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Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics

Thomas G. Pannuti

The Physical
Processes and
Observing Techniques
of Radio Astronomy
An Introduction
Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics

Series Editors
Neil Ashby, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
William Brantley, Department of Physics, Furman University, Greenville, SC, USA
Matthew Deady, Physics Program, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA
Michael Fowler, Department of Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville,
VA, USA
Morten Hjorth-Jensen, Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Michael Inglis, Department of Physical Sciences, SUNY Suffolk County
Community College, Selden, NY, USA
Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics (ULNP) publishes authoritative texts
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Thomas G. Pannuti

The Physical Processes

and Observing Techniques
of Radio Astronomy
An Introduction
Thomas G. Pannuti
Department of Physics, Earth Science
and Space Systems Engineering
Morehead State University
Morehead, KY, USA

ISSN 2192-4791 ISSN 2192-4805 (electronic)

Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics
ISBN 978-3-319-16981-1 ISBN 978-3-319-16982-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16982-8

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2020

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer International Publishing
Switzerland
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
For Angie and Michael—my wife and my son,
my loves and my world.
For my mother Mary, who nurtured and
encouraged my scientific curiosity since my
earliest years. This book is dedicated to her
loving memory.
For all of my family members and their
boundless love and support over the years.
“You can observe a lot by just
watching.”—Yogi Berra
Preface

The content of this book was first gathered as the substance for a course on radio
astronomy that is taught once an academic year at Morehead State University.
The students who typically enroll in this course are physics majors pursuing
a concentration in astrophysics as well as space systems engineering majors.
Nominally, both types of students enrolled in this class are juniors and seniors and
the class itself is a graduation requirement for each type of student. The structure
of the course includes lectures as well as the remote observation of prominent radio
sources with the 21 Meter Space Tracking Antenna that is adjacent to campus and
operated by the Space Science Center of the Department of Physics, Earth Sciences
and Space Systems Engineering of Morehead State University.
I have personally taught this course since the Fall 2010 semester and guided
its development: as I taught the class, I found myself unable to find a textbook
with sufficiently detailed descriptions of natural phenomena and their accompanying
physical processes along with examples and problems that illustrate these concepts
as well as facilitate understanding by students of these phenomena. To help fill this
void, I prepared my own lectures, exams, and homework assignments for the course:
these prepared materials form the basis of this text.
Radio astronomy is an extremely vast subject spanning many fields of physics,
engineering, and computer science: thus, no single textbook—especially a textbook
intended for a single-semester undergraduate-level course—could do the entire field
as a whole justice. In recognition of this reality coupled with the need to reconcile
the scope of the textbook with a semester-long course, I have first provided a
background review of some pertinent basic concepts that is relevant to the text that
follows, such as angles and angular measurement (which segues into a discussion
about sky coordinate systems), gravity, orbits, and orbital motion (with a discussion
and review of Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion), light (with treatment of
both wave- and particle-like properties, the polarization of light—which is essential
knowledge to master in radio astronomy—along with the Doppler Effect), and
finally the Bohr model of the atom and relativity. The instructor of the course and
the students may proceed with this chapter as a whole or in part—or omit it in
whole or in part—based on the level of preparation of the students and the scope

vii
viii Preface

of the course. After the review of background physics concepts, I have chosen to
concentrate on the most commonly encountered physical processes encountered in
radio astronomy (namely, synchrotron radiation, thermal bremsstrahlung emission,
and molecular transitions), thus laying the foundation when astronomical sources
that emit copious amounts of radiation through these processes are encountered later
in the text.
Following the discussions about the background physical processes, I next
discuss the principles and techniques of radio astronomy, namely the observing
strategies of single dish radio telescopes and interferometers. As part of this dis-
cussion, I emphasize presenting some commonly encountered equations that will be
useful for computing such crucial properties as the sensitivity of the radio telescope
or interferometer. In this context, I also provide a description of Fourier transforms:
my motivation for providing treatment of Fourier transforms here is twofold. Firstly,
Fourier transforms are clearly relevant in the creation of astronomical sources at
all wavelengths and not solely at the radio. Secondly, because Fourier transforms
will be encountered by both types of students whom have typically enrolled in my
radio astronomy class (specifically, in higher-level physics and mathematics courses
for the physics majors and higher-level engineering courses for the space science
majors), I feel that an exposure to Fourier transforms in this context is timely and
helpful to the students. For similar reasons, I have presented a discussion in this
chapter about Bessel functions as well. In this chapter (and, for that matter, in this
textbook), I do not provide a very rigorous treatment about the hardware involved
in radio astronomy: I have taken this approach for two reasons. Firstly, the available
literature on hardware for radio astronomy is already quite plentiful. Secondly, to
keep the scope of the material that may be covered by this book within the time
frame of a semester, I have elected not to provide much discussion on this topic.
In the remaining chapters, discussions are presented in turn about radio observa-
tions of sources in the Solar System, the Galaxy, external galaxies, and cosmology
itself. It is clearly beyond the scope of any text to provide very detailed descriptions
of radio observations (and the insights revealed by these observations) of all types
of astronomical sources, so these chapters are best viewed as an attempt to cover in
a broad manner the types of astronomical sources that are currently the subjects of
extensive study and coverage in the modern research literature on radio astronomy.
I hope this textbook proves useful for both instructors and students who are
exploring radio astronomy as part of a broader study of astrophysics or space
science. I welcome feedback and comments from all readers to help improve the
quality of this work.

Morehead, KY, USA Thomas G. Pannuti

July 2020
Acknowledgements

Significant efforts like the creation of a textbook over such an expansive topic as
radio astronomy are never created in a vacuum, and the present work is no exception.
I would like to express my most heartfelt thanks to the following people, without
whom the dream of this textbook would never have been realized.
Thanks to everyone at Springer Publishing for shepherding this effort to com-
pletion. I would like to thank Hannah Kaufman, Silembarasan Panneerselvam,
Mario Gabriele and Jeffrey Taub for guiding me through the process of writing
this book, making all of the necessary arrangements, fielding all of my questions,
and providing boundless encouragement along the way. Thanks also to Nora Rawn
from Springer Publishing for also assisting in the development of the manuscript as
well.
Thanks to Morehead State University for granting me a sabbatical during the
2014–2015 academic year to concentrate on the writing of this textbook. Thanks
to the Director of the Space Science Center and my former department chair—
Dr. Benjamin Malphrus—for encouraging the development of astronomy courses
and a research program in astrophysics centered on undergraduate students within
the Space Science Center at the Department of Physics, Earth Sciences, and Space
Systems Engineering (formerly the Department of Earth and Space Sciences) at
Morehead State University. Thanks to Space Science Center staff engineers Mike
Combs, Bob Kroll, and Jeff Kruth for keeping the 21 Meter Space Tracking
Antenna at the Space Science Center in working order and capable of making
sensitive astronomical observations. Thanks also to Jeff Kruth for his willingness
to give guest lectures in my courses on the hardware of radio astronomy. Special
thanks to my colleagues in the Department of Physics, Earth Sciences, and Space
Systems Engineering at Morehead State University: to Professor Eric Jerde for
his encouragement of this work as department chairperson and Professor Dirk
Grupe for helping to “field test” lectures, homework assignments, and examinations
that I had prepared for the course during the Fall 2014 semester while I was on
sabbatical. Thanks as well to Dr. Chuck Conner for useful discussions about Fourier
Transforms.

