#OnThisDay in National Historic Landmarks history, December 20, 2002: Grote Reber dies. In 1937, Reber designed and built the worlds first parabolic radio telescope in his backyard. Designated as a NHL in 1989, the Reber Radio Telescope was the first parabolic antenna specifically designed and built to aid research in the newly emerging field of radio astronomy. Depending on interstellar radio waves rather than light wavelengths, the development liberated astronomers from the confines of optical astronomy, allowing them to penetrate the universe as never before. An amateur astronomer and electronics expert, Reber was the worlds only active radio astronomer from 1937 until after World War II. In 1959-1960 his telescope was relocated from the backyard of his home in Illinois and reassembled on the grounds of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in West Virginia.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 14:00:01 +0000