Jodrell Bank: Science facts and science fiction | Science | The Guardian The Lovell Telescope: Facts & Figures Mass of the telescope: 3,200 tonnes Mass of bowl: 1,500 tonnes Diameter of bowl: 76.2 metres Surface area of bowl: 5,270 square metres Amount of paint for three coats: 5,300 litres Maximum height above ground: 89.0 metres Outer diameter of railway track: 107.5 metres When it was built in 1957 it was the largest in the world. It cost £750,000 and was three times over budget. It is now the third largest movable telescope in the world after the Effelsberg Radio Telescope in Germany and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia . Both are 100 metres in diameter. The largest fixed telescope is the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico , which is 305 metres across. The Jodrell Bank site is named after a local stream. Jodrell is the family name of an archer at the battle of Agincourt who was rewarded by the crown with land.

The Lovell telescope is so sensitive that using mobile phones on the site is forbidden. Even the microwave in the staff tea room is shielded inside a metal box to prevent interference. The e-Merlin upgrade has cost £8m in new hardware (mainly installing fibre optic cables) and will cost £2.5m per year to run. Jodrell Bank in popular culture Tom Baker as Doctor Who in the series Logopolis, 1981. Photograph: BBC In a 1981 episode of Doctor Who , the Doctor's fourth incarnation, played by Tom Baker, fell to his death from a walkway at the Lovell telescope. He regenerated into Peter Davison. In Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , Jodrell Bank scientists missed the alien invasion because they were having a cup of tea. The Lovell telescope won the BBC's "unsung landmark" competition in 2006. In the 1953 sci-fi serial The Quatermass Experiment , the central character – Bernard – is said to have been named after Sir Bernard Lovell, Jodrell Bank's founder.

Jodrell's greatest hits In its first year of operation, 1957, the Lovell telescope – or Mark 1 as it was then known – tracked the ballistic missile that had blasted the Soviet Sputnik 1 satellite into space. The Ministry of Defence later secretly used Lovell as a nuclear missile tracking station. Lovell had a major role in the discovery and identification of quasars (QUASi-stellAR radio source). These are thought to be powered by the accretion of dust and other material into super-massive black holes at the centre of distant galaxies. Lovell was instrumental in demonstrating gravitational lensing – the warping of space-time around massive objects. This discovery is a major plank in the evidence for Einstein's general theory of relativity. Astronomers have used the telescope to carry out a detailed investigation of pulsars (pulsating stars). These are thought to be extremely dense remnants of stars left over from supernova explosions. They rotate and emit a beam of radio waves, rather like a lighthouse.

Topics Physicist and radio astronomer who helped build one of world's largest telescopes dies aged 98 Published: 7 Aug 2012 Revolutionary project ready to launch just months after radio telescope site escaped closure Published: 1 Feb 2009 Astronomers at the site in Cheshire have processed signals from two of the telescopes in the brand new seven-telescope network Published: 20 Apr 2009 The upgrade to the Merlin telescope array, which includes Jodrell Bank, was threatened last year by funding cuts. It was rescued after an outcry from scientists and the public Published: 1 Feb 2009 Astronomer Sir Bernard Lovell dies - BBC News BBC News Astronomer Sir Bernard Lovell dies 7 August 2012 Media captionA look at Sir Bernard Lovell's achievements Pioneering astronomer and physicist Sir Bernard Lovell has died aged 98. Sir Bernard, who was born near Bristol and studied in the city, was the founder of University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Observatory. Jodrell Bank and the surrounding Cheshire countryside is dominated by the Lovell Radio Telescope, which was conceived by Sir Bernard.

Professor Brian Cox, who knew Sir Bernard, said he was "an inquisitive scientist all the way". A book of condolence has been opened at the observatory's Discovery Centre. Sir Bernard was born in Oldland Common, Gloucestershire, in 1913 and studied at the University of Bristol before joining the University of Manchester's Department of Physics in 1936. 'Visionary leader' During World War II he led a team developing radar technology, for which he was later awarded an OBE. Following the war, he returned to the university and set about planning the observatory. His iconic 76m (249ft) telescope was completed in 1957. Within days of it becoming operational, it tracked the rocket that carried Sputnik 1 into orbit. Image caption The Lovell Telescope was completed in 1957 and is the third largest steerable telescope in the world The structure remains the third largest steerable telescope in the world and plays a key role in global research on pulsating stars, testing extreme physics theories including Einstein's general theory of relativity. The telescope and his other contributions to radio astronomy led to him being knighted in 1961.

Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, said: "Bernard Lovell ranks as one of the great visionary leaders of science. "He had the boldness and self-confidence to conceive a giant radio telescope, and the persistence to see it through to completion, despite the risk of bankruptcy. "What is even more remarkable is that, more than 50 years later, this instrument (after several upgrades) is still doing 'frontier' science. "I recall the celebrations of the telescope's 50th anniversary in 2007. Lovell, though nearly blind, played a full part in the festivities and made a superb speech. "He rightly took great pride in this lasting monument." A spokesman for the university said Sir Bernard was "warm and generous". He said the astronomer had "retained a keen interest in the development of science at Jodrell Bank and beyond," and added: "Indeed he continued to come in to work at the Observatory until quite recently when ill health intervened." 'A pioneer' Sir Bernard was also an accomplished musician, a keen cricketer and an internationally-renowned arboriculturalist who created an arboretum at Jodrell Bank.

