Owens Valley Solar Array
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Organization | New Jersey Institute of Technology |
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| Location | Owens Valley Radio Observatory, Big Pine, California |
| Coordinates | |
| Altitude | 3,937 feet (1,200 m) |
| Webpage | [1] |
| Telescopes | |
| Radio Antennas | 27-m antennas (2)
1.8-m antennas (5) |
The Owens Valley Solar Array (OVSA) is a astronomical radio telescope array with main interests in studying the physics of the Sun. The instruments of the observatory are designed and employed specifically for studying the activities and phenomena of our solar system's sun. Other solar dedicated instruments operated on the site include the Solar Radio Burst Locator (SRBL), the FASR Subsystem Testbed (FST), and the Korean SRBL (KSRBL). The OVSA is operated by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), which also operates the Big Bear Solar Observatory.
The OVSA is located at Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO), near Big Pine, California.
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[edit] About the radio telescope array
The array was originally built by the California Institute of Technology in 1982, and comprised 5 antennas (two 27-m antennas and three 1.8-m antennas) by 1997. Management of the observatory was transferred to NJIT in 1997, and two more 1.8-m antennas were added by 2004. Funding comes from the National Science Foundation and NASA.
[edit] Instruments
The array employs two 27-m antennas and five 1.8-m antennas to perform radio interferometry at up to 86 radio frequencies ranging from 1 to 18 gigahertz (microwave range). The combination of spatial and spectral resolution is called microwave imaging spectroscopy, which provides rich diagnostic information about the Sun. It is sensitive to both thermal radiation from the chromosphere and corona of the Sun, and to non-thermal radiation from high-energy electrons accelerated in solar flares.
The array has also been used in the discovery and study of the effects of solar radio bursts on wireless communication systems, including cell phones and the Global Positioning System (GPS). Such effects are aspects of Space weather.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Owens Valley Solar Array homepage. Owens Valley Solar Array. Retrieved on January 13, 2008.
