- #1
zuz
- 83
- 32
Has anyone ever taken a "deep field" picture of the sky, like Hubble, but with a radio telescope?
All that exists at FAST but all publications I could find from them were pulsars and FRB and again pulsars, i.e. only the sources that were very bright for the telescope. I wonder whether this is for a reason or due to the relatively young age of FAST.Baluncore said:To get deeper detailed images of smaller areas, requires VLBI, with international collaboration. The construction of detailed radio images, from the VLBI time data, requires intensive numerical processing. An optical image can be accumulated, on an image sensor array, which is a faster parallel process.
Deep sky observations require high sensitivity and high resolution. Unfortunately, man-made interference, and nearby bright sources, raise the noise floor of the synthesised images.fresh_42 said:All that exists at FAST but all publications I could find from them were pulsars and FRB and again pulsars, i.e. only the sources that were very bright for the telescope.
A deep field picture in radio astronomy refers to a highly detailed image of a distant, small area of the sky, captured using a radio telescope. These images are taken over extended periods, allowing the telescope to collect faint radio signals from distant cosmic sources, providing insights into the structure and evolution of the universe.
Yes, radio telescopes have captured deep field images of the sky. Projects like the Very Large Array (VLA), LOFAR (Low-Frequency Array), and the upcoming Square Kilometre Array (SKA) have produced or are expected to produce deep field images that reveal the radio frequency aspect of celestial bodies and phenomena not visible in optical wavelengths.
Capturing a deep field picture with a radio telescope involves several challenges. These include the need for very long observation times to gather enough data, dealing with interference from Earth-based sources of radio frequency, and the technical complexity of processing and interpreting the vast amounts of data collected. Additionally, the atmosphere and ionosphere can distort radio waves, which requires sophisticated correction techniques.
In a radio telescope deep field image, a variety of astronomical objects can be observed including distant galaxies, quasars, and galaxy clusters. These images can also reveal phenomena such as cosmic jets, supernova remnants, and interstellar gas clouds. Radio observations are particularly good at picking up emissions from neutral hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, which is crucial for studying the early universe.
The findings from deep field images captured by radio telescopes contribute significantly to our understanding of the universe. They help astronomers study the cosmic evolution, including the formation and growth of galaxies, the behavior of black holes, and the large-scale structure of the cosmos. These images also provide crucial data for testing theories about dark matter and dark energy and the overall dynamics of the universe.