The Small Radio Telescope (SRT) is a 2.3 m diameter satellite television dish on a fully motorized Az-El mount which has been developed by Haystack Observatory. The SRT at F&M is located on the roof of Hackman Physical Sciences Laboratory and is capable of both total power measurements and contour mapping. This telescope observes at L-band (a wavelength of 20 cm, or a frequency of 1.4 GHz) and is used in part of our lab instruction in both our introductory astrophysics course and senior-level laboratory capstone course for majors. The SRT control computer is located in the astronomy lab on the fourth floor of Hackman. The telescope is capable of both radio continuum and spectral line observations and combines aspects of astronomy, digital signal processing, software development, and data analysis and reduction.
The SRT as seen from the astronomy observing deck on the top of Hackman.
The SRT viewed from the roof of Hackman.
First light SRT observation of the 21-cm radio Hydrogen line at the center of the Milky Way.