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 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 Engineering Timelines - Jodrell Bank radio telescope Jodrell Bank radio telescope Jodrell Bank, near Goostry, Cheshire, UK associated engineer date 1952 - 1957, 1968 - 1971, 2001 - 2002 era Modern | category Scientific Installation | reference SJ794711 ICE reference number HEW 471 photo courtesy PHEW, ICE Manchester University's research station and observatory at Jodrell Bank was established in order to study radio signals from outer space. The facility is dominated by a huge radio telescope, originally the largest in the world. Now known as the Lovell Telescope, this radio telescope is still in use. Refurbishment in 2001 increased its power. Jodrell Bank is now part of the University of Manchester�s School of Physics & Astronomy.

Radar pioneer and astronomer Professor Bernard Lovell (1913-2012, knighted 1961) established the facility in 1946. The altitude-azimuth radio telescope, originally named Mark I, was designed to meet Lovell's requirements and superseded a 66.4m diameter transit telescope built in 1947. The 76.2m diameter rotatable paraboloid bowl of the Mark I telescope is made of 7,100 welded mild steel sheets 2mm thick, supported by a structural steel space frame. The frame sits on trunnion bearings formerly used for the 380mm gun turrets of two Royal Navy ships (Revenge and Royal Sovereign). Two steel towers support the bowl assembly at an elevation of 50.3m, and are braced to form a yoke under the bowl. The towers rest on bogies running along two concentric tracks with an overall diameter of 107.6m. The telescope can be rotated in any direction � the reflector has an area of 4,560 sq m and can be completely inverted.

Radio signals from space are reflected into the focus of the bowl, where aerials are mounted on a steel mast 19m high. The telescope was designed for wind loading at every stage of construction as well as at completion. It is moved by two independent and very sensitive Ward-Leonard rotary converters, operated from a control room with a 7.6m x 3.4m plate glass window giving a full view of the telescope. Construction took place during 1952-6, with 30 different firms employed, and the telescope was in use by August 1957. The cost was �559,670 excluding site acquisition, radio receiving/transmitting equipment and fees. Henry Charles Husband (1908-83, knighted 1975) took charge of the overall design. The Jodrell Bank telescope successfully tracked the Russian Sputnik 1 satellite (and the R7 rocket that had put it into orbit) from its launch on 4th October 1957 and during its three months in space. From 1958, the telescope provided tracking for NASA's attempts to launch American satellites and Moon rockets.

In 1963, Lovell was the first Westerner to visit the Russian deep-space tracking facility in the Crimea. In 1968-71, a total of 336 new reflector panels mounted on a frame were installed directly above the existing reflector surface. The new assembly added 960 tonnes to the weight of the telescope. Two new semicircular wheel girders under the bowl transfer one third of the load from the trunnion bearings to a new rail track set centrally between the two existing tracks. The whole structure weighs nearly 3,250 tonnes, with the moving parts totalling around 2,000 tonnes. Diagonal bracing was added after storms in January 1976. However, by the early 1980s, corrosion and rust were evident on the reflector plates and the angle frame, both made of ungalvanised mild steel. In 1987, after 30 years of operation, the structure was renamed the Lovell Telescope. The following year it was awarded Grade I listed status. Patch repairs in 1991 did not solve the rust problem.

Corrosion compromised both the integrity of the structure and the accuracy of the telescope. In 2001, engineers began replacing the existing reflector surface with 4,032 galvanised carbon steel plates. All the work was done by workers suspended from ropes inside the steep-sided bowl. The �2m contract was completed in 2002, increasing the telescope's power of resolution about four fold. It is now the third largest steerable radio telescope in the world � the two larger ones are located in the USA and Germany. The Lovell Telescope is not the only steerable radio telescope at Jodrell Bank. The 25m diameter Mark II was completed in 1964 on the site of the demolished transit telescope. It was the first telescope in the world to be computer controlled. In 1987, reflector panels of aluminium were mounted on the original steel bowl. Radio has a wavelength 100,000 times longer than visible light, so in theory a radio telescope should be 100,000 larger than an optical telescope to achieve the same resolution. However, astronomers can link distant radio telescopes electronically into a large array, giving the same results.

