The 100-Meter Green Bank Radio Telescope.

The largest single-dish fully steerable radio telescope began operation in 2000 August in Green Bank , West Virginia , USA . Dedicated as the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, the device weighs over 30 times more than the Statue of Liberty , and yet can point anywhere in the sky more precisely than one thousandth of a degree . The main dish is so large that it could house a football game, allowing it to hear even the faint murmurs of quasars located across the universe. Anyone can propose to use the Green Bank Telescope , although formal proposals are reviewed competitively. The Green Bank Telescope 's large size and innovative design are allowing it to investigate radio waves emitted from comets , planets , pulsars , distant galaxies , and the distant early universe .