Radio Astronomy Lab Files
(Updated: 20-September-2022)
The following files and packages (links provided) are useful for labs for teaching about radio astronomy.
The java applications in SRT_Plotter.zip, VSRTI_Plotter.zip, and TIFT.zip are all open source and located at https://github.com/keidax/vsrti-plotter/releases
Note: please e-mail me if there are any problems not currently documented (marrj@union.edu).
Thank you.
Single-Dish Labs:
SRTLabs.pdf: Instructions for 5 labs using the Haystack SRT
-- learning how to calibrate a telescope and to use for observations.
SRT_Plotter.zip: java program for processing and analyzing data from a Haystack SRT, and instructions for 5 labs using the Haystack SRT.
SRT_File_Converter.py: python program for converting data files written by new SRT receiver (with TV dongle) to format of old SRT receiver to be read into SRT_Plotter. (Note: when running program, data file must have ".rad" suffix and do not include the ".rad" in the command line for SRT_File_Converter.py.)
Aperture Synthesis Labs:
IntroductiontoVSRT.pdf: Explanation of the hardware, how to use the VSRT and the
analysis software (VSRTI_Plotter).
HowtheVSRTWorks.pdf: Mathematical derivation proving that the VSRT Interferometer simulates (somewhat) a cross-correlation by measuring the amplitudes of the complex visibilities
VSRTILabs.pdf: Instructions for 6 labs using the VSRT Interferometer on the basics of aperture synthesis
-- how an array of antennas can produce images of radio sources
VSRTI_Plotter.zip:
a package of java files to be used for labs on aperture synthesis using the Haystack VSRT Interferometer, although these programs are also useful
demonstrations of the basics of aperture synthesis for those users lacking the VSRT Interferometer equipment. [NOTE Do not do the Fringe Pattern lab! ]
VSRTdatafiles.zip: Instructors who would like to use VSRTI_Plotter in their classes but don't have the equipment, or have had equipment failures can e-mail me (at marrj@union.edu) requesting a zip file containing a full set of data files, obtained by previous students, for all the labs discussed here.
TIFT.zip: "Tool for Interactive Fourier Transforms" A java package for
learning about Fourier transforms and cosine transforms by inputting functions and
immediately seeing the transform function.
uvplot.nb: A Mathematica program for calculating the uv tracks an array of antennas.
Acknowledgments
The VSRT was developed by Alan Rogers, Preethi Pratap, and Vincent Fish at the Haystack Observatory of MIT, with contributions made by Martina Arndt (of Bridgewater State University), Stephen Minnigh and Michael Doherty
The Java packages (SRT_Plotter, VSRTI_Plotter, and TIFT) were developed by Karel Durkota, Adam Pere, and Gabriel Holodak.
Vincent Fish, Alan Rogers, and Francis Wilkin contributed to the development of these labs.
The development of the VSRTs was funded by the National Science Foundation CCLI grant DUE-0817136 and the development of the VSRTI_Plotter Java package by the NSF IIS CPATH award 0722203