EU-HOUMW training session Limassol, Cyprus December 6-7, 2011

Cezar LEŞANUResearch AssistantAstronomical Observatory-Planetarium Compartment

University “Ştefan cel Mare” of Suceava, Romaniawww.usv.ro

EU-HOUMW Internet Educational Solar Radio Telescope

Th

is p

roje

ct h

as

bee

n f

und

ed

with

su

pp

ort

fro

m t

he

Eu

rope

an

Co

mm

issi

on.

Th

is

pu

blic

atio

n re

flect

s th

e v

iew

s on

ly o

f th

e a

uth

or,

an

d t

he

Co

mm

issi

on

ca

nno

t b

e h

eld

re

spo

nsi

ble

fo

r an

y u

se w

hic

h m

ay

be

ma

de

of

the

info

rma

tion

co

nta

ine

d t

her

ein

.

Atmospheric opacity

www.wikipedia.com

Advantages of the radio astronomy

Radio observations are possible:• during the day• on full Moon• on bad weather (cloudy sky)• inside and behind dust and gas clouds

1890 Thomas Alva Edison

wwwSource: www.nrao.edu

1897 Sir Oliver J. Lodge

Source: www.nrao.edu

Wilsing şi Scheiner (1896)

Source: www.nrao.edu

Charles Nordman (1900)

Source: www.nrao.edu

What is a radio telescope? http://radiosky.com/simple.html

Small total power radio telescopeusing on the shelf Satelite TV Ku-band equipment

Offset TV satellite dish

Power Supply

14-18V DCAnalog satellite finder

(modified)

LNB

Computer + data logging software

Data acquisition board

Detect microwaves emitted by the Sun and approximate the temperature at ~11GHz (chromosphere)

source: http://sun.kochi-ct.jp/e/observatory.html

Goal of the EU-HOU Internet Solar Radio Telescope

• Bring to the classroom via Internet the Solar radio astronomy (1-2 hours theoretical background, data acquisition, exercises)

• Easy access (user, password), automatic disconnection (10-30 min)

• Multiple user access in real time to the acquired data

• Easy hardware setup for host institutions - no PC server needed, no space/office needed, short cables (mains power, Internet LAN or WLAN)

• Robust enough for long term, intensive use in various weather conditions

Embedded server controllerBlock diagram

User interface

Az-El antenna rotator YAESU G5500

TVSat dish + Ku band LNB

Embedded server

Digitalcomands

AnalogpositionfeedbackRF signal

~1GHz

External IP camera

Internet

Exercises examples

• Where is the Sun? – Calculate the Sun AZ/EL for a given location, date and time (OR use a calculator e.g. http://www.jgiesen.de/SunView/index.htm) .

• Find Antenna Half Power Beam Width (parameter needed for the next exercise, Sun transit - 30 min data acquisition

OR use the HPBW given in the antenna data sheet).

• Measuring the Sun temperature at 11GHz(10min data acquisition, measure the ground and sky temperatures and calculate the Sun’s temperature).

The Internet Solar Radio Observatory Imai Laboratory, Kochi National College of Technology, Japan

source: http://sun.kochi-ct.jp/e/observatory.html

The Internet Solar Radio Observatory Imai Laboratory, Kochi National College of Technology, Japan

source: http://sun.kochi-ct.jp/e/observatory.html

Source unknown

Thank you!