He is survived by four of his five children, 14 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Professor Cox, who met Sir Bernard after joining the University of Manchester in the 1990s, said: "I remember once I went to his house and immediately he said 'ah Cox, tell me about this muon' [a sub-atomic particle]. "He knew that I was doing particle physics and thought back to the last time he had thought about such things - he'd been thinking about astronomy for decades - and that's what he wanted to talk about. "That was him - all his life, he was a scientist. "He was a pioneer of radio astronomy and almost invented the subject.

"He built the leading telescope and that radio study of the sky has contributed a vast amount to our understanding of the universe." Sir Bernard Lovell | English radio astronomer | Britannica.com English radio astronomer Alternative Title: Sir Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell Sir Bernard Lovell Sir Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell born John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh Sir Bernard Lovell, in full Sir Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell (born August 31, 1913, Oldland Common, Gloucestershire, England —died August 6, 2012, Swettenham, Cheshire ), English radio astronomer, founder and director (1951–81) of England’s Jodrell Bank Experimental Station (now Jodrell Bank Observatory ). Sir Bernard Lovell posing in front of the Lovell Telescope, 2003. Phil Noble—Press Association/AP Lovell attended the University of Bristol, from which he received a Ph.D. in 1936.

After a year as an assistant lecturer in physics at the University of Manchester , he became a member of the cosmic-ray research team at that institution, working in this capacity until the outbreak of World War II in 1939, when he published his first book, Science and Civilization. During World War II Lovell worked for the Air Ministry, doing valuable research in the use of radar for detection and navigation purposes for which he was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1946. On returning to the University of Manchester in 1945 as a lecturer in physics, Lovell acquired a surplus army radar set for use in his research on cosmic rays. Because interference from the surrounding city hampered his efforts, he moved the equipment, which included a searchlight base, to Jodrell Bank, an open field located about 20 miles south of Manchester. Shortly thereafter authorities at the university agreed to provide him with a permanent establishment at the site, which already belonged to the university’s botany department, and to sponsor the construction of his first radio telescope , for which he used the searchlight base as a mounting. Lovell’s initial investigations with the instrument involved the study of meteors .

About 15 years earlier, when radio waves had been bounced off meteors during certain meteor showers , some astronomers had noted that the number of meteors observed visually was much smaller than the number of radio echoes received, an indication that the showers actually consisted of more meteors than could be seen. To determine if the echoes were meteoric in origin, Lovell used his new radio telescope to observe a particularly intense meteor shower on the night of October 9–10, 1946. As the shower first increased and later decreased in intensity, radio signals from the instrument’s transmitter were directed toward the shower. Throughout the evening, not only did the number of optical sightings coincide with the number of radio echoes being received, but the timing of the two rates was also as predicted, conclusively proving that the echoes were caused by the meteors. Having established this fact, Lovell could now apply radio techniques to meteor showers previously unknown because they occurred during daylight hours. Further experiments showed that orbits of meteors are elliptical, confirming the belief that these bodies are members of the solar system and are not of interstellar origin. Britannica Stories Ringling Bros.

Folds Its Tent In recognition of his work and growing reputation, Lovell was appointed by the University of Manchester to the position of senior lecturer in 1947 and reader in 1949; from 1951 to 1980 he was professor of radio astronomy at the university. During this time, he had already begun planning and building a bigger and more sophisticated radio telescope, which, when it was completed in 1957, was the world’s largest of its kind, with a diameter of 250 feet. The structure rotates horizontally at 20° per minute, and the reflector itself moves vertically at 24° per minute. While work on the telescope was in progress, Lovell published Radio Astronomy (1952), Meteor Astronomy (1954), and The Exploration of Space by Radio (1957). Lovell frankly admitted that it was mainly the prospect of using the new radio telescope to track the first Sputnik , scheduled for launch by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, that spurred his efforts to complete the instrument by that time.

By supplying a much-needed boost to the prestige of the project at a time when it was being seriously threatened by rapidly rising costs, this application of the instrument guaranteed its success and Lovell’s personal fame. Ever since, the giant radio telescope at Jodrell Bank has been a vital tool for pinpointing the exact locations of Earth satellites, space probes, and manned spaceflights, as well as for collecting data transmitted by instruments in some of these vehicles. (The telescope was originally called the Mark 1 but was renamed the Lovell Telescope in 1987.) Lovell Telescope, a fully steerable radio telescope at Jodrell Bank, Macclesfield, Cheshire, Eng. Jodrell Bank Science Centre Astronomy and Space Quiz Because of the widespread publicity given to Jodrell Bank and its director, coupled with the latter’s reputation as a popularizer of science , the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1958 invited Lovell to give a series of radio talks, known as the Reith Lectures, which were published in 1959 as The Individual and the Universe.

