First observations with a GNSS antenna to radio telescope interferometer

Abstract

We describe the design of a radio interferometer composed of a Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) antenna and a Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) radio telescope. Our eventual goal is to use this interferometer for geodetic applications including local tie measurements. The GNSS element of the interferometer uses a unique software-defined receiving system and modified commercial geodetic-quality GNSS antenna. We ran three observing sessions in 2022 between a 25 m radio telescope in Fort Davis, Texas (FD-VLBA), a transportable GNSS antenna placed within 100 meters, and a GNSS antenna placed at a distance of about 9 km. We have detected a strong interferometric response with a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of over 1000 from Global Positioning System (GPS) and Galileo satellites. We also observed natural radio sources including Galactic supernova remnants and Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) located as far as one gigaparsec, thus extending the range of sources that can be referenced to a GNSS antenna by 18 orders of magnitude. These detections represent the first observations made with a GNSS antenna to radio telescope interferometer. We have developed a novel technique based on a Precise Point Positioning (PPP) solution of the recorded GNSS signal that allows us to extend integration time at 1.5 GHz to at least 20 minutes without any noticeable SNR degradation when a rubidium frequency standard is used.