Radio telescopes: space receivers
Over the past 100 years, the study of the Universe has led to very important discoveries grazed by the development of new technologies and new research instruments, including radio telescopes. A radio telescope is a telescope that, unlike classical telescopes that observe visible light, specialises in detecting radio waves emitted by radio sources scattered throughout the Universe, usually through large parabolic antennas, or several antennas connected together. It performs the same function as the telescope: it observes stars, galaxies, pulsars and interstellar matter. But it does so by studying information other than light, and that is radio waves, which, like light, are electromagnetic waves that propagate in the vacuum, but are invisible to our eyes and need radio telescopes to be revealed. A radio telescope basically consists of an antenna, a receiver and an acquisition system, the purpose of which is to analyze the intensity of radio waves emitted by the celestial sources being observed. Astronomy that studies the radio band is called, precisely, Radio Astronomy. There are several radio telescopes in Italy. There are two 32-meter diameter "twin" dishes, one at Medicina in Emilia-Romagna and one at Noto in Sicily, both operated by the Bologna Institute of Radio Astronomy. Medicina is also home to a larger radio telescope, the Northern Cross, a series of parabolic cylinders arranged along two arms 560 and 640 meters in length. A third radio telescope opened in 2013 at the Cagliari Observatory is the Sardinia Radio Telescope consisting of a single dish with a diameter of 64 meters.The astronomical research sites are all part of the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF).Radio telescopes: space receivers
Over the past 100 years, the study of the Universe has led to very important discoveries grazed by the development of new technologies and new research instruments, including radio telescopes. A radio telescope is a telescope that, unlike classical telescopes that observe visible light, specialises in detecting radio waves emitted by radio sources scattered throughout the Universe, usually through large parabolic antennas, or several antennas connected together. It performs the same function as the telescope: it observes stars, galaxies, pulsars and interstellar matter. But it does so by studying information other than light, and that is radio waves, which, like light, are electromagnetic waves that propagate in the vacuum, but are invisible to our eyes and need radio telescopes to be revealed. A radio telescope basically consists of an antenna, a receiver and an acquisition system, the purpose of which is to analyze the intensity of radio waves emitted by the celestial sources being observed. Astronomy that studies the radio band is called, precisely, Radio Astronomy. There are several radio telescopes in Italy. There are two 32-meter diameter "twin" dishes, one at Medicina in Emilia-Romagna and one at Noto in Sicily, both operated by the Bologna Institute of Radio Astronomy. Medicina is also home to a larger radio telescope, the Northern Cross, a series of parabolic cylinders arranged along two arms 560 and 640 meters in length. A third radio telescope opened in 2013 at the Cagliari Observatory is the Sardinia Radio Telescope consisting of a single dish with a diameter of 64 meters.The astronomical research sites are all part of the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF).