Seven British telescopes, including the Lovell Telescope and the Mark II, form Multi-Element-Radio-Linked-Interferometer-Network (MERLIN) � a system with an equivalent diameter of 217km. Now linked by a fibre-optic network, e-MERLIN�s data is interpreted at Jodrell Bank, and is comparable with data provided by the Hubble Space Telescope � a 2.4m diameter reflecting telescope, launched in 1990. In 2011 a Discovery Centre designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios was constructed to provide visitor amenities for the site. In 2012, Jodrell Bank became the headquarters for analysing data from the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) � the world�s largest radio telescope (construction 2016-24). Specialist contractor (2001-2): AEA Technology Telescope and transmitter repair (2001-2): Shal Engineers Research: ECPK Jodrell Bank Observatory - iSnare Free Encyclopedia Jodrell Bank Observatory "Transit Telescope" redirects here. For the type of telescope, see Transit telescope .

Jodrell Bank Observatory .uk Telescopes Related media on Wikimedia Commons The Jodrell Bank Observatory (originally the Jodrell Bank Experimental Station, then the Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories from 1966 to 1999; /ˈdʒɒdrəl/ ) is a British observatory that hosts a number of radio telescopes , and is part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester . The observatory was established in 1945 by Sir Bernard Lovell , a radio astronomer at the University of Manchester who wanted to investigate cosmic rays after his work on radar during the Second World War. It has since played an important role in the research of meteors , quasars , pulsars , masers and gravitational lenses , and was heavily involved with the tracking of space probes at the start of the Space Age . The managing director of the observatory is Professor Simon Garrington. The main telescope at the observatory is the Lovell Telescope , which is the third largest steerable radio telescope in the world.

There are three other active telescopes located at the observatory; the Mark II , as well as 42 ft (13 m) and 7 m diameter radio telescopes. Jodrell Bank Observatory is also the base of the Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN), a National Facility run by the University of Manchester on behalf of the Science and Technology Facilities Council . The site of the observatory, which includes the Jodrell Bank Visitor Centre and an arboretum, is located in the civil parish of Lower Withington (the rest being in Goostrey civil parish), near Goostrey and Holmes Chapel , Cheshire , North West England . It is reached from the A535 . The telescope can be seen by travelling by train, as the Crewe to Manchester Line passes right by the site, with Goostrey station a short distance away. Contents See also: Timeline of Jodrell Bank Observatory Jodrell Bank was first used for academic purposes in 1939 when the University of Manchester's Department of Botany purchased three fields at the site from the Leighs .

The name of the site came from a nearby ground rise called Jodrell Bank, which was named after William Jauderell and whose descendants, the Leighs , lived at the mansion that is now Terra Nova School nearby. The site was extended in 1952 by the purchase of a farm from a local farmer, George Massey. The new land included the site upon which the Lovell Telescope was sited. [1] The first use of the site for astrophysics was in 1945, when Bernard Lovell wished to use some equipment left over from World War II , including a gun laying radar , to investigate cosmic rays . [2] The equipment he was using was a GL II radar system working at a wavelength of 4.2 m, provided by J. S. Hey . [3] [4] He originally intended to use the equipment in Manchester ; however, electrical interference from the trams that then ran down Oxford Road prevented him from doing so. Consequently, he moved the equipment to Jodrell Bank, 25 miles (40 km) south of the city, on 10 December 1945.

[4] [5] Lovell's main topic of research at the time were transient radio echoes, which he confirmed were from ionized meteor trails by October 1946. [6] The first staff were Alf Dean and Frank Foden and meteors were observed by the naked eye while Lovell observed the electromagnetic signal on the equipment. [7] Coincidentally, the first time he turned the radar on at Jodrell Bank – 14 December 1945 – the Geminids meteor shower was at a maximum. [5] Over the next few years, he accumulated more ex-military radio hardware, including a portable cabin, commonly known as a "Park Royal" in the military (see Park Royal Vehicles ). The first permanent building on the site was located near to this cabin, and was named after it. [6] Today, Jodrell Bank is primarily used for investigating radio waves from the planets and stars. Searchlight telescope A searchlight was loaned to Jodrell Bank in 1946 by the Army ; consisting of a number of Yagi antennas . [9] This was first used for astronomical observations in October 1946.

