RATAN-600 - the largest telescope in the world of radio antennas

• RATAN-600 - the largest telescope in the world of radio antennas

Yesterday we were talking about the world's largest radio telescope FAST Chinese with a mirror diameter of 0.5 km. It would be unfair not to tell you about the world's largest radio antenna telescope RATAN-600, located in Karachaevo-Cherkessia.

So, in Karachaevo-Cherkessia, near Zelenchukskaya it is Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It owns the world's largest radio antenna telescope RATAN-600 ( "600" - is the diameter size - 600 meters), and the largest in Eurasia reflecting telescope with a primary mirror diameter of 6 meters.

Let's look briefly here.

Photos from the entrance. RATAN stands for "Radio Astronomy of the Academy of Sciences of the telescope." it was launched in July 1974 for the first time, and is still in effect. To get here, you need a permit. We helped with the press officer of the head of KCR, Stanislav Belyakov, for which many thanks to him

Not far from the entrance set "Pillar of the World" with an inscription in several languages, "Peace be with mankind throughout the world". This character is at the initiative of the UNPO, now such pillars of the world can be seen in more than 120 countries.

The antenna telescope consists of metal sheets arranged in a circle with a diameter of about 600 meters. In fact, the telescope resembles round the stadium, or amphitheater. We are at the entrance to it.

The three-storey structure, lifting at height and service boards.

A look inside the circle through the entrance portal. The circle is divided into 4 sectors of the cardinal points and has four independent monitoring stations.

Each aluminum panel has a height of 11 meters, a total of nearly 900 pieces.

All together, or separately panels can change the slope, reflecting the radiation from cosmic sources, which falls on them into a single center - the focus of the telescope.

In the focus are irradiators, devices that collect radio waves, which is sent to it with shields. The irradiator transmits the received energy to the input of the radiometer, and after amplification recorded electrical measuring instrument. Thus RATAN-600 was observed for the sun, stars, nebulae, galaxies, comets and other celestial bodies.

Total number of irradiators, they move along the rails like regular cars, but now the work, if I remember correctly, not all.

Inside, alas, we did not get, it needs to ask for a special trip, and not just a stop off on the way

And this is another object of the astrophysical observatory - Large Telescope Alt-Azimuth. This telescope was the largest telescope in the world from 1975 to 1993-th (when earned ten-meter Keck Observatory telescope). The height of the dome of the laboratory - is almost 60 meters, next to him - tap to service the telescope.