Algonquin Radio Observatory

The Algonquin Radio Observatory has a radio telescope and is located in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. It was built in 1966 and has a 45.8 -meter main reflector. Thus, it is currently Canada's largest radio telescope.

History

The increasing use of radar and radio applications in the Ottawa area prepared interference problems, which allowed for a more suitable Covington, electromagnetically quiet place looking for the program. This led to the construction of the Algonquin Radio Observatory ( ARO) in Algonquin Provincial Park, about 150 kilometers northwest of Ottawa, but relatively easily accessible from the major highways. A new telescope for the solar flux with a 1.8 -m parabolic dish was built in 1960, which was operated in parallel with the Goth Hill instrument before 1962 completely took over his role. 1964 an identical instrument at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory ( DAO) has been installed in British Columbia. This was followed by a more powerful version of the waveguide instrument, this time focused by a series of thirty-two 3- m- dishes, placed over a 215- m- waveguide, which has been opened in 1966.

The ARO was greatly expanded in 1966 with the commissioning of the 46- m- deep-space telescope. In the 1960s and 1970s there was a major research institution, although limitations in design there could be less available in the 1980s. For a time, joined this instrument a smaller 18- m telescope, which was originally located at the David Dunlap Observatory outside of Toronto and was operated by the University of Toronto. The original Solarobservatorien remained until 1990 in operation as a means cuts in the National Research Council of Canada (NRC ), forcing the closing of the entire Algonquin site. In 1991, the 1.8 - m- bowl for use as a backup device was implemented on DAO.

Present use

Since the year 2008, the investment by the Canadian technology company Thoth Technology is operated. The radio telescope has been completely modernized in the years 2008 to 2013. It is intended for Canadian and international research institutions for various research areas. Thoth Technology offers various geodetic services for the aerospace industry. Furthermore, the system is an active control base for the Global Positioning System (GPS) and also includes the Deep Space Network on merger. The main reflector and the receivers to receive and process capable of L-band, S-band and X-band. Further facilities at the site and research institutions of Canadian universities such as, inter alia, York University. The plant should be used in addition to the research of new technologies as a relay and radio connection for national and international space missions such as manned space missions, space probes and satellites. The radio telescope is participating in an international research project by the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics since 2012. With the new hydrogen maser clock of the telescope high accuracies can be achieved. There are new technologies are being explored in the field of Langbasisinterferometrie.