Overview

Radar stands for radio detection and ranging. It is a technology that generates radio waves, reflects them from an object, and detects the reflected waves to determine where the object is located in space. An outgrowth of the tremendous advances in radar technology made during World War II, radar astronomy debuted in 1946 with the detection of radar signals reflected from the Moon. Since that modest start, radar has been used to map the Moon, Venus, Mercury, several asteroids, and to detect numerous other bodies in space. Recently, the Magellan space probe took radar to, literally, new heights, mapping the surface of Venus with unprecedented accuracy during a multi-year orbital mission. Orbital radar has also been used to map the Earth's surface, including the seafloor. Radar techniques have become increasingly sophisticated over the past half century, giving astronomers...