Radio JOVE is a NASA educational project that allows students, teachers, and amateur radio astronomers to observe natural radio emissions from Jupiter, the Sun, and the Milky Way using low-cost radio telescopes they can build themselves.
Here’s a breakdown of what it’s about:
🔭 Purpose
Radio JOVE was created to teach the basics of radio astronomy — the study of celestial objects by detecting the radio waves they emit — and to engage the public in real scientific observation and data analysis.
⚙️ How It Works
Participants can:
- Build a simple receiver and antenna system (usually operating around 20.1 MHz) using a kit from the project.
- Record and analyze radio signals from space.
- Compare observations with those made by other Radio JOVE observers or with professional observatories.
🌌 What You Can Observe
- Jupiter’s radio emissions – especially its decametric (10–40 MHz) bursts caused by interactions with its moon Io and the planet’s magnetic field.
- Solar radio bursts – signals from solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
- Galactic background radiation – the faint radio hiss from the Milky Way.
💻 Data Sharing
Observers can share data through the Radio JOVE Data Archive and collaborate on studies or educational projects. Many schools and amateur astronomers use it to learn scientific techniques, digital signal processing, and data visualization.
🧠 Educational Goals
- Introduce students to radio science, electronics, and astronomy.
- Encourage citizen science — contributions from non-professional scientists.
- Demonstrate how radio observations complement optical astronomy.
The DSES RadioJOVE Project
DSES Published a report “Phased Array and Interferometer Basics“.
Another paper is “Radio Jove Observation Results August 2016“.
Part of the RadioJOVE antenna was removed to make room for the new building. We need volunteers to put the antenna back up and get us back online.