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Techniques of Radio Astronomy

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Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the techniques of radio astronomy. This study began in 1931 with Jansky’s discovery of emission from the cosmos, but the period of rapid progress began 15 years later. From then to the present, the wavelength range has expanded from a few meters to the sub-millimeters, the angular resolution increased from degrees to finer than milli arc seconds, and the receiver sensitivities have improved by large factors. Today, the technique of aperture synthesis produces images comparable to or exceeding those obtained with the best optical facilities. In addition to technical advances, the scientific discoveries made in the radio range have contributed much to opening new visions of our universe. There are numerous national radio facilities spread over the world. In the near future, a new era of truly global radio observatories will begin. This chapter contains a short history of the development of the field, details of calibration procedures, coherent/heterodyne and incoherent/bolometer receiver systems, observing methods for single apertures and interferometers, and an overview of aperture synthesis.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Naval Research Laboratory, Room 283 Code 7210, 4555 Overlook Ave., SW, 20375-5320, Washington, DC, USA

    Dr. T. L. Wilson

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  1. Dr. T. L. Wilson
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics & Space Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, University Boulevard, Melbourne, FL, USA

    Terry D. Oswalt

  2. Labrador Lane, Cockeysville, MD, USA

    Howard E. Bond

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Wilson, T.L. (2013). Techniques of Radio Astronomy. In: Oswalt, T.D., Bond, H.E. (eds) Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5618-2_6

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