Nov 1, 2013 9:30 AM

Gallery: Earth's Giant Ear Marks 50 Years of Listening for Signals From the Cosmos

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*The Arecibo Observatory's radio telescope is the largest single dish in the world. Here, the platform above the dish is illuminated by the afternoon light. (Nadia Drake/WIRED)*
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*An early artist's conception of the telescope. The shape of the dish is the same, but the tower system changed. (Photo courtesy of Arecibo Observatory)*

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*An early photo of the observatory site. Two towers are built, and the sinkhole is being sculpted to hold the spherical dish. (Photo courtesy of Arecibo Observatory)*
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*Workers installing the original dish surface. The entire reflector is suspended from cables anchored to the sinkhole walls. The first surface was made from coarse mesh; in 1974, it was upgraded to a perforated aluminum surface. (Photo courtesy of Arecibo Observatory)*

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*A 1974 view of the original dish, before resurfacing began. You can see through the dish to the spiraling road beneath. (Photo courtesy of Arecibo Observatory)*
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*The same linoleum floor still runs through much of the control room. (Image courtesy of Arecibo Observatory)*

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*Bravery in the early days. Here, workers are installing a radio feed on one of the cables connecting the platform to the towers. It's being used to observe a pulsar. (Photo courtesy of Frank Drake)*
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*A 1974 photo of the dish resurfacing in progress. (Photo courtesy of Arecibo Observatory)*

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*An early photo from the telescope's platform. (Photo courtesy of Arecibo Observatory)*
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*In 1974, the observatory upgraded the dish surface from coarse mesh to perforated aluminum. Each panel (stacked) is the size of a large dinner table, and lets enough light through to allow vegetation to grow and prevent erosion. (Photo courtesy of Frank Drake)*

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*High aerial view of the Arecibo Observatory, showing the rough karst terrain in which it sits. (Photo courtesy of Arecibo Observatory)*
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*The control panels for the observatory's transmitter looks like something out of Star Trek. (Nadia Drake/WIRED)*

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*Looking down from the platform, which is 450 feet above the dish. Its exact altitude varies by about a foot as the temperature rises and falls. (Nadia Drake/WIRED)*
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*You can phone home from the top of the platform. (Nadia Drake/WIRED)*

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