[10] On 9 and 10 October 1946, the telescope was used to observe the ionisation in the atmosphere caused by meteors in the Giacobinids meteor shower. When the antenna was turned by 90 degrees at the maximum of the shower, the number of detections dropped to the background level, proving that the transient signals detected by radar were indeed from meteors. [9] Shortly after this, the telescope was used to determine the radiant points for meteors. This was possible as the echo rate is at a minimum at the radiant point, and a maximum at 90 degrees to it. [8] The telescope, as well as other receivers on the site, was also used to study auroral streamers that were visible at the site in early August 1947. [11] [12] Transit Telescope The Transit Telescope was a 218 ft (66 m) parabolic reflector zenith telescope built at Jodrell Bank in 1947. At the time, it was the largest radio telescope in the world.

It consisted of a wire mesh suspended from a ring of 24 ft (7.3 m) scaffold poles , which focussed radio signals to a focal point 126 ft (38 m) above the ground. The telescope mainly looked directly upwards, but the direction of the beam could be changed by small amounts by tilting the mast to change the position of the focal point. The focal mast was originally going to be wood, but this was changed to a steel mast before construction was complete. [1] The telescope was replaced by the fully steerable 250 ft (76 m) Lovell Telescope , and the Mark II telescope was subsequently built on the same location. The telescope was able to map a ± 15-degree strip around the zenith at 72 and 160 MHz, with a resolution at 160 MHz of 1 degree. [13] It was used to discover radio noise from the Great Nebula in Andromeda —the first definite detection of an extragalactic radio source—and the remains of Tycho's Supernova in the radio frequency; at the time it had not been discovered by optical astronomy .

[14] Lovell Telescope Main article: Lovell Telescope The "Mark I" telescope, now known as the Lovell Telescope , was the largest steerable dish radio telescope in the world, 76.2 metres (250 ft) in diameter, when it was completed in 1957; [15] it is now the third largest, after the Green Bank telescope in West Virginia and the Effelsberg telescope in Germany. [16] Part of the gun turret mechanisms from the battleships HMS Revenge and HMS Royal Sovereign were reused in the motor system for the telescope. [17] The telescope became operational in mid-1957, just in time for the launch of Sputnik 1 , the world's first artificial satellite. The telescope was the only one in the world able to track Sputnik's booster rocket by radar; [18] first locating it just before midnight on 12 October 1957. [19] [20] In the following years, the telescope was used to track a variety of space probes. Between 11 March and 12 June 1960, it tracked the Pioneer 5 probe.

The telescope was also used to send commands to the probe, including the one to separate the probe from its carrier rocket and the ones to turn on the more powerful transmitter when the probe was eight million miles away. It also received data from the probe, being the only telescope in the world capable of doing so at the time. [21] In February 1966, Jodrell Bank was asked by the Soviet Union to track the USSR unmanned moon lander Luna 9 and recorded on its facsimile transmission of photographs from the moon's surface. The photos were sent to the British press and published before the Soviets themselves had made the photos public. [22] In 1969, the Soviet Union's Luna 15 was also tracked. A recording of the moment when Jodrell Bank's scientists observed the mission was released on 3 July 2009. [23] With the personal support of Sir Bernard Lovell , the telescope also tracked Russian satellites. Satellite and space probe observations were shared with the US Department of Defense satellite tracking research and development activity at Project Space Track .

