1 / 1

The Very Small Array

The Very Small Array. VSA. Dr. H. Paul Shuch, Exec. Dir., The SETI League, Inc. (paul@setileague.org). Description and Objectives:.

Download Presentation

The Very Small Array

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. The Very Small Array VSA Dr. H. Paul Shuch, Exec. Dir., The SETI League, Inc. (paul@setileague.org) Description and Objectives: A test platform for future research-grade radio telescopes, the Very Small Array is a low-cost effort to combine the collecting area of multiple off-the-shelf backyard satellite TV dishes into a highly capable L-band observing instrument. A volunteer effort of the grassroots nonprofit SETI League, the VSA is being built in the Principal Investigator’s backyard, with member donations and modest grant funding. A US patent has been issued for our technique of employing combined analog and digital circuitry for simultaneous total power radiometry, spectroscopy, and aperture synthesis interferometry. Key Features of Instrument: Schedule Milestones: Phase 0: Paper design, single-dish test bed; US patent #6,593,876 (issued2003) Phase 1: Physical Structures – (completed 2004) (masts, az/el mounts, dishes, feeds, conduit, junction boxes cables) Phase 2: Front-end electronics (in process 2005) Phase 3: Back-end electronics + DSP (planned for 2007) 8 ea. 1.8 meter reflectors in Mills Cross array Offset feeds for non-blocked aperture Meridian transit mode w/ elevation rotation Dual Orthogonal Circular Polarizations Full ‘water-hole’ coverage, 1.2 – 1.7 GHz Simultaneous total power radiometry, spec-troscopy, and interferometry in real time Applications: Meridian transit all-sky SETI survey Parasitic Astrophysical Survey Targeted SETI in direction of known exoplanets Quick-response verification of candidate SETI signals Partners: American Astronomical Society, ARRL Foundation, Microcomm Consulting 3 12 May 2005 Radio Telescope, Phased Array, Mills Cross, Radiometry, Spectroscopy, Interferometry, SETI

More Related