The 20-meter Telescope. This telescope, built in 1994, was originally tasked to measure the Earth's orientation and motion of its rotation axis that is needed for very precise surface navigation, space navigation, geodesy, and timekeeping. It was shut down in 2000 and is now being refurbished as part of the SkyNet telescope project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is also being used to test a new phased array feed system that will eventually be used on the Green Bank Telescope. Phased arrays hold the promise of being able to look at multiple places near each other on the sky for faster surveying capability as well as being able to better cancel out radio frequency interference than what is now possible.
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last updated: September 4, 2011