2016 Abstract from Ben

Quarknet Radio Telescope: The  mechanization to track celestial objects 

  Ben Hardin (Batavia High School) 

 ​ Dr. Adam Anderson (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)   

Abstract 

  The purpose of this experiment is to get high school students around the Fermilab area  involved in science. The experiment involves building a radio telescope and measuring at the  21cm hydrogen line. The experiment will then be passed on to high schools around the U.S.  once the initial team is done with the building and getting everything ready. This will allow others  to set up an interferometry of radio telescopes to better observe the Milky Way.     This paper reports on the project to motorize the dish so we can track celestial objects,  and aim at objects in the sky. Using two linear actuators controlled by a relay connected to a  raspberry pi, powered by python code.