Astronomers have conducted an incredible observation test for a radio telescope on Earth. They used a new radar system to create glorious high-resolution images of space near Earth. The goal: Apollo 15’s landing site on the moon.
The Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia was equipped with a new custom-built radio wave transmitter. In November, researchers sent signals to the moon in a proof-of-concept test. What they got back is an incredible picture. The Hadley region on the near side of the moon is visible at a resolution of 5 meters (16.4 feet).
In particular, the image shows Hadley C Crater, which is 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) wide, and the winding Hadley Rille, a narrow depression stretching 130 kilometers (80 miles) with an average width of 1, 2 kilometers (0.75 miles) and a few hundred meters deep. It is believed to have been an ancient lava tube that collapsed over billions of years.
The observations provided some of the best images of the region ever taken from Earth, a phenomenal achievement for the Green Bank Observatory (GBO), National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and Raytheon Intelligence & Space who conducted the experiment.
“This project opens up a whole new set of opportunities for both NRAO and GBO,” said Tony Beasley, director of NRAO and vice president for Radio Astronomy at Associated Universities, Inc. in a statement. “We have previously participated in important solar system radar studies, but by turning the GBT into a controllable planetary radar transmitter, we will greatly increase our ability to pursue intriguing new lines of research.”
It works through the radar signals from the Green Bank Telescope hitting the surface of the object being studied, in this case the Apollo 15 landing site on the moon. They then reflect back and are observed by the telescopes that make up the Very Long Baseline Array, a network that spreads from the US Virgin Islands to the mainland United States and all the way to Hawaii.
The incredible test is the result of a two-year effort to create such a radar, but it’s also just a proof of concept right now. Researchers see the current channel as a springboard to design something more powerful. Something that can be used to study far beyond the moon.
“The planned system will be a leap forward in radar science, providing access to never-before-seen features of the solar system from here on Earth,” explains Karen O’Neil, GBO site director.
The new transmitter is expected to be able to capture and observe in detail small objects passing near Earth, as well as the moons or other planets in the solar system. When the final plan comes out, radar signals could allow us to study objects as far as Neptune’s orbit from Earth.