radio telescope

noun

: a radio receiver-antenna combination used for observation in radio astronomy

Examples of radio telescope in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Astronomers using radio telescope observations to get an inside look at an interstellar comet have gleaned new insights into when and where the celestial object formed. Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 1 May 2026 So, Quijano's team used the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) — a network of giant radio telescopes spanning the United States — to resolve young stars in the Orion Molecular Complex. Keith Cooper, Space.com, 28 Apr. 2026 Using data from two international networks of radio telescopes, researchers pinned down the energetics of jets erupting from a black hole in a system called Cygnus X-1, some 7,200 light-years from Earth. Lee Billings, Scientific American, 16 Apr. 2026 Institute searches for extraterrestrial life Research teams at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute have for years famously used radio telescopes to search for signals in outer space that could originate from intelligent life beyond our world. Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 11 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for radio telescope

Word History

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of radio telescope was in 1947

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Radio telescope.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/radio%20telescope. Accessed 3 May. 2026.

Kids Definition

radio telescope

noun
: a radio receiver-antenna combination used for observation in radio astronomy

More from Merriam-Webster on radio telescope

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster