The prediction of electromagnetic waves by Maxwell and the
demonstration of their existence by Hertz led several scientists to
speculate that astronomical objects might
generate radio waves. Many scientists, such as Thomas Edison, Max
Planck, and Guglielmo Marconi set the groundwork for
the later discovery of radio astronomy by Karl Jansky. In 1933,
Jansky, working
at Bell Telephone Laboratories, discovered that radio
radiation was coming from the Milky Way and was strongest in the direction
of the center of our Milky Way galaxy, in the constellation of
Sagittarius. Two men who learned of Jansky's discovery were of
great influence on the later development of the new study of radio
astronomy: one was Grote Reber, who singlehandedly built a radio
telescope in his back yard in 1937 and did the first systematic survey of
radio waves from the sky. The second was John Kraus, who, after World War
II, started a radio observatory at Ohio State University and wrote a
textbook on radio astronomy, which is still the "bible" for radio
astronomers. For more information, you can read about the , links to at Green Bank, West Virginia, or the .
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