Radio Telescopes of the World¶
A reference catalogue of the major radio telescopes — where they are, who runs them, what they can see, and what they're famous for. It complements the institution-focused Resources page (which links observatory organisations); this page is about the instruments. Several appear in photographs on the Visual Tour.
See them on a map
Download telescopes.kml and open it in
Google Earth (or any KML viewer) to see all 40 facilities as
pins — red = single dishes, blue = arrays, green = VLBI networks (a representative point),
white = historic/decommissioned. (VLBI networks span continents, so their pin marks the
operations centre or a flagship station, noted in the marker.)
On the numbers
Frequency ranges are approximate and marked "~"; many facilities cover their band in discrete receivers rather than continuously. Dish sizes are physical apertures. Everything below was checked against official or authoritative sources, but instruments are upgraded — follow the link for current specifications.
Large single-dish telescopes¶
| Telescope | Location (country) | Operator | Type & size | Frequency / bands | Notable for | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope) | Pingtang, Guizhou (China) | NAOC / Chinese Academy of Sciences | Fixed spherical reflector, 500 m aperture (~300 m effective) | ~70 MHz – 3 GHz | World's largest filled-aperture single dish; prolific pulsar/FRB discoveries | link |
| Green Bank Telescope (GBT) | Green Bank, West Virginia (USA) | Green Bank Observatory (NSF / AUI) | Fully steerable, unblocked aperture, 100 m (100×110 m) | ~0.1 – 116 GHz | World's largest fully steerable single dish | link |
| Effelsberg 100-m | Bad Münstereifel-Effelsberg (Germany) | Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) | Fully steerable, 100 m | ~0.3 – 96 GHz | One of the largest steerable dishes; pulsar timing & VLBI | link |
| Arecibo | Arecibo (Puerto Rico, USA) | NSF facility (Cornell/SRI/UCF over its life) | Fixed spherical reflector, 305 m | ~0.3 – 10 GHz | Iconic giant dish; planetary radar, the Arecibo Message; collapsed Dec 2020 | link |
| Lovell Telescope (Jodrell Bank) | Cheshire, England (UK) | University of Manchester | Fully steerable parabolic, 76 m | ~1.4 GHz (L-band) | Largest steerable dish when built (1957); tracked Sputnik; UNESCO site | link |
| Parkes "Murriyang" | Parkes, NSW (Australia) | CSIRO (ATNF) | Single-dish parabolic, 64 m | ~0.7 – 25 GHz (UWL 704–4032 MHz) | Pulsar powerhouse; relayed Apollo 11 Moon-landing TV | link |
| Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) | San Basilio, Sardinia (Italy) | INAF | Steerable Gregorian, active-surface, 64 m | ~0.3 – 116 GHz | Active-surface dish for high-efficiency mm observing | link |
| Nançay Radio Telescope (NRT) | Nançay, Sologne (France) | Observatoire de Paris / CNRS / Univ. Orléans | Kraus-type meridian transit (~94 m equiv.) | ~1.1 – 3.5 GHz | Europe's antenna dedicated to the decimetric band; pulsar timing | link |
| TNRT (Thai National Radio Telescope) | Doi Saket, Chiang Mai (Thailand) | NARIT | Steerable parabolic, 40 m | ~0.3 – 115 GHz | Largest radio telescope in Southeast Asia | link |
| QTT (QiTai radio Telescope) | Qitai County, Xinjiang (China) | Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory / CAS | Fully steerable, 110 m — under construction (~2028) | ~150 MHz – 115 GHz | Will be the world's largest fully steerable single dish | link |
| Yebes 40 m (RT40m) | Yebes, Guadalajara (Spain) | Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN) | Steerable parabolic, 40 m | ~2 – 90 GHz | cm/mm spectral-line surveys & astro-geodetic VLBI | link |
| Tianma 65 m (TMRT) | Shanghai (China) | Shanghai Astronomical Observatory / CAS | Fully steerable shaped-Cassegrain, 65 m | ~1 – 50 GHz | Largest fully steerable dish in Asia; China VLBI / lunar station | link |
| Usuda Deep Space Center 64 m | Saku, Nagano (Japan) | JAXA / ISAS | Parabolic deep-space antenna, 64 m | S-band (~2 GHz), X-band (~8 GHz) | Major deep-space tracking antenna; tracked Hayabusa | link |
Interferometers & connected arrays¶
| Telescope | Location (country) | Operator | Type & size | Frequency / bands | Notable for | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) | Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico (USA) | NRAO (NSF / AUI) | 27 active 25 m dishes, reconfigurable Y-array | ~1 – 50 GHz (plus 54–86 MHz & 230–470 MHz) | Most productive radio telescope in the world | link |
| ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) | Chajnantor plateau, ~5,000 m (Chile) | ESO / NSF-NRAO / NAOJ partnership | 66 antennas (54×12 m + 12×7 m) | Bands 1–10, ~31 – 950 GHz | World's largest mm/submm array | link |
| ATCA (Australia Telescope Compact Array) | Narrabri, NSW (Australia) | CSIRO (ATNF) | 6 × 22 m (5 on rail + 1 fixed) | ~1.1 – 105 GHz | Reconfigurable E–W array, wide frequency coverage | link |
| WSRT / Apertif (Westerbork) | Westerbork, Drenthe (Netherlands) | ASTRON | 14 × 25 m E–W array; Apertif phased-array feeds | ~1.4 – 8.4 GHz (Apertif ~1.13–1.75 GHz) | Pioneering aperture-synthesis array; wide-field survey upgrade | link |
| e-MERLIN | Distributed across the UK (HQ Jodrell Bank) | Univ. of Manchester / STFC | 7 telescopes (76 m, 32 m, 25 m); baselines up to ~217 km | L ~1.3–1.8, C ~4–8, K ~22–24 GHz | UK national long-baseline interferometer | link |
| GMRT / uGMRT (Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope) | Khodad, near Pune (India) | NCRA-TIFR | 30 × 45 m dishes, baselines up to ~25 km | ~120 – 1460 MHz | One of the largest, most sensitive metre-wave arrays | link |
| NOEMA (NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array) | Plateau de Bure, French Alps (France) | IRAM | 12 × 15 m antennas, baselines up to ~1.7 km | ~70 – 370 GHz | Most powerful mm interferometer in the Northern Hemisphere | link |
| CHIME | DRAO, near Penticton BC (Canada) | UBC / McGill / Toronto / NRC-DRAO | 4 fixed cylinders, each 100×20 m; no moving parts | 400 – 800 MHz | HI intensity mapping; prolific FRB detection | link |
| MeerKAT | Karoo, Northern Cape (South Africa) | SARAO (NRF) | 64 × 13.5 m offset-Gregorian dishes | UHF 0.54–1.09, L 0.86–1.71, S 1.75–3.5 GHz | SKA precursor; high-fidelity imaging | link |
| ASKAP (Australian SKA Pathfinder) | Murchison, WA (Australia) | CSIRO | 36 × 12 m dishes with phased-array feeds | ~0.7 – 1.8 GHz | Very wide field of view; fast wide-field surveys | link |
| MWA (Murchison Widefield Array) | Murchison, WA (Australia) | Curtin University (international consortium) | Low-frequency aperture array; 256 tiles (Phase II) | ~80 – 300 MHz | SKA-Low precursor; wide-field low-frequency surveys | link |
| LOFAR (LOw Frequency ARray) | HQ Netherlands; stations across Europe | ASTRON / LOFAR ERIC | Distributed phased array; ~52 stations, LBA+HBA | LBA ~10–90 MHz; HBA ~110–240 MHz | Largest low-frequency radio telescope; continental baselines | link |
| SKA / SKAO | HQ UK; SKA-Low in WA (Australia), SKA-Mid in Karoo (South Africa) | SKA Observatory (intergovernmental) | Under construction (early arrays): SKA-Low ~131,000 antennas (first image March 2025 with 1,024); SKA-Mid 197 dishes incl. MeerKAT (first fringes Jan 2026, ~7 dishes on site) | Low ~50–350 MHz; Mid ~0.35–15.4 GHz | Becoming the world's largest radio telescope; the headline instrument of the current radio era | link |
| DSA-110 / DSA-2000 (Deep Synoptic Array) | DSA-110: Owens Valley, CA; DSA-2000: Great Basin, Nevada (USA) | Caltech (DSA-110 NSF-funded; DSA-2000 funded by Schmidt Sciences) | DSA-110: 110 × 4.65 m (operating); DSA-2000: 1,650 × 6.15 m over ~20×16 km (construction approved June 2026, first light ~2029) | DSA-110 1.28–1.53 GHz; DSA-2000 0.7–2 GHz | FRB localisation; the DSA-2000 "radio camera" will survey ~100× faster than any current array — ~1 billion radio sources, 22,000 pulsars & ~100,000 FRBs over a 5-year survey | link |
