Gauribidanur Radio Observatory
| Organization | |
|---|---|
| Location | Gauribidanur, Karnataka, India |
| Coordinates | 13°36′N 77°26′E / 13.6°N 77.43°E |
| Established | 1976 |
| Website | www |
| Telescopes |
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Location of Gauribidanur Radio Observatory | |
| Related media on Commons | |
The Gauribidanur Radio Observatory is a radio telescope observatory located at Gauribidanur, near Bengaluru. It is operated jointly by Raman Research Institute and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. The observatory has been in operation since 1976.
Location
The Gauribidanur Observatory is located at Gauribidanur in Chikkaballapur district(Latitude:13.60° N; Longitude:77.44° E), 100 km north of Bengaluru.[1]
Science and observation
The observatory’s solar observations at decameter (~100 MHz) and metre (~20 MHz) wavelengths date back to the early 1950s at Kodaikanal, using Yagi antenna arrays under the Kodaikanal Yale project. The Gauribidanur site was established in 1976 to install the Gauribidanur Telescope, a 1000‑dipole array in a T-shaped layout and has been continuously monitoring the Sun and Pulsars in radio frequencies since that time.[2]
In 2024, researchers at the Gauribidanur observatory demonstrated that low-cost commercial dish TV antennas operating at 11.2 GHz could be repurposed to measure the Sun’s magnetic field in the solar chromosphere, bridging a critical observational gap between the photosphere and corona. According to Prof. R. Ramesh of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, these daily radio observations. Unlike optical ones restricted to eclipses, allow continuous tracking of solar magnetic fields, essential for understanding and forecasting coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and space weather.[3]
A few observations with the array have been the first two-dimensional images of radio emission from slowly varying discrete sources in the outer solar corona, an all-sky survey of radio sources at 34.5 MHz in the declination range -30° S to 60° N, and a low frequency carbon recombination lines in astrophysical sources. Studies have also been done of gaseous remnants of exploding stars and the apparently vacant space between members of a cluster of galaxies. Currently, the studies are targeted at pulsars.[4]
Facilities
The Gauribidanur Observatory has a 6-meter radio telescope, a radio heliograph, a high resolution radio spectrograph and a gravitational laboratory.
Gauribidanur Telescope
The Gauribidanur Telescope is a decameter wave radio telescope. It consists of 1000 dipoles arranged in a "T" configuration. It consists of 1.4 km East-West Arm and a 0.5 km South Arm.[5]
Gauribidanur Radio Heliograph
The Gauribidanur Radio Heliograph is a radioheliograph used to obtain two dimensional pictures of the outer solar corona at frequencies from 40-150 MHz. It has been operating since 1997. It consists of 192 log-periodic dipoles arranged in a "T" configuration.[6]
See also
References
- ^ "Abstract Details | 34th Meeting of Astronomical Society of India". astron-soc.in. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
- ^ Swarup, Govind (May 2014). "Growth and Development of Radio Astronomy in India". Astronomy in India: A Historical Perspective: 73–110. doi:10.1007/978-81-8489-998-6_5. ISBN 978-81-8489-997-9 – via Research Gate.
- ^ Chauhan, Bala (29 June 2025). "Breakthrough: IIA Bengaluru uses dish TV antenna to study Sun". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
- ^ "2001JApA...22...51K Page 51". adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
- ^ "Gauribidanur Telescope". The Indian Institute of Astrophysics. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ^ "Gauribidanur Radio Heliograph". The Indian Institute of Astrophysics - Gauribidanur Radio Heliograph. Retrieved 25 August 2014.