________ ______ _ ______ ___ ____ __ _ /_ __/ / ___ __ / / __ \ | / / __/ / _ )__ __/ / /__ / /_(_)__ / / / _ \/ -_) / // / /_/ / |/ / _/ / _ / // / / / -_) __/ / _ \ /_/ /_//_/\__/ \___/\____/|___/___/ /____/\_,_/_/_/\__/\__/_/_//_/ -the newsletter* of NASA's Radio JOVE Project "Planetary Radio Astronomy for Schools" * This newsletter is best viewed using a fixed-width font such as Courier. This will allow the logo above and tables etc. to be aligned properly. SEPTEMBER 2000 ISSUE *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Visit our Web Site: http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov Email Radio JOVE at: rj_project@radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* CONTENTS 1. Radio JOVE Project Leader's Message 2. Feedback 3. RJ Solar Observing 4. Jupiter Observing Opportunities Fall, 2000 5. Technical Tip - Soldering 6. Radio JOVE goes to SARA 2000 7. Software Updates 8. Cassini flyby of Jupiter December, 2000 9. Radio JOVE at a Glance 10. Acknowledgments 11. Subscription Information 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 Radio JOVE Project Leaders Message The Radio JOVE team has been very busy this summer working on the ways we can be of assistance to all Radio JOVE participants in this coming academic year and observing season. First, there is a very informative book available called "Listening to Jupiter" written by Dick Flagg. This book has over 120 pages of information about radio astronomy, observing Jupiter and the Sun, how radio receivers and antennas work, helpful hints for observing, and many more items of interest. Many of the topic areas specifically address the Radio JOVE project and how to participate. The book also provides helpful explanatory information on the new software mentioned below. It is written at a level that is good for high school students as well as teachers. We feel the book is such a good source of information that we will be including it on the CD (in PDF format) in all new kits that are shipped (raising the cost of the kits by $10 to a total of $125). For those who already have their kits, this book can be ordered separately by going to the order form on the web site and ordering the CD that contains it for $10 plus shipping and handling. Note that the CD also includes the new software mentioned below. The book is also available in printed form from Jim Sky's Radio-Sky Publishing web site at http://radiosky.com/booksra.html. Next, thanks to Jim Sky, we have some exciting new software available for free through a connection from the Radio JOVE web site to Jim Sky's web site. There are two different programs available for download. In the "Data Analysis Lab" under "Useful Software" (http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/dal/software.htm) are hyperlinks to JOVEChart Editor and Radio Jupiter Pro - Special Jove Edition. JOVEChart Editor allows you to take the log files that were created by the older JOVEChart program and display the entire log as a single image. We encourage you to use it to determine where storms of interest have occurred, then submit that portion of the log, .wav files of that portion of your tape recording, and/or images of the JOVEChart Editor display. The Radio Jupiter Pro - Special JOVE Edition teaches a lot about how to plan for Jupiter and solar observing by providing software that allows you to predict the good times for observing no matter where you are located in the world. For further information see the article by Jim Sky below. There are a number of new educational materials available on the web site designed to provide suggestions for classroom topics as well as some exercises related to those topics. Look in the "Classroom" section of the Radio JOVE web site. We hope you will like them and we would appreciate your feedback on them. This fall we will be making available for the first time our direct connection to the professional radio telescopes at the University of Florida and Windward Community College in Hawaii. They are not quite ready yet, but we will send out a special message on how to connect when they are ready. You can use these sites as verification of your own observations (assuming you are both seeing Jupiter at the same time) or you can just look at and analyze the signals directly from them. This may be particularly useful if you wish to observe Jupiter during daylight hours in a classroom, since normally Jupiter radio signals will only be receivable at night. By connecting to the Hawaii radio telescope it is possible that the Hawaii telescope will be in darkness and receiving Jupiter radio storms at a time when continental U.S. classrooms are in session, (usually in the morning hours). A table has been generated which suggests the most likely dates and times that can be observed in this manner. Finally, we have generated a table of what we think shows the best nighttime Jupiter radio storm times in the continental U.S. We hope you will plan ahead for observing at these times so we can compare our results. We may try to have 800 number dial-in telecons or computer chat sessions associated with some of these events so that there can be real time comparison of results. We will send