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One of the earliest modern investigations into extraterrestrial sources of radio waves were by Karl Guthe Jansky, an engineer with Bell Telephone Laboratories, in the early 1930s. The first object actually detected was the center of the Milky Way, followed by the sun. These early discoveries were confirmed by Grote Reber by 1938. After World War II, substantial improvements in radio astronomy technology were made by astronomers in Europe and the United States, and the field of radio astronomy began to blossom.
Radio astronomy has led to substantial increases in astronomical knowledge, particularly with the discovery of several classes of new objects, including pulsars, quasars and radio galaxies. Such objects represent some of the most extreme and energetic physical processes in the universe.
Radio astronomy is also partly responsible for the idea that dark matter is an important component of our universe; radio measurements of the rotation of galaxies suggest that there is much more mass in galaxies than has been directly observed (see Vera RubinVera (Cooper) Rubin (born 23 July 1928) is an astronomer who has done pioneering work on galaxy rotation rates. Her discovery of what is known as "flat rotation curves" is the most direct and robust evidence of dark matter (as of 2004). She holds a B.). The cosmic microwave background radiation2001 The cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB is a form of electromagnetic radiation that fills the whole of the universe. It has the characteristics of black body radiation at a temperature of 2. It has a frequency in the microwave range. CMB and t was also first detected using radio telescopes. However, radio telescopes have also been used to investigate objects much closer to home, including observations of the Sun and solar activity, and radar mapping of the planetsA generic solar system (or planetary system consists of at least one star and various orbiting objects (such as asteroids, comets, moons, and planets). The term originated to describe the planetary system around Sol, the Latin name for our sun. The planet.
The United States government has established an institution to conduct radio astronomy research, titled the National Radio Astronomy ObservatoryThe National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO is an institution set up by the United States government for the purpose of radio astronomy. NRAO designs, builds, and operates its own high-power radio telescopes for use by scientists around the world. (commonly abbreviated as NRAO). This institution controls various radio telescopes around the United States included the world's largest fully mobile radio telescope, the Green Bank TelescopeThe Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope GBT is the world's largest fully mobile radio telescope. It is part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) at Green Bank, West Virginia ( USA). The telescope honors the name of Senator Robert C. The tele. The United States government has also set aside a national radio quiet zoneThe United States National Radio Quiet Zone is a large area of land surrounding the the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) near Green Bank, West Virginia. This was established by the Federal Communications Commission in 1958 to protect the facili for radio astronomy research centered around Green Bank, West VirginiaGreen Bank is located within Pocahontas County, West Virginia (Eastern Region), inside the Allegheny Mountain Range, and can be reached via Hwy 28. The city is home to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and near the Snowshoe ski resort. Demog. As a result, Green Bank is now the home of NRAO's primary facility.
See also: Very Long Baseline Interferometry aperture synthesis