Crossing Bands in the Radio

• by Cosmoslackist

  I was made curious by the discreet criss-crossed bands in blue that are revealed when the slide is moved all the way over to the radio end. Is this some sort of instrument artifact?

  Posted May 6, 2015 12:53 PM

• by JeanTate in response to Cosmoslackist's comment.

  Welcome to RGZ, Cosmoslackist! 😃

  Yes, those are instrument artifacts. They are a consequence of the fact that these 'radio images' are produced by a technique called interferometry, and the 'triangular mesh' shape of this 'noise' is a result of the Y-shaped layout of the radio dishes which make up the interferometer, the Very Large Array (VLA).

  Hope this helps; happy hunting! 😄

  Posted May 6, 2015 7:28 PM