When Lovell was knighted (1961) for his pioneering work in radio astronomy, 20 investigations—mostly on radio emissions originating thousands of millions of light-years away—were in progress at Jodrell Bank. Some of this work is discussed in his book The Exploration of Outer Space (1962). His subsequent research was concerned mainly with cosmology ; radio emissions from outer space, including those from pulsars (discovered in 1967); the measurement of the angular diameters of distant quasars ; and flare stars . Britannica Lists & Quizzes Bernard Lovell - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) (1913-2012). English radio-astronomer Bernard Lovell was born on Aug. 31, 1913, in Oldland Common, Gloucestershire. After earning a doctorate at the University of Bristol in 1936, he was a lecturer and researcher at the University of Manchester in 1936-39. He served with the British Air Ministry during World War II, researching radar and navigational systems.

Lovell founded the Jodrell Bank Experimental Station (now the Jodrell Bank Observatory) in 1945 to research cosmic rays. He served as director of the station from 1951 to 1981 and as professor of radio astronomy at the University of Manchester from 1950 to 1980. During this time he planned and oversaw the construction of a radio telescope to study radio emissions from space. When it was completed in 1957, it was the largest radio telescope in the world. Lovell was knighted in 1961. He published the books Science and Civilization (1939), The Exploration of Space by Radio (1957), and The Individual and the Universe (1961). Lovell died on August 6, 2012, in Swettenham, Cheshire, England. Article Contributors What is Radio Astronomy? - SKA Telescope SKA Telescope Square Kilometre Array Exploring the Universe with the world's largest radio telescope Choose your local minisite Home » What is Radio Astronomy? What is Radio Astronomy? Did you know?

The data collected by the SKA in a single day would take nearly two million years to playback on an ipod. Fundamental to the SKA, many people ask “What is radio astronomy”. People are used to the stunning visual images taken by telescopes like the Hubble or the great telescopes in Hawaii or Chile, but maybe only have heard of radio astronomy through movies like “Contact” Since the 1930s,when the first radio signals from space were detected by Karl Jansky , astronomers have used radio telescopes to explore the Universe by detecting radio waves emitted by a wide range of objects. Our Sun, the nearest star to Earth is a powerful radio emission source, mainly due to its proximity to our planet, but some radio sources, which are millions of even billions of light years away, are truly colossal in terms of their radio output. Radio astronomy progressed through the middle of the last century, with many great discoveries made in radio frequencies such as the discovery of pulsars by Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, a postgraduate student working at the University of Cambridge whilst a student under Anthony Hewish, who went on to share the Nobel Prize for Physics with Martin Ryle, another notable radio astronomer in part for this discovery.

So how do radio telescopes work? Karl Jansky: Father of Radio Astronomy Radio telescopes provide alternative views to optical telescopes, they can detect invisible gas, and can reveal areas of space that may be obscured with cosmic dust. Unlike optical telescopes, which can be hampered by cloud or poor weather conditions on Earth, radio telescopes, working with signals at a longer wavelength, can be used even in cloudy skies. The longer wavelength of radio emissions means that the radio telescopes used to detect them do not have to be as perfectly shaped as their optical counterparts, (but still need to be accurate to around 1 mm in terms of accuracy of the dish shape) but, to obtain the same level of detail and resolution as their optical cousins, radio telescopes have to be much larger or have a much larger collecting area, as light is a much shorter wavelength. The largest radio telescope in the world as a single dish, is the Arecibo telescope , which featured in the movie “Contact”, and is located in a natural hollow in Puerto Rico, South America. Even the headquarters of the SKA Organisation, at Jodrell Bank in the United Kingdom, is steeped in history.

Home to one of the largest fully steerable radio telescopes in existence, the 76m Lovell telescope , one which not only worked on detection radio emissions from deep space, but that also played a pivotal role in the great space race of the 1960s between Russia and the United States. The telescope at Jodrell Bank, named after Sir Bernard Lovell, a pioneer in radio astronomy and the founding father of the Jodrell bank site. tracked both the first spacecraft “Sputnik” and also many of the U.S and Soviet era spacecraft on their travels from the Earth to the Moon and beyond. If we could look at the sky in radio wavelengths with our own eyes, what would we “see” Impression of what the Night Sky Looks like in Radio Wavelengths : (c) National Radio Astronomy Observatory / Associated Universities, Inc. / National Science Foundation Even with the 76m aperture size of the Lovell and over 300 metres for the Arecibo telescopes, the resolution of optical telescopes is still vastly superior. To match the resolution you need a radio telescope kilometres across, this for a single dish is clearly not possible or practical.

With a single dish the size of Arecibo, the limitation is one of physical size in the structure. This vast telescope, suspended in a natural bowl has limited movement across the sky, and limited ability to point at certain regions. Also with a single telescope approach, you ate pointing your telescope at a single source only, the SKA aims to circumvent this by sheer scale of numbers, and also using clever technology. But the issue still remains as to resolution vs optical telescopes, so get around this limitation in size however, radio astronomers have been able to utilise a technique known as interferometry. What is Interferometry? How a basic interferometer in radio telescopes works Radio telescopes (and more recently optical ones) can be used individually or they can be linked together to create a telescope array known as an interferometer. The SKA will be one of the world’s largest interferometers and by far the most sensitive, spanning thousands of kilometres. The main bulk of the telescopes will be located at core regions in South Africa and Australia. If all the individual telescopes that made up the SKA were combined in to one telescope dish, it would be equivalent to one that is a kilometre square in size, hence the name.

