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Arecibo Observatory
Northern Puerto Rico. Photo from commuter plane between San Juan and Mayagüez.
The Arecibo Observatory is a radio telescope in the municipality of Arecibo, Puerto Rico. The observatory is the sole facility of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC), which refers to the observatory and the staff that operates it. The observatory's 1,000-foot (305 meter) radio telescope was the largest single-aperture telescope from its completion in 1963 until July 2016 when the 500 meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in China was completed. It is used in three major areas of research: radio astronomy, atmospheric science, and radar astronomy. (Wikipedia - edited)
A number of landmark scientific discoveries have been achieved here including one that received a Nobel Prize.
In the photo, the spherical dish using wire mess as the reflective surface was constructed over a large sinkhole in the Karst Country hills near the town of Arecibo.The three towers support a movable cluster of receivers that capture the concentrated signals reflected from a high-precision
surface of the dish. In 1974, the wire mesh was replaced with 40,000 individually adjustable aluminum panels.
Scanned from a Kodachrome slide.
Arecibo Observatory
Northern Puerto Rico. Photo from commuter plane between San Juan and Mayagüez.
The Arecibo Observatory is a radio telescope in the municipality of Arecibo, Puerto Rico. The observatory is the sole facility of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC), which refers to the observatory and the staff that operates it. The observatory's 1,000-foot (305 meter) radio telescope was the largest single-aperture telescope from its completion in 1963 until July 2016 when the 500 meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in China was completed. It is used in three major areas of research: radio astronomy, atmospheric science, and radar astronomy. (Wikipedia - edited)
A number of landmark scientific discoveries have been achieved here including one that received a Nobel Prize.
In the photo, the spherical dish using wire mess as the reflective surface was constructed over a large sinkhole in the Karst Country hills near the town of Arecibo.The three towers support a movable cluster of receivers that capture the concentrated signals reflected from a high-precision
surface of the dish. In 1974, the wire mesh was replaced with 40,000 individually adjustable aluminum panels.
Scanned from a Kodachrome slide.