Xiang Zhang (CASS, Perth)

Detection of Meteors and Space Debris with the MWA

Marsfield lecture theatre

Abstract

When meteors pass through the atmosphere, they are heated to ablation and create ionized trails. These trails are long known to reflect radio signals, but their intrinsic emission was only revealed recently by scientists working with the Long Wavelength Array. In this talk, I will describe observations of meteors with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), introduce the incidence and influence of meteors. I will also talk about a few transient events caused by reflection of FM broadcasting from space objects, discussing the MWA’s ability to detect space debris as a passive radar.