The resolution of an interferometer depends not on the diameter of individual radio telescopes, but on the maximum separation between them. Moving them further apart increases the angular resolution (the telescope ability to resolve smaller objects in the sky). In an interferometer, the signals from all of the telescopes are then brought together and processed by a correlator, which combines the signals to effectively simulate that from a single much larger telescope. With so many telescopes in this SKA, not only the angular resolution, but also the telescope sensitivity will be like nothing ever seen before. When complete, the SKA will surpass the resolution of optical instruments like the Hubble Space Telescope by some factor. Detecting the invisible sky Radio signals pass straight through the clouds and can be detected by these large antenna/dishes or receptors as the radio telescopes are known. The radio frequency range covers a vast swathe of the electromagnetic spectrum between around 30 MHz and 40 GHz, which is equivalent to, wavelengths from 10 m down to 7 mm. The SKA will observe at a frequency range from 50 MHz to 20 GHz which is equivalent to wavelengths of 4 m to 3 cm.

The Radio Spectrum – Image credit: CEPL The Basic physics of how radio emission works. Principle in the detection of radio signals from space is the Hydrogen atom. The hydrogen atom comprises a proton and an electron. While not strictly little spheres, both the electron and proton do have a property known as ‘spin’. The spins of the two particles can be aligned or anti-aligned. If spins of the electron and proton in a hydrogen atom are aligned, the atom has slightly more energy than if the spins are anti-aligned. A hydrogen atom can make a transition from the aligned state to the anti-aligned state. In doing so, it emits radio energy at a wavelength of 21 cm or a frequency of 1420 MHz. Conversely, in order for the atom to make the transition from anti-aligned to aligned, the atom has to be exposed to 21 cm wavelength radiation, from which it can absorb radio energy. This 21cm line as it is known in radio astronomy is a fundamental to radio astronomy and mapping it will be key to the operation of the SKA Comparing views In the image above, we can see a typical optical view of the sky, with our galaxy, the Milky Way dominating the centre of the image.

In the next image, taken with a radio telescope, we see the fundamental differences, (yet with some overlap) with the optical image above. This is an image of the 21cm line map of the entire Sky. It is maps like this which the SKA will be able to produce thousands of times faster and with a higher resolution than any other sky survey has been able to before The sky seen at the radio frequency of neutral hydrogen emission (21cm/1 420 MHz). Credit: J.Dickey/NASA SkyView Sir Bernard Lovell: Radio astronomer and driving force behind the Jodrell Bank telescope | The Independent Sir Bernard Lovell: Radio astronomer and driving force behind the Jodrell Bank telescope Tuesday 14 August 2012 23:00 BST Click to follow The Independent Online An astounding contribution to astronomy and space exploration: Lovell at Jodrell Bank in 1964 PA Sir Bernard Lovell, who died on 6 August aged 98, built the Jodrell Bank telescope. This achievement, at a time of post-war austerity in the Fifties, cannot be over-estimated.

Some 55 years later, this giant radio telescope continues as a national icon for British science and engineering. It maintains an active UK presence in the fast-developing worlds of astronomy and space exploration. In the 1950s, the 250ft diameter steerable dish was enlisted by both the Americans and the competing Russians as the unique instrument in the world with the power to track their rocket probes into space. Lovell's vision as director of the Manchester University's Observatory at Jodrell Bank has enabled a wealth of discoveries. Recently, the Jodrell Bank Observatory has been chosen as the headquarters of the world's biggest radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array. This international £1bn facility, with its square kilometre array packed with mini radio telescopes, offers the most sensitive instrument yet for radio discoveries in space. In September 1939, soon after being appointed as an assistant lecturer in the physics department of Manchester University, Lovell was seconded to the Air Ministry Research Establishment. The objective was to undertake development of centimetre wave radar equipment which would enable Bomber Command aircraft to navigate by night. Bernard was the leader of this H2S project.

This led on to the development of radar able to detect submarines and its installation in Coastal Command aircraft. The experience of working under intense wartime pressure with limited facilities equipped him well for the battles he would undertake in establishing the science of using radio as a tool at the frontier of astronomical research. He was awarded the OBE in 1946 for his contributions to radar development. On returning to the Manchester physics department under the leadership of Professor Patrick Blackett (later Lord Blackett), Lovell was determined to understand the origin of the mysterious radar echoes which had been detected by the wartime radar systems. Blackett and Lovell first hypothesized that they were due to energetic cosmic ray particles from outer space in collision with the Earth's atmosphere. Using basic ex-service radar equipment installed at the Jodrell Bank grounds of the University's botany department, Lovell and his students found that these radar echoes came from meteors as they burnt up on entering the atmosphere. These "shooting stars" leave a transient trail of ionisation which gives a radar echo. This discovery led to an intensive study of meteors and the upper atmosphere. A major outcome of their work was the discovery of daytime meteor showers associated with known comets.

