Arecibo Telescope may loose funding.

[bdewoody]

Just read this at Space.com. Could the seti institute pick up the tab for keeping arecibo open or is this telescope too limited to serve their purposes anymore? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em><font size="2">Bob DeWoody</font></em> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

I don't think the Seti Institute has those kind of resources.<br />How much have you donated <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> ?<br /><br />They have pretty much piggybacked to save money.<br />If Arecibo should go (which would be a real shame; it's really a unique record of the sky at depth), I would suspect resources will have to be put in new directions. <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[bdewoody]

I admit not much cash but I have donated thousands of hours on my home computer to run the setia@home project which has meant leaving my computer on basically all the time for the last 5 or 6 years. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em><font size="2">Bob DeWoody</font></em> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

Areceibo? Oh no! That's terrible news! Not only is it useful for SETI, but it's astoundingly valuable for radio astronomy -- including the amazing radar work it can do. It's got a heck of a transmitter. That's one area where I think it still beats the inferometers -- sheer wattage.<br /><br />What would it mean for the DSN? Can any other telescope still talk to the Voyagers? I know it was the last instrument to talk to Pioneer 10, because it was the only one capable. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[yevaud]

I read that and was profoundly dismayed. And then I read...<br /><br />Robert Kerr Named New Director at Arecibo<br /><br />[faint]<br /><br />Bob was my Undergrad Astronomy advisor at BU. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[hd1273]

Well, the upside to this, is that we have smaller, cheaper and far more sensitive radio telescopes today, and we also have interferometers, that can join small telescopes to produce better resolution. Some of these instruments are more sensitive than Hubble. <br /><br />I certainly hope it is preserved, it should be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

[dragon04]

The Seti Institute is invested in the Allen Array.<br /><br />But the ATA is not an Arecibo replacement. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>"2012.. Year of the Dragon!! Get on the Dragon Wagon!".</em> </div>

 

[dragon04]

<font color="yellow">Well, the upside to this, is that we have smaller, cheaper and far more sensitive radio telescopes today</font><br /><br />With a caveat, I might add. Arecibo has unrivaled sensitivity and resolution in the higher frequency ranges.<br /><br />The 100m Robert C, Byrd Telescope at Green Bank, West Virginia for example is better at some things than Arecibo.<br /><br />But as an overall tool, Arecibo serves as a more effective "jack of all trades" instrument.<br /><br />As an analogy, in a world where laser surgery and Gamma Knives have an important role in specific cases, the good old scalpel is still the instrument of choice in general surgical procedures.<br /><br />Arecibo is far more valuable "outside" SETI compared to any 10 smaller comparable instruments.<br /><br />However, "radio interferometry" would seem to be an adequate substitute given that we had multiple instruments that operated at all optimal frequencies that make Arecibo a superior instrument.<br /><br />The main problem relies in resolution versus focus. That's the underlying principle behind the Allen Array. It doesn't have the overall resolution capabilities of Arecibo, but has better "focus" on smaller areas of space at its designed operating parameters if I understand this all correctly.<br /><br />It's really a case of apples and oranges, I think. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>"2012.. Year of the Dragon!! Get on the Dragon Wagon!".</em> </div>

 

[yevaud]

After Bob left BU, he and his favorite Grad. student (John Noto) started a scientific instrumentation company, making Fabry-Perot interferometry gear. That (and the fact that he remained on the steering committee at Arecibo) may well be why they made him the new Director. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[dragon04]

IIRC, didn't they just upgrade at Arecibo recently?<br /><br />I sure don't want to see that facility lose funding though. The fact that SETI is building the ATA in large to limited time at Arecibo tells me patronage of the equipment is abundant. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>"2012.. Year of the Dragon!! Get on the Dragon Wagon!".</em> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Another benefit:<br /><br />Near-Earth Asteroid (99942) Apophis [2004 MN4]: current status <br /><br />The asteroid (99942) Apophis (previously designated as 2004 MN4) will have a very close approach to Earth in 2029. The observations collected in the months of December 2004 and January 2005 by professional and amateur astronomers have provided enough information to exclude the possibility of an impact in 2029. <font color="orange">At the end of January 2005, radar observations performed at Arecibo have led to a substantial improvement of the orbit</font> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[ashish27]

very sad. very sad <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" />

 

[alokmohan]

Looking on for indefinite time for catching ET signals?Legislators here or there cant permit.

 

[CalliArcale]

Arecibo is about more than SETI, though. It's the biggest single-dish radio telescope in the world. It's even equipped to act as a radar instrument, and it's been used to study Venus through the clouds and also near Earth asteroids. At the end of Pioneer 10's days, it was also the only instrument capable of communicating with the probe. (Arecibo is equipped to operate as part of the Deep Space Network, which I would think would alone be adequate justification for keeping the scope -- after all, there are already issues with getting time on the DSN to talk to probes.) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[ashish27]

legislators aren't astronomers and very few have a understading of basic science.

 

[seawana1]

That's what the special interest groups are for. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

[pyoko]

It's about time. Maybe the funding can go to the now-developing mass antennae arrays. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p><p><span style="color:#ff9900" class="Apple-style-span">-pyoko</span> <span style="color:#333333" class="Apple-style-span">the</span> <span style="color:#339966" class="Apple-style-span">duck </span></p><p><span style="color:#339966" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color:#808080;font-style:italic" class="Apple-style-span">It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.</span></span></p> </div>