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10/18/2024 | Fachbereich Elektrotechnik/Informatik | Distributed Systems

A Journey Through the Stars: Exploring (Distributed) Radio Astronomy with the Amateur Radio Group

Twenty-one electrical engineering students from the university’s Amateur Radio Working Group (Amateurfunk AG), co-run by the Distributed Systems Group, explored how modern radio telescopes use distributed systems. Over two days, they visited three historic radio astronomy sites and gained practical insights into radio astronomy and amateur radio. The excursion also highlighted the current use of distributed systems in radio astronomy, where multiple telescopes are combined via very precise clocks, forming large-scale distributed systems for improved observation and data collection.

First group of the excusion at the Effelsberg Radio Observatory

Radio astronomy, the study of celestial objects through the detection of radio waves, plays a crucial role in expanding our understanding of the cosmos. On Monday, the students visited the Sternwarte Bochum, a site that has contributed significantly to space research since the 1950s. They were given a tour of the radio telescope and the LEILA-2 ground station of AMSAT-DL, which is instrumental in monitoring the QO100 satellite’s signal. The Sternwarte has a rich history, originally contributing to the tracking of early satellites, and today supports modern amateur satellite communication. The students proudly reflected on their own achievement of building a QO100 station over the past year, which allowed them to complete their first QSO with the satellite.

Tuesday began with a visit to the Astropeiler Stockert, a prominent historic radio telescope that has been active since 1956. The group witnessed the decoding of signals from our Milky Way, demonstrating the Doppler shift—a change in frequency that occurs as stars and gas move relative to us. Students also observed signals from CAS-A, a supernova remnant whose hydrogen emissions provide a distinctive radio signal, helping scientists study the composition and motion of cosmic gas. The Astropeiler has a rich history in radio astronomy and is still used by amateur radio operators today. At DL0EA, the on-site amateur radio station, students learned about the station’s success in EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) contests, where signals are bounced off the moon using a 10-meter dish.

The excursion concluded with a visit to the Effelsberg radio observatory, home to one of the world’s largest fully steerable radio telescopes. Effelsberg has been instrumental in advancing radio astronomy since its inauguration in 1972. Today, radio astronomy leverages distributed systems of telescopes, where multiple sites work together, synchronized by extremely precise atomic clocks. This collaboration enables a more comprehensive view of the universe. Students toured the observatory’s clock system and learned about the network connectivity that links Effelsberg with other telescopes around the world, highlighting the importance of distributed systems in modern scientific research.

The excursion was primarily organized by two students (Lukas Lepper and David Hasenauer) from the university’s Amateur Radio Working Group (Amateurfunk AG). The Amateurfunk AG is run by the Distributed Systems and the Microwave Electronics group. It was supported by the university’s QSL (Qualität Studium und Lehre) funds. This hands-on experience not only expanded the students' understanding of both amateur and professional radio technology but also provided them with a deeper appreciation of the use of Internet technology and communication networks to push scientific advances in radio astronomy.