Radio Astronomy Program Records, 1950-1976
(Bulk 1953-1960)
DTM-2006-01
Introduction
Abstract: This
collection documents work conducted by the radio astronomy program of the
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Extent: 6.75 linear
feet: 3 records center cartons, 2 document boxes, and 1 map case drawer.
Acquisition: The
records have been in the possession of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
(DTM) since their creation.
Access Restrictions: There
are no access restrictions to this collection.
Copyright: Copyright
is held by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of
Washington. For permission to reproduce or publish please contact the
archivist at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism.
Preferred Citation: Radio Astronomy Program Records, 1950-1976, Department of
Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie
Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.
Processing: Processing
was completed by Abigail L. Dixon, History Associates Incorporated, in January 2006.
This collection was processed through the generous support of the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Other Languages: Spanish
Administrative History
Radio astronomy investigations began at the Department of
Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM) in 1952, under the leadership of director Merle A.
Tuve. A 26-foot (8-meter) diameter Wurzburg Riese radar antenna was erected on
the Department�s grounds for observing 21-centimeter hydrogen radiation from
interstellar gas clouds. Studies of active radio sources on the sun were
initiated using an interferometer at DTM�s Derwood Experimental Laboratory near
Rockville, Maryland. Soon afterward, a �Mills Cross� antenna array was built
on a leased site near Seneca, Maryland. In early 1955, the latter was used by
B. F. Burke and K. L. Franklin in their discovery of the first natural radio
emissions from another planet (Jupiter).
The development of new antennas and increasingly
sophisticated receivers continued through the late 1950s and early 1960s. The
Precise Position Apparatus � a V-reflector array used to accurately pinpoint
discrete radio sources � became operational in 1958. A 60-foot (18-meter)
diameter steerable dish was built for the Department by the Blaw-Knox Company
and installed at Derwood in 1959, and became the new focus for H-line mapping
of the galaxy. Observations made with the 60-foot dish during 1968-1971
resulted in a major publication, Velocity Structures in Hydrogen Profiles:
A Sky Atlas of Neutral Hydrogen Emission by
Merle A. Tuve and Soren Lundsager (Carnegie Institution of Washington
Publication 630, Washington, D.C., 1973).
Collaboration between the Carnegie Institution and several
Argentine institutions (University of Buenos Aires, University of La Plata, and
the Consejo Nacional) resulted in the establishment in 1962 of the Instituto
Argentino de Radioastronomia (IAR). With funds from the Carnegie Institution
and the National Science Foundation, a 100-foot (30-meter) equatorially mounted
dish designed by Everett Ecklund was constructed for the IAR at La Plata,
Argentina, and went into operation in 1965. A second 30-meter transit dish was
erected the same year on a leased site on Avery Road, one mile east of Derwood,
for the purpose of doing radio interferometry with the 60-foot dish. It was
the last radio telescope built by DTM. By then, DTM astronomers were
increasingly making use of the facilities of the National Radio Astronomy
Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank, West Virginia. Observations of radio
hydrogen in external galaxies, including the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) had been
started by B. F. Burke, M. A. Tuve, and K. C. Turner with NRAO�s 300-foot dish
in 1962. By the late 1960s, DTM�s instruments were largely relegated to
instructional use by graduate students from the University of Maryland and
Johns Hopkins University.
Following the arrival of a new Department director in 1974,
DTM�s radio telescopes were shut down. As Louis Brown noted in his centennial
history of the Department, �The decision did not remove radio astronomy as a
discipline for the Department but required that observational work be done
elsewhere, a circumstance long the practice for optical astronomers.� The
60-foot and 100-foot Derwood dishes were donated to the National Geodetic
Survey and the State University of New York at Albany, respectively. The
Wurzburg dish was scrapped. The IAR continues an active research program
today.
Scope and Contents Note
This collection documents the work conducted by the radio
astronomy program at the Carnegie Institution�s Department of Terrestrial
Magnetism. It includes correspondence files, project files, and equipment
files belonging to B. F. Burke, K. L. Franklin, H. E. Tatel, K. C. Turner, and
M. A. Tuve. The collection also consists of manuscripts, data files, and
notebooks documenting various experiments and discoveries. Photographs and
ephemera are also included.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in six series and three
subseries as follows:
Series 1: Files, 1950-1976
Series
1, Subseries 1: Correspondence files, 1950-1976
Series
1, Subseries 2: Project files, 1955-1959, 1970-1973
Series
1, Subseries 3: Equipment files, 1955-1960
Series 2: Manuscripts, 1953-1972, n.d.
Series 3: Data, 1950-1972, n.d.
Series 4: Notebooks, 1953-1975, n.d.
Series 5: Photographs, 1953-1965, n.d.
Series 6: Ephemera, 1953-1970
Folders are arranged alphabetically by title within each
series/subseries.
Most of the materials in this collection were created by or
belonged to a specific individual associated with the radio astronomy program.
If known, his name is provided in brackets before the folder title.
Series 1: Files, 1950-1976
Series 1, Subseries 1: Correspondence files, 1950-1976
Series 1, Subseries 2: Project files, 1955-1959,
1970-1973
Series 1, Subseries 3: Equipment files, 1955-1960
This series consists of approximately 250 photographs
documenting the construction and operation of DTM�s radio telescopes in
Washington, DC; Derwood and Seneca, Maryland; and La Plata, Argentina. Formats
include black-and-white and color negatives and prints; 35mm Kodachrome and 2x2
Ektachrome color slides.