Despite the publicity surrounding the telescope's tracking of space probes, this only took up a fraction of its observing time, with the remainder used for scientific observations. These include using radar to measure the distance to the Moon and to Venus ; [24] [25] observations of astrophysical masers around star-forming regions and giant stars; [26] observations of pulsars (including the discovery of millisecond pulsars [27] and the first pulsar in a globular cluster); [28] observations of quasars and gravitational lenses (including the detection of the first gravitational lens [29] and the first einstein ring ). [30] The telescope has also been used for SETI observations. [31] Mark II and III telescopes Main articles: Mark II (radio telescope) and Mark III (radio telescope) The Mark II is an elliptical radio telescope, with a major axis 38.1 metres (125 ft) and a minor axis of 25.4 metres (83 ft). [32] It was constructed in 1964.

Aside from operating as a standalone telescope, it has also been used as an interferometer with the Lovell Telescope , and is now primarily used as part of MERLIN (see below). [33] [34] The Mark II radio telescope. The Mark III telescope was the same size as the Mark II, but was constructed to be transportable. [35] However, it was never moved, and remained at its original site in Wardle , near Nantwich , where it was used as part of MERLIN . It was built in 1966, and was decommissioned in 1996. [36] Mark IV, V and VA telescopes A model of the proposed Mark V radio telescope The Mark IV, V and VA telescopes were three proposals that were put forward in the 1960s through to the 1980s to build an even larger radio telescope than the Lovell. The Mark IV would have been a 1,000 feet (300 m) diameter standalone telescope, built as a national project. The Mark V would have been a 400 feet (120 m) moveable telescope.

The original concept of this telescope had it located on a 3/4-mile long railway line adjoining Jodrell Bank, however concerns about the future levels of interference meant that a site in Wales would have been used (the preferred site was near Meifod ). Several design proposals were put forward, one by Husband and Co., the other by Freeman Fox, who had designed the Parkes Observatory telescope. The Mark VA followed on from the Mark V, but with a smaller dish of 375 feet (114 m) and a design using prestressed concrete , similar to the Mark II (the previous two designs more closely resembled the Lovell telescope). [37] None of the three telescopes was constructed, although several design studies were carried out and some scale models were made. This was partly due to the changing political climate over the time (the period was from a Labour Party government under Harold Wilson to a Conservative Party one under Margaret Thatcher ), and partly to the financial constraints of astronomical research in the UK at the time. Also, at a vital time, it became necessary to upgrade the Lovell Telescope to the Mark IA, which subsequently overran in terms of cost.

[37] Other single dishes Undergraduate teaching telescope, with the Lovell telescope in the background A 50 ft (15 m) alt-azimuth dish was constructed at the observatory in 1964. In addition to astronomical research, it was used to track the Zond 1 , Zond 2 , Ranger 6 and Ranger 7 space probes, [38] and also Apollo 11 . [39] The 50 ft telescope was demolished in 1982, when it was replaced with a more accurate telescope named the "42 ft" following an accident that irreparably damaged the 50 ft telescope's surface. The 42 ft (12.8 m) dish is mainly used for observations of pulsars, and is normally continually monitoring the Crab Pulsar . [40] At the same time as the 42 ft was installed, a smaller dish called the "7 m" (actually 6.4 m, or 21 ft, in diameter) was installed and is now used for undergraduate teaching. Both the 42 ft and 7 m telescopes were originally used at the Woomera Rocket Testing Range in Australia.

[41] The 7 m was originally constructed in 1970 by Marconi Company . [42] A Polar Axis telescope was built at Jodrell Bank in 1962. This had a circular 50 ft (15.2 m) dish on a polar mount , [43] and was mostly used for moon radar experiments. It has since been decommissioned. There has also been an optical telescope at the observatory; an 18-inch (460 mm) reflecting optical telescope was donated to the observatory in 1951. [44] However, this telescope was not used much, and was in turn donated to the Salford Astronomical Society around 1971. [45] MERLIN Main article: MERLIN The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an array of radio telescopes spread across England and the Welsh borders . The array is run from Jodrell Bank on behalf of the Science and Technology Facilities Council as a National Facility.

