Astronomers propose the potential structure of ‘Next Generation Arecibo Telescope’

Now, a new paper explores the viability of a potential Arecibo structure that could revolutionize astronomical discoveries in the future. It has been dubbed the Next Generation Arecibo Telescope by astronomers. The study is led by Anish Roshi from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, who was also part of the Arecibo Observatory.

Possible structure of Arecibo’s successor 

The new paper, which has not yet been published in a scientific journal, focuses on the dish structure and arrangement of the next-generation Arecibo.

The paper proposes replacing the original single-dish structure with as many as 102 dishes (13 meters each) spread across the existing location of the telescope in Puerto Rico. 

This design is touted as somewhat similar to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, which gathers data using a network of 54 dishes (12-meter diameter).

The team suggests that replacing the original single dish with a larger one is not feasible due to space constraints at the current location. The new version must be larger than the original 300-meter dish size to improve its capability. That’s why an array of dishes would suffice to solve this problem. 

“A phased array of small parabolic antennas placed on a tiltable plate-like structure forms the basis of the NGAT concept. The phased array would function both as a transmitter and as a receiver. This envisioned state-of-the-art instrument would offer capabilities for three research fields, viz. radio astronomy, planetary and space & atmospheric sciences,” mentions the paper uploaded on the pre-print server. 

The researchers propose arranging the Aricebo dishes in a fixed circular array about 130 meters across instead of ALMA's moveable dishes, according to Universe Today,

The proposed dish structure would function as a single highly sensitive telescope dish. Various array telescopes have used this technique to collect data as individual dishes and collate the information using various methods, like correlation.

However, the above structure is only a proposal, and it could take years, if not decades, to bring modern Arecibo to life. 

Study abstract:

The Next Generation Arecibo Telescope (NGAT) was a concept presented in a white paper developed by members of the Arecibo staff and user community immediately after the collapse of the 305 m legacy telescope. A phased array of small parabolic antennas placed on a tiltable plate-like structure forms the basis of the NGAT concept. The phased array would function both as a transmitter and as a receiver. This envisioned state of the art instrument would offer capabilities for three research fields, viz. radio astronomy, planetary and space & atmospheric sciences. The proposed structure could be a single plate or a set of closely spaced segments, and in either case it would have an equivalent collecting area of a parabolic dish of size 300 m. In this study we investigate the feasibility of realizing the structure. Our analysis shows that, although a single structure ∼300 m in size is achievable, a scientifically competitive instrument 130 to 175 m in size can be developed in a more cost effective manner. We then present an antenna configuration consisting of one hundred and two 13 m diameter dishes. The diameter of an equivalent collecting area single dish would be ∼130 m, and the size of the structure would be ∼146 m. The weight of the structure is estimated to be 4300 tons which would be 53% of the weight of the Green Bank Telescope. We refer to this configuration as NGAT-130. We present the performance of the NGAT-130 and show that it surpasses all other radar and single dish facilities. Finally, we briefly discuss its competitiveness for radio astronomy, planetary and space & atmospheric science applications.