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*Approved For Release-2001/03/26 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500130064-5
Wednesday, June 30,1971
II7h 7848/B
7
PROTING THE SUN'S SECRETS
AP. 1,2,3
Scientists of the Siberian Institute of
Geomagnetism/ Ionosphere and Radio-wave
Propagation have begun testing a model of a
solar radio-telescope, The full scale telescope
will be erected on a field of nearly fifty hectares
in the Bodar district near Lake Baikal, Our
correspondent asked the director of the institute,
corresponding member of the USSR Academy of
Sciences, Vladimir Stepanov and the head of the
radio-astronomy laboratory Gennady Smolkov to
give their comments of this matter.
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LAP.13
#13
Q. What was the reason for building this radio-telescope?
A. The Directives of the 24th Congress of the CPSU provided for
scientific research in the fields of long-distance radio communications
television and weather forecasting in the coming five-year plan
period. The scientists will also continue their research into
the fundamental problems of astrophysics, interplanetary space,
solar physics and interactions between the sun and earth,
At present the sun presents us with unsolved puzzles concerning
its spots, chromosphere eruptions and accompanying phenomena, During
these bursts of activity the sun emits an enormous amount of
energy in the form of waves and corpuscular radiation. The former
take 8.3 minutes to reach the Earth, the latter several days.
They cause interruption of radio communications, severe distortion
of the Earth's magnetic field, affoct the weather and even the
condition of human beings suffering from cardio-vascular diseases,
The level of radiation in the vicinity of the Earth increases to
such an extent that it becomes dangerous for cosmic flights.
In order to learn how to forecast these eruptive solar
processes and their geophysical consequences, it is necessary
to have full knowledge of their mechanism and dynamics.
Q. But there are many other solar laboratories in the world,
A. True. In our institute we have several ,optical telescopes
for different purposes, They enable us to study the surface, or
photosphere of the sun, others the lower layers of the solar
atmosphere, the chromosphere. Using a telescope with a device
for creating an artificial solar eclipse, i.e. a solar coronagraph
we can study the outer layers of the sun's atmosphere, its corona
However we see only that part which is at right angles to the line
of sight and not that which faces the Earth, The latter will be
visible either a week earlier or a week later due to the rotation
of the Sun. Optical observation is greatly dependent on the weather
and thorefore the instruments at our disposal are unable to cover
all the aspects of solar research. It is impossible to study the
structure, dynamics, origin and mechanisms in active areas of the
solar atmosphere where these eruptions occur without the use of
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Wednesday, June 30, 1971
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radio-astronomical methods, For this reason the radio telescope
is an essential aid for the scientists.
The plasma in the solar atmosphere radiates a continuous
Spectrum of radio-waves. However the density of the atmosphere
falls the further it is from the surface of the Sun. For this
reason the wavelength of the radiation changes from a few
millimetres near the surface of the Sun to tens of metres in
the outer corona, Radiation of greater or smaller wavelengths
is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, In the active areas of
the corona, the density and temperature of the plasma is much
higher and the intensity of the radiation is greatly increased,
By turning their radio-telescope to different wavelengths the
scientists can "examine" the solar atmosphere at various heights,
The solar radio-telescope built several years ago in Australia
is designed for wavelengths in the metre range. Ours will operate
in the centimetre range.
Q. What is the radio telescope like?
A. It is a multi-element, cruciform radio interferometre with
two rows of antennas, one directed east-west, the other
north-south. It is supplied with complex electronic equipment.
In designing the telescope many difficult technical problems had
to be solved. For this reason it is necessary to check several
of the technical problems connected with its design experimentally.
This is why we built this model. It is not a miniature model, it
consits of a number of antennae of the same size as the future
telescope. The model will be used to check the solar tracking
devices, reception of radiation, etc. A wave-guide several hundred
metres long will be set up to check the tracking of the signals
received from the antennae.
The large dimensions of the interferometer will give it high
resolution, in the neighbourhood of 20 seconds of arc, Panoramic
inspection of the Sun will be performed simultaneously in two
directions, The telescope will give us such an enormous amount
of information that it will be impossible to process it by hand,
The scanning and processing of the data will be performed automa-
tically by a computer which will control the telescope, collect
and process the received signals and build a radio image of the Sun
every few minutes, At the same time the operator at the control
panel will be able to see this image on the screen of a television
receiver .
The radio telescope will be able to register local sources of
radiation whose intensity is ten times that of the quiescent solar
corona. It will also be able to register eruptions which have an. .
intensity a hundred times that of adjacent sources. It will enable
us to follow fast transient processes in active areas of the lower
layers of the corona. This will be the first instrument in the world
having such characteristics and capabilities.
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Wednesday, June 30,1971
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7
Q. What will this instrument give science in the final
analysis?
A. The instrument at Bodar will be used for observations only.
The theoretical conclusions from these observations will be drawn
in the radio-astronomical laboratories of the institute which are
connected by tele-type with the interferometer. In the laboratories
scientists will be able to correlate processes observed by the
radio-telescope with the structure of active areas observed
optically in other observatories of the institute.
Finally, we will be able to construct a map depicting the
distribution of the Sun's magnetic field in space. With its
help, scientists will be able to forecast solar activity,
determine the conditions for the transmission of radio signals
and the conditions in space. All this is necessary for ensuring
dependable short-wAve radio communications between the Earth
and objects in space, between different points on the surface
of the globe and the safety of life in space.
PP.1,2,3
Corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences,
A. Pistolkors! is intimately concerned with the design of the radio
telescope. He is scientific director of the project, In designing
this instrument we received considerable assistance from the
observatories and institutes of the USSR Academy of Sciences,
from the Presidium of the Siberian section of the A. Sc. and
from industrial institutes and organisations.
Q. When will the radio-telescope be put into operation?
A. We propose to finish working out the design problems of the
model in the present year, said G. Smolkov, As soon as this is
done we will start constructing the system in Bodar, The site has
already been selected and all preliminary work has been done.
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1
(Pravda, May 23rd, 197I. In full.)
Daily Romein, Vol. XVII, 70. 133 (4266)
30 June 1941
Published by Novosti Press
Gegeneg, Noscour
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