adio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies.

The initial detection of radio waves from an astronomical object was made in the 1930s, when Karl Jans y observed radiation comin! from the "il y #ay. $ubsequent observations have identified a number of different sources of radio emission. These include stars and !ala%ies, as well as entirely new classes of objects, such as radio !ala%ies, quasars, &ulsars, and masers. The discovery of the cosmic microwave bac !round radiation, re!arded as evidence for the 'i! 'an! theory, was made throu!h radio astronomy. (adio astronomy is conducted usin! lar!e radio antennas referred to as radio telesco&es, that are either used sin!ularly, or with multi&le lin ed telesco&es utili)in! the techniques of radio interferometry and a&erture synthesis. The use of interferometry allows radio astronomy to achieve hi!h an!ular resolution, as the resolvin! &ower of an interferometer is set by the distance between its com&onents, rather than the si)e of its com&onents. *ontents 1 +istory , Techniques ,.1 (adio telesco&es ,., (adio interferometry ,.,.1 -ery .on! 'aseline /nterferometry 3 0stronomical sources 1 $ee also 2 (eferences 3 4urther readin! 3.1 Journals 3., 'oo s 5 6%ternal lin s +istory 4our lar!e antennas for the 6$78907J89(07 0."0 thrust to the s y at the 7&erations $u&&ort 4acility :7$4;. 'efore Jans y observed the "il y #ay in the 1930s, &hysicists s&eculated that radio waves could be observed from astronomical sources. /n the 1<30s, James *ler "a%well=s equations had shown that electroma!netic radiation is associated with electricity and ma!netism, and could e%ist at any wavelen!th. $everal attem&ts were made to detect radio emission from the $un by e%&erimenters such as 9i ola Tesla and 7liver .od!e, but those attem&ts were unable to detect any emission due to technical limitations of their instruments.>1? Karl Jans y made the discovery of the first astronomical radio source serendi&itously in the early 1930s. 0s an en!ineer with 'ell Tele&hone .aboratories, he was investi!atin! static that interfered with short wave transatlantic voice transmissions. @sin! a lar!e directional antenna, Jans y noticed that his analo! &enAandA&a&er recordin! system e&t

recordin! a re&eatin! si!nal of un nown ori!in. $ince the si!nal &ea ed about every ,1 hours, Jans y ori!inally sus&ected the source of the interference was the $un crossin! the view of his directional antenna. *ontinued analysis showed that the source was not followin! the ,1 hour daily cycle of the $un e%actly, but instead re&eatin! on a cycle of ,3 hours and 23 minutes. Jans y discussed the &u))lin! &henomena with his friend, astro&hysicist and teacher 0lbert "elvin $ ellett, who &ointed out that the time between the si!nal &ea s was the e%act len!th of a sidereal day, the timin! you would !et if the source was an astronomical one, Bfi%edB in relationshi& to the stars and &assin! in front of the antenna once every 6arth rotation.>,? 'y com&arin! his observations with o&tical astronomical ma&s, Jans y eventually concluded that the radiation source &ea ed when his antenna was aimed at the densest &art of the "il y #ay in the constellation of $a!ittarius.>3? +e concluded that since the $un :and therefore other stars; were not lar!e emitters of radio noise, the stran!e radio interference may be !enerated by interstellar !as and dust in the !ala%y.>,? :Jans y=s &ea radio source, one of the bri!htest in the s y, was desi!nated $a!ittarius 0 in the 1920s and, instead of bein! !alactic B!as and dustB, has since be found to be emitted by electrons in a stron! ma!netic field from the com&le% of objects found in that area;.>1?>2? Jans y announced his discovery in 1933. +e wanted to investi!ate the radio waves from the "il y #ay in further detail, but 'ell .abs reAassi!ned him to another &roject, so he did no further wor in the field of astronomy. +owever, his &ioneerin! efforts in the field of radio astronomy have been reco!ni)ed by the namin! of the fundamental unit of flu% density, the jans y :Jy;, after him. Crote (eber was ins&ired by Jans y=s wor , and built a &arabolic radio telesco&e 9m in diameter in his own bac yard in 1935. +e be!an by re&eatin! Jans y=s observations, and went on to conduct the first s y survey in the radio frequencies.>3? 7n 4ebruary ,5, 191,, J.$. +ey, a 'ritish 0rmy research officer, made the first detection of radio waves emitted by the $un.>5? 0t *ambrid!e @niversity, where ionos&heric research had ta en &lace durin! #orld #ar //, J.0. (atcliffe alon! with other members of the Telecommunications (esearch 6stablishment that had carried out wartime research into radar, created a radio&hysics !rou& at the university where radio wave emissions from the $un were observed and studied. This early research soon branched out into the observation of other celestial radio sources and interferometry techniques were &ioneered to isolate the an!ular source of the detected emissions. "artin (yle and 0ntony +ewish at the *avendish 0stro&hysics Crou& develo&ed the technique of 6arthArotation a&erture synthesis. The radio astronomy !rou& in *ambrid!e went on to found the "ullard (adio 0stronomy 7bservatory near *ambrid!e in the 1920s. Durin! the late 1930s and early 1950s, as com&uters :such as the Titan; became ca&able of handlin! the com&utationally intensive 4ourier transform inversions required, they used a&erture synthesis to create a =7neA"ile= and later a =2 m= effective a&erture usin! the 7neA"ile and (yle telesco&es, res&ectively. They used the *ambrid!e /nterferometer to ma& the radio s y, &roducin! the famous ,* and 3* surveys of radio sources.><? Techniques

