Daily Image

18-08-2011
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Perseid radio echoes

Submitter: Pieter-Tjerk de Boer
Description: This weekend saw the maximum of the Perseids meteor storm. CAMRAS members set up a spare LOFAR LBA antenna and a short yagi antenna in the fields around the Dwingeloo telescope. This allowed us to (simulatenously) record meteor reflections of distant radio transmitters on 15 frequencies in the 48 - 62 MHz (LBA) and 143 MHz (yagi) frequency ranges.

While we're still busy analyzing the recordings, the picture shows some of the fascinating echoes received on 49.99 MHz. Time is on the horizontal axis, frequency on the vertical axis, and the brightness represents the signal strength.

The slanted lines are most likely reflections off airplanes, while the vertical lines are short-lived meteor reflections. Explaining the intricate shapes of the long-lived meteor reflections is left as an exercise to the reader!
Copyright: Pieter-Tjerk de Boer / CAMRAS
 
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