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First entry: Friday, November 20, 2020, 00:11
The famous Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico, which is in danger of collapsing due to the breakage of two support cables, is about to be dismantled after completing 57 years of “service,” the National Institute of American Sciences announced Thursday.
This decision is considered a serious blow to the entire astronomical community around the world.
Two cables holding the platform, weighing 900 tons, on a giant plate 305 meters in diameter, broke on August 10 and November 6.
Engineers fear that the other cables that hold the instruments to three reinforced concrete towers could be cut at any moment. That is why any attempt to repair the damage is considered extremely dangerous.
The telescope, one of the largest in the world, has been the tool through which many scientific discoveries have been made over the years.
The priority is “the safety of the Arecibo Observatory workers, staff and visitors,” and that “makes this decision necessary, albeit sad,” said Sethuraman Pansanathan, director of the National Science Foundation.
On Twitter, under the hashtag “WhatAreciboMeansToMe” (“What Arecibo means to me”), dozens of professional and amateur astronomers left messages of sadness and nostalgia for this “friend” who accompanied them for decades and helped them in their discoveries and observation. of the universe.
“It is not a simple telescope, that is why I became an astronomer,” wrote the Puerto Rican Kevin Ortiz Sebagios.
“My heart broke,” wrote Karen Masters, an astronomy professor at Hoverford College in Pennsylvania, accompanied by a photo of her posing with her baby near the telescope plate in 2008.
Arecibo also had his honors in the cinema: he appears in the film “James Bond, Operation Golden Eyes” while in the film “Contact” Jodi Foster uses him in her search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
The engineers who examined it found that the cables were not as strong as they thought and recommended their “controlled demolition”. The Foundation accepted it.
Sources: AMPE, AFP, Reuters
