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Observatorio de Arecibo Review

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Observatorio de Arecibo

  • Address: Rte. 625, Km 3.0, 00612
  • Phone: 787/878-2612
  • www.naic.edu

Fodor's Review:

Hidden among pine-covered hills is the world's largest radar-radio telescope. Operated by the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center of Cornell University, the 20-acre dish lies in a 563-foot-deep sinkhole in the karst landscape. If the 600-ton platform hovering eerily over the dish looks familiar, it may be because it can be glimpsed in scenes from the movie Contact. (And yes, the dish has been used to search for extraterrestrial life.) You can walk around the viewing platform and explore two levels of interactive exhibits on planetary systems, meteors, and weather phenomena in the visitor center.

  • Cost: $6
  • Open: Aug.-mid-Dec. and mid-Jan.-May, Wed.-Sun. 9-4; mid-Dec.-mid-Jan., June, and July, daily 9-4
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