First light for Onsala Space Observatory

The 20-metre radio telescope at Onsala Space Observatory, is getting a new lease of life thanks to an upgrade of its protective radome.

Replacing the 30-m high white football-shaped shell, 620 triangular panels made of fibreglass-reinforced plastic, will take several weeks. Radio waves from space can get in but the wind is kept out.

In the most critical part of the operation, a giant crane had to lift the new radome's cap, made of 50 panels, into place. After weeks of rain and wind the sun finally shone, and for a brief moment – actually its first ever – the telescope dish was open to the sky.

Onsala Space Observatory at Chalmers University of Technology is the Swedish National Facility for Radio Astronomy.