GBT Overview

Overview

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  • 100 meter diameter fully steerable reflector
  • Track at all declinations >-46 degrees, accessing 85% of the entire celestial sphere
  • Unblocked aperture for high dynamic range and resistance to interference
  • Dynamically scheduled to match science requirements to weather conditions
  • State of the art receivers cover from 0.3-116GHz (in the atmospheric windows)
  • Aperture efficiency of 70% at 1-15 GHz, 35% at 90 GHz<
  • Largest radio telescope at mm wavelengths
  • Unique active surface optimizes performance
  • Ability to change rapidly between 9 receivers
  • Detectors for continuum, spectral line, pulsar and VLBI studies
  • 7-pixel heterodyne camera covers 18-27 GHz range
  • 64-pixel bolometer camera covers 80-98 GHz range
  • 7-beam phased array receiver under development for 1-2 GHz
  • Optimized pulsar receiver for 1-3 GHz under development
  • Multi-pixel heterodyne array planned for 82-116 GHz
  • New spectrometer will have 128 spectral windows at high velocity resolution
  • GBT instrument development programs have extensive collaborations with university groups with significant student involvement

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The National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Green Bank Observatory are facilities of the U.S. National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.