50 Years of the Lovell Telescope Transcript
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The Lovell Telescope … Through Its Surfaces Simon Garrington, JBO/University of Manchester
The Lovell Telescope … through its surfaces Simon Garrington, JBO/University of Manchester • Original design & redesign: 1950-1957 • Radical modification & new surface: 1971 • Replacement of surface: 2001 • Replacement of original Picture A. Holloway surface: 2018 • Other consequences: foundations O1 Original MkI proposal and changes • Concept & proposals: 1950-1 • Lovell-Husband Sep 1949 • Radio Astronomy Cttee 1950 • rail track; towers, cradle, 4-inch mesh • 2-inch mesh/5-in profile by 20 Mar 1951 submission • Design changes • 21cm line discovered (Ewen 25 Mar 1951) • Inner 100’ mesh 1x2-in ‘at no cost’ ? Sep 1952 • Interest from Air Ministry: 10cm radar • March 1954: 3/4-in mesh -> stronger cradle … but Air Ministry step back O2 Original MkI proposal and changes • Concept & proposals: 1950-1 • Lovell-Husband Sep 1949 • Radio Astronomy Cttee 1950 • rail track; towers, cradle, 4-inch mesh • 2-inch mesh/5-in profile by 20 Mar 1951 submission • Design changes • 21cm line discovered (Ewen 25 Mar 1951) • Inner 100’ mesh 1x2-in ‘at no cost’ ? Sep 1952 • Interest from Air Ministry: 10cm radar • March 1954: 3/4-in mesh -> stronger cradle … but Air Ministry step back O3 Original MkI proposal and changes • Concept & proposals: 1950-1 • Lovell-Husband Sep 1949 • Radio Astronomy Cttee 1950 • rail track; towers, cradle, 4-inch mesh • 2-inch mesh/5-in profile by 20 Mar 1951 submission • Design changes • 21cm line discovered (Ewen 25 Mar 1951) • Inner 100’ mesh 1x2-in ‘at no cost’ ? Sep 1952 • Interest from Air Ministry: 10cm radar • March 1954: 3/4-in -
Jod Bank 1.Indd 56 23/10/2019 08:11 Feature
Feature Radio Eye on the Sky (Part I) Dr Bruce Taylor HB9ANY Dr Bruce Taylor HB9ANY relates how chance, [email protected] skill, tenacity and the enthusiasm of a botanist n July 7th 2019 Jodrell Bank radio amateur created a technical masterpiece. Observatory, the home of what is surely the most iconic radio antenna in the world, was de- Oclared a World Heritage Site in the same cultural category as the Great Wall of China and the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur. It was recognised by UNESCO as “a masterpiece of human creative genius” because of its scientifi c achievements in advancing our understanding of the uni- verse. But as the champagne fl owed in cel- ebration of this magnifi cent accolade, few remembered that 62 years earlier its found- er, Bernard Lovell, endured immense per- sonal hardship and narrowly escaped incar- ceration during the technical, Political and fi nancial drama surrounding its creation. In 1939, 25 year-old Lovell was one of many talented university teachers and re- searchers who abandoned their Peaceful studies to join the war effort. They teamed uP with hundreds of radio amateurs and professional electronics experts who con- tributed their technical skills to the defence of the United Kingdom. Lovell was just about to set out from Manchester for the Pyrenees, in a small van loaded with equip- 1 ment for cosmic ray research, when he re- ceived a call to rePort to the Chain Home at which available thermionic valves could (CH) laboratories at Bawdsey Manor on generate signifi cant power was about the east coast of England. -
Adventures in Radio Astronomy Instrumentation and Signal Processing
Adventures in Radio Astronomy Instrumentation and Signal Processing by Peter Leonard McMahon Submitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Electrical Engineering at the University of Cape Town July 2008 Supervisor: Professor Michael Inggs Co-supervisors: Dr Dan Werthimer, CASPER1, University of California, Berkeley Dr Alan Langman, Karoo Array Telescope arXiv:1109.0416v1 [astro-ph.IM] 2 Sep 2011 1Center for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronics Research Abstract This thesis describes the design and implementation of several instruments for digi- tizing and processing analogue astronomical signals collected using radio telescopes. Modern radio telescopes have significant digital signal processing demands that are typically best met using custom processing engines implemented in Field Pro- grammable Gate Arrays. These demands essentially stem from the ever-larger ana- logue bandwidths that astronomers wish to observe, resulting in large data volumes that need to be processed in real time. We focused on the development of spectrometers for enabling improved pulsar2 sci- ence on the Allen Telescope Array, the Hartebeesthoek Radio Observatory telescope, the Nan¸cay Radio Telescope, and the Parkes Radio Telescope. We also present work that we conducted on the development of real-time pulsar timing instrumentation. All the work described in this thesis was carried out using generic astronomy pro- cessing tools and hardware developed by the Center for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronics Research (CASPER) at the University of California, Berkeley. We successfully deployed to several telescopes instruments that were built solely with CASPER technology, which has helped to validate the approach to developing radio astronomy instruments that CASPER advocates. -
