Orgov Telescope

Orgov Telescope

Let’s talk about our trip to the radio telescope.
The Orgov radio-optical telescope ROT-54/2.6 is a unique structure combining a 54-meter radio dish and a 2.6-meter optical mirror. The radio dish is fixed; the optical part could be pointed. Construction took around 10 years near 1980, then it worked actively for about 14 years, and after that attempts continued until 2012.

Location: southern slope of Aragats, around 1711 m altitude, on the territory of the Aragats scientific center. The project was led by Paris Herouni; thanks to him, the telescope was built in Armenia rather than in Crimea. Nearby is Tegher Monastery. The whole area is perfect for photos in a retro-science-fiction style.

Quick photo tour, left to right and top to bottom: telescope dish and gorge, view into the dish, Tegher.

Now a small physics aside. A project like this could not operate by itself. If detectors are cooled to liquid-nitrogen temperature, sensitivity can increase by 3-4 orders of magnitude. So you need a nitrogen station. It is there - with boarded and welded doors. Super-sensitive equipment also needs calibration. I may lack enough domain depth to connect every technical detail correctly, but the two photos with burned decorative panels are ruins of a quiet acoustic room. The charred “fans” are parts of sound-absorbing lining.

You know one of the common fantasy settings: ruins of an empire. Heroes walk around and encounter rusty robots, ancient libraries, shrines. For us, that empire is the USSR. And now cows graze among the ruins of its radio-telescope infrastructure.

And finally, our group photo next to the telescope control console, which had noticeably more parts three years ago. Tourists. Souvenirs.

We are not closing this topic. Stay tuned.

#placeArmenia #Armenia #Geruni #observatory