Status and Strategies of Current LUNASKA Lunar Cherenkov Observations with the Parkes Radio Telescope

TL;DR

This paper reviews the current status and strategies of lunar Cherenkov observations with the Parkes Radio Telescope, focusing on techniques for neutrino detection and flux limit estimation.

Contribution

It provides an overview of signal processing considerations and discusses expected flux limits, including a directional limit for Centaurus A.

Findings

Development of signal processing techniques for lunar Cherenkov detection

Estimation of flux limits from current observations

Potential for directional neutrino flux limits for specific sources

Abstract

LUNASKA (Lunar UHE Neutrino Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array) is an ongoing project conducting lunar Cherenkov observations in order to develop techniques for detecting neutrinos with the next generation of radio telescopes. Our current observing campaign is with the 64-metre Parkes radio telescope, using a multibeam receiver with 300 MHz of bandwidth from 1.2-1.5 GHz. Here we provide an overview of the various factors that must be considered in the signal processing for such an experiment. We also briefly describe the flux limits which we expect to set with our current observations, including a directional limit for Centaurus A.