[46] The array consists of up to seven radio telescopes and includes the Lovell Telescope , Mark II , Cambridge , Defford , Knockin , Darnhall , and Pickmere (previously known as Tabley ). The longest baseline is therefore 217 kilometres (135 mi) and MERLIN can operate at frequencies between 151 MHz and 24 GHz . [36] At a wavelength of 6 cm (5 GHz frequency), MERLIN has a resolution of 50 milli arcseconds which is comparable to that of the HST at optical wavelengths. [46] Very Long Baseline Interferometry Main articles: European VLBI Network and Very Long Baseline Interferometry Jodrell Bank has been involved with Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) since the late 1960s; the Lovell telescope took part in the first transatlantic interferometer experiment in 1968, with other telescopes being those at Algonquin and Penticton in Canada.

[47] The Lovell Telescope and the Mark II telescopes are regularly used for VLBI with telescopes across Europe (the European VLBI Network ), giving a resolution of around 0.001 arcseconds . [33] Square Kilometre Array Main article: Square Kilometre Array In April 2011, Jodrell Bank was named as the location of the control centre for the planned Square Kilometre Array , or SKA Project Office (SPO). [48] The SKA is being planned by a collaboration of 20 countries and when completed it is intended to be the most powerful radio telescope ever built. In April 2015 it was further announced that Jodrell Bank would be the permanent home of the SKA headquarters [49] for the period of operation expected for the telescope (over 50 years [50] ). Research Main article: Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics The Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, of which the Observatory is a part, is one of the largest astrophysics research groups in the UK.

[51] About half of the research of the group is in the area of radio astronomy—including research into pulsars , the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation , gravitational lenses , active galaxies and astrophysical masers . The group also carries out research at different wavelengths, looking into star formation and evolution, planetary nebulae and astrochemistry . [52] The first director of Jodrell Bank was Bernard Lovell , who established the observatory in 1945. He was succeeded in 1980 by Sir Francis Graham-Smith , followed by Professor Rod Davies around 1990 and Professor Andrew Lyne in 1999. [53] Professor Phil Diamond took over the role on 1 October 2006, at the time when the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics was formed. Prof Ralph Spencer was Acting Director during 2009 and 2010. In October 2010, Prof. Albert Zijlstra became Director of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics . Professor Lucio Piccirillo was the Director of the Observatory from Oct 2010 to Oct 2011 when Prof Simon Garrington became its managing director.

There is an active development programme researching and constructing telescope receivers and instrumentation. The observatory has been involved in the construction of several Cosmic Microwave Background experiments, including the Tenerife Experiment , which ran from the 1980s to 2000, and the amplifiers and cryostats for the Very Small Array . [54] It has also constructed the front-end modules of the 30 and 44 GHz receivers for the Planck spacecraft . [55] Receivers were also designed at Jodrell Bank for the Parkes Telescope in Australia. [56] Visitor facilities, and events A view of the telescope from the Arboretum New visitor's centre being constructed at Jodrell Bank in March 2011 The original visitors' centre, opened on 19 April 1971 by the Duke of Devonshire , [57] attracted around 120,000 visitors per year. It covered the history of Jodrell Bank and had a 3D theatre hosting simulated trips to Mars .

Due to an asbestos -related concern for the safety of the buildings, that visitor's centre (including the planetarium ) was mostly demolished in 2003 leaving a remnant of its far end; a large marquee was set up in its grounds. A new science centre was being planned at the time. Those rebuilding plans were shelved when Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST merged to become the University of Manchester in 2004, leaving the interim centre, which received around 70,000 visitors a year. [58] The Lovell Telescope illuminated during Jodrell Bank Live In October 2010, the old visitor centre closed and work on a new visitor centre started. The new Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre opened on Monday 11 April 2011. [59] It includes a new entrance building, the Planet Pavilion, a new Space Pavilion for exhibitions and events, and a glass-walled cafe with a view of the Lovell Telescope and an outdoor dining area, an education space, and landscaping of the gardens including a new Galaxy Maze. [60] A large orrery was installed in 2013.

