A poke in the eye with a sharp antenna

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Econoline
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A poke in the eye with a sharp antenna

Post by Econoline »

Maria has knocked out the most sensitive--and by far the most well known and iconic--radio telescope in the world, the one at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico:
  • By Nadia Drake
    PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 22, 2017

    [This story was updated at 4:30 p.m. ET on September 22.]

    Staff at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico are safe, but the storm destroyed a key instrument, and conditions in surrounding towns are still unknown.

    After a tense 36 hours, scientists and ham radio operators have confirmed that the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico—arguably the world’s most iconic radio telescope, which has a dish stretching a thousand feet across—has come through Hurricane Maria mostly intact, but with some significant damage.

    More importantly, the observatory’s staff sheltering on-site are safe.

    Though the initial reports are reliable, it will take a while for teams to reach the site and assess the extent of the hurricane’s impact, which includes the loss of a smaller, 12-meter dish as well as substantial damage to the main dish.

    The information comes from Arecibo telescope operator Ángel Vazquez, who managed to get to the site and communicate via short-wave radio in the early evening of September 21.

    Because of the storm, a 96-foot line feed antenna—which helps focus, receive, and transmit radio waves—broke in half and fell about 500 feet into the huge dish below, puncturing it in several places, says Pennsylvania State University’s Jim Breakall, who talked with Vazquez.

    A fixture of the observatory since 1966, that line feed weighs about ten thousand pounds and is easily visible in images of the telescope as the pointy thing hanging off the platform. It was once used to detect mountains on the surface of Venus, and it is still crucial for studies of the part of Earth's atmosphere called the ionosphere, says former observatory director Frank Drake, who is also my dad.

    “It allows the Arecibo telescope to achieve the most sensitivity of any radar telescope in the world,” Drake says, noting that it’s not clear how much time or money could be needed for repairs. “The end result is that the telescope will not be fully operative for some time at all wavelengths.”

    On September 20, Hurricane Maria came ashore as a Category 4 storm and traversed Puerto Rico, flooding towns, toppling bridges, demolishing buildings and blasting the island with winds exceeding 150 miles an hour.

    Even now, nearly 48 hours after Maria went through, reports from many parts of the island are devastatingly sparse. Electricity is nonexistent, phone lines are mostly down, and roads are blocked, complicating both communications and rescue operations.

    As it exited the island, Maria’s eye passed within miles of the seaside town of Arecibo—and the giant radio telescope, which is nestled in a sinkhole to the south, set among a bubbling landscape of forested mountains.

    Arecibo’s staff had begun hurricane preparations at least a day before, but around 11 p.m. on September 19, power and on-site communications went out. A website keeping track of wind speeds went offline, and though staff promised to continue communicating over cell phones for as long as possible, by 8 a.m. the next day, power and phone lines had gone out, too.

    Then, there was nothing but eerie silence for more than 24 hours.

    Vazquez, who sheltered at home as the storm passed through, was at last able to make it to the observatory via one access road, check in with the staff there, and relay information to anxious colleagues on the mainland.

    “Great news! [Princeton University professor] Joe Taylor talked to Angel Vazquez, who made contact with the observatory via ham radio. Everybody there is safe and sound,” reported Arecibo deputy director Joan Schmelz.

    However, it’s not yet clear how staff who weathered the storm in town are doing, or what conditions are like for local communities. Reports suggest that the road up to the facility is covered in debris and is largely inaccessible.

    Still, according to the National Science Foundation, which funds the majority of the telescope’s operations, the observatory is well stocked with food, well water, and fuel for generators. As of Thursday night, there are enough supplies for the staff hunkered down there to survive for at least a week, although Vazquez reports that it’s not clear how long the generators will be working.

    “As soon as the roads are physically passable, a team will try to get up to the observatory,” the NSF statement says.

    Because of its deep water well and generator, the observatory has been a place for those in nearby towns to gather, shower, and cook after past hurricanes. It also has an on-site helicopter landing pad, so making sure the facility is safe in general is not just of scientific importance, but is also relevant for local relief efforts.

    Built in 1963, the Arecibo Observatory has become a cultural icon, known both for its size and for its science. For most of its 54-year existence, Arecibo was the largest radio telescope in the world, but in 2016, a Chinese telescope called FAST—with a dish measuring 1,600 feet across—surpassed Arecibo in size, although it’s not yet fully operational.

    The observatory was originally designed for national defense during the Cold War, when the U.S. wanted to see if it could detect Soviet satellites (and maybe missiles and bombs) based on how they alter the portion of Earth’s atmosphere called the ionosphere. Later, the telescope became instrumental in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) programs and in other aspects of radio astronomy.