Downloading New Content Automatically As It Becomes Available
The Jodcast N. J. Rattenbury Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, The University of Manchester Summary. The Jodcast (www.jodcast.net) is a twice-monthly astro- nomy podcast from The University of Manchester©s Jodrell Bank Observatory. In this paper I give the motivation and history of The Jodcast, as well as a description of The Jodcast©s content, opera- tions, personnel, performance and aspirations. 1 Introduction Every day during the school vacations, visitors to Jodrell Bank Ob- servatory gather around a volunteer JBO astronomer to listen to a short history of the Observatory, followed by an opportunity to ask their questions on space and astronomy. This is the ªAsk-An-As- tronomerº session, and usually draws crowds of 20-30 people. Following one such session, a debate ensued in the corridor of the JBO control building on whether such a modest audience size justified the time spent by a research-grade astronomer to perform this public outreach service. The question became one of audience size: by what means can such science outreach be done effectively and efficiently to as large an audience as possible? Creating a podcast appeared the logical answer to this question, and had been informally discussed previously amongst several peo- ple at JBO. A podcast is a piece of audio/video or other content ºbroadcastº over the internet. Users from anywhere in the world can 2 N. J. Rattenbury subscribe to the content, downloading new content automatically as it becomes available. Podcasting is rapidly becoming a routine form of media delivery for all broadcasters; mainstream or otherwise. -
High Resolution Radio Astronomy Using Very Long Baseline Interferometry
IOP PUBLISHING REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN PHYSICS Rep. Prog. Phys. 71 (2008) 066901 (32pp) doi:10.1088/0034-4885/71/6/066901 High resolution radio astronomy using very long baseline interferometry Enno Middelberg1 and Uwe Bach2 1 Astronomisches Institut, Universitat¨ Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany 2 Max-Planck-Institut fur¨ Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hugel¨ 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected] Received 3 December 2007, in final form 11 March 2008 Published 2 May 2008 Online at stacks.iop.org/RoPP/71/066901 Abstract Very long baseline interferometry, or VLBI, is the observing technique yielding the highest-resolution images today. Whilst a traditionally large fraction of VLBI observations is concentrating on active galactic nuclei, the number of observations concerned with other astronomical objects such as stars and masers, and with astrometric applications, is significant. In the last decade, much progress has been made in all of these fields. We give a brief introduction to the technique of radio interferometry, focusing on the particularities of VLBI observations, and review recent results which would not have been possible without VLBI observations. This article was invited by Professor J Silk. Contents 1. Introduction 1 2.9. The future of VLBI: eVLBI, VLBI in space and 2. The theory of interferometry and aperture the SKA 10 synthesis 2 2.10. VLBI arrays around the world and their 2.1. Fundamentals 2 capabilities 10 2.2. Sources of error in VLBI observations 7 3. Astrophysical applications 11 2.3. The problem of phase calibration: 3.1. Active galactic nuclei and their jets 12 self-calibration 7 2.4. -
Table of Contents - 1 - - 2