ix
x Acknowledgements

Thanks also to all of the Morehead State University students who have taken this
course over the years and provided useful feedback on all of the course content that
formed the basis of this book. Among the many students who provided feedback,
I’d like to specifically thank Kristen Ammons, Megan Conley, Ethan Palmer and
Katerina Winters. Special thanks to Mikey Awbrey, Matthew Hezelstine, and Marina
Vitatoe—all graduates of Morehead State University—for preparing many of the
figures seen in the book. Thanks also to Evan van Daniker of the Craft Academy for
also providing comments and feedback on the text.
Thanks to Dr. Elias Brinks who taught me the fundamentals of radio astronomy
in a graduate and advanced undergraduate level course on the subject when I was a
bright-eyed first-year graduate student at the Department of Physics and Astronomy
at the University of New Mexico. The content presented by Dr. Brinks in that
course helped form many of my ideas for teaching radio astronomy, and those
ideas are fleshed out in the present textbook. Thanks also to my dissertation advisor
Dr. Nebojsa Duric who taught me so much about radio astronomy as I worked to
complete my dissertation topic.
I am very grateful to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) who
provided financial support and wonderful hospitality for my sabbatical visit to
the Science Operations Center (SOC) at Socorro during the Fall 2014 semester.
Thanks to SOC Director Dr. Dale Frail for arranging the funding for my sabbatical
visit, providing a welcoming atmosphere, offering feedback on an earlier version
of this text, and hosting wine tasting parties at his home in Socorro. Thanks to
SOC Assistant Director Dr. Claire Chandler for serving as my host for my visit,
making arrangements for my stay at the SOC, and for providing comments on the
manuscript.
There were many very kind people at Socorro who did so much to make sure
my visit was very pleasant and productive. The SOC is a vibrant and welcoming
facility and there were so many staff members, staff engineers, postdocs, and
staff astronomers who were always welcoming, friendly, and encouraging, whether
assisting me with the writing of this manuscript, inviting me out to weekly social
dinners, or inviting me to join the SOC’s soccer team. Thanks to Skip Lagoyda,
Allen Lewis, Lori Appel, Terry Lopez, and Bernadette Lucero for helping me to
become settled in Socorro and in the SOC and for answering all of my questions,
including ones about the copy machine. The engineers, postdocs, and astronomers
were all very helpful and encouraging in my efforts: many thanks to Brent Avery,
Hichem Ben Frej, Dr. Barry Clark, Dr. Mark Claussen, Dr. Paul Demorest, Dr.
Vivek Dhawan, Steve Durand, Dave Finley, Brian and Marie Glendenning, Dr.
Miller Goss, Dr. Eric Griesen, Dr. Chris Hales, Dr. Hubertus Intema, Preshanth
Jagannathan, Minnie Mao, Drew and Heidi Medlin, Dr. Betsy Mills, Dr. Amy
Mioduszewski, Dr. Steve Meyers, Dr. Juergen Ott, Dr. Frazer Owen, Peggy and
Dr. Rick Perley, Dr. Lorant Sjouwerman, Meri Stanley, Stephan Witz, and Dr. Joan
Wrobel for all that they did during my visit.
Thanks to Judy Stanley and Yvonne Magener—also in the SOC—for kindly
inviting me to participate in public outreach events at the Very Large Array during
Acknowledgements xi

my sabbatical visit to Socorro and encouraging me to help describe the Very Large
Array to members of the general public.
Thanks also to faculty and students at New Mexico Institute of Mining and
Technology at Socorro—namely, Crystal Anderson, Dr. Jean Eilek, and Dr. Dave
Westpfahl—who also provided feedback and suggestions on the manuscript.
Thanks also to all of the astronomers at other institutions who provided input
and suggestions on the content of the book. To Dr. Tracey DeLaney (West Virginia
Wesleyan College), Dr. Mark Morris (University of California at Los Angeles),
Dr. Ylva Pihlstrom (University of New Mexico), Dr. Thomas Troland (University
of Kentucky), and Dr. Rosa Murphy Williams (Columbus State University), many
thanks for taking the time to review and provide commentary on the text.
Thanks to John Stoke for providing me with many images on behalf of NRAO
for inclusion in this book and for providing feedback on the images as well. Thanks
to Marsha Bishop (Observatory Librarian, NRAO) and Lance Utley (Database
Administrator, NRAO) for helping me obtain resources needed for writing this
book. Thanks as well to Dr. Yuri Kovalev and Dr. Kardashev Nikolay for furnishing
permission to reproduce the figure of the RadioASTRON satellite that appears
in this book. Thanks to Dr. Christina Lacey and Dr. Fabian Walter for granting
permission for figures from their papers to be included in this book.
Thanks to my family for all of their boundless love and support with all of my
efforts over the years. All of my successes in my life would not be possible without
them. My mother Mary always encouraged my interest in science and in particular
loved visiting the Very Large Array—this book is dedicated in part to her loving
memory. To my father Carl, my brothers Paul and Carl Jr., and my sister Joan—
thanks for all of the encouragement that you provided to your brother as he moved
across the country multiple times during his professional career as a scientist.
Last but certainly not least, thanks to Angela Brown Pannuti who one night
accepted my marriage proposal under a canopy of stars and brings light to all of
my days. And to our son Michael Pannuti, who always views the world and the sky
in wonder and fascination: he always inspires us and fills our world with love.
The research for this book has made use of NASA’s Astrophysics Data System.
Contents

1 Introduction: Why Make Astronomical Observations at Radio

Frequencies? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2 Angles, Gravity, Light, the Bohr Model of the Atom and Relativity . . . 17
2.1 Angles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.1.1 Trigonometry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.1.2 Solid Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.1.3 Sky Coordinate Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2 Gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.3 Orbits and Orbital Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.3.1 Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.3.2 Kepler’s First Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.3.3 Kepler’s Second Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.3.4 Kepler’s Third Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.4 Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.4.1 Wave-Like Properties of Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.4.2 Particle-Like Properties of Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.4.3 Wave-Particle Duality for Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
2.4.4 Polarization of Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
2.4.5 Doppler Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.5 The Bohr Model of the Atom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2.6 Relativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.7 Cosmic Rays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

xiii
xiv Contents

3 Emission Mechanisms: Blackbody Radiation, An Introduction

to Radiative Transfer, Synchrotron Radiation, Thermal
Bremsstrahlung, and Molecular Rotational Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
3.1 Blackbody Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
3.2 An Introduction to Radiative Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.3 Synchrotron Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3.4 Thermal Bremsstrahlung. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
3.5 Molecular Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
4 Radio Observations: An Introduction to Fourier Transforms,
Convolution, Observing Through Earth’s Atmosphere, Single
Dish Telescopes, and Interferometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
4.1 An Introduction to Fourier Transforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
4.2 Convolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
4.3 Angular Resolution and Observing Through Earth’s Atmosphere . . . 123
4.4 Single Dish Radio Astronomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
4.5 Interferometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
4.5.1 Two-Element Interferometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
4.5.2 Multi-Element Interferometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
4.5.3 A Discussion about Interferometer Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Appendix: Bessel Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
5 Solar System Radio Astronomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
5.1 Radio Emission from the Solar System: An Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
5.2 Radio Continuum and Radar Observations of Astronomical
Sources in the Solar System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
5.2.1 Continuum Radio Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
5.2.2 Radar Observations of Solar System Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
5.3 Radio Observations of the Sun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
5.4 Radio Observations of the Planets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
5.4.1 The Moon and The Terrestrial Planets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
5.4.2 The Giant Planets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
5.5 Radar and Radio Observations of the Minor Bodies
in the Solar System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
5.6 Radio Searches for Exoplanets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Contents xv

