The telescope helps us learn about stars, galaxies and other objects in the Universe by collecting the radio waves they emit.
Astronomers don t look through the telescope.
Instead, electronic detectors and computers take the radio waves the telescope collects and turn them into pictures of the objects in space, or some other kind of information. Despite its weight, the telescope can be pointed with an accuracy of one arcsecond. The panel s positions are adjusted precisely with motor-driven pistons. To keep track of exactly where the telescope is pointing on the sky, laser beams are sent up from the ground and reflected from targets on the underside of the dish. The telescope only receives signals from space, never sends them.