Legendary Arecibo space telescope to be dismantled, shocking astronomical community

It is a sad event for astronomers who have worked with the 305-metre-wide radio Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico jungle for years. The telescope will be closed permanently due to the broken two cables supporting the system, of which engineers say it is unfeasible to mend it safely.

The US National Science Foundation (NSF), which owns the Arecibo Observatory, announced Thursday the 57-year-old radio telescope would be decommissioned, adding that attempts to repair could put workers and staff in danger.

“I don’t know what to say. It’s just unbelievable,” says Robert Kerr, a former director of the observatory. Abel Mendez, an astrobiologist who uses the observatory, shares the same feelings with Kerr, saying: “I am totaly devastated.”

Arecibo telescope will be demolished under control

Built in 1963, the Arecibo telescope was the world’s largest radio telescope from which astronomers sent signals to search for life beyond our solar system, and make contact. Also, the first confirmed exoplanet orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12 was discovered in 1990 via the Arecibo. Near-Earth asteroids and fast radio bursts are among its other works.

Limited scientific work will continue on the site. Ralph Gaume, director of NSF’s astronomy division, said at a briefing that they want to conserve other instruments at the site. Hazardous cables could, however, harm the other structures. “A controlled decommissioning gives us the opportunity to preserve valuable assets that the observatory has,” Gaume said.

The main cable of the Arecibo Observatory broke. UCF photo.

The first cable departed from its socket shattered panels at the edge of the dish, but the second cable caused a substantial damage in the main dish, making green vegetation below visible.

Although the Arecibo doesn’t discover potentially dangerous space rocks, it is advantageous to inquire them. “The observatory can ping such objects with radar to decrypt their shape, rotation, surface features, and trajectory through space,” astrobiologist Mendez said.

China’s 500-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) opened in 2016 is not currently capable of doing such radar studies, per Nature.

A high-resolution satellite image of the Arecibo dish. Planet Labs photo.