Haystack Observatory
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Haystack Observatory is a multidisciplinary radio science center, ionospheric observatory, and astronomical
The Haystack Observatory site is also the location of the Millstone Hill Geospace Facility, an atmospheric-sciences research center.
Telescopes and radars
Haystack Radio Telescope
The 37 m (121 ft) Haystack Radio Telescope is a parabolic antenna protected by a 46 m (151 ft) metal-frame radome. It is known as the Haystack Long-Range Imaging Radar (LRIR) or Haystack Ultrawideband Satellite Imaging Radar (HUSIR) when used for the LSSC.[5] It was constructed for use in space tracking and communication, but now is used primarily for astronomy. It was completed in 1964 and originally observed at 8 GHz on the radio spectrum.[8] Since then it has been upgraded to listen to other frequency bands, though not simultaneously. When used for radar it broadcasts and listens in bands at either 10 GHz or 95 GHz. The main dish was upgraded in 2006, which allowed operation at frequencies up to 150 GHz.[9] The secondary reflector of the Cassegrain design features an active surface.
Haystack Radar operations
The Long-Range Imaging Radar (LRIR) system was originally designed to function as an
Haystack Auxiliary Radar
The Haystack Auxiliary Radar (HAX) is
Westford Radio Telescope
The 18.3 m (60 ft) Westford Radio Telescope was built in 1961 by Lincoln Laboratory for
Event Horizon Telescope
Haystack serves as a computational hub for the Event Horizon Telescope, an assemblage of radio telescopes around Earth that combine data for very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) to achieve angular resolution capable of imaging a supermassive black hole's event horizon. Data are transported on large hard drives from the observing telescopes to Haystack, where a cluster of about 800 CPUs run algorithms to produce black hole imagery. The computation has been termed a "silicon lens", as each the data from each telescope is useless by itself and must be computationally combined to produce an image.[17]
Former telescopes
- The Deuterium Array was a 25-element radio telescope array optimized to observe at 327 MHz, which is one of the
Millstone Hill Geospace Facility
Millstone Hill Geospace Facility is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology atmospheric sciences research centre in Westford, Massachusetts, under primary support from the US National Science Foundation's Geospace Facilities section. It is part of Haystack Observatory, a multidisciplinary radio science observatory. Millstone Hill is the location for two of the most well-known incoherent scatter radars in the world. These include a fully steerable 46-meter antenna called Millstone Hill Steerable Antenna (MISA), and a 68-meter fixed zenith antenna. These radars are capable of measuring a vast array of ionospheric state variables, including electron density, plasma temperature, ion velocity, and ion composition. Data from Millstone Hill is publicly available on the MADRIGAL distributed database, an upper atmosphere data system managed by MIT Haystack.
Millstone Hill Steerable Antenna
The
Zenith Antenna
The 67 m (220 ft) Zenith antenna was constructed in 1963 to use with the
Directors
Paul B. Sebring was the Haystack Observatory's director from 1970 to 1980.[21] From 1980 to 1983 John V. Evans was the director. Joseph E. Salah was the director from 1983 to 2006, Alan R. Whitney was the interim director from 2006 to 2008. Colin J. Lonsdale was the director from 1 September 2008 to 31 December 2023. Philip J. Erickson became the new director on 1 January 2024.[22]
See also
Exhibits
The Sun Drawing Exhibit
The Sun Drawing art exhibit at the Haystack Observatory was conceived and developed as part of the Global Sun Drawing Project by visual artist
References
- ^ Whitney, Alan R.; Lonsdale, Colin J.; Fish, Vincent L. (2014). "Insights into the Universe: Astronomy with Haystack's Radio Telescope" (PDF). Lincoln Laboratory Journal. 21 (1): 1–14.
- ^ "MIT Haystack Observatory: History". MIT Haystack Observatory. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- ^ "MIT Haystack Observatory: NEROC". MIT Haystack Observatory. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- ^ "MIT Haystack Observatory: Atmospheric Sciences Millstone Hill Observatory". MIT Haystack Observatory. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- ^ a b "MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Facilities". MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- ^ "Wallace Astrophysical Observatory". MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- ^ "ATMoB Clubhouse". Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
- Bibcode:1972BAAS....4...51S.
- ^ "MIT Haystack Observatory: Haystack Radio Telescope". MIT Haystack Observatory. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- ^ a b "Millstone-Haystack". FAS. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ^ Staff (October 2014). "Range-independent Radar". R&D Magazine (Paper). 56 (5): 16. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ "TechNotes - Haystack Ultrawideband Satellite Imaging Radar" (PDF). MIT. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ^ Czerwinski, Mark G.; Usoff, Joseph M. (2014). "Development of the Haystack Ultrawideband Satellite Imaging Radar" (PDF). Lincoln Laboratory Journal. 21 (1). MIT.
- ^ "MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Facilities". MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ^ "MIT Haystack Observatory: Westford Radio Telescope". MIT Haystack Observatory. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- ^ "Network Station Configuration File". International VLBI Service. Retrieved 31 January 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Mearian, Lucas (18 August 2015). "Massive telescope array aims for black hole, gets gusher of data". Computerworld. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
- ^ "MIT Haystack Observatory: Deuterium Array". MIT Haystack Observatory. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- ^ "MIT Haystack Observatory: Millstone Hill Radar MISA Antenna". MIT Haystack Observatory. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ^ "MIT Haystack Observatory: Millstone Hill Radar Zenith Antenna". MIT Haystack Observatory. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- Bibcode:1980BAAS...12..126S.
- ^ "Philip Erickson named director of MIT Haystack Observatory". MIT News. 15 December 2023.
- ^ Saad-Cook, Janet (25 May 2006). "Global Sun Drawing". www.janetsaadcook.com. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
- ^ Saad-Cook, Janet (1995). "Sun Art - Sun Drawings". www.haystack.mit.edu. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
- ^ "Sun Drawings". www.haystack.mit.edu. MIT Haystack Observatory. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
- ^ Star Dust, Vol II #11 (June 1991). "Janet Saad-Cook to Discuss VLA Sun Drawing Project" (PDF). www.capitalastronomers.org. National Capital Astronomers, Inc. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
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External links
- Media related to Haystack Observatory at Wikimedia Commons
- MIT Haystack Observatory
- MIT Haystack Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences
- Lincoln Laboratory
- International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry