Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, Radio astronomy research facility in Kaleden, British Columbia, Canada
The Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory is a research facility at Kaleden, British Columbia, with four radio telescopes. The Synthesis Telescope lines seven nine-metre metal-mesh dishes along a 600-metre east-west baseline, and the John A. Galt Telescope is a single 25.6-metre metal-mesh dish. CHIME has four cylindrical reflectors, each 100 metres long and 20 metres wide.
Founded in 1960 at Kaleden, British Columbia, the observatory is operated by the National Research Council's Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics. Its Galt telescope carried out the first successful radio astronomical observations using very long baseline interferometry, for which the site was named an IEEE Milestone in 2003. The 26-metre antenna was renamed in 2014 for John A. Galt, the facility's first employee and former director.
Scientists and students from universities around the world collaborate here to study radio waves from space. Their work has helped develop new ways to observe and understand the cosmos.
The site is located in a rural area, so it is best to arrive by car and check ahead about which areas are open to visitors. Plan for enough time since this is an active research facility with limited public access.
The facility houses the CHIME telescope, which has mapped an enormous portion of space by detecting hydrogen gas. This breakthrough allows astronomers to study the cosmos in ways that were not previously possible.
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