Arecibo Radio Telescope | Universe Today

Written by Jean Tate

The Arecibo radio telescope is the Arecibo Observatory's radio telescope … "National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center Arecibo Observatory – Puerto Rico", to give it its full title (a National Science Foundation facility operated by Cornell University).

The main reflector – today made of aluminum panels; yesterday wire mesh – is fixed, being constructed in a limestone sinkhole; the detectors (receivers) are hung from steel cables strung from the rim, and can move, to give coverage of the sky beyond just the zenith (the receivers are in a dome attached to the cables; there are actually two more reflectors in this dome). Being the largest radio telescope on Earth today (not counting interferometers), the Arecibo radio telescope has featured in quite a few movies and TV shows (the spectacular surrounding karst landscape certainly adds to the visual impact).

Millions of science fans know the Arecibo radio telescope through the iconic Seti@Home screen saver (well, they may not all know) and serious research done by the distributed computing program … it's data gathered by this telescope that your PC crunches (well, some is from other observatories, but Arecibo dominates).

Professional astronomers – and physicists – may be more familiar with the many discoveries the Arecibo radio telescope has been central to, and the many surveys it has collected the key data for (my fave is the observations of the Hulse-Taylor pulsar, which confirmed – indirectly – gravitational wave radiation, and lead to a Nobel Prize). The Arecibo radio telescope is also used for research into the Earth's ionosphere, and, in radar astronomy mode, greatly improved our understanding of asteroids.

Keen to learn more? Why not start with the official Arecibo Radio Telescope website!. Cornell University's How the Arecibo telescope works is good too. Oh, and why not re-visit Seti@Home (there's probably news you haven't caught up with yet)?

Universe Today has several articles in which the Arecibo radio telescope has a leading role; for example Arecibo Joins Forces with Global Antennae to Simulate 6,800 Mile Telescope, Arecibo Gets an Upgrade, and Binary Asteroid Glides Past Earth.

Across the Electromagnetic Spectrum, and The Rise of Supertelescopes are two Astronomy Cast episodes which feature the Arecibo radio telescope.

Filed under: Astronomy