by Edna DeVore - Deputy CEO
Visiting Puerto Rico? The entire island is a great block of ancient seafloor limestone now thrust above the clear blue Caribbean. For nature lovers, Puerto Rico is the land of karst, caves, and coast. It's a natural paradise pockmarked by giant sinkholes that are embedded in steep, haystack-shaped hills. It draws visitors to play in the surf and sun, to explore the huge caverns with underground rivers, to hike in the rain forest, and to visit the world's largest, most sensitive radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory.
Each year, more than 100,000 people drive the winding roads through rural Puerto Rico to see the great, 305-meter (1000 foot) diameter aluminum dish nestled in a giant sinkhole. Whether you are drawn by curiosity, an interest in astronomy, or the allure of following in the footsteps of the more Earthly stars of Golden Eye or Contact, you are in for a treat. As you approach, three tall towers loom above the green hills. Around a few more bends you'll see a complex structure suspended delicately from the towers. This is the secondary for the telescope; it bears all the detectors--the sensors--for the vast structure that is the radio telescope. Still, the dish is nowhere to be seen.
As a visitor, you are invited to park not far past the entrance, as are most of the employees. Engines, especially the electronically controlled devices in modern autos, generate radio waves that cause interference--noise--at the dish. In fact, vehicles that drive around the dish use diesel engines to avoid this problem. So, like all the people who work at the Observatory--and there are more than 100 that do--you get to walk up a hill to see the dish.
As you begin your climb, you'll want to look for the model of the Sun. It's a small globe at the base of the road leading to the Visitor Center. Climbing the hill, you'll find each planet to scale in distance and size along the way. As you pause to check out the planets (and catch a breath), it's sobering to consider how small planet Earth is in comparison to the Sun, our local star. It's a steep walk, and you may want to stop halfway up for a Pina Colada. It's refreshing, and proceeds help to support the Visitor Center. When you reach tiny Pluto, atop the hill, you're at the Visitor Center. (Transportation is available for people who are unable to climb the hill, and the Visitor Center is accessible.) It is an architectural delight, carefully designed to wrap around the base of one of the three massive support towers for the Observatory. The curved building also fits the space available on the hilltop, and affords the very best view of the entire telescope from anywhere on site.
Plan to spend a couple of hours at the site. Admission is reasonable, just $4 for adults and $2 for children. Local families, tourists, school groups in plaid uniforms, teachers for training, and university students all come to the Visitor Center. Inside, more than 3,500 square feet are dedicated to a set of bilingual exhibits entitled "More Than Meets the Eye," which is about the scientific research conducted at Arecibo. Informative and interactive displays let you explore the solar system, the tools of astronomers, the methods used by scientists to understand interstellar chemistry, and a host of other subjects, including SETI. You can even take control of a model of the telescope, and drive the secondary to track the sky. This is a fun and informative science and technology center with just the right amount of information on the Arecibo Observatory and its science. There are also very helpful and well-informed science students from the University of Puerto Rico in Arecibo who work at the Visitor Center. They can help you with any exhibit and answer your tough questions about the place and its science and technology.
Have you ever wondered what it might be like to work at an observatory? Does everyone have to stay up all night like the SETI Institute scientists are apt to do? These must be very popular questions because the Visitor Centers feature film is "A Day in the Life of Arecibo Observatory." It plays in English and Spanish, and takes you on the inside tour that everyone wants to take at an observatory. And, what's it really like? Arecibo runs 24 hours per day, so it's a busy place with lots of different people contributing to its success. You'll meet them in the film.
Finally, the big dish. As you exit the theater onto a broad terraced deck, the vast Observatory dish lies before you. At the railing, you can look down about 200 feet to the rim of the primary reflector--a giant aluminum bowl covered with 18 acres of aluminum panels shaped and held in place by more than 30 miles of steel cable. It's big, really big. Suspended 450 feet above, you now see the underside of the secondary centered above the giant dish. If maintenance work is being done, you might see people walking about on the dish with aluminum snowshoe like plates on their feet; this prevents dents. Or, you might see someone riding the cable car up to the secondary, climbing about the steel structure, or walking back down the catwalk-like bridge toward the Visitor Center. It's quite a view.
There's simple quick food available from a street-vendor type cart on site. So, have a hotdog with all the fixings, an icy bottle of water, soda or juice, and enjoy the view. Top it off with an ice cream bar; on a warm, casual day, it couldn't get much better. And consider this: maybe, just maybe, in some far, distant solar system, there's a tourist just like you sitting next to a giant radio telescope asking whether there is life elsewhere in the universe, just as you might do on a visit to Arecibo Observatory.
The Angel Ramos Foundation Visitor and Educational Center at Arecibo Observatory opened in 1997 as a joint effort between the Angel Ramos Foundation, National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, the National Science Foundation, and Cornell University. Since then, it has been a popular destination for islanders and tourists alike. Dr. Jose Alonso, radio astronomer and educator, directs the Visitor Center and its programs that extend beyond the activities of the casual visitor. These include organized programs for school visits, science training workshops for teachers, training and employment of student guides from the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, and the Teacher in Residence and the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (both sponsored by the National Science Foundation). Alonso heads a dynamic, friendly team that makes your visit to the Observatory an excellent experience. Finally, there's a nice, compact gift shop where you can purchase a souvenir of your visit.
For more information, please visit http://www.naic.edu