Radioteleskop Effelsberg

The Effelsberg radio telescope sits in a forested valley of the Eifel's Ahrgebirge near the village of Effelsberg in the district of Euskirchen, operated by the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn. Built between 1967 and 1971 and commissioned in 1972, its 100-metre parabolic dish — spanning some 9,090 m² of surface area — made it the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope at the time, a record it held for nearly four decades. The instrument observes cosmic phenomena across a frequency range of 400 MHz to 95 GHz, from nearby pulsars to distant galaxies. A visitor centre on site explains the fundamentals of radio astronomy, and guided tours are offered on select days. The surrounding forest trails make for an unusual hiking excursion with the giant steel dish looming above the treetops.