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Determining the Optimal Lunar Latitude of the FARSIDE Radio Telescope for the Observation of Extrasolar CMEs and Auroral Radiation

Presentation #231.04 in the session “Startling New Technology, Big and Small”.

Published onJan 11, 2021
Determining the Optimal Lunar Latitude of the FARSIDE Radio Telescope for the Observation of Extrasolar CMEs and Auroral Radiation

The farside of the moon has been identified as an exceptional area for radio research due to its levels of attenuation and isolation from auroral radiation and commercial radio signals from Earth. FARSIDE (Farside Array for Radio Science Investigations of the Dark Ages and Exoplanets) is a probe-class concept to place a low radio frequency interferometric array on the farside of the Moon. FARSIDE will detect the radio signatures of coronal mass ejections, energetic particle events and the planetary magnetospheres of the nearest candidate habitable exoplanets. In addition, FARSIDE will detect similar radio emission in our own solar system, from the Sun to the outer planets and will measure the Dark Ages global 21-cm signal at redshifts from 50-100. An important question is defining the optimal site for FARSIDE for both isolation from radio frequency interference and to best enable the key science goals of the project. In this study, using the estimated luminosities of potential CMEs and exoplanet auroral radiation, and calculating the beam attenuation of this radio emission as a function of elevation, the optimal latitude that provides the greatest coverage for FARSIDE was determined.

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