1. AN EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROJECT Jim Thieman and Chuck Higgins
RADIO JOVE
AN EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROJECT
Jim Thieman and Chuck Higgins
1999
IDEAS

2. RADIO JOVE TEAM NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center University of Florida
Jim Thieman Chuck Higgins
Jim Gass Bill Taylor
Len Garcia Lou Mayo
Ron Parise Jim Green
University of Florida
Francisco Reyes Wes Greenman
Tom Carr
RF Associates
Dick Flagg
Florida Space Grant Consortium
Jaydeep Mukherjee
Education Community
Bill Pine Tom Smith

3. Radio JOVE is sparked by grants from:
FUNDING
Radio JOVE is sparked by grants from:
• NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Director’s Discretionary Fund (DDF)
• The Initiative to Develop Education through Astronomy and Space Science (IDEAS)
…and a lot of effort from many hard-working volunteers

4. RADIO JOVE - GOALS
• Educate people about planetary and solar radio astronomy, space physics, and the scientific method
• Provide teachers and students with a hands-on radio astronomy exercise as a science curriculum support activity
• Create an on-line radio observatory that provides real time observations and data for those with Internet access
• Allow interactions among participating schools by facilitating exchanges of ideas, data, and observing experiences

5. RADIO JOVE - AUDIENCE • High School Science classes
• College science courses or laboratories
• Activities could be extended to middle school classrooms

6. RADIO JOVE LEVELS OF INVOLVEMENT
• Build a kit, make observations, and contribute to central pool of data
• Work with local amateur radio operators (“ham” club)
• Use remote radio telescope to observe Jupiter or the Sun and learn a little radio astronomy

7. INSPIRE OVERVIEW

8. Example Successes - INSPIRE
1700 VLF receiver kits distributed to schools and individuals throughout the world
Reached hundreds of teachers
Reached thousands or tens of thousands of students
Held five teacher workshops to train master teachers in classroom use
INSPIRE - IKI (Space Research Institute, Moscow) agreement to fire pulsed electron beam over INSPIRE sites, eight days per year
Steve McGreevy on NPR describing Natural Radio (VLF), April, 1999

9. INSPIRE KIT

10. TYPICAL SETUP
Science
Knowledge
Fun + + =

11. OBSERVING FREQUENCY LIMITATIONS

12. JUPITER AND IO

13. RADIO SOURCE PROBABILITIES

14. CML - IO PROBABILITY DEPENDENCE

15. PLANETARY MAGNETISM

16. JUPITER’S MAGNETIC FIELD

17. IO RADIO STORM BEAMING ASYMMETRY

18. RADIATION BEAMING

19. TYPICAL SETUP

20. RADIO JOVE CONSTRUCTION

21. CHART RECORDER PROGRAM

22. RADIO JOVE SPECTRAL ANALYSIS

23. RADIO JOVE - TIMELINE
• Radio JOVE kits will be available in late May Projected cost: $ First 100 schools will receive kit for $50. Additional costs for tools, building materials, and a recording device could reach $
• Radio JOVE website ( is available now, but will become fully operational by August 1999.
• Teacher resources will be developed during the summer of 1999.

24. SUMMARY
• Radio JOVE is a fun hands-on activity in radio astronomy for teaching the scientific method
• The project closely parallels professional radio observing
• The project supports National Education Standards subject areas such as electricity and magnetism, solar system, influence of the Sun, etc.
• Classroom involvement can be as simple as looking at radio astronomy data on the web
• Kits are available now for those who are interested

25. INSPIRE KINSHIP
We use the INSPIRE (Interactive NASA Space Physics Ionosphere Radio Experiments) project network of schools as a starting point for involvement
• There is synergy and there are lessons to be learned from this successful program
• INSPIRE schools have demonstrated interest in radio science
• Schools had received INSPIRE radio kits, but the JOVE receiver kit would be different
• Radio JOVE will extend the science from the Earth’s ionosphere to Jupiter and solar radio emissions
• The INSPIRE web site and mailing list can be used in conjunction with Radio JOVE activities to benefit both projects

26. SCIENCE BACKGROUND

27. OUTLINE • What is Radio JOVE? • Radio Waves? From a planet? •
• What does a school do?

28. CONCEPTS
GOAL: Use radio astronomy activities to teach students the scientific method
STEPS:
• Project personnel develop ~$100 radio receiver kits for Jupiter and solar observations
• Prototype kits are tested at radio observatory and at middle/high schools
• Central web site developed with radio astronomy education modules and observation information
• Project purchases first 100 kits and distributes at discounted rate to interested schools
• Schools learn about radio astronomy, build kits, and make observations
• Schools analyze and contribute data to central repository for International Jupiter Watch
• Schools or individuals can also observe Jupiter or the Sun through a professional radio telescope made available through the web
• Project evaluates, revises, and expands

29. GROUND-BASED RADIO OBSERVATIONS

30. STORM OCCURRENCE PROBABILITY

31. TOUR THROUGH JUPITER’S MAGNETOSPHERE

32. Upcoming Efforts - INSPIRE
INSPIRE Online
Stream output of INSPIRE receiver at University of Florida Radio Observatory
Those who cannot participate by purchasing kits or finding an electromagnetically quiet location will be able to hear, record and analyze audio over the Internet
Supported by GSFC Director’s Discretionary Fund
Will begin in summer of 1999
Aurora Video and Audio (AVA)
System designed for high school use, with a core of ten systems around northern auroral oval
All-sky camera utilizing a digital camera with a fisheye lens mounted inside a weatherproof dome
INSPIRE VLF receiver system
Connection to internet to automatically collect images and sound files and ftp them to INSPIRE archive for use by students world wide
AVAs available as kits for schools and individuals to be placed anywhere

33. INSPIRE

34. INSPIRE (cont.)

35. IMAGE/INSPIRE

36. OVERVIEW • Radio JOVE Team • Purpose/Concepts • Funding
• Scientific Background
• Accomplishments to Date
• What to Expect
• Timeline
• Conclusions/Summary

37. ANTENNA SCHEMATIC