| ngVLA (next-generation VLA) | Core New Mexico; stations across USA, Mexico, Canada | NRAO (NSF / AUI) | Under development: 244 × 18 m + 19 × 6 m antennas | ~1.2 – 116 GHz | Next-gen cm/mm interferometer; ~10× VLA sensitivity | link |
| Allen Telescope Array (ATA) | Hat Creek Radio Observatory, CA (USA) | SETI Institute | Interferometer; 42 × 6.1 m offset-Gregorian dishes | ~1 – 11 GHz | Purpose-built for SETI technosignature searches | link |
| Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) | Owens Valley, CA (USA) | Caltech | Multi-instrument site: 40 m dish, OVRO-LWA, OVSA, hosts DSA/COMAP | OVRO-LWA ~27–84 MHz; 40 m ~15 GHz; OVSA ~1–18 GHz | Major university-operated observatory with diverse instruments | link |
VLBI networks¶
| Telescope | Location (country) | Operator | Type & size | Frequency / bands | Notable for | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VLBA (Very Long Baseline Array) | 10 stations, Hawaii to US Virgin Islands; HQ Socorro, NM (USA) | NRAO | 10 × 25 m dishes; baselines 200–8,600 km | ~0.3 – 96 GHz | Continent-wide VLBI; milliarcsecond astrometry & imaging | link |
| EVN (European VLBI Network) | Europe, Asia, plus South Africa & Puerto Rico | JIVE (Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC), central correlator | VLBI network of large independent telescopes | ~1.4 – 45 GHz (some to ~90 GHz) | Most sensitive VLBI network; combines the largest dishes | link |
| EHT (Event Horizon Telescope) | Global (sites worldwide) | EHT Collaboration | Global mm-VLBI array of existing dishes/arrays | ~230 GHz (1.3 mm) | Imaged the M87 black hole (2019) and Sgr A* (2022) | link |
| LBA (Long Baseline Array) | Australia (+ NZ, South Africa) | CSIRO/ATNF with partners | Southern-hemisphere VLBI of varied antennas | ~1 – 24 GHz | Only open-access VLBI network in the southern hemisphere | link |
| KVN (Korean VLBI Network) | Seoul, Ulsan, PyeongChang, Jeju (South Korea) | KASI | mm-VLBI; four 21 m dishes; baselines ~130–500 km | Simultaneous 22 / 43 / 86 / 129 GHz | First dedicated 4-frequency simultaneous mm-VLBI network | link |
Notable historic & decommissioned¶
| Telescope | Location (country) | Operator | Type & size | Frequency / bands | Notable for | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jansky's rotating antenna ("merry-go-round") | Holmdel, New Jersey (USA) | Bell Telephone Laboratories | Rotating directional array, ~30 m wide | ~20.5 MHz | First detection of cosmic radio emission (1932) — founded radio astronomy | link |
| Grote Reber's dish | Wheaton, Illinois (USA) | Grote Reber (private; later NRAO) | Parabolic reflector, ~9.6 m | Detected at 160 MHz | World's first parabolic radio telescope (1937); first radio sky maps | link |
| One-Mile / Ryle Telescope | Cambridge (UK) | Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory, Univ. of Cambridge | Aperture-synthesis array; three 18 m dishes, one rail-mounted | 408 MHz & 1.4 GHz | Pioneered Earth-rotation aperture synthesis; Ryle's 1974 Nobel | link |
| Big Ear (Ohio State Radio Observatory) | Delaware, Ohio (USA) | Ohio State University (later NAAPO) | Kraus-type transit telescope, ~340 m long aperture | ~1420 MHz | Detected the "Wow!" signal (1977); demolished 1998 | link |
| RATAN-600 | Zelenchukskaya, Caucasus (Russia) | Special Astrophysical Observatory (SAO RAS) | Ring radio telescope; 576 m ring of 895 panels | ~610 MHz – 30 GHz | World's largest-diameter (ring) radio telescope | link |
This catalogue is representative, not exhaustive — dozens more dishes and arrays operate worldwide. For the organisations behind them and their data archives, see Resources; for amateur-scale instruments you can build, see Projects, Kits & Hacks.