Arecibo Observatory is a pulsar seeker, alien broadcaster, asteroid mapper, hidden parabola villain Bond, a Puerto Rican icon, the birthplace of the future scientist.
Until seven months ago, when gravity got the best of the engineering marvel that had endured everything that had been thrown for decades and the entire platform collapsed.
For a group of scientists with deep ties to Arecibo, it means dreaming of a new kind of telescope, one that will fill the gap left by the iconic instrument.
“I personally think that this is the first cut; it’s done after the collapse just to show that there are viable options to continue the fantastic science legacy in the telescope,” said Tracy Becker, a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, citing Space.
“I don’t think that this version should be like the new version that was made,” he said.
“It could look more like a real telescope, or it could look very different than anything we’ve imagined so far. The ultimate goal is to show that we can use that space and continue the very strong legacy of science.” he said
The design, dubbed the Next Generation Arecibo Telescope, is perhaps better approached as a statement than a blueprint. Currently, scientists are not even sure this particular design can be built.
But the project is meant to paint a picture of what the next 60 years science at Arecibo might look like if institutions are willing to show up for the facility, and do so with ambition.
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“We have to think boldly and we have to think big, because you don’t inspire the next generation and you don’t serve the next generation if you just want to do what you do,” said Noemí Pinilla-Alonso, deputy principal of the school of scientists at the Arecibo Observatory.
The designs came together just two months after the collapse. In part, that’s because the process is a salve for scientists who have close ties and strong feelings for the observatory.
Arecibo Observatory director Francisco Cordova, said now the scientists behind the new concept are trying to keep up the momentum to try to speed up the rebuilding process.
“Arecibo left such a huge hole, we have hundreds of scientists right now scrambling to find another telescope that can give them the data they need to continue their project.” he said.
Meanwhile, the US National Science Foundation (NSF), which owns the site, held virtual workshops throughout June to explore options for the Arecibo Observatory in writing.
Officials have stressed that Arecibo will continue to exist, but the agency has not committed to rebuilding the telescope as it stands, or to supporting new projects of the same scale.
“For this workshop, however, our main objective was to explore various options, for the short, medium and long term, which should involve all segments of society and may be complementary.”
NSF is committed to participating in these future developments but does not limit ideas for the construction of new telescopes. That is certainly one long-term possibility, there are many others, as well as short-term projects that can bridge the gap while potential large projects are being drafted.
Big designs aren’t the only option NSF will consider when deciding what to do with legacy telescopes. The observatory as a whole was able to resume some science activity fairly quickly.
There was a number of other equipment on site that was still functioning, unaffected by the collapse, and the observatory leadership wanted to repair at least some of the antennas from one experiment that were in the center of the dish for use elsewhere.
Although the crash destroyed all of the equipment on the science platform, which had been suspended above the 1,000-foot (305-meter) disk in a 39-wire web of the trio of towers, parts of the radio telescope may have had more life inside.
NSF officials say that at least half of the dishes survived the collapse, and the panels are not too difficult or expensive to replace. And the bottoms of the three towers holding up the suspended cables remain solid, the NSF said.
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That combination could be the basis for rebuilding a lost telescope that was essentially the same as before, but using newer technology and more sophisticated materials.
Scientists calling for the rebuild said the unification of the three separate areas should be respected in the future of the facility.
The first step in designing a new telescope is to identify what the next generation facility can do in each field. Atmospheric experimenters and planetary radar experts prioritize more powerful radar systems, even though what they think is more powerful is not exactly the same. Also, the planetary radar community doesn’t necessarily want to increase power if it means sacrificing range, because one of Arecibo’s strengths is that it can spot even asteroids that scientists have yet to discover.
Meanwhile, for radio astronomers, the obvious priority is being able to point the instrument at the center of our galaxy, which requires the flexibility to point the full 48 degrees from the celestial zenith.
One of those additional areas is understanding space weather, the large amount of influence the sun has on the solar system that can harm astronauts and disrupt satellites in orbit and power systems on the ground.
Editor : Good Fit
Writer : Aris N
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