Observatory has long history of achievement
Arecibo facts
- Arecibo Observatory was built in 1963 by the
U.S. Air Force under the initiative of Professor
William Gordon and his colleagues at Cornell. It was
primarily intended for radar studies of the Earth's ionosphere,
but it was realized that the telescope would be a
very significant new instrument for the then relatively
new fields of radio and radar astronomy. In addition to
its astronomical observations, it is still used for
atmospheric and ionospheric studies. It has been managed
by Cornell since its construction, first for the Air Force
and, after 1970, for the National Science Foundation.
- With a fixed spherical reflector dish and
a steerable feed system, the observatory was
upgraded in the 1970s shortly after Cornell began operating
it for the NSF. An improved surface and high-power solar system radar were added. This upgrade
was funded by the NSF, with NASA contributing the funds for the radar transmitter.
- The reflector dish is 1,000 feet in diameter
(305 meters), as big as 26 football fields. Its surface is
made of 38,800 reflective aluminum panels. The
ground
screen is 50 feet high surrounding the perimeter of
the primary antenna, the reflector dish. It has an area
of about 16,000 square meters, the size of five
football fields. The screen reduces radio noise emitted by
the ground that gets into the receiver systems.
Arecibo accomplishments
- The first planets outside the solar system
were discovered around a pulsar.
- One of its first accomplishments: Establishing
the rotation rate of Mercury, which turned out to be 59
days rather than the previously suspected 88 days (1965).
- The first pulsar in a binary system was
discovered, leading to important confirmation of Einstein's
theory of general relativity and a Nobel Prize for Russell
Hulse and Joseph Taylor of Princeton University.
- Investigation of ice in craters at the polar regions
of the planet Mercury with the radar system.
- Provided much of our pre-Magellan mission
knowledge of the surface of Venus via 1.5 km (1
mile) resolution imagery of the surface through the
planet's cloud cover using the radar system.
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