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A radio astronomy
observatory in Puerto Rico,
where a dish 305 metres (1,000 feet) across has been built into a natural
depression in hills south of the city of Arecibo. Completed in 1963,
the telescope is operated
by the National Ionospheric and Astronomy Center of Cornell University in the USA.
The reflecting surface cannot be moved, but radio sources can be tracked by moving
the receiver at the focus along a specially designed support structure.
A major refurbishment was completed in 1997. telescope is larger in area than
all the other radio telescopes in the world combined. It is used for radar studies
of planets, observing pulsars and the study of hydrogen in distant galaxies. Because of its large collecting area, it can pick up fainter signals than any other dish.
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