6 Galactic Radio Astronomy: Galactic Structure, HII Regions,

Supernova Remnants, Neutron Stars and Pulsars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
6.1 Overview of Radio Observations of the Milky Way Galaxy . . . . . . . . . . 191
6.2 Radio Observations of the Diffuse Component
of the Milky Way Galaxy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
6.2.1 Galactic Coordinate System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
6.2.2 HI Emission: The 21-cm Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
6.2.3 Galactic Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
6.2.4 Motion in the Galaxy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
6.2.5 Magnetic Fields: The Zeeman Effect and Zeeman Splitting. . 208
6.2.6 Propagation Through the Interstellar Medium
and Plasma Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
6.3 Radio Observations of Star Formation Sites in the Milky Way
Galaxy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
6.3.1 The Virial Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
6.3.2 Molecular Clouds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
6.3.3 Masers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
6.3.4 HII Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
6.4 Radio Observations of the End Points of Stellar Evolution
in the Milky Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
6.4.1 Maser Emission from Evolved Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
6.4.2 Microquasars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
6.4.3 Supernova Remnants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
6.4.4 Neutron Stars and Pulsars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
6.4.5 Rotation Measure and Dispersion Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
6.4.6 Galactic Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
7 Extragalactic Radio Astronomy: Galaxy Classification, Active
Galactic Nuclei, Superluminal Motion, Galaxy Clusters, and the
Cosmic Microwave Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
7.1 Extragalactic Radio Astronomy and Galaxy Classification . . . . . . . . . . . 269
7.1.1 Cosmology and Hubble’s Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
7.2 Normal Galaxies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
7.2.1 HI Line Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
7.2.2 Tully–Fisher Relation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
7.2.3 Radio Continuum Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
7.3 Radio Galaxies and Active Galactic Nuclei . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
7.3.1 Blazars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
7.3.2 Classification System of Radio Galaxies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
7.3.3 Radio Jets from Active Galactic Nuclei . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
7.3.4 Superluminal Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
7.3.5 Radio Lobes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
7.3.6 Spectral Energy Distributions of Radio Galaxies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
7.3.7 Doppler Boosting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
xvi Contents

7.4 Galaxy Clusters and Associated Diffuse Radio Emission. . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

7.5 The Cosmic Microwave Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
7.6 The Sunyaev–Zeldovich Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Solutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Acronyms

AGN Active Galactic nuclei

ALMA Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array
ATCA Australia Telescope Compact Array
AU Astronomical unit
AUI Associated Universities, Inc.
CGS Centimeter–grams–seconds unit system
DEC Declination
DM Dispersion measure
DRAO Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory
EDT Eastern daylight time
FAST Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope
FR-I Fanaroff–Riley class I radio galaxy
FR-II Fanaroff–Riley class II radio galaxy
FSRQ Flat spectrum radio-loud quasars
GMRT Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope
HBL High-frequency peaked blazars
HI Neutral (atomic) hydrogen
HII Ionized hydrogen
JVLA Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array
LBL Low-frequency peaked blazars
LHA Local hour angle
LST Local sidereal time
MKS Meter–kilograms–seconds unit system
NRAO National Radio Astronomy Observatory
NSF National Science Foundation
OVV Optically violent variable blazars
RA Right ascension
RM Rotation measure
UT Universal time

xvii
xviii Acronyms

VLBA Very Long Baseline Array

VLBI Very long baseline interferometry
WMAP Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
WSRT Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope
Chapter 1
Introduction: Why Make Astronomical
Observations at Radio Frequencies?

1.1 Introduction

The title of this chapter—“Why Make Astronomical Observations at Radio

Frequencies?”—provides a starting point for the present text and motivates a
description of radio astronomy itself in the context of observational astronomy as
conducted at all wavelength bands. At the outset of human history, astronomical
observations were conducted solely at optical wavelengths, first with the naked eye
and then—commencing roughly in the seventeenth century by Galileo Galilei and
his contemporaries—with the telescope. Radio astronomy may trace its origins to
the 1930s, but it did not flourish as a robust and formal branch of astronomy in
its own right until after World War II. Like many fields of astronomy that operate
outside of optical wavelengths, astronomers were initially reluctant to believe the
results presented by observers conducting observations at radio wavelengths. In
fact, the community of professional astronomers initially greeted descriptions of
radio observations of astronomical sources with skepticism that these sources would
produce any appreciable amounts of emission at radio wavelengths.
However, in time the community came to accept observations made at radio
wavelengths of astronomical sources as accurate, meaningful, and crucial in helping
to advance our understanding of the properties of astronomical sources. Today,
astronomers routinely draw upon radio observations along with observations made
at other wavelengths (such as optical and infrared) when making multi-wavelength
studies of objects as they develop the most thorough understanding possible of these
objects. In fact, professional astronomers often receive training in conducting and
analyzing observations made at not just optical wavelengths but at other wavelengths
too (including radio) during their undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral studies.
This multi-wavelength training illustrates the direction of modern astronomers to
develop the most thorough understanding possible of the properties of astronomical

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2020 1

T. G. Pannuti, The Physical Processes and Observing Techniques of Radio
Astronomy, Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16982-8_1
2 1 Introduction

sources. Within the developments of these understandings, radio observations often

