Final answer:
A radio telescope is a directional antenna connected to a sensitive radio receiver, designed to reflect and focus radio waves for astronomical analysis. It requires techniques like radio interferometry to improve resolution due to the long wavelengths of radio waves. The field of radio astronomy has grown with the use of these telescopes.
Step-by-step explanation:
A radio telescope is basically a directional antenna connected to a sensitive radio receiver. The primary component of a radio telescope is typically a large parabolic dish, which acts like a mirror for radio waves. Radio waves are reflected and concentrated by this dish onto a focus, analogous to the way a mirror works in an optical telescope. However, instead of forming a visible image, the radio waves at the focus are then processed by the receiver, allowing for in-depth analysis and often resulting in a pictorial representation of radio emissions from space objects, which is invaluable for radio astronomers.
Advanced techniques such as radio interferometry can be used to improve resolution, a crucial aspect for observing the cosmos with clarity. Interferometry involves linking multiple radio telescopes electronically to act as a larger aperture, sharpening the resolved image beyond what a single dish could achieve.
Radio astronomy as a field has seen significant growth and with it the advent of impressive radio telescopes, capable of making observations with extreme precision, contributing to our understanding of phenomena such as pulsars, quasars, and cosmic microwave background radiation.