1. RadioAstron Science Program Five Years after Launch Main Science Results
- Author
-
I. E. Val'tts, Willem A. Baan, A. V. Pogodin, O. S. Bayandina, Norbert Bartel, A. Z. Vorobyov, V. A. Molodtsov, G. M. Rudnitski, A. P. Lobanov, A. G. Rudnitski, David L. Jauncey, N. S. Kardashev, Hiroshi Imai, E. N. Filippova, Philip G. Edwards, Mikhail M. Lisakov, V. A. Soglasnov, Michael D. Johnson, A. V. Alakoz, V. E. Babyshkin, A. E. Shirshakov, José L. Gómez, Carl R. Gwinn, A. M. Sobolev, Tuomas Savolainen, P. A. Voitsik, G. Giovannini, B. S. Novikov, M. E. Churikova, M. V. Popov, Stan Kurtz, T. V. Smirnova, Kirill Sokolovsky, A. S. Andrianov, V. V. Khartov, M. I. Artyukhov, A. S. Privesenzev, V. I. Shishov, and Yuri Y. Kovalev
- Subjects
Brightness ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,quasars ,Polarimetry ,Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics ,Astrophysics ,01 natural sciences ,law.invention ,ground-space interferometer ,interstellar scattering ,cosmic masers ,Pulsar ,law ,0103 physical sciences ,Angular resolution ,active galactic nuclei (AGN) ,Maser ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Physics ,ta115 ,Scattering ,stratigraphy ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,Quasar ,Interferometry ,Space and Planetary Science ,very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) ,pulsars - Abstract
The RadioAstron ground-space interferometer provides the highest angular resolution achieved now in astronomy. The detection of interferometric fringes from quasars with this angular resolution on baselines of 100–200 thousand km suggests the brightness temperatures which exceed the Compton limit by two orders of magnitude. Polarimetric measurements on ground-space baselines have revealed fine structure testifying to recollimation shocks on scales of 100–250 μas and a helical magnetic field near the base of radio emission in BL Lacertae. Substructure within a the scattering disk of pulsar emission on interferometer baselines (from 60000 to 250000 km) was discovered. This substructure is produced by action of the interstellar interferometer with an effective baseline of about 1 AU and the effective angular resolution of better than 1 μas. Diameters of scattering disks were measured for several pulsars, and distances to diffusing screens were evaluated. The ground-space observations of sources of the maser radiation in lines of water and hydroxyl have shown that the maser sources in star-forming regions remain unresolved on baselines, which considerably exceed the Earth diameter. These very compact and bright features with angular sizes of about 20–60 μas correspond to linear sizes of about 5–10 million km (several solar diameters).
- Published
- 2017