pp about radio astronomy instruments

1. The hidden Universe
Federico Di Matteo
5°E
2021/2022
Scientific high school ‘’C. D’Ascanio’’
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2. Radio astronomy-radio
waves
Thanks to this two parameters, we can create the
electromagnetic spectrum, in the following image.
Radio astronomers are interested in objects that emit in
the frequency range between 3 mHz and about 900 nHz.
Two of the most important radio waves properties are: the
frequency (the number of cycles per second) and the
wavelength (the small distance the wave travels in each
cycle).
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3. What can be seen and
explained through radio
astronomy instruments?
When we look at the Universe, we can only
see visible light, which doesn’t tell the whole
story of an object. For this reason,
astronomers have created radio telescopes
to observe natural radio waves that come
from space entities and discover objects that
we could never otherwise study.
In the following image there is an example:
The Hercules A black hole in a high-
resolution image captured by the LOFAR
radio telescope.
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4. The
instrument:
radio telescope
The radio telescope is a large antenna made by three
components: antennas, receiver and amplifier,
recorder. Radio telescopes are usually linked together
in giant arrays to take as much data as possible and
improve accuracy.
In the following interesting video Natasha Hurley-
Walker explains in more depth how radio telescopes
show us something we can’t see with the naked eye:
How radio telescopes show us unseen galaxies
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5. W50 Nebula
An example of an object visible only in radio
waves is the W50 nebula.
W50 cloud formed when a giant star
exploded around twenty thousand years ago.
This system shines in both radio waves and X-
rays, and for this reason it is not visible in
visible light.
Here you can find other examples of
discoveries made thanks to radio waves:
space.com
W50 Nebula in visible light
W50 Nebula in radio light
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6. Conclusion
Thanks to radio astronomy, we can literally see a
hidden Universe, invisible to our eyes. It’s very
fascinating to think about how many things we don’t
know yet, and how many more we will discover
thanks to this branch of astronomy.
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