help

Can I Listen to the Radio Signals that the Very Large Array is Receiving?

-- Christopher | July 11, 2019

Question:

Hi. I have a question. but I am not quite to sure how to phrase it; or even if it makes sense. But i was wondering if there is a way that I could listen to the VLA from Ohio via 10m, 20m, and 40m antenna? Does the VLA have some sort of public broadcast frequency that people can tune into? This doesn’t have to be relevant to just the VLA but any instrument that is capturing data from the cosmos and transmitting said data whether on the ground or in space; Hubble maybe? and if so, can i listen to it, record it, and decode the data myself? Thanks!

-- Christopher

Answer:

The Very Large Array, just like all radio telescopes, receives signals which are transmitted from objects in space at radio wavelengths. Unfortunately the Very Large Array cannot also transmit at radio frequencies as it would interfere with the Very Large Array’s ability to receive the very weak signals from space that astronomers use to study objects in the universe. I am also not aware of a telescope operating at any wavelength which broadcasts its measurements, either at radio frequencies or on a web site (for example).

-- Jeff Mangum

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