The Peoplernand the Politics

摘要

It was 85 years ago that Jansky serendipitously detectedrn“cosmic static,” noise originating in the direction ofrnthe center of our Milky Way galaxy. Eighty years ago,rnReber started to systematically observe the sky at radiornwavelengths with his home-built paraboloidal refl ector ofrn10 m diameter. Today, radio astronomy plays a major role inrnastronomical research. Astronomy has actually become anrnintegrated fi eld of research, where progress is achieved byrncombining data obtained by telescopes operating over thernentire electromagnetic spectrum, from gamma rays to longrnradio waves. Astronomy has become “big science,” both inrnterms of the size and cost of telescopes, and data handling.