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Algonquin Radio Observatory
The Algonquin Radio Observatory (ARO) is a radio observatory located in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. It opened in 1959 in order to host a number of the National Research Council of Canada's (NRC) ongoing experiments in a more radio-quiet location than Ottawa.
In 1962 it was selected as the site for the Algonquin 46m radio telescope, which has been the site's primary instrument through most of its history. An earlier 10 m instrument was set up in 1961 though was not equipped with a drive mechanism until 1964. The site also hosts a hydrogen maser, a standard feature for radio telescopes that can also serve to receive telemetry from deep space missions. Other instruments formerly at the site included a solar-observing array of thirty-two 10 ft (3 m) dishes, and a single 1.8 m solar flux monitor observing at 10.7 cm wavelength, and an 18 m radio telescope from the University of Toronto (U of T).
In the late 1980s, as a part of an ongoing shift of operations from the NRC, operations of the ARO were passed to the Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science (ISTS, later renamed the Center for Research in Earth and Space Technology (CRESTech)). The multi-dish solar observatory was sold in the early 2000s, and the second solar observatory antenna was moved to the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in British Columbia. The Observatory's main uses today are in very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) experiments mostly in geodesy, a primary global positioning system site, some use for satellite downlink, and other general experiments.
From 1992 to 1994, The Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science operated the Algonquin Space Campus on the premises for youth aged 14-17. The camp was directed by Chris Coggan and had a cirriculum consisting of astronomy, remote sensing and human factors. Alumnus of the camp run an unofficial facebook page AlgonquinSpaceCamp.
Since 2007, the site has been operated by Thoth Technology Inc.
Prior to the construction of the ARO, Arthur Covington had been running a solar observation program at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) Ottawa Radio Field Station. The station was primarily a radar research site, and ongoing radar work interfered with the solar instrument Covington had built as a personal project. This had started with the wartime observation that the sun gave off radio signals in the 10 cm region when naval ships accidentally swung their radars past the Sun while it was rising or setting.
As post-war researchers examined this effect, they discovered the signals were being generated by sunspots. As the value of the observations became evident, Covington's experimental instrument was moved about five miles (8 km) away to Goth Hill, a more radio-quiet location. But as Ottawa grew this site soon started becoming radio-noisy as well, due mostly to increasing air traffic at a nearby airport. Looking to improve the quality of their measurements, they proposed building a new solar telescope located far away from built up areas. Easy access from Ottawa made Algonquin a fairly obvious choice, although it was about 200 km away the roads were good quality and easy to travel, and there was a mainline railway that passed just south of the selected site.
Algonquin Radio Observatory was inaugurated in 1959 and became Canada's national radio observatory in 1962. The observatory house complex, radiometer building, utility buildings, University of Toronto Laboratory, 10 m (33 ft) dish and parabolic microwave feed horn instruments were designed in 1959 and construction was completed in phases over the next several years. The first instrument on the site was a new solar telescope, similar to Covington's original 4 ft (1.2 m) instrument, but slightly enlarged to 6 ft (1.8 m) which allowed it to better observe the entire solar disk. This instrument operated in parallel to the original at Goth Hill until 1962, when it took over these duties completely. A second 6 ft (1.8 m) telescope, identical to the one at ARO, was later installed at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) in Penticton, British Columbia as a backup.
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Algonquin Radio Observatory
The Algonquin Radio Observatory (ARO) is a radio observatory located in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. It opened in 1959 in order to host a number of the National Research Council of Canada's (NRC) ongoing experiments in a more radio-quiet location than Ottawa.
In 1962 it was selected as the site for the Algonquin 46m radio telescope, which has been the site's primary instrument through most of its history. An earlier 10 m instrument was set up in 1961 though was not equipped with a drive mechanism until 1964. The site also hosts a hydrogen maser, a standard feature for radio telescopes that can also serve to receive telemetry from deep space missions. Other instruments formerly at the site included a solar-observing array of thirty-two 10 ft (3 m) dishes, and a single 1.8 m solar flux monitor observing at 10.7 cm wavelength, and an 18 m radio telescope from the University of Toronto (U of T).
In the late 1980s, as a part of an ongoing shift of operations from the NRC, operations of the ARO were passed to the Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science (ISTS, later renamed the Center for Research in Earth and Space Technology (CRESTech)). The multi-dish solar observatory was sold in the early 2000s, and the second solar observatory antenna was moved to the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in British Columbia. The Observatory's main uses today are in very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) experiments mostly in geodesy, a primary global positioning system site, some use for satellite downlink, and other general experiments.
From 1992 to 1994, The Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science operated the Algonquin Space Campus on the premises for youth aged 14-17. The camp was directed by Chris Coggan and had a cirriculum consisting of astronomy, remote sensing and human factors. Alumnus of the camp run an unofficial facebook page AlgonquinSpaceCamp.
Since 2007, the site has been operated by Thoth Technology Inc.
Prior to the construction of the ARO, Arthur Covington had been running a solar observation program at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) Ottawa Radio Field Station. The station was primarily a radar research site, and ongoing radar work interfered with the solar instrument Covington had built as a personal project. This had started with the wartime observation that the sun gave off radio signals in the 10 cm region when naval ships accidentally swung their radars past the Sun while it was rising or setting.
As post-war researchers examined this effect, they discovered the signals were being generated by sunspots. As the value of the observations became evident, Covington's experimental instrument was moved about five miles (8 km) away to Goth Hill, a more radio-quiet location. But as Ottawa grew this site soon started becoming radio-noisy as well, due mostly to increasing air traffic at a nearby airport. Looking to improve the quality of their measurements, they proposed building a new solar telescope located far away from built up areas. Easy access from Ottawa made Algonquin a fairly obvious choice, although it was about 200 km away the roads were good quality and easy to travel, and there was a mainline railway that passed just south of the selected site.
Algonquin Radio Observatory was inaugurated in 1959 and became Canada's national radio observatory in 1962. The observatory house complex, radiometer building, utility buildings, University of Toronto Laboratory, 10 m (33 ft) dish and parabolic microwave feed horn instruments were designed in 1959 and construction was completed in phases over the next several years. The first instrument on the site was a new solar telescope, similar to Covington's original 4 ft (1.2 m) instrument, but slightly enlarged to 6 ft (1.8 m) which allowed it to better observe the entire solar disk. This instrument operated in parallel to the original at Goth Hill until 1962, when it took over these duties completely. A second 6 ft (1.8 m) telescope, identical to the one at ARO, was later installed at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) in Penticton, British Columbia as a backup.
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