Me outside the visitors' center holding my Arecibo ID with the 1000-ft diameter telescope behind me. The dish is 167 feet deep and covers an area of about twenty acres.
The lift (on right side of Gregorian dome) going up to the platform. This gives a good idea of the scale of the platform. The azimuth arm, the bow shaped structure, is 328 feet long. Cables attached to each corner of the platform run to large concrete blocks under the reflector (the dish). These cables are attached to giant jacks which allow for adjustment of the height of each corner of the platform to millimeter precision.
One of the three towers from which the platform is suspended. This tower is 265 feet high. There is another of this same height and a third that is 365 feet high. The tops of the three are at the same elevation. They hold the 900 ton platform 450 feet above the dish. The combined volume of reinforced concrete in all three towers is 9,100 cubic yards.
The living room in the family unit where the guys live and where we all hang out. It's the only cabin with a living room. Elly, Jodi Foster's character in Contact, lived in the other family unit, which is exactly the same as this one.
Jamie, John and I about to put our herb and tomato bread in the oven. Cooking and baking are our main forms of entertainment while in the observatory. We've had some delicious meals; calzones, minestrone soup, pizza, homemade breads of various sorts, eggplant lasagna, quiches, cornbread, burritos, pies, cakes, cookies, are just some of the examples.
On the porch of one of the small cabins where the girls live. The porch is the only social space in these tiny cabins. To reach these cabins from our offices we have to climb 120 stairs. To get there from the cafeteria, there are a total of about 170 stairs. Add at least another 40 stairs if you want to come up from the pool and another 30 or so if you want to go from our cabins up to the guy's family unit. Four flights of stairs to my room at Smith next year is going to be a breeze!
The pool, our other main source of entertainment. This was a brilliant addition to the observatory several years ago.
A beautiful evening sky at the observatory.
Cool trees in the jungle in which we live.
The path we take to get from work to our cabins.
One of our many reptile neighbors sitting on the handrail of the 120 stairs we climb to go to between work and home each day.
The main office building through the trees with the telescope platform and Gregorian dome behind it. (To go from the cafeteria to the offices there must be another 40 odd stairs.
The cafeteria and dining shelter seen from the main office building.
The control room. This also shows up in the movie Contact.
The telescope as seen out the control room window.
The instrument room behind the control room.
The telescope as seen out our office window. I actually don't work in this office, but other students do. All of our offices are on the floor above the control room.
The platform lit up at night for the working painters. This is our unique REU 2007 view. We don't get to use the telescope because of the paint work being done and it's prevented us from being able to go up to see the instruments on the platform. That's quite a bummer. But, we do get to see the platform lit up at night. This picture doesn't do that impressive sight justice.
Another view of the telescope.
1 comment:
Neat pictures! What a wild place to be!
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