Series 6: Ephemera, 1953-1970
This series consists of assorted ephemera collected by
members of the radio astronomy program. It contains lists, news clippings,
newsletters, and printed items.
|
Folder Listing
|
|
|
|
|
Box
|
Folder
|
|
Series 1, Subseries 1: Correspondence files, 1950-1976
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
1
|
|
|
|
2
|
|
Turner, 1970-1973
|
|
3
|
|
Tuve, 1950-1955
|
|
4
|
|
Tuve, 1956-1958
|
|
5
|
|
Tuve, 1959
|
|
6
|
|
Tuve, 1960-1976
|
|
7
|
|
|
|
|
|
Series 1, Subseries 2: Project files, 1955-1959,
1970-1973
|
|
|
|
|
|
8
|
|
|
|
9
|
|
|
|
10
|
|
|
|
11
|
|
|
|
12
|
|
|
|
13
|
|
|
|
14
|
|
|
|
15
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
16
|
|
|
|
17
|
|
|
Map Drawer 19
|
1
|
|
|
1
|
18
|
|
|
|
19
|
|
|
|
20
|
|
|
|
21
|
|
|
|
22
|
|
|
|
23
|
|
|
Map Drawer 19
|
2
|
|
|
1
|
24
|
|
|
|
25
|
|
|
|
26
|
|
|
|
27
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
28
|
|
|
|
29
|
|
|
|
30
|
|
|
|
31
|
|
|
|
32
|
|
|
2
|
1
|
|
|
|
2
|
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
|
4
|
|
|
|
5
|
|
|
|
6
|
|
|
|
7
|
|
|
|
8
|
|
|
|
19
|
|
|
|
10
|
|
|
|
11
|
|
|
|
12
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13
|
|
|
|
14
|
|
|
|
15
|
|
|
|
16
|
|
|
|
17
|
|
|
|
18
|
|
|
|
19
|
|
|
|
20
|
|
|
|
21
|
|
|
|
22
|
|
|
|
23
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
25
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
26
|
|
|
|
27
|
|
|
|
28
|
|
|
|
29
|
|
|
|
30
|
|
|
|
31
|
|
|
4
|
Item 1
|
|
|
|
Item 2
|
|
|
|
Item 3
|
|
|
|
Item 4
|
|
|
2
|
32
|
|
|
|
33
|
|
|
|
34
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
36
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
37
|
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
2
|
38
|
|
|
|
39
|
|
|
|
40
|
|
|
|
41
|
|
|
|
42
|
|
|
|
43
|
|
|
|
44
|
|
|
3
|
1
|
|
|
|
2
|
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
|
4
|
|
|
|
5
|
|
|
|
6
|
|
|
|
7
|
|
|
|
8
|
|
|
|
9
|
|
|
|
10
|
|
|
|
11
|
|
|
|
12
|
|
|
|
13
|
|
|
|
14
|
|
|
|
15
|
|
|
|
16
|
|
|
|
17
|
|
|
|
18
|
|
|
|
19
|
|
|
|
20
|
|
|
|
21
|
|
|
|
22
|
|
|
|
23
|
|
|
|
4
|
|
|
3
|
24
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5
|
1
|
|
|
|
2
|
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
|
4
|
|
|
|
5
|
|
|
|
6
|
|
|
|
7
|
|
|
|
8
|
|
|
|
9
|
|
|
|
10
|
|
|
|
11
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
25
|
|
|
|
26
|
|
|
|
27
|
|
|
|
28
|
|
|
|
29
|
|
|
|
30
|
|
|
|
31
|
|
|
|
32
|
Subject Terms
Topics: Interstellar
hydrogen
Radar antennas
Radio astronomy
Radio telescopes
Corporate
Names: Blaw-Knox Co.
Carnegie
Institution of Washington. Dept. of Terrestrial Magnetism.
Instituto
Argentino de Radioastronomía
D.
S. Kennedy and Co.
Personal Names: Burke,
Bernard F., 1928-
Franklin,
Kenneth L.
Tatel, Howard E.
(Howard Edwin), 1913-
Turner, Kenneth
C.
Tuve, Merle
Antony, 1901-1982
Forms: Calculations
Clippings
Correspondence
Ephemera
Graphs
Laboratory
notebooks
Logs
(records)
Negatives
Notebooks
Photographs
Plans
(drawings)
Purchase
orders
Manuscripts
Newsletters
Notes
Phonograph
records
Reports
Slides
(photographs)
Workbooks
Bibliography
Brown, L., Centennial History of the Carnegie Institution
of Washington, Volume II, The
Department of Terrestrial
Magnetism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Related Collections
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism General Files,
1904-Present, Department of Terrestrial
Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of
Washington. See the following series in this collection:
Chronological
Series for these folder titles:
Archives Series for
these folder titles:
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism Photograph Collection [partially processed]. Department
of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie
Institution of Washington.
Howard Edwin Tatel Papers. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of
Washington.
Merle Antony Tuve Papers.
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