play a very crucial role.
A detailed history about radio astronomy is beyond the scope of the current text:
thorough treatments of this subject have been presented elsewhere [1–5] and only
a very brief summary is presented here. Like all forms of observational astronomy,
radio engineers and astronomers design hardware to collect light (electromagnetic
radiation) from astronomical sources.1 It is important to provide an initial context
for the range of the wavelengths of light (the distance from one peak of a wave
to the next) that will be considered in this text to correspond to radio astronomy.
While there is no firmly defined definition of the range of wavelengths for the
radio domain of the electromagnetic spectrum, a workable definition would include
radiation with wavelengths of approximately one millimeter (10−3 m) or greater.
Published refereed papers on radio observations will describe observations that
have been conducted at a particular wavelength: in a complementary manner, an
observation may also be said to have been conducted at a particular frequency (the
time required for the wave to complete one cycle). Either convention is appropriate,
given the complementary nature of wavelengths and frequencies for light: therefore,
a complementary definition of radio astronomy based on frequency of the observed
radiation would be for light with frequencies of 1011 cycles per second—also
known as 1011 Hertz (Hz)—or greater.2 Like all forms of electromagnetic radiation,
the study of radio waves emitted from astronomical sources must contend with
the effects of the media through which the waves propagate: these media include
both the atmosphere of the Earth and the space between the Earth and the
astronomical source of interest. The effects upon electromagnetic radiation by the
medium through which the radiation propagates are illustrated with the well-known
phenomenon of stars appearing to “twinkle” at night due to turbulence in the
atmosphere. At radio wavelengths, astronomers must consider such effects as the
opacity of the Earth’s ionosphere (which absorbs light waves with frequencies of
approximately 9 MHz or less and prevents such light from reaching the surface
of the Earth) and absorption by molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere at particular
frequencies. These considerations necessitate the placement of radio observatories
that conduct observations at those wavelengths at high altitudes (such as the tops of
mountains). At such altitudes, a significant portion (by mass) of the atmosphere by
mass may lie below the height of the observatory, thereby reducing the column of the
atmosphere (and the potential amount of turbulence) through which the observatory
will detect radiation from the source of interest. A more detailed discussion about
the challenges of making observations with radio telescopes is presented in Sect. 4.3.
In modern times, radio observations must also contend with interference from

1A detailed treatment of the properties of light is presented in Sect. 2.4.1.

2 This unit is named in tribute to German physicist Heinrich Hertz (1857–1894), who was the
first scientist to conclusively prove the existence of electromagnetic waves. In radio astronomy, the
typical frequency ranges at which astronomical observations are measured are usually expressed in
terms of Megahertz (106 Hertz—abbreviated as “MHz”) and Gigahertz (109 Hertz—abbreviated
as “GHz”).
1.1 Introduction 3

Fig. 1.1 Karl Guthe Jansky with the antenna he constructed in Holmdel, New Jersey, with which
the discovery of the extraterrestrial radio emission (namely, emission from the center of the Milky
Way Galaxy) was made. Image Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF

artificial sources, such as cellular phone towers and wireless Internet devices, which
have rapidly proliferated. These devices transmit extensive stray radiation at radio
frequencies, thus threatening the environments of radio observatories that were
formerly quite pristine.
The history of radio astronomy may best be described as a story of serendipity.
The birth of radio astronomy is typically attributed to Karl Guthe Jansky (1905–
1950). Jansky earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of
Wisconsin and joined the staff of the Bell Telephone Laboratories in Holmdel,
New Jersey, in 1928. Jansky was tasked with identifying sources of radio static
that affected trans-Atlantic radio communications: to conduct his analysis, he
constructed an antenna with a diameter of approximately 30 m and a height
of approximately 6 m. The antenna was designed to detect radio waves with a
wavelength of 14.6 m (corresponding to a frequency of 20.5 MHz) and rotated
on a turntable so that it could point in any direction (see Fig. 1.1). Rotating the
antenna also allowed Jansky to pinpoint the origin of sources of radio emission. As
expected prior to the start of his observations, Jansky detected radio emission from
several terrestrial sources (namely thunderstorms) but also detected an additional
source of emission from an uncertain origin. Noticing that the intensity of this
4 1 Introduction

peculiar source increased and decreased over the course of a day, Jansky initially
believed that the source of this emission may be the Sun. However, more careful
analysis of this emission revealed that the periodicity of the emission was 23 h
and 56 min, which corresponds to the sidereal day (the period of time required
for the Earth to complete one rotation relative to the reference frame of distant
stars) rather than a solar day (which lasts 24 h and corresponds to the amount of
time required for the Sun to complete one whole path across the sky).3 Comparing
optical maps of the sky with his observations, Jansky realized that the source of
the radio emission corresponded to the Milky Way Galaxy—the home galaxy
to which the Sun belongs—and that this form of emission was strongest in the
direction of the constellation of Sagittarius. Modern astronomers now know that
the supermassive black hole that is located at the center of our Galaxy is coincident
with this peak of strongest emission identified by Jansky: this radio source is now
known as Sagittarius A∗ (pronounced “Sagittarius A-star”).4
The discovery of this unexpected source of radio emission and its remarkable
origin intrigued Jansky: his work represented the first detection of radio emission
from an extraterrestrial source. In 1933, he published his discovery in an engineer-
ing journal as a paper with the somewhat prosaic title “Electrical Disturbances
Apparently of Extraterrestrial Origin” [6]. The title was prosaic in the sense
that it belied the remarkable discovery of radio emission from far beyond the
Earth! Jansky would go on to propose to Bell Laboratories the construction of
a dish antenna with a diameter of 30 m with the purpose of conducting formal
astronomical observations. However, Bell Labs rejected this proposal: with the
origin of the source of noise determined and because this noise did not dramatically
affect commercial communications, the company had no further interest in this
phenomenon and funding its investigation. Furthermore, the United States was
still in the midst of the Great Depression and funding for ambitious new research
apparatus such as the one Jansky proposed was extremely scarce. The onset of World
War II further delayed the development of radio astronomy on an international
scale: in the meantime, Jansky was re-assigned to another research project for Bell
Laboratories and he never conducted any further work on radio astronomy.
Jansky’s crucial discovery attracted little attention from the community of
professional astronomers (or from many scientists or engineers at all), but it did
pique the interest of Grote Reber (1911–2002) (see Fig. 1.2). Reber had earned a
degree in electrical engineering and was an amateur radio operator: he read about
Jansky’s work in 1933 and decided that he wanted to pursue professionally the study
of radio emission from astronomical sources. Reber actually applied for a job at
the Bell Laboratories (the same company that employed Jansky), but unfortunately
the United States was still in the midst of the Great Depression and jobs were not
plentiful at that time. Undeterred, Reber built a radio telescope in a side yard of
his mother’s home in Wheaton, Illinois (see Fig. 1.3). This telescope consisted of a

3 The concept of sidereal time is discussed more fully in Sect. 2.1.3.2.

4 Properties of the center of the Milky Galaxy are discussed in detail in Sect. 6.4.6.
1.1 Introduction 5

Fig. 1.2 Grote Reber in

1975. Image Credit:
NRAO/AUI/NSF

parabolic metal mirror called a “dish” with a diameter of 9 m that focused incident
radio waves to a receiver located 8 m above the dish. In this respect, Reber’s radio
telescope resembled optical telescopes with reflecting mirrors that feature surfaces
with parabolic shapes, which bring light to a focus at a position in front of the
mirror—this position is known as the prime focus. With its parabolic shape, Reber’s
radio telescope—often considered to be the first radio telescope in the history of
astronomy—strongly resembled modern radio telescopes that also employ dishes
to collect light as well as smaller dishes used to receive and transmit commercial
broadcasts. Reber completed his telescope in 1937: his first receiver operated at a
frequency of 3300 MHz but failed to detect any emission from astronomical sources.
Observations conducted with a second receiver operating at a frequency of 900 MHz
also failed to detect such emission but finally—with a third receiver operating at a
frequency of 160 MHz—Reber at last detected emission from astronomical sources
and thus confirmed Jansky’s discovery. He published his work in the Astrophysical
Journal—a leading international research journal in astronomy and astrophysics—
in 1940 [7]. Besides confirming Jansky’s result with the detection of radio emission
from the Milky Way Galaxy, Reber’s paper also described the detection of radio
emission from the nearby Andromeda Galaxy (also known as M31) and the attempt
to detect radio emission from several bright stars, the Sun, the Mars, and the Orion
Nebula (no emission was detected from any of these three objects). In 1944 Reber
published a second paper in the Astrophysical Journal [8] where he presented a radio
map of the northern sky (that is, the portion of the sky visible to his telescope in
Illinois) made at a frequency of 160 MHz. This map was the first detailed radio map
made of at least a portion of the sky. Not only did his map confirm the presence of
6 1 Introduction