Also, of particular importance, was the resolution of the debate about whether the sporadic meteors originated in the solar system or came from interstellar space; accurate radio orbit measurements showed they belonged to the solar system, orbiting the Sun. Lovell's book Meteor Astronomy (1954) is the definitive work on the subject. Lovell saw the need for a larger telescope to give greater sensitivity in the search for the elusive cosmic rays and for the detection of signals from the "radio stars" being found at other observatories. This resulted in an upward-looking, static, parabolic telescope 218ft in diameter, made from wires stretched between scaffold poles. An aerial 176ft above the reflecting dish received the signals either in the radar or radio mode. This telescope was immediately successful in detecting fainter meteor signals, but more importantly it collected signals from the enigmatic radio stars and helped to solve the problem of their origin. Some came from within our Milky Way galaxy, others were extra-galactic. Our nearby companion galaxy, the Andromeda Nebula, was clearly seen, as well as known optical emission nebulae within the Milky Way.

As more and more of these radio stars were found, the debate about whether they were Galactic or beyond our Milky Way became critical. The need for a large, fully steerable radio telescope able to receive radio signals from the whole sky became a first priority. Hence it was that Lovell campaigned for a 250ft fully steerable telescope at Jodrell Bank. He came forward in 1950 with a proposal for a telescope costing £120,000. The Department of Science and Industrial Research (DSIR) awarded a grant for a design study. Over the next five years, the long- running saga of modifications and cost re-evaluations had to take into account the importance of creating a dish of sufficient sensitivity to detect the recently discovered 21cm neutral hydrogen spectral line – the tool that enables measurement of distance in the Universe. So the mesh surface originally proposed had to become a solid surface – with all the additional design and cost implications. A lesser man would have been shattered by the continuing complications, but his wartime experience had taught perseverance. The ultimate cost of the telescope in 1957 was £630,000.

Lovell had a working 250ft telescope, a debt of £260,000 and the possibility of a prison sentence. The events of 4 October 1957 dramatically changed the situation. The Russians launched Sputnik 1 – the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. Although the 250ft telescope was in the testing phase, it was fitted with radar equipment and was able to track the launch rocket as it passed over the UK, confirming the Russian announcement. In this phase of the Cold War, the defence implications were chilling. Russia was capable of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and the US was still months from doing so. Lovell was saved from prison, as donors including the Nuffield Foundation and Lord Nuffield personally, helped to write off the debt. In 1969, the Jodrell Bank Experimental Station became the Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratory. The versatility of this telescope was immediately demonstrated in its ability to detect a wide range of radio sources at many frequencies. An early use was as an interferometer linked to a distant telescope in order to measure the diameter of the radio sources. A subset of these sources had remarkably small diameters.

These were identified as "Quasars", luminous radio emitters at the edge of the measurable universe. This discovery took the frontiers of discovery deep into the past. The same technique revealed the first gravitational lens as predicted by Einstein's theory of General Relativity. The 250ft telescope was resurfaced in 1970/71 so that it could operate more efficiently at higher frequencies. The resulting 21cm hydrogen line measurements established the motion of nearby galaxies relative to background galaxies, and led to the measurement of the dipole component of the Cosmic Microwave Background. Exploring the CMB takes us back to the beginning of time itself. Lovell saw the next phase of the development of radio astronomy at Jodrell Bank was to incorporate the 250ft telescope into an interferometric array of telescopes. This approach would take advantage of the large collecting area of the 250ft telescope and the high angular resolution provided by the linked telescopes. The resulting MERLIN array (Multi Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network) consists of six telescopes linked to the 250ft telescope with a maximum baseline to Cambridge of 217km.

The MERLIN array makes it possible to detect radio objects at the furthest reaches of the Universe. Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell was born on 31 August 1912, the only child of Emily Adams and Gilbert Lovell. They lived in the village of Oakland Common near Kingswood, Bristol. His mother was the captain of the local women's cricket team; his father was a Methodist preacher. Lovell attended the neighbouring Kingswood secondary school. He then went on to Bristol University, where he gained a first class degree in physics in 1934. He was awarded a PhD in 1936 for his research on the conductivity of thin metallic layers. His next move was to Manchester University, where he spent the rest of his academic life. In his youth, Lovell played cricket and developed his ability as an organist while playing the organ in the chapel. These interests continued at University and were recognisable in his life in Cheshire. He was organist at Swettenham church until well into his eighties and served as president of the Incorporated Guild of Church Musicians. He played cricket for Bristol University both as a batsman and as a bowler.

In Cheshire, he joined the local Chelford Cricket Club. Although true to his origins and a supporter of Gloucestershire, he was elected president of the Lancashire County Cricket Club. It was Lovell who promoted the use of technology in cricket; he had light meters installed at the Old Trafford ground. He was an adviser to the Test and County Cricket Board. Effective public outreach was of major importance to Lovell. He persuaded the University to build a Science Centre, including a planetarium, adjacent to the telescope. More than 100,000 visitors per year, half of whom were school children, were introduced to the attractions of science. Lovell's keen gardening interests also inspired the Jodrell Bank Arboretum, which was established with Granada Television sponsorship and functions as a part of the Discovery Centre attractions. Tribute must be made to Lovell's management style. At the Observatory, he gave the group leaders a free hand in their own research area, although they were accountable to him. This approach generated a family feeling with a strong loyalty to the Observatory. The outcome of Lovell's leadership can be seen in the number of observatories around the world whose senior management staff have had Jodrell Bank experience.

