Projects

This page combines infrastructure-oriented projects with selected program documents.

Project Overview

This section brings together the main scientific and technical projects I worked on: daily solar radio monitoring at 127 MHz and repairs of the 127 and 327 MHz receiving systems in 1967-1969, the 43 MHz supersynthesis survey of the north polar region in 1968-1973, the 5C7 radio survey and Ph.D. work in 1973-1975, work on RT3 and the first Polish observations of pulsars, HI, and OH in the years around 1977-1980, the preparation of Torun for VLBI and later VLBI projects on AGN, quasars, and CSS sources, the completion and instrumentation of RT4, and later programs such as OCRA, the Polarization Survey of the Galaxy, RoboPol, and RT90+.

Project List

Solar radio activity monitoring at 127 MHz, construction of new antennas for the solar interferometer, repairs of the 127 and 327 MHz receiving systems, and daily processing and archiving of recorded data. The project was led by Prof. Gorgolewski, with monthly reports prepared and sent in 1967-1969 to the Quarterly Bulletin on Solar Activity.
Circumpolar survey of discrete radio sources by supersynthesis aperture techniques. This included the project concept, construction of antennas and receiving equipment, digital recording, and data processing. 1968-1973.
The 5C7 radio sky survey at 408 and 1407 MHz, forming the basis of the Ph.D. work. 1973-1975.
RT3: a project led by Dr. Zygmunt Turlo, with technical supervision by Dr. Bernard Krygier and receiving and control instrumentation prepared by the team led by Prof. Stanislaw Gorgolewski and Dr. Andrzej Kus. Construction work involved A. Kepa, E. Pazderski, B. Krygier, K. Borkowski, and J. Usowicz. First light came in 1978, followed by the first radio astronomy observations of pulsars, HI, and OH in Poland in 1977-1980.
Postdoctoral work at Jodrell Bank Observatory and cooperation in VLBI in 1979-1981, including the use of MERLIN data and the first observing session of the European VLBI Network, together with preparations for Torun VLBI observations.
Bringing Torun into the VLBI network and carrying out the first VLBI observations made in Poland.
VLBI projects on active galaxies, quasars, and CSS sources. Habilitation dissertation: Radiowe badania kwazara 3C309.1. Led by A. Kus, with A. Marecki and later I. Owsianik and M. Gawronski among the contributors. 1985-1994.
RT4: S. Gorgolewski obtained funding and directed the construction, with executive supervision by Eng. Zygmunt Bujakowski and Dr. B. Krygier; from 1993 A. Kus took over general supervision of the construction project. Construction ended in October 1994, first light came in April 1995, and first VLBI observations in May 1996.
Construction of receiving, control, and data-recording instrumentation for RT4. Directed by Prof. S. Gorgolewski, with A. Kus, B. Krygier, E. Pazderski, A. Kepa, K. Borkowski, J. Usowicz, R. Feiler, J. Mazurek, and the workshop staff of the Radio Astronomy Chair.
Start of proprietary scientific projects using RT4: VLBI led by A. Kus, pulsar monitoring led by A. Wolszczan, and radio spectroscopy led by M. Szymczak.
OCRA, a RT4 project carried out in cooperation with Jodrell Bank Observatory and Bristol University. Polish participants: A. Kus, A. Marecki, E. Pazderski, M. Gawronski, B. Pazderska, and R. Feiler.
Polarization Survey of the Galaxy on RT4.
RoboPol, with Polish initiators and participants A. Kus, E. Pazderski, B. Pazderska, R. Feiler, and later A. Slowikowska.
RT90+.

VLBI / EVN

Torun VLBI terminal

Source photograph of the Torun VLBI terminal.

RT3 / RT4

RT4 Holography

Open PDF

RT90

RT90+ was planned as a new large radio telescope in Debowiec, in the Tuchola Forest region, together with a broader national research structure for radio astronomy and space engineering. In 2012 the scientific consortium Narodowe Centrum Radioastronomii i Inżynierii Kosmicznej was formed, and in 2014/2015 the 90 m radio telescope was placed first among astronomical projects on the Polish Research Infrastructure Roadmap. The project and its location entered national, university, and regional strategic documents. The planned work covered site selection outside Piwnice, preliminary documentation, financing applications, and a long-term research and infrastructure programme. Later variants enlarged the concept further, but the project was eventually suspended and moved into the future.

RT90+ concept model in Debowiec

Radioteleskop RT90+ w lokalizacji Dębowiec

The three-dimensional RT90+ model was built by Eng. J. Mazurek and M.Sc. R. Feiler using SketchUp, based on drawings by Eng. Z. Bujakowski, the designer of the RT4 antenna. The creators of the film embedded below used this model.

RT90+ presentation film on YouTube

RT90+ Presentation (2019)

Polish only.

Open PDF (Polish)

International Radio Astronomy Centre and National Radio Astronomy Centre at NCU

Polish only.

Open PDF (Polish)

OCRA / RoboPol

Critical Studies of Relativistic Jets in Blazars: OCRA Gamma Monitoring and RoboPol

Polish only.

Open PDF (Polish)

43 MHz Survey

The 43.1 MHz North Polar Sky Region survey used a 700 m supersynthesis-aperture instrument designed by Andrzej Kus and operated at the NCU Astronomical Observatory in Piwnice in 1969-1973 under the direction of Prof. Stanislaw Gorgolewski. The observing campaign ran from January to June 1973, used 66 positions of the movable antenna, and covered 90 observing nights through the end of April, followed by repeated runs. These observations produced the first digital radio astronomy recordings made in Poland in 1972-1973. By 2024 about 40% of the archival data had been recovered, while roughly 60% of the original paper-tape material had been lost.