4irst 5Ametre 6$78907J89(07 0."0 0ntenna.>9? (adio astronomers use different techniques to observe objects in the radio s&ectrum. /nstruments may sim&ly be &ointed at an ener!etic radio source to analy)e its emission. To Eima!eF a re!ion of the s y in more detail, multi&le overla&&in! scans can be recorded and &ieced to!ether in a mosaic ima!e. The ty&e of instrument used de&ends on the stren!th of the si!nal and the amount of detail needed. 7bservations from the 6arth=s surface are limited to wavelen!ths that can &ass throu!h the atmos&here. 0t low frequencies, or lon! wavelen!ths, transmission is limited by the ionos&here, which reflects waves with frequencies less than its characteristic &lasma frequency. #ater va&or interferes with radio astronomy at hi!her frequencies, which has led to buildin! radio observatories that conduct observations at millimeter wavelen!ths at very hi!h and dry sites, in order to minimi)e the water va&or content in the line of si!ht. 4inally, transmittin! devices on earth may cause radioAfrequency interference. 'ecause of this, many radio observatories are built at remote &laces. (adio telesco&es "ain articleG (adio telesco&e "<5 o&tical ima!e.j&! 0n o&tical ima!e of the !ala%y "<5 :+$T;, a radio ima!e of same !ala%y usin! /nterferometry :-ery .ar!e 0rrayA-.0;, and an ima!e of the center section :-.'0; usin! a -ery .on! 'aseline 0rray :Clobal -.'/; consistin! of antennas in the @$, Cermany, /taly, 4inland, $weden and $&ain. The jet of &articles is sus&ected to be &owered by a blac hole in the center of the !ala%y. (adio telesco&es may need to be e%tremely lar!e in order to receive si!nals with hi!h si!nalAtoAnoise ratio. 0lso since an!ular resolution is a function of the diameter of the BobjectiveB in &ro&ortion to the wavelen!th of the electroma!netic radiation bein! observed, radio telesco&es have to be much lar!er in com&arison to their o&tical counter&arts. 4or e%am&le a 1 meter diameter o&tical telesco&e is two million times bi!!er than the wavelen!th of li!ht observed !ivin! it a resolution of rou!hly 0.3 arc seconds, whereas a radio telesco&e BdishB many times that si)e may, de&endin! on the wavelen!th observed, only be able to resolve an object the si)e of the full moon :30 minutes of arc;. (adio interferometry The difficulty in achievin! hi!h resolutions with sin!le radio telesco&es led to radio interferometry, develo&ed by 'ritish radio astronomer "artin (yle and 0ustralian en!ineer, radio&hysicist, and radio astronomer Jose&h .ade Hawsey and (uby HayneA $cott in 1913. $ur&risin!ly the first use of a radio interferometer for an astronomical observation was carried out by HayneA$cott, Hawsey and .indsay "c*ready on ,3 January 1913 usin! a $/9C.6 converted radar antenna :broadside array; at ,00 "+) near $ydney, 0ustralia. This !rou& used the &rinci&le of a seaAcliff interferometer in which the antenna :formerly a #orld #ar // radar; observed the sun at sunrise with interference arisin! from the direct radiation from the sun and the reflected radiation from the sea. #ith this baseline of almost ,00 meters, the authors determined that the solar

