Medicina Radio Observatory

Coordinates: 44°31′15″N 11°38′49″E / 44.5208°N 11.6469°E / 44.5208; 11.6469
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Medicina Radio Observatory
Photo by Paolo Monti, 1974
Organization
LocationBologna, Metropolitan City of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Coordinates44°31′15″N 11°38′49″E / 44.5208°N 11.6469°E / 44.5208; 11.6469
Websitewww.med.ira.inaf.it/index.html Edit this at Wikidata
Telescopes
  • Medicina 32-m radio telescope
  • Northern Cross Radio Telescope Edit this on Wikidata
Medicina Radio Observatory is located in Italy
Medicina Radio Observatory
Location of Medicina Radio Observatory
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The Medicina Radio Observatory is an astronomical observatory located 30 km from

National Institute for Astrophysics
(INAF) of the government of Italy.

The site includes:

Northern Cross Radio Telescope

The Northern Cross Radio Telescope (also known as the Medicina Northern Cross (MNC))[3] (and Croce del Nord in Italian) is one of the largest transit radio telescopes in the world. Observations are focused around 408 MHz (UHF band), corresponding to 73.5 cm wavelength. The older receivers of the telescope function with a 2.5 MHz wide frequency band, while the upgraded parts have a 16 MHz bandwidth.[4] The telescope is steerable only in declination, meaning that it can solely observe objects that are culminating on the local celestial meridian.[2] The telescope is T-shaped and consists of:

  • E/W (east–west) arm – Single reflector 560 m x 35 m (1536 dipoles)
  • N/S (north–south) arm – Array of 64 reflectors 640 m x 23.5 m (4096 dipoles)

The telescope can provide 22880 possible theoretical independent beams and has a

Arecibo radio telescope.[4] This allows the Northern Cross to identify and measure extremely faint sources, making the telescope is particularly suitable to extragalactic research.[2]

There are plans upgrade of the east–west arm telescope to a

LOFAR SuperStation, due to the good performances of a cylindrical-parabolic antenna in the 100–700 MHz frequency range. Since LOFAR operates in the 120–240 MHz range, some of the sensors on the Northern Cross Radio Telescope, optimized for 408 MHz, will have to be replaced with broadband antennas. This installation will have an effective area much larger than any other remote LOFAR station. If extended to the whole 22000 square meters area of the east–west arm, this single element effective area of 20 standard remote LOFAR stations. The resulting system will provide significant improvement in observation sensitivity.[5][6]

Square Kilometre Array pathfinder

Photo by Paolo Monti

The Cross is currently used as a pathfinder for the Square Kilometre Array.[7] The work is focused on studying the amplification and filtering of signals between the LNA (Low Noise Amplifier) output and the analog-to-digital converter input for the SKA. The Medicina Radio Observatory is studying all problems related to "antenna array implementation" through a prototype installation called MAD (Medicina Array Demonstrator).[8]

The observatory staff have also built new receiver demonstrators for the SKA called BEST (Basic Element for SKA Training), part of the

fiber-optic and coaxial digital finks from the front-end receiver boxes to the back-ends.[10][11] The BEST project was divided in three parts:[9]

Space debris tracking

There is an ongoing effort to use the 32-meter dish as a receiver for radar-based tracking of

Ventspils Starptautiskais Radioastronomijas Centrs in Latvia.[15]

The Northern Cross radio telescope has also been part of space debris tracking studies, utilized as a multiple-beam receiver for a bistatic radar system. The first tested configuration is a quasi-monostatic radar system with a 3 m dish as the transmitter, located in

ESA Space Situational Awareness Programme (SSA).[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Home page". Medicina Radio Observatory. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  2. ^ a b c "Description". Medicina Radio Observatory. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  3. ^ "ATel #16130: Four new bursts from FRB 20220912A at 408 MHz". The Astronomer's Telegram.
  4. ^ a b c d A. Morselli and R. Armellin and P. Di Lizia and F. Bernelli-Zazzera and E. Salerno and G. Bianchi and S. Montebugnoli and A. Magro and K.Z. Adami (2014). "Orbit determination of space debris using a bi-static radar configuration with a multiple-beam receiver" (PDF). International Astronautical Congress, IAC 2014. Toronto, Canada. pp. 1–11.
  5. ^ "LOFAR SuperStation". Medicina Radio Observatory. Retrieved 2015-05-02.
  6. ^ "Electromagnetic development of broadband antenna feeding arrays for the Northern Cross Radio Telescope" (PDF). IEIIT-CNR. Retrieved 2015-04-30.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "SKA Activities". Medicina Radio Observatory. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  8. ^ "Technology Developments". IRA-INAF. Retrieved 2015-05-02.
  9. ^ a b "BEST-X Project". IRA-INAF. Retrieved 2015-05-22.
  10. ^ "Receiver Design and Development". IRA-INAF. Retrieved 2015-05-02.
  11. ^ Montebugnoli, S. and Bianchi, G. and Monari, J. and Naldi, G. and Perini, F. and Schiaffino, M. (2009). BEST: Basic Element for SKA Training (PDF). SKADS Conference 2009. Wide Field Astronomy & Technology for the Square Kilometre Array. pp. 331–336.{{cite conference}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ "BEST-1". IRA-INAF. Retrieved 2015-05-22.
  13. ^ "BEST-2". IRA-INAF. Retrieved 2015-05-22.
  14. ^ "BEST-3lo". IRA-INAF. Retrieved 2015-05-22.
  15. Bibcode:2012MSAIS..20...43P.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  16. ^ "Europe's Radar Space Surveillance and Tracking Sensors". ESA. Archived from the original on 2015-06-18. Retrieved 2015-05-04.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Medicina_Radio_Observatory&oldid=1169207878"