Arecibo Radio Telescope Suffers Damage To Dish

[Ethel mermania]

No funding so it wont be repaired. Decommission time. Poor giant radio telescope you had a long life.

Look I made a couple of calls over that thing. I may want to call that girl again. I need it fixed.

[La Paz de Los Ricos]

Oh, absolutely. Looking at those images of the snapped end of the wire made me cringe. That would instantly take out anybody it strikes. It is fortunate nobody was in its way.



I doubt it'll go through, not without a fight, at least.

That instrument seems far too valuable to simply allow the government to uproot. Especially with the constant maintenance and usage she's seeing.

G&D is just screwing with you. It will get fixed. Its funding system is complicated, being it is funded by a combination of the NSF, NASA, University of Central Florida, Ana G. Méndez University, and the Government of Puerto Rico.
So while this creates issues, in that the funding comes from many different sources, even if one drops out the others can fill in.

Can't believe I fell for this lmao

[Nobel Hobos 2]

My understanding of radio telescopes is that they don't really need a continuous surface. Only that whatever surface they have is oriented properly.

I'm sure someone has suggested this already, but ... they have tried turning it off and turning it back on again?

[La Paz de Los Ricos]

My understanding of radio telescopes is that they don't really need a continuous surface. Only that whatever surface they have is oriented properly.

I'm sure someone has suggested this already, but ... they have tried turning it off and turning it back on again?

- https://public.nrao.edu/telescopes/radio-telescopes/

I got curious and checked this site out. It does mention that it is very important that any surface the telescope has should be as perfect as possible, else smaller radio signals risk getting scattered. It never says anything about a continuous surface being a necessity, however.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

My understanding of radio telescopes is that they don't really need a continuous surface. Only that whatever surface they have is oriented properly.

I'm sure someone has suggested this already, but ... they have tried turning it off and turning it back on again?

- https://public.nrao.edu/telescopes/radio-telescopes/

I got curious and checked this site out. It does mention that it is very important that any surface the telescope has should be as perfect as possible, else smaller radio signals risk getting scattered. It never says anything about a continuous surface being a necessity, however.

This particular telescope is non-steerable and spherical (rather than parabolic) so it's always been compromised in its resolution. If it was the same size but steerable, it could also be parabolic, and would have been far more awesome from the start. Or if it had been built parabolic, but that would mean it could only see straight up and a few degrees to either side.

Sheer size does count for something though. It can see very dim sources (being in a quiet area helps too).

Anyway, with a hole in it I think it would still be nearly as "bright" a telescope. And the resolution wouldn't be much worse if they just flatten out or cut off any bent edges. Maybe some radio-absorbing matting on the ground under the hole ... I don't know if dirt reflects radio waves or not.

[Greed and Death]

No funding so it wont be repaired. Decommission time. Poor giant radio telescope you had a long life.

Look I made a couple of calls over that thing. I may want to call that girl again. I need it fixed.

And here you thought your tentacle fetish would never contribute anything to science.

[Ethel mermania]

Look I made a couple of calls over that thing. I may want to call that girl again. I need it fixed.

And here you thought your tentacle fetish would never contribute anything to science.

its the green babes I got a thing for. Space girls are easy.

[Alvecia]

- https://public.nrao.edu/telescopes/radio-telescopes/

I got curious and checked this site out. It does mention that it is very important that any surface the telescope has should be as perfect as possible, else smaller radio signals risk getting scattered. It never says anything about a continuous surface being a necessity, however.

This particular telescope is non-steerable and spherical (rather than parabolic) so it's always been compromised in its resolution. If it was the same size but steerable, it could also be parabolic, and would have been far more awesome from the start. Or if it had been built parabolic, but that would mean it could only see straight up and a few degrees to either side.

Sheer size does count for something though. It can see very dim sources (being in a quiet area helps too).

Anyway, with a hole in it I think it would still be nearly as "bright" a telescope. And the resolution wouldn't be much worse if they just flatten out or cut off any bent edges. Maybe some radio-absorbing matting on the ground under the hole ... I don't know if dirt reflects radio waves or not.

I remember seeing somewhere that in this instance the damage to the dish doesn't necessarily mean that it's unusable, as the remainder can still take images (or whatever it does), just rather compromised and/or lower quality.
However there was some actual damage to the systems that control the operations which itself does render the telescope unusable for the time being.

My ignorance of the inner workings of this particular telescope is on full display here.

[Heloin]

- https://public.nrao.edu/telescopes/radio-telescopes/

I got curious and checked this site out. It does mention that it is very important that any surface the telescope has should be as perfect as possible, else smaller radio signals risk getting scattered. It never says anything about a continuous surface being a necessity, however.

This particular telescope is non-steerable and spherical (rather than parabolic) so it's always been compromised in its resolution. If it was the same size but steerable, it could also be parabolic, and would have been far more awesome from the start. Or if it had been built parabolic, but that would mean it could only see straight up and a few degrees to either side.

Sheer size does count for something though. It can see very dim sources (being in a quiet area helps too).

Anyway, with a hole in it I think it would still be nearly as "bright" a telescope. And the resolution wouldn't be much worse if they just flatten out or cut off any bent edges. Maybe some radio-absorbing matting on the ground under the hole ... I don't know if dirt reflects radio waves or not.

The damage to the dish isn't the part that's really important, it's just more photogenic. It's relatively easy to fix, and technically the telescope can be used even without fixing it just you'd want to fix it in case of other damages to the dish in the future. The real damage that makes this serous is that done to the telescope suspended over the dish, that's why this is serious.

