The Kraus-type

radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna (radio), antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the r ...

design was created by Dr. John D. Kraus (1910–2004). Kraus-type telescopes are

transit Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1980 film), a 1980 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (1986 film), a Canadian short film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countrie ...

instruments, where the flat

primary mirror A primary mirror (or primary) is the principal light-gathering surface (the objective) of a reflecting telescope. Description The primary mirror of a reflecting telescope is a spherical, parabolic, or hyperbolic shaped disks of polished ...

reflects radio waves towards the

spherical A sphere (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ) is a surface (mathematics), surface analogous to the circle, a curve. In solid geometry, a sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

secondary mirror A secondary mirror (or secondary) is the second deflecting or focusing mirror element in a reflecting telescope. Light gathered by the primary mirror is directed towards a focal point typically past the location of the secondary. Secondary mirro ...

, which focuses it towards a mobile focal carriage. The primary tilts north–south to select any object near the meridian, while the focal carriage moves east–west along

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

ties to track objects near transit.

Examples

The

Nançay radio telescope Nançay () is a commune in the Cher department in central France. Geography The village is located south of the Sologne and northeast of Vierzon. The Rère flows southwest through the middle of the commune. History Its name comes from Nancia ...

in France and the former Big Ear in Ohio are Kraus-type telescopes, and the southern section of the RATAN-600 ring in Russia can operate as a Kraus-type telescope.

References

Radio telescopes {{telescope-stub