On the island of Puerto Rico, the Arecibo radio telescope collapsed on Tuesday, Puerto Rican meteorologists have reported on social media. The famous 900-ton installation was the largest radio telescope in the world after a Chinese one.
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The radio telescope with a diameter of 300 meters had already been damaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017. In August and last month, one cable unexpectedly snapped and the installation was ultimately irreparable for its owner, the National Science Foundation. The telescope was taken out of service and there were plans for controlled demolition.
The loss of the 57-year-old radio telescope, which had already survived other calamities such as earthquakes and hurricanes, is a shock to the astronomy community, writes the authoritative magazine Sky & Telescope. The installation has been of great importance in many scientific discoveries.
Arecibo has already had to give up its status as the largest radio telescope in the world to the Chinese FAST, which has a diameter of 500 meters. The telescope also showed up in the Bond film ‘Golden Eye’.
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