Table of contents - 1 - - 2 - Table of Contents Foreword 5 1. The European Consortium for VLBI 7 2. Scientific highlights on EVN research 9 3. Network Operations 35 4. VLBI technical developments and EVN operations support at member institutes 47 5. Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE) 83 6. EVN meetings 105 7. EVN publications in 2007-2008 109 - 3 - - 4 - Foreword by the Chairman of the Consortium The European VLBI Network (EVN) is the result of a collaboration among most major radio observatories in Europe, China, Puerto Rico and South Africa. The large radio telescopes hosted by these observatories are operated in a coordinated way to perform very high angular observations of cosmic radio sources. The data are then correlated by using the EVN correlator at the Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE). The EVN, when operating as a single astronomical instrument, is the most sensitive VLBI array and constitutes one of the major scientific facilities in the world. The EVN also co-observes with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and other radio telescopes in the U.S., Australia, Japan, Russia, and with stations of the NASA Deep Space Network to form a truly global array. In the past, the EVN also operated jointly with the Japanese space antenna HALCA in the frame of the VLBI Space Observatory Programme (VSOP). The EVN plans now to co-observe with the Japanese space 10-m antenna ASTRO-G, to be launched by 2012, within the frame of the VSOP-2 project. With baselines in excess of 25.000 km, the space VLBI observations provide the highest angular resolution ever achieved in Astronomy. -
INSAP Programme Booklet 7 Aug 2015 Innards No Logos
The Ninth Conference on THE INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA ‘Tradition and Innovation’ Gresham College, London, England 24-27 August 2015 The Ninth Conference on the INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA Gresham College, Holborn, London, EC1N 2HH, England 24-27 August 2015 www.insap.org Programme and Abstracts August 2015 Programme and abstracts, 24-27 August 2015 Local Organizing Committee Dr. Nick Campion University of Wales Trinity St David Dr. Valerie Shrimplin Gresham College, Independent Art Historian Professor Paul Murdin Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge Professor Chris Impey University of Arizona, Tucson, USA Executive Committee members Dr Nick Campion University of Wales Trinity St David Professor Chris Impey University of Arizona, Tucson, USA Professor Ron Olowin St Mary’s College, Moraga, San Francisco, USA (Chair) Dr Richard Poss University of Arizona, Tucson, USA Dr Rolf M Sinclair Centro de Estudios Cientificos, Valdivia, Chile Dr Valerie Shrimplin Gresham College, Independent Art Historian Dr Gary Wells Ithaca College, New York State, USA Acknowledgements The INSAPIX conference gratefully acknowledges sponsorship from Gresham College and from the Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture, School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology, University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Coat of arms of Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-79), with stars and comets, demonstrating his interest in astronomy INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA, NINTH CONFERENCE - AUGUST 2015 2 Programme and abstracts, 24-27 August 2015 Welcome to the Ninth Conference on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena! INSAPIX The Conference will explore humanity’s fascination with the sky by day and by night, which has been a strong and often dominant element in human life and culture. -
Pos(10Th EVN Symposium)097
La Luna: Lovell Attempts LUnar Neutrino Acquisition PoS(10th EVN Symposium)097 Ralph Spencer 1, Alan Macfarlane, Owen Mills and Lucio Piccirillo School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester Oxford Rd., Manchester M13 9PL, UK E-mail: [email protected] Recent measurements by the Pierre Auger array have found evidence for the Greisen-Zatsepin- Kuzmin (GZK) cut off in the high energy spectrum of cosmic rays. Interactions of cosmic rays with energies of greater than ~0.05 ZeV with the cosmic microwave background are expected to produce high energy neutrinos. It has been suggested that neutrino interactions in the Moon can give rise to showers of particles, which through the Askar’yan charge excess mechanism can produce Cherenkov emission in the radio, detectable from the Earth. Here we describe a preliminary experiment at 21 cm with the Lovell telescope, which produces limits comparable with those from other radio telescopes. Use of VLBI telescopes in coincidence would eliminate local impulsive RFI and also possibly be able to measure the width of the Cherenkov cone 10th European VLBI Network Symposium and EVN Users Meeting: VLBI and the new generation of radio arrays Manchester, UK September 20-24 1 Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Licence. http://pos.sissa.it Short title Speaker Name 1.Introduction The study of ultra-high-energy (UHE) neutrinos has the potential to be an important tool in the study of many energetic astronomical phenomena. Neutrinos with energies in excess of 10 20 eV are predicted to be produced by processes such as gamma-ray bursts, active galactic nuclei, topological defects and decays of massive relic particles [1]. -
