How far do you suppose you would have to travel to find the world’s largest fully-steerable radio telescope? Hawaii? South America? While both of those places boast excellent astronomical destinations, neither house the particularly massive sky eye we’re referencing. On the contrary, you actually don’t have to travel far at all: the world’s largest fully steerable radio telescope is right here in Green Bank, West Virginia.

Welcome to the Green Bank Observatory and the Green Bank Science Center, home of the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope.
Green Bank Observatory / Facebook
This telescope weighs almost 17 million pounds.
Green Bank Observatory / Facebook
It stands 485 feet high and 300 feet across.
Green Bank Observatory / Facebook

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It has a dish collection area of 2.34 acres. It's extremely precise and accurate.
Green Bank Observatory / Facebook
This is the telescope that talks to Mars Rovers. This is the telescope that regularly scans the sky for any sign of extraterrestrial civilizations. This is the telescope that creates radio images of all sorts of heavenly bodies. That's all some really big stuff!
Green Bank Observatory / Facebook
And that's why it's such a really big deal that you can take a facility tour of this amazing, record-setting telescope's home. The center offers free, self-guided outdoor tours of the grounds and ticketed, guided bus tours of the facility itself.
Green Bank Observatory / Facebook
Here's another reason to be impressed with the Green Bank Observatory: they run active astronomical observations for more than 6,500 hours per year, and that's more than any other observatory can claim!
Green Bank Observatory / Facebook
Add a stop at the Green Bank Observatory to check out this impressive telescope and all that goes along with it ASAP.

Times, days, availability, restrictions, and guidelines for these tours change, and advance registration is required, so make sure you have all the latest info to ensure the success of your visit by heading to the Green Bank Observatory website before you go. Plus, be sure to read up on the Green Bank area, in general, so it doesn’t come as a surprise when your cell phone doesn’t work as you are passing through this area.

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Green Bank Observatory, 155 Observatory Rd, Green Bank, WV 24915, USA