Arecibo in the News

Tuesday April 05, 2005 Category: Research Permanent Link

Good news from Washington: the National Science Foundation has extended Cornell’s contract to operate the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, the world’s largest radio telescope.

The 1,000-foot-diameter (305 meters) Arecibo telescope was completed in 1963 at the initiative of Cornell electrical engineering professor William E. Gordon.The center provides access to state-of-the-art observing facilities at Arecibo for scientists in radio astronomy, solar system radar astronomy and atmospheric studies.

Under NAIC management over the past 34 years, the telescope has recorded many scientific discoveries, including the first planets beyond the solar system, the first millisecond and binary pulsars, and lakes of hydrocarbons on Saturn’s moon Titan. Arecibo researchers also have mapped ice deposits on Mercury.

To learn more about the observatory, visit the website of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center.