Design, environmental and sustainability constraints of new African observatories: The example of the Mozambique Radio Astronomy Observatory

Author

Barbosa, D. ; Bergano, Miguel ; Ribeiro, Valerio A. R. M. ; Loots, Anita ; Thondikulam, Venkatasubramani L. ; Gaylard, Michael ; van Ardenne, A. ; Paulo, Claudio ; Colafrancesco, Sergio ; Amador, Jose Carlos ; Maia, Ranniery ; Melo, Rosangela

Author_Institution

Inst. de Telecomun., Grupo de Radioastron., Univ. de Santiago, Aveiro, Portugal

fYear

2013

fDate

9-12 Sept. 2013

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

5

Abstract

The Mozambique Radio Astronomy Observatory (MRAO) will be a first milestone towards development of radioastronomy in Mozambique. Development of MRAO will constitute a preparation step towards participation in the upcoming Africa VLBI Network and the Square Kilometer Array project. The MRAO first antenna is planned to serve as a capacitation and training facility and will be installed after the conversion of a 7-meter telecom dish in South Africa. Therefore, this first radiotelescope design has to comply with local spectral and environmental constraints. Furthermore, power availability and long term sustainability with potential inclusion of solar power and control of Radio Frequency Interference are analyzed. Here we outline some of the design, environmental and power sustainability constraints.

Keywords

astronomical observatories; radioastronomical techniques; radioastronomy; radiotelescopes; African observatories; Mozambique radio astronomy observatory; Radio Frequency Interference; Square Kilometer Array project; radioastronomy; radiotelescope design; telecom dish; Africa; Antennas; Arrays; Educational institutions; Observatories; Radio astronomy; Radio Frequency Interference; antennas; radioastronomy; solar power; telescopes;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

AFRICON, 2013

Conference_Location

Pointe-Aux-Piments

ISSN

2153-0025

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-5940-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AFRCON.2013.6757829

Filename

6757829