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APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Arecibo Telescope Collapse
Explanation: This was one great scientific instrument. Starting in 1963, the 305-meters across Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico USA reigned as the largest single-dish radio telescope in the world for over 50 years. Among numerous firsts and milestones, data from Arecibo has been used to measure the spin of Mercury , map the surface of Venus , discover the first planets outside of our Solar System, verify the existence of gravitational radiation , search for extraterrestrial intelligence , and, reportedly, locate hidden military radar by tracking their reflections from the Moon. In the process of being decommissioned , the Arecibo Telescope suffered a catastrophic structural collapse early this month, as seen in the featured composite video .
| Date | December 9, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Video Credit: Carlos Perez, Adrian Bague, Arecibo Observatory , NSF |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |