Starting with the telescope built by Galileo in the beginning of the 17th Century, astronomy made little progress until better quality instruments, such as photographic technology and electronic devices, were discovered: from these applications, the telescope and the radio telescope were developed. The telescope is based on a system of lenses and mirrors that collects even the weakest light originating from stars, and directs it to a sensitive film that records the image. Due to the extreme sensitivity of these instruments, telescopes are generally built in remote locations, because densely populated areas emit an intense light, and are at elevations where the air is clearer and more transparent: the most important telescopes are on Mount Palomar in California and the Mauna Kea volcano in the Hawaiian Islands. Radio telescopes are enormous antennas that, using complex mechanisms, can be orientated over the entire horizon. Their most outstanding feature is the parabolic structure that conducts and concentrates the radio waves coming from space onto the antenna. The signals collected by the antenna are transmitted, via cable, to an electronic lab where they are amplified and analyzed to determine the characteristics and origins of the radio waves. But, if this instrument is sufficient to analyze radio waves originating from a known object, then a series of antennas is needed to precisely locate new sources (that could also be studied with an optical telescope). These antennas are arranged in a crossed or Y-shaped pattern and are connected, by a single cable, to an electronic lab: this way, any source of signals can be identified with a kind of "crossfire" that is similar to the game of Battleship.
Starting with the telescope built by Galileo in the beginning of the 17th Century, astronomy made little progress until better quality instruments, such as photographic technology and electronic devices, were discovered: from these applications, the telescope and the radio telescope were developed. The telescope is based on a system of lenses and mirrors that collects even the weakest light originating from stars, and directs it to a sensitive film that records the image. Due to the extreme sensitivity of these instruments, telescopes are generally built in remote locations, because densely populated areas emit an intense light, and are at elevations where the air is clearer and more transparent: the most important telescopes are on Mount Palomar in California and the Mauna Kea volcano in the Hawaiian Islands. Radio telescopes are enormous antennas that, using complex mechanisms, can be orientated over the entire horizon. Their most outstanding feature is the parabolic structure that conducts and concentrates the radio waves coming from space onto the antenna. The signals collected by the antenna are transmitted, via cable, to an electronic lab where they are amplified and analyzed to determine the characteristics and origins of the radio waves. But, if this instrument is sufficient to analyze radio waves originating from a known object, then a series of antennas is needed to precisely locate new sources (that could also be studied with an optical telescope). These antennas are arranged in a crossed or Y-shaped pattern and are connected, by a single cable, to an electronic lab: this way, any source of signals can be identified with a kind of "crossfire" that is similar to the game of Battleship.
