Roles and responsibilities
- Observational radio astronomer with an interest in spectropolarimetric measurements using single-dish and interferometric arrays of telescopes.
- Science Leader for infrastructure upgrade of the John A. Galt 26m Telescope at DRAO.
- Science Leader for development of a radio frequency interference monitor for the DRAO site.
- Science Leader for developing project to use electromagnetic modeling software to characterize the full-polarization instrumental response of a radio telescope system to incoming interstellar radio signals; to be used for assessing the response of single-dish telescopes and interferometers like the Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA), Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA), the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), and the Next Generation VLA (ngVLA).
- Principal Investigator and Project Scientist: NRC New Beginnings Project A Common Coordinated System for Radio Frequency Interference
Current research and/or projects
Actively employing spectropolarimetric techniques to use interstellar radio signals to study the role of magnetic fields in the structure and physics of the interstellar medium, both in our own Milky Way Galaxy and in other galaxies far, far away.
Research and/or project statements
- Employing the spectropolarimetric tools of Zeeman splitting and Faraday rotation to detect magnetic fields via radio emission from a diverse set of astrophysical environments. These include such objects as molecular and atomic gas clouds in the Milky Way, galaxies undergoing intense high-mass star formation, and distant galaxies whose interstellar matter has been ionized.
- Current specialization in single-dish radio astronomy and currently using the 26-m John A. Galt Telescope at the DRAO, the 64-m Parkes Radio Telescope, the 100-m Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, and the 305-m William E. Gordon Arecibo Telescope. Also using the multi-element Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array and the Very Long Baseline Array in order to study the magnetic fields in other galaxies at high spatial resolution.
Education
Ph.D. (Astrophysics) University of California at Berkeley, 2008
M.A. (Astrophysics) University of California at Berkeley, 2002
B.A. (Astrophysics & Physics) University of California at Berkeley, 1998
Professional activities/interests
- Supervized multiple co-op students in project to model polarization response of radio telescopes.
- Meeting organizer for multiple international conferences.
- Invited speaker at many international conferences, symposia, and department colloquia.
Affiliations
- Adjunct Professor: University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Department of Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, and Statistics
- Adjunct Professor: L'Université Laval, Département de physique
- Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA)
- American Astronomical Society (AAS)
- International Astronomical Union (IAU)
Key publications
Robishaw's Publications at the NASA Astrophysics Data System
Timothy Robishaw & Carl Heiles, "The Measurement of Polarization in Radio Astronomy," 2021, in The WSPC Handbook of Astronomical Instrumentation, Vol. 1: Radio Astronomical Instrumentation, ed. Alex Wolszczan (World Scientific), 127
https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811203770_0006
Xuan Du, Thomas L. Landecker, Timothy Robishaw, et al., "Gain and Polarization Properties of a Large Radio Telescope from Calculation and Measurement: The John A. Galt Telescope," 2016, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 128, 115006
https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/128/969/115006
James McBride, Timothy Robishaw, Carl Heiles, Geoff C. Bower, & Anuj P. Sarma, "Parsec-scale Magnetic Fields in Arp 220," 2015, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 447, 1103
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu2489
James A. Green, Malcolm D. Gray, Timothy Robishaw, James L. Caswell, & Naomi M. McClure-Griffiths, "A Quantum Mechanical Approach to Establishing the Magnetic Field Orientation from a Maser Zeeman Profile," 2014, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 440, 2988
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu429
Shane P. O'Sullivan, Shea Brown, Timothy Robishaw, et al., "Complex Faraday Depth Structure of Active Galactic Nuclei as Revealed by Broad-Band Radio Polarimetry," 2012, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 421,
3300
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20554.x
Timothy Robishaw & Carl Heiles, "On Measuring Accurate 21 cm Line Profiles with the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope," 2009, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 121, 272
https://doi.org/10.1086/597985
Timothy Robishaw, Eliot Quataert, & Carl Heiles, "Extragalactic Zeeman Detections in OH Megamasers," 2008, The Astrophysical Journal, 680, 981
https://doi.org/10.1086/588031
Leo Blitz & Timothy Robishaw, "Gas-Rich Dwarf Spheroidals," 2000, The Astrophysical Journal," 541, 675
https://doi.org/10.1086/309457
Previous work experience
Sep 2015 - Present
Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory
NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics
Radio Astronomer, Associate Research Officer
Oct 2013 - Sep 2015
Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory
NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics
Radio Astronomer, Assistant Research Officer
Aug 2011 - Oct 2013
Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory
NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics
Covington Postdoctoral Fellow
Nov 2010 - Aug 2011
University of Sydney
Australian Research Council Super Science Fellow
Sep 2008 - Nov 2010
University of Sydney
Postdoctoral Fellow in Radio Polarimetry
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