REPORTAGE – Since 2012, the Italian island has been home to an antenna 64 meters in diameter. State-of-the-art equipment undergoing a makeover since 2021.
Special Envoy to Cagliari
Sardinia is more renowned for its gastronomic specialties than its astronomical instruments; for its crushing sun than its winter snows. It is therefore not here that one would expect to discover, at the bend of a road lined with prickly pears, the spectacle of a gigantic radio telescope 64 meters in diameter placed on a snow-covered plateau. And yet…
Located 35 km north of Cagliari, and only 600 m above sea level, the imposing white dish is the 3e largest in Europe in its category, behind the German Effelsberg radio telescope (100 m) and the Lovell Telescope of Jodrell Bank in Great Britain (76 m). Despite its unusual measurements, the mastodon is very agile and can be pointed almost anywhere on the celestial vault. When we arrive on the site, the antenna is vertical, oriented towards the zenith: this means that it is at rest.
Read alsoDiscovering the new monumental telescopes on the Bure plateau
Since the summer of 2021, the equipment has indeed been the subject of a vast…
This article is for subscribers only. You have 85% left to discover.
Want to read more?
Unlock all items immediately. Without engagement.
Already subscribed? Login