Linked Questions

33 votes
4 answers
3k views

What will succeed the Arecibo Observatory?

Just a few minutes ago, I got a notification from Space.com stating that the Arecibo Observatory will be, sadly, decommissioned due to extensive damage to its structure. So, with the loss of one of ...
WarpPrime's user avatar
  • 6,733
5 votes
2 answers
544 views

Why is Saturn invisible in this radar image of its rings?

The image below is from Radar imaging of Saturn’s rings Nicholson, P. D. et al., Icarus 177 (2005) 32–62, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2005.03.023 and discussed further in this answer to How did Arecibo ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 30.7k
6 votes
1 answer
354 views

What causes "North-South ambiguity" when doppler radar imaging a planet surface equator?

I'm having a hard time understanding why there would be this ambiguity. Also, why would this be not the case if the planet was viewed pole on? Edit: "North South ambiguity" is a term used in ...
MinYoung Kim's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
357 views

How do we know the hydrocarbon lakes on Titan are actually liquid?

Cassini failed to detect any waves in the seas/lakes it observed, despite winds of 72 km/h (45 mph) being present on Titan which are able to create "sand" dunes from frozen particles, and ...
Axion's user avatar
  • 345
3 votes
1 answer
191 views

What is the physical geometry of this apparent "eclipse" of a tiny moon of Asteroid Florence?

Below is a small GIF made from a small subset of images contained in the original 36MB GIF found at https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/images/news/florence.p5us.1Hz.s382.sep01.gif as I just found in the Sky ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 30.7k
3 votes
1 answer
243 views

Current topics on Radio Astronomy and looking for advice

Background and Question: I'm an undergraduate student interested on Radio Astronomy. I consider myself enthusiastic about it and I project myself following this "path" so I'd like, ...
nuwe's user avatar
  • 781
3 votes
1 answer
196 views

Would it have been possible to send a radio signal towards ʻOumuamua?

As we could not get any radio signals from asteroid ʻOumuamua, couldn't we have sent a powerful radio signal to it and then check if we can get any radio signal in response? This way we can at least ...
Mahen's user avatar
  • 73
2 votes
1 answer
110 views

Is radar interferometry used, or feasible, for ground based astronomy?

I've heard of "interferometric synthetic aperture radar" being used for Earth observation from satellites and airplanes. Is active radar used interferometrically for astronomical purposes too? Such as ...
LocalFluff's user avatar
  • 11.5k
2 votes
0 answers
59 views

What are recent discoveries with Earth-based radar telescopes?

The Wikipedia article on radar astronomy lists a few important discoveries using radar technology in general, i.e. also using space-crafts: The following is a list of planetary bodies that have been ...
B--rian's user avatar
  • 5,657
4 votes
0 answers
68 views

What are the technologies needed to make deep space LIDAR competitive with RADAR? Any plans for tests, prototypes or "pathfinder" systems?

ProfRob's answer to Would it be practical to map out the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud via Radar? gives us a "sobriety check" on the idea. Citing an example of a 1 million watt transmitter at ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 30.7k