[La Paz de Los Ricos]

This particular telescope is non-steerable and spherical (rather than parabolic) so it's always been compromised in its resolution. If it was the same size but steerable, it could also be parabolic, and would have been far more awesome from the start. Or if it had been built parabolic, but that would mean it could only see straight up and a few degrees to either side.

Sheer size does count for something though. It can see very dim sources (being in a quiet area helps too).

Anyway, with a hole in it I think it would still be nearly as "bright" a telescope. And the resolution wouldn't be much worse if they just flatten out or cut off any bent edges. Maybe some radio-absorbing matting on the ground under the hole ... I don't know if dirt reflects radio waves or not.

I remember seeing somewhere that in this instance the damage to the dish doesn't necessarily mean that it's unusable, as the remainder can still take images (or whatever it does), just rather compromised and/or lower quality.
However there was some actual damage to the systems that control the operations which itself does render the telescope unusable for the time being.

My ignorance of the inner workings of this particular telescope is on full display here.

The report does mention that the Gregorian dome which houses most of the Observatory's instruments was slightly damaged. This likely means the instruments inside needed to be powered down in order for appropriate repairs to be conducted on the outside of the dome.

[Rio Cana]

NOOOOOOOOoooooooo.......

How are the aliens going to send us valuable biological data now?

China. They built the largest radio telescope a few years ago. Read - https://www.space.com/33357-china-large ... -life.html

[La Paz de Los Ricos]

This particular telescope is non-steerable and spherical (rather than parabolic) so it's always been compromised in its resolution. If it was the same size but steerable, it could also be parabolic, and would have been far more awesome from the start. Or if it had been built parabolic, but that would mean it could only see straight up and a few degrees to either side.

Sheer size does count for something though. It can see very dim sources (being in a quiet area helps too).

Anyway, with a hole in it I think it would still be nearly as "bright" a telescope. And the resolution wouldn't be much worse if they just flatten out or cut off any bent edges. Maybe some radio-absorbing matting on the ground under the hole ... I don't know if dirt reflects radio waves or not.

The damage to the dish isn't the part that's really important, it's just more photogenic. It's relatively easy to fix, and technically the telescope can be used even without fixing it just you'd want to fix it in case of other damages to the dish in the future. The real damage that makes this serous is that done to the telescope suspended over the dish, that's why this is serious.

I linked this image in a previous post, but I neglected to highlight a detail.

There seems to be a noticeable gash in the side of the Gregorian dome, to the left of the dangling wire. That likely was the damage you are referring to, and the main reason why the telescope was powered down.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

This particular telescope is non-steerable and spherical (rather than parabolic) so it's always been compromised in its resolution. If it was the same size but steerable, it could also be parabolic, and would have been far more awesome from the start. Or if it had been built parabolic, but that would mean it could only see straight up and a few degrees to either side.

Sheer size does count for something though. It can see very dim sources (being in a quiet area helps too).

Anyway, with a hole in it I think it would still be nearly as "bright" a telescope. And the resolution wouldn't be much worse if they just flatten out or cut off any bent edges. Maybe some radio-absorbing matting on the ground under the hole ... I don't know if dirt reflects radio waves or not.

The damage to the dish isn't the part that's really important, it's just more photogenic. It's relatively easy to fix, and technically the telescope can be used even without fixing it just you'd want to fix it in case of other damages to the dish in the future. The real damage that makes this serous is that done to the telescope suspended over the dish, that's why this is serious.

Yeah, thanks for that. I guess the main dish should be patched up before the next hurricane, or it could get much worse.

And damage to the receiver (?) rules out my idea of just turning it on and seeing if it works. Electricity might make it worse.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

I assume the cable was under tension, and when it snapped it whiplashed and thus damaged the dish?

The facility has fallen into disrepair. As most of the island, infrastructure is ailing and the numerous earthquakes PR has had since late December have exacerbated an ongoing issue. The university has suffered too many cutbacks, corruption is a huge thing (recently the FBI swooped in to arrest some prominent current administration members). There’s no money to patch roads, let alone give maintenance to the Arecibo Observatory.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

The damage to the dish isn't the part that's really important, it's just more photogenic. It's relatively easy to fix, and technically the telescope can be used even without fixing it just you'd want to fix it in case of other damages to the dish in the future. The real damage that makes this serous is that done to the telescope suspended over the dish, that's why this is serious.

Yeah, thanks for that. I guess the main dish should be patched up before the next hurricane, or it could get much worse.

And damage to the receiver (?) rules out my idea of just turning it on and seeing if it works. Electricity might make it worse.

The electric grid in PR is completely jacked. They often have power outages, even in normal days. Super fragile even before hurricane María. Currently, their electric company is merging with a Canadian private power company to see if they can correct ongoing issues. But as of now, rolling blackouts are common.

This issue compounds any repairs to the observatory.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

Yeah, thanks for that. I guess the main dish should be patched up before the next hurricane, or it could get much worse.

And damage to the receiver (?) rules out my idea of just turning it on and seeing if it works. Electricity might make it worse.

The electric grid in PR is completely jacked. They often have power outages, even in normal days. Super fragile even before hurricane María. Currently, their electric company is merging with a Canadian private power company to see if they can correct ongoing issues. But as of now, rolling blackouts are common.

This issue compounds any repairs to the observatory.

A science ghoul would say that everyone else's power being out was a good thing. Less noise

Hope the new contract for power works out for them though.