MU student finishes project involving radio telescope

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The sound emitted from a small amplifier at the Laws Observatory center on a recent Wednesday night sounded deceptively like a singer testing a microphone.

Tap tap tap.

It was no mic check. The sound came from stars millions of light years away as they wheeled overhead.

The Central Missouri Astronomy Association, or CMAA, unveiled its new radio telescope, a satellite dish that can tune in to the universe, Aug. 5 at its weekly viewing.

The telescope is able to detect radio waves emitted by hydrogen atoms, which are common in the universe, said Ralph Dumas, a member of CMAA.

Giant bodies such as the sun, pulsars and even Jupiter are made of hydrogen. The atoms emit a radio wave with a frequency of 1420 megahertz, which is the frequency the telescope tracks.

The instrument perched on the roof of the University of Missouri-Columbia's physics building for five years before CMAA approached undergraduate chemistry major Philip Cheney to finish the installation he started in 2000 as a project for his freshman Topics in Physics class.

Few visitors to Laws Observatory noticed the new addition Wednesday, passing it without a glance on their way to view Jupiter through an optical telescope. Cheney said visitors to the observatory and students at MU should take note of the possibilities the satellite antenna offers.

The dish's functions at present are basic. It has no motor, so it can't be moved to align with objects. Instead, it sits stationary and receives sound waves when stars pass overhead. Once a motor is installed, the satellite will gain the mobility to be pointed at specific stellar bodies, and cosmos buffs will be able to hear the fingerprint-unique sounds of the sun or Milky Way.

Cheney said software can translate the radio waves into images. One day, he said, visitors to Laws Observatory might be able to see graphic representations of things not visible to the human eye, such as nebulas, which emit no light.

"I've heard the Milky Way is pretty stunning," he said.

For those waiting for a sign that some other life form is out there, the potential exists for interstellar contact.

"Some scientists believe if someone ever tried to communicate with us it would be through the 1420 megahertz frequency because it's the most listened-to signal in space," Dumas said.

Professor H.R. Chandrasekhar, department chair of the Physics and Astronomy department, said his department would provide funding and support for the instrument.

Surprised to discover a radio telescope at the observatory, Columbia resident Jesse Cihouski, 28, joked about its potential.

"It'd be nice to hear some SOS. From aliens," he said.