A device designed to maintain an infrared detector or the low-noise amplifier of a radio telescope at a very low temperature in order to reduce thermal noise. In infrared telescopes, cryostats can be evacuated vessels known as dewars cooled by liquid nitrogen (down to 77 K) or liquid helium (down to 4 K), and usually contain optical components, filters, and a preamplifier as well as the detector. In radio astronomy they are usually evacuated chambers cooled to about 12 K by helium-gas refrigerators.