AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Arecibo telescope pulsar images12/10/2023 The observatory overall can resume some science activities fairly quickly. ![]() The grand design isn't the only option the NSF will contemplate when it decides what to do with the telescope's legacy. "That is certainly one long-term possibility, there are many others, and also near-term projects that could bridge the gap while a potential large project is being designed." ![]() "NSF is committed to participating in this future development but is not restricting the ideas to the construction of a new telescope," the document noted. (Right now, the NSF has plenty on its hands just to ensure safety at the site and clean up the debris, a process the agency in March estimated would require about $50 million.)ĭuring the workshop, then, the agency focused on broader consideration of the site's future. "For this workshop, however, our main goal is to explore a broad range of options, for the short-, medium- and long-term, which should engage all segments of the community and may be complementary." "There is no current plan to build a new radio telescope, although this is certainly an idea worthy of discussion," workshop leaders wrote in a document describing the process. The workshop didn't allocate any funding and wasn't meant to result in selected projects. Officials have emphasized that Arecibo will continue to exist, but the agency has not committed to rebuilding the telescope as it stood, or to supporting a new project at similar scale. ![]() National Science Foundation (NSF), which owns the site, held a virtual workshop throughout June to explore options for Arecibo Observatory writ large. (Image credit: UCF) Institutional optionsīut there's only so much more that scientists can do on their own, before any institutions step up to fund work on the project. "We have hundreds of scientists right now that are scrambling to find another telescope that will be able to give them the data they need to continue their projects."Ī close up of the damage from the Arecibo Observatory telescope collapse on Dec. "Arecibo left a really big hole," he said. Now, the scientists behind the new concept are trying to keep the momentum going in order to try to accelerate the rebuilding process, Arecibo Observatory Director Francisco Cordova, another white paper co-author, told. We're working, we're making progress,'" Pinilla-Alonso said. "It was not so long that it took me to pass from the feeling of sadness, of frustration, to the feeling of, 'We're doing something good. In part, that's because the process was a salve for scientists with close ties to and strong feelings for the observatory. The design came together within just two months of the collapse. "That was a result of someone thinking bold and big 60 years ago." Pinilla-Alonso, who is also a planetary scientist at the University of Central Florida, which manages the observatory, is one of dozens of co-authors on the design concept. "We had to think bold and we had to think big, because you don't inspire the next generations and you don't serve the next generations if you just want to do what you were doing," Noemí Pinilla-Alonso, deputy principal scientist at Arecibo Observatory, told. But the project was meant to paint a picture of what the next 60 years of science at Arecibo could perhaps look like - if institutions are willing to show up for the facility, and to do so with ambition. ![]() Right now, scientists aren't even sure this particular design can be built. The design, dubbed the Next Generation Arecibo Telescope, is perhaps better approached as a statement than a blueprint.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |