SPIDER 300A installed in New Mexico Tech college, close to VLA!

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The advanced radio telescope SPIDER 300A has been installed in New Mexico Tech college in Socorro (USA), headquarter of Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)! The new SPIDER 300A will be used for research in radio astronomy and for students alike. Astrophysics research at New Mexico Tech encompasses different areas of planetary, stellar and galactic astronomy. The Very Large Array, one of the world’s premier astronomical radio observatories, consists of 27 radio antennas (each antenna is 25 meters in diameter) in a Y-shaped configuration.

 

SPIDER 300A installed in New Mexico Tech, close to Very Large Array

SPIDER 300A installed in New Mexico Tech, close to Very Large Array

 

Thanks to the SPIDER special design, we shipped from Italy the radio telescope in special boxes that have been delivered directly in installation location. Then PrimaLuceLab team traveled to New Mexico and performed the installation on the concrete base (with conduits for connection cables) designed to keep the SPIDER 300A permanently installed in the field.

 

SPIDER 300A installed in New Mexico Tech, close to Very Large Array: preparing the radio telescope foundation

SPIDER 300A installed in New Mexico Tech, close to Very Large Array: preparing the radio telescope foundation

 

SPIDER 300A installed in New Mexico Tech, close to Very Large Array: unboxing of the radio telescope components

SPIDER 300A installed in New Mexico Tech, close to Very Large Array: unboxing of the radio telescope components

 

SPIDER 300A installed in New Mexico Tech, close to Very Large Array: testing the data and power cables

SPIDER 300A installed in New Mexico Tech, close to Very Large Array: testing the data and power cables

 

Then we installed the H142-One receiver in the control room (distance from radio telescope is 30 meters) and we performed the setup of all the remote control electronics installing the RadioUniversePRO control software in the control computer. Finally we performed a training session introducing the use of the SPIDER 300A radio telescope and RadioUniversePRO software.

 

SPIDER 300A installed in New Mexico Tech, close to Very Large Array: during training session

SPIDER 300A installed in New Mexico Tech, close to Very Large Array: during training session

 

New Mexico Tech is now ready to collect radio waves coming from space and start radio astronomy research and outreach with their SPIDER 300A radio telescope, thanks also to the support of PrimaLuceLab team! And at the end we visited the Very Large Array radio telescope too!

 

Filippo Bradaschia and Omar Cauz (PrimaLuceLab) with Farah Payan (Woodland Hills Camera & Telescope) during visit to the Very Large Array

Filippo Bradaschia and Omar Cauz (PrimaLuceLab) with Farah Payan (Woodland Hills Camera & Telescope) during visit to the Very Large Array