Green Bank Telescope, Radio telescope in Pocahontas County, United States.
The Green Bank Telescope is a radio telescope in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, built from steel and concrete. The structure is 100 m (328 ft) wide and reaches a height of 148 m (486 ft), rising clearly above the forested hills of the surrounding area.
Construction began in December 1990 after an earlier 300-foot radio telescope collapsed. Official operations started in August 2000 and the telescope became the largest fully steerable radio telescope in the world.
The facility draws researchers from many countries who search for signals from pulsars and molecules in space. Visitors can learn more about ongoing work during tours through the science center and how radio waves from distant galaxies are collected.
Visitors must turn off all wireless devices upon arrival because the facility lies within a radio quiet zone. Tours through the visitor center explain how the equipment works and show the size of the movable dish up close.
The structure uses an off-axis paraboloid reflector design so the receiving unit is mounted offset to one side. This means the support structures never block incoming signals from space.
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