With a diameter of 100 meters, the Radio Telescope Effelsberg (operated by the Max-Planck Institut für Radioastronomie in Bonn) is one of the largest fully steerable radio telescopes on earth. Since operations started in 1972, the technology has been continually improved (i.e. new surface for the antenna-dish, better reception of high-quality data, extremely low noise electronics) making it one of the most advanced modern telescopes worldwide.
| geographic longitude: | 06° 53′ 01.0″ |
| geographic latitude: | 50° 31′ 29.4″ |
| altitude above sea level: | 369 m |
| diameter telescope: | 100 m |
| minimum elevation: | 8° |
Available observing mode: single dish, Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI).
Frequencies used currently:
| Frequency band | Observing mode |
| 300 – 900 MHz | single dish, VLBI |
| 800 – 1300 MHz | single dish, VLBI |
| 1200 – 3000 MHz | single dish, VLBI |
| 1270 – 1450 MHz | single dish, VLBI |
| 1570 – 1720 MHz | single dish, VLBI |
| 2200 – 2300 MHz | VLBI |
| 2400 – 2700 MHz | single dish |
| 2900 – 3100 MHz | single dish |
| 3300 – 3600 MHz | single dish |
| 4000 – 9300 MHz | single dish, VLBI |
| 4600.0 – 5100 MHz | single dish, VLBI |
| 5750 – 6750 MHz | single dish, VLBI |
| 7900 – 9000 MHz | single dish, VLBI |
| 10.3 – 10.6 GHz | single dish |
| 12 – 18 GHz | single dish, VLBI |
| 12.1 – 13.6 GHz | single dish |
| 13.6 – 15.6 GHz | single dish, VLBI |
| 13.5 – 18.7 GHz | single dish, VLBI |
| 18 – 26 GHz | single dish, VLBI |
| 21.7 – 24.4 GHz | single dish |
| 27.0 – 38.5 GHz | single dish |
| 30 – 34 GHz | single dish |
| 33 – 50 GHz | single dish, VLBI |
| 41 – 49.7 GHz | single dish, VLBI |
| 84 – 95.5 GHz | single dish |
Research programs: galactic and extra-galactic radio astronomy, pulsar research, Very Long Baseline Interferometry, interstellar molecules.