Results and information on projects that have been conducted at Bathurst Observatory Research Facility. The information below details only some of the projects that we are working on at the observatory. You are welcome to come and view the research facility's various space, mineral fossil and meteorite displays via prior bookings.
We have an interest in meteorites and use them to help us understand how the solar system may have formed. We also study meteorites to help us learn more about the make up of the asteroids and meteors that we study at the observatory. We have a large number of meteorites on display, and if you think you have found a meteorite, we can help with meteorite identification. You can also report any very bright meteors (shooting stars) or meteorite falls to us as well. We pass on this information to the relevant researches, or use this information for our research papers.
We are always happy to answer any questions you may on meteorites, such as meteorite types, places to buy them from, and often present talks to groups on meteorites and asteroids. So if you want to buy a meteorite, we can put you in touch with those who sell them. We can also offer unbiased appraisals, valuations and recommendations. We do occasionally have some meteorites for sale as well.
We have written a paper on preservation of meteorites, that has been published in an international magazine. It helps to overcome rusting of meteorites.
We have also now completed a booklet "How do I know its a meteorite?", designed for those new to collecting meteorites. Email us for details.
We can also offer meteorite services, such as preparation, cutting, polishing and making meteorite thin sections for microscope work.
Meteorites and meteor studies are our main area of work.
Comet research is also one of the main projects undertaken at the observatory.
Comet McNaught on the 20th January 2007 from the Bathurst Observatory Research Facility
Data about comets can be obtained by contacting the observatory.
We have also been observing a number of asteroid occultations. This when an asteroid eclipses a star and temporarily causes the star to dim. By watching and timing these events, we can help build up a picture of the asteroid's size and shape.
A number of stars change brightness over a period of time. By monitoring them over a long period, we can understand the nature of these stars. At Bathurst Observatory, we have a few selected stars that are best studied from the Southern Hemisphere that we are monitoring. Our results are submitted to the AAVSO.
At Bathurst Observatory Research Facility, we have installed a 3 metre radio telescope that is used as an introductory device to learning about radio astronomy for schools and interested groups. We have also installed a radio meteor detector. The Bad News at present is that the old computer with the winradio card installed in it has been pensioned off. The older model of the winradio card is not compatible with the newer computers, so unfortunately, all radio astronomy work is limited until we can come up with the money to buy a new USB model of the winradio system. We are still doing on demand work with the radio telescope having revived the old computer.
The 3 metre dish is operational when needed, operated via the old computer system. Below is a list of the things it is capable of doing. The dish will primarily be used for listening for signals coming from hydrogen gas in the milky way and for solar work.
At present, we can use our 3 metre radio telescope for scans of the sun at 4000 MHz. An example of such a scan can be seen below. We have now detected the hydrogen line at 1420 MHz using our 3 metre dish and specially built receiver. We have also mounted the meteor detector inside the 3 dish, to remove ground reflections.
Above, the sun on the 18th of April 2003 using the 3 metre dish.
We have also installed a smaller 1.5 metre dish, that we use to scan the sun at 12 GHz. It is fully movable so sun scans can be done at any time of the day. We are about to start a small research project using this dish on the sun. We are also experimenting with lower frequency sun detection.
The radio meteor detector is fully functional, but again now in on demand use via the old computer. We have written a number of papers detailing results of this counter, copies of which may be obtained by contacting us.
How does the counter work?
Meteors or “Shooting Stars” are small fragments of rock from within our solar system that burn up in Earth’s atmosphere when they fall to Earth. Meteors typically burn up some 100 km up in Earth’s atmosphere. If they are large enough to hit the ground, we know them as meteorites. Most of the meteors you see, however, are rocks no bigger than a pea in size.
So how does our counter work? We have constructed a special aerial called a cross dipole and located it near the observatory. It is now actually located in the 3 metre dish. This aerial is used to detect meteors burning up in Earth’s atmosphere. We also have a special receiver tuned to a very distant FM transmitter (Up to 800 km away). Normally, you cannot pick up a signal from such a distant FM transmitter here in Bathurst, but when a meteor enters our atmosphere and burns up, it produces a trail of ions behind it. The ions produced act like a big reflector for radio signals and we can hear the distant transmitter signal as a “ping” sound in our detector. It also produces a spike on our signal graph, which we can record.
The meteor
counter and radio telescope would not have been possible without the
assistance of Winradio, Sky, Bob Murray from Murgon Aerials, Steve’s
Electronics (particularly Dave Scott), Members of the Centaurus Astronomy
Society, and Prof David McKinnon from CSU.
As mentioned earlier, Prof David McKinnon in conjunction with the observatory have also just written a number of papers on the results from the meteor detector.
The graph above was produced by a Leonid meteor on the 16th of November 2002. We also recorded many more during the peak activity on the 19th of November.
With the move from analogue to digital television fast approaching, we are investigating other transmitters that we may be able to use once the analogue ones are switched off, sometime in the next few years. So at present, we are planning to undertake an investigation into other suitable frequencies.
We have also found that the winradio card in our pc and one of our antennas, is particularly good at picking up weather satellites. We can receive Noaa and meteor weather satellites. In particular are Noaa 17 (137.620 MHz) and now the satellite Noaa 18 (137.91 MHz), which give us great pictures. We use a computer program to decode the pictures and display them on our computer. We hope to again do these if we can afford one of the new systems.
This section will detail other projects in addition to those listed above.
We also can listen to astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS). These broadcasts are generally at 145.8 MHz and the astronauts can be clearly heard talking to amateurs radio operators.
For further information and copies of the data obtained from any of the above studies, please contact us. We will be most happy to see our results put to use.
The Aurora viewed from Bathurst Observatory Research Facility on 29th October 2003