The development of radio astronomy at Hartebeesthoek

The development of radio astronomy at the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory in South Africa is described. The Hartebeesthoek site was established originally by NASA as one of three Deep Space Stations equipped with 26-m parabolic reflector antennas. It was first used for radio astronomy by South Africa in terms of the NASA host nation agreement which allowed for its use at times when the facility was not needed for its primary purpose of tracking space probes. After NASA withdrew from South Africa in 1975, the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research took over the site and the 26-m parabolic reflector antenna, which NASA had abandoned in position, and established it as a national observatory. The development of the facility to the stage where it could support a variety of observing programmes such as continuum observations and mapping, spectroscopy and pulsar timing is described as well as the role played by the Observatory in global programmes of very long baseline interferometry.     

The development of radio astronomy

Following the detection of extraterrestrial radio waves in 1932 by Karl Jansky, radio astronomy developed quickly after World War II. It established itself soon as a new branch of astronomy with today's outstanding record in the detection of new phenomena in space. These have been honoured by a number of Nobel prizes. Radio astronomy largely depends on technical developments in receiver technology, antenna systems, electronics and computing power. Ever shorter wavelengths down to the submm‐wavelength range became accessible, resulting in new exciting discoveries. However, now and in future care must be taken, in particular for the lower frequency range, of harmful man‐made interferences, which might mask the weak signals from space. New international facilities with orders‐of‐magnitude higher sensitivity like ALMA and SKA are planned or under construction. Space‐borne observatories like PLANCK will detect weak fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background, which will constrain cosmological models with an unprecedented accuracy.     

Early Cambridge radio astronomy

Radio astronomy started in Cambridge immediately after the hostilities of the World War II have ceased. Martin Ryle was the inspiring leader of a small group that started to develop interferometry techniques at the Cavendish Laboratory. From this development came the numerous Cambridge radio source surveys culminating in the Nobel prize awarded to Martin Ryle for invention of aperture synthesis. The history of this early development is the subject of the present paper. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Using large radio telescopes at decametre wavelengths

With the aim of evaluating the actual possibilities of doing, from the ground, sensitive radio astronomy at decametre wavelengths (particularly below ), an extensive program of radio observations was carried out, in 1999–2002, by using digital spectral and waveform analysers (DSP) of new generation, connected to several of the largest, decametre radio telescopes in the world (i.e., the UTR-2 and URANs arrays in Ukraine, and the Nançay Decametre Array in France).

We report and briefly discuss some new findings, dealing with decametre radiation from Jupiter and the Solar Corona: namely the discovery of new kinds of hyper fine structures in spectrograms of the active Sun, and a new characterisation of Jupiter's “millisecond” radiation, whose waveform samples, with time resolution down to 40 ns, and correlated measurements, by using far distant antennas (3000 km), have been obtained. In addition, scattering effects, caused by the terrestrial ionosphere and the interplanetary medium, could be disentangled through high time resolution and wide-band analyses of solar, planetary and strong galactic radio sources. Consequences for decametre wavelength imaging at high spatial resolution (VLBI) are outlined. Furthermore, in spite of the very unfavourable electromagnetic environment in this frequency range, a substantial increase in the quality of the observations was shown to be provided by using new generation spectrometers, based on sophisticated digital techniques. Indeed, the available, high dynamic range of such devices greatly decreases the effects of artificial and natural radio interference. We give several examples of successful signal detection in the case of much weaker radio sources than Solar System ones, down to the intensity level.

In summary, we conclude that searching for sensitivity improvement at the decametre wavelength is scientifically quite justified, and is now technically feasible, in particular by building giant, phased antenna arrays of much larger collecting area (as in the LOFAR project). In this task, one must be careful of some specifics of this wavelength range—somewhat unusual in “classical” radio astronomy—i.e., very high level and density of radio interference (telecommunications) and the variable terrestrial ionosphere.     

Ska Correlator Advances

When the SKA was proposed, a major technical obstacle to its feasibility was the cost of the correlator. Significant advances made in correlator design since then are described. These advances have made SKA correlator possible within reasonable cost constrains. At the same time performance issues with the proposed FX architecture have been addressed.     

A VLBI study of 20 southern extragalactic radio sources

This paper describes a 5 GHz VLBI survey in the southern hemisphere. The first observation of 23 extragalactic radio sources was conducted in November 1992. Twenty VLBI images were obtained, of which 15 sources show core-jet structure, one has a two-sided jet, and three sources are unresolved. No compact double source was found. Eleven of the 16 sources with core-jet (including a two-aided jet) show evidence of jet bending. In addition, four sources appear to be superluminal, of which three sources are new.     

