The Small Radio Telescope
Image courtesy: Dr. Remeis Observatory
We operate one small radio telescope (SRT) with an antenna diameter of 90″ (2.3m). This kind of telescope was developed at the MIT Haystack Observatory. Azimuthal and elevation drives allow to point the telescopes at any position on the sky. See the MIT wiki for detailed information.
The telescope is used for educational purposes as part of our student lab course. Key topics are the measurement of the sun as a thermal as well as the milky way as a non-thermal source. The telescope allows to measure the rotation curve of the Galaxy to sufficiently high precision. The analysis of signals from geostationary satellites as well as other artificial emitters demonstrates the problems observers face with radio frequency interference (RFI). The general measuring technique is similar to the one used at larger modern facilities, which we use for science, for example in our work on Active Galactic Nuclei.
