Arecibo Observatory
E54484
Arecibo Observatory was a world-famous radio telescope facility in Puerto Rico known for its pioneering work in radio astronomy, atmospheric science, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
All labels observed (10)
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T432756 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Arecibo Observatory Context triple: [Arecibo message, sentFrom, Arecibo Observatory]
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A.
Las Campanas Observatory
Las Campanas Observatory is a major astronomical observatory in Chile renowned for its high-quality observing conditions and its role in cutting-edge optical and infrared astronomy.
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B.
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory is a major astronomical observatory complex in northern Chile that hosts multiple world-class telescopes used for cutting-edge research on the universe.
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C.
85-foot Howard E. Tatel Radio Telescope
The 85-foot Howard E. Tatel Radio Telescope is a historic radio telescope at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia, notable for its role in early SETI research.
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D.
Yerkes Observatory
Yerkes Observatory is a historic astronomical observatory in Wisconsin renowned for housing one of the world’s largest refracting telescopes and for its influential role in 20th-century astrophysical research.
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E.
Swope Telescope
The Swope Telescope is a 1-meter-class optical telescope at Chile’s Las Campanas Observatory, known for its role in supernova and transient object discoveries.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Arecibo Observatory Target entity description: Arecibo Observatory was a world-famous radio telescope facility in Puerto Rico known for its pioneering work in radio astronomy, atmospheric science, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
-
A.
Las Campanas Observatory
Las Campanas Observatory is a major astronomical observatory in Chile renowned for its high-quality observing conditions and its role in cutting-edge optical and infrared astronomy.
-
B.
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory is a major astronomical observatory complex in northern Chile that hosts multiple world-class telescopes used for cutting-edge research on the universe.
-
C.
85-foot Howard E. Tatel Radio Telescope
The 85-foot Howard E. Tatel Radio Telescope is a historic radio telescope at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia, notable for its role in early SETI research.
-
D.
Yerkes Observatory
Yerkes Observatory is a historic astronomical observatory in Wisconsin renowned for housing one of the world’s largest refracting telescopes and for its influential role in 20th-century astrophysical research.
-
E.
Swope Telescope
The Swope Telescope is a 1-meter-class optical telescope at Chile’s Las Campanas Observatory, known for its role in supernova and transient object discoveries.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (80)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
astronomical observatory
ⓘ
radio telescope observatory ⓘ scientific research facility ⓘ |
| altitude | about 497 meters above sea level ⓘ |
| Arecibo message |
binary-coded message to globular cluster M13
ⓘ
sent in 1974 ⓘ |
| collapseCause | failure of support cables ⓘ |
| collapseDate | 1 December 2020 ⓘ |
| collectingArea | about 73,000 square meters ⓘ |
| conductedSurvey |
Arecibo L-band Feed Array survey
ⓘ
Arecibo L-band Feed Array survey ⓘ
surface form:
Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey
|
| constructedBy |
Department of Defense
ⓘ
surface form:
United States Department of Defense
|
| constructionStartDate | 1960 ⓘ |
| contributedTo |
characterization of near-Earth objects
ⓘ
evidence for existence of neutron stars ⓘ measurement of planetary surfaces by radar ⓘ studies of Earth’s ionosphere ⓘ studies of atmospheric dynamics ⓘ tests of general relativity ⓘ |
| coordinateSystem | equatorial mount for receiver platform ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| damagedBy |
Hurricane Maria
ⓘ
surface form:
Hurricane Maria in 2017
|
| discovered |
first binary pulsar PSR B1913+16
ⓘ
first millisecond pulsar PSR B1937+21 ⓘ many new pulsars ⓘ |
| dishDiameter |
1000 feet
ⓘ
305 meters ⓘ |
| featuredIn |
film Contact
ⓘ
film GoldenEye ⓘ various documentaries ⓘ |
| fundedBy |
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
ⓘ
surface form:
Advanced Research Projects Agency
|
| governingBody | National Science Foundation ⓘ |
| hasInstrument |
305-meter fixed spherical reflector
ⓘ
Gregorian dome ⓘ moveable receiver platform ⓘ planetary radar system ⓘ |
| hasVisitorCenter |
Arecibo Observatory
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
surface form:
Arecibo Observatory Visitor Center
|
| heritage |
iconic facility in radio astronomy
ⓘ
symbol of Puerto Rican scientific achievement ⓘ |
| inaugurationDate | 1963 ⓘ |
| locatedIn | Arecibo, Puerto Rico ⓘ |
| locatedOn |
Puerto Rico
ⓘ
surface form:
island of Puerto Rico
|
| managedBy | National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center ⓘ |
| near |
municipality of Arecibo
ⓘ
surface form:
Barrio Esperanza, Arecibo
|
| notableFor |
high-sensitivity planetary radar
ⓘ
pioneering work in atmospheric science ⓘ pioneering work in radio astronomy ⓘ pioneering work in search for extraterrestrial intelligence ⓘ |
| numberOfReceivers | multiple radio receivers ⓘ |
| observationMethod | drift-scan surveys ⓘ |
| operatedBy |
Cornell University
ⓘ
Stanford Research Institute ⓘ
surface form:
SRI International
Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, Metro Campus ⓘ
surface form:
Universidad Metropolitana
Universidad del Turabo ⓘ University of Central Florida ⓘ |
| ownedBy | National Science Foundation ⓘ |
| platformSuspension | cable suspension system ⓘ |
| primaryMirrorType | fixed spherical dish ⓘ |
| scientificDiscipline |
atmospheric science
ⓘ
ionospheric physics ⓘ planetary radar astronomy ⓘ radio astronomy ⓘ search for extraterrestrial intelligence ⓘ |
| sentMessage | Arecibo message ⓘ |
| status | main telescope destroyed ⓘ |
| statusAfter2020 | limited operations with smaller instruments ⓘ |
| sufferedEvent |
cable failure in August 2020
ⓘ
second cable failure in November 2020 ⓘ |
| supportedBy | three concrete towers ⓘ |
| surpassedBy | Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope ⓘ |
| telescopeType |
radio telescope
ⓘ
spherical reflector telescope ⓘ |
| usedFor |
SETI experiments
ⓘ
atmospheric radar studies ⓘ galactic astronomy ⓘ near-Earth asteroid characterization ⓘ pulsar observations ⓘ solar system radar studies ⓘ |
| visitorCenterStatus | reopened after telescope collapse ⓘ |
| wasWorldsLargestSingleDishRadioTelescope | from 1963 to 2016 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Arecibo Observatory Description of subject: Arecibo Observatory was a world-famous radio telescope facility in Puerto Rico known for its pioneering work in radio astronomy, atmospheric science, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
Referenced by (24)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Arecibo Observatory Visitor Center
this entity surface form:
305-meter Arecibo radio telescope
this entity surface form:
Arecibo Observatory ionospheric heating facility
subject surface form:
M13
this entity surface form:
Arecibo Observatory site
this entity surface form:
Arecibo Observatory site
this entity surface form:
Arecibo Observatory radio telescope site
this entity surface form:
Arecibo radio telescope
subject surface form:
PSR B1913+16
subject surface form:
PSR B1937+21
this entity surface form:
Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico
this entity surface form:
Arecibo Gregorian upgrade
this entity surface form:
Arecibo Observatory area