Cornell University and the California Institute of Technology are building a new series of telescopes called the Global Radio Explorer (GReX). One of these telescopes, located on the roof of Cornell’s Space Sciences Building, was built using concentric cake pans that form a horn-style feed antenna. This design reduces sensitivity to human-made signals from the horizon while focusing on signals coming from above.

The telescope will search for fast radio bursts (FRBs), which are bright, millisecond-long radio signals that occur frequently in the sky. Researchers believe detecting these bursts is challenging because they are brief and the radio sky is not continuously monitored in the same way as the optical sky.

Each GReX station can observe 10% to 20% of the sky. When all stations are deployed around the world, they will cover a much larger area, with plans for a potential second deployment that could allow continuous monitoring of the entire sky.

Sashabaw Niedbalski, a doctoral candidate in astronomy, explained that the cake pan design is both effective and cost-efficient. Shami Chatterjee, an associate professor of astronomy, noted that while fast radio bursts are common, capturing them requires the right equipment aimed at the correct patch of sky at the right moment.

The project aims to fill the gap in radio monitoring and improve the chances of detecting these elusive bursts.

Source: Cornell University

Source Type: College

Source Location: Ithaca

Ithaca, NY

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