Interplanetary Scintillation with the Long Wavelength Array

  • CART Astrophysics Seminar Series

May 1, 2025 2:00 PM
PAIS 3205

Host:
Greg Taylor
Presenter:
Charlie Siders (UNM)
It is common knowledge that stars twinkle. This effect, also known as scintillation, is caused by variations in the index of refraction of the atmosphere. At radio frequencies, scintillation is caused instead by variations in the density of free electrons. As a rapidly varying plasma, the solar wind (or interplanetary medium) is a major source of scintillation in radio. By observing this interplanetary scintillation (IPS) from one or more stations, we can infer properties of the solar wind which would otherwise only be observable with spacecraft. I will describe how the solar wind produces interplanetary scintillation, how IPS observations are made, how to distinguish IPS from other sources of scintillation such as the ionosphere, and discuss our attempts to observe IPS using the Long Wavelength Array.

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