My dear host here at the South part of Nordrhein Westfalen in Germany is care taking enough to have the dinning table half flooded by brochures about the attractions of the area. Among them I see one about the local telescope. I instantly decide to put it as a top priority since it is one of the two largest Radio Telescopes of the world with a diameter of 100 meters! I've never seen anything like this! Have you?
The only issue is the weather which remains questionable. On a cold misty morning that looks like the heart of winter in Athens rather than the heart of summer (early July) I take the short ride up to Effelsberg radio telescope and I leave my bike at its parking lot to have a first walk around:
The area is also a National Park and this sign gives an idea about the local fauna:
Looks like an ideal spot for campers as well:
As step towards the telescope leaving the parking lot behind me I get my first view of this gigantic thing:
However I that walking this route to approach it, scenic as it is, it's not as accessible as I thought so I take a few shots of the area before I step back to drive the tarmac road to the telescope:
Here I am, in the absolute silence, happy to see that the day is clearing up:
Even happier to have my first full view to the telescope itself:
For three decades this telescope was the sole largest fully steerable radio telescope globally until 2000 when a larger one by only 10 meters was built in Green Bank US. The latter is actually elliptical, 100x110m so the difference is minimal.
The information kiosk for the visitors is made in a way that it matches the telescope's looks:
I'm a super early bird though so it is closed now. Hence you are lucky enough to see pictures in the total absence of humanity. I take the path down stepping closer to the telescope:
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By the time I arrive at the end of the path it's clear that from now on it will be a struggle to fit the whole thing in one picture. It's beyond enormous!
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That's the path I walked down by the way, no surprise there's benches here for the ones who want to admire this unique view:
Maybe this next picture give you an idea about the size if you compare it with the building that's in front of it:
At some point my experience gets even more impressive as this giant starts moving! The sound it makes in this silence and the view of this thing rotating while its plate changes inclination is an experience out of this world. This allows me to capture it's back from the same point:
You must experience this too but don't worry, I made it all the way up to here so I can spare you the time and money and watch it in 4K:
The day gets even better actually:
I ride back up to the parking lot and leave the bike again in search of more views to this impressive construction. I kinda manage:
It looks like they'll build something here, curious what this might be:
Will it be toilets? Don't know but in search for one I deviate in the woods:
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Lovely view from here back to the village with its church pointing the sky:
I walk further trying to catch more viewing angles to the telescope, a little impressed that this path seems to be used not so often:
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The white giant appears again steps later:
A little further for more view,
and now I finally see what I wanted:
Time to walk back. A couple of shots,
and I get into this green path again:
Each shot with that church pointing the sky really makes me click:
I hope you enjoyed this scientific masterpiece and its surroundings, see you on the next one!