The Institute for Astronomy at ETH Zurich has been operating the Bleien radio observatory since 1979. Various antennas and spectrometers have been in operation and still are today. In 2010 heliophysics moved to the Institute of 4D Technologies at Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (FHNW) in Windisch, Switzerland, where a new group is being built up. FHNW is now responsible for archiving all solar data and manages the analysis software.
Telescope 1:
| geographic longitude: | 08° 06′ 43.3″ |
| geographic latitude: | 47° 20′ 23.7″ |
| altitude above sea level: | 469 m |
| diameter telescope: | 7 m |
| minimum elevation: | 5° |
Telescope 2:
The 5m dish is currently equipped with a simple cylindrical horn-antenna (copper coffee can)
observing in the frequency range 980 MHz – 1300 MHz in linear polarization. The system is used as experimental setup for the project HIMap to determine foreground maps, instrument stability and sensitivity.
| geographic longitude: | 08°06′ 40.1″ |
| geographic latitude: | 47°20′ 23.4″ |
| altitude above sea level: | 469 m |
| diameter telescope: | 5 m |
| minimum elevation: | 5° |
Telescope 3:
A Long Wavelenght Antenna (LWA) is used for solar observations.
| geographic longitude: | 08°06′ 40.7″ |
| geographic latitude: | 47°20′ 23.5″ |
| altitude above sea level: | 434 m |
| type of antenna: | dual polarisation, ground fixed |
Frequencies used currently:
| Frequency band | Observing mode |
| 10 – 80 MHz | LWA |
| 980 – 1300 MHz | 5m single dish |
| 20 – 5000 MHz | 5m and 7m single dish, e-Callisto |
Research programs: solar radio astronomy, stellar radio astronomy.