Radar astronomy
Radar astronomy is a technique of observing nearby astronomical objects by reflecting
microwaves off target objects and analyzing the echoes. This research has been conducted for four decades. Radar astronomy differs from
radio astronomy in that the latter is a passive observation and the former an active one. Radar systems have been used for a wide range of solar system studies. The radar transmission may either be pulsed and continuous.
The strength of the
radar return signal is proportional to the inverse fourth-power of the distance. Upgraded facilities, increased transceiver power, and improved apparatus have increased observational opportunities.
Radar techniques provide unavailable information from other means. Radar astronomy has tested
general relativity by observing
Mercury. Radar astronomy also provided refined the value of the
astronomical unit. Radar images provide information about the shapes and surface properties of solid bodies, which cannot be obtained by other ground-based techniques.
Advantages
* Control of attributes of the signal [i.e., the waveform's time/frequency modulation and polarization];
* Resolve objects spatially;
* Delay-Doppler measurement precision;
* Optically opaque penetration;
* Sensitive to high concentrations of metal or ice.
Disadvantages
* Signal strength drops off very steeply with distance to the target.
* Must have a relatively good
ephemeris of the target before observing it.
The following are a list of planetary bodies that have been observed by this means::
Mars - Mapping of surface roughness from
Arecibo Observatory. The
Mars Express mission carries a ground-penetrating radar.:
Mercury - Improved value for the distance from the earth observed (
GR test). Rotational period,
libration, surface mapping, esp. of polar regions.:
Venus - first radar detection in
1960. Rotation period, gross surface properties. The
Magellan mission mapped the entire planet using a
radar altimeter. :
Moon - first detection in
1945 - Surface roughness, mapping of shadowed regions near the poles.:
Jupiter System -
Galilean satellites:
Saturn System - Rings and Titan from
Arecibo Observatory, mapping of Titan's surface and observations of other moons from the
Cassini spacecraft.:
Earth - numerous airborne and spacecraft radars have mapped the entire planet, for various purposes. One example is the
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, which mapped the entire Earth at 30 m resolution.
Radar provides the ability to study shape, size and spin state of asteroids and comets from the ground. Radar imaging has produced images with up to 7.5-m resolution. With sufficient data, the size, shape, spin and radar albedo of the target asteroids can be extracted.
Only a few comets have been studied by radar, including
Comet SW3. There have been radar observations of >250
Near-Earth Asteroids and >100
Main-Belt Asteroids.
*
Deep Space Network*
Radar*
Radio astronomy*
Arecibo Planetary Radar Astronomy*
Goldstone Solar System Radar*
JPL Asteroid Radar Research
