The radio sky contains the signatures of cold gases, pulsars, active galaxies and the Sun, many of which are faint enough to be obscured by ordinary electronic interference.
Radio telescopes combine sensitive receivers for careful calibration, and the networks combine the measurements of separate antennas to distinguish finer details than a single parabola.
Since this technique depends as much on signal processing as it does on optics, open data offers an accessible gateway to astronomy for students trained in computer science and mathematics.
References and further reading
