A solar and space-weather observatory near Exmouth in Western Australia, established jointly by Australia and the United States in 1977 and operational from 1979, sited for its many clear-sky days and low radio interference. Jointly run by Australia's Bureau of Meteorology Space Weather Forecasting Centre and the United States Air Force's 2nd Weather Squadron, it monitors solar flare activity that can disrupt satellites and long-range communication, and it hosts one of six solar velocity imagers in the worldwide Global Oscillation Network Group.
Facts
Observatory Typesolar radio telescope station, part of the Radio Solar Telescope Network 1 LocationRAAF Learmonth, Western Australia, Australia 1 Measuressolar flares, radio noise storms and other releases of energy from the Sun 1 Operating Principleradio telescope network observing at fixed frequencies from 25 MHz to 85 MHz 1 Classification
Observing Band FAQs
What instruments does the Learmonth Solar Observatory use to watch the Sun?
It uses a helioseismology instrument, an optical telescope, a radio telescope and a radio spectrograph.
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology lists four kinds of instrument at the observatory. A Global Oscillation Network Group instrument supplies data for studying the interior of the Sun, an optical telescope monitors sunspots and solar activity, and a radio telescope with three dish antennae monitors solar radio flux on eight frequencies between 245 and 15400 megahertz. A solar radio spectrograph also sweeps the range from 25 to 180 megahertz every three seconds to watch for solar radio bursts.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Radio Solar Telescope Network
History section, network-name sentence
This network, called the Radio Solar Telescope Network (RSTN), uses a bandwidth from 25 MHz to 85 MHz.
Operations section, station list
Det. 1, Learmonth Solar Observatory, RAAF Learmonth, WA, Australia
Mission section
The mission of the solar observatories of the RSTN is to monitor solar flares, noise storms and other releases of energy from the sun
History section, bandwidth-sentence, instrument clause
This network, called the Radio Solar Telescope Network (RSTN), uses a bandwidth from 25 MHz to 85 MHz.
History section, bandwidth-sentence, band clause
This network, called the Radio Solar Telescope Network (RSTN), uses a bandwidth from 25 MHz to 85 MHz.
View the SourceBureau of Meteorology Space Weather Services: Learmonth Observatory
Bureau of Meteorology Space Weather ServicesIn Group: Optical Observatories of Africa and Oceania, PDF page 2Quote, In Group: Optical Observatories of Africa and Oceania, PDF page 2
Located on North-West Cape, Western Australia
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.