Space-based aperture array for ultra-long wavelength radio astronomy

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• 作者：Raj Thilak Rajan ; Albert-Jan Boonstra ; Mark Bentum…
• 关键词：Radio astronomy ; Ultra ; long wavelength ; Interferometry ; Feasibility study ; System design
• 刊名：Experimental Astronomy
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：February 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：41
• 期：1-2
• 页码：271-306
• 全文大小：4,335 KB
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• 作者单位：Raj Thilak Rajan (1) (2)
  Albert-Jan Boonstra (1)
  Mark Bentum (1) (3)
  Marc Klein-Wolt (4)
  Frederik Belien (2) (5)
  Michel Arts (1)
  Noah Saks (5)
  Alle-Jan van der Veen (2)
  
  1. Research and Development, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), Dwingeloo, The Netherlands
  2. Research and Development, Technical University of Delft, Delft, The Netherlands
  3. Telecommunications Engineering, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
  4. Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
  5. Airbus Defence, Space, Friedrichshafen, Germany
  
• 刊物类别：Physics and Astronomy
• 刊物主题：Physics
  Astronomy
  Statistics for Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, Chemistry and Geosciences
  
• 出版者：Springer Netherlands
• ISSN：1572-9508

文摘

The past decade has seen the advent of various radio astronomy arrays, particularly for low-frequency observations below 100 MHz. These developments have been primarily driven by interesting and fundamental scientific questions, such as studying the dark ages and epoch of re-ionization, by detecting the highly red-shifted 21 cm line emission. However, Earth-based radio astronomy observations at frequencies below 30 MHz are severely restricted due to man-made interference, ionospheric distortion and almost complete non-transparency of the ionosphere below 10 MHz. Therefore, this narrow spectral band remains possibly the last unexplored frequency range in radio astronomy. A straightforward solution to study the universe at these frequencies is to deploy a space-based antenna array far away from Earths’ ionosphere. In the past, such space-based radio astronomy studies were principally limited by technology and computing resources, however current processing and communication trends indicate otherwise. Furthermore, successful space-based missions which mapped the sky in this frequency regime, such as the lunar orbiter RAE-2, were restricted by very poor spatial resolution. Recently concluded studies, such as DARIS (Disturbuted Aperture Array for Radio Astronomy In Space) have shown the ready feasibility of a 9 satellite constellation using off the shelf components. The aim of this article is to discuss the current trends and technologies towards the feasibility of a space-based aperture array for astronomical observations in the Ultra-Long Wavelength (ULW) regime of greater than 10 m i.e., below 30 MHz. We briefly present the achievable science cases, and discuss the system design for selected scenarios such as extra-galactic surveys. An extensive discussion is presented on various sub-systems of the potential satellite array, such as radio astronomical antenna design, the on-board signal processing, communication architectures and joint space-time estimation of the satellite network. In light of a scalable array and to avert single point of failure, we propose both centralized and distributed solutions for the ULW space-based array. We highlight the benefits of various deployment locations and summarize the technological challenges for future space-based radio arrays. Keywords Radio astronomy Ultra-long wavelength Interferometry Feasibility study System design