radio telescope

American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. a system consisting of an antenna, either parabolic or dipolar, used to gather radio waves emitted by celestial sources and bring them to a receiver placed in the focus.

---

radio telescope British  

noun

1. an instrument consisting of an antenna or system of antennas connected to one or more radio receivers, used in radio astronomy to detect and analyse radio waves from space

---

radio telescope Scientific  

1. An instrument that consists of a radio receiver and antenna system mounted on a wide, bowl-shaped reflector, used to detect radio-frequency emissions from astronomical objects. The reflector and receiver form a parabolic antenna; incoming radio waves are focused by the reflector onto the receiver, where the radio signals are translated into electrical signals for further processing or electronic display. Due to the long wavelengths of radio waves, the reflectors of radio telescopes must be very large to focus the waves at a good resolution. Separate reflectors are sometimes linked in fixed arrays to act as a single collector.

---

Etymology

Origin of radio telescope

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

To gather the data, the team relied on a new radio telescope at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in B.C., a National Research Council Canada facility.

From Science Daily

The research team used the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array radio telescope in New Mexico to follow faint radio emissions from the supernova for about 18 months.

From Science Daily

Several upcoming lunar missions, including Japan's Tsukuyomi Project, aim to place radio telescopes on the Moon for this reason.

From Science Daily

Imaging tools have dramatically reshaped how scientists study the world, from charting faraway galaxies with radio telescope networks to revealing intricate structures inside living cells.

From Science Daily

Because of this remarkable regularity, astronomers can use powerful radio telescopes to measure the exact arrival times of these pulses and search for subtle patterns linked to phenomena such as low-frequency gravitational waves.

From Science Daily