sky. This diffuse radio emission can only be properly understood by observing it over large portions of the sky at different radio wavelengths. This project will make a new, modern map of these signals by utilizing the unique features of the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope along with advanced custom instrumentation developed specifically for this project. The investigators will leverage cutting-edge radio receiver technology and contemporary computing capabilities to achieve unprecedented accuracy. The resulting picture of the radio emission coming from our universe will be available to the astronomical community as an important resource. This project will also provide essential direct training opportunities for researchers and students.<br/><br/> <br/>This project will produce a new map of the absolute sky brightness at 310 MHz, with angular resolution finer than Galactic features as well as polarization information. The resulting map will be the first such large-scale, absolutely calibrated radio map to be made in 40 years and the only one ever where an absolute zero-level calibration is the primary goal. This map of the whole sky north of -47 degrees declination, with all Galactic latitudes observed, will allow a determination, for the first time in a systematically reliable way, of the absolute level of diffuse radio emission in the universe and from Galactic structure. It will provide an important new resource for understanding and constraining almost all Galactic and extragalactic phenomena that manifest in, or depend on the understanding of, diffuse radio emission. These include cosmic microwave background studies, 21-cm cosmology, cosmic ray propagation, magnetic field structures, supernova remnant and pulsar searches, composition of the interstellar medium, finer scale radio structure, tracers for Galactic phenomena at other wavelengths, investigations of the radio synchrotron background, and many more. The investigators will deploy a custom, novel polarization-sensitive receiver and low sidelobe, high edge-taper feed on the Green Bank Telescope. The novel receiver technologies that will be deployed and characterized have the potential to yield important applications in radio astronomy. This project will provide essential direct training for postdoctoral researchers and undergraduate students, as well as many potential research opportunities for graduate students given the wide variety of astrophysical investigations it will enable.<br/><br/>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.
