Radio Astronomy

The scientific study of all celestial objects, such as planets, stars, and galaxies, as well as everything that occurs outside of the Earth’s atmosphere is called Astronomy. One major question presented by astronomy is ‘How was the universe formed and how has it changed since its formation?’ This question and others are examined through a number of scientific fields and processes, such as evolution, physics, and chemistry.

Astronomy is widely regarded as one of the oldest scientific fields of study. Civilizations from ancient times observed the night sky and documented what they saw. Artifacts that have been uncovered by archaeologists suggest early astronomy recordings of stars and other observations seen in the sky. Early people used the stars to measure time in the long-term by formulating calendars. Not only were the stars used to make observations and to measure time, but some early civilizations used stars as a navigational tool, especially when sailing through the ocean.

Today, celestial objects are observed using many different types of astronomy equipment, both simple and complicated in nature. With the introduction of new observational technologies, astronomy observation has been divided up into several different types, each requiring specific uses of astronomy equipment. The different groups of observational astronomy have been generally divided up depending on the observed area of the electromagnetic spectrum. Specific telescopes must be used for each type of observation because they are only sensitive to a certain part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Radio Astronomy:
Radio astronomy is concerned with the observation of radiation wavelengths that have a distance of no more than millimeter apart from each other. This type of observational astronomy is generally the easiest to perform due to the nature of the wavelengths. Radio waves are produced by astronomical objects through a process called thermal emission, these radio waves are observed on Earth in the form of synchrotron radiation. This type of radiation is caused by electrons that oscillate around magnetic fields. Radio telescopes are used to pick up these radio waves.

Infrared Astronomy:
Astronomy based on the detection of infrared radiation. Infrared radiation has wavelengths that are slightly longer than red light. Infrared radiation is absorbed a great deal in the Earth’s atmosphere, making it very difficult to pick up unless telescopes are positioned in high and/or dry places. It is ideal to set up infrared telescopes and astronomy equipment in space because without the Earth’s atmosphere to distort infrared radiation, very detailed infrared images can be captured.

Optical Astronomy:
The oldest form of astronomy, this type picks up images in the form of visible light. Originally, telescopes were used to observe celestial objects and then drawn by hand. Today, telescopes capture images using photograph astronomy equipment.

Ultraviolet Astronomy:
Observations by astronomy equipment and telescopes in ultraviolet wavelengths, a type of wavelength that is generally absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere. As a result, ultraviolet astronomy can only be performed with telescopes that are placed at a high region in the Earth’s atmosphere or in space.