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You are here: Home / Space / What Are Radio Waves and What Do Radio Waves Have To Do With Radios and Astronomy?

What Are Radio Waves and What Do Radio Waves Have To Do With Radios and Astronomy?

March 20, 2020 by Karen Hill

Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum longer than infrared light.

Radio waves certainly have a lot to do with radios and astronomy.

People cannot see radio waves without re-creating them in a visual format, such as by electronically digitizing the waves in a computer, which in turn displays a “map” of the waves, but we can hear them.

We can receive sound carried on radio waves by using a radio receiver, or radio, for short.

Radio stations broadcast either AM or FM signals, which stand for amplitude modulation and frequency modulation, two different methods of imprinting radio waves with sound.

Radio astronomists study low-frequency electromagnetic waves, called radio waves, emitted by relatively cool objects in space.

Radio wave detectors are placed in deserts or high in mountains, away from interference from radio waves emitted on Earth, such as those that carry sound to your radio.

To deliver the latest hit to your ears, radio stations imprint sound on the same kind of radio waves used in astronomy.

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  • What Is Radio Astronomy?
  • How do Astronomers know that the universe is expanding by studying light waves?
  • How Far Do Waves In the Ocean Travel Before They Lose Energy and Why Do Waves Get Smaller After a While?
  • Who Discovered Quasars and Pulsars and Where do the super dense, distant objects in space come from?

Filed Under: Space

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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