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.

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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

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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.

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Etymology

Origin of radio telescope

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Argentina’s recent decision to pause a joint Chinese effort to construct a large radio telescope is a hopeful sign.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

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 • Jan. 10, 2026

The desert's extreme aridity makes it one of the clearest places on Earth to view the night sky and is famous for being home to the largest radio telescope in the world.

From BBC • Oct. 10, 2025

In 1961, Dr. Penzias joined AT&T’s Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, N.J., with the intention of using a radio telescope, which was being developed for satellite communications, to make cosmological measurements.

From New York Times • Jan. 22, 2024

This was the assumption underlying a message that was broadcast into space by the Arecibo radio telescope in 1974.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton