What is a radio telescope? Detailed answer

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What is a radio telescope? Detailed answer

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What is a radio telescope?

When we look through a telescope at the stars and planets, we see the light waves they emit. Light is a form of radiation. But the stars send to the Earth not only light waves, but also others. Part of the radiation of stars exists in the form of radio waves. Some of these waves can be picked up by special radio receivers here on Earth.

Radio receivers capture and amplify radio waves in the same way that an ordinary telescope captures and amplifies light waves. A radio receiver designed to pick up radio waves coming from stars is called a radio telescope.

There are many types of radio telescopes, but they all consist of two main parts: an antenna and a radio receiver. The antenna is usually a huge, imposing-looking metal saucer. It can be mounted on a movable base or elevated so that it can be deployed to any side of the sky.

When people think of radio telescopes, they usually think of just such a huge metal saucer-antenna. But the radio receiver is no less important part of it. Without a receiver, this huge antenna would mean absolutely nothing.

In order to amplify the incoming waves, a special radio receiver is required, as the waves can be very weak. After the radio signals are amplified, they are fed into a loudspeaker, and astronomers can hear the hiss coming from it. However, they not only hear the signals, but also see them written down on paper. Signals are recorded on paper tape in the form of a wavy line.

Radio telescopes work in any weather, since neither fog, nor rain, nor any other bad weather can affect the radio waves. They can also be built in any place convenient for us, and it is not at all necessary to install them, like ordinary optical telescopes, on a mountain or other elevated place. With the help of radio telescopes, scientists can obtain information about the Universe that you would not know about in any other way.

Author: Likum A.

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