Hidden among the mountains of the northern Caucasus, a gigantic metal ring turns the Earth’s movement into a tool for space observation.
Composed of hundreds of adjustable panels, tracks, and mobile receivers, the installation investigates invisible signals emitted by the Sun, stars, and distant galaxies.
In the northern Caucasus, a sequence of metal plates forms a circle with a 576-meter diameter in an area surrounded by mountains, where the RATAN-600 operates, a Russian radio telescope created to capture waves coming from the Sun, stars, and distant galaxies.
Belonging to the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the instrument comprises 895 movable metal elements, each 11.4 meters high and 2 meters wide, organized side by side to form a variable profile antenna.
RATAN-600 forms a metal ring of 576 meters
The nominal dimension of 600 meters present in the name RATAN-600 represents the scale of the project, while the physical circle formed by the reflectors measures 576 meters in diameter and surrounds a central area occupied by tracks, receiver cabins, and secondary reflectors.
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Instead of filling this entire surface with a continuous parabolic antenna, the engineers distributed the panels along the circumference, creating an installation that, seen from above, resembles a gigantic metal band surrounding an apparently empty space.
Although the central area appears unoccupied in aerial images, its interior houses the components responsible for receiving and directing the waves concentrated by the different sectors, allowing the set to function as a single and complex radio astronomy instrument.
How the mobile panels capture waves from space
When radio waves from space hit a previously adjusted part of the structure, the panels of that sector are tilted to form a calculated reflective surface, capable of directing the radiation to a secondary mirror and then to the scientific equipment.
Installed on rails distributed in the internal area, the receiving cabins can be repositioned according to the sector used, allowing the geometry of the observations to be altered without the entire installation needing to rotate as happens in a conventional parabolic antenna.
Divided into four main sectors, oriented to the north, south, east, and west, the ring can operate with different regions associated with specific receivers, according to the configurations described by the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In the southern sector, the RATAN-600 can also work in conjunction with a large flat reflector, a system in which the waves are deflected by the linear reflector, reach the circular panels, and proceed to the instruments responsible for measurement.
This combination expands the possibilities of directing and tracking celestial sources, as it allows adjusting the trajectory of the received waves before they reach the equipment responsible for transforming the captured radiation into measurable scientific information.
Earth’s rotation participates in observations
A large part of the observations occurs while the apparent movement of the sky guides the researched object through the telescope’s reception field, a process caused by the Earth’s rotation and utilized by the installation to examine different sources of radio waves.
Unlike optical telescopes, the RATAN-600 does not produce conventional photographs of the universe, as its receivers record electromagnetic radiation at radio frequencies invisible to the human eye, later converted into data analyzed by researchers.
From these measurements, it becomes possible to study characteristics that do not appear in images made with visible light, including magnetic activity, energetic particles, intensity variations, and phenomena associated with stars, active galaxy nuclei, and extremely compact objects.
Signals from the Sun and distant galaxies
Among the regularly monitored targets is the Sun, whose emission is observed at different frequencies to produce data on active regions and changes in solar radiation, complementing measurements made by optical instruments and observatories installed in space.
In addition to solar sources, the structure is used in the study of galactic and extragalactic objects, using receivers that operate in bands of 1.25, 2.25, 4.7, 8.2, 11.2, 14.4, and 22.3 gigahertz, as reported by the official RATAN-600 website.
By comparing simultaneous or nearly simultaneous measurements of these frequencies, scientists can track how the intensity of a particular source varies across the spectrum, obtaining information that would not be revealed by an observation limited to just one band.
Among the researched objects are blazars, extremely energetic nuclei of distant galaxies whose emissions can change over time, leading the observatory to maintain specific monitoring programs and accumulate measurements taken over extended periods.
Radio telescope belongs to its own category
Although the circular shape offers a resolution associated with a large structure, the equipment does not function as a fully filled antenna with 576 meters in width, as only properly adjusted sectors participate in each observation.
For this reason, comparisons based solely on diameter can be inaccurate, since radio telescopes with large continuous dishes have different collecting areas, while networks formed by multiple antennas use interferometry to function as much larger instruments.
Marked by a segmented and adjustable circular reflector, the RATAN-600 belongs to its own category of radio telescopes and presents, according to the parameters released by the observatory, a geometric surface of 22 thousand square meters.
This number represents the sum associated with the reflector structure, but the area effectively used varies according to the configuration chosen for each scientific program, as different panels, sectors, and receivers can be combined during observations.
Structure requires precision in each panel
Maintaining an installation of this scale requires constant control, because each element needs to maintain appropriate position and geometry to reflect extremely weak waves towards the receivers, while small physical deviations can alter the focus and influence the precision of the measurements.
Conceived during the Soviet period, the radio telescope remains integrated into scientific programs and observation archives, with a data center that gathers millions of records produced by surveys, continuous emission measurements, and studies of different astronomical sources.
Far from the popular image of a telescope, the installation does not have a single dome pointed at the sky nor a central dish occupying the entire area, but a metallic ring of urban scale connected to tracks, reflectors, and movable receivers.
How much further can a structure of almost 600 meters, created to capture an invisible part of the universe, still expand knowledge about signals emitted by the Sun, distant galaxies, and other objects scattered across deep space?
