National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Data on NGC1979

In 1995, I was able to participate in a National Science Foundation program for college teachers of introductory astronomy. The program was held at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia. While there I received instruction on how to use the 40-foot dish radio telescope for gathering data. I was then able to set up the instrument and gather data on a sky radio source. The source I chose was NGC1979, the emission nebula in Orion.

The data I gathered, shown on the graphic above was as follows:

Object name: 3C145

Right Ascension: 05h 32m 51s

Declination: -05h 25m 00s

Estimated Intensity: 520 Janskys

Observation Began: 5:15 Local Sidereal Time (LST)

Local Time: 2:18 Eastern Standard Time (EST)

Begin Calibration: 5:20 LST

End Calibration: 5:23 LST

Peak: 5:37 LST

Begin Calibration: 5:48 LST

End Calibration: 5:51 LST

End Observation: 5:56 LST (2:59 EST)