Physics & Astronomy ETDs
Publication Date
2-1-2016
Abstract
Radio transient astronomy has received a vastly increasing amount of interest within the last few decades. In this time, several new sources have been discovered and many more have been predicted. These sources are spread throughout the radio spectrum, and many emit strongly within the low frequency (10 - 100 MHz) regime. The first station of the Long Wavelength Array (LWA1) is a compact array of 260 dual polarization dipole antennas operating between 10 and 88 MHz. With good sensitivity, high time and frequency resolution, and an instantaneous field of view up to ~ 20,000 deg2, the LWA1 an ideal instrument for searching for transient phenom- ena. This dissertation presents transient work done with the LWA1, which includes a search for prompt emission from gamma ray bursts as well as a blind search for un- specific transients. These searches resulted in new limits on astronomical transients and the discovery of radio emission from large meteors (fireballs). This dissertation also presents a highly sensitive followup study on the fireball emission, which has yielded new insight into the origin of the emission, suggesting that it is emission of plasma waves within the plasma trail.
Degree Name
Physics
Level of Degree
Doctoral
Department Name
Physics & Astronomy
First Committee Member (Chair)
Henning, Patricia
Second Committee Member
Dowell, Jayce
Third Committee Member
Gilmore, Mark
Language
English
Keywords
Radio Astronomy, Meteors, Ionosphere
Document Type
Dissertation
Recommended Citation
Obenberger, Kenneth S.. "Monitoring the Long Wavelength Transient Sky with the LWA1 Telescope." (2016). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/phyc_etds/51