Supervisor: Dr Megan Argo
The nearby galaxy M82 is a well-studied starburst system with a high rate of star formation, numerous supernovae remnants, star-forming regions, and large amounts of gas and dust. Being edge-on to our line of sight, the central regions of this galaxy are highly obscured in the optical regime. With radio telescopes however, we can penetrate this thick gas and dust and peer into the inner kiloparsec of this galaxy. Using a network of radio telescopes to provide high resolution images, this galaxy has been observed to look for masers, the microwave analogue of lasers which naturally occur in space. The OH masers found in M82 are sometimes referred to as kilomasers, being of the order of 1000 times more powerful than typical OH masers in the Milky Way. We have observations taken several years apart to allow us to look for changes in the maser population over time. This project will involve imaging various radio image cubes (RA, Dec, velocity) and carefully comparing data taken at different epochs to analyse changes in the maser population and investigate what this can tell us about the physical conditions within the central kiloparsec of this interesting galaxy.