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Aperture Fever Andrew Thornett For radio astronomers everywhere We started small, a modest dish, A meter wide—fulfilled the wish To scan the skies and hear the sound Of whispers faint, yet so profound. But soon enough, that would not do, The hiss was soft, but signals few. "A larger dish!" we cried in glee, And bolted steel to PVC. A garden lost, a lawn replaced By mesh and beams—oh, what a waste! Neighbours gawked, their patience frayed, As concrete footings poured and stayed. Yet still, the noise, the cursed din, A cosmic murmur, weak and thin! Aperture grows, but so does need, The hunger swells, a beast to feed. A thousand dishes, phased in line, Their shadows stretch, a grand design. The town petitioned, courts decreed: "Remove the menace!"—Would we heed? Oh no, dear friends, for stars still call, From voids beyond this mortal thrall. To fainter whispers we aspire, And so, the aperture grows… still wider. And when at last the Earth is tiled With metal plates in fashion wild, We’ll turn our sights, with bold delight, To building one upon the Moon… good night.

The Last Transmission Andrew Thornett For the members of the BAA H-line group They sit in sheds with wires and screens, Tracking signals, chasing dreams. Not for aliens, not for fun— Just mapping gas ‘round a dying sun. Dishes wobble, creak, and groan, Old and rusted, overgrown. Neighbours whisper, eyes askance— "They haven't moved in months, perchance?" At 1420 megahertz, The cosmos hums, the signal spurts. A spectral line so cold, so thin, Like ghostly whispers creeping in. Through hiss and pop, through static's moan, They plot the Galaxy—starved, alone. A labour born of love and terrible dread, For stars will die, but the dish needs to be fed. One by one, they drop like flies, Under silent, watchful and reproachful skies. No one comes, no one calls, Just a dish that listens… and never falls. Years will pass, the metal might rust, J2000 charts dissolve to cosmic dust. But still: The Milky Way drifts by, Above the graves of those who tried. A little grim, but fittingly poetic for the relentless, lonely pursuit of the universe!

Does anyone have contact details for Jeff Lashley I'm trying to contact him - thanks. -- ??? Paul Hearn ?? paul@... ?? RA Section Director ??

Andrew Thornett will present his home observatory including H-line observations and remote access at Green Bank. Richard Knott will present Muon detector... – the next step forward. This will include instrumentation and software for data analysis and presentation. If you are not on the distribution list, please contact me for the Zoom link. -- ??? Paul Hearn ?? paul@... ?? RA Section Director ??

The Hidden Wonders of the Sky Andrew Thornett, March 2025 Why, oh why, can they not see – The wonder of a starry sky – Seen with starlight not visible without, The wonders of the modern world. Beacons blink in cosmic song, Billions whisper all night long, Between the voids where giants spin, Bringing secrets deep within. Celestial signals, faint yet bright, Calling from the edge of sight, Caught by aerials tuned with care, Cracking codes from distant air. Daring pulses race through space, Dancing waves in endless chase, Drifting, shifting, bending light, Drawing minds to scale their height. Echoes trace a past unknown, Eons speaking, softly shown, Eager ears and patient hands Extract what deep time still demands. Far beyond the eye’s own reach, Frequencies in silent speech Find their way to those who dare Follow trails through frozen air. Gazing upward, lost in thought, Galaxies with wonder fraught, Grains of truth in static lie— Grasp them, question, ask them why! Would they listen? Would they care? Why, oh why, don’t they just stare? What is lost if minds stay blind When the universe calls—unkind?

Today’s Space Weather News carries a story on Cosmic rays initiating lightning. https://spaceweather.com/ . I do not monitor Muons but, if I remember correctly they are also the source of Muons. Has anyone looked for coincidences between the two? Mike German

Hi Radio Astronomy Section Monday the 19th March Inaugural Meeting of BAA RAG H Line Group by Dr Andrew Thornett Video is now on YouTube here You can find links to previous meeting videos and associated materials here Kind Regards John B

There may be interest from members of this Group in this topic. The International Meteor Organsiation has opened its page for registration at the 44th International Meteor Conference (IMC25) in Soest, The Netherlands from September 18 to 21. The Conference will have a number of papers specifically on Radio Meteor topics as well as other meteor topics. In addition this year, a Radio Metor Workshop is planned with the chance to participate in round-the-table discussions and to listen to or present papers on a less formal basis than the main IMC. In the past this has been attended by amateur and professional radio meteor astronomers. Unfortunately I will not be attending this year but plan to join in on-line. All details via the link https://imc2025.imo.net/ Mike

Hello Folks I am looking for help in making regular meteor observations using the UK meteor radar system. See the live stream at :- https://ukmeteorbeacon.org/beaconclient/ We are seeing some very interesting effects from the network of ( currently ) 4 receiving sites. I am unable to make systematic observations on a regular basis due to ongoing commitments on this project and other matters but the system is available to all to make a contribution. I can give some guidance on what to look for on a personal basis so if you are interested and available please get in touch. All the best Brian for the UK meteor radar project.

I have just registered as user of the 20m radio telescope at Greenbank Observatory as part of my membership of SARA – I am very excited as my wife won’t accept a 20m dish in our garden, for some unknown reason – she is unreasonable like that! Perhaps BAA RAG should see if they can get access to a professional dish in the UK for members to get access to? Andy

Now that we have receivers for the UK Meteor radar project at four different locations we are seeing some interesting results and would very much appreciate some systematic manual observations of meteor echoes using the live stream at https://ukmeteorbeacon.org/beaconclient/ . The observations could take as little as ten minutes ideally repeated twice per day. Even observations made for just one day would help but 2 observation sessions per day repeated for a few days would be even more useful. If you are able to help please contact me and I'll explain exactly what we are looking for. There is a description of how to use the live display at https://ukmeteorbeacon.org/documents/UsingLiveStreams.pdf which you will find in the resources / documents section of the project web pages at https://ukmeteorbeacon.org/Home . Brian

The planning for EuCARA25 in September is going well, interest is mounting. We are now giving opportunity for the amateur community to contribute. Please contact me if: You want a time slot to share Observations or instrumentation. You have a poster to add to those already submitted. You want to bring along kit to demonstrate. Visit http:/eucara.org for registration and further details. -- ??? Paul Hearn ?? paul@... ?? RA Section Director ??

Please see following link for my analysis of my spare SAWBirds using NanoVNA. Andy https://www.astronomy.me.uk/analysing-spare-nooelec-sawbird-h1-lnas-at-lro-6-march-2025-using-nanovna-vector-network-analyser

Alex has asked us to reschedule, so there will be no RAZoom on Friday 7th March Project HLine3D : A Beginners Guide to Hydrogen Emission Line Microwave Radio Astronomy Alex Pettit Winter Springs, Fla Coming up…… Friday 4th April 19:30 (18:30 UTC) Open forum...., so far, we have two presentations, If you have observations or Instrumentation you want to share with the community let me know. The running order will be published mid-March. Friday 2nd May 19:30 (18:30 UTC) Binary Stars and Stellar Cannibalism Dr. Noel Castro-Segura University of Warwick Astronomy and Astrophysics Group Friday 6th June 19:30 (19:30 UTC) Observing Magnetic Fields in space generally, using Micro-wave Radio Observations Prof. Derek Waed-Thompson -- ??? Paul Hearn ?? paul@... ?? RA Section Director ??