Radio Optical Telescope ROT-54/2.6 Dr. Arevik Sargsyan Herouni United Space Center (HUSC), Armenia EVN CBD meeting, May 12, 2021 Where we are? ROT-54 is placed in Aragatsotn region of the Republic of Armenia, on the southern slot of mount Aragats, which is the highest pic in Armenia. ROT-54 The Latitude: 40.3508609° The Longitude: 44.2417924° The Altitude: 1711 m Antenna Parameters Design peculiarities of the ROT-54/2.6 Professor Paris Herouni The ROT-54/2.6 includes the Radio Telescope with Double Reflector Spherical Antenna with the main reflector 54m in diameter (an effective diameter is 32m) and secondary reflector of 5m aperture diameter, and the Optical Telescope with diameter of mirror 2.6m and focus distance of 10m. Schematic view East - West (ICAP 1989, P.M. Herouni “The First Radio Optical Telescope The main symmetry axis is oriented towards a direction 15° to “South” leaving 15° with respect to the local zenith at 40°, the latitude of the location of the telescope. A beam pointing is available from -35° elevation (“South”) to +85° elevation (“Nord”). Apical angle of the conical view is 120°. ROT-54/2.6 history ROT-54/2.6 history-1 The construction: 1980-1985. Finishing adjusting works in 1987. In 1987, the radiotelescope was put into operation. This type of radiotelescope was named Herouni Mirror Telescope. The devastating earthquake of 1988, fortunately, did not affect the structure of the antenna, which confirms the highest level of the antenna engineering project, the infallibility of technological solutions, and the stability of the structure. A hemispherical large reflector with a diameter of 54 meters and a small reflector with a special profile shape, the aperture of which is 5 meters. The hemispherical reflector is unmovable and is built in natural concavity, in a concrete bowl. ROT-54/2.6 history-2 Planned observations under the management of Professor Herouni were done in 1987 – 1990. The Explosion of Red Giant Star was recorded (Etta star in Gemini constellation), multiple scientific articles were published in USSR periodical and abroad, Professor Paris Herouni has participated and presented results about ROT construction and parameters in a big number of International Conferences. ROT-54/2.6 history -3 During the energy crisis of 1990-1995, numerous measurements of antenna parameters using the radio astronomical method were performed, new radio sources were registered by Professor A. Sargsyan and a group of young scientists and students led by her. Restructuring works on Radio telescope's managing system’s computational system were done (1995-2010). Replacing by PC, adjusting and new special software programming works, renovation and design of new feeding antennas, modernization of feeding system of Antenna were done, scientific collaboration with Astronomical Society of Russia and National Technical University of Athens were organized in a different topics, a number of National Polytechnic University of Armenia students have done their Bachelor, Master and Ph.D. graduating thesis's here. ROT-54/2.6 history -4 Within the framework of financing from the state budget, some preventive actions were carried out year after year, till 2011. During the last five years of that period, some parts of the antenna’s management and control system were dismantled, some radio electronic plates of the devices disappeared, and however, the mechanical structure of the antenna is in good condition and can serve its purpose. Theoretical and experimental work on the antenna has been carried out in the last 30 years under the condition of very limited funding, mainly due to the free dedication of the staff. ROT-54/2.6 today After the reorganization of scientific and technical institutions of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia in 2012, the ROT54/2.6 unique radiotelescope did not serve its purpose at all. According to the decision of the National Body of Standards and Metrology (NBSM) leadership, the ROT-54/2.6 antenna is preserved because of the lack of funds. Thus, the instrument is not financed by the state budget, as well as by other sources. It doesn’t work still 2012. Currently the East-West axis is blocked on purpose with welded brackets. The East – West axis is not damaged: it is only fixed by welding. It will function after repairing of the Connecting Rod (Brackett). After the long stop of the Antenna of the ROT-54/2.6 it was necessary to collect and analyze data about possible metal fatigue of the mechanical construction of tripod and the pendulum carrying the secondary mirror. ROT’s Mechanical construction Inspection, as well as the Inspection of Cardan assembly, axis, suspension, motors, el. current supply cables etc. was organized in September, 2020 Beside the known problems with rust and the broken lever, another crack in a welding of the secondary support arm was found. This needs to be welded again when the other tasks are being performed, like lubrication of the bearings, anti-corrosive protection, and the repair of the lever of the EastWest. Recordings of sky signal on ROT-54: Test 1 A first recording of the sky signal at 4.5 GHz during 24h was performed as a Test 1. Recordings of sky signal on ROT-54: Test 2 