Experimental set-up of the LUNASKA lunar Cherenkov observations at the ATCA

TL;DR

The paper details the experimental setup of the LUNASKA project at ATCA, which uses specialized hardware and algorithms to detect ultra-high-energy particle interactions in the Moon via Cherenkov radiation with high sensitivity.

Contribution

It introduces a novel hardware and software configuration enabling lunar Cherenkov pulse detection with wide bandwidth and improved RFI discrimination at ATCA.

Findings

Implementation of analogue de-dispersion filters for pulse correction

Use of FPGA-based digitizers at 2.048 GHz for pulse detection

Outline of hardware development for future observations

Abstract

This contribution describes the experimental set-up implemented by the LUNASKA project at the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) to enable the radio-telescope to be used to search for pulses of coherent Cherenkov radiation from UHE particle interactions in the Moon with an unprecedented bandwidth, and hence sensitivity. Our specialised hardware included analogue de-dispersion filters to coherently correct for the dispersion expected of a ~nanosecond pulse in the Earth's ionosphere over our wide (600 MHz) bandwidth, and FPGA-based digitising boards running at 2.048 GHz for pulse detection. The trigger algorithm is described, as are the methods used discriminate between terrestrial RFI and true lunar pulses. We also outline the next stage of hardware development expected to be used in our 2010 observations.