Level of Education of Students Involved

Undergraduate

Faculty Sponsor

Dan White

College

Engineering

Discipline(s)

Radio Astronomy, Electrical Engineering, Signal Processing

ORCID Identifier(s)

0000-0002-1731-9144

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Symposium Date

Spring 4-25-2024

Abstract

The objective of this project is to provide beginner-friendly radio astronomy equipment to the Valparaiso University Physics and Astronomy Department. This equipment can be used to teach students and the community about the field of radio astronomy through lab activities such as hydrogen line observations. The Milky Way Galaxy is made primarily of hydrogen. The hydrogen line is the frequency of electromagnetic energy that hydrogen emits when its electrons change state. A horn antenna that is designed for this frequency can detect the strength of the hydrogen line in any direction it is pointed. The shape of the horn antenna also showcases properties such as wavelength, electromagnetic resonance, waveguides, and impedance matching in an approachable way to beginners. In addition, it can be constructed using lightweight, easily obtainable materials that students could replicate. Along with the horn and probe itself, a program called GNU-radio was chosen as the receiver because of the ability to process the data using graphical blocks. These blocks are helpful for explaining the functions of the receiver to novice users. After construction, the antenna was tuned to the hydrogen line frequency of 1420 MHz. Using this set-up, documentation and lab manuals were created as student resources. These activities and information are readily available to the Valparaiso University community.

Biographical Information about Author(s)

Laura Floyd is a senior studying electrical engineering, physics, secondary education, and German. Radio communications and radio astronomy are her main academic passion, and she holds an amateur radio license (KC3GWL). In addition, she values the intersection between engineering and education. She seeks to provide opportunities for students to get excited about fields like electrical engineering and radio astronomy that are not often exposed to students in K-12 schools.

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