Laboratory of Space Instrumentation (1)

The course aims at developing the basic know-how in the field of space astrophysics instrumentation, with particular focus on active and passive components used in radio and millimeter-wave astronomy.
During this module the students build and test a total power microwave receiver at 30 GHz. This receiver will be used to measure the microwave radiation emitted by the Sun.

At the end of the course the student will have acquired the following skills
· He/she will be able to calculate the expected signal observing a celestial source with a total power receiver coupled to a reflector antenna
· He/she will be able to characterize the signal/noise properties of microwave components and of an integrated receiver with Vector Network Analizer measurements
· He/she will be able to measure the noise temperature of a total power receiver
· He/she will be able to simulate the optical response of a feed-horn antenna coupled to a reflector antenna using the SRSR and GRASP software
· He/she will be able to measure an antenna beam pattern by means of far-field measurements
· He/she will be able to measure the brightness temperature of a celestial source with a total power receiver coupled to a reflector antenna