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Sharjah Center for Astronomy and Space Sciences

(SCASS):
Five-Meter Radio Telescope
5-meter Radio Telescope (1.4 GHz)
Observations at 1.4 GHz
• Studying the sky at the frequency of 1420 MHz has several advantages including the ability to
capture radio waves even during the day and through the clouds. But at this frequency the
electromagnetic emission of many radio sources is quite weak. At the frequency of 1420
MHz the strongest radio sources are:

• Sun: flux about 40000 Jansky


• Cassiopea A: flux about 2400 Jansky
• Centaurus A: flux about 1700 Jansky
• Cygnus A: flux about 1600 Jansky
• Sagittarius A: flux about 1600 Jansky
• Vela X: flux about 1600 Jansky
• Taurus A (M1): flux about 875 Jansky
• Orion A (M42): flux about 520 Jansky
• NGC2237: flux about 260 Jansky
Taurus A with Spider300
Radio astronomy at school with SPIDER radio telescopes: Sun radiomap recorded
with SPIDER 300A radio telescope
Cassiopea A recorded with SPIDER radio telescope: Hydrogen line and artificial interferences
Radio astronomy at school with SPIDER radio telescopes: on-off spectrum of Cassiopea A
radio sources with Hydrogen line detection
SPIDER 500A Radio Telescope (PrimaLuce Lab – Italy)
• Technical Features
Antenna diameter (m) 5
Antenna type Prime focus
Working frequency 1,42 GHz
Bandwidth 50 MHz
Feed Yes
LNB Yes
A/D converter 14 bits
Mount Computerized alt-azimuth
Control handpad No
Maximum slewing speed 90° / min
Control software Yes
Dome Not necessary
5 meter Prime Focus Parabolic Antenna
• WEB500-5 antenna - Fine metallic mesh, low weight.
• Special rear supports to maintain rigidity of the whole parabolic antenna on the mount (no flexures with effective
pointing system)
• Perfect parabolic shape with a maximum error of less than lambda/20.
1420 MHz Optimized Feed Horn
• H-FEED feed horn designed to allow high gain and minimize side lobes.
• Feed horn allows reception of dual polarization with support for two professional
Low Noise Amplifiers (LNA) for the 1420 MHz frequency.
Alt-Az Waterproof Computerized Mount

• New WP-400 altazimuth mount, completely


waterproof.

• Equipped with automatic tracking and goto


system controlled by the radio telescope
software.

• WP-400 mount has 400 Kg load capacity and


a very high precision pointing and tracking
(encoders read resolution 0,0015°).

• Equipped with a special electronic security


system which "park" the antenna pointing the
Zenith (the vertical position) when the wind
exceeds 50 Km/h.
1420 MHz receiver
• New H142-One - 1420 MHz superheterodyne type radiometer/ spectrometer,
double conversion (type UP/DOWN) with 50 MHz received instantaneous
bandwidth (RF=1.395MHz-1.445MHz)

• 14-bit analog to digital converter

• Spectrometer with 1024 channels (each 61 KHz) that are displayed and processed
in real time

• SPIDER 500A radio telescope can record radio sources, with a theoretical flow of at
least 5 Jy.
Accessories
• Radio astronomy flux calibrator
• Ultrasonic wind sensor integrated with SPIDER radio
telescope control software
• All-sky camera with 180 degrees lens
• Networking module for RadioUniversePRO
• Multi-media module for RadioUniversePRO

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