listserv messages of plans nearer to the time of the storms. So, we hope you will agree that there is lots to be excited about in the Radio JOVE project for the coming year. As always, we would appreciate any feedback you can give us, especially stories written by the students about their experiences, pictures of construction or observation, newspaper articles, etc. Happy Observing!! Jim Thieman 2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-1 Feedback We've received several reports from Radio JOVE participants that they've successfully built their kits and are making observations. Ron Brown of Portland, Oregon has written in to tell us that his system is up and working, he's interested in working with other Radio JOVE participants in the Portland area. Mary Lou West, Lori Keifer and Angela Kim of Montclair State University in Upper Montclair, New Jersey have completed their kit and detected Jovian activity. We are including a listing of predicted Jupiter storms for this fall later on in this issue of the JOVE Bulletin. Dan Caron and his students at Kingswood Regional High School, New Hampsire, have built 10 Radio JOVE kits. He reports that some of his students have taken kits home to do observing during the nights of predicted storms. One student has also been making solar observations with the equipment. This student demonstrated how to operate this equipment to his classmates and astronomy teacher. Jason Gallant, a high school junior reports his successful completion of the Radio JOVE receiver and antenna system. He has also been busy making solar observations. John Keller from the Astrocamp program at the Desert Sun Science Center in Idyllwild, California has been using his receiver and antenna to observe the Galactic Background and the Sun and has successfully detected several bursts. Details on more observations will be given in the Solar Observing section. The Radio JOVE project was featured in an article by Tony Philips on the Science@NASA webpage (http://science.nasa.gov). The article is available at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast22may_1.htm We have already had several Jupiter radio bursts reported. Next issue we will feature results of this season's Jupiter observations. 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-2 RJ Solar Observing This past spring and summer have been an active one for several Radio JOVE observers. During the months that Jupiter has been too close to the Sun to make radio observations, RJ participants have been observing the Sun instead. Below is a table listing some of the observations reported to us by Radio JOVE participants. Date and Time (UT) Observer Location April 10 1954*,2049*,2050* John Keller Idyllwild, California April 11 1801* April 15 1635*,1704*,1858*,2137* May 27 1852*, 2012* Wes Greenman Alachua, Florida June 10 1705-1717 June 11 1730,1735,1805,1916 July 27 2208-2245** Dick Flagg Windward Community College, Oahu, Hawaii September 22 1803* John Samouce Sula, Montana (* indicates that the bursts were confirmed by the observers using the NOAA website of solar activity reports, gopher://sec.noaa.gov:70/11/indices/events) (** confirmed with the Culgoora Radio Observatory, Australia website http://www.ips.gov.au/culgoora/spectro/) The observation by Dick Flagg is available on the web at http://www.radiosky.com/type2solarburst.html and Wes Greenman's observation of June 10 is available at http://www.radiosky.com/suncentral.html. Three summer interns (Albie Davidson, Tom Narock, and Brian Schmidt) at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland made 25 observations of the Sun during the past few months. They detected solar bursts in 14 of these observations, of these 9 were confirmed with the NOAA website. Most of the bursts they detected were less than a minute long. The confirmed bursts were detected on the following dates and Universal times: June 7 1711 June 20 1724 June 21 1740-1742 July 10 1812 July 13 1655, 1735, 1810 July 24 1538 Aug 7 1729 The Sun is likely to continue to be an active source of radio emissions at 20 MHz for several more months as it continues through Solar Maximum. After that time activity will decrease but there will still be periodic though unpredictable storms from the Sun. If you wish to confirm your observations with the NOAA website type into your browser, gopher://sec.noaa.gov:70/11/indices/events. See the April 2000 issue of the JOVE Bulletin (available on the Radio JOVE website) for more details on making solar observations and using the NOAA website. Good luck with your observations! 