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R A D I O A S T R O N O MY
New Eyes on t he Un iverse: T he Squ a re K ilomet re A r ray
by Dr. Koay Jun Yi and dishes, spanning two continents. In a single day, the telescope could produce more data
Of Lenses and Dishes One instrument has completely revolutionised our understanding of the Universe and our place in it - the telescope. When Galileo, recorded as the first person to use a telescope to observe the heavens, first saw that Jupiter had its own moons, it was further evidence to him that not every heavenly body revolved around the Earth. Since then, advances in science and technology have increased the capability of telescopes by enabling the construction of increasingly larger lenses or mirrors. Larger apertures lead to higher resolution (i.e., ability to see finer detail) and better sensitivity (i.e., ability to collect more light and thus see fainter objects). Telescopes sent to space circumvent the blurring effects
S C I E N T I F I C M A L AY S I A N
of the Earth’s atmosphere; the Hubble Space Telescope can observe infant galaxies close to 13 billion light years away. Technological advances have also enabled us to see light that is invisible to the human eye. Infrared telescopes allow astronomers to peer through thick dust obscuring many galaxies as well as the centre of our own Milky Way Galaxy. X-ray and Gammaray telescopes collect light from the most energetic phenomena in the Universe, from black holes feeding on hot gas to the explosions of dying stars. Radio telescopes probe the leftover radiation from the Big Bang, and huge jets of particles launching out from regions surrounding supermassive black holes.
