The History of Radio Astronomy

Guest Speaker: Dr. Roland Kothes, Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (Penticton BC) and the University of Alberta

7:30 PM (MST), Meeting begins, including guest speaker, AstroImaging Corner, and other RASC news.

Unfortunately, Roland Kothes’ flight was delayed, and he won’t be able to speak at tonight’s meeting.

FREE and open to the public.

This meeting will be taking place at Jasper Place High School

Parking: There is a large student parking lot on the South side of the school. There will be students to help act as ambassadors and help people find the place. If people park in the south parking lot, the nearest door will be easy to find.  

This talk will also be accessible online using Zoom.

Zoom link

DRAO synthesis radio telescope. Photo by Jjnishiyama, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18384995

We will step beyond the limits of optical astronomy and dive into the world of radio waves, exploring the sky in a whole new way. Radio waves penetrate interstellar dust, allowing us to map the invisible universe, study galaxy structures, and investigate dark matter and black holes. Radio waves are the tools for solving some of the greatest mysteries of our Cosmos. From the birth of radio astronomy in the early 1930s to the frontiers of modern research, we will explore together what radio observations have taught us so far. This presentation delves deeply into the history, pivotal (though mostly serendipitous) discoveries, technological innovations, and scientific impacts of modern radio astronomy.

Dr. Roland Kothes

Dr. Roland Kothes was born in the small town of Süchteln (about the size of Stony Plain), near Düsseldorf in Western Germany. He received his Phd in 1997 from the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn, Germany. His thesis was entitled: “Multi-Frequency Studies of Galactic Supernova Remnants with the 100-m Radio Telescope in Effelsberg”. Dr. Kothes came to Canada in 1998 to work on the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory. In 2008, he was offered a permanent position at the DRAO as a staff radio astronomer and took over the lead of the DRAO science team in 2014. He also trains and mentors graduate students at the University of Alberta, where he is an adjunct professor. His research focuses on the study of supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae, and the interstellar magnetic field.

** Please note that this meeting may be recorded and posted on youtube. By joining you agree to becoming part of this recording. **