On Saturday 28th March 2015, society chairman Paul Neaves visited Joderal Bank Radio telescope, and discovery centre with society members, Elaine and Brian. The Discovery Centre is a great day out for all interested persons. You can explore the wonders of the universe and learn more about the workings of the giant Lovell Telescope.
The Jodrell Bank 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 main telescope at the observatory is the Lovell Telescope, which is the third largest steerable radio telescope in the world. There are three other smaller telescopes at the observatory. Jodrell Bank 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. It its also the location of the annual BBC broadcast of Stargazing Live.
