As we made our way back from Mt. Lassen, driving through the idyllic, winding countryside, my eye chanced upon a small sign pointing to a backroad:
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY
RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY
RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY
I freaked and started pestering him to go check it out. Dave did not know what I was on about, but he humoured me with a drive into the hills.
UC Berkeley's Radio Astronomy project is located in a valley between two ridges. These mountain ridges block out radio interference from human activity, allowing highly sensitive equipment to collect very weak signals.
What's interesting about this site is that they employ a large number of small dishes to take a wide-angle view of the universe, rather than a small number of large dishes. These little radio telescopes, as they're properly called, can do a 360-degree turn in 90 seconds.
Much of what they do at the installation is related to studying deep-space radiation, but they are also part of a joint project with SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). Some people think this is a massive waste of taxpayer dollars; others think it's the coolest thing ever. I just plain geeked out, regardless of the politics. I love pioneer science. (And, yes, it is open to the public, and contains educational displays. Most are at a high school or higher level of jargon.)
SETI and the Allen Telescope Array
The Allen Telescope Array at Wikipedia
UC Berkeley's Radio Astronomy project is located in a valley between two ridges. These mountain ridges block out radio interference from human activity, allowing highly sensitive equipment to collect very weak signals.
What's interesting about this site is that they employ a large number of small dishes to take a wide-angle view of the universe, rather than a small number of large dishes. These little radio telescopes, as they're properly called, can do a 360-degree turn in 90 seconds.
Much of what they do at the installation is related to studying deep-space radiation, but they are also part of a joint project with SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). Some people think this is a massive waste of taxpayer dollars; others think it's the coolest thing ever. I just plain geeked out, regardless of the politics. I love pioneer science. (And, yes, it is open to the public, and contains educational displays. Most are at a high school or higher level of jargon.)
SETI and the Allen Telescope Array
The Allen Telescope Array at Wikipedia
1 comments:
Just me this time. THAT IS SO COOL!!!!!! Totally geeking out here.
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