This document summarizes the required actions leading up to the test of southern hemisphere assets for bistatic radar observations. The three targets are the Moon, 2005 UL5 and 1998 WT24.
The transmitter will be the 100 kW S-band transmitter on DSS-43 (Tid). The receiver will be the Parkes Radio Telescope, outfitted with the so-called Galileo receiver. The current plan is that the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) will shadow the observations. All transmissions will be CW only.
Last update: 2015 Sep 29
Approximate window of opportunity for Parkes/Galileo RX to be available is November 12--December 11.
The following track has been tentatively scheduled on DSS-43 in week 44. The track was requested to prepare for the upcoming S-band demos at CDSSC. 2015 October 31 (Day Of Year 304): DOY BOA BOT EOT EOA 304 1640 1725 2140 2200 DSS-43 GSSR SBAND CONFIG
DOY START BOT EOT END FACILITY USER ACTIVITY 316 2345 0030 0230 0250 DSS-43 GSSR MOON BOUNCE
DOY START BOT EOT END FACILITY USER ACTIVITY 319 2335 0020 0220 0240 DSS-43 GSSR MOON BOUNCE
Estimated 2005 UL5 signal-to-noise ratios: The numbers below assume PTX = 100 kW and horizons at Parkes = 30 deg. We also assumed a rotation period of 2.1 hours, a diameter of 0.32 km, a radar albedo of 0.1, and an equatorial view. A precise rotation period may become available from new lightcurve observations shortly before the radar tracks.
start date | window | RA, Dec | Distance | SNR/RTT |
---|---|---|---|---|
2015 Nov 18 | 1440-2235 | 125, -04 | 0.023 | 1 |
2015 Nov 19-20 | 1615-0115 | 157, -10 | 0.016 | 4 |
2015 Nov 20-21 | 1900-0355 | 200, -12 | 0.018 | 5 |
2015 Nov 21-22 | 2050-0510 | 224, -10 | 0.026 | 1 |
Goldstone observations are scheduled on November 18, one day before the DSS-43/Parkes test, and should clarify the bistatic S-band S/N ratios and Doppler broadening we can expect. S-band observations are also likely at Arecibo on multiple days up to and including November 17. We are expecting an S-band Doppler broadening of roughly 4 Hz.
DSS-43 Schedule UT UT PST Round-trip DOY Date TX Window TX Window time (sec) SNR/RTT 323 Nov 19 1800-2200 1000-1400 Nov 19 16 4 326 Nov 22 0115-0505 1715-2105 Nov 21 26 1 The SNRs on Nov. 22 may be too weak for a detection.
The numbers below assume PTX = 100 kW and horizons at Parkes = 30 deg. We also assumed a rotation period of 3.7 hours, a diameter of 0.42 km, a radar albedo of 0.2, and an equatorial view. We are expecting an S-band Doppler broadening of about 3 Hz.
start date | window | RA, Dec | Distance | SNR/RTT |
---|---|---|---|---|
2015 Dec 10 | 1005-1645 | 69, +2 | 0.029 | 2 |
2015 Dec 11 | 0930-1600 | 59, +3 | 0.028 | 2 |
2015 Dec 12 | 0855-1510 | 50, +5 | 0.028 | 2 |
2015 Dec 13 | 0815-1425 | 41, +6 | 0.029 | 2 |
1998 WT24 Tracks scheduled at DSS-43: DOY Date BOA BOT EOT EOA SNR/RTT 342 Dec 08 1410 1455 1810 1830 1 343 Dec 09 1015 1100 1455 1515 1 344 Dec 10 1105 1150 1520 1540 2 Horizons = 20 deg at DSS-43 and 30.5 deg at Parkes.