Available online
Description
The programme examines some of the observations, both in the visible part of the spectrum and beyond, of the Crab Nebula. Film excerpts from a 1971 Horizon film are included .
The programme examines some of the observations, both in the visible part of the spectrum and beyond, of the Crab Nebula. Film excerpts from a 1971 Horizon film are included .
| Module code and title: | ST291, Images and information |
|---|---|
| Item code: | ST291; 11 |
| First transmission date: | 28-07-1977 |
| Published: | 1977 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:25:00 |
| + Show more... | |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Arizona desert; Astronomy; Balloon experiments; Cerenkov; Lick Observatory; Pulsar; Radiation; Radio astronomy; Stroboscopic techniques; X-ray measurements |
| Footage description: | Barrie Jones, standing in front of a large photograph of the Crab Nebula, introduces the programme. Shots of Lick Observatory, California. Joe Miller and Barrie Jones examine some of the photographs taken with the optical telescopes at Lick Observatory using various optical techniques (different coloured filters, negatives, polaroid filters etc) Still shots of the Crab Nebula taken in 1899 and again in 1971 demonstrate the expansion of the Nebula. Graham Smith and Barrie Jones discuss the impact of radio astronomy on study of the Crab Nebula. Film shots of a radio telescope dish and then of a radio source contour map of the Nebula being drawn with computer graphic equipment. Film shots of a particle accelerator. Prof. Graham Smith explains how information on synchrotron radiation obtained from this machine helps to explain the source of the radiation from the Crab Nebula. Barrie Jones explains, briefly, how radio telescopes in the late 1960s made possible the discovery of pulsars. Shots of the radio telescope at Cambridge and others. David Staelin discusses a property of waves called dispersion and explains how a study of dispersion elicited important information about pulsars. Over shots of the giant radio telescope at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Barrie Jones explains briefly how the data from the Crab Nebula suggested a neutron star as a source of the pulsed radiation. Jerry Ostriker, with a proposed model of a neutron star, explains why it was so difficult to pick out the pulsations in the radiation. Jones, standing next to an astronomical photomultiplier, explains how this instrument is used to gather optical data on pulsars. Roderick Willstrop recalls his discovery in November 1968 that there was an optical pulsar in the Crab Nebula. John Cocke, inside the dome of the Kitt Peak Observatory, recalls the almost simultaneous discovery by his team of the optical pulsar in the Crab. Barrie Jones and Paul Horowitz explain, with the aid of oscilloscope traces of pulsar radiation and a model of a neutron star, the optical properties of the Crab pulsar. Joe Wampler then explains and demonstrates an apparatus which allows the position of the optical pulsar itself to be located. Jones discusses some of the research on the Crab Nebula which is being conducted at very short wavelengths. Film shots of a satellite detector being readied for launch. Film shots of a high altitude research balloon being launched. |
| Master spool number: | DOU2331 |
| Production number: | FOUS722F |
| Videofinder number: | 2122 |
| Available to public: | no |
