Aerial View of Arecibo Radio Telescope
Posted: December 14th, 2006, 5:09 pmLocation: South of Arecibo, Puerto Rico.
Fame: The world's largest curved focusing antenna.
- Reflector: (spherical, not parabolic) is 305m. (1000ft.) in diameter, and 51.4m. (167ft.) deep.
- Reflector Surface: consists of almost 40,000 perforated aluminum plates measuring approximately 1m. by 2m. each.
- Platform: the 900 ton steel structure which is supported 139m. (450ft.) above the reflector. The platform houses the Gregorian dome, as well as the mechanical equipment necessary to move the dome along the azimuth arm.
- Support: 3 guyed concrete towers (1 x 112m. (365ft.), 2 x 82m.(265ft.)). Each tower is back-guyed by seven 8.25cm. (3.25in.) diameter bridge cables, to concrete anchors in the ground.
- Receivers: operate immersed in a bath of helium, in order to maintain very low electron noise. The receivers operate in the frequency range of 50MHz (6m.) to 10GHz (3cm.)
- Transmitter: a 1MW transmitter, located inside the Gregorian dome, is used to bounce radar waves off of various objects in the solar system. The radar echoes are analyzed to provide information about the surface properties and dynamics of these objects.
Here is the Google Satellite Aerial View of Arecibo Radio Telescope
[GMap]http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=18.344505,-66.752597&spn=0.00499,0.008669&t=k&om=1[/GMap]
Fame: The world's largest curved focusing antenna.
- Reflector: (spherical, not parabolic) is 305m. (1000ft.) in diameter, and 51.4m. (167ft.) deep.
- Reflector Surface: consists of almost 40,000 perforated aluminum plates measuring approximately 1m. by 2m. each.
- Platform: the 900 ton steel structure which is supported 139m. (450ft.) above the reflector. The platform houses the Gregorian dome, as well as the mechanical equipment necessary to move the dome along the azimuth arm.
- Support: 3 guyed concrete towers (1 x 112m. (365ft.), 2 x 82m.(265ft.)). Each tower is back-guyed by seven 8.25cm. (3.25in.) diameter bridge cables, to concrete anchors in the ground.
- Receivers: operate immersed in a bath of helium, in order to maintain very low electron noise. The receivers operate in the frequency range of 50MHz (6m.) to 10GHz (3cm.)
- Transmitter: a 1MW transmitter, located inside the Gregorian dome, is used to bounce radar waves off of various objects in the solar system. The radar echoes are analyzed to provide information about the surface properties and dynamics of these objects.
Here is the Google Satellite Aerial View of Arecibo Radio Telescope
[GMap]http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=18.344505,-66.752597&spn=0.00499,0.008669&t=k&om=1[/GMap]