In December 2020 two more recordings of the sky signal around the time of the passage of the Cygnus region were conducted. The first recording was done on December 3rd and the second recording 13 days later on December 16th. Without any direct source identification this data should allow to detect the time shift of the pattern between the two dates. Indeed, some remarkable structures appear time shifted between the two epochs of recording which likely originate from astronomical sources. Some uncertainties remain in the exact time stamps of the data, but a similarity of the two track is noticeable. A full report can be found on the wiki pages: https://www.jive.eu/jivewiki/doku.php?id=ztrack Current status Advisory Group HUSC applied to the EVN JIVE for conducting scientific-technical expertise of the ROT-54/2.6 radio-optical telescope. The Advisory Group (AG) was formed. The list consists from 10 Experts from around a world. The AG agreed on “Terms of Reference” for the future work. Further discussions via email and a “Mattermost” chat server have been done. A collection of documents about the ROT-54/2.6, the HUSC project, the AG members, and the minutes of the meetings can be found on the Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE) wiki: http://www.jive.nl/jivewiki/doku.php?id=husc:husc_armenia The first Report of AG was published on April, 2021. Although many of the AG members haven’t had the chance to visit the observatory until today, there are a number of documents that provide a lot of details about the current situation at the observatory and the technical details, e.g. Kees van’t Klooster’s report from a visit in 2018 (see the report in wiki: http://www.jive.eu/jivewiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=husc:rot_54_status_v1.pdf ). It precisely documents the current status and describes the required works to re-activate the antenna well. The Sun reflected from the main spherical mirror “Reflection varies gradually from panel to panel and is a reasonable indication that even today the panel setting might well be acceptable for operation in the centimeter wavelength regime.” Ir. MSc. C.G.M. van ‘t Klooster Formerly Antenna Specialist European Space Agency (ESA), technical center Estec, Noordwijk, NL. Email: [email protected] Orbital radar image of ROT taken in C band Image provided by Kees van 't Klooster <[email protected]> A Possible L-band Receiver for ROT-54 John Sarkissian OAM – Operations Scientist 18 September 2020 CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science Action list (according to the AG Report) Fixing the lever on the East-West axis should have the highest priority, as it is required for any pointed measurements. Lubrication of the bearings and movable parts. Implement anti-corrosion measures. Planning for re-cabling: electrical engines, power and data connections for receivers, optical fibres, sensors/encoders Install computers and software to control instruments, read antenna sensors, and precisely control the positioning of the antenna. Install astronomical receivers and backends for continuum pointing, spectroscopy and VLBI data generation. (VLBI) Data recording, storage, and transport. Connect the observatory with Internet. The AG recognizes the potential of the ROT-54 antenna as a single dish instrument and in particular as an element in the European VLBI network. EVN CBD have sent Supporting Letters to the Prime-Minister of Armenia. (first: Dr. Rafael Bachiller on June 17th of 2020 and the second: Dr Tiziana Venturi on March 16th of 2021; special thanks to Dr. Francisco Colomer for his efforts) We need the Governmental decision on accumulate and transferring necessary actives (material resources) from the NBSM to our separate entity Herouni United Space Center (HUSC) - with the state property again. HUSC vision: Acting and developing to presenting Armenia as an advanced ideas and cutting-edge technologies state on the scientific map of the world. Keeping good traditions Each year from 1968 till 1990 the All-union Conference on Radio Telescopes and Radio Interferometers held in Yerevan, Armenia (that time a part of the USSR). There were a series of the All-union Conferences on Antenna Measurements (ВКАИ) also organized by Herouni’s Institute for long time. After 30 years of the gap in the scientific activities field in our country, we tried to revive the scientific heritage of Professor Paris Herouni in Armenia. XXIII International Conference on Radio Telescopes and Radio Interferometers (RR2020) 18th of September, 2020 Armenia-Nederland-Germany-Spain-Sweden-Australia-United Kingdom Zoom meeting- videoconference XXIV International Conference on Radio Telescopes and Radio Interferometers (RR2021) Engineering and Scientific aspects of the revitalizing and modernization of the ROT-54/2.6 Radio Telescope "God has no intention of setting a limit to the efforts of man to conquer space". Venerable Pope Pius XII Panorama of the Ararat and the Tegher Monastery (XIII cent,) from the mount Aragats’ Radio-Optical Telescope Thank you Contacts: Arevik Sargsyan Tel.: +374 91 409837 mob. WhatsApp: +37491409837 E-mail: [email protected] HUSC FB: https://www.facebook.com/HerouniUnitedSpaceCentre
