astronomy

Sardinia Radio Telescope

Sardinia Radio Telescope is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sardinia Radio Telescope rather than just read about it. In short: The Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) is 64-metre fully steerable radio telescope near San Basilio, Province of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. Completed in 2011, it is a collaboration between the Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna, the Cagliari Observatory (Cagliari) and the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory (Florence).

Key takeaways

Sardinia Radio Telescope belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sardinia Radio Telescope to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sardinia Radio Telescope from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) is 64-metre fully steerable radio telescope near San Basilio, Province of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. Completed in 2011, it is a collaboration between the Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna, the Cagliari Observatory (Cagliari) and the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory (Florence).

Design

The telescope is in Sardinia, 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Cagliari, and is the largest of a set of three telescopes operated by INAF, along with telescopes at the Medicina Radio Observatory and the Noto Radio Observatory. It operates as a stand-alone instrument and as part of global networks of telescopes. The telescope and its structure weighs around 3,300 tonnes (3,300,000 kg). The primary mirror is 64 metres (210 ft) in diameter. It has an active surface consisting of 1008 aluminum panels in 14 rows. Each panel has an area between 2.4 and 5.3 square metres. There are 1116 actuators mounted on the backing structure, which move the surface panels to correct for the distortion of the mirror with elevation. A quadrupod supports a 7.9 metres (26 ft) diameter subreflector, with 49 panels in three rows, as well as primary focus instrumentation. The telescope is fully steerable. The telescope sits on a reinforced concrete base, carved into bedrock, with a continuously-welded track sitting on a 40 metres (130 ft) diameter outer ring, connected to the foundations with 260 pairs of anchor bolts, and supporting 16 wheels. In the centre is the azimuth bearing support, as well as the cable wrap and encoder system. The welded steel alidade then supports the elevation wheel, which is in turn connected to the primary mirror backing structure. A room at the base of the alidade holds the motor power supplies, antenna control system, and cryogenic compressors. Three rooms just below the primary surface contain the secondary focus receivers, as well as smaller mirrors and electronics. The telescope will ultimately have 0.3–115 GHz (1 metre to 3mm) continuous frequency coverage. Initially three receivers were installed: an L band receiver in prime focus, a C-band receiver in the tertiary focus, and a 7-beam K-band receiver in the secondary focus. As of 2021, an upgrade was in progress to include two new receivers to cover more of the potential bandwidth. This includes a set of 33-50 GHz receivers, and another set ranging from 70-116 GHz. This in turn requires the metrology and adjustment of the antenna be improved to allow efficient operation at such frequencies. As part of a contract issued in 2024, the SRT is being upgraded with receivers in the X, K, and Ka bands to support space missions.

Collaboration, construction and commissioning The telescope is a collaboration between several research units of the National Institute for Astrophysics: the Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna, the Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari and the Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri. Construction was funded by the Italian Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, the Sardinia Regional Government, the Italian Space Agency and INAF. The telescope cost around €70 million to construct. The contract to fabricate the telescope structure and mechanics started in 2003, and the construction of the foundations was completed in 2004. The initial schedule was for inauguration in late-2006; construction ultimately was completed in mid-2012. The telescope was constructed by MT Mechatronics GmbH of Germany. The first light was on 8 August 2012, using the Moon and 3C218 (Alphard). The technical commissioning phase ended in 2013, and formal inauguration was on 30 September 2013, with scientific commissioning between 2012 and 2015. Its first VLBI connection was in January 2014.

Science The telescope can operate in single dish mode, measuring continuum, polarisation and spectra. It is also used for very-long-baseline interferometry as part of the European VLBI Network, and with the space-based RadioAstron antenna. It is also used for space science, including deep space communication by the Italian Space Agency.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sardinia Radio Telescope

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sardinia Radio Telescope claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sardinia Radio Telescope before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sardinia Radio Telescope ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sardinia Radio Telescope

In research: Sardinia Radio Telescope appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sardinia Radio Telescope in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sardinia Radio Telescope is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Radio telescopes, Sardinia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sardinia Radio Telescope outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sardinia Radio Telescope in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sardinia Radio Telescope means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sardinia Radio Telescope out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sardinia Radio Telescope in simple terms?

Why does Sardinia Radio Telescope matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sardinia Radio Telescope?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sardinia Radio Telescope.