determine object radar cross-section, time of peak occurrence, polarization ratio, bistatic doppler shift and target rotation. In one of the carried-out tests, Yevpatoria-Medicina system was able to detect an object with an estimated radar cross-section of 0.0002 square meters, which was created by the Iridium 33 and Kosmos-2251 satellite collision. The system can also function as a multistatic radar using the 32-meter receivers at Medicina, the Noto Radio Observatory in Italy and the Ventspils Starptautiskais Radioastronomijas Centrs in Latvia. The Northern Cross radio telescope has also been part of space debris tracking studies, utilized as a multiple-beam receiver for a bistatic radar system. The first tested configuration is a quasi-monostatic radar system with a 3 m dish as the transmitter, located in Bagnara – 20 km from the receiver. The second configuration was a simulation of a true bistatic radar system with 7 m dish as the transmitter located at the site of the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT). The system has a maximum field-of-view of about 100 square degrees and a collecting area of approximately 27400 square meters and is capable of providing up to 22880 beams, each 4 by 4 arcminutes wide. Tracking the sequence of beams that are illuminated, makes it possible for the system to track with a higher level of detail, with respect to the single-beam systems, the ground track of a transiting object. The Northern Cross radio telescope in a bistatic radar configuration is also part of the Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) segment of the ESA Space Situational Awareness Programme (SSA). See also Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna List of radio telescopes Noto Radio Observatory Sardinia Radio Telescope References External links Medicina Radio Astronomical Station website Older website Northern Cross website Radio telescopes Astronomical observatories in Italy Buildings and structures in Bologna Space Situational Awareness Programme Interferometric telescopes