IBT Poster -- TAO

1
The IBT (Itty Bitty radio Telescope) at
Tamke-Allan Observatory David E. Fields,
Observatory Director Tamke Allan
Observatory Roane State Community
College Harriman, TN 37748

• How do we introduce and demonstrate Radio
  Astronomy at Tamke-Allan Observatory?
• Tamke Allan Observatory is located in Rockwood
  Tennessee and is operated by Roane State
  Community College.
• Astronomy is a gateway to the sciences. Through
  astronomy, we recognize the relevance of biology
  and the necessity of physics and chemistry for
  understanding our place in the universe.
  Unfortunately, because of illumination from
  street lamps, car headlights and lighted signs,
  the night skies are becoming less accessible.
  Only when we find an isolated mountain, such as
  the one on which the Tamke-Allan Observatory
  (TAO) is located, can we rediscover our
  galaxythe Milky Way and obtain magnified
  glimpses of distant planets, the star-like moons
  of other planets and the diffuse glow of distant
  nebulae and comets.

Abstract Initial work with the nominal 11.7 Ghz
Ku band SARA-NRAO Radio Telescopes has shown them
to be excellent little devices for introducing
radio astronomy to students and the public. They
are usually referred to as Itty Bitty Telescopes
(IBTs), with a nod to their inspiration, the
Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The IBT that we use
at Tamke-Allan Observatory (TAO) is the most
well-traveled of all of our radio telescopes, and
we consider it to be an excellent introduction to
radio astronomy. Other radio telescopes that we
use at TAO are a 20.5 MHz system for Jupiter and
Solar monitoring a 6-m dish, and a 1420 MHz
system for neutral hydrogen interstellar cloud
monitoring. The IBT was built by Kerry Smith of
the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA)
for the SARA/NRAO Navigator outreach program.
Local SARA/NRAO Navigators include Tyler Moore,
John Mannone, and David Fields. See
www.radio-astronomy.org Please visit Tamke-Allan
Observatory. We are open each 1st and 3rd
Saturday of the month. See www.roanestate.edu/obs
Where are we using the TAO Itty Bitty radio
Telescope?
Radio sources are well- represented in the sky,
but most are comparatively weak. Our
small-aperture IBT easily sees the sun, many
satellites, and large room-temperature objects,
including people. Here Ron Dinkins family and
Katie Sloop are enjoying using the IBT. Our
telescope dome in the background is closed, since
the day was cloudy. The IBT operates through the
clouds.
Inspiration for the IBT The Green Bank radio
Telescope The Green Bank radio Telescope, aka
the Great Big radio Telescope (GBT) is the
largest steerable radio telescope on the planet.
It is 100 meters (300 feet) in diameter and has
been used to study many distant astronomical
radio sources. On the left is shown the GBT
which, like our 18 diameter IBT, has an off-axis
parabolic construction. The IBT is steerable,
portable, and a great demonstration tool to show
how to do radio astronomy. The IBT has audio and
digital output for recording and sending data via
the Internet using our SkyPipe program. Radio
telescopes show us much of the structure of our
universe because of their sensitivity and
resolution. The sensitivity comes from the great
capture-area of the large radio telescopes, while
resolution is a function of both size and the
wavelength, ?. For a group of radio telescopes
properly connected, the effective size of the
system is not the diameter of one dish instead,
it is the spacing between the radio telescopes.
Roane State Community College hosts a minority
workshop in science each summer. This year the
astronomy lectures featured an introduction to
radio astronomy using our IBT telescope making
and a discussion about our solar system.
The TAO IBT has also been used during radio
astronomy lectures at the Oak Ridge Civil Air
Patrol squadron on two occasions. Here cadets
discuss whether a streetlight emits enough radio
energy to be detected. The IBT was demonstrated
recently at a fly-in at Rockwood Airport.
Both the GBT and the IBT receive signals from
celestial radio emitters. Like optical
telescopes, they are used to listen to signals
that penetrate transmission windows through our
atmosphere/ionosphere, as shown by the graph on
the left. The cartoon on the right reminds us of
the diversity of radio sources, which include
neutral hydrogen and organic molecular clouds,
stars, planets, rocks and a plethora of man-made
devices such as satellites and communications
equipment..