For astronomers and other scientists, it is important to use as much of what is available to get information. That is why astronomers, often thought about only using visible-light telescopes, seek to use other wavelengths of light that we cannot see. Radio Astronomy is one of the biggest alternative wavelengths that is used. Radio telescopes are huge radio dishes that are used to gather large amounts of low-energy light that can help us learn about how the universe and specifically the galaxies formed. Radio lets us see through dust and gas that visible light cant pass through.
Interferometry, or the combining of collected signals from multiple radio dishes, is used to peer farther and deeper into space. The ESA has been working on getting an African observatory set up to become part of an Atlantic-wide interferometer. Money for the SKA, or the Square Kilometer Array, was finally approved, so the costruction of the system will begin in South Africa soon. This will become part of the largest telescope ever built...letting us see more than ever before.
The Radio Observatory is very important to me because of the role it has played in my life, so I chose this article to show that. It sounds weird, but my experiences around radio observatories have pointed me in the direction I am currently going in life. The creation of this radio interferometer specifically is very exciting for people like me because it foreshaddows great discoveries in the future. We cant even imagine what understanding this will bring us!
http://cordis.europa.eu/wire/index.cfm?fuseaction=article.Detail&rcn=30612&rev=0
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