Giant Antenna in Nancay, France
In Nancay, France looms this enormous radio telescope. This portion of it is a section of a sphere that reflects the radio waves to a focus off to the left. It observes supernova remnants, star-forming regions, pulsars — really, anything that a more familiar dish-shaped radio telescope can see. In 1973, this telescope worked with our 140-foot telescope to observe the chemistry of Comet Kohoutek 1973 XII. They discovered OH, hydroxide, in the comet’s gaseous envelope.
Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF
