The Radio JOVE Project

Radio JOVE 2023 Solar Eclipse Citizen Science Observation Instructions

2023 Annular Solar Eclipse - Saturday, October 14, 2023

Radio JOVE is a worldwide community. We recognize that these solar eclipse events happen over the Americas, but anyone is welcome to participate and learn.

Questions: Join ongoing discussions on our Groups.io group listserv: https://groups.io/g/radio-jove.

Instructions for Observations

A. General Information for the 2023 Annualar Solar Eclipse, October 14, 2023

Begin Observations 15:00 UTC (11:00 EDT)
Maximum eclipse is 18:00 UTC (14:00 EDT)
End Observations 21:00 UTC (17:00 EDT)

Because the annular eclipse lasts about 4 hours, we want to observe about 6 hours total to get data before/after the begin/end time of the eclipse. We want observations within three hours of the maximum eclipse (i.e. +/- 3 hours of 18:00 UTC on 14 October 2023)

Here is excellent timing information for any location:
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2023-october-14

B. Radio Telescope Setup and Observation

1. Use Radio JOVE 1.1 receivers or Radio JOVE 2.0 SDRplay radios.
2. Use a single or a dual dipole antenna.
1. Dual dipole antennas - E-W orientation of the wires is recommended; remove the phasing cable so the antenna beam is pointed at the zenith.
2. Single dipole - an E-W orientation is recommended.
3. Verify the computer clock is set to UTC time (i.e., Time Zone UTC under adjust date/time settings)
4. Update your Metadata in your Radio-Skypipe or Radio-Sky Spectrograph software.
5. Calibrate your radio telescope if you have a calibrator^*. It is best to calibrate at the start and end of your observations.
   ^*Most people using the Radio JOVE 2.0 telescope do not have a calibrator; thus, it is okay if your data are not calibrated. Plans for a calibrator are coming soon. Those using the original RJ1.1 single frequency receiver with an RF2080 calibrator are highly encouraged to contribute their data.
6. If possible, observe from about 15:00 - 21:00 UTC for several days before and after the date of the eclipse. Make notes about solar activity, observing conditions, radio frequency interference (RFI), or local storms (**Please disconnect your antenna during any local thunderstorms**). Keep these data files for later comparison, if needed.

C. Data Analysis and Data Archiving

See this Video to help you with archiving your data: https://youtu.be/Wzd1Qq5RtrI

1. Data Analysis
1. Use Radio-Sky Spectrograph (RSS) software to load and display your data file. Click the icon in RSS to manually enter the start/end times of interest. For example, data from July 28, 15:00 - 21:00 UTC is shown in Figure 1.
2. Determine and identify whether any solar radio burst activity was received. For example, Figure 2 shows solar bursts from about 15:40 - 16:10 UTC on July 28.
3. Save data into files of less than a 2-hour duration (needed because of the file size limitation of the data archive).
1. Click the RSS icon to Save the visible portion of the spectrograph as a ".sps" data file (Figure 3). For example, I saved a 30-minute data file.
2. Click the Camera icon (Figure 3) to save an image file of your data (jpeg, png, etc.).
2. Data Archiving
1. Reminder: you must request a Data Submitter Account to upload data files. See instructions on the data archive: https://radiojove.net/archive.html
2. The current maximum file size for uploading is 64 MB. This is about 2 hours of data from the Radio JOVE 2.0 telescope.
3. Upload your image file and data file to the data archive: https://radiojove.net/archive.html.
   IMPORTANT: Please upload three 2-hour data files for October 14, 2023, 15:00-17:00 UT, 17:00-19:00 UT, and 19:00-21:00 UT even if you do not get solar bursts. These files can be used to compare data from different sites.

Thank you for your participation in NASA Citizen Science!