Amateur Radio Astronomy (or “Another Way You Can Spend a Lot More Money in This Hobby”) By Don Pullen Presented to Cherry Springs Star Party – June 2012

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3 ?

What is Radio Astronomy? 4

5 What is Radio? Photons

Radio 6 Electromagnetic Spectrum (EM)

Science - Math 7 c = ƒ * λ or λ = c / ƒ or ƒ = c / λ E = h * ƒ Where: c = Speed of Light (~300,000,000 m/sec) λ = wavelength ƒ = frequency E = energy h = Planck’s constant (6.626 x Joules.sec)

Main points… 8 Radio, Light and more are all part of Electromagnetic spectrum separated by different frequencies and wavelengths. Frequency and wavelength are related. As frequency increases, wavelength decreases (and vice-versa). This means higher frequencies require smaller antennas. Higher frequencies means higher energy levels which results in different properties.

Radio Spectrum 9

Atmosphere 10

Atmosphere 11

Main points… 12 Only certain portions of the EM spectrum can reach the surface of the Earth since other portions are either reflected, refracted or absorbed by the Magnetosphere, the Ionosphere or the atmosphere. We know that the Ozone layer blocks most of the UV. Other components of the atmosphere also block other portions of the EM spectrum. To observe in other parts of the EM, we need satellites in space. Light reaches the Earth, as does most of the Radio EM and some Microwave and Infrared. This is why we use Radio and why it’s suitable for amateur work.

What can be seen? 13

What can be seen? 14

Radio Sources 15 Sun Jupiter Saturn & Venus (weak and intermittent) Center of Milky Way Pulsars Man-made sources

Amateur Radio Astronomy + 16

17 Amateur Radio Astronomy +

Radio Frequencies Used 18 Solar and Jupiter MHz MHz Pulsars MHz MHz MHz Hydrogen Line Emission MHz

Reserved Radio Frequencies 19

How to Get Started 20 CHEAT! Use the Internet

Amateur Radio Astronomy Organizations 21 SARA – Society for Amateur Radio Astronomers NRAO – National Radio Astronomy Observatory AAVSO – American Association of Variable Star Observers UKARANET – UK Amateur Radio Astronomers Network

Simplest - Meteor Detection 22

Meteor Detection Can use FM radio tuned to distant station – Best over 200 mi away – Use radio-locator.com for list of stations – Also wikipedia for stations by state FM normally is line-of-sight since escapes to space Ionization caused by meteor is reflective to various radio frequencies including FM. Independent of day/night cycle or solar activity. – But better after midnight when moving into meteors 23

Meteor Detection 24

Meteor Detection 25

Meteor Detection - Advanced 26

Solar Monitoring Cheat – use internet sites like SpaceWeather.com, or NOAA. 27 Other Solar Monitoring sites: SOHO – sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov SDO – sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov NSO – Stanford – sun.stanford.edu

Solar - Indirect 28 Solar wind and energetic particles (X-Rays) constantly bombard Earth’s Magnetosphere and Ionosphere causing them to deflect or ionize.

Solar - Indirect 29 Changes in Ionosphere and Magnetosphere can be detected with 2 fairly simple techniques. Radio propagation Magnetometer

Solar - Indirect 30 Radio Propagation How radio signals “bounce” off the ionosphere

31 Solar - Indirect 31 Radio Propagation

Solar - Indirect 32 Radio Propagation

33 Solar - Indirect 33 Radio Propagation

34 Solar - Indirect 34 Radio Propagation

Solar - Indirect 35 SID – Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance Monitors a standard known radio signal and notes changes in signal strength directly indicating variations in ionosphere and indirectly indicating changes in solar X-Ray emission. Citizen Science!

36 Solar - Indirect 36 SID – Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance

37 SID – Receivers – Kits/Preassembled Solar - Indirect

38 Solar - Indirect SID – Antennas

39 Solar - Indirect SID – Antennas

40 Solar - Indirect SID – More Advanced

41 Solar - Indirect Magnetometer Monitors deflections in Earth’s magnetosphere by amplifying changes in compass bearings.

42 Solar - Indirect Magnetometer

43 Radio JOVE - radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov Receiver Solar - Direct

44 Radio JOVE - Antenna Solar - Direct

45 Solar Bursts received near the frequency 20 MHz often turn on rapidly and decay slowly -- looking somewhat like a shark fin on the strip chart record. These bursts can be quite strong and often last for tens of seconds. You will hear the weak galactic background noise for several seconds, followed by a Solar radio noise burst. Radio JOVE - SOLAR BURSTS Solar - Direct

46 Jupiter L-Bursts sound like ocean waves breaking up on a beach. Much of the L-burst structure is formed as signals travel though the interplanetary medium from Jupiter to the Earth. Radio JOVE - JUPITER L-BURSTS Jupiter

47 Jupiter S-Bursts sound like a handful to pebbles thrown on a tin roof (or popcorn being cooked). These bursts each last for a few thousandths of a second and occur at rates as high as several dozen per second. Radio JOVE - JUPITER S-BURSTS Jupiter

Radio Jove - Advanced 48 Interferometry It’s possible to improve signal and reduce interference using a method called Interferometry. 2 or more stations/antenna systems are set up and data fed to computer to calculate similarities and differences.

Advanced 49

Advanced 50 IBT – Itty Bitty Telescope

Advanced 51

Advanced 52

Professional Radio Telescopes 53 NRAO – National Radio Astronomy Observatory (links to Greenbank, VLBA, ALMA & EVLA) Square Kilometer Array: LOFAR – Low Frequency Array Arecibo – Deep Space Network deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn

Books 54 Radiosky publishing has a lot of books Radio Astronomy Projects by William Lonc ~$27 Radio Astronomy teachers Workbook ~$20 Radio Astronomy by John Kraus ~$50 Some others Radio Science Observing by Joe Carr – Prompt Publishing ~$70 An Introduction to Radio Astronomy by Bernard F Burke and Francis Graham-Smith – Cambridge University Press ~$80 (not a beginners book) The Radio Sky and How to Observe It by Jeff Lashley – Springer Publishing ~$30 Amateur Radio Astronomy by John Fielding – Radio Society of Great Britain ~$35

Miscellanea 55 List of Amateur Radio Astronomy websites: - Good resource website: - radiosky.com Reserved Radio Frequencies for Astronomy Pop Bottle Magnetometer - image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/workbook/page9.html

References & 1999 ARRL Handbooks sid.stanford.edu en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_astronomy

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