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Observations of Low Frequency Solar Radio Bursts from the Rosse Solar-Terrestrial Observatory

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Abstract

The Rosse Solar-Terrestrial Observatory (RSTO; www.rosseobservatory.ie ) was established at Birr Castle, Co. Offaly, Ireland (53°05′38.9″, 7°55′12.7″) in 2010 to study solar radio bursts and the response of the Earth’s ionosphere and geomagnetic field. To date, three Compound Astronomical Low-cost Low-frequency Instrument for Spectroscopy in Transportable Observatory (CALLISTO) spectrometers have been installed, with the capability of observing in the frequency range of 10 – 870 MHz. The receivers are fed simultaneously by biconical and log-periodic antennas. Nominally, frequency spectra in the range of 10 – 400 MHz are obtained with four sweeps per second over 600 channels. Here, we describe the RSTO solar radio spectrometer set-up, and present dynamic spectra of samples of type II, III and IV radio bursts. In particular, we describe the fine-scale structure observed in type II bursts, including band splitting and rapidly varying herringbone features.

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Notes

  1. www.e-CALLISTO.org .

  2. soleil.i4ds.ch/solarradio/CALLISTOQuicklooks/ .

  3. www.rosseobservatory.ie/presentations/birr_radio_survey.pdf .

  4. www.lofar.ie .

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Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to the Seventh Earl of Rosse and the Birr Castle Demesne staff, particularly George Vaugh, for their support during the development of the RSTO. We would also like to thank the TCD Centre for Telecommunications Value-chain Research (CTVR) and the School of Physics Mechanical Workshop. P.Z. is supported by a TCD Innovation Bursary. EC is a Government of Ireland Scholar supported by the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology. We would also like to thank the Alice Barklie Bequest to the TCD School of Physics. RSTO was established under the auspices of International Heliophysical Year 2007 and the International Space Weather Initiative, supported by the United Nations Basic Space Science Initiative.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland

    P. Zucca, E. P. Carley, J. McCauley, P. T. Gallagher & R. T. J. McAteer

  2. Institute for Astronomy, ETH-Zentrum, Zürich, 8093, Switzerland

    C. Monstein

  3. Department of Astronomy, New Mexico State University, PO Box 30001 MSC 4500, Las Cruces, NM, 88003, USA

    R. T. J. McAteer

Authors
  1. P. Zucca
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  2. E. P. Carley
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  3. J. McCauley
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  4. P. T. Gallagher
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  5. C. Monstein
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  6. R. T. J. McAteer
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Correspondence to P. Zucca.

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Advances in European Solar Physics

Guest Editors: Valery M. Nakariakov, Manolis K. Georgoulis, and Stefaan Poedts

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Zucca, P., Carley, E.P., McCauley, J. et al. Observations of Low Frequency Solar Radio Bursts from the Rosse Solar-Terrestrial Observatory. Sol Phys 280, 591–602 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-012-9992-x

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