Dr. Turner uses radio telescopes such as the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory to make high resolution images of radio continuum emission. Radio continuum emission is emitted by hot nebulae surrounding massive young stars. Since the youngest parts of starbursts tend to be visually obscured in optical light by dust associated with the star-forming gas, radio continuum emission, which is unaffected by the dust, is often the most reliable tracer of young stars. Dr. Turner appreciating the immense size of one of the 25 meter VLA dishes With the Keck Telescope , which is jointly operated by the University of California, Caltech, and NASA on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, Dr. Turner is also studying star formation in starbursts with infrared images and spectroscopy. Infrared emission is also relatively impervious to dust extinction, and is important for the interpretation of the radio images.
Cold gas provides the fuel for star formation.
To understand the star formation process, one must know the distribution of the cold gas fuel and its relation to the young stars and nebulae. Dr. Turner uses spectral lines to trace gas such as the 21 cm line of atomic hydrogen, and the 2.6 and 1.3 mm lines of carbon monoxide. She has recently observed submillimeter dust emission from starbursts to complement the millimeter density tracers. She and her students are users of the Owens Valley Millimeter Array, and the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory . The cluster is invisible optically.