Hat Creek Radio Observatory

Hat Creek Radio Observatory (HCRO) is a remote radio astronomy site in the western United States, run by the SETI Institute as its main instrument for scanning the sky at radio wavelengths.

About Hat Creek Radio Observatory

The observatory is home to the Allen Telescope Array, a dedicated set of radio dishes built for the search for signals from other civilisations, as well as one of three outriggers for the CHIME Fast Radio Burst project and a number of smaller telescopes and instruments.

Telescopes & research

Rather than collecting visible light, HCRO's dishes listen for radio waves, letting researchers hunt for both technosignatures and natural but poorly understood phenomena like fast radio bursts. Its role as a CHIME FRB outrigger helps pin down exactly where in the sky these brief, powerful radio flashes originate.

Location & getting there

The observatory sits in Hat Creek Valley in the western United States, a remote, radio-quiet setting chosen precisely because it is far from the interference of towns and cities.

Visiting Hat Creek Radio Observatory

HCRO is operated by SRI International and is open Monday to Friday, 09:00-15:00. It can be reached by phone at +1-530-335-2364 for current visiting arrangements before you travel out to the site.

See your named star from here

HCRO's dishes work in radio wavelengths rather than visible light, but they are pointed using the very same coordinate system, right ascension and declination, that marks the exact spot of any star named through Star Register. Browse the naming packages or search the star catalogue to find yours.