What is Arecibo Observatory?
The '''Arecibo Observatory''' is an [[observatory]] in [[Arecibo, Puerto Rico|Arecibo]], [[Puerto Rico]]. It is part of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC). The [[observatory]] has a {{cvt|305|m|ft|sigfig=2}} [[spherical reflector]] dish built into a natural [[sinkhole]]. For more than 50 years, the Arecibo Observatory had the world's largest single telescope until the [[Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope]] (FAST) in [[China]] was built in 2016. The observatory was damaged by [[Hurricane Maria]] in 2017. It was affected by earthquakes in 2019 and 2020. Two cable breaks, one in August 2020 and a second in November 2020, damaging the dish. This caused concern that the telescope might collapse. The [[National Science Foundation]] announced on November 19, 2020 that it would decommission and dismantle the telescope.<ref>{{cite web |last=Clery |first=Daniel |date=November 19, 2020 |title=Famed Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dismantled |url=https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/11/famed-arecibo-telescope-brink-collapse-will-be-dismantled|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119163508/https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/11/famed-arecibo-telescope-brink-collapse-will-be-dismantled|archive-date=November 19, 2020|access-date=November 19, 2020 |website=Science {{!}} AAAS|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Witze |first=Alexandra |date=November 19, 2020 |title=Legendary Arecibo telescope will close forever — scientists are reeling |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03270-9 |journal=Nature |volume=587 |issue=7835 |pages=529–530 |language=en |doi=10.1038/d41586-020-03270-9|pmid=33214727 |bibcode=2020Natur.587..529W |s2cid=227078999 |access-date=November 19, 2020|archive-date=November 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119164939/https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03270-9|url-status=live}}</ref> However, it collapsed on December 1, 2020. ==References== {{reflist}} {{multistub|US|science}} [[Category: