5 Element Interferometer Unit

The second major instrument developed at Heliopolis was a five-element array for galactic and extragalactic astronomy. It consisted of five 60 foot diameter antennas made to Bracewell’s design at the Heliopolis site. The antennas were configured as an east-west, minimum-redundancy, linear array devised by Bracewell, in which all spacings up to nine times the unit spacing are included. The operating frequency was 10.7 GHz. The array was in operation from 1972 until funding for the Heliopolis observatory was discontinued in 1979. This unit includes materials dated 1963-1985. There is a folder of early notes and sketches, Bracewell's notes for 1968-1970, material on gear procurement and on the link-belt gear reducer, a log book for November 1970-May 1985, as well as approximately 100 drawings and blueprints. Also included in this unit are a brief listing of Stanford Radio Astronomy Institute highlights and one of former Institute doctoral students, post-doc fellows, and key personnel; filed with this material is an undated handwritten document outlining the history of Heliopolis, probably written when the University wanted to demolish the dishes.

Papers of Ronald N. Bracewell

Text

1963

1985

Stanford University Series

0.25 linear feet plus one bound notebook and approx. 100 drawings in two flat file drawers.