High School Kids Discover Neutron Star, Take Top Science Prize
Contact:
Christopher Wanjek
wanjek@gsfc.nasa.gov
301-286-4453December 12, 2000
Washington, D.C. -- Three high school students from North Carolina took first place in this year's Siemens-Westinghouse Science and Technology Competition today with their discovery of the closest young neutron star to Earth, a source that astronomers had searched for in vain for years.
Charles Olbert, Christopher Clearfield and Nikolas Williams of the North Carolina School for Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) in Durham found the hot, fast-spinning ember of a star through a combination of diligent science and unique access to data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array.
"This looks like a really solid scientific finding," said Bryan Gaensler of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a noted pulsar expert who reviewed the paper for the team. "Everyone involved should be really proud of this accomplishment."
"The experience of doing new and relevant science has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had," said Olbert, an 18-year-old senior at NCSSM and lead author on the paper submitted to the Astrophysical Journal. "I never expected to publish a scientific paper while I was still in high school."
The neutron star, about 5,000 light-years away, is a point-like source of X-rays embedded in the remains of a well-studied supernova named IC443. Astronomers had thought the supernova would form a neutron star, judging from the size and dynamics of the supernova remnant, but lacked the tools to locate it.
Taking advantage of Chandra's superior angular resolution, the North Carolina students could pinpoint a source high-energy X rays emanating from deep within the region. The Chandra data was made available to the students by their science teacher, Dr. Jonathan Keohane. Keohane applied for the observation time while still associated with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. (Interestingly, Keohane was one of the astronomers who looked for the neutron star with earlier X-ray telescopes and concluded there was none.)
"The students really went through the whole analysis process themselves," said Keohane. "And, they even lived together all summer near the school to complete the research."
To confirm that this system had similar characteristics to other known pulsars, the students turned to the National Radio Observatory's Dale Frail. Frail gave the student team access to VLA data on the system, which they were able to examine and apply to their Chandra findings.
The neutron star appears to be moving through IC 443, due to its comet-shaped appearance. Like a supersonic airplane, the shape of the wake behind the neutron star allowed the students to measure the speed it is traveling away from its origin. Using basic physics, the students calculated that the light from the initial explosion most likely arrived at Earth about 30,000 years ago, thus addressing an outstanding question about IC 443.
Neutron stars, such as the one found by the NCSSM team, are the compact hot embers of very massive stars that have exhausted their fuel and expelled their own shells. The remaining cores, often no more than 10 miles in diameter, are very dense objects that sometimes spin and release beams of particles along their magnetic poles. This class of spinning neutron stars is known as "pulsars."
The Siemens-Westinghouse Science & Technology Competition is open to individuals and teams of high school students who develop independent research projects in the physical or biological sciences, or mathematics. The NCSSM is a free statewide residential high school for students with a strong aptitude and interest in math and science. About 550 high school juniors and seniors reside on the School's campus.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. TRW, Inc., Redondo Beach, California, is the prime contractor for the spacecraft. The Smithsonian's Chandra X-ray Center controls science and flight operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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