For most of us, the idea of ​​astronomy is something we directly associate with "stargazing", telescopes and observing magnificent spectacles in the sky. And of course, it is the exciting field of astronomy that explains its enormous popularity. So, to the uninitiated, the idea of ​​“radio astronomy” seems strange. There are two reasons for this. First, humans are much more visually oriented than audio oriented. And the second is that radio astronomy does not really involve "listening" to the cosmos, except to the extent that scientists who use this sophisticated form of "stargazing" do not rely on visual study to carry out their work. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay To appreciate what is truly exciting about radio astronomy, we must first change the way we view astronomy. Indeed, for professional astronomers, the study of the universe has more to do with frequencies than with the visual documentation of phenomena. This brings us back to Physics 101. Light is obviously the physical phenomenon that allows us to use our visual confirmation system, for example our eyes, to appreciate something, in this case the stars. So when we look at the sky, we can see light emitted by a star or reflected by a planet or moon. In many cases, if we see a distant star, we are actually seeing it hundreds or thousands of years ago, because that is how long it takes for that light to travel through the universe and be visible in our sky. That alone is a pretty mind-blowing idea. Now, light itself is a rather strange substance. But to our astronomers, light is just another energy that exists at a certain frequency. However, we tend to think of frequencies when we talk about sound waves. In scientific terms, light, energy, and sound are just some forms of the same thing, frequencies of energy that emulate a source. Now let's see why radio astronomy is so necessary. The frequency range occupied by light in the broad frequency spectrum is actually quite small. To put it more bluntly, we can only “see” a tiny part of the universe that is actually there. Now, when you look up into the night sky and it's so overwhelming, when you then see just a tiny part of what's actually happening up there, again, our minds can be quite overwhelmed. Radio astronomy uses sophisticated sensor equipment. to study all the energy frequencies that come to us from the cosmos. In this way, these scientists can “see” everything that is happening outside and thus have a clear idea of ​​what stars look like, how they behave now, and how they will behave in the future. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.Get a Custom EssayFor some of us who have heard of radio astronomy, we think of it in terms of "listening" for signs of life in the universe. And yes, SETI, or “the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence” is part of radio astronomy, although a tiny part. But far more important is how radio astronomy has allowed serious astronomers (i.e. those who are paid to do it) to study stars light years away, to study black holes that we could never see with our telescopes and to gather research and data. about the entire universe which would otherwise be impossible to know and to.