300 research outputs found
Interstellar Scintillations of Polarization of Compact Sources
We demostrate that the measurement of fluctuations of polarization due to the
galactic interstellar scintillations may be used to study the structure of the
radiation field at compact radio sources. We develop a mathematical formalism
and demonstrate it on a simple analytical model in which the scale of the
polarization variation through the source is comparable to the source size. The
predicted amplitude of modulation of the polarized radiation flux is ~20% x
(pi_s) x (m_sc), where (pi_s) is the characteristic degree of polarization of
radiation at the source and (m_sc) is the typical modulation index due to
scattering, i.e., (m_sc)~1 for diffractive scintillations and (m_sc)<1 for
refractive scintillations.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, emilateapj.sty. Submitted to ApJ
Radio Scintillation due to Discontinuities in the Interstellar Plasma Density
We develop the theory of interstellar scintillation as caused by an irregular
plasma having a power-law spatial density spectrum with a spectral exponent of
4 corresponding to a medium with abrupt changes in its density. An ``outer
scale'' is included in the model representing the typical scale over which the
density of the medium remains uniform. Such a spectrum could be used to model
plasma shock fronts in supernova remnants or other plasma discontinuities. We
investigate and develop equations for the decorrelation bandwidth of
diffractive scintillations and the refractive scintillation index and compare
our results with pulsar measurements. We consider both a medium concentrated in
a thin layer and an extended irregular medium. We conclude that the
discontinuity model gives satisfactory agreement for many diffractive
measurements, in particular the VLBI meaurements of the structure function
exponent between 5/3 and 2. However, it gives less satisfactory agreement for
the refractive scintillation index than does the Kolmogorov turbulence
spectrum. The comparison suggests that the medium consists of a pervasive
background distribution of turbulence embedded with randomly placed discrete
plasma structures such as shocks or HII regions. This can be modeled by a
composite spectrum following the Kolmogorov form at high wavenumbers and
steepening at lower wavenumbers corresponding to the typical (inverse) size of
the discrete structures. Such a model can also explain the extreme scattering
events. However, lines of sight through the enhanced scattering prevalent at
low galactic latitudes are accurately described by the Kolmogorov spectrum in
an extended medium and do not appear to have a similar low-wavenumber
steepening.Comment: Accpeted for ApJ vol 531, March 200
Interstellar Scintillation of the Polarized Flux Density in Quasar, PKS 0405-385
The remarkable rapid variations in radio flux density and polarization of the
quasar PKS 0405-385 observed in 1996 are subject to a correlation analysis,
from which characteristic time scales and amplitudes are derived. The
variations are interpreted as interstellar scintillations. The cm wavelength
observations are in the weak scintillation regime for which models for the
various auto- and cross-correlations of the Stokes parameters are derived and
fitted to the observations. These are well modelled by interstellar
scintillation (ISS) of a 30 by 22 micro-as source, with about 180 degree
rotation of the polarization angle along its long dimension. This success in
explaining the remarkable intra-day variations (IDV)in polarization confirms
that ISS gives rise to the IDV in this quasar. However, the fit requires the
scintillations to be occurring much closer to the Earth than expected according
to the standard model for the ionized interstellar medium (IISM). Scattering at
distances in the range 3-30 parsec are required to explain the observations.
The associated source model has a peak brightness temperature near 2.0
10^{13}K, which is about twenty-five times smaller than previously derived for
this source. This reduces the implied Doppler factor in the relativistic jet,
presumed responsible to 10-20, high but just compatible with cm wavelength VLBI
estimates for the Doppler factors in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs).Comment: 43 pages 15 figures, accepted for ApJ Dec 200
Modeling of Interstellar Scintillation Arcs from Pulsar B1133+16
The parabolic arc phenomenon visible in the Fourier analysis of the
scintillation spectra of pulsars provides a new method of investigating the
small scale structure in the ionized interstellar medium (ISM). We report
archival observations of the pulsar B1133+16 showing both forward and reverse
parabolic arcs sampled over 14 months. These features can be understood as the
mutual interference between an assembly of discrete features in the scattered
brightness distribution. By model-fitting to the observed arcs at one epoch we
obtain a ``snap-shot'' estimate of the scattered brightness, which we show to
be highly anisotropic (axial ratio >10:1), to be centered significantly off
axis and to have a small number of discrete maxima, which are coarser the
speckle expected from a Kolmogorov spectrum of interstellar plasma density. The
results suggest the effects of highly localized discrete scattering regions
which subtend 0.1-1 mas, but can scatter (or refract) the radiation by angles
that are five or more times larger.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Astrophysical Journa
Interstellar Scintillation Observations of 146 Extragalactic Radio Sources
From 1979--1996 the Green Bank Interferometer was used by the Naval Research
Laboratory to monitor the flux density from 146 compact radio sources at
frequencies near 2 and 8 GHz. We filter the ``light curves'' to separate
intrinsic variations on times of a year or more from more rapid interstellar
scintilation (ISS) on times of 5--50 d. Whereas the intrinsic variation at 2
GHz is similar to that at 8 GHz (though diminished in amplitude), the ISS
variation is much stronger at 2 than at 8 GHz. We characterize the ISS
variation by an rms amplitude and a timescale and examine the statistics of
these parameters for the 121 sources with significant ISS at 2 GHz. We model
the scintillations using the NE2001 Galactic electron model assuming the
sources are brightness-limited.