4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4 ##################################### ## Upcoming Jupiter Storm Events ## ##################################### Notes: 1. All dates given correspond to the Universal Time (UT) 2. All Times are rounded to the nearest quarter hour 3. All Hour angles are approximate 4. The JOVE dual-dipole system is sensitive from about -2.5 to +2.5 Hour Angle 5. A --- means that Jupiter is too far outside the antenna beam for reception -- SEPTEMBER -- Date Time of Storm Storm Hour Angle from Transit 2000 UT EDT PDT Type Florida California ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sep 16 11:00-14:15 7:00-10:15 4:00-7:15 Io-B +0.5 to +3.5 -1.8 to +1.2 ******* 2 Great Storms ******** Sep 22 9:00-13:30 5:00-9:30 2:00-6:30 Io-A,Io-C -1.1 to +2.9 -3.4 to +0.6 Sep 29 10:00-14:15 6:00-10:15 3:00-7:15 Io-A,Io-C +0.3 to +4.3 -2.0 to +1.1 -- OCTOBER -- Date Time of Storm Storm Hour Angle from Transit 2000 UT EDT PDT Type Florida California ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oct 11 6:30-8:45 2:30-4:45 23:30-1:45 Io-B -2.4 to -0.1 ----- ******* 3 Great Storms ******** Oct 17 4:30-9:00 0:30-5:00 21:30-2:00 Io-A,Io-C -4.0 to +0.5 -6.2 to -1.7 Oct 18 7:15-10:15 3:15-6:15 0:15-3:15 Io-B -1.2 to +1.6 -3.2 to -0.7 Oct 24 5:15-9:45 1:15-5:45 22:15-2:45 Io-A,Io-C -2.8 to +2.0 -4.8 to -0.2 Oct 25 8:45-11:00 4:45-7:00 1:45-4:00 Io-B +1.1 to +3.1 -1.2 to +0.8 Oct 28 Daylight Savings Time Ends Oct 31 6:00-10:15 1:00-5:15 22:00-2:15 Io-A,Io-C -1.5 to +2.5 -3.7 to +0.3 -- NOVEMBER -- Date Time of Storm Storm Hour Angle from Transit 2000 UT EST PST Type Florida California ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nov 9 8:15-10:30 3:15-5:30 0:15-2:30 Io-A +1.6 to +3.7 -0.9 to +1.4 Nov 12 2:45-4:45 21:45-23:45 18:45-20:45 Io-B -3.6 to -1.6 ----- ******* 1 Great Storm ******** Nov 18 0:45-5:00 19:45-0:00 16:45-21:00 Io-A,Io-C -5.2 to -1.2 ----- Nov 25 1:15-5:45 20:15-0:45 17:15-21:45 Io-A,Io-C -4.0 to 0.0 -6.5 to -1.9 ******* 1 Great Storm ******** Nov 26 4:30-7:00 23:30-2:00 20:30-23:00 Io-B -1.0 to +1.5 -3.3 to -0.8 -- DECEMBER -- Date Time of Storm Storm Hour Angle from Transit 2000 UT EST PST Type Florida California ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dec 2 2:00-6:30 21:00-1:30 18:00-22:30 Io-A,Io-C -3.1 to +1.4 -5.4 to -0.9 ******* 1 Great Storm ******** Dec 3 6:15-7:45 1:15-2:45 22:15-23:45 Io-B +1.0 to +3.0 -1.3 to +0.7 Dec 9 3:30-5:15 22:30-0:15 19:30-21:15 Io-A -1.1 to +0.4 -3.3 to -1.8 Dec 11 4:15-6:15 23:15-1:15 20:15-22:15 Io-A -0.2 to +1.8 -2.5 to -0.5 Dec 18 5:00-7:30 0:00-2:30 21:00-23:30 Io-A +1.1 to +3.6 -1.2 to +1.3 Dec 21 0:00-2:00 19:00-21:00 16:00-18:00 Io-B -3.7 to -1.7 ---- Dec 25 5:45-8:15 0:45-3:15 21:45-0:15 Io-A ---- +0.2 to +2.6 ******* 1 Great Storm ******** Dec 28 0:15-3:15 19:15-22:15 16:15-19:15 Io-B -3.0 to -0.2 -5.0 to -2.4 5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5 Technical Tip - Soldering by Wes Greenman Wes Greenman, astronomy department engineer at the University of Florida sent out this article recently on the radiojove listserv. The article is being reprinted here as a service to those Radio JOVE teams preparing to build a kit. ------------------------------------------------------------------- A bit of advice regarding your kit. The receiver you are about to assemble is a very well designed receiver and it should work perfectly IF you READ THE ASSEMBLY MANUAL and please, DO NOT INNOVATE. Just follow the instructions exactly as written and in order of assembly. The reason I emphasize this is that most, if not all of the problems I have heard about were caused by NOT FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS! I have personally assembled 3 of the receivers and had absolutely no trouble. I do have experience in this area but I, too, followed the manual, exactly as I am urging you to do. If you have had previous experience soldering then press on with the assembly. If you have not had any experience soldering, be sure to pay particular attention to the manual about soldering. I should have said, if you follow directions AND solder well, the receiver should work the first time. (If you follow directions and solder poorly, the receiver still may not work). A quick tip on soldering. Use only the recommended soldering iron (25-30 watts), preferably temperature regulated with a small tip. Keep a wet sponge near the soldering iron. KEEP YOUR SOLDERING IRON TIP CLEAN! When it gets dirty (black crud on tip), wipe the tip on the sponge. When you solder, place the iron-tip in contact with the wire/component AND in contact with the printed circuit board (contact both at once). Another tip: to get the solder to start flowing after cleaning the tip, quickly melt a drop or two of solder onto the tip (called "tinning the tip") and then immediately apply the tip to the board/wire, heat both up and apply solder to the joint. When solder flows smoothly and covers the joint remove the iron. The solder joint should be shiny, not gray and dull (a cold solder joint). This process should not take more than 5 seconds from grabbing the iron to putting it back in the holder. If you apply too much heat to the joint, the heat may damage a component. You might practice soldering on an old PC board (preferably with holes in it). Try soldering scrap pieces of resistor leads to a terminal on the board until the connections look good. That way you can get a feel for how much heat is needed to get a good solder flow in a minimum period of time. Repeating the soldering procedure: 1. Wipe the tip on the sponge. 2. "Tin" the tip with solder. 3. Apply the tip to both the component and the board. 4. Add solder to the joint (let the solder touch the board and tip). 