Talk:Arecibo Observatory

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how expensive was that? --Abdull 23:09, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Contents 1 Single Dish 2 The Receiver 3 First radar-imiaged asteroid? 4 Location of observatory 5 Design History

[edit] Single Dish

I know what you mean by "largest single-dish", but I could also poke a hole in this wording. First, I know that you mean that there are larger ones made up of multiple "small" (by Arecibo size) dishes. But Arecibo itself is made up of multiple reflector dishes before the electromagnetic signal makes it to the instrumentation. I'm just letting you know that this should be taken in to account in the wording. Val42 02:49, 27 October 2005 (UTC)

1. None of the multiple "small" dish telescopes are larger than Arecibo.

2. 'Single dish' in telescope design refers to there being a single primary reflector, regardless of the number of reflectors in the optical path. User:Robminchin 06:44, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Receiver

"The receiver is located on a 900-ton platform...". Is this correct? It seems a bit excessive to me even for a telescope of this size. Peter Resch 02:33, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

I quickly Googled this, finding the following page that confirms the statement: http://www.naic.edu/public/the_telescope.htm. btm 03:59, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] First radar-imiaged asteroid?

When following the link to the NASA website it credited the 1989 discovery of this asteroid to a Mount Palomar photgraphic plate. Which is correct, I wonder?

The radar imaging of the asteroid was not its discovery, the asteroid had to first be discovered so Arecibo knew where to point to image it.

[edit] Location of observatory

Does anyone know whether or not the observatory is actually located in Arecibo? Looking at the map it looks like it may be in Utuado or possibly even Hatillo instead. Tomer^talk 18:34, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Their website at [1] gives the postal address as being in Arecibo: Arecibo Observatory, HC03 Box 53995, Arecibo, Puerto Rico 00612. Iancaddy 08:10, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Design History

I would like to add to the history of the Antenna design. The following was written by Helias Doundoulakis, and he would like comments and suggestions on the writing and the citations. He still has the original invitaion to propose, original design drawings, and Patent.

This would be inserted in the Design and architecture section of the Arecibo Observatory

The following paragraph would be inserted after the fifth sentence that ends with "1959."

Cornell University sent proposal invitations to prominent antenna design companies asking for a scheme to support a feed moving along a spherical surface 435 feet above the stationary reflector. The invitation suggested a tripod or a tower in the center to support the feed. George Doundoulakis, director of research for the antenna design company General Bronze Corp in Garden City, N.Y. received the invitation from Cornell and studied it with his brother, Helias Doundoulakis, a civil engineer. The Doundoulakis brothers rejected the suggestions of using a tripod (the cost would certainly exceed the $12 million budget for a tripod which would be 700 ft high and spanning 1200 ft at the base) or a single tower in the middle of the stationary reflector (which would restrict the feed from going in the center). The two brothers thought of a cheaper way to suspend the feed, and finally designed the cable suspension system that was used in final construction. At the initial presentation, the examining board was so impressed with the suspension system idea and the model the Doundoulakis brothers had made that they extended the presentation time to 3.5 hours, compared to an hour given to the other companies. The final design utilized the suspension system as proposed, but Cornell chose to use three towers as opposed to the original design that used four towers. The original four tower system would have been stronger and could have held the feed steadier. U.S. Patent office granted Helias Doundoulakis patent No. 3,273,156 on Sept. 13, 1966 with the title “Radio Telescope having a scanning feed supported by a cable suspension over a stationary reflector”. Cornell University has yet to credit the original designers of the suspension system. Helias doundoulakis 16:47, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Heliasjd (talk • contribs) 16:47, 15 February 2007 (UTC).

This would require citations and revision to be in accordance with WP:NPOV before it could be included. Michaelbusch 19:13, 15 February 2007 (UTC)