Fig. 1.3 The first dish

antenna radio telescope (with
a diameter of 9 m) as built by
Grote Reber in 1937 in a side
yard of his mother’s house in
Wheaton, Illinois. Reber used
wooden rafters, galvanized
sheet metal, and spare parts
from a Ford Model T truck to
build the telescope. Reber
would later himself
reconstruct his telescope just
outside the NRAO office in
Green Bank, West Virginia.
The reconstructed telescope
serves as a monument to
Reber’s pioneering work in
conducting the first radio
astronomical observations.
Image Credit:
NRAO/AUI/NSF

the powerful radio source detected toward the constellation of Sagittarius by Jansky,
but it also contained the first detections of other luminous radio sources seen in the
sky known to modern radio astronomers, such as the supernova remnant Cassiopeia
A and the luminous radio galaxy Cygnus A.
One of the major results of Reber’s research was the first (albeit crude) revela-
tions about the emission processes associated with astronomical sources detected by
radio telescopes. By comparing the amount of light or flux emitted by an object at
different frequencies, a basic understanding of the emission process associated with
the astronomical source (and thus insights into the true nature of the source) may
be gleaned. When radio observations were first conducted, astronomers expected
that the detected emission would be thermal in nature (as modeled as a phenomenon
known as blackbody radiation), in that the amount of detected flux would decrease
with decreasing frequency. Instead, Reber found that while the fluxes from some
astronomical sources did indeed decline as expected, for other sources the amount of
detected flux would in fact increase with decreasing frequency. This result puzzled
astronomers and sources that exhibited such spectral behavior were classified as
“non-thermal.” It was not until the 1950s that astronomers realized that the true
emission process associated with these latter sources was synchrotron radiation,
1.1 Introduction 7

a form of radiation emitted by high-velocity electrons that are gyrating in magnetic

fields.5
With the cessation of hostilities at the end of the World War II, radio astronomy
truly flourished as a bonafide branch of observational astronomy. Many of the
advances in radio astronomy were spurred by surplus military radar hardware that
became available to astronomers once military operations had ended: significant
technological advances in the capabilities of this hardware as spurred by the neces-
sities of war proved to be essential to astronomers attempting to detect emission
from ever fainter radio sources. A key challenge that faces all radio telescopes (and
the astronomers who use them) is attaining both a sensitivity (a description of the
ability of the telescope to detect signals from astronomical sources to ever lower
intensities) and an angular resolution (the ability of the telescope to resolve fine
detail in the angular structure of the source) that facilitates a ready comparison with
observations made of the same astronomical sources at other wavelengths. In the
case of sensitivity, it must be noted at the outset of this text that the radio emission
detected from astronomical sources is exceptionally weak (as discussed in Chap. 4)
and therefore one of the main purposes of the hardware of radio astronomy (both
the physical structure of the telescope and the hardware required to amplify signals)
is to collect this weak signal and amplify it considerably so that the emission from
these sources are readily detected. Thus, a considerable fraction of the processing
of the radio signals from astronomical sources involves amplification. In regard to
angular resolution, the angular size of the smallest structure that can be resolved by
a telescope is approximately the ratio of the wavelength at which the observation
is conducted divided by the aperture or diameter of the telescope (as discussed in
Chap. 4). Because optical wavelengths are approximately a million times smaller
than the wavelengths of light in the radio domain, large apertures are required
for radio telescopes to attain an angular resolution that approaches the angular
resolution that is attained routinely at optical (and other shorter) wavelengths. With
the goal of attaining the best sensitivity and angular resolution possible, the decades
following World War II saw the construction of radio telescopes of ever larger
size with increasingly sophisticated hardware for amplifying signal. Examples of
such observatories (including their aperture sizes) are given in Table 1.1: one such
observatory—the Parkes radio telescope in Australia—is shown in Fig. 1.4.
The nominal maximum aperture of a steerable single radio telescope (subject
to constraints such as engineering and cost) is approximately 100 m, though novel
telescope construction methods have created instruments with apertures that exceed
this value.6 Despite such a large diameter, a radio telescope with such an aperture
would still be unable to attain the angular resolution attained even by an optical

5 Blackbody radiation and synchrotron radiation will be discussed in elaborate detail when emission

mechanisms are discussed in Chap. 3.

6 For example, regarding the three largest telescopes given in Table 1.1, the Arecibo radio telescope

and the 500-m Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) are both actually contoured out of natural
valleys. Regarding the RATAN-600 telescope, this telescope is comprised of a large number of
individual reflector units arranged in a circle that direct incoming radiation from astronomical
sources to a central receiver. This telescope thus achieves the angular resolution of a telescope
8 1 Introduction

Table 1.1 Examples of prominent modern single dish radio telescopes

Name Diameter (m) Country
RATAN-600 600 Russia
FAST (Five-Hundred-Meter Aperture 500 China
Spherical Telescope)
Arecibo 300 United States of America (Puerto
Rico)
Green Bank 110×100 United States of America
Effelsberg 100 Germany
Jodrell Bank 76 United Kingdom
Galenki 70 Russia
Yevpatoria 70 Ukraine
Parkes 64 Australia
Sardinia 64 Italy
Usuda 64 Japan
Large Millimeter Telescope 50 Mexico
Algonquin 46 Canada
Nobeyama 45 Japan
Yebes 40 Spain
Torún 32 Poland
Medicina 32 Italy
Hartebeesthoek 26 South Africa
Hobart 26 Australia (Tasmania)
Onsala 25 Sweden
Sheshan 25 China
Mopra 22 Australia
Morehead 21 United States of America
Metsähovi 14 Finland
Warkworth 12 New Zealand

telescope by a wide margin. To address this shortcoming (in a manner that is cost
effective), astronomers construct multiple radio telescopes and combine signals
from each individual telescope to emulate the angular resolution capabilities of
a single radio telescope with a greater diameter. In fact, the angular resolution
attained by the array of individual radio telescopes is equivalent to that achieved
by a single radio telescope with a diameter corresponding to the distance between
the most widely separate individual radio telescopes. This principle of combining
(“interfering”) signals from multiple radio telescopes to attain superior angular
resolution is known as interferometry, and arrays of radio telescopes that conduct
observations through this principle are known as interferometers.7 The best-known

with a diameter of 600 m. Note, however, that neither RATAN-600 nor FAST nor Arecibo are fully
steerable telescopes and therefore can only observe limited portions of the sky.
7 Interferometry and interferometers will be discussed in more detail when telescopes and observing

techniques at radio wavelengths are discussed in Chap. 4.

1.1 Introduction 9

Fig. 1.4 The Parkes 64-m radio telescope. Image Credit: Stewart Duff

radio observatory that operates as an interferometer is the Karl G. Jansky Very Large
Array (JVLA) located in New Mexico, United States of America (see Fig. 1.5). The
JVLA conducts observations typically at wavelengths ranging from 0.7 to 400 cm:
it is comprised of 27 individual radio telescopes each with a diameter of 25 m.
The individual telescopes may be moved along railroad tracks to placement in one
of four different main configurations (as driven by different scientific objectives).
The maximum separation between individual telescopes is approximately 36 km
and thus—in that particular configuration—the JVLA may attain the same angular
resolution as a single radio telescope with that diameter. The JVLA is situated on
the Plains of San Agustin that was leveled by an ancient lake: the flat expanse
over which the antennas are situated makes the array of individual antennas to
be roughly co-planar, which simplifies the interference of signals from individual
antennas. Other examples of interferometers currently in operation include the Giant
Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) near Pune, India; the Australia Telescope
Compact Array (ATCA) near Narrabri, Australia; the Westerbork Synthesis Radio
Telescope (WSRT) near Westerbork, the Netherlands, and finally the Dominion
Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) Synthesis Telescope near Okanagan
Falls, British Columbia, Canada. A listing of well-known radio interferometers is
given in Table 1.2. In modern astronomy, perhaps the most remarkable interfer-
ometer that has recently commenced operations is the Atacama Large Millimeter
Array (ALMA) [9, 10]. Commissioned in 2013 and located in the Atacama desert in
northern Chile, ALMA makes observations at millimeter wavelengths and operates
10 1 Introduction

Fig. 1.5 An image of the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA). The array is comprised of 27
antennas, each with a diameter of 25 m. Image Credit: W. Grammer, NRAO/AUI/NSF

at an altitude of 5100 m (see Fig. 1.6). The high altitude combined with the
very dry climate of the observatory site serves to minimize the effects of water
vapor, which may dramatically hamper astronomical observations made within this
wavelength range. The placement of an observatory that operates at millimeter
wavelengths at an extremely high altitude helps to illustrate the phenomenon of
atmospheric windows: the atmosphere of the Earth is not equally transparent
to light at all wavelengths but instead is more opaque at some wavelengths than
others.8 For example, the atmosphere is opaque to electromagnetic radiation at
very short wavelengths (namely gamma-ray, X-ray, and ultraviolet radiation): for
this reason, astronomical observations performed at these wavelengths must be
conducted from orbiting observatories placed above the Earth’s atmosphere. In
contrast, electromagnetic radiation at optical wavelengths may be conducted from
sea level because the Earth’s atmosphere is effectively transparent to this radiation.
The transmission characteristics of the Earth’s atmosphere in the radio domain of the
spectrum are complex: the ionosphere of the Earth reflects radiation at the longest
wavelengths (approximately 1 m and greater) into space, making observations of
astronomical sources at these wavelengths impossible. The atmosphere of the Earth
is essentially transparent to electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths on the
order of a centimeter, so observations may be conducted at these wavelengths at

8 The concept of atmospheric windows will be discussed more extensively in Sect. 4.3.
1.1 Introduction 11

Table 1.2 Examples of prominent modern radio interferometers

Number of elements ×
Name diameter per element (m) Country
Australia Telescope Compact Array 6 × 22 Australia
(ATCA)
Dominion Radio Astrophysical 7×9 Canada
Observatory (DRAO)
Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope 30 × 45 India
(GMRT)
Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array 27 × 25 United States of America
(JVLA)
Westerbork Synthesis Radio 14 × 25 Netherlands
Telescope (WSRT)

Fig. 1.6 The ALMA Array. Notice that the array is composed of a mixture of antennas, some with
diameters of 7-m and some with 12-m. Image Credit: N. Gugliucci, CosmoQuest

approximately sea-level elevations. Lastly, copious amounts of water vapor in the

Earth’s atmosphere absorb electromagnetic radiation at millimeter wavelengths:
therefore, observatories like ALMA that conduct observations at such wavelengths
must be placed at high altitudes that exceed the typical scale height of water
vapor, thus reducing its impact on these observations. The challenges in observing
astronomical sources through the Earth’s atmosphere are discussed in more detail in
Sect. 4.3.
12 1 Introduction

Fig. 1.7 The VLBA Antenna in Owens Valley, CA, USA. This antenna is one of the ten that
comprise the VLBA: each one has a diameter of 25 m. Image Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF

Modern technology enables the measurement of the positions of individual

telescopes relative to each other with extremely high precision: such knowledge is
absolutely essential for conducting observations with interferometers, particularly
over ever-widening baselines. In recent decades, this technology has advanced
far enough to facilitate interferometric observations conducted over baselines of
thousands of kilometers: the angular resolution attained by such observations is
superior to that attained by optical observations by several orders of magnitude.
Conducting interferometric observations over such long baselines is known as Very
Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), and an example of such an interferometer
with such long baselines is the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). The VLBA
is based in the United States and conducts observations chiefly at centimeter
wavelengths: it is comprised of ten 25-m antennas distributed over the continental
United States, Hawaii, and the Virgin Islands. One of these antennas is shown
in Fig. 1.7: the baselines that separate these individual antennas span hundreds
to thousands of kilometers, and the largest—ranging from Mauna Kea in Hawaii
to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands—spans more than 8600 km, or over one-fifth
the circumference of the Earth. Another example of such an interferometer is the
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE): this interferometer uses extant radio
Another random document with
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intended to be so,) toward the men who
were disabled in the late war, but a large
majority of the prison survivors are excluded
from a pension under these laws. This
comes partly from the unfriendly spirit in
which the pension department has been
administered for the last six years, and partly
from the peculiar circumstances surrounding
their several cases.
Many paroled prisoners, on reaching the
Union lines were at once sent home on
furlough, without receiving any medical
treatment. The most of these were
afterwards discharged under General Order
No. 77, dated War Department, Washington,
D. C., April 28th, 1865, because physically
unfit for service, and hence there is no
official record whatever as to their disease.
If one of those men applies for a pension,
he is called upon to furnish the affidavit of
some army surgeon who treated him after
his release and prior to discharge, showing
that he then had the disease on which he
now claims a pension. For reasons stated,
this is impossible. The next thing is a call to
furnish an affidavit from some doctor who
treated the man while at home on furlough,
or certainly immediately following his final
discharge, showing that he was then afflicted
with identical disease on which pension is
now claimed. This is generally impossible,
for many reasons.
In most cases the released prisoner felt it
was not medicine he wanted, but the kindly
nursing of mother or wife, and nourishing
food. So no doctor was called, at least for
some months after reaching home. In the
instances where the doctor was called, not
infrequently he cannot now be found, cannot
swear that the soldier had any particular
disease for the first six months after
reaching home, as he was a mere skeleton
from starvation, and it required months of
careful nursing before he had vitality enough
for a disease to manifest itself.
Then again in many cases the poor victim
has never suffered from any particular
disease, but rather from a combination of
numerous ills, the sequence of a wrecked
constitution commonly termed by physicians,
“General Debility.” But the commissioner
refuses to grant a pension on disease save
where the proof is clear and positive of the
contracting of a particular disease while in
the service, of its existence at date of final
discharge, and of its continuous existence
from year to year for each and every year, to
present date.
In most cases it is impossible for a prison
survivor to furnish any such proof, and
hence his application is promptly rejected.
Besides these, there are hundreds of other
obstacles in the way of the surviving prisoner
of war who applies for a pension. One thing
is, he is called upon to prove by comrades
who were in prison with him, the origin and
nature of his disease, and his condition prior
to and at the time of his release. This is
generally impossible, as he was likely to
have but few comrades in prison with whom
he was on intimate terms, and these, if not
now dead, cannot be found, they are men
without sufficient knowledge of anatomy and
physiology, and not one out of a hundred
could conscientiously swear to the origin and
diagnosis of the applicant’s disease. Is it not
ridiculous for the government to insist upon
such preposterous evidence? Which, if
produced in due form, is a rule drawn up by
the applicant’s physican, and sworn to by the
witness—“cum grano salis,”—and in most
cases amounts to perjury for charity’s sake.
Hence, it will be seen the difficulties
surrounding the prison survivor who is
disabled and compelled to apply for a
pension are so numerous and
insurmountable as to shut out a very large
majority of the most needy and deserving
cases from the benefits of the general
pension laws entirely.
We claim, therefore, that as an act of
equal justice to these men, as compared
with other soldiers, there ought to be a law
passed admitting them to pensions on record
or other proof of confinement in a
confederate prison for a prescribed length of
time—such as Bill 4495—introduced by the
Hon. J. Warren Keifer, M. C., of Ohio
provides for. And if this bill is to benefit these
poor sufferers any, it must be passed
speedily, as those who yet remain will, at
best, survive but a few years longer.
This measure is not asked as a pencuniary
compensation for the personal losses these
men sustained, as silver and gold cannot be
weighed as the price for untold sufferings,
but it is asked that they may be partly
relieved from abject want, and their
sufferings alleviated to some extent by
providing them with the necessaries of life,
for nearly all of them are extremely poor,
consequent on the wreck of their physical
and mental powers.
 LIST OF THE DEAD

