Gavril Grueff

Sardinia Radio Telescope: the new Italian project

This contribution gives a description of the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT), a new general purpose, fully steerable antenna proposed by the Institute of Radio Astronomy (IRA) of the National Institute for Astrophysics. The radio telescope is under construction near Cagliari (Sardinia) and it will join the two existing antennas of Medicina (Bologna) and Noto (Siracusa) both operated by the IRA. With its large antenna size (64m diameter) and its active surface, SRT, capable of operations up to about 100GHz, will contribute significantly to VLBI networks and will represent a powerful single-dish radio telescope for many science fields. The radio telescope has a Gregorian optical configuration with a supplementary beam-waveguide (BWG), which provides additional focal points. The Gregorian surfaces are shaped to minimize the spill-over and the standing wave between secondary mirror and feed. After the start of the contract for the radio telescope structural and mechanical fabrication in 2003, in the present year the foundation construction will be completed. The schedule foresees the radio telescope inauguration in late 2006.

Status of the Sardinia Radio Telescope project

We present the status of the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) project, a new general purpose, fully steerable 64 m diameter parabolic radiotelescope capable to operate with high efficiency in the 0.3-116 GHz frequency range. The instrument is the result of a scientific and technical collaboration among three Structures of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF): the Institute of Radio Astronomy of Bologna, the Cagliari Astronomy Observatory (in Sardinia,) and the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory in Florence. Funding agencies are the Italian Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, the Sardinia Regional Government, and the Italian Space Agency (ASI,) that has recently rejoined the project. The telescope site is about 35 km North of Cagliari. The radio telescope has a shaped Gregorian optical configuration with a 7.9 m diameter secondary mirror and supplementary Beam-WaveGuide (BWG) mirrors. With four possible focal positions (primary, Gregorian, and two BWGs), SRT will be able to allocate up to 20 remotely controllable receivers. One of the most advanced technical features of the SRT is the active surface: the primary mirror will be composed by 1008 panels supported by electromechanical actuators digitally controlled to compensate for gravitational deformations. With the completion of the foundation on spring 2006 the SRT project entered its final construction phase. This paper reports on the latest advances on the SRT project.