Arecibo to Go Dark Permanently

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Message 2061774 - Posted: 19 Nov 2020, 20:12:16 UTC

That will be a sad day. :-(

Cheers.
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Message 2061778 - Posted: 19 Nov 2020, 20:17:55 UTC

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Message 2061779 - Posted: 19 Nov 2020, 20:18:45 UTC

I'm doing well Annie, for an old fellow that is, how have you been?

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Message 2061782 - Posted: 19 Nov 2020, 21:07:40 UTC - in response to Message 2061772.  
Last modified: 19 Nov 2020, 21:08:11 UTC

The New York Times reports that the observatory will be torn down. My heart is broken.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/science/arecibo-observatory.html?


This is indeed a very sad day - I just this news on the BBC website:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-55008567

The observatory provided the first solid evidence for a type of object known as a neutron star. It was also used to identify the first example of a binary pulsar (two magnetised neutron stars orbiting around a common centre of mass), which earned its discoverers the Nobel Prize in Physics.

The telescope also helped to make the first definitive detection of exoplanets, planetary bodies orbiting other stars, in 1992.

It has also been used to listen for signals from intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos and to track near-Earth asteroids.

Over the years, the main dish appeared as a location in movies, including Goldeneye, Pierce Brosnan's first outing as James Bond in 1995, and the 1997 science fiction drama Contact, starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey.


it has been coming though - a lack of funding and no massive interest in repairing the original storm damage back in the summer of 2020 and a subsequent cable breakage just 2 weeks ago, has finally brought it down...

Maybe we can get Messrs Musk and/or Bezos to fund a replacement - they seem to have piles of cash :-)

regards and stay safe
Tim
regards,
Tim
Founder, UK BOINC Team
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Message 2061805 - Posted: 20 Nov 2020, 1:56:17 UTC

Well "it's the end of the world as we know it."
But we have a new administration coming in. They believe in science. Never say Never.
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Message 2061813 - Posted: 20 Nov 2020, 4:52:26 UTC - in response to Message 2061805.  

Only if some crackpots don't get in the way...
The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's
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Message 2061820 - Posted: 20 Nov 2020, 6:55:57 UTC - in response to Message 2061772.  
Last modified: 20 Nov 2020, 6:57:17 UTC

The New York Times reports that the observatory will be torn down. My heart is broken.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/science/arecibo-observatory.html?
Just read the article by the ABC here.
An engineering firm hired by the University of Central Florida, which manages the observatory for NSF under a five-year $US20 million ($20 million) agreement, concluded in a report to the university last week "that if an additional main cable fails, a catastrophic collapse of the entire structure will soon follow."

Citing safety concerns, the firm ruled out efforts to repair the observatory and recommended a controlled demolition.

Extremely sad news.
Grant
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Message 2062389 - Posted: 28 Nov 2020, 15:21:30 UTC - in response to Message 2061820.  

2020 still has some aces in its sleeve it seems.

It might not be the saddest news in general terms, since presently there are (many too) plenty to choose from, but in these thereabouts it is as sad as it can be.

In this single and hopefully unique year we had SETI@home stopping, for a good cause it seems (and progresses are being communicated), but still a very sad thing for our community, and Arecibo physically collapsing.

This is well enough to ask for prudence sake a shortening (or reduction of sentence) of the remainder of year 2020.

Greetings to all fellow ex-SETI crunchers.

Sleepy
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Message 2062671 - Posted: 1 Dec 2020, 20:38:00 UTC

It was a smashing post Annie. ;-)

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Message 2062682 - Posted: 1 Dec 2020, 21:30:27 UTC

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Message 2062717 - Posted: 2 Dec 2020, 6:34:19 UTC

Tragic.
Grant
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Message 2062756 - Posted: 2 Dec 2020, 16:47:20 UTC

Funding science with one bunch is unwanted spending...
The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's
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Message 2062758 - Posted: 2 Dec 2020, 17:01:24 UTC
Last modified: 2 Dec 2020, 17:11:43 UTC

I know it is a sad end for Arecibo. But there are other alternatives for astronomy. The Chinese have one that makes Arecibo look small.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02790-3

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Message 2062759 - Posted: 2 Dec 2020, 17:16:06 UTC

While FAST is a superb telescope I'm not sure if does one thing that Arecibo was used for regularly - working as a Radar telescope.
Given the current political climate those of us in the West might not be able to get the access we used to have to Arecibo, which is a great shame.
Bob Smith
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Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?
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Message 2062773 - Posted: 2 Dec 2020, 21:30:25 UTC

It's extremly sed and depressing. But every ending might be a cause of new beggining. Technology has advanced, knowledge has advanced, why not to build a new one, lighter, stronger, cleverer. And yes funds, well if we are living in the age of reason and discoveries, funding must be allocated to continue our porgress towards reach the boundries of universe. If not it will be a biggest shame for our civilization.
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Message 2062874 - Posted: 3 Dec 2020, 22:16:10 UTC - in response to Message 2062872.  

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Message 2062881 - Posted: 3 Dec 2020, 22:56:05 UTC - in response to Message 2062872.  

+1

A permanent state of decay, like the rest of the US.
The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's
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Message 2062973 - Posted: 4 Dec 2020, 21:34:32 UTC - in response to Message 2062872.  

OMG.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=emb_logo&v=Hq0F3rPHp1E

:(

Member of the People Encouraging Niceness In Society club.

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