Biennial report of: The Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge

For the period 1st Jan 1993 to 31st Dec 1994

This report covers all the activities of the Radioastronomy group of the University of Cambridge Department of Physics. It is loosely divided into three main sections, which deal respectively with Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instruments and Telescopes, and the work on applications of the Spacetime Algebra to problems in theoretical physics. The report is not exhaustive; only 75 of the 153 new references listed in Appendix E are cited in the text. Other appendices provide a list of staff and students, the facilities we have used, the institutions with which we have collaborated, and the conferences at which our work was presented.

Highlights

• The CAT has produced the first image with sufficient sensitivity to detect CMB fluctuations at scales

• Ryle Telescope imaging of S--Z decrements in several galaxy clusters, together with a robust, physical determination of the Hubble constant.

• The first detection of individual primordial features in the cosmic microwave background radiation, by the Tenerife experiment.

• The discovery of the first galaxy at a redshift greater than 4. The associated radio source 8C1435+635 was discovered in a search for objects with unusual spectra in our 8C (38MHz) survey.

• The detection of submillimetre-wave continuum emission from warm dust in the QSO BR1202

• The detection and monitoring of radio emission from SN1993J, only 8 days after the optical detection.

• Submillimetre interferometric observations of disks around young stars, using the JCMT--CSO interferometer on Mauna Kea.

• Angular diameter measurements of a sample of ten Miras, using aperture masked interferometry. The inferred diameters are a factor of two larger than expected for fundamental mode pulsation.

• Imaging of four M-supergiants, which shows that all have very large brightness asymmetries, which we interpret as large convective zones.

• The construction of an SIS mixer for the 460--500GHz band with receiver noise temperature of only 70K.

• 1 Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • 1.1 Cosmic microwave background
  • 1.2 Active galaxies and Cosmology
  • 1.3 Star Formation
  • 1.4 The Galactic centre
  • 1.5 Supernova Remnants and Radio Supernovae
  • 1.6 Astrophysics of evolved stars
  • 1.7 Interplanetary medium
• 2 Instruments and Techniques
  • 2.1 CAT
  • 2.2 Ryle Telescope
  • 2.3 CLFST
  • 2.4 COAST
  • 2.5 Submillimetre interferometry
  • 2.6 Millimetre-wave receivers
  • 2.7 Antennas
  • 2.8 Data Processing
• 3 Applications of the Space-Time Algebra
• A Staff (at 28th February 1995)
• B Students approved for degrees
• C Use of Facilities
• D Collaborations
• E References
• F Conferences