Arecibo Observatory

Team radar from across several institutions were busy this month observing many targets of interest, including Comet 46P/Wirtanen, near-Earth asteroid 2003 SD220, and 7 other NEAs. The cross-institution teams used the NASA-funded Arecibo S-band planetary radar to study these objects in order to measure their astrometry, size, and characterize their surfaces. Read More

Our #TeamRadar on duty

Second day observing near-Earth asteroid 2003 NW1 and we are being able to get radar images for the first time for this asteroid. Third day observing comet 46P/Wirtanen. We'll be observing it at Arecibo every day until December 18th. It's closest approach to Earth at ~30 lunar distances will be on December 16th, and the data will only keep getting better each day.

Observatories Team Up to Reveal Rare Double Asteroid   July 12, 2018

Arecibo observed the near-Earth asteroid (505657) 2014 SR339   February 9, 2018

First Asteroid Detection since Hurricane Maria   December 12, 2017

Radar Observations and Shape Model of Asteroid 16 Psyche   Jul 21, 2017

Arecibo refines our knowledge of a potentially hazardous asteroid  Apr 17, 2017

Arecibo Observatory captures revealing images of Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova   Feb 12, 2017

Discovery Announcement of Binary System (163693) Atira   Jan 20-23, 2017

Asteroids by the AO Planetary Radar Group

Flea on Pluto? Arecibo Observatory Helps Provide Unprecedented View of Pulsar

Pulsar Astronomy May 25, 2018:
Imagine being able to see a flea on the surface of Pluto. That’s a good way to describe what the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico helped a group of Canadian researchers do. Read More

Pulsar Watchers Close In On Galaxy Merger History

For the past twelve years, a group of astronomers have been watching the sky carefully, timing pulses of radio waves being emitted by rapidly spinning stars called pulsars, first discovered 50 years ago. These astronomers are interested in understanding pulsars, but their true goal is much more profound; the detection of a new kind of gravitational waves. With a new, more sophisticated analysis, they are much closer than ever before. Read More

Astronomers peer into the lair of a mysterious source of cosmic radio bursts

Using the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, a team from Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and other institutions today announced today at the American Astronomical Society’s winterAAS meeting that mysterious bursts of radio emission, called Fast Radio Bursts (FRB), may be coming from near a giant black hole. Read More

Why are Quasars so Bright?  JULY 18, 2017

The Mystery of Part Time Pulsars  JULY 18, 2017

Gaia Weighs in on the Pleiades Distance Controversy  Jan 27, 2017

Arecibo Puts Limits on Gravitational Wave Models   Jan 20, 2017

Inspiring experience for 17 Students from the Miami University - Ohio Campus

Recently, Prof. Qihou Zhou came to AO with 17 students from Miami University - Ohio Campus from Jan 3 to Jan 8 to use the Arecibo facility and study radar technology and space physics. This is the 4th study-away-at-Arecibo group in the past five years from Miami University. "Coming back is always an exciting and inspiring experience", said Prof. Zhou, a former Arecibo staff member until 2002.

Mid-latitude Radio-Frequency Auroras   Jul 21, 2017

Nighttime plasma lines are measured at Arecibo (Vierinen et al. [2017]).  Jun 15, 2017

The sensitivity of the Arecibo Observatory made possible to observe Gyrolines 

Creating space plasma from the ground  Jan 14, 2017