Obviously Arecibo is not the be-all and end-all of radio astronomy, but losing it will hurt a lot. Now, back to our regularly scheduled beer and golf stuff.
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Showing posts with label puerto rico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label puerto rico. Show all posts
Friday, November 20, 2020
Arecibo Is No More
2020 has had no mercy, even when it comes to astronomy. Arecibo Observatory, the massive radio telescope located in Puerto Rico, will be decommissioned. The decision is not based on a lack of funding or scientific value, but because of safety concerns. In August a cable helping to hold the telescope up slipped out of place, which damaged the dish, but the situation was still stable. Earlier this month, however, a second cable snapped, and the National Science Foundation has deemed the situation beyond repair. Basically, there's no way to repair the damage to the dish without putting people at unnecessary risk. The thing could collapse entirely at any time, and even a controlled decommissioning may not be possible.
Thursday, August 30, 2018
The Cats of Arecibo Observatory
Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico is home to the second-largest radio telescope in the world. It's also home to quite an impressive collection of cats. Yes, this is an astronomy story with a twist.
Cats have called Arecibo home for a long time. But after Hurricane Maria struck the island last year, many people moved off the island, leaving their pets behind. Some of those cats have made their way up to Arecibo. This is when we start getting into problem territory. While it certainly wasn't a problem for the observatory staff to have all these cats around, the concern was that these cats would eventually start breeding. A few cats weren't a problem for local wildlife, but an exploding population would definitely cause problems. The cats would hunt the wildlife, the wildlife would disappear, the cats would go hungry... obviously this isn't an ideal scenario.
So, to handle this, the observatory staff have set up a fundraising page so that people can donate money to handle the catching, spaying, and neutering of these cats. That is a neat cause. And yes, several of the cats do have astronomically themed names. Of course they do.
Cats have called Arecibo home for a long time. But after Hurricane Maria struck the island last year, many people moved off the island, leaving their pets behind. Some of those cats have made their way up to Arecibo. This is when we start getting into problem territory. While it certainly wasn't a problem for the observatory staff to have all these cats around, the concern was that these cats would eventually start breeding. A few cats weren't a problem for local wildlife, but an exploding population would definitely cause problems. The cats would hunt the wildlife, the wildlife would disappear, the cats would go hungry... obviously this isn't an ideal scenario.
So, to handle this, the observatory staff have set up a fundraising page so that people can donate money to handle the catching, spaying, and neutering of these cats. That is a neat cause. And yes, several of the cats do have astronomically themed names. Of course they do.
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