The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) is the most sophisticated large single-dish radio telescope ever built.

In appearance, the brand-spanking-new GBT is a striking structure. It is a maze of girders angled in every direction to form a radio telescope that is taller than the Statue of Liberty and nearly as tall as the Washington Monument.

Weighing in at 16-million pounds, the GBT's dish itself is 328-feet by 361-feet (100 by 110 meters), bigger than a football field.

Green Bank Telescope Fast Facts

Purpose: Help understand stars, galaxies and other objects by collecting the radio waves they emit Size: 485 feet (148 meters) tall -- taller than the Statue of Liberty and aboutas tall as the Washington Monument

Weight: 16 million pounds (7.3 million kilograms) -- the same as 19 Boeing 747s Cost: $74.5 million Dish: 100-by-110 meters

Operator: National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

The GBT's central dish is made up of 2004 metal panels and is almost 2 acres (0.8 hectares) in extent, equal to one and a half times the size of a football field.

Radio waves from space hit the surface of the huge dish, reflecting up to a sub-reflector at the dish's focal point where the weak signals intersect. From there, the radio waves are redirected down into a "feedhorn" located on the large arm of the dish. That horn then channels the radio waves into a special receiver that boosts the signals for study by radio astronomers.

Green Bank lies in the National Radio Quiet Zone. Radio transmissions in this area are controlled, to avoid their interference with the operations of super-sensitive equipment at the observatory.

Green Bank is an isolated site, distant from urban areas and shielded by surrounding mountains.

The GBT can receive radio waves from space that are a billion times weaker than signals from a typical AM radio station 60 miles (100 kilometers) away.

Backdropped by the 485-foot- (148-meter-) tall telescope, scientists from around the world joined NSF and NASA officials, as well as other dignitaries who attended dedication ceremonies.

For a radio-quiet zone, everybody was abuzz about the capabilities of the huge telescope.

Rita Colwell, director of the National Science Foundation, told SPACE.com that the GBT "is probably the jewel in the crown of radio astronomy." She said that among its many attributes, she expects the instrument to help us understand our place in the universe, specifically the question about the origin of life.

Calling the GBT "a new technical marvel," Colwell said that the advanced telescope is maintaining the cutting edge in astronomy and promises to make discoveries that cannot be made any other way, she said.

"This telescope is a precious resource for astronomers all over the world," Colwell said.

During dedication festivities, NASA administrator, Daniel Goldin, was asked to predict what discoveries can be expected from the telescope. He underscored the value of basic research.

"Each time we try and predict an outcome, we get surprised. Trying to predict any specific outcome would violate the basic concepts of science," Goldin said.

"We believe the GBT is the largest moving mechanical object on land," said Jay Lockman, a Green Bank astronomer.

The GBT was a decade in the making, and needed an extra 5 years over initial, but optimistic schedules to complete. The telescope proved to be a daunting engineering challenge, Lockman said.

"Weve waited a while. Its been a long haul in getting the GBT built. Its a big day for us," said Paul Vanden Bout, director of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, Virginia.

"It is its own prototype, so we shouldnt be surprised by the problems," Vanden Bout said. After a shake out period, the GBT operations should be in full swing by early next year," he said.

"I would say early next year, well be looking for some real astronomy," Vanden Bout added. The NRAO will soon request scientists to propose research tasks for the mega-telescope.

"Well be looking for proposals that demonstrate the capability of the telescope...and help us shake it down," Vanden Bout said.

In ceremonial remarks, Senator Byrd was boosted in spirit by the fact that the gigantic telescope had already successfully completed its first test observation.

Byrd announced that the GBT had detected its first radio waves from space on August 22. The telescope had tracked a radio galaxy, then locked onto a pulsar called PSR B1133+16, recording pulses from the fast rotating neutron star that reach Earth every 1.2 seconds.

To tackle a range of astrophysical problems, the GBT comes replete with several impressive high-tech features.

A system of lasers can fine-tune the pointing accuracy of the telescope with an accuracy of 1 arc-second. That is equal to the width of a human hair seen 6 feet (1.8 meters) away.

Wind, heat and cold, as well as gravity, can play havoc on the shape of the radio telescope dish. To counter this, small pistons adjust the exact position of the 2004 metal panels that comprise the dish. The shape of the huge dish is monitored continually by a network of laser beams trained at various spots on the dish's surface.