TheVeryLargeArrayinNew

Mexico,anexampleofaradio
telescope
ALMAObservatoryisoneofthe
highestobservatorysiteson
Earth.
[40]
cosmologicalabundancesofelements.Spacetelescopeshaveenabledmeasurementsinpartsofthe
electromagneticspectrumnormallyblockedorblurredbytheatmosphere.
Inastronomy,themainsourceofinformationaboutcelestialbodiesandotherobjectsisvisiblelightor
moregenerallyelectromagneticradiation.
[38]
Observationalastronomymaybedividedaccordingto
theobservedregionoftheelectromagneticspectrum.Somepartsofthespectrumcanbeobserved
fromtheEarth'ssurface,whileotherpartsareonlyobservablefromeitherhighaltitudesoroutside
theearth'satmosphere.Specificinformationonthesesubfieldsisgivenbelow.
Radioastronomy
Radioastronomystudiesradiationwithwavelengthsgreater
thanapproximatelyonemillimeter.
[39]
Radioastronomyis
differentfrommostotherformsofobservationalastronomyin
thattheobservedradiowavescanbetreatedaswavesrather
thanasdiscretephotons.Hence,itisrelativelyeasiertomeasure
boththeamplitudeandphaseofradiowaves,whereasthisisnot
aseasilydoneatshorterwavelengths.
[39]
Althoughsomeradiowavesareproducedbyastronomical
objectsintheformofthermalemission,mostoftheradio
emissionthatisobservedfromEarthistheresultofsynchrotron
radiation,whichisproducedwhenelectronsorbitmagnetic
fields.
[39]
Additionally,anumberofspectrallinesproducedby
interstellargas,notablythehydrogenspectrallineat21cm,are
observableatradiowavelengths.
[10][39]
Awidevarietyofobjectsareobservableatradiowavelengths,includingsupernovae,interstellargas,
pulsars,andactivegalacticnuclei.
[10][39]
Infraredastronomy
Infraredastronomyisfoundedonthedetectionandanalysisof
infraredradiation(wavelengthslongerthanredlight).The
infraredspectrumisusefulforstudyingobjectsthataretoocold
toradiatevisiblelight,suchasplanets,circumstellardisksor
nebulaewhoselightisblockedbydust.Longerinfrared
wavelengthscanpenetratecloudsofdustthatblockvisiblelight,
allowingtheobservationofyoungstarsinmolecularcloudsand
thecoresofgalaxies.ObservationsfromtheWidefieldInfrared
SurveyExplorer(WISE)havebeenparticularlyeffectiveat
unveilingnumerousGalacticprotostarsandtheirhoststarclusters.
[41][42]
Withtheexceptionof
wavelengthsclosetovisiblelight,infraredradiationisheavilyabsorbedbytheatmosphere,or
masked,astheatmosphereitselfproducessignificantinfraredemission.Consequently,infrared
observatorieshavetobelocatedinhigh,dryplacesorinspace.
[43]
Somemoleculesradiatestronglyin
theinfrared.Thisallowsthestudythechemistryofspace;morespecificallyitcandetectwaterin
comets.
[44]
Opticalastronomy
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