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

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