The Forgotten Giant of ROT-54

Built in secrecy between 1975 and 1985, the ROT-54 Radio-Optical Telescope, also known as the Herouni Telescope, was once ranked among the most powerful instruments of its kind on Earth: a 54 metre radio dish paired with a 2.6 metre optical mirror, rising out of the Aragatsotn highlands like something dropped from another century.

Today it stands half reclaimed by grass and weather, currently under slow refurbishment, and it is one of the strangest, most photogenic places we take travelers in Armenia, equal parts industrial ruin and open air observatory. We'll spend the morning there before continuing on to Byurakan, home to Armenia's still active astrophysical observatory, for a second look at how this country has always kept one eye on the sky.