The following are those who died and were buried

at Andersonville, with full name, Co., Regt., date of
death and No. of grave in the Cemetery at that place,
alphabetically arranged by States. The No. before
each name is the same as marked at the head of the
graves. The list will be found to be very accurate.
ALABAMA.
Sept
7524 Barton Wm Cav 1L 64
1
Berry J M, S’t 1 May
2111 “
A 17
1 Aug
4622 Belle Robert “
A 3
1 Aug
5505 Boobur Wm “
E 13
Sept
8425 Brice J C “ 1L
11
Sept
8147 Guthrie J “ 1 I
8
1 June
2514 Henry P “
F 26
 996 Jones Jno F “ 1 Mar
K 15
1
4715 Mitchell Jno D Aug 4
A
1 Aug
5077 Ponders J Cav
H 8
Aug
5763 Panter R 1L
15
1 Aug
6886 Patterson W D
K 25
1 June
2504 Prett J R
F 3
1
10900 Redman W R Cav Oct 14
G
Aug
4731 Stubbs W 1 I
4
Total 15.

CONNECTICUT.
14 June
2380 Anderson A 64
K 23
16 July
3461 Batchelder Benj
C 17
16 July
3664 Baty John
C 19
14 Aug
7306 Brunkissell H
D 30
14 July
2833 Brennon M
B 3
7 July
3224 Burns Jno
I 12
10414 Blumly E 8 Oct
D 6
Apr
545 Bigelow Wm 7B
14
Nov
11965 Ball H A 3B
11
8 Nov
12089 Brookmeyer T W
H 18
16 Nov
12152 Burke H
D 24
Dec
12209 Bone A 1E
1
14 Oct
10682 Burnham F, Cor
I 11
16 Oct
10690 Barlow O L
E 11
18 Oct
10876 Bennett N
H 13
1 Aug
5806 Brown C H
H 15
Aug
5919 Boyce Wm 7B
17
Aug
6083 Bishop B H Cav 1 I
18
14 Aug
6184 Bushnell Wm
D 19
16 Sept
1763 Bailey F
E 4
21 June
2054 Brewer G E
A 16
6 Aug
5596 Burns B
G 14
5632 Balcomb 11 Aug 64
 B 14
16 Aug
5754 Beers James C
A 15
16 Oct
11636 Birdsell D
D 28
July
4296 Blakeslee H Cav 1L
30
18 July
3900 Bishop A
A 24
14 June
1493 Besannon Peter
B 2
30 July
2720 Babcock R
A 1
July
2818 Baldwin Thos Cav 1L
3
16 June
2256 Bosworth A M
D 21
11 Aug
5132 Bougin John
C 8
Brooks Wm D, 16 Aug
5152
Cor F 9
16 Aug
5308 Bower John
E 11
6 Aug
5452 Bently F
H 12
Aug
5464 Bently James Cav 1 I
12
2 Aug
4830 Blackman A, Cor Art
C 6
16 Sept
7742 Banning J F
E 3
Ballentine 16 Sept
8018
Robert A 6
12408 Bassett J B 11 Jan 65
B 6
Jan
12540 Bohine C 2E
27
Feb
12620 Bennis Charles 7K
8
16 July
3707 Chapin J L 64
A 21
7 July
3949 Cottrell P
C 25
11 July
3941 Clarkson
H 25
July
4367 Culler M 7E
31
18 Aug
4449 Connor D
F 1
16 Aug
4848 Carrier D B
D 6
1 Aug
6060 Cook W H Cav
G 18
16 Aug
6153 Clark H H
F 15
Aug
6846 Clark W 6A
25
10 Aug
5799 Champlain H
F 15
9 Apr
336 Cane John
H 2
Apr
620 Christian A M 1A
19
14 Apr
775 Crawford James
A 28
7316 Chapman M 16 Aug
 E 30
Aug
7348 Cleary P Cav 1B
31
Aug
7395 Campbell Robert 7E
31
16 Aug
7418 Culler M
K 31
16 Sept
7685 Carver John G
B 3
14 Sept
7780 Cain Thomas
G 4
8 Sept
9984 Crossley B
G 29
16 Oct
10272 Coltier W
B 3
11 Oct
11175 Callahan J
I 19
Oct
11361 Candee D M Art 2A 64
23
Mar
25 Dowd F 7 I
8
Aug
7325 Davis W Cav 1L
30
10 July
2813 Davis W
E 3
July
3614 Damery John 6A
20
11 Sept
7597 Diebenthal H
C 2
Sept
8568 Donoway J Cav 1A
12
16 Sept
8769 Dutton W H
K 14
5446 Dugan Charles 16 Aug
K 12
16 Oct
11339 Dean R
H 23
16 Oct
11481 Demmings G A
I 24
18 Nov
11889 Downer S
C 7
16 Nov
11991 Demming B J
G 13
16 July
3482 Emmonds A
K 17
14 July
4437 Easterly Thomas
G 31
Aug
4558 Earnest H C 6 I
2
16 Aug
7346 Ensworth John
C 31
Edwards O J, 8 Sept
7603
Cor G 2
16 Sept
8368 Evans N L
I 10
16 Oct
11608 Emmett W
K 28
Jan
12442 Eaton W 6F 65
12
14 Mar
186 Fluit C W 64
G 27
6 May
1277 Francell Otto
C 22
7 June
2612 Fry S
D 28
4444 Fibbles H 16 Aug
 G 1
Aug
4465 Fisher H 1E
1
Florence J J, 16 Aug
5123
Cor C 8
24 Aug
5382 Fuller H S
H 11
1 Aug
5913 Frisbie Levi Cav
G 17
Aug
5556 Fogg C S’t 7K
13
Sept
8028 Feely M 7 I
6
14 Sept
9089 Filby A
C 18
Oct
10255 Frederick John 7A