We find the observed rms amplitude to be in general agreement with the model,
provided that the compact components of the sources have about 50% of their
flux density in a component with maximum brightness temperatures
--K. Thus our results are consistent with cm-wavelength VLBI
studies of compact AGNs, in that the maximum brightness temperatures found are
consistent with the inverse synchrotron limit at K, boosted
in jet configurations by Doppler factors up to about 20. The average of the
observed 2 GHz ISS timescales is in reasonable agreement with the model at
Galactic latitudes above about 10\de. At lower latitudes the observed
timescales are too fast, suggesting that the transverse plasma velocity
increases more than expected beyond about 1 kpc.Comment: 32 pages, 16 figures. Submitted to Ap
Swimming in a Sea of Hypocrisy?: The Ethical Ambiguity of David Rieff\u27s Memoir
When noted intellectual Susan Sontag died from myelodysplastic syndrome in 2004 aspects of her illness trajectory and death were captured and curated by photographer Annie Leibovitz. The harrowing photographs of Sontagâs diseased body â and later her corpse laid out in a New York mortuary â were included in travelling global exhibitions and were further commodified in Leibovitzâs book which she titled A Photographerâs Life. The historical events of Sontagâs illness and death were therefore (re)written and (re)presented in a way that involved commercial gain.
Sontagâs son, the journalist David Rieff, registered his contempt for the perceived exploitation/unmaking of his mother in a number of media interviews, and most tellingly he recorded and referenced it in his own memoir Swimming in a Sea of Death.
However, some critics have questioned Rieffâs own integrity, suggesting that rather than serving as a respectful âtributeâ or commemoration of his mother, aspects of his textual portrait may also be read as acts of âposthumous humiliationâ. This paper explores how Rieff, while rightly questioning Leibovitzâs violation of his motherâs privacy, could be said to have added to that humiliation by the further exploitation of Sontagâs fame and by his revelation of aspects of her final illness that she may not have wanted to share
Where to go for a Christian Research Degree? Part 2 of a two-part Report
Avondale University is committed to providing quality higher research degrees. Data on candidate and graduate experiences from the institution and across the sector are central in shaping good practice and informing policy, processes and systems designed to support candidate and supervisor research training (TEQSA, 2018) and employment opportunities (Bentley & Meek, 2018).
This paper reports on research conducted at our institution which focused on the following two questions: What were the differences between the way current candidates and graduates reported on their postgraduate learning experiences in the MPhil or PhD degrees at Avondale? And, what were the differences between the way males and females reported on their postgraduate learning experiences in the MPhil or PhD degrees at Avondale?
In this mixed methods research project questionnaires and interviews were used to determine what is valued by current and past HDR candidates of Avondale and which areas of our HDR programs need further development. This is the second of two papers that report the findings of this project and identifies future research which may further support HDR candidatesâ holistic experiences
The IDV source J1128+5925, a new candidate for annual modulation?
Short time-scale radio variations of compact extragalactic radio sources,
known as IntraDay Variability, can be explained in at least some sources by a
source-extrinsic effect, in which the variations are interpreted as
scintillation of radio waves caused by the turbulent ISM of the Milky Way. One
of the most convincing observational arguments in favour of propagation-induced
variability is the so called annual modulation of the characteristic
variability time-scale, which is due to the orbital motion of the Earth. Data
for the recently discovered and highly variable IDV source J1128+5925 are
presented. We study the frequency and time dependence of the IDV in this
compact quasar. We measure the characteristic variability time-scale of the IDV
throughout the year, and analyze whether the observed changes in the
variability time-scale are consistent with annual modulation. We monitored the
flux density variability of J1128+5925 with dense time sampling between 2.7 and
10.45GHz with the 100m Effelsberg radio telescope of the MPIfR and with the 25m
Urumqi radio telescope. From ten observing sessions, we determine the
variability characteristics and time-scales. The observed pronounced changes of
the variability time-scale of J1128+5925 are modelled with an anisotropic
annual modulation model. The observed frequency dependence of the variation is
in good agreement with the prediction from interstellar scintillation. Adopting
a simple model for the annual modulation model and using also the frequency
dependence of the IDV, we derive a lower limit to the distance of the
scattering screen and an upper limit to the scintillating source size. The
latter is found to be consistent with the measured core size from VLBI.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
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