radiation durin! the burst &hase was much smaller than the solar dis and arose from a re!ion associated with a lar!e suns&ot !rou&. The 0ustralia !rou& laid out the &rinci&les of a&erture synthesis in their !roundAbrea in! &a&er submitted in midA1913 and &ublished in 1915. The use of a seaAcliff interferometer had been demonstrated by numerous !rou&s in 0ustralia, /ran and the @K durin! #orld #ar //, who had observed interference frin!es :the direct radar return radiation and the reflected si!nal from the sea; from incomin! aircraft. The *ambrid!e !rou& of (yle and -onber! observed the sun at 152 "+) for the first time in mid July 1913 with a "ichelson interferometer consistin! of two radio antennas with s&acin!s of some tens of meters u& to ,10 meters. They showed that the radio radiation was smaller than 10 arc minutes in si)e and also detected circular &olari)ation in the Ty&e / bursts. Two other !rou&s had also detected circular &olari)ation at about the same time :David "artyn in 0ustralia and 6dward 0&&leton with J. $tanley +ey in the @K;. "odern (adio interferometers consist of widely se&arated radio telesco&es observin! the same object that are connected to!ether usin! coa%ial cable, wave!uide, o&tical fiber, or other ty&e of transmission line. This not only increases the total si!nal collected, it can also be used in a &rocess called 0&erture synthesis to vastly increase resolution. This technique wor s by su&er&osin! :Binterferin!B; the si!nal waves from the different telesco&es on the &rinci&le that waves that coincide with the same &hase will add to each other while two waves that have o&&osite &hases will cancel each other out. This creates a combined telesco&e that is the si)e of the antennas furthest a&art in the array. /n order to &roduce a hi!h quality ima!e, a lar!e number of different se&arations between different telesco&es are required :the &rojected se&aration between any two telesco&es as seen from the radio source is called a BbaselineB; A as many different baselines as &ossible are required in order to !et a !ood quality ima!e. 4or e%am&le the -ery .ar!e 0rray has ,5 telesco&es !ivin! 321 inde&endent baselines at once. -ery .on! 'aseline /nterferometry The "ount Hleasant (adio Telesco&e is the southern most antenna used in 0ustralia=s -.'/ networ 'e!innin! in the 1950s, im&rovements in the stability of radio telesco&e receivers &ermitted telesco&es from all over the world :and even in 6arth orbit; to be combined to &erform -ery .on! 'aseline /nterferometry. /nstead of &hysically connectin! the antennas, data received at each antenna is &aired with timin! information, usually from a local atomic cloc , and then stored for later analysis on ma!netic ta&e or hard dis . 0t that later time, the data is correlated with data from other antennas similarly recorded, to &roduce the resultin! ima!e. @sin! this method it is &ossible to synthesise an antenna that is effectively the si)e of the 6arth. The lar!e distances between the telesco&es enable very hi!h an!ular resolutions to be achieved, much !reater in fact than in any other field of astronomy. 0t the hi!hest frequencies, synthesised beams less than 1 milliarcsecond are &ossible.

The &reAeminent -.'/ arrays o&eratin! today are the -ery .on! 'aseline 0rray :with telesco&es located across 9orth 0merica; and the 6uro&ean -.'/ 9etwor :telesco&es in 6uro&e, *hina, $outh 0frica and Huerto (ico;. 6ach array usually o&erates se&arately, but occasional &rojects are observed to!ether &roducin! increased sensitivity. This is referred to as Clobal -.'/. There is also a -.'/ networ , the 0.'0, 0ustralian .on! 'aseline 0rray, o&eratin! in 0ustralia. $ince its ince&tion, recordin! data onto hard media has been the only way to brin! the data recorded at each telesco&e to!ether for later correlation. +owever, the availability today of worldwide, hi!hAbandwidth o&tical fibre networ s ma es it &ossible to do -.'/ in real time. This technique :referred to as eA-.'/; was &ioneered by the 6-9 :6uro&ean -.'/ 9etwor ; who now &erform an increasin! number of scientific eA-.'/ &rojects &er year.>10? 0stronomical sources "ain articleG 0stronomical radio source $ee alsoG (adio object with continuous o&tical s&ectrum 0 radio ima!e of the central re!ion of the "il y #ay !ala%y. The arrow indicates a su&ernova remnant which is the location of a newly discovered transient, burstin! lowA frequency radio source C*(T J1512A3009. (adio astronomy has led to substantial increases in astronomical nowled!e, &articularly with the discovery of several classes of new objects, includin! &ulsars, quasars and radio !ala%ies. This is because radio astronomy allows us to see thin!s that are not detectable in o&tical astronomy. $uch objects re&resent some of the most e%treme and ener!etic &hysical &rocesses in the universe. The cosmic microwave bac !round radiation was also first detected usin! radio telesco&es. +owever, radio telesco&es have also been used to investi!ate objects much closer to home, includin! observations of the $un and solar activity, and radar ma&&in! of the &lanets. 7ther sources includeG $un Ju&iter $a!ittarius 0, the !alactic center of the "il y #ay, with one &ortion $a!ittarius 0I thou!ht to be a radio wave emittin! su&ermassive blac hole 0ctive !alactic nuclei and &ulsars have jets of char!ed &articles which emit synchrotron radiation "er!in! !ala%y clusters often show diffuse radio emission >1? $u&ernova remnants can also show diffuse radio emissionJ &ulsars are a ty&e of su&ernova remant that shows hi!hly synchronous emission. The cosmic microwave bac !round is blac body radio8microwave emission $ee also Hortal icon (adio &ortal

Hortal icon 'oo icon

0stronomy &ortal

'oo G 0stronomy (adar astronomy *hannel 35 (eferences 4. Chi!o :ed.;. BHreA+istory of (adio 0stronomyB. (etrieved ,010A01A09. B#orld of $cientific Discovery on Karl Jans yB. (etrieved ,010A01A09. Jans y, Karl C. :1933;. B(adio waves from outside the solar systemB. 9ature 13, :33,3;G 33. 'ibcodeG19339atur.13,...33J. doiG10.103<813,033a0. (adoje 'eluseviK. (elativity, astro&hysics and cosmolo!yG -olume 1. &. 133. 'ojan KambiL, -iewin! the *onstellations with 'inoculars, &a!es 131A133 BCrote (eberB. (etrieved ,010A01A09. J. $. +ey. The (adio @niverse, ,nd 6d., Her!amon Hress, 7%fordA9ew Mor :1952;, htt&G88www.&hy.cam.ac.u 8history8years8radioast.&h& B4irst 5Ametre 0."0 0ntenna 0rrives at *hajnantorB. 6$7 Hicture of the #ee . ,9 0u!ust ,011. (etrieved 1 $e&tember ,011. 0 technolo!ical brea throu!h for radio astronomy A 0stronomical observations via hi!hAs&eed data lin 9eeds 4i%in!G (eference < A BHa!e does not e%istB 4urther readin! Journals Cart #esterhout, The early history of radio astronomy. 0nn. 9ew Mor 0cad. $ci. 1<9 6ducation in and +istory of "odern 0stronomy :0u!ust 195,; ,11A,1< doi 10.11118j.1519A333,.195,.tb1,5,1.% +endri *hristoffel van de +ulst, The 7ri!in of (adio #aves 4rom $&ace. +istory of +i!hA(esolution (adio 0stronomy. 0nnual (eview of 0stronomy and 0stro&hysics, $e&tember ,001 'oo s 'runo 'ertotti :ed.;, "odern *osmolo!y in (etros&ect. *ambrid!e @niversity Hress 1990. (obin "ichael Creen, $&herical 0stronomy. *ambrid!e @niversity Hress, 19<2. (aymond +aynes, (oslynn +aynes, and (ichard "cCee, 6%&lorers of the $outhern $ yG 0 +istory of 0ustralian 0stronomy. *ambrid!e @niversity Hress 1993. J. $. +ey, The 6volution of (adio 0stronomy. 9eale #atson 0cademic, 1953. David .. Jauncey, (adio 0stronomy and *osmolo!y. $&rin!er 1955. (o!er *lifton Jennison, /ntroduction to (adio 0stronomy. 1935.

