On Monday, a three-inch auxiliary cable at Arecibo Observatory snapped, whipping through the dish panels and causing a 100-foot gash. While this sounds incredibly awful, and the photo is striking, the cable damaged only 250 panels, a mere 1% of the total dish. However, and there always seems to be a “however” this year, the Gregorian dome above the dish also suffered some damage, as did the dome’s access platform. While the dish can be used at a decreased sensitivity with holes in the surface of the primary reflector, the damage to the dome has to be repaired first. Operations have been suspended as a result.

The observatory’s director, Francisco Cordova, stated: We have a team of experts assessing the situation. Our focus is assuring the safety of our staff, protecting the facilities and equipment, and restoring the facility to full operations as soon as possible, so it can continue to assist scientists around the world.

Arecibo, which is operated by the University of Central Florida, has been in operation for fifty years and has managed to survive countless hurricanes and earthquakes. The facility was still under repair from Hurricane Maria in 2017. In spite of the ongoing repairs, Arecibo was giving us great science, and as recently as Monday, we reported on the discovery of a new near-Earth asteroid imaged by the observatory. We are continuing to monitor social media for more information and updates. At the time of writing, the estimates we have seen have ranged from a minimum of two weeks to several months to a year. 

This is a hard blow to radar and radio astronomy.

More Information

University of Central Florida press release