[61] As well as being open to the public every day, the discovery centre also organises various public outreach events, including public lectures, star parties, and "ask an astronomer" sessions. [62] There is a path (not a whole circle) around the Lovell telescope, approximately 20 m from the telescope's outer railway. Along the path are some information boards explaining how the telescope works and the research that is done with it. The 35 acres (140,000 m2) Jodrell Bank Arboretum , created in 1972, houses the UK's national collections of crab apple Malus and mountain ash Sorbus species, and the Heather Society's Calluna collection. The arboretum also features a small scale model of the solar system , the scale being approximately 1:5,000,000,000. As part of the SpacedOut project, at Jodrell Bank is also the Sun in a 1:15,000,000 scale model of the solar system covering Britain.

[63] On 7 July 2010, it was announced that the observatory was being considered as an applicant for the 2011 United Kingdom Tentative List for World Heritage Site status. [64] It was announced on 22 March 2011 that it was on the shortlist to be put forward by the UK government. [65] In July 2011 the visitor centre and observatory hosted "Jodrell Bank Live" – a rock concert with bands including The Flaming Lips , British Sea Power , Wave Machines , OK GO and Alice Gold . [66] On 23 July 2012 Elbow performed live at the Observatory and filmed a documentary of the event and the facility which was released as a live CD/DVD of the concert. On 31 August 2013 Jodrell Bank hosted a concert performed by the Halle Orchestra to commemorate what would have been Lovell's 100th birthday. As well as a number of operatic performances during the day, the evening Halle performance saw numbers such as themes from Star Trek, Star Wars and Doctor Who amongst others.

The main Lovell telescope was rotated to face the onlooking crowd and used as a huge projection screen showing various animated planetary effects. During the interval the 'screen' was used to show a history of Lovell's work and Jodrell Bank itself. There is an astronomy podcast from the observatory, named The Jodcast . [67] The BBC television programme Stargazing Live is hosted in the control room of the observatory. The programme has had four series, in January 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. [68] Threat of closure On 3 March 2008, it was reported that Britain's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), faced with an £80 million shortfall in its budget, was considering withdrawing its planned £2.7 million annual funding of Jodrell Bank's e-MERLIN project. The project, which aims to replace the microwave links between Jodrell Bank and a number of other radio telescopes with high-bandwidth fibre-optic cables, greatly increasing the sensitivity of observations, is seen as critical to the survival of the establishment in its present form.

Sir Bernard Lovell was quoted as saying "It will be a disaster … The fate of the Jodrell Bank telescope is bound up with the fate of e-MERLIN. I don't think the establishment can survive if the e-MERLIN funding is cut". [69] [70] On Monday 14 April 2008, Cheshire's 106.9 Silk FM unveiled to its listeners their own campaign song to save Jodrell Bank, entitled "The Jodrell Bank Song" and sung by a group dubbed "The Astronomers". Along with the song, the Silk FM team also produced a music video filmed in front of the iconic Lovell telescope. Silk FM released the song for download from Monday 21 April 2008. All proceeds went towards saving Jodrell Bank. On 9 July 2008, it was reported that, following an independent review, the STFC had reversed its initial position and would after all guarantee funding of £2.5 million annually for three years.

[71] Fictional references Jodrell Bank has been mentioned [ clarification needed ] in several popular works of fiction, including Doctor Who ( Remembrance of the Daleks , The Poison Sky , The Eleventh Hour ). It was intended to be a filming location for Logopolis ( Tom Baker 's final Doctor Who serial) but budget restrictions prevented this and another location with a superimposed model of a radio telescope was used instead. It was also mentioned in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [72] (as well as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy film ), The Creeping Terror and Meteor . Jodrell Bank also featured heavily in the music video to Electric Light Orchestra 's 1983 single Secret Messages . The Prefab Sprout song Technique (from debut album Swoon) opens with the line "Her husband works at Jodrell Bank/He's home late in the morning". The Observatory is the site of several episodes in the novel Boneland , by Alan Garner (2012), and the central character, Colin Whisterfield, is an astrophysicist on its staff. See also 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 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.

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 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

Question: The radio telescope at Jodrell Bank is named after which physicist and astronomer?
Answer: (Sir Bernard) Lovell