5. Let the solder flow for a second or two. 6. Replace soldering iron. Joint should be shiny (not dull). Good luck. I'm sure you will have fun assembling your receiver if you do as advised. If all goes well, you can give advice to the next person. Let me know how it goes. I can guarantee you remember the first time you receive Jupiter. I've been doing it for 37 years and I still get excited about it. 6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6 Radio JOVE goes to SARA 2000 by Tom Narock On July 17th and 18th, members of the Radio JOVE team traveled to Green Bank, West Virginia to attend this year's Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers conference. The conference was held at the National Radio Astronomical Observatory and was attended by over forty participants. The JOVE team was scheduled to give a presentation on the recent developments to the project as well as to conduct solar observations during the lunch break. The presentation went very well and outlined the latest progress since the previous year's talk. It included a description of the solar observing being done at Goddard, new software being tested, and an overview of the development of Radio JOVE's new online database which should be completed soon. Afterwards a large group gathered to watch and participate in the solar observations. There was a large interest in the Radio JOVE project as a lot of the people at the conference stopped by the observing site to ask questions and pick up flyers. Unfortunately, there weren't any solar bursts detected during the observation. All in all, the conference was very enjoyable for everyone and even provided a very impressive tour of the Green Bank Telescope which is just about complete. 7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7 Software Updates by Jim Sky Two new software packages were added to the Radio Jove website this summer. JoveChart Editor allows you to graphically manipulate log files generated by the JoveChart data collection program. You can load the file, select any portion, and compress, save, or print it. Radio Jupiter Pro Jove Edition predicts the times of likely decametric noise storms as visible from your location and time zone. There are a variety of views available, including a real-time sky map with your antenna beam, Jupiter, and the Sun all displayed, CML-Io Phase chart, yearly visibility chart, Jovicentric declination of the Earth plot, and more. We think you will find this high quality program a great asset to you in making observations and understanding the prediction process. Both programs are free to Radio Jove participants. They are available at: http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/dal/software.htm 8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8 Cassini flyby of Jupiter December, 2000 On December 30, 2000, the Cassini spacecraft, a mission to study Saturn and its moons, will make a close pass by Jupiter on its way out to the ringed planet. Since the Galileo spacecraft will still be orbiting Jupiter at the time this flyby will be a unique opportunity to study Jupiter close up from two different vantage points. To further leverage this opportunity, Earth-based observers will be carefully studying Jupiter as well. Radio JOVE participants are also encouraged to make observations although there are no guarantees that Jupiter will be active at the time of the Cassini flyby. 9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9 Radio JOVE at a Glance (from the RJ Web Site) * Teaches planetary and solar radio astronomy, space physics, and the scientific method * Target audience - Teachers and students of high school / college science courses * Provides teachers and students with a hands-on radio astronomy experience * Gain experience in electronics construction and testing * Interact with other Radio JOVE schools to exchange data, ideas, and experiences * Radio JOVE kits available for $125, additional equipment is required, including antenna supports, a tape recorder, and a PC with a sound card 10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Radio JOVE project is an educational/public outreach program involving scientists and educators from NASA, Raytheon ITSS, the University of Florida, the Florida Space Grant Consortium, RF Associates and The INSPIRE Project, Inc. The Radio JOVE project wishes to acknowledge support from the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Director's Discretionary Fund and the Initiative to Develop Education through Astronomy and Space Science (IDEAS) grant program administered by the Space Telescope Science Institute. 11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11 THE JOVE BULLETIN SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION The JOVE Bulletin is published several times a year. It is a free service of the Radio JOVE Project. We hope you will find it of value. Back issues are available on the Radio JOVE Project Web site, http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/ For assistance or information send inquiries to: Radio JOVE Project Code 633 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 USA or Email: rj_project@radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov FAX: 1-301-286-1771 =======================================================================