18,487 research outputs found
The LWA1 Radio Telescope
LWA1 is a new radio telescope operating in the frequency range 10-88 MHz,
located in central New Mexico. The telescope consists of 258 pairs of
dipole-type antennas whose outputs are individually digitized and formed into
beams. Simultaneously, signals from all dipoles can be recorded using one of
the instrument's "all dipoles" modes, facilitating all-sky imaging. Notable
features of the instrument include high intrinsic sensitivity (about 6 kJy
zenith system equivalent flux density), large instantaneous bandwidth (up to 78
MHz), and 4 independently-steerable beams utilizing digital "true time delay"
beamforming. This paper summarizes the design of LWA1 and its performance as
determined in commissioning experiments. We describe the method currently in
use for array calibration, and report on measurements of sensitivity and
beamwidth.Comment: 9 pages, 14 figures, accepted by IEEE Trans. Antennas & Propagation.
Various minor changes from previous versio
The radio telescope RATAN 600
A six-meter radio antenna having 900 reflector elements arranged on a 579 -meter diameter circle and located in the northern part of the Caucasian Mountains is described. The elements are about 7.4 m by 2 m resulting in a total reflector surface of about 10,000 sq m. Individual elements can be adjusted by changing 260 screws and can be rotated both horizontally and vertically as well as being moved translationally in the radial direction. The circular area is equipped with a grid of tracks where four asymmetric cylindrical paraboloids serving as subreflectors are located. The directional profile or observational direction of the antenna is achieved by shifting the subreflectors and changing the position of the reflecting elements with respect to the subreflectors. Different radio sources can be observed at the same time by using different subreflectors and their associated reflector sectors. Each subreflector is connected to a receiving station. Capabilities for spectroscopic observation are discussed
Observations of Mariner IV with the Parkes 210-ft Radio Telescope
Radio telescope test results from Mariner IV OBSERVATION
LOFAR, a new low frequency radio telescope
LOFAR, the Low Frequency Array, is a large radio telescope consisting of
approximately 100 soccer-field sized antenna stations spread over a region of
400 km in diameter. It will operate at frequencies from ~10 to 240 MHz, with a
resolution at 240 MHz of better than an arcsecond. Its superb sensitivity will
allow for studies of a broad range of astrophysical topics, including
reionisation, transient radio sources and cosmic rays, distant galaxies and
AGNs. In this contribution a status rapport of the LOFAR project and an
overview of the science case is presented.Comment: 6 Pages, including 1 postScript figure. To appear in the proceedings
of the conference "Radio Galaxies: Past, present and future", Leiden, 11-15
Nov 200
Fundamental Imaging Limits of Radio Telescope Arrays
The fidelity of radio astronomical images is generally assessed by practical
experience, i.e. using rules of thumb, although some aspects and cases have
been treated rigorously. In this paper we present a mathematical framework
capable of describing the fundamental limits of radio astronomical imaging
problems. Although the data model assumes a single snapshot observation, i.e.
variations in time and frequency are not considered, this framework is
sufficiently general to allow extension to synthesis observations. Using tools
from statistical signal processing and linear algebra, we discuss the
tractability of the imaging and deconvolution problem, the redistribution of
noise in the map by the imaging and deconvolution process, the covariance of
the image values due to propagation of calibration errors and thermal noise and
the upper limit on the number of sources tractable by self calibration. The
combination of covariance of the image values and the number of tractable
sources determines the effective noise floor achievable in the imaging process.
The effective noise provides a better figure of merit than dynamic range since
it includes the spatial variations of the noise. Our results provide handles
for improving the imaging performance by design of the array.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure
Digital receivers for low-frequency radio telescopes UTR-2, URAN, GURT
This paper describes digital radio astronomical receivers used for decameter
and meter wavelength observations. This paper describes digital radio
astronomical receivers used for decameter and meter wavelength observations.
Since 1998, digital receivers performing on-the-fly dynamic spectrum
calculations or waveform data recording without data loss have been used at the
UTR-2 radio telescope, the URAN VLBI system, and the GURT new generation radio
telescope. Here we detail these receivers developed for operation in the strong
interference environment that prevails in the decameter wavelength range. Data
collected with these receivers allowed us to discover numerous radio
astronomical objects and phenomena at low frequencies, a summary of which is
also presented.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figure
- …