Hercules A

Hercules A
Radio-Optical View of the Galaxy Hercules A - Many thanks to: NASA, ESA, S. Baum and C. O'Dea (RIT), R. Perley and W. Cotton (NRAO/AUI/NSF), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Professor Thomas Deaderick Carr and the Radio JOVE dipoles


Dr. Carr designed the Radio JOVE Program two dipole array:
http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/telescope/ant_manual.pdf

His Doctorate in Physics was the first given by the University of Florida in the Astronomy field, in 1958.

He was Chairman of the University of Florida Astronomy Department 1985-1988 and Director of the University of Florida Radio Observatory until his retirement in 1995.

I refer to:
http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/library/newsletters/2011May/#1

"...In the late 1960’s Dr. Carr designed and with the help of engineers and students built the large 26.3 MHz 640 dipole array at the UF Radio Observatory for observing Jupiter’s radio emission. At that time it was the largest single frequency antenna array devoted to Jupiter observations and the only low frequency antenna with a system of Butler matrices for providing a multiple beam system. He collaborated with the Chilean radio astronomers in the design of the 528 dipole large array at 45 MHz at the Maipu Radio Observatory in Chile..."

I note he is an author listed in 125 entries in the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System:
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-abs_connect?return_req=no_params&author=Carr,%20T.%20D.&db_key=AST

This is the entry for his Dissertation:
"Studies of Radio Frequency Radiations from the Planets"
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1958PhDT.........1C
Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 19-05, page: 0933

After  his retirement, Dr. Carr built an array of 8 dipoles made of 1.5 inch aluminum tubing, operating in the 17 to 22 MHz band, from his Home. Due to declining health, he discontinued observations and generously gave the array to Dr. Francisco Reyes and Mr. Wesley Greenman.

Mr. Greenman, who had the privilege of collaborating with Dr. Carr for nearly 40 years, continues to observe with 2 of the Carr dipoles, in a North-South orientation.

He uses them to operate his spectrograph and record at 22.3 MHz with Radio-Sky Pipe software http://www.radiosky.com/skypipeishere.html
and plans to add two more Carr dipoles, to double the gain in the near future.

Dr. Carr continued to work on Jupiter Radio Astronomy until his passing.

May He rest in peace.

My many thanks to Mr. Greenman for providing his wonderful historical information.