 | Frequently Asked
Questions About Radio Astronomy - Public awareness of radio
astronomy lags far behind that of its optical counterpart. The vague
image of huge dishes pointed at the sky is perhaps the only connection
that many people can make with this new and and highly technology driven
science. While, most people can relate on some level to the intrigue of
peering through an eyepiece at some distant object, a bump on a graph
which might cause great excitement among radio astronomers, does little
to stir the public imagination. It is this general lack of familiarity
with radio astronomy that gives birth to an array of extremely broad and
often difficult to answer questions. Some of those questions will be
tackled here, but it would behoove anyone who is new to this subject to
seek help at the local library for references which are more in depth.
Here is the List: How is radio astronomy different from optical
astronomy? What is a radiotelescope? What do radio astronomers listen
for? How are pictures made from all this radio noise? What frequencies
are used? How much does a radiotelescope cost? Do I need to know
electronics to do amateur radio astronomy? What can I do with a small
radiotelescope? How do I build a radio observatory? How do I set up a
SETI observatory? |
