What We Lost When the Arecibo Observatory Collapsed

The Arecibo telescope, an icon in radio astronomy, has collapsed. Here's the legacy it leaves behind.
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The destruction of this iconic observatory was due to multiple cable malfunctions. The National Science Foundation hasn’t given any further details about the fall, but we do know that at the beginning of November 2020 they’d actually been discussing plans to safely decommission the observatory by gently lowering the central platform. But unfortunately, nature had other plans. Luckily, no one was harmed in the collapse of the observatory, but sadly this ends an era of space exploration.

The initial idea for Arecibo actually started in the 1950s by Professor William Gordon from Cornell University. Gordon had the desire to study the ionosphere, which is the layer of our Earth’s atmosphere that can reflect radio waves. The funding for this revolutionary project came from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA in 1959, when Cornell University signed a contract to conduct development studies centered around large-scale radar probes. Four years later in 1963, construction was completed in the limestone hills of Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

The completed project featured a 817-metric-ton equipment platform, which was suspended over 152 meters above its massive 305 meter spherical reflector. Making it the world’s largest single radio telescope. Well, until 2016 when China developed its own single radio telescope called the Five-Hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope or FAST.


Read More:

Arecibo Observatory Telescope Collapses, Ending Era Of World-Class Research
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/01/940767001/arecibo-observatory-telescope-collapses-ending-an-era-of-world-class-research
"Arecibo's 900-ton equipment platform, suspended some 500 feet above the dish, fell overnight after the last of its healthy support cables failed to keep it in place."

Arecibo telescope collapses, ending 57-year run
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/12/arecibo-telescope-collapses-ending-57-year-run
"'I feel sick in my stomach,' Lugo says, fighting back tears. '“Truthfully, it was a lot of hard work by a lot of people trying to restore this facility. It’s disappointing we weren’t successful. It’s really a hard morning.'"

Why losing Arecibo is a big deal for astronomy
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/arecibo-telescope-collapse-loss-big-deal-astronomy-video
"Arecibo’s observing days may be over, but that doesn’t mean data from the telescope won’t make any more contributions to science, Schmelz says. Some of radio astronomy’s most exciting discoveries have emerged from the reanalysis of old telescope data."

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