利用DiFX处理CVN天文观测数据进展

相关处理机是VLBI观测数据处理的核心单元,相关处理机的输出结果可以直接作为天文成图、测地学以及航天器干涉测量等应用的输入。DiFX是运行在分布式计算、共享存储单元的集群环境下最成功的软件相关处理机之一。首先介绍上海天文台DiFX综合平台的现状;然后介绍利用DiFX相关处理机处理中国VLBI网(CVN)天文观测数据的进展:最后简短展望了DiFX平台为CVN及国际VLBI天文观测提供相关处理服务的前景。可为利用该平台的相关处理结果开展科学研究提供参考。     

星载氢钟VLBI观测实验及分析

中国计划于2025年左右建立月球轨道VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometer)测站,将会搭载被动型星载氢钟作为时间频率标准.由于是首次在VLBI观测中使用星载氢钟,需要研究和验证其可行性.因此,利用星载氢钟作为频率基准开展了VLBI观测.实验时,分别使用主动型地面氢钟和被动型星载氢钟作为频率基准,利用上海天文台佘山25 m射电望远镜和其他测站对我国火星探测器天问一号进行了交替VLBI观测.数据处理分析结果表明,基于地面氢钟与星载氢钟的VLBI残余群时延标准差均在0.5 ns以内,表明星载氢钟可满足深空探测VLBI测定轨的精度要求,验证了其作为月球VLBI测站频率基准的可行性.     

嫦娥四号VLBI群时延跳变研究

相时延处理软件是嫦娥四号(CE-4)任务甚长基线干涉测量(Very Long Baseline Interferometry,VLBI)测轨分系统软件配置项之一,利用其处理着陆巡视器X波段DOR(Differential One-way Ranging)信号时,观测弧段(scan)内偶尔存在残余群时延跳变问题.论文主要分为两部分:一是根据VLBI信号接收和数据处理流程,从相关相位、频率、幅度和功率方面进行分析,最终将影响因素定位在昆明测站模拟信号异常;二是以scan内时延跳变影响因素分析为基础,通过修正异常基线相关相位,研究残余群时延跳变事后改正方法,并利用定轨软件验证其有效性,升级了相时延处理软件.     

Observations of radio emission from the cosmic gamma-ray burst GRB 030329

We present the radio observations of the afterglow from the intense cosmic gamma-ray burst GRB 030329 performed with the radio telescopes of the Institute of Applied Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences, at the Svetloe (λ=3.5 cm) and Zelenchuk (λ=6 cm) Observatories. The difference between the fluxes measured in two different polarization modes suggests the existence of a circular polarization in the radio afterglow from GRB 030329. However, since the measurement errors of the fluxes with different circular polarizations are large, we cannot draw a firm conclusion about its detection; we can only set an upper limit on its value. An analysis of the possible generation mechanisms for the circular polarization of the relativistic jet suggests that there is a helical magnetic field in the jet. The existence of significant flux densities at various wavelengths during a long (≥10 days) period leads us to conclude that the hydrodynamic evolution of the relativistic bow shock takes place in the stellar wind, not in the interstellar medium. We have estimated the total GRB energy (E=10⁵¹ erg) (under the assumption of isotropic radiation) and the plasma density of the stellar wind from the presupernova (n=3 cm^?3). The magnetic-field strength in the relativistic jet can be estimated as B≈100 G.     

Suggestions for some single dish radio astronomy standards

In this paper we examine the possibility of adopting standards within the context of radio astronomy and the benefits to be derived thereby. In particular we consider the application of standards within the three areas of the receiver hardware, the control and communication between different parts of the observing system, and the interface with the astronomer. The adoption of such standards will increase flexibility of observing systems, allow the easy interchange of equipment between observatories and greatly simplify guest observing. In this paper we will only consider the application of standards within the field of millimetre-wave and sub-millimetre-wave single dish astronomy. However, the principle can be easily extended to other astronomical wavebands. We describe some current developments at the Onsala Space Observatory which illustrate the proposed philosophy and show how such standards may be implemented. Naturally, the detailed definition of such standards would have to be agreed in conjunction with other interested astronomical institutions.     

Prospects in space-based gamma-ray astronomy

Observations of the gamma-ray sky reveal the most powerful sources and the most violent events in the Universe. While at lower wavebands the observed emission is generally dominated by thermal processes, the gamma-ray sky provides us with a view on the non-thermal Universe. Here particles are accelerated to extreme relativistic energies by mechanisms which are still poorly understood, and nuclear reactions are synthesizing the basic constituents of our world. Cosmic accelerators and cosmic explosions are the major science themes that are addressed in the gamma-ray regime.With the INTEGRAL observatory, ESA has provided a unique tool to the astronomical community revealing hundreds of sources, new classes of objects, extraordinary views of antimatter annihilation in our Galaxy, and fingerprints of recent nucleosynthesis processes. While INTEGRAL provides the global overview over the soft gamma-ray sky, there is a growing need to perform deeper, more focused investigations of gamma-ray sources. In soft X-rays a comparable step was taken going from the Einstein and the EXOSAT satellites to the Chandra and XMM/Newton observatories. Technological advances in the past years in the domain of gamma-ray focusing using Laue diffraction and multilayer-coated mirror techniques have paved the way towards a gamma-ray mission, providing major improvements compared to past missions regarding sensitivity and angular resolution. Such a future Gamma-Ray Imager will allow to study particle acceleration processes and explosion physics in unprecedented detail, providing essential clues on the innermost nature of the most violent and most energetic processes in the Universe.     

