GBT and VLBA Team Up to Image the Moon

SH21_moon.pngThe Green Bank Observatory, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and Raytheon Intelligence & Space released a new high-resolution image of the Moon in September 2021, the highest-resolution ever taken from the ground, using new radar technology on the Green Bank Telescope (GBT).

The resolution of the new Tycho Crater image is close to five meters by five meters and contains ~ 1.4 billion pixels. The image covers an area of 200 kilometers by 175 kilometers, ensuring that involved scientists and engineers captured the entire crater, which measures 86 kilometers in diameter.

For these images, the GBT was outfitted in late 2020 with new technology developed by Raytheon Intelligence & Space and Green Bank Observatory, allowing it to transmit a radar signal into space. Using the GBT and antennas from the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), several additional tests have been conducted since that time, focusing on the surface of the Moon, including the Tycho Crater and NASA Apollo landing sites.

Image Caption: This dramatic image of a 200 kilometer region with 5 meter resolution around the Tycho crater on the Moon was produced using the proto-type radar system at the GBO with VLBA antenna receiving stations.

NRAO Press Release: Astronomical Radar: Illuminating our Understanding of the Solar System

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