Today we are going to the mountains of Puerto Rico to explore one of the most iconic telescope observatories in the world. What happened here ? Let’s find out !

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The Arecibo Observatory, also known as the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) and formerly known as the Arecibo Ionospheric Observatory is owned by the US National Science Foundation, it is located in Barrio Esperanza, Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

The observatory's main instrument was this Telescope, a 305 m (1,000 ft) spherical reflector dish built into a natural sinkhole, with a cable-mount steerable receiver and several radar transmitters for emitting signals mounted 150 m (492 ft) above the dish. The complex took up a total of 118 acres in the mountains.

The design and construction phase for the observatory began in 1960. Three years later, on November 1st, 1963, the observatory officially opened. In 1969, the National Science Foundation assumed oversight of the structure from the Department of Defense.

Hmmmmmmmm. What was the department of defense doing here for 6 years ?

UPGRADES |

The telescope and dish were upgraded several times, following the facility's oversight from the DoD to the National Science Foundation on October 1, 1969, and subsequent renaming of the AIO to the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) in September 1971.

Originally, the surface of the dish consisted of half- inch galvanized wire mesh laid directly on the support cables. In 1973, a high-precision surface consisting of 38,000 individually adjustable aluminum panels replaced it. This changed the maximum operating frequency ten fold. From 500MHz to 5000MHz.

The biggest upgrade to the observatory came in 1997. When a new kind of reflector system was installed, which allowed for the installation of better receivers. After it was all said and done, the Arecibo Observatory was the most flexible and covered the most megahertz range in the world.

It didn’t come easily though, the additional instrumentation added 270 tons of weight to the platform, which prompted the addition of six support cables, two for each tower.

The Astronomical Sciences and Atmospheric Sciences divisions of the NSF had financially supported Arecibo since its completion in the 1970s, with incremental support by NASA, for operating the planetary radar. Between 2001 and 2006, NASA decreased, then eliminated, its support of the planetary radar.

A November 2006 report by the Astronomical Sciences division recommended substantially decreased astronomy funding for the Arecibo Observatory, from US$10.5 million in 2007 to US$4.0 million in 2011. The report further stated that if other sources of funding could not be found, closure of the Observatory was recommended.

RESEARCH AND DISCOVERIES |

Since its inception, the Arecibo Observatory has been instrumental in a lot of ways.

Scientists used it to determine the actual rotation period of Mercury. It wasn’t 88 days, as formerly thought, but only 59 days.

In 1968, they discovered the periodicity of the Crab Pulsar, which was the first solid evidence that neutron stars exist.

In 1974, another team discovered the first binary pulsar, an accomplishment for which they received the Nobel Prize in Physics.

In the same year, scientists sent out the Arecibo Message. Which was an attempt to communicate with potential extraterrestrial life, it was transmitted from the radio telescope toward the globular cluster Messier 13, about 25,000 light-years away. The 1,679 bit pattern of 1s and 0s defined a 23 by 73 pixel bitmap image that included numbers, stick figures, chemical formulas and a crude image of the telescope.

In 1980, Arecibo made the first radar observation of a comet, and in 1989, the observatory directly imaged an asteroid for the first time in history.

It also led to the discovery of the first exoplanets. Which was a pretty big damn deal if you ask me.
Not to mention that the Department of Defense did eventually figure out a use for the observatory as well. It aided in locating Soviet radar installations by detecting their signals bouncing off the Moon. Seriously, what the fuuuuuuuuu

In popular culture, perhaps because it is an absolutely incredible and eye catching structure, the telescope was featured in many movies, like GoldenEye, Species, and Contact.

AND I KNOW, you have been waiting, you , yeah you, for me to mention the Battlefield 4 map. Strangely enough the physics of the game are pretty damn close to what actually happened.

2020 |
What now ? |