To acknowledge his contribution, the 250ft telescope was renamed the Lovell Telescope in 1987. Lovell won many honours. In 1955 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1960 he was awarded a Royal Society Gold Medal. In 1961 he was made a Knight Bachelor. He was president of the Royal Astronomical Society; vice-president of the International Astronomical Union; and in 1958 he gave the Reith lectures, entitled "The Individual and the Universe". The issues raised here in science and religion were covered in several of the 15 books he has published. Lovell married Joyce Chesterman in 1937. They had five children. He described his home as the "family fortress". There he was sustained in the challenging trials of the telescope construction. Joyce died in 1993.

Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell, physicist and radio astronomer: born Oldland Common, Bristol 31 August 1913; married 1937 Joyce Chesterman (died 1993; five children); died Swettenham, Cheshire 6 August 2012. Sir Bernard Lovell, Jodrell Bank Observatory founder, dies aged 98 | Science | The Guardian Sir Bernard Lovell, Jodrell Bank Observatory founder, dies aged 98 Physicist and radio astronomer who helped build one of world's largest telescopes dies aged 98 Jodrell Bank Observatory founder Sir Bernard Lovell, pictured in 1993 in front of the Lovell telescope. Photograph: Times Newspapers/Rex Features Press Association Tuesday 7 August 2012 12.16 EDT First published on Tuesday 7 August 2012 12.16 EDT Close This article is 4 years old The celebrated physicist and radio astronomer Sir Bernard Lovell has died at the age of 98, the University of Manchester has announced.

Lovell, who died on Monday night, was the university's emeritus professor of radio astronomy and the founder and first director of Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire . In a statement , the university said his legacy was immense and that he was "a great man" and would be sorely missed". Jodrell Bank is dominated by the 76-metre (250ft) Lovell telescope , conceived by the astronomer. Lovell began working with the engineer Sir Charles Husband to build the telescope in 1945 and it has since become a symbol of British science and engineering and a landmark in the Cheshire countryside . A hugely ambitious project at the time, the telescope was the world's largest when it was completed in 1957 and within days tracked the rocket that carried Sputnik 1 into orbit, marking the dawn of the space age. It is still the third largest steerable telescope in the world and a series of upgrades means it is now more capable than ever, observing phenomena undreamed of when it was first conceived. The telescope plays a key role in world-leading research on pulsars, testing our understanding of extreme physics including Einstein's general theory of relativity.

Last year, Jodrell Bank Observatory was placed on the British government's shortlist for World Heritage Site status, recognising its important role in research and education. Born in 1913 in Oldland Common, Gloucestershire, Lovell studied at the University of Bristol before arriving at Manchester University to work in the department of physics in 1936. During the second world war, he led the team that developed H2S radar, work for which he was later awarded an OBE. Lovell returned to Manchester's physics department in 1945 and began work on cosmic rays, using ex-military radar equipment. A tribute to Lovell published on the Jodrell Bank website said: "In person, Sir Bernard was warm and generous. He retained a keen interest in the development of science at Jodrell Bank and beyond. Indeed he continued to come in to work at the observatory until quite recently when ill-health intervened.

"Sir Bernard's legacy is immense, extending from his wartime work to his pioneering contributions to radio astronomy and including his dedication to education and public engagement with scientific research." Lovell, who was knighted in 1961, was director of Jodrell Bank from 1945 to 1980. The university said: "Over the last seven decades, many hundreds of scientists and engineers have worked and trained at Jodrell Bank, often going on to work at other observatories across the world. "Jodrell Bank has also inspired generations of schoolchildren who have visited the observatory to pursue careers in science, engineering and medicine." A book of condolence for Lovell was to be opened at the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre on Tuesday and an online version will also be made available. Lovell is survived by four of his five children, 14 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Revolutionary project ready to launch just months after radio telescope site escaped closure Published: 1 Feb 2009 The observatory's history, its vital statistics and key discoveries, and its place in popular culture Published: 1 Feb 2009 Astronomers at the site in Cheshire have processed signals from two of the telescopes in the brand new seven-telescope network Published: 20 Apr 2009 The upgrade to the Merlin telescope array, which includes Jodrell Bank, was threatened last year by funding cuts. It was rescued after an outcry from scientists and the public Published: 1 Feb 2009 Bernard Lovell (Author of Astronomer By Chance) edit data Sir Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell (born 31 August 1913, Oldland Common, Bristol) OBE, FRS is an English physicist and radio astronomer. He was the first Director of Jodrell Bank Observatory, from 1945 to 1980. He studied physics at the University of Bristol, obtaining a Ph.D. in 1936.

At this time he also received lessons from Raymond Jones, a teacher at Bath Technical School and later organist at Bath Abbey. The church organ was one of the main loves of his life, apart from science. He worked in the cosmic ray research team at the University of Manchester until the outbreak of World War II, during which he worked for the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) developing radar systems to be installed in aircraft, among them H2S, for Sir Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell (born 31 August 1913, Oldland Common, Bristol) OBE, FRS is an English physicist and radio astronomer. He was the first Director of Jodrell Bank Observatory, from 1945 to 1980. He studied physics at the University of Bristol, obtaining a Ph.D. in 1936. At this time he also received lessons from Raymond Jones, a teacher at Bath Technical School and later organist at Bath Abbey. The church organ was one of the main loves of his life, apart from science.

