Lecture

The Radio Sky: Technical Aspects

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Description

This lecture delves into the technical aspects of radio astronomy, focusing on radio telescopes, interferometry, calibration techniques, and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project. The instructor explains how radio waves are detected, the importance of larger dish antennas, and the use of interferometry in observing the universe.

In MOOC

The Radio Sky II: Observational Radio Astronomy

The first part of the course introduces the different types of telescope technologies available to astronomers, with a particular focus on single-dish radio telescopes and radio interferometers. Optical, UV, X-ray, Gamma, neutrino, and gravitational wave telescopes will also be briefly covered, as well as a foray into Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. We, then, dive deep into the principles of observational radio astronomy, covering the observables (flux, luminosity, brightness temperature), and th

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A radio telescope is a specialized antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the radio frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum emitted by astronomical objects, just as optical telescopes are the main observing instrument used in traditional optical astronomy which studies the light wave portion of the spectrum coming from astronomical objects.

Radio astronomy

Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. The first detection of radio waves from an astronomical object was in 1933, when Karl Jansky at Bell Telephone Laboratories reported radiation coming from the Milky Way. Subsequent observations have identified a number of different sources of radio emission. These include stars and galaxies, as well as entirely new classes of objects, such as radio galaxies, quasars, pulsars, and masers.

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