Adding bricks to point the Ptarmigan Array beyond the Zenith 21/12/2023
Today I decided to find out what happens when I take the array to point other side of Zenith (ie > 90 degrees). Will it just give same data as I already have (on measurements between 0-90 degrees) or will it extend the range of sky that I am able to map from my location? In order words, will it allow me to extend range of declinations visible to the radio telescope to extend the range of the Milky Way map I am generating at 1420MHz (hydrogen)?
Initially, today, I have put one brick under the southern legs of my wooden mount which takes the direction that the Ptarmigan Array 6.6 degrees beyond the Zenith.
The photo below shows the dipole array antenna (86x86cm ex-military band III) with the extra brick under southern legs (actually it is pointing 163 degrees rather than 180 degrees where 180 degrees is due south).
Below that is a plot of my data so far, including that collected from couple hours with the additional brick – this appears as short green above the longer green lines (at top of chart) = demonstrates that the brick does indeed extend the area of sky covered by my hydrogen map, and therefore that is worth me taking this further (i.e. two bricks!)
Andy
Other plots of Milky Way Hydrogen Map from LRO Pharmigan Array to date including the extra data mentioned above with extra brick:
