Posted on 02/16/2006 7:47:15 PM PST by KevinDavis
Sharing, it’s a lesson we learned as children. If you grew up with siblings, your mother probably encouraged you to let them play with your toys. While initially reluctant, you soon realized that if they got to play with your toys, you could then play with theirs. The lesson, sharing could be mutually beneficial, applies to many situations, even when we grow up.
The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) is the first of a new generation of radio telescopes. It is a radical departure from traditional radio telescope design and construction. The completed ATA, with 350 six-meter dishes, will be among the largest fully-steerable telescopes in the world. When the signals from all 350 antennas are combined in one set of processing systems, the array is transformed into sixteen virtual telescopes, each with the sensitivity of a 114-meter diameter antenna and the resolving power of a 900-meter antenna. These virtual telescopes, called beams, can be pointed anywhere in the field of view seen by the six-meter dishes. Another processing system, called a correlator, acts as a "radio camera" that can image that entire field of view. The ATA will have two correlators. It will also be able to operate over a wider range of frequencies than any other telescope in the world, processing four independent frequency bands simultaneously. This gives the ATA the potential for eighteen different projects to use the telescope at the same time, if they can share.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
I grew up a few mile away from the Hat Creek Observatory. The Allen Telescope Array is a very cool addition to the small community.
Come on down E.T. :)
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