What Does a Typical Day Look Like at a Radio Observatory?

Question: What would a typical work day look like at a radio observatory?  — Kristin

Answer: Radio observatories operate in a similar way to most astronomical observing facilities.  Observations are scheduled based on scientist’s observing proposals, which drive the routine operations of the observatory.  The staff of operators, technicians, and scientists prepare the observatory instrumentation to make each scheduled measurement.  When the observatory is not performing scientific observations, the observatory staff work to maintain and improve the observatory instrumentation and software.  In a lot of ways an observatory is like any scientific laboratory where experiments are routinely conducted by scientists and engineers.

Jeff Mangum