21cm Hydrogen Line Radio Telescope

How to Interpret These Visualizations

Equatorial View:

• Shows the sky from the observer's perspective looking out from Earth's center
• The North Celestial Pole is at the top, South Celestial Pole at the bottom
• Declination circles appear as horizontal lines
• Your zenith point (34.74° N) is marked in yellow
• The red area shows the portion of sky swept by your telescope over 24 hours

Hammer Projection:

• Shows the entire celestial sphere mapped onto an oval (like a world map)
• The celestial equator runs horizontally across the middle
• Right Ascension runs from right to left (unlike a standard star chart)
• The central vertical line represents RA=0h
• The red band shows your antenna's coverage over a full day

Key Insights:

• A fixed zenith-pointing setup (90° elevation) covers only a narrow declination band
• Adding elevation control dramatically increases your sky coverage
• With full elevation range (0-90°) at a fixed azimuth, you cover a complete slice of sky
• The beamwidth of your antenna significantly affects total coverage