Observations of Low Frequency Solar Radio Bursts from the Rosse Solar-Terrestrial Observatory

Abstract

The Rosse Solar-Terrestrial Observatory (RSTO; www.rosseobservatory.ie) was established at Birr Castle, Co. Offaly, Ireland (53?05'38.9'', 7?55'12.7'') in 2010 to study solar radio bursts and the response of the Earth?s ionosphere and geomagnetic field. To date, three Compound Astronomical Low-cost Low- frequency Instrument for Spectroscopy and Transportable Observatory (CAL- LISTO) spectrometers have been installed, with the capability of observing in the frequency range 10?870 MHz. The receivers are fed simultaneously by biconical and log-periodic antennas. Nominally, frequency spectra in the range 10?400 MHz are obtained with 4 sweeps per second over 600 channels. Here, we describe the RSTO solar radio spectrometer set-up, and present dynamic spectra of a sample of Type II, III and IV radio bursts. In particular, we describe fine- scale structure observed in Type II bursts, including band splitting and rapidly varying herringbone features.