Hat Creek Radio Observatory

The Hat Creek Radio Observatory (HCRO) is operated by SRI International in the Western United States. The observatory is home to the Allen Telescope Array designed and owned by the SETI Institute in Mountain View, CA.

Location

Hat Creek Radio Observatory is located approximately 467 km (290 mi) northeast of San Francisco, California at an elevation of 986 m (3235 ft) above Sea Level in Hat Creek, California (in Shasta County). Latitude: 40° 49' 03" N; longitude: 121° 28' 24" W.

The nearest large city to Hat Creek is Redding, California on highway I-5.

History

HCRO was founded in the late 1950s by the newly created Radio Astronomy Laboratory (an Organized Research Unit of the Astronomy Department at the University of California, Berkeley). An 85-foot antenna was installed in 1962 and operated until 1993, when it collapsed during a wind storm. Using it, astronomers discovered the first astrophysical maser. The university managed the facility until 2012, when SRI International assumed site management.^[1]

The earliest experiments in millimeter-wave astronomy were performed at this site starting in the 1970s when a 2-element interferometer was constructed. From 1980-1985 a 3-element interferometer was constructed, with another four antennas added between 1990-1992.

After the 85-foot dish was lost, another three antennas were added to the millimeter array for a total of 10 elements. This came to be known as BIMA.

The BIMA telescopes were moved in the spring of 2005 to be combined with other millimeter antennas as part of the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA) project and to make way for the Allen Telescope Array (ATA).

Hat Creek Radio Astronomy Facilities
Artist Rendering of completed ATA-350
CARMA in D-array

References

↑ "UC Berkeley Passes Management Of Allen Telescope Array To SRI", Space Daily, April 19, 2012

External links

SRI International website
SETI Institute website
Hat Creek Radio Observatory Webpage (Includes tour and contact info.)
Construction site satellite image from Google Maps

Radio astronomy

Concepts

Astronomical interferometer (History)
Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI)
Radio telescope (Radio window)
Astronomical radio source
Units (watt and jansky)

Radio telescopes (List)

Individual telescopes	RATAN-600 Radio Telescope (Russia) 500 m Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST, China) Arecibo Observatory (Puerto Rico, US) Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO, US) Effelsberg Telescope (Germany) Large Millimeter Telescope (Mexico) Yevpatoria RT-70 (Ukraine) Galenki RT-70 (Russia) Suffa RT-70 (Uzbekistan) Green Bank Telescope (West Virginia, US) Lovell Telescope (UK) Ooty Telescope (India) UTR-2 decameter radio telescope (Ukraine) Sardinia Radio Telescope (Italy) Usuda Telescope (Japan) Qitai Radio Telescope (China) Southern Hemisphere HartRAO (South Africa) Parkes Observatory (Australia) Warkworth Radio Astronomical Observatory (NZ)

Interferometers	Allen Telescope Array (ATA, California, US) Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA, Chile) Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA, Australia) Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP, Australia) Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME, Canada) Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA, California, US) European VLBI Network (Europe) Green Bank Interferometer (GBI, West Virginia, US) Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT, India) Korean VLBI Network (KVN, South Korea) Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR, Netherlands) MeerKAT (South Africa) Large Latin American Millimeter Array (LLAMA, Argentina/Brazil) Murchison Widefield Array (MWA, Australia) Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN, UK) Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST, Australia) Northern Cross Radio Telescope (Italy) Northern Extended Millimeter Array (France) One-Mile Telescope (UK) Primeval Structure Telescope (PaST, China) Square Kilometre Array (SKA, Australia, South Africa) Submillimeter Array (SMA, US) Very Large Array (VLA, New Mexico, US) Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA, US) Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT, Netherlands)

Space-based telescopes	Spektr-R (Russia) HALCA (Japan)

Observatories

Multi Use

People

Coordinates: 40°49′04″N 121°28′24″W / 40.81778°N 121.47333°W / 40.81778; -121.47333

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