Legacy fostering the twins. Connecting the S/X and VGOS telescope network generations

Licentiatavhandling, 2024

With the VLBI Global Observing System (VGOS) being the next step in the development of geodetic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), it is necessary to connect the new VGOS network to existing legacy S/X telescopes. Specially designed short-baseline interferometry sessions aim to obtain local-tie vectors between these telescope generations at observatories that have both legacy S/X and new generation VGOS telescopes.

At the Onsala Space Observatory (OSO), this is being done by short-baseline interferometry between the VGOS Onsala Twin Telescopes ONSA13SW and ONSA13NE, and the legacy antenna ONSALA60. Similarly, short-baseline interferometry sessions referred to as NYTIE have been performed at Ny-Ålesund, involving the VGOS telescope NYALE13S and the legacy S/X antenna NYALES20. In both cases, these dedicated experiments yielded station coordinates and baselines with mm or even sub-mm accuracy.

This thesis focuses on exploring the possibilities of connecting co-located radio telescopes with short-baseline interferometric measurements, specially in the cases of the observatories in Onsala and Ny-Ålesund.