Reber Radio Telescope
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The Reber Radio Telescope is a historic
radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna (radio), antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the r ...
, located at the
Green Bank Observatory The Green Bank Observatory (previously National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank) is an Observatory, astronomical observatory located in the United States National Radio Quiet Zone, National Radio Quiet Zone in Green Bank, West Virginia, G ...
near
Green Bank, West Virginia Green Bank is a census-designated place in Pocahontas County in West Virginia's Potomac Highlands inside the Allegheny Mountain Range. Green Bank is located along WV 28. Green Bank is home to the Green Bank Observatory and is also close to t ...
, United States. Built in 1937 in
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
by the astronomer
Grote Reber Grote Reber (December 22, 1911 – December 20, 2002) was an American pioneer of radio astronomy, which combined his interests in amateur radio and amateur astronomy. He was instrumental in investigating and extending Karl Jansky's pioneering wo ...
, it was the first purpose-built parabolic radio telescope. It was designated a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
in 1989. and  


Description and history

The Reber Radio Telescope is located on the grounds of the Green Bank Observatory (formerly part of the
National Radio Astronomy Observatory The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is a federally funded research and development center of the United States National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. for the purpose of radi ...
) in rural
Pocahontas County, West Virginia Pocahontas County is a county located in the eastern part of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,869. Its county seat is Marlinton. The county was established in 1821. It is named after the daughter o ...
. It consists of a parabolic reflector composed of 72 radial rafters and covered in 26 gauge iron sheeting with a focal length of . It is in diameter and is mounted on arched rails positioned on railroad wheels, allowing its angle of elevation to be controlled. The telescope was built by Reber in his back yard in
Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a city in and the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It is located in Milton and Winfield Townships, approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, Wheaton's population was 53,970, making it the 27th-mos ...
, in 1937, following up on the research of
Karl Jansky Karl Guthe Jansky (October 22, 1905 – February 14, 1950) was an American physicist and radio engineer who in April 1933 first announced his discovery of radio waves emanating from the Milky Way in the constellation Sagittarius. He is consider ...
, the discoverer in 1933 of radio waves emanating from the
Milky Way The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...
. It was the second radio telescope ever built (after Jansky's dipole array), and the first parabolic radio telescope, serving as a prototype for the first large dish radio telescopes such as the
Green Bank Telescope The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in Green Bank, West Virginia, US is the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope, surpassing the Effelsberg 100-m Radio Telescope in Germany. The Green Bank site was part of the National Rad ...
and
Lovell Telescope The Lovell Telescope ( ) is a radio telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Goostrey, Cheshire, in the north-west of England. When construction was finished in 1957, the telescope was the largest steerable dish radio telescope in the world a ...
constructed after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Reber was the world's only radio astronomer at the time and his construction of the telescope, and the sky surveys he did with it, helped to found the field of
radio astronomy Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies Astronomical object, celestial objects using radio waves. It started in 1933, when Karl Jansky at Bell Telephone Laboratories reported radiation coming from the Milky Way. Subsequent observat ...
, revealing radio sources such as
Cassiopeia A Cassiopeia A (Cas A) () is a supernova remnant (SNR) in the constellation Cassiopeia and the brightest extrasolar radio source in the sky at frequencies above 1 GHz. The supernova occurred approximately away within the Milky Way; ...
and
Cygnus X-1 Cygnus X-1 (abbreviated Cyg X-1) is a galactic X-ray source in the constellation Cygnus and was the first such source widely accepted to be a black hole. It was discovered in 1964 during a rocket flight and is one of the ...
for the first time. Reber sold the telescope to the US
National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sc ...
and it was moved to
Sterling, Virginia Sterling refers most specifically to a census-designated place (CDP) in Loudoun County, Virginia. The population of the CDP as of the 2020 United States Census was 30,337 The CDP boundaries are confined to a relatively small area between Virginia ...
. It later became the property of the
National Radio Astronomy Observatory The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is a federally funded research and development center of the United States National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. for the purpose of radi ...
(NRAO) and was moved to
Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...
, before being moved to the Green Bank facility. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1972 and declared a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
in 1989.


See also

* National Register of Historic Places listings in Pocahontas County, West Virginia *
List of National Historic Landmarks in West Virginia This article includes a List of National Historic Landmarks in West Virginia. National Historic Landmarks in West Virginia There are 17 National Historic Landmarks in the state. The following is a complete list. See als ...


References

{{Portal bar, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science National Historic Landmarks in West Virginia Buildings and structures in Pocahontas County, West Virginia Astronomical observatories in West Virginia Radio telescopes National Register of Historic Places in Pocahontas County, West Virginia