View source for Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory

{{Infobox observatory
|image = [[Image:FiveCollegeRadioObs.png|350px]]
|caption = FCRAO Radome-enclosed 14-m Telescope, on the Prescott Peninsula in the Quabbin Reservoir. Circa 1977.
}}

The '''Five College Radio Astronomical Observatory''' ('''FCRAO''') was a [[radio astronomy]] [[observatory]] located on a [[peninsula]] in the [[Quabbin Reservoir]].  It was sited in the town of [[New Salem, Massachusetts]] on land that was originally part of [[Prescott, Massachusetts]].  It was founded in 1969 by the [[Five Colleges (Massachusetts)|Five College]] [[Astronomy]] Department ([[University of Massachusetts Amherst]] (UMass), [[Amherst College]], [[Hampshire College]], [[Mount Holyoke College]] and [[Smith College]]).<ref name="fcraogeneral">{{cite web|url=http://www.astro.umass.edu/~fcrao/telescope/|title=FCRAO General Information|publisher=Astronomy Department at the University of Massachusetts|access-date=2011-11-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060617043407/http://www.astro.umass.edu/~fcrao/telescope/|archive-date=2006-06-17|url-status=dead}}</ref>  From its inception, the [[observatory]] has emphasized [[research]], the development of technology and the training of students&mdash;both [[graduate school|graduate]] and [[undergraduate]].

The initial FCRAO [[telescope]] was a customized low-frequency [[antenna (electronics)|antenna]] to search for [[pulsar]]s in the [[Milky Way Galaxy|galaxy]]. The development of instrumentation within the FCRAO labs contributed to the discovery of the [[binary pulsar]] system [[PSR B1913+16]] by [[Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr.|Joseph Taylor]] and [[Russell Hulse]], for which they received the 1993 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]].  It was replaced by a 14-meter [[radome|radome-enclosed]] [[Extremely high frequency|millimeter-wave]] telescope in 1976.<ref name="fcraostatus">{{cite web|url=http://www.astro.umass.edu/~fcrao/observer/status14m.html|title=FCRAO 14-m Status|publisher=Astronomy Department at the University of Massachusetts|access-date=2011-11-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713025750/http://www.astro.umass.edu/%7Efcrao/observer/status14m.html|archive-date=2011-07-13|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Decommissioning ==

After UMass Amherst devoted its time, energy, and funding to the [[Large Millimeter Telescope]] (LMT) in Mexico from approximately 2005, FCRAO was described as being the then–"current platform", with the LMT referred to as its "future platform".<ref name="fcraogeneral" />  On July 21, 2011, the [[Massachusetts Water Resources Authority]] announced that the telescope and the associated control building were removed from the site.<ref name="fcraodecon">{{cite web|url=http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/01news/2011/072111-observatory.html|title=MWRA Historic Observatory at Quabbin Decommissioned|publisher=Massachusetts Water Resources Authority|access-date=2011-11-13|archive-date=2012-05-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510112857/http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/01news/2011/072111-observatory.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[List of astronomical observatories]]
* [[List of radio telescopes]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20011007074605/http://www.astro.umass.edu/~fcrao/ FCRAO Home Page]

{{Five Colleges}}
{{Amherst College}}
{{Hampshire College}}
{{Mount Holyoke College}}
{{Smith College}}
{{University of Massachusetts Amherst}}
{{Portal bar|Astronomy|Stars|Spaceflight|Outer space|Solar System|Education|Science}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Astronomical observatories in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Radio telescopes]]
[[Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst buildings]]
[[Category:University and college astronomical observatories]]