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Astroinformatics and Heliophysics at the FHNW Institute for Data Science

e-Callisto

Compound Astronomical Low cost Low frequency Instrument for Spectroscopy and Transportable Observatory

Global network of radio spectrometers for observing the sun 24 hours a day.

VISIT PROJECT SITE

ROLE OF THE INSTITUTE FOR DATA SCIENCE

> Data archive hosted at I4DS

> Data access and interface

Project lead at I4DS: Prof. Dr. André Csillaghy

Partners: Christian Monstein, IRSOL

Funding: European Space Agency ESA

Start: 2014
Status: ongoing

Keywords: radio astronomy, solar physics, space weather

SUMMARY

e-Callisto consists of more than 139 radio spectrometers set up in over 75 locations reaching from Mongolia to Uruguay. The global distribution of the instruments allows for observing solar radio emissions received in different regions of the planet and without interruptions during night time. Of particular interest are the radio bursts which frequently occur after a solar flare, and may lead to radio blackouts and in the interruption of radio communication. Radio bursts are a central indicator of space weather.

PEOPLE @I4DS WORKING ON e-CALLISTO

Delberin Ali

Computer Science Intern

Prof. Dr. André Csillaghy

Head Institute for Data Science

Simon Felix

Computer Science Engineer

until 2017
more information

Vincenzo Timmel

Software Engineer

Andreas Wassmer

Software Engineer

PEOPLE @FHNW WHO WORKED ON e-CALLISTO BEFORE

  • Simon Beck
  • Kushtrim Sylejmani

STUDENT PARTICIPATION

OPEN RESOURCES AND RESULTS

Quicklooks of Radio Flares
Spectrometers in different countries
General documentation
Hardware
Software
Blogpost: Sonnenforschung muss nicht Millionen kosten

VISUALS AND AUDIO

Callisto radio spectrometers are distributed throughout the globe which allows for seamless radio observation 24 hours a day. Credit: Christian Monstein IRSOL

Radio telescope in Bleien, Switzerland
The Institute for Astronomy at ETH Zurich has been operating the Bleien radio observatory since 1979. Various antennas and spectrometers have been in operation and still are today. In 2010 heliophysics moved to the Institute of 4D Technologies at Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (FHNW) in Windisch, Switzerland, where a new group was built up. FHNW is now responsible for archiving all solar data and manages the analysis software. Credit: craf.eu

Another view of the Bleien telescope for radio astronomy. Image: Wikipedia

Radio Astronomy in Switzerland

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Bleien telescope in 2019, its co-founder Prof. Arnold Benz summarized the history of radio astronomy at ETHZ. In the meantime radio astronomy has continued at the Institute for Data Science FHNW with e-Callisto integrated into ESA’s Space Weather Service Network SSA, new research projects carried out such as VLA-Flares and AstroSignals and I4DS participating in the Swiss effort to join the biggest radio astronomy project of the future – the Square Kilometer Array SKA.

Read Prof. A. Benz' report