Barbara Kolb who teaches science at James River High School, will be going this summer to participate in the Pulsar Collaborative Search from July 6 through July 25 at Green Bank, West Virginia at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

The search for pulsars is an entirely new project and the group will be looking for Pulsars through out the universe, said Kolb. "In a way," said Kolb, "this is mapping the universe using our listening devices."

For the first time, teachers from out of state have been allowed to apply for summer opportunities. She will be accompanied the last week of her stay by three James River High School Students, David Bordette, Trent Jolin and Casey Thompson.

The West Virginia University team working on the project describe a pulsar as,"a highly magnetized, rapidly rotating neutron star. Weighing more than our Sun, yet only 20 km in diameter, these incredibly dense objects produce radio beams that sweep the sky like a lighthouse. Since their discovery in 1967, over 1700 pulsars have been found, and they provide a wealth of information about neutron star physics, general relativity, the Galactic gravitational potential and magnetic field, the interstellar medium, celestial mechanics, planetary physics and even cosmology."

With the new block schedule, Kolb was able to take both her fall and spring Physics classes to Green Bank where they studied using the information gathered at the NRAO and also brought home instruments to test radio interference in Botetourt County. The pulsar project will be a year long study that she can incorporate into her classes.

She will be using some of the radio telescopes at the observatory in her pulsar research and is very excited about the possibilities generated by the study. she is especially looking forward to analyzing data from the giant 100 meter telescope to look for pulsars.

For more information on the Green Rank Radio Telescope Astronomy Observatory go to nrao.edu

Photo of radio telescope courtesy of Barbara Kolb.

Our last post on James River High School was June 25.

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• Posted by cathy benson in Schools & education
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