RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A grant from the National Science Foundation has been awarded to a professor at the University of Richmond to fund a project that may improve our understanding of the universe.
Jack Singal, a physics professor at the University of Richmond, has received a grant of $589,939 from the National Science Foundation for a research project that will result in a new map that focuses on sky brightness in radio waves.
The map using radio waves will be the first measurement on a large scale of the actual absolute brightness of diffuse radio emission in more than 40 years, according to the University of Richmond. Typically, the measurement has been taken by comparing the brightness in different regions of the sky.
Types of light, such as radio waves give scientists information about the universe.
According to the University of Richmond, “the result will be an absolutely calibrated map of the diffuse radio emission over nearly the entire sky.”
The sky brightness map using radio waves is anticipated to be a revolutionary tool for understanding phenomena in and outside of our galaxy. It will be used in a wide range of future research in radio astronomy.
Singal and his research partner, Richard Bradley of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, will use the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia along with other tools they will be making for this research.
