UofT AstroTour: Using Interstellar Plasma Lenses as Billion Kilometre Telescopes
Fifty years ago, two radio telescopes across Canada were combined to achieve the resolution of a telescope 3000 km across, a technique now known as VLBI. Interstellar plasma lenses bend light from sources like pulsars, creating multiple images of the same source on the sky. When we combine these images in the same way as radio telescope on Earth, we can measure the position and motion of their source. Since instead of being telescopes separated by 3000km these images are separated by billions of km, this results in remarkably high precision. In my talk, I will describe the first successful VLBI experiment, and the principles behind how it works. I will then talk about my current research, using VLBI to map the scattered images of pulsars, and using these scattered images to study physical properties of pulsars which were previously unmeasurable.
About the Speaker
Robert Main is a PhD candidate in Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Toronto. For his research, he analyses radio data of pulsars, attempting to use the scattering of pulsar light to map out their emission to unparalleled precision. He spends his free time writing a rock musical with his brother, watching kung-fu movies, befriending cats (and certain dogs), and jumping off of various things. He hopes someday to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Commander William Riker of the Starship Enterprise.
The U of T Astronomy Public Tour, or AstroTour, is a monthly event operated by the graduate students of the U of T Astronomy Department. The Tour features a public lecture by a member of the Department on topics ranging from their research to great moments in astronomical history. Following the lecture, tour-goers can peer at the night sky through the Department’s balcony and dome telescopes, or watch a planetarium show run live by astronomer. Admission to the tour is free. Seating for the lecture is on a first-come, first-served basis (doors open ten minutes before the start of the lecture), and the telescope observing is walk-in.
Who can attend: Everyone
Fee: Free
Reservations: Only required for Planetarium Shows
Organized by: Graduate Astronomy Students Association. The AstroTours are generously financed by the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics and the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Location: University of Toronto, McLennan Physical Laboratories (MP 203), 60 St George St., Toronto, ON M5S 1A7