Radio Interferometric Observations of the Sun Using Commercial Dish TV Antennas

TL;DR

This paper presents initial results from using commercial dish TV antennas for radio interferometric observations of the Sun's chromosphere at high frequencies, aiming to supplement optical solar observations with low-cost radio imaging.

Contribution

The study demonstrates the feasibility of using commercial dish TV antennas for solar radio interferometry at high frequencies, providing a low-cost alternative for solar observations.

Findings

Prototype instrumentation successfully developed and tested.

Initial observations show potential for solar chromosphere imaging.

Low-cost antennas can be used for high-frequency solar radio observations.

Abstract

The radio astronomy group in the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) has been carrying out routine observations of radio emission from the solar corona at low frequencies (${\approx}$40-440MHz) at the Gauribidanur observatory, about 100km north of Bangalore. Since IIA has been performing regular observations of the solar photosphere and chromosphere using different optical telescopes in its Kodaikanal Solar Observatory (KSO) also, the possibilities of obtaining two-dimensional radio images of the solar chromosphere using low-cost instrumentation to supplement the optical observations are being explored. As a part of the exercise, recently the group had developed prototype instrumentation for interferometric observations of radio emission from the solar chromosphere at high frequencies (${\approx}$11.2GHz) using two commercial dish TV antennas. The hardware set-up and initial observations are presented.