radio astronomy

noun

: astronomy dealing with radio waves received from outside the earth's atmosphere
radio astronomer noun
radio astronomical adjective

Examples of radio astronomy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Rising out of the frozen plateau is the South Pole Telescope, a key tool for radio astronomy. Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 8 Sep. 2025 Using the James Webb Space Telescope and a radio astronomy observatory in Chile, the first specks of planet-forming material were detected around a star called HOPS-315, about 1,300 light-years from the solar system. Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 16 July 2025 Now cutting-edge radio astronomy is helping cosmologists peer back in time to the very start of the universe, when only Hula-Hooping particles existed. Jeanna Bryner, Scientific American, 20 May 2025 Unfortunately, the cores of galaxies are obscured by giant, diffuse clouds of gas and dust, which leave us no hope of seeing M87* with visible light or at the very long wavelengths typically used in radio astronomy. IEEE Spectrum, 30 Jan. 2020 See All Example Sentences for radio astronomy

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of radio astronomy was in 1948

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Cite this Entry

“Radio astronomy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/radio%20astronomy. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

radio astronomy

noun
: astronomy dealing with electromagnetic waves of radio frequency received from outside the earth's atmosphere
radio astronomer noun

More from Merriam-Webster on radio astronomy

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