3
11 Nov
12188 Fagan P D
A 28
14 July
3028 Gordon John
G 7
9 July
4096 Gray Pat
H 27
July
4974 Grammon Jas Cav 1K
7
Gulterman J, July
4005 1E
Mus 26
16 Aug
5173 Gilmore J
C 9
16 Aug
7057 Gallagher P
D 28
18 Aug
7337 Gott G, Mus
- 30
7592 Goodrich J W 16 Sept
C 2
16 Sept
7646 Graigg W
B 3
11 Sept
9423 Guina H M
G 21
11 Oct
10300 Grady M
B 4
Oct
10397 Gladstone Wm 6K
6
Mar
49 Holt Thomas Cav 1A
15
14 June
2336 Hughes Ed
D 22
16 July
3195 Hitchcock Wm A
C 12
July
3448 Hall Wm G 1K
17
14 July
3559 Holcomb D
D 18
14 May
1350 Hilenthal Jas
C 25
16 July
3033 Haskins Jas
D 8
Aug
5029 Hollister A Cav 1L
8
16 Aug
5162 Hally Thomas
F 9
15 Aug
5352 Hanson F A
I 11
1 Aug
6695 Hodges Geo Cav
H 24
4937 Harwood G 15 Aug
 A 7
17 Aug
6964 Hoyt E S
B 27
16 Aug
7012 Hull M
E 27
16 Aug
7380 Holcomb A A
E 31
16 Sept
7642 Haley W
D 3
16 Sept
7757 Hubbard H D
D 4
18 Sept
8043 Haywood
E 11
16 Sept
8613 Heath I, S’t
K 13
16 Sept
9129 Hall B
G 18
11 Sept
9369 Heart W
F 20
16 Sept
9981 Hurley R A 64
I 29
18 Nov
12086 Hibbard A
D 18
14 Nov
12117 Hancock W
G 22
11 Nov
12163 Hudson Chas
C 26
16 Nov
8148 Hubbard B
A 8
11 Sept
9340 Islay H
- 4
Jamieson 7 April
737
Charles D 26
5221 Johnson John 16 Aug
E 10
11 Aug
7083 Johnson G W
G 28
Jamison J S, Q 1 Aug
7365 Cav
MS - 31
16 Sept
7570 Jones Jno J
B 2
6 Sept
7961 Jones James R
G 6
1 Sept
8502 Johnson F
D 12
16 Nov
11970 Johnson C S
E 12
16 Dec
12340 Johnson W
E 26
14 June
1590 Kingsbury C
K 3
11 Aug
5186 Klineland L
C 9
8 Aug
6374 Kempton B F
G 21
6 Aug
6705 Kershoff B
H 25
14 Aug
6748 Kelley F
I 25
Sept
7749 Kaltry J Cav 1L
3
7 Sept
8065 Kimball H H
H 7
7 Sept
8866 Kohlenburg C
D 15
10233 Kearn T 16 Oct
 A 2
16 July
3401 Lenden H
D 16
10 Aug
5893 Lastry J
I 16
Aug
5499 Lewis J 8E
12
14 Aug
6124 Leonard W
H 19
Lavanaugh W O, 16 Sept
7912
S’t C 5
8 Sept
7956 Linker C
G 6
7 Sept
9219 Lewis G H
G 19
Oct
10228 Lee, farrier Cav 1F
2
6 Mar
74 Mills W J
D 20
14 Mar
119 McCaulley Jas
D 20
14 June
2295 Miller Charles
I 21
16 July
3516 McCord P
G 18
14 July
3644 Miller A
D 19
11 July
3410 Mould James
E 16
15 Aug
3933 McGinnis J W
E 17
July
4079 Miller D Cav 1E
27
4417 Messenger A 16 July
G 31
11 Aug
4492 McLean Wm
F 1
8 Aug
4595 Marshalls B
H 3
16 Aug
5238 Mickallis F
F 10
16 Sept
7852 Miller F D
B
10 Sept
8150 Modger A
I 8
11 Aug
6902 Mape George
B 25
8 July
6240 Marshal L
H 20
1 Sept
7547 Moore A P, S’t Cav
H 2
16 Sept
8446 Mathews S J
K 11
1 Sept
8501 Myers L Cav
- 12
11 Sept
9170 Mertis C
C 18
14 Sept
9321 Milor W, S’t
F 20
16 Aug
5328 Miller H
A 11
16 Aug
6342 Malone John
B 22
Aug
6426 Messey M 7E
22
6451 McGee Thomas 11 Aug
 D 22
Aug
6570 McDavid James 1K
23
11 Aug
6800 Meal John
D 25
14 Oct
10595 McCreieth A
H 10
7 Oct
10914 McKeon J
H 14
16 Oct
11487 Murphy W
C 26
11 Oct
11538 McDowell J
D 27
5 Nov
12134 Montjoy T
C 23
16 Aug
5044 Nichols C
G 8
7 Aug
6222 Northrop John
D 20
1 Aug
7331 North S S, S’t Cav
D 30
Oct
10895 Nichols M 7 I 64
14
Aug
4565 Orton H C 6 I
9
Sept
7511 Olena R Cav 1E
1
14 Sept
8276 Orr A
H 14
14 July
2960 Pendalton W
C 6
14 July
3808 Pompey C
B 24
4356 Parker S B 10 July
B 31
1 July
3803 Phelps S G
H 22
16 Aug
4934 Pimble A
I 7
11 Aug
5002 Plum James
G 8
Aug
5386 Patchey J Cav 1 I
12
16 Sept
7487 Post C, S’t
K 1
7 Sept
7688 Potache A
G 3
Sept
9248 Phillips J I 8B
19
Padfrey 8 Sept
9444
Sylvanus H 21
7 Sept
9533 Painter N P
C 22
Oct
10676 Puritan O Cav 1L
11
7 Oct
11616 Peir A
D 28
July
2804 Ruther J, S’t Cav 1E
3
2 July
2871 Reed H H Art
H 4
10 July
3674 Risley E, S’t
B 20
11 Aug
4636 Reins Wm
I 3
5902 Ross D 10 Aug