The improved ARTEMIS IV multichannel solar radio spectrograph of the University of Athens

We present the improved solar radio spectrograph of the University of Athens operating at the Thermopylae Satellite Telecommunication Station. Observations now cover the frequency range from 20 to 650 MHz. The spectrograph has a 7-meter moving parabola fed by a log-periodic antenna for 100–650 MHz and a stationary inverted V fat dipole antenna for the 20–100 MHz range. Two receivers are operating in parallel, one swept frequency for the whole range (10 spectrums/sec, 630 channels/spectrum) and one acousto-optical receiver for the range 270 to 450 MHz (100 spectrums/sec, 128 channels/spectrum). The data acquisition system consists of two PCs (equipped with 12 bit, 225 ksamples/sec ADC, one for each receiver). Sensitivity is about 3 SFU and 30 SFU in the 20–100 MHz and 100–650 MHz range respectively. The daily operation is fully automated: receiving universal time from a GPS, pointing the antenna to the sun, system calibration, starting and stopping the observations at preset times, data acquisition, and archiving on DVD. We can also control the whole system through modem or Internet. The instrument can be used either by itself or in conjunction with other instruments to study the onset and evolution of solar radio bursts and associated interplanetary phenomena.     

The Study on the Group Delay Jumping of CE-4 VLBI System

The phase delay software is a key component of VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) orbit determination system in CE-4 mission, which is critical to deep space exploration. When processing X-band DOR (Differential One-way Ranging) signals of probes in the past, the group delay jumping occasionally occurred in the observed scan. This paper consists of two parts. First, according to the VLBI station signal reception and VLBI center data processing steps, we analyzed the frequency, phase, power, and self-correlation spectrum of the signal, and located the influencing factor at the abnormal analog signal of Kunming (KM) station. Second, the group delay jumping was revised by the post-correction method, which was based on the analysis of the abnormal unwrap phase. We used the corrected phase to get the new group delay, and used orbit determination software to verify the effectiveness of the post-correction method, which upgraded the phase delay processing software.     

月球交会对接VLBI差分时延研究

中国探月3期任务中,月球交会对接技术是任务成功的重要保障.利用嫦娥3号(CE03)绕月飞行的VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry)时延数据,模拟仿真绕月交会对接过程中,同波束VLBI观测模式下,差分群时延的变化情况.仿真结果显示,在远程导引段,轨道器和上升组合体轨道距离保持100 km,持续半小时,差分群时延很好地反映了两者的轨道信息,可以用于定轨定位;自主控制段,上升组合体靠近轨道器,在轨道距离从5 km减小到20 m过程中,上升组合体加速追赶轨道器时,差分群时延快速趋近于0,上升组合体减速远离轨道器时,差分群时延绝对值快速变大.最后,利用嫦娥3号奔月段同时发射两个DOR (Differential One-Ranging)信号的VLBI时延数据,计算差分相时延,初步展示了月球交会对接过程中同波束VLBI差分相时延的误差情况.     

The beginnings of decameter radio astronomy: pioneering works of Semen Ya. Braude and his followers in Ukraine

S.Ya. Braude (1911–2003) was the well‐known radio astronomer, one of the founders of low‐frequency astronomical research in the world, in particular in the former Soviet Union. He began to work in this field of science in 1957, in Kharkiv city (Ukraine), from the design and manufacturing small decameter interferometer ID‐1 and ID‐2. Since that time Braude and his team have developed more sophisticated radio decameter telescopes as UTR‐1 and UTR‐2 (the largest in the world till now) as well as the first decameter VLBI network URAN. They have obtained some important pioneering results about low‐frequency radio emission of objects in our Solar system, Galaxy and Metagalaxy by means of these telescopes. In this paper the key events of early history of decameter radio astronomy research in the former USSR are mentioned with emphasizing the role of S. Braude. For the period of 1957–1962, the quotations of Braude's Personal Diary (2003) are first laying open to the public. The most important results obtained by S.Ya. Braude and his followers as well as perspectives of decameter radio astronomy in Ukraine and in the world are highlighted briefly. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)