• Solar eclipse observations with SPIDER 300A radio telescope in Hong Kong in the 21cm radio frequency band

    Compact SPIDER 300A radio telescope has been used to study the partial solar eclipse at 21 cm wavelength, with magnitude 0.89, in Hong Kong on 21st June, 2020. The radio telescope SPIDER 300A was designed and constructed by the PrimaLuceLab company, Italy. Radio flux density time curves (light curve) and a two-dimension mapping of the eclipse are presented in this paper. Standard radio data reduction methods were used to obtain the intensity time curve. We also adopted the semi-pipeline method for the reduction of data to obtain the same results as with the built-in software of the radio telescope SPIDER 300A. The total solar radio flux of the eclipse was found to reduce by maximum 55±5%, while the maximum eclipsed area of the same eclipse is 86.08%.

  • Study of the galactic hydrogen distribution with SPIDER 300A radio telescope

    Our galaxy is an SBbc medium size and mass spiral type. It is only partially visible, since we are inside it; the plane of the disk and the thousands of stars it contains appear to us as a milky white stripe on the celestial vault, called the Milky Way. The Galaxy is composed of a central core, a bulge, a disk and a halo. In particular, the disc contains the spiral arms. The spiral nature of the Milky Way was confirmed through the study of the distribution of the HII regions, consisting mainly of bright nebulae of ionized hydrogen (HII) that form right inside the spiral arms. The spiral arms are regions of active formation of new stars, dominated by young stars, dust and gas.

  • Radio astronomy in Hong Kong in 21cm radio band

    In this conference paper, we present the development of radio astronomy in Hong Kong in 21 cm wavelength since 2006. We discuss the subtropical region with its usual cloudy condition in Hong Kong for launching radio astronomy. The MIT small radio telescope and Italy SPIDER radio telescope series were good starting points to create radio astronomy for a dense human populated region like Hong Kong. We present some interesting results with respect to these two types of radio telescopes. We also introduce the future possibility for the developing radio interferometry array in Hong Kong for research and teaching.

  • BINO-SSA Observatory Station installed in Pampilhosa da Serra Space Observatory (PASO)

    BINO-SSA Observatory Station installed in Pampilhosa da Serra Space Observatory (PASO)

    PrimaLuceLab team installed the BINO-SSA Observatory Station in Pampilhosa da Serra Space Observatory (PASO) in Portugal! BINO-SSA is the turn-key and affordable solution for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) activities like the study of space debris and its classification. The version designed for Pampilhosa da…

  • DUAL-COMPACT Observatory Station installed in H-FARM

    DUAL-COMPACT Observatory Station installed in H-FARM

    PrimaLuceLab Team installed a custom version of the DUAL-COMPACT Observatory Station in H-FARM (Italy), Europe’s largest innovation and education campus! DUAL-COMPACT is the Observatory Station with dome and dual telescope designed to provide an affordable solution for remote space exploration, astrophotography and astronomy education. The version designed for H-FARM uses…

  • ASTRO-RES Observatory Station installed in University of Milano-Bicocca

    ASTRO-RES Observatory Station installed in University of Milano-Bicocca

    PrimaLuceLab Team installed a custom version of the ASTRO-RES Observatory Station in University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy): a turn-key astronomical observatory with Officina Stellare RiDK400 telescope, 10micron GM3000 equatorial mount, ScopeDome 3Mv3 dome, EAGLE remote control and power unit, ESATTO robotic focuser and GIOTTO smart flat field generator with ALTO telescope…

  • SPIDER 300A installed near Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT)

    PrimaLuceLab team completed the installation of SPIDER 300A advanced radio telescope near Sardinia Radio Telescope, the wonderful 64 meter diameter single-dish radio telescope located in San Basilio, in southern part of Sardinia (Italy). Operated by INAF Italian National Institute for Astrophysics and ASI Italian Space Agency, SRT is used for radio…

  • The results of radio telescopes: spectra, cross-scans and radio maps

    What are the results you can record with a radio telescope? In this article you can see spectra, cross-scans and radio maps you can record with SPIDER radio telescopes. When we record a picture of an Universe object, we usually use a digital camera that has many pixels (typically several millions). This way, when we record the picture, the light we receive “lighten” many pixel at the same time and each pixel records light coming from different sky areas. But, when we use radio telescopes, we record the signal from a single area of the sky (only large professional radio telescopes may have more LNA units), just as if our camera had only one pixel.

  • SPIDER 500A installed in Kielder Observatory (UK)

    Kielder Observatory, a public astronomical observatory providing great outreach activities, now has also a SPIDER 500A radio telescope for radio astronomy to let visitors experience the cosmos even in daytime or in typical UK cloudy conditions. PrimaLuceLab Installation Team completed the installation of the 5 meter diameter instrument with receivers,…

  • Cassiopeia A recorded with SPIDER 300A radio telescope

    Cassiopeia A it’s an important object for radio astronomy, a supernova remnant located in Cassiopeia constellation with a flux of 2400 Jansky at 1420 MHz. For this article we used the SPIDER 300A radio telescope that, thanks to the 3 meter parabolic antenna with high precision WP-100 mount, high sensitivity H142-One receiver, and the advanced features of the RadioUniversePRO software, is able to detect Cassiopeia A. The radio telescope is connected to the remote control room by using the Radio over fiber kit for SPIDER radio telescope that removes the normal gain loss because of cable length and improve even more performances of the radio telescope.