In episode EAT09 of KPO’s European Astronomy Tour, we’ll be visiting the wondrous Jodrell Bank Observatory, and it’s iconic 250 foot Lovell Radio Telescope.
This massive dish is the third largest steerable radio telescope in the world, and was the largest when it was built in 1957. This was just in time to allow the British to watch the launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, launched obviously by the Russians.
The Lovell Radio Telescope is obviously the largest radio telescope at Jodrell bank, but there are two others, The Mark II, 125 feet across, put into operation in 1964, and a 42 foot dish used for the observation of pulsars. The Mark II is sometimes joined together with the Lovell dish to create an interferometer, a combination of radio telescopes that allows more detailed observations of celestial targets.
Also in this episode we’ll fly our drone high over Jodrell Bank for a personal bird’s eye view.
You can find our episode schedule on the main Tour page. As we are traveling around, I will be editing and uploading from the many hostels in which we will be staying, and the internet may be shaky, so visit the Tour page often to see any adjustments that may occur.
Watch this week’s show on YouTube:
You can find the Show Notes on our website at https://kpobservatory.org/EAT09/. Please feel free to leave a question or comment, and we will respond as quickly as we can.
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Star Chart Images & Simulations Courtesy of SkySafari Astronomy http://SkySafariAstronomy.com
Kissimmee Park Observatory is dedicated to the study and imaging of the night sky, and performing astronomy outreach for individuals and groups.