The Arecibo Observatory is an iconic setting. Located in Puerto Rico, this National Science Foundation (NSF) observatory was the largest radio telescope in the world between 1963 and 2016. While that honor now goes to the Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in China, Arecibo will be recognized forever his contributions to everything from radio astronomy to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI).
Unfortunately, the Arecibo Observatory suffered serious damage when on Monday, August 10, an auxiliary table supporting the platform hung above the telescopic reflector shell. The cable struck the Gregorian dome (located at the bottom of the platform) before landing on the reflector dish, which made a hole more than 30 meters (100 feet) in length and forced the observatory to temporarily stop operations.
While it remains unclear why the cable broke, information on the timing and the resulting damage has been released. According to a statement from the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC), the incident occurred at 02.45 local time (11:45 PDT) when a 7.62 cm (3-inch) cable broke and fell. The cable struck 6 to 8 panels in the Gregorian dome and rotated the access platform before reaching the reflecting dish.
This dome is where the Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA) multi-beam receiver is, a seven feed system that allows large-scale radio surveys of the sky to be performed. In response to the incident, operations at the observatory have been halted and the science and visitor center has been closed until a team of engineers can assess the cause of broken cable and make repairs effective.
Said Francisco Cordova, the director of the observatory, in a recent NAIC press release:
“We have a team of experts who assess the situation. Our focus is on ensuring the safety of our personnel, protecting the facilities and equipment, and restoring the facility as soon as possible after full operations so that it can continue to support scientists around the world. ”
Not only is Puerto Rico in the ‘hurricane zone’, but it also sits atop a tectonically active region. As a result, the Arecibo Observatory has maintained many hurricanes, tropical storms and earthquakes throughout its more than fifty years of history. Hurricane Maria, which caused extensive damage to the island in 2017, also damaged the observatory – whose repairs are not yet complete.
Nevertheless, the facility remained fully operational and continued to contribute to major breakthroughs in astronomy and cosmology. This includes confirmation of the existence of neutron stars, the discovery of the first binary pulsar, the first millisecond pulsar, the first exoplanets, and the characterization of asteroids and planets in the solar system.
In addition, the facility has also played an important role in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) and even Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence (METI) – aka. “Active SET”. In addition to providing the source data for [email protected] ad the SETI Institute’s Project Pheonix, Arecibo is also one of the few facilities in the world to actively send an encrypted message to space intended for aliens.
This became known as the Arecibo Message, an image of 1,679 bit binary patterns that was sent out in 1974 in the direction of the M13 sphere (21,000 light-years away). It included figures, chemical formulas, and a visual representation of the human form and where the message was sent. The message was created by famous scientists Frank Drake and Carl Sagan and remains the most powerful signal ever sent into space.
The University of Central Florida (UCF) manages the observatory under a collaboration agreement with Universidad Ana G. Méndez (UAGM) and Yang Enterprises, Inc. (YEI). At present, Arecibo is also home to the research group led by the Planetary Radar Project, an initiative that tracks and characterizes near-Earth objects (NEOs). This project is supported by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations Program, which is part of the NASA Planet for Planet Coordination.
If there is one thing that people can agree on in these very divided times, it is that the Arecibo Observatory deserves a speedy recovery. She is an old observatory, but still a premiere, and she still has many years of life left in her!
Continue reading: NAIC
