Searching for OH from Comets with MeerKAT

Project Description:

Comets are relatively unprocessed, primordial bodies that formed in the outer solar system. We only discover them after their orbits have been perturbed to send them into the inner solar system. The subsequent increase in solar illumination causes comets to warm up leading to their volatile components (e.g. water) to vaporize and outgas from the cometary nucleus. As water, in particular, outgasses it is dissociated into hydrogen and hydroxyl (OH). Hence, we can measure the water production rate in comets through observations of the 18 cm OH lines with telescopes like MeerKAT. For this honours project, the student will work with existing MeerKAT OH observations of a comet (either 67P, A6, or E1) to trace the evolution of the OH emission or absorption over time.

Research Area:

Astronomy

Project Level:

Honours

This Project Is Offered At The Following Node(s):

(UCT)

Special Requirements:

While the student will be working with existing code to make the OH images, experience with Python coding and/or with the CASA data processing package would be a huge benefit.