Background
Sullivan was born in Colorado, United States of America.
Sullivan was born in Colorado, United States of America.
He went on to study physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received a Bachelor of Surgery in 1966, and in 1971 a Doctor of Philosophy (astronomy) from the University of Maryland (supervisor: Frank Kerr).
In order to sample the radio signature of Earth from an external site and thus test whether television broadcasting is in fact the principal component, Sullivan and South. H. Knowles used the Moon as a passive reflector of Earth"s radio frequency leakage. Using the 305-m Arecibo radio telescope, a wide range of frequencies were scanned between 100 and 400 MHz. After local interference was eliminated (using an on-Moon, off-Moon technique), the frequencies of most observed signals could be identified with the television Department of Administration and Management video carriers of various nationalities.
This experiment demonstrated that the lunar surface is capable of reflecting terrestrial band III (175-230 MHz) television signals.
In 2012, Sullivan received the LeRoy E. Doggett Prize from the American Astronomical Society"s Historical Astronomy Division for his career contributions to the field of the history of astronomy, in particular his work on the history of early radio astronomy, culminating in his book Cosmic Noise: A History of Early Radio Astronomy (2009).