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B.G. Keating (Caltech)
The construction of a centimeter-wave radio telescope observatory is described. The observatory has been designed as a teaching tool with a particular emphasis on high school education. A dual frequency, dual polarization receiver forms the heart of the detector system. Observations of solar system objects and bright galactic sources are used to illustrate basic radio astronomy concepts. Student ``P.I."s from a local high school propose observations in a fashion similar to modern, professional astronomy observatories. Student teams are responsible for subsequent data analysis and a year-end presentation.
The design and construction of the observatory and its observations from the program's first year of operation will be discussed. Support for this project has been provided by the National Science Foundation Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship program, the Caltech President's Fund, and the James Irvine Foundation.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: bgk@astro.caltech.edu
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.