He worked in the cosmic ray research team at the University of Manchester until the outbreak of World War II, during which he worked for the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) developing radar systems to be installed in aircraft, among them H2S, for which he received an OBE in 1946. He attempted to continue his studies of cosmic rays with an ex-military radar detector unit, but suffered much background interference from the Electric trams on Manchester's Oxford Road. He moved his equipment to a more remote location, one which was free from such electrical interference, and where he established the Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Goostrey in Cheshire. It was an outpost of the University's botany department. In the course of his experiments he was able to show that radar echoes could be obtained from daytime meteor showers as they entered the Earth's atmosphere and ionised the surrounding air. With University funding he constructed the then-largest steerable radio telescope in the world, which now bears his name - the Lovell Telescope. Over 50 years later, it remains a productive radio telescope, now mostly operated as part of the MERLIN and European VLBI Network interferometric arrays of radio telescopes.

In 1958, Lovell was invited by the BBC to deliver the annual Reith Lectures - a series of six radio broadcasts, titled The Individual and the Universe, in which he examined the history of inquiry into the solar system and the origin of the universe. He was knighted in 1961 for his important contributions to the development of radio astronomy, and has a secondary school named after him in Oldland Common, Bristol, which Sir Bernard Lovell officially opened. A building on the QinetiQ site in Malvern is also named after him. In 2009, Lovell spoke of a claimed assassination attempt in Deep-Space Communication Center (Eupatoria) during the Cold War where the Soviets allegedly tried to kill him with a lethal radiation dose. At the time, Lovell was head of the Jodrell Bank space telescope that was also being used as part of an early warning system for Soviet nuclear attacks. Lovell has written a full account of the incident which will not be published until after his death. The first name of the fictional scientist Bernard Quatermass, the hero of several BBC Television science-fiction serials of the 1950s, was chosen in honour of Lovell.

Now in his 99th year, Sir Bernard, physically very frail, lives in quiet retirement in the English countryside. He is surrounded by music, his books and a vast garden filled with trees he himself planted many decades ago and which he has loved so long. BBC - Manchester - Science - How Jodrell Bank became a Cold War spy You are in: Manchester > Science > Jodrell Bank > How Jodrell Bank became a Cold War spy The Cold War spy: Jodrell Bank in 1966 How Jodrell Bank became a Cold War spy Eminent astronomer Sir Bernard Lovell, whose vision led to the building of the Jodrell Bank telescope that bears his name, has revealed that it had an important role to play in the Cold War – one that nearly led to him becoming a Soviet citizen.

The Lovell Radio Telescope - part of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics - completed in 1957 - primarily to investigate cosmic phenomena - received first pictures from far side of Moon in 1959 - renamed Lovell Radio Telescope in 1987 - winner of BBC News's Greatest Unsung Landmarks competition In an interview with BBC North West Tonight to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy 2009, Sir Bernard also told of how Sputnik saved the radio telescope and his job, as the project had come in massively over-budget – which meant he was facing the sack and possibly even prison!

BBC News: Sir Bernard Lovell on Jodrell Bank's Cold War history > Saved by Sputnik However, the launch of the Soviet satellite in 1957 prompted a phone call from one of the British Government’s highest military commanders, who had a special assignment for the newly completed telescope – to spy behind the Iron Curtain and become, as Sir Bernard put it, "the western world’s early warning system." Sir Bernard Lovell "The day after the launching, he telephoned me to say 'do you realise that if you use your telescope as a radar, you could detect the carrier rocket – and there is no other instrument in the western world which can detect that ballistic missile?' "The ballistic missile was expected to be, and indeed did become, a vital instrument of international warfare.

"I said 'we can tell you when they launch, but then you can do nothing about it and neither can we.' "And he said, 'on the contrary, you will give us seven minutes’ warning before the missile descends on London, during which time we will have launched the whole of our bomber force'." The mission saved the telescope and Sir Bernard's job, and he described the call as being "a moment in one's life which one never forgets because it was that that made it possible for us to be here today." Dual purpose? The telescope in 1961 'A sinister time' The use of the telescope in such a way led to Sir Bernard being a Soviet target for defection – something which he found out when he took a trip to the Soviet Union soon after. "I should have been prevented from going, because they obviously knew that we had been used as a defence centre. "They tried to remove from my memory the fact that they had taken me to their own defence nucleus on the Black Sea coast, because they didn't want news of what they had brought back to this country.

"It was a sinister time and a lot of my compatriots who went to the Soviet Union in those days never did return or if they did, they never survived. "I must say I was jolly thankful to see the lights of London on one's return." "It was a sinister time and a lot of my compatriots who went to the Soviet Union in those days never did return" Sir Bernard Lovell on the dark days of the Cold War Quite how the Soviets attempted to make sure their secrets didn't return with Sir Bernard, the physicist won't say for now, but he has ensured that one day, all will be revealed. "I have written a detailed memorandum of the whole of that visit and of my previous and subsequent visits to the Soviet [Union], which is now in the John Rylands archive and which I have asked not to be published while I'm still living." As fascinating a read as that document will no doubt be, hopefully it will be some time before we get to hear the full story of Sir Bernard’s time behind the Iron Curtain.

