The Dwingeloo Radio Observatory (near Dwingeloo, m. Westerveld, in the northeastern Netherlands), is a single-dish radio telescope with a diameter of 25 m. Construction started in 1954, and the telescope was completed in 1956. At that time it was the largest radio telescope in the world. As of 2000, it was no longer in operation in an official capacity and since August 2009 is officially a Dutch industrial heritage monument. It was removed for restoration in June 2012 and re-mounted in November 2012.
The "C.A. Muller Radio Astronomy Station" foundation ("CAMRAS" for short) restored the telescope to working order, with the consent of ASTRON, the owner of the telescope.
Paul Boven (JIVE, CAMRAS), along with radio amateurs and amateur astronomers, use the telescope for projects, one being EME (communications). EME, also known as moonbounce, allows for people on different parts of Earth to communicate via the Moon. In this technique, radio wave signals are aimed at the Moon by one location, bounce off the Moon's surface, and are detected by an antenna at a different location on Earth.
The site of the Dwingeloo Radio Observatory also houses most of the staff of ASTRON, and a test site for LOFAR.
Two galaxies are named after this telescope: Dwingeloo 1 and Dwingeloo 2.
Famous quotes containing the words radio and/or observatory:
“We spend all day broadcasting on the radio and TV telling people back home what’s happening here. And we learn what’s happening here by spending all day monitoring the radio and TV broadcasts from back home.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)
“Where there is an observatory and a telescope, we expect that any eyes will see new worlds at once.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)