2019/07/13 by D. Anish Roshi, Roshi, D. Anish, L. D. Anderson +110
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #FOS: Physical sciences #Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) #Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology #Superconducting and THz Device Technology #astro-ph.IM
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1907.06052
Submitted as an Activities and Projects White Paper for the Astro2020 decadal survey (13 pages, 3 figures, 1 table)
arxiv created 2019/07/13 · openalex publication_date 2019/07/13 · arxiv updated 2019/07/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The white paper discusses Arecibo Observatory's plan for facility improvements and activities over the next decade. The facility improvements include: (a) improving the telescope surface, pointing and focusing to achieve superb performance up to ~12.5 GHz; (b) equip the telescope with ultrawide-band feeds; (c) upgrade the instrumentation with a 4 GHz bandwidth high dynamic range digital link and a universal backend and (d) augment the VLBI facility by integrating the 12m telescope for phase referencing. These upgrades to the Arecibo telescope are critical to keep the national facility in the forefront of research in radio astronomy while maintaining its dominance in radar studies of near-Earth asteroids, planets and satellites. In the next decade, the Arecibo telescope will play a synergistic role with the upcoming facilities such as ngVLA, SKA and the now commissioned FAST telescope. Further, the observatory will be actively engaged in mentoring and training programs for students from a diverse background.