Asked in TelescopesRadio
Telescopes
Radio
Does the image from a radio telescope come from the same image produced by a light telescope?
Answer

Wiki User
March 08, 2009 9:56AM
Someone may need to correct me on this The image would generally look similar if the object gives off Radio waves. For example, a recent image was taken of the same Galaxy, one in Infra-red, one in visable light and one in Xray. On the Infra-Red and Visable light they look identicle, except for the colour it appears to be. Whearas the X-ray image shows only the center of the Galaxy, which tells us that the outer stars eiter give off none or a very small amount of X-ray. See the image i am referring to here http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/images/hs-2009-07-a-web_print.jpg
Related Questions
Asked in Inventions, Telescopes, Radio
Why doesnt the surface of a radio telescope have to be as flawless as the surface of a mirror in an optical telescope?

The surface of a radio telescope doesn't have to be as flawless
as the surface of an optical telescope because the radio telescope
is collecting radio waves, something that will not be affected by
faults in the glass. Optical telescopes, on the other hand, are
collecting light, where faults in the surface can interfere with
the image.
Asked in Telescopes, Radio
How does a radio telescope see objects which are too dim for an ordinary telescope?

Radio Telescope observe light of a different wavelength then
optical light. Radio waves have a longer wavelength then visible
light. Some interstellar objects barley emit any light in the
visible spectrum but emit a significant amount of radiation in the
radio spectrum. Radio telescopes enable us to view objects which
emit in the radio spectrum.
Asked in Science, Telescopes, Radio
What is radio telescope?
Asked in Astronomy, Telescopes, Radio
Why the receiving dish of a radio telescope must be larger than an optical telescope in order for radio telescopes to have adequate resolution?

It is based on a ratio of the size of the telescope to the
wavelength of the radiation that you are studying and collecting. A
radio telescope studies radio waves, which have wavelengths
thousands of times longer than visible light, which is collected in
an optical telescope. Therefore, a radio telescope must be much
larger than an optical telescope.
Fortunately, a radio telescope doesn't have to have complete
coverage. So two radio telescopes dozens of miles apart has a
resolution much better than a single telescope, or even two radio
telescopes close together. This is why there are fields of dozens -
soon to be hundreds - of radio telescopes spanning hundreds of
miles all observing the same spot. It acts as a radio telescope as
big as the farthest separation.
One such is the Very Long Baseline Array radio telescope.
Asked in Telescopes, Radio
What is a disadvantage of radio telescope telescope?

The main disadvantage of a radio telescope is the poor
resolution of the images they obtain. This isn't due to a flaw in
the design, but in a limitation of the radio signals they observe.
The longer the wavelength of light (radio waves are light!) the
fuzzier the image you receive.
In order to combat this, a larger telescope is needed. Radio
telescopes are thus the largest astronomical telescopes, measuring
hundreds of meters across (e.g. Arecibo radio telescope) or
composed of many smaller dishes in large arrays of dozens of radio
dishes (e.g. VLBA, Very Long Baseline Array).
Another disadvantage is the amount of human generated noise can
easily interfere with the telescopes, and is harder to isolate and
shield than from light pollution, as it easily reaches beyond
horizons and around terrain and obstacles. This can require remote
observation sites.
They also have many advantages, but that isn't the purpose of
this question.
Asked in Astronomy, Telescopes
What Disadvantages are there of the lovell telescope?

The Lovell Telescope is a large radio-astronomy telescope
located in England. As a radio telescope, it doesn't capture light
waves to make pretty pictures; it captures radio waves in order to
determine what other sorts of things might exist in space.
As a radio telescope, it really does its job well and has no
major disadvantages. Unless you like pretty pictures; for that
you'll need to go to hubblesite.com.