Radio Telescope

black hole in M87

radio telescope, astronomical instrument consisting of a radio receiver and an antenna system that is used to detect radio-frequency radiation between wavelengths of about 10 metres (30 megahertz [MHz]) and 1 mm (300 gigahertz [GHz]) emitted by extraterrestrial sources, such as stars, galaxies, and quasars. (See radio and radar astronomy.)

Extraterrestrial radio emission was first reported in 1933 by Karl Jansky, an engineer at the Bell Telephone Laboratories, while he was searching for the cause of shortwave interference. Jansky had mounted a directional radio antenna on a turntable so that he could point it at different parts of the sky to determine the direction of the interfering signals. He not only detected interference from distant thunderstorms but also located a source of radio “noise” from the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy. This first detection of cosmic radio waves received much attention from the public but only passing notice from the astronomical community.

Grote Reber, a radio engineer and amateur radio operator, built a 9.5-metre parabolic reflector in his backyard in Wheaton, Illinois, U.S., to continue Jansky’s investigation of cosmic radio noise. In 1944 he published the first radio map of the sky. After World War II ended, the technology that had been developed for military radar was applied to astronomical research. Radio telescopes of increasing size and sophistication were built first in Australia and Great Britain and later in the United States and other countries.