Great Discoveries Made by Radio Astronomers During the Last Six Decades and Key Questions Today
17_SWARUP (G-L)chiuso_074-092.QXD_Layout 1 01/08/11 10:06 Pagina 74 The Scientific Legacy of the 20th Century Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Acta 21, Vatican City 2011 www.pas.va/content/dam/accademia/pdf/acta21/acta21-swarup.pdf Great Discoveries Made by Radio Astronomers During the Last Six Decades and Key Questions Today Govind Swarup 1. Introduction An important window to the Universe was opened in 1933 when Karl Jansky discovered serendipitously at the Bell Telephone Laboratories that radio waves were being emitted towards the direction of our Galaxy [1]. Jansky could not pursue investigations concerning this discovery, as the Lab- oratory was devoted to work primarily in the field of communications. This discovery was also not followed by any astronomical institute, although a few astronomers did make proposals. However, a young electronics engi- neer, Grote Reber, after reading Jansky’s papers, decided to build an inno- vative parabolic dish of 30 ft. diameter in his backyard in 1935 and made the first radio map of the Galaxy in 1940 [2]. The rapid developments of radars during World War II led to the dis- covery of radio waves from the Sun by Hey in 1942 at metre wavelengths in UK and independently by Southworth in 1942 at cm wavelengths in USA. Due to the secrecy of the radar equipment during the War, those re- sults were published by Southworth only in 1945 [3] and by Hey in 1946 [4]. Reber reported detection of radio waves from the Sun in 1944 [5]. These results were noted by several groups soon after the War and led to intensive developments in the new field of radio astronomy. -
Front Matter
Cambridge University Press 978-1-316-61841-7 — The Art of Astrophotography Ian Morison Frontmatter More Information i The Art of Astrophotography I n The Art of Astrophotography, astronomer and Popular Astronomy contributor Ian Morison provides the essential foundations of how to produce beautiful astronomical images. Every type of astroimaging is covered, from images of the Moon and planets, to the constellations, star clusters and nebulae within our Milky Way Galaxy and the faint light of distant galax- ies. He achieves this through a series of worked examples and short project walk- throughs, detailing the equipment needed – starting with just a DSLR (digital single lens rel ex) camera and tripod, and increasing in complexity as the book progresses – followed by the way to best capture the images and then how, step by step, these may be processed and enhanced to provide results that can rival those seen in astronomical magazines and books. Whether you are just getting into astrophotography or are already deeply involved, Morison’s advice will help you capture and create enticing astronomical images. Ian Morison is Emeritus Gresham Professor of Astronomy at the University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank Observatory. In addition to his academic credentials, he is a lifelong amateur astronomer, a founding member and patron of Macclesi eld Astronomy Society and a past president of the UK’s Society for Popular Astronomy, one of the country’s largest amateur astronomy organisations. He has written four previous popular astronomy books, as well -
The Second World War Papers of Sir Bernard Lovell OBE FRS
The Second World War Papers of Sir Bernard Lovell OBE FRS Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell was born on 31 August 1913 in Oldland Common, Bristol, and was educated at Kingswood Grammar School and at the university in that city. Between 1936 and 1939 he was Assistant Lecturer in Physics at the University of Manchester, where he was closely associated with Professor Patrick Blackett, an influential government advisor on defence matters during the Second World War and a member of the Tizard Committee. Between 1939 and 1945, Lovell worked in the Air Ministry Research Establishment (AMRE) and its successor organizations, the Ministry of Aircraft Production Research Establishment (MAPRE) and the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE), where he collaborated in the development of the early airborne radar systems with A P Rowe, E G Bowen, P I Dee and other pioneers in the field. After the war, Lovell pursued a distinguished academic career at the University of Manchester, becoming Professor of Radio Astronomy there and Director of the Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories at Jodrell Bank, Cheshire. The papers donated by Sir Bernard to the Imperial War Museum relate mainly to the development of airