Interstellar Scintillation of Extragalactic Radio Sources

A workshop held at ASTRON/JIVE, Dwingeloo, the Netherlands, from 5-7 April 2004, sponsored by NOVA, ASTRON and JIVE.

Thanks to all participants for helping to make this a successful workshop!

Scope and format:

The aim is to provide a forum for discussion of current problems relating to scintillation, in particular of intraday variable (IDV) quasar, BL Lac and Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) sources; and to address directions for future research as new instruments become available in the lead-up to the era of the SKA.

All participants will have the opportunity to present a short talk on a topic of their choice, within the scope of the meeting as outlined below. Time for discussions will also be allocated.

Topics to be covered:

  • Radio IDV in quasars/BL Lacs: new observations, surveys; problems of high brightness temperatures and emission mechanisms; refractive, diffractive & weak scattering phenomena; seasonal variations; anisotropy; source structure
  • Scintillation of Gamma-Ray Burst afterglows: implied source sizes and expansion speeds; jets in GRB and AGN
  • Characteristics of interstellar turbulence: the nature of the nearby scattering material responsible for some IDV
  • Future telescopes: observations of IDVs/GRBs as new instruments become available, e.g. the ATA, other SKA demonstrators, eVLBI, upgrades to existing telescopes (eVLA, eMERLIN, ATCA, WSRT)

For further information please contact Hayley Bignall.