Class Sees Universe in a New Light
91.1 MHz is not the only frequency Mount Union students are listening to these days. Recently, Dr. Steve Cederbloom transmitted the concepts of radio astronomy to the Positional Astronomy class by taking them to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank, West Virginia. While there, the class received tours as well as hands-on experience using a radio telescope.

Astronomers from all over the world travel to Green Bank to use the various instruments at NRAO. The basic equipment on each telescope is similar to the radio equipment commonly used to pick up WRMU, but designed to pick up extremely faint signals. Junior Carrie Perkowski said, "The telescopes are so sensitive to radio waves that we actually rode around in an old Checker diesel cab!" Gasoline cars are not allowed on part of the facility because their spark plugs actually send out enough radio waves to be detected. While in Green Bank, the class toured two major telescopes - the 140 foot and the new Green Bank Telescope (GBT), which has a 300 foot wide dish.
Corey Bartley, Ana Matkovic and Carrie Perkowski work at the controls of the 40-foot radio telescope.
At the GBT, the class saw one of the final phases of construction of what will be the world's largest fully steerable telescope. They also toured the control room and the labs where the radio receivers and amplifiers were designed and built.

The hands-on experience was at the 40 foot telescope. In order to make their observations, the students had to aim the telescope, set the calibrations, and operate the electronics. One of their targets was a galaxy in the constellation of Cygnus the Swan that is about 1 billion light years away. Each student was also assigned an unknown radio source to observe and identify. Later, the class also worked together to take spectra of neutral hydrogen clouds, which can be used to map the spiral arms of our Milky Way Galaxy. The class is currently using Mount Union's computer facilities to analyze the data. "Having a chance to see and use the NRAO radio telescopes was amazing and inspiring!" exclaimed junior Ana Matkovic.

NRAO also operates the Very Large Array in New Mexico, and is funded by the National Science Foundation. For more information, see their web site at www.nrao.edu.
The 40-foot and 140-foot telescopes at NRAO.
At the 140 foot telescope, the class watched as astronomers observed pulsars. Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars that have the mass of the Sun but are the size of Canton. "One sugar cube of neutron star stuff would weigh over 100 billion pounds!" noted senior Corey Bartley.