RadioAstronomy

[An animation image appears of a night sky showing stars, a galaxy and a planet and text appears: Astronomy]

Narrator: Astronomy means studying how stars, planets and galaxies work.

[Animation image changes to show a spinning horoscope chart with a cross through it and text appears: It’s not astrology]

It’s not astrology, that’s horoscopes and trying to predict the future.

[Animation image changes to show two people looking at the night sky and one of the people points to a falling star]

The science of astronomy started with just our eyes.

[Animation image shows a telescope popping up next to the people and one of the people leans forward to look in the telescope]

Then we used telescopes with glass lenses.

[Animation image changes to show a bank of giant mirrors catching the starlight]

And then we learnt how to catch starlight with giant mirrors.

[Animation image changes to show a galaxy in the night sky and various points are pinpointed around the galaxy]

We make pictures with the light or analyse it to learn about stars and galaxies.

[Animation image changes to show the sun in the sky and then the image moves to the left and on the right of the screen a male sunbathing under a beach umbrella can be seen]

But there’s more to astronomy than light.

[Animation image changes to show the sun on the right of the screen and the sunbathing male on the left]

As well as visible light, stars, such as our sun, emit light that’s invisible to the human eye, infra-red rays for instance which feel warm while ultraviolet light can give you sunburn.

[Animation image moves to the left so only the sun can be seen against a background of stars and various colours swirl on the surface of the sun]

The sun also puts out radio waves.

[Animation image changes to show a coloured galaxy swirling in the night sky and then two more coloured galaxies appear next to it]

Other stars emit radio waves too. In fact, whole galaxies glow with radio waves.

[Animation image changes to show the three galaxies changing to appear in grey colour and text appears beneath: Galaxies seen in optical light]

Radio waves tell us more than we can learn from light alone.

[Animation image changes to show the three galaxies appearing in colour again and the image shows swirls of colour moving between the three galaxies]

For instance we can see if galaxies are interacting.

[Animation image changes to show a black hole in the night sky and the image shows jets of coloured smoke emitting from the black hole]

We can also spot black holes by the jets of radio emitting particles they push out. The jets tell us what the black holes are doing now and their history.

[Animation image changes to show a circular coloured swirling shape in the night sky]

We can even see the radio glow left over from the Big Bang.

[Animation image changes to show a row of satellite dishes and a telescope and then the image moves right until only the satellite dishes with a receiver and amplifier next to them can be seen]

There are different kinds of radio telescopes but they all do the same thing, catch radio waves and turn them in to electrical signals.

[Text appears above the receiver and the amplifier with a broken line linking the three headings to the amplifier: Receiver and amplifier, Computer and recording devices, Display and analysis system]

Then the signals are amplified, processed and analysed.

[Image changes to show text on a blue screen: Radio astronomy]
So, when you hear Radio Astronomy

[Animation image changes to show a satellite dish within a circle with a tick beneath next to a horoscope chart with a cross beneath]

think telescopes not horoscopes.

[Music plays and the CSIRO logo appears]