Arecibo radio telescope
The largest single-dish radio telescope
in the world. It is located at the Arecibo
Observatory, is operated by Cornell University
for the National Science Foundation, and came into operation in 1963 and
. Occupying a large karst sinkhole in the hills south of Arecibo in Puerto
Rico, its area of almost 9 hectares is greater than that of all other such
instruments in the world combined. The surface of Arecibo's 305-meter (1,000-foot)
fixed, spherical dish is made from almost 40,000 perforated aluminum panels,
each measuring 1 meter by 2 meters (3 feet by 6 feet), supported by a network
of steel cables strung across the underlying depression. Suspended 150 meters
(450 feet) above the reflector is a 900-ton platform which houses the receiving
equipment. Although the telescope is not steerable, some directionality
is obtained by moving the feed antenna (upgraded in 1996). The immense size
and accurate configuration of the dish allows extremely faint signals to
be detected. For this reason, it has been used extensively in SETI
investigations and in the first attempt at CETI
(see Arecibo Message). It also featured in the
film Contact.
Related
category
• OBSERVATORIES
AND TELESCOPES
Also on this site:
Encyclopedia
of Alternative Energy & Sustainable Living
Encyclopedia
of History
BACK TO TOP
|