J. *. Ka&teyn, H. *. v. d. Kruit, N K. v. 'er el, The le!acy of J.*. Ka&teynG studies on Ka&teyn and the develo&ment of modern astronomy. DordrechtG Kluwer 0cademic Hublishers, ,000. 0lbrecht KrO!er, /ntroduction to $olar (adio 0stronomy and (adio Hhysics. $&rin!er 1959. David H.D. "unns, 0 $in!le $ yG +ow an /nternational *ommunity 4or!ed the $cience of (adio 0stronomy. *ambrid!e, "0G "/T Hress, ,013. $hi!eru 9a ayama, 0 $ocial +istory of $cience and Technolo!y in *ontem&orary Ja&anG Transformation Heriod 1950A1959. Trans Hacific Hress, ,003. 0llan 0. 9eedell, $cience, *old #ar and 0merican $tateG .loyd -. 'er ner and the 'alance of Hrofessional /deals. (outled!e, ,000. Jose&h .ade Hawsey and (onald 9ewbold 'racewell, (adio 0stronomy. *larendon Hress, 1922. Kristen (ohlfs, Thomas . #ilson, Tools of (adio 0stronomy. $&rin!er ,003. D. T. #il inson and H. J. 6. Heebles, $erendi&itous Discoveries in (adio 0stronomy. Creen 'an , #-G 9ational (adio 0stronomy 7bservatory, 19<3. #oodruff T. $ullivan, ///, The 6arly Mears of (adio 0stronomyG (eflections 4ifty Mears after Jans y=s Discovery. *ambrid!e, 6n!landG *ambrid!e @niversity Hress, 19<1. #oodruff T. $ullivan, ///, *osmic 9oiseG 0 +istory of 6arly (adio 0stronomy. *ambrid!e @niversity Hress, ,009. #oodruff T. $ullivan, ///, *lassics in (adio 0stronomy. (eidel Hublishin! *om&any, Dordrecht, 19<,. 6%ternal lin s nrao.edu 9ational (adio 0stronomy 7bservatory The +istory of (adio 0stronomy I (eber (adio Telesco&e A 9ational Har $ervices (adio Telesco&e Develo&ed A a brief history from 90$0 Coddard $&ace 4li!ht *enter $ociety of 0mateur (adio 0stronomers -isuali)ation of (adio Telesco&e Data @sin! Coo!le 6arth @nwanted6missions.com 0 !eneral reference for radio s&ectrum allocations, includin! radio astronomy. /m&rovin! (adio 0stronomy /ma!es by 0rray Hrocessin! #hat is (adio 0stronomy A (adioastrolab >hide? v t e (adio astronomy *ate!oryG(adio telesco&es "ain articles 0stronomical interferometer

-ery .on! 'aseline /nterferometry :-.'/; (adio telesco&e (adio window 0stronomical radio source 9otable radio telesco&es $in!le dish 0recibo 7bservatory :Huerto (ico, @$0; 6ffelsber! Telesco&e :Cermany; .ar!e "illimeter Telesco&e :"e%ico; Mev&atoria (TA50 :@ raine; Calen i (TA50 :(ussia; $uffa (TA50 :@)be istan; Creen 'an Telesco&e :#est -ir!inia, @$0; .ovell Telesco&e :@K; Har es 7bservatory :0ustralia; @T(A, decameter radio telesco&e :@ raine; /nterferometers 0llen Telesco&e 0rray :0T0, *alifornia, @$0; 0ustralia Telesco&e *om&act 0rray :0T*0, 0ustralia; 0tacama .ar!e "illimeter 0rray :0."0, *hile; *ombined 0rray for (esearch in "illimeterAwave 0stronomy :*0("0, *alifornia, @$0; 6uro&ean -.'/ 9etwor :6uro&e; Ciant "etrewave (adio Telesco&e :C"(T, /ndia; .owA4requency 0rray :.740(, 9etherlands; "ultiA6lement (adio .in ed /nterferometer 9etwor :"6(./9, @K; "olon!lo 7bservatory $ynthesis Telesco&e :"7$T, 0ustralia; 7neA"ile Telesco&e :@K; -ery .ar!e 0rray :-.0, 9ew "e%ico, @$0; -ery .on! 'aseline 0rray :-.'0, @$0; #esterbor $ynthesis (adio Telesco&e :#$(T, 9etherlands; @nder construction or &ro&osed 4iveAhundredAmeter 0&erture $&herical Telesco&e :40$T, *hina; 0ustralian $quare Kilometre 0rray Hathfinder :0$K0H, 0ustralia; "urchison #idefield 0rray :"#0, 0ustralia;

"eerK0T $outh 0frica Hrimeval $tructure Telesco&e :Ha$T, *hina; $quare Kilometre 0rray :$K0, 0ustralia, 9ew Pealand, $outh 0frica; 7bservatories 0l!onquin (adio 7bservatory :*anada; +aystac 7bservatory :@$0; Jodrell 'an 7bservatory :@K; "ullard (adio 0stronomy 7bservatory :@K; 9ational (adio 0stronomy 7bservatory :@$0; 7nsala $&ace 7bservatory :$weden; $&ecial 0stro&hysical 7bservatory of the (ussian 0cademy of $cience :$07(0$, (ussia; Heo&le 6dward Ceor!e 'owen 0rthur *ovin!ton 0ntony +ewish Karl Cuthe Jans y 'ernard .ovell Jan 7ort Jose&h .ade Hawsey (uby HayneA$cott Crote (eber "artin (yle Haul #ild (elated articles *osmic microwave bac !round radiation $6T/ /nterferometry (adio &ro&a!ation 0&erture synthesis #owQ si!nal 7&tical astronomy $ubmillimetre astronomy /nfrared astronomy +i!hAener!y astronomy >show? v

t e 0stronomy *ate!oriesG 7bservational astronomy 0stronomical ima!in! (adio astronomy 9avi!ation menu *reate account .o! in 0rticle Tal (ead 6dit -iew history "ain &a!e *ontents 4eatured content *urrent events (andom article Donate to #i i&edia #i imedia $ho& /nteraction +el& 0bout #i i&edia *ommunity &ortal (ecent chan!es *ontact &a!e Tools Hrint8e%&ort .an!ua!es RSTUVWX 0)Yrbaycanca Z[\]^_`ab

*atalc deetina Dans Deutsch 6esti fgghijkl 6s&amol 6s&eranto nopqr 4ransais Caeil!e +rvats i 'ahasa /ndonesia /taliano tuvwx y^z^{|^ }~_]~z^ .t)ebuer!esch .ietuvi "a!yar ^a`ab 9ederlands 9ors bo ml nTq Hols i Hortu!us (omn ``ab $lovenLina _`ab 8 sr&s i $r&s ohrvats i 8 `_`a_^`ab $uomi $vens a TOr se a_^`a^ Tin! -it 6dit lin s This &a!e was last modified on < 0&ril ,011 at 12G15.

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