page_title: Onsala Space Observatory
section_title: 20-metre telescope
hierarchical_section_title: Onsala Space Observatory / 20-metre telescope
caption_attribution_description: English: 20m radio antenna inside the dome at Onsala Space Observatory, SwedenSvenska: 20m-antenn vid Onsala Rymdobservatoriet.
context_page_description: Onsala Space Observatory, the Swedish National Facility for Radio Astronomy, provides scientists with equipment to study the Earth and the rest of the Universe. The observatory operates two radio telescopes in Onsala, 45 km south of Gothenburg, and takes part in several international projects. Examples of activities:
  The 20 and 25 m telescopes in Onsala: Studies of the birth and death of stars, and of molecules in the Milky Way and other galaxies.
  LOFAR station: The Swedish station in the international radio telescope LOFAR is located at the observatory.
  VLBI: Telescopes in different countries are linked together for better resolution.
  ALMA, e-VLBI, Herschel Space Observatory, SKA: Developing and using new radio astronomical facilities.
  APEX: Radio telescope in Chile for sub-millimetre waves. Research about everything from planets to the structure of the Universe.
  Odin: Satellite for studies of, e.g., the Earth's atmosphere and molecular clouds in the Milky Way.
  Space geodesy: Radio telescopes and satellites are used to measure movements in Earth's crust and water vapour in the atmosphere.
  Receiver development: Laboratories for development of sensitive radio receivers.
context_section_description: The 20 m diameter millimetre wave telescope in Onsala is equipped with receivers for frequencies up to 116 GHz. It is used for observations of millimetre wave emission from molecules in comets, circumstellar envelopes, and the interstellar medium in the Galaxy and in extragalactic objects. The telescope is enclosed in a radome of diameter 30 m.
  It is also used for astronomical VLBI observations of star forming regions, radio stars, and active galactic nuclei, and for geodetic VLBI observations to study e.g. crustal dynamics and polar motion. The telescope was built in 1975-76 and upgraded in 1992.
  It is also used, as part of the European and worldwide networks, for astronomical Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations of star forming regions, radio stars, and active galactic nuclei, and for geodetic VLBI observations to study e.g. crustal dynamics and polar motion.
caption: 20m telescope inside the radome
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