Search NASASearch

Engineering topics

Counselman, C. C.

Publications and source records attributed to Counselman, C. C..

Time-dependent radio fine structure of the compact sources NRAO 150 and 4C 39.25

Very long baseline interferometer observations at 7.85 GHz have been used to probe the milliarcsecond structure of the unidentified, very compact radio source NRAO 150 and QSO 4 C 39.25. NRAO 150 exhibited no structural variations from 1972 to the end of 1974. A model with two circular Gaussian components fits the data well. NRAO 150 had a flux density of 7.6 plus or minus 0.5 Jy in the compact component; 4 C 39.25 showed a two-component structure, the components having a separation of (2.02 plus or minus 0.05 arc sec) x 10 to the -3rd power. The upper bound on the speed of transverse separation is 0.0001 arc sec per year or less than 2.7 c. From the spectrum there are also indications of a third, larger component.

Baath, L. B.

Recent results of radio interferometric determinations of a transcontinental baseline, polar motion, and earth rotation

Results are discussed for radio interferometric observations of extragalactic radio sources with antennas at Haystack Observatory in Massachusetts and the Owens Valley Radio Observatory in California (3900-km baseline) during 14 separate experiments distributed between September 1976 and May 1978. Simultaneous analysis of the data from several experiments yields estimates of changes in the x component of pole position and in earth's rotation (UT1). Comparison with the corresponding results obtained by the Bureau International de l'Heure (BIH) reveals systematic differences. In particular, the trends in the radio interferometric determinations of the changes in pole position are found to agree more closely with those from the International Polar Motion Service and from Doppler observations of satellites than with those from the BIH.

Robertson, D. S.

VLBI Observations of ALSEP Transmitters

The technique of differential very-long-baseline inteferometry (VLBI) Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package was used to measure the relative positions of the (ALSEP) transmitters at the Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 lunar landing sites with uncertainties less than 0.005 sec of the geocentric arc. These measurements yielded improved determinations of the selenodetic coordinates of the Apollo landing sites, and of the physical libration of the moon.

Counselman, C. C.

Precision surveying using very long baseline interferometry

Radio interferometry measurements were used to measure the vector baselines between large microwave radio antennas. A 1.24 km baseline in Massachusetts between the 36 meter Haystack Observatory antenna and the 18 meter Westford antenna of Lincoln Laboratory was measured with 5 mm repeatability in 12 separate experiments. Preliminary results from measurements of the 3,928 km baseline between the Haystack antenna and the 40 meter antenna at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory in California are presented.

Ryan, J. W.

Time-dependent radio fine structure of the quasar 3C 345

Results are reported for VLBI observations of 3C 345 at a wavelength of 3.8 cm with left circular polarization. Sixteen sets of correlated flux densities and three sets of closure phases were obtained from observations made over a three-year period with six independent interferometers formed from up to four antennas. The mathematical models employed to represent the radio brightness distribution of the source are described, and the data are analyzed on the basis of a two-component model. The results show that the compact source in 3C 345 consists of two components whose separation increased by about 0.3 milliarcsec over the observational period, that the smaller and weaker component is to the east and south of the larger and stronger one, and that the apparent expansion velocity would be about 2.5c for a redshift of 0.6, a Hubble constant of 60 km/sec per Mpc, and a deceleration parameter of unity. It is concluded that these findings are difficult to reconcile with the 'Christmas tree' model for the apparent change of separation with time over any given series of observations.

Wittels, J. J.

Radio source positions from very-long-baseline interferometry observations

Accurate positions of compact radio sources have been determined from very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations based on the bandwidth-synthesis technique. The coordinates for 18 extragalactic sources were obtained from sets of observations spread over the period from April 1972 to January 1975; the scatter among the independent determinations of the source coordinates from the separate sets of observations is about 0.05 arcsec, except for the declinations of near-equatorial sources, where the scatter is about 0.15 arcsec. Comparison of these positions with those determined with the Cambridge 5-km radio interferometer shows the rms scatter about the mean difference to be about 0.04 arcsec in each coordinate (no sources of low declination were in common). A similar comparison of the present results with those obtained by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from separate VLBI observations yields a slightly larger rms scatter, after exlusion of the declinations of the near-equatorial sources. A position is also obtained for the galactic object Beta Persei (Algol), which agrees well with the position given in the FK 4 catalogue.

Clark, T. A.

The structure of radio sources 3C 273B and 3C 84 deduced from the 'closure' phases and visibility amplitudes observed with three-element interferometers

The derived 'closure' phase relation for a three-element interferometer is used in a presented analysis of data obtained from observations at 7.8 GHz of the radio sources 3C 273B and 3C 84 by antennas in Massachusetts, California, Alaska, and Sweden (the first two antennas were used in combination with each of the last two separately to form two three-element interferometers). The brightness distribution is found for each source by expansion of both the fringe amplitude and the fringe phase in separate Fourier series.

Rogers, A. E. E.