Owens Valley Radio Observatory facts for kids

The Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) is a special place in California. It's a radio astronomy observatory located near Big Pine, California in the Owens Valley. This observatory is east of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It's about 350 kilometers (217 miles) north of Los Angeles. It's also about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Bishop, California.

OVRO started in 1956. The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) owns and runs it. A part of the observatory, called the Owens Valley Solar Array, has been run by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) since 1997. One of the ten large dish antennas of the Very Long Baseline Array is also located here.

About OVRO

The Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) is one of the biggest radio observatories run by a university in the world. Its story began in the late 1940s. Three people from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) helped start it. They were Lee DuBridge, Robert Bacher, and Jesse Greenstein.

In 1954, Caltech became very important in American radio astronomy. Two famous Australian astronomers, John Bolton and Gordon Stanley, joined Caltech. They helped build large dish antennas. In 1956, the first radio telescope was set up. It was a 32-foot (9.8-meter) antenna on Palomar Mountain. This telescope was moved to the Owens Valley site in 1958. At the same time, two 90-foot (27-meter) telescopes were finished.

Ten years later, an even bigger antenna was built. This was a 130-foot (40-meter) dish. From 1985 to 1996, a special set of six 34-foot (10-meter) dishes was added. These were called millimeter-wave dishes. Later, these dishes became part of another project called CARMA.

OVRO uses its telescopes to learn many things about space. Scientists study where radio signals come from in the sky. They also look at hydrogen clouds in our own Milky Way galaxy. They research how galaxies form and study very bright objects called "blazars." They also look for fast radio bursts.

Many professors and students from different schools work at OVRO. The observatory is special because many graduate students come here. They can do long-term observations. This helps both the students learn and the observatory do bigger projects.

What was CARMA?

The OVRO staff helped a lot with running CARMA. CARMA stands for Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy. It was located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of OVRO. CARMA stopped working in 2015.

CARMA was a team effort between several universities. These included Caltech, University of California Berkeley, University of Illinois, University of Maryland, and University of Chicago. CARMA used 23 antennas working together as an interferometer. This allowed them to study space at special wavelengths.

Scientists used CARMA to learn about how planets, stars, and galaxies began. They also measured changes in the cosmic microwave background. This is a faint glow left over from the Big Bang, when the universe started.

Instruments at OVRO

OVRO uses many different instruments to study space. Here are some of them:

• COMAP (Carbon Monoxide Mapping Array Pathfinder) started in 2018. It makes maps of carbon monoxide in the universe. This helps scientists understand how the universe grew. The COMAP receiver is on one of the 10-meter telescopes.
• KuPol (Ku-band Polarimeter) was put on the OVRO 40 meter Telescope in 2007. It watches blazars, which are very bright objects in space.
• The Expanded Owens Valley Solar Array (EOVSA) is a solar radio telescope. It is currently working at OVRO. It uses seven old dishes from OVSA. It also has eight new 2-meter (6.6-foot) antennas. One of OVRO's 27-meter (89-foot) telescopes is also part of it. The smaller dishes are set up in a spiral shape.
• The Owens Valley Long Wavelength Array (OVRO-LWA) started in 2013. It is like another array in New Mexico. It has 288 antennas spread over a large desert area. This area is as big as about 450 football fields. The OVRO-LWA makes radio images of the whole sky.
• The Deep Synoptic Array (DSA) has 10 parabolic radio telescopes. Each is 4.5 meters (14.8 feet) wide. It is used to find and locate Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). These are very short, powerful radio signals from space.

Former Instruments

Some instruments used to be at OVRO but are not anymore:

• The Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA) was a group of 23 antennas. It was located about 13 kilometers (8 miles) east of OVRO. It combined dishes from different observatories. CARMA stopped working in 2015.
• The C-Band All Sky Survey (C-BASS) was a 6.1-meter (20-foot) telescope. It surveyed the sky to help with cosmic background radiation research. It used special foam to hold its mirror. It worked from 2009 to 2015.
• The Huan Tran Telescope (HTT) was used for the POLARBEAR project. This project measures the polarization of the cosmic microwave background radiation. It's a 3.5-meter (11.5-foot) telescope. It was tested at the CARMA site in 2010. Then it moved to another observatory in 2011.
• The Owens Valley Solar Array (OVSA) was a seven-dish solar radio telescope. It was at OVRO until 2008. Caltech built it, and NJIT ran it from 1997. Its antennas are now part of the EOVSA project.
• The Millimeter Array (MMA) was a group of six radio telescopes. It was at OVRO until 2005. Its dishes were moved to CARMA. After CARMA stopped, these dishes came back to OVRO. Now they are used for new projects.

Future Instruments

Scientists are planning to add more instruments to OVRO:

• A bigger Deep Synoptic Array is being built. It will have 100 dishes. It is planned to start working in 2020.
• In 2020, they will also start making the Long Wavelength Array bigger. This will add 64 new antennas. It will also get new, more powerful equipment.

In popular culture

The Owens Valley Radio Observatory has appeared in movies!

• In the 1996 film The Arrival, characters Zane Zaminsky (Charlie Sheen) and Calvin (Richard Schiff) work at Owens Valley. They are part of the SETI Project. In the movie, they discover a signal from aliens!
• In the 1997 film Contact, the Owens Valley 40-meter telescope is mentioned. It's where Dr. Eleanor Arroway (Jodie Foster) did her important school work.