Watch the second half of Sir Bernard Lovell's interview with Gordon Burns on BBC North West Tonight this evening at 6:30pm on BBC One last updated: 20/05/2009 at 12:28 created: 20/05/2009 Bernard Lovell dies at 98; conceived Jodrell Bank radio telescope - latimes YOU ARE HERE: LAT Home → Collections → News Bernard Lovell dies at 98; conceived Jodrell Bank radio telescope The radio telescope he got built in England has played a crucial role in tracking satellites, searching for missing lunar probes and revealing the wonders of space. August 12, 2012 |By Thomas H. Maugh II, Special to The Times Pioneering British physicist and astronomer Bernard Lovell founded England's… (Jon Super / Associated Press ) When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit in 1957, its tiny radio transmitter allowed it to be tracked in space.

There was only one instrument in the West that could track the intercontinental ballistic missile that launched it, however: the newly opened 250-foot radio telescope at Jodrell Bank in England. And when Sputnik's transmitter died after only 22 days, Jodrell Bank — towering over the English countryside in a small village south of Manchester — was the only instrument that could track it until it fell to Earth three months later. The telescope, which has since played a crucial role in tracking orbiting satellites, searching for missing probes on the moon and revealing the wonders of deep space, was the brainchild of one man, Sir Bernard Lovell. Lovell conceived it, fought vigorously for funds, faced jail when funding fell short and oversaw its use for the rest of his career. Lovell, who had been in ill health for several years, died Monday at his home in Swettenham Village, England, according to the University of Manchester. He was 98.

"Sir Bernard leaves a fantastic legacy at the university's Jodrell Bank Observatory, which is a world-class center for astronomy research, an iconic science monument and a center that attracts thousands of visitors and inspires scientists of the future," said Dame Nancy Rothwell, president of the university, where Lovell was a professor emeritus. "He was a towering figure, not just in Manchester or the U.K., but globally." Stellar objects emit radiation at a broad range of frequencies, including radio frequencies. In the 1930s, researchers at Bell Laboratories made the first observation of radio signals emanating from the Milky Way, and a new field of research was born. Over the next decades, researchers used a variety of relatively small radio telescopes — more precisely, radio antennas — to explore the universe. Lovell was convinced that a much larger antenna would be even more useful and single-mindedly set out to build one. After World War II, he had managed to obtain a surplus army mobile radar unit and two trailers full of surplus equipment that he jury-rigged into a small radio observatory at the University of Manchester. Nearby electric trams, however, created electrical signals that interfered with his observations.

The university had a small piece of land south of the city that had once been owned by William Jauderell, who had fought with Edward the Black Prince at Poitiers in the Hundred Years War. There, helped by two gardeners from the university's botanical gardens, Lovell set up a primitive radio observatory on a high area of ground, or bank. He soon realized the inadequacy of his facility and began planning a much larger, steerable radio telescope. His initial estimate was that the facility would cost about 60,000 pounds, but that proved wildly optimistic. When groundbreaking began in 1952, the estimated cost had grown to 335,000 pounds, to be shared equally by the British government's Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Nuffield Foundation, a charitable trust founded by William Morris, Lord Nuffield, the founder of Morris Motors Ltd. The eventual cost proved to be double that, and Lovell struggled to find funds. At one point, he faced jail over an outstanding debt of 1 million pounds.

The total debt was finally retired in 1960, when Lovell received a call from Lord Nuffield, who offered to pay the balance of 50,000 pounds. From 1957 to 1981, Lovell headed teams that made powerful new discoveries. In 1960, the radio telescope was the first to sight quasars, mysterious star-like objects that shine with the brilliance of 100 million suns. Almost two-thirds of the known pulsars — rapidly rotating neutron stars that emit radio waves — were discovered at Jodrell Bank. The telescope routinely tracked both Soviet and American spacecraft, providing valuable intelligence. In 1960, it transmitted a signal to the American Pioneer V deep space probe, then 22 million miles away, releasing it from its booster rocket. No other antenna could have done so. It was also used in the search for the Beagle 2 lander on Mars. Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell was born Aug. 31, 1913, at Oldland Common in Gloucestershire. His mother played cricket, and he developed an interest in the sport that he maintained throughout his life.

He was also an accomplished musician. Lovell attended Bristol University, receiving his doctorate in physics in 1936, before taking a position at Manchester, where he spent the rest of his academic career. During World War II, he worked on radar systems at Britain's Telecommunications Research Establishment in Dorset and later at Malvern. He was in charge of a team that developed the H2S radar system for airborne, ground-scanning radar. Among other applications, the radar improved the accuracy of bombing missions and allowed aircraft to detect submarines that surfaced at night, a development that dramatically cut shipping losses in the Atlantic Ocean. He was appointed to the Order of the British Empire in 1946 for his wartime work and knighted in 1961 for his work in radio astronomy. Lovell's wife of 56 years, the former Joyce Chesterman, died in 1993. He is survived by four children, 14 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Question: The radio telescope at Jodrell Bank is named after which physicist and astronomer ?
Answer: SIR BERNARD LOVELL