    Here are some of the significant science highlights from the Arecibo Observatory over the years.
    • In 1964, astronomers used the telescope to determine the planet Mercury’s rotation period, which proved to be much more complex than imagined.
    • In 1974, the telescope provided the first indirect observation of gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of spacetime, which in that case were produced by a pair of pulsars orbiting one another. The observation earned Joe Taylor the 1993 Nobel prize in physics.
    • Also in 1974, SETI astronomer Frank Drake (my dad) beamed the “Arecibo Message” toward a star cluster in the constellation Hercules.
    • The first detection of planets outside our solar system came in 1992, when Alex Wolszczan used the telescope to find these alien worlds orbiting a pulsar.
    • In 2014, astronomers at the observatory detected the first fast radio burst spotted from the Northern Hemisphere. Subsequent observations revealed repeating blasts of radio waves from the same source, an oddity that may help astronomers understand the origins of these mysterious cosmic events.
    • The telescope continues to participate in numerous searches for radio signals from extraterrestrial civilizations as part of various SETI programs—including UC Berkeley’s popular SETI@home project.
      Arecibo continues to help characterize potentially dangerous asteroids that cross Earth’s orbit.
    • Current work at the facility also monitors an array of pulsars in an attempt detect more gravitational waves, this time produced by colliding supermassive black holes.
    • In addition to its scientific value, the Arecibo Observatory is a popular tourist destination, and it has been featured in the movies Contact and GoldenEye and the TV show The X-Files, among others. It also provides a much-needed source of income for local communities, who benefit from staff jobs at the facility as well as its tourist draw, which sees more than a hundred thousand visitors come by each year.
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Guinevere
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Re: A poke in the eye with a sharp antenna

Post by Guinevere »

Areceibo is definitely on the list for my next visit to PR.

Assuming they are ready, I think will go back next year, instead of Paris and the south of France, since the county will really need tourist dollars to help rebuild.
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Gob
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Re: A poke in the eye with a sharp antenna

Post by Gob »

Maria has knocked out the most sensitive--and by far the most well known and iconic--radio telescope in the world,
Ermm..... Jodrell Bank ...The Parkes Observatory..... the VLA
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Guinevere
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Re: A poke in the eye with a sharp antenna

Post by Guinevere »

Never heard of it....
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

Big RR
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Re: A poke in the eye with a sharp antenna

Post by Big RR »

guin--if you are in PR definitely go to the observatory--as I recall it is open a few days a week for tours and is pretty impressive. If you do go to PR, let me know and I can give you a few other things to see there off the beaten track, especially on the Caribbean side of the island, there's a lot of history and some very interesting natural attractions.

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Guinevere
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Re: A poke in the eye with a sharp antenna

Post by Guinevere »

Thanks BigRR I will take you up on that offer. My plan is to be based in Rincon for next trip, and have a car. Although right now I don't think that's happening for a bit. Every day the news coming from the Island seems more discouraging and sad.

I am soooooooo frustrated that Congress is spending their time and energy on a stupid healthcare repeal when our citizens are in desperate need. Enraged that they won't even take up a Puerto Rico aid package until October, nor will the Jones Act get waived -- even though it got waived for Texas and Florida.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

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RayThom
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A poke up the ass

Post by RayThom »

I saw this headline earlier last night. ""Trump Will Visit Puerto Rico To "Survey Damage" As Locals Plead For Aid: "We Are Americans Too""

Drumpf will visit some time later next week to ensure the rally will be one of the largest to greet a standing POTUS -- ever. Many cases of bottled water and beef jerky will be given out for free along with discounted MAGA visor hats. "It will be 'yuge' he said -- those island hombres love me."

It has been rumored that he will also talk with a group from the United States Army Corps of Engineers to begin preliminary preparations for the construction of a floating wall to protect the PR citizens from pirates and other high seas looters.
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Big RR
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Re: A poke in the eye with a sharp antenna

Post by Big RR »

guin--aid appears to be trickling in, but they do need a lot more; heopefully Trump's visit (as self promoting as it will be) will trigger something. As for the Jones Act, refusing to temporarily waive it is ridiculous gven the vast need for supplies; the administration has said it would not do so because the ports are too damaged to accept additional ships, but that sounds like a crock.

FWIW, my wife has two elderly aunts (in their 80s) who live together there in a fairly rural area not far from Rincon; as of this morning we have not heard anything about them. They do not have children, and most of their younger relatives (nieces and nephews) have left to come to the US, the other family members left are almost as old as they are and live a good distance away. They have lived in the same house (well, in the 80s they had it remade in concrete and to add indoor plumbing), so they will have neighbors to look in on them, and they are in pretty good shape and fairly resilient (and have lived through a number of big hurricanes), but neither the Red Cross nor the government reporting agency has any information on them, and I think there are many others in the same position. the island is a jumble of single lane roads leading up and down mountains that will have to be cleared before these folks can be reached, and who knows how long that will take. There is no cell service, and most of the phone lines are down--all we (and they) can do is wait.

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Guinevere
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Re: A poke in the eye with a sharp antenna

Post by Guinevere »

I hope they are OK, BigRR. Until roads and cleared/repaired and phone lines or cell service restored, there is still a lot of information missing. Have you seen the posts making the rounds on FB this morning about hotlines for relatives in certain communities? If not, I can send it to you.

So far, all the families of my friends here have been accounted for and are safe, and we are all grateful. I truly hope for the same outcome for your family members.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

Big RR
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Re: A poke in the eye with a sharp antenna

Post by Big RR »

Happily, yesterday we heard from one of their neighbors who found cell service that they are ok as is their home (where they are still living). There's no electricity or other utilities, and they have to collect and boil water, but they're doing OK for women in the 80s (as I had hoped they would be). The roads are being cleared by a combination of people in the neighborhood and the national guard, but I imagine it will be some time before electricity/phone service is restored and we can talk to them. For now we are just happy to hear they're doing well.

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Guinevere
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Re: A poke in the eye with a sharp antenna

Post by Guinevere »

I'm so glad!
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

Big RR
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Re: A poke in the eye with a sharp antenna

Post by Big RR »

thanks; we are as well.

ETA: It looks like the Jones Act was just temporarily waived. Should make the movement of good into PR easier.

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