An Examaination of Radio Telescope Parameters and their Significance

The study of celestial objects through radio astronomy has enhanced our understanding of a gamut of astronomical phenomena that are often invisible or faintly observable in other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. A number of new sources of radio emission have been identified that include radio galaxies, quasars, pulsars, masers etc. Radio astronomy uses either single telescope or a number of telescopes that are linked together and utilizes the techniques of radio interferometry. Typically, the signals encountered in radio astronomy have very low signal-noise ratio, and hence radio telescopes usually tend to be very sensitive and large. As a result, they also have high angular resolution. The mechanical constraints of building even larger telescopes led to the use of radio interferometer to achieve higher resolution that can be achieved through a single telescope. Radio astronomy receivers use cryogenically cooled low-noise amplifiers and low-loss components in the RF path. High gain, low spillover, low crosspolarization, low far-out sidelobes, etc. are important features of a radio telescope.