Stellar Scienceīuilt in 1963, the Arecibo Observatory has become a cultural icon, known both for its size and for its science. “As soon as the roads are physically passable, a team will try to get up to the observatory,” the NSF statement says. As of Thursday night, there are enough supplies for the staff hunkered down there to survive for at least a week, although Vazquez reports that it’s not clear how long the generators will be working. Still, according to the National Science Foundation, which funds the majority of the telescope’s operations, the observatory is well stocked with food, well water, and fuel for generators. Reports suggest that the road up to the facility is covered in debris and is largely inaccessible. However, it’s not yet clear how staff who weathered the storm in town are doing, or what conditions are like for local communities. Everybody there is safe and sound,” Schmelz reported. “Great news! Joe Taylor talked to Angel Vazquez, who made contact with the observatory via ham radio. Vazquez, who sheltered at home as the storm passed through, was at last able to make it to the observatory via one access road, check in with the staff there, and relay information to anxious colleagues on the mainland. Then, there was nothing but eerie silence for more than 24 hours. the next day, power and phone lines had gone out, too. A website keeping track of wind speeds went offline, and though staff promised to continue communicating over cell phones for as long as possible, by 8 a.m. on September 19, power and on-site communications went out. Electricity is nonexistent, phone lines are mostly down, and roads are blocked, complicating both communications and rescue operations.Īs it exited the island, Maria’s eye passed within miles of the seaside town of Arecibo-and the giant radio telescope, which is nestled in a sinkhole to the south, set among a bubbling landscape of forested mountains.Īrecibo’s staff had begun hurricane preparations at least a day before, but around 11 p.m. On September 20, Hurricane Maria came ashore as a Category 4 storm and traversed Puerto Rico, flooding towns, toppling bridges, demolishing buildings and blasting the island with winds exceeding 150 miles an hour.Įven now, nearly 48 hours after Maria went through, reports from many parts of the island are devastatingly sparse. “The end result is that the telescope will not be fully operative for some time at all wavelengths.” Radio Quiet “It allows the Arecibo telescope to achieve the most sensitivity of any radar telescope in the world,” Drake says, noting that it’s not clear how much time or money could be needed for repairs. It was once used to detect mountains on the surface of Venus, and it is still crucial for studies of the part of Earth's atmosphere called the ionosphere, says former observatory director Frank Drake, who is also my dad. WATCH: Find out how hurricanes form and what's being done to better predict their impact.Īlso because of the storm, a 96-foot line feed antenna-which helps focus, receive, and transmit radio waves-broke in half and fell about 500 feet into the huge dish below, puncturing it in several places, says Pennsylvania State University’s Jim Breakall, who talked with Vazquez.Ī fixture of the observatory since 1966, that line feed weighs about ten thousand pounds and is easily visible in images of the telescope as the pointy thing hanging off the platform. (Find out why this hurricane season has been so catastrophic.) News about the facility has been primarily coming from Arecibo telescope operator Ángel Vazquez, who managed to get to the site and start communicating via short-wave radio in the early evening of September 21.Īccording to initial reports, the hurricane damaged a smaller, 12-meter dish and it caused substantial damage to the main dish, including about 20 surface tiles that were knocked loose. It also has an on-site helicopter landing pad, so making sure the facility is safe in general is not just of scientific importance, but is also relevant for local relief efforts. Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, reports Arecibo deputy director Joan Schmelz.īecause of its deep water well and generator, the observatory has been a place for those in nearby towns to gather, shower, and cook after past hurricanes. More importantly, the observatory’s staff sheltering on-site are safe, and the facility is in good enough condition to potentially serve as a local center for the U.S. Scientists and ham radio operators have confirmed that the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico-arguably the world’s most iconic radio telescope, which has a dish stretching a thousand feet across-has come through Hurricane Maria mostly intact, but with some significant damage.
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