Radio Astronomy sounds like an extremely
advanced activity that only major laboratories
can carry out with gigantic antennas. However,
the field was actually invented when Grote
Reber built the first dedicated radio
telescope dish in his backyard in the 1930s.
Observing the cosmos in the radio bands
over the subsequent decades became a major
part of astronomical research. However,
amateurs also do many interesting radio
astronomy observations as well such as monitoring
storms on Jupiter, listening to solar activity
and to the galatic background.
A member
of the SETI
League has this parabolic dish set up
behind the house.
The Radio
Astronomy section here provides lots
of information and links to web resources
on the subject.
See, for example, the Society
of Amateur Radio Astronomers, whose
website provides tutorial information like
this: Getting
Started in Radio Astronomy.
Another site offers this tutorial: Poor
Man's Radio Telescope.
Hardware is available from many radio
equipment sites such as the Radio
Astronomy Supplies. website.
Here are some introductory books on the
subject:
Note that collecting space sounds
generated via space radio signals is a popular
activity. See the section on Natural
Space Music for many links to clips
of sounds from the cosmos.
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