Lovell Telescope
Monday, 1st August 2005 by Alex Turnbull
This is the Lovell Telescope at the Jodrell Bank Observatory, Cheshire, UK. Apparently it's the largest radio telescope in Europe and has been in operation since 1957, which was just in time for the launch of Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite. Jodrell Bank was the only installation in the world able to track Sputnik's booster rocket by radar (Wikipedia page). You can also see the smaller Mach II dish just to the south east.
Thanks: Fred Bobardo, Peter Bindon, Oscar Blanco, Scotto, Andrew Kowalski and Chris Palmer
About the author
Alex has decided that his title will be Senior Vice President of Stuff.
It is the largest in Europe?? Youre sure?
Isn’t the largest Radio Telescope in Europe in Effelsberg in Germany? ( 50°31’26.59″N / 6°53’2.19″E)
I’m almost sure of that.
Effelsberg is the largest in Europe and until 2000 was the largest steerable in the world. I tried to look it up in google maps but as we live in banana republic Germany, there is no hires data of the area.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effelsberg
There’s something very aesthetically satisfying about using an orbiting satellite to take a picture of an earthbound radiotelescope.
HTML
Speaking of telescopes and large dishes, has anyone ever found that large dish that is in the top of a mountain? I can’t remember it’s name or location, but I believe it is the same one featured in the movies ‘Contact’ and ‘one of those Bond movies’. I want to say it was in Central America somewhere.
ralph:
[Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico][1] [1]: https://www.googlesightseeing.com/2005/08/04/arecibo-radio-telescope/
It’s in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, which is here:
View Placemark
But darned if I can find the ‘scope. There’s no hi-res in the area which doesn’t help, I’m sure.
Otter
Yea, I decided to put off actually working this morning, and looked it up. 100’s may have requested it, but I like to think that I am the one that pushed ’em over the top to post it. 🙂
It’s pretty cool (and large) even at lo-res.