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  • Measurements of the Quiet-S...
    Kallunki, J.; Tornikoski, M.

    Solar physics, 11/2018, Volume: 293, Issue: 11
    Journal Article

    Defining the solar brightness temperature accurately at millimeter wavelengths has always been challenging. One of the main reasons has been the lack of a proper calibration source. New Moon was used earlier as a calibration source. We carried out a new extensive set of observations at 8 mm using the New Moon for calibration. The solar and Moon observations were made using the 14-meter radiotelescope operated by the Aalto University Metsähovi Radio Observatory in Finland. In this article, we present our method for defining the brightness temperature of the quiet-Sun level (QSL). Based on these observations, we found 8100 K ± 300 K to be the mean value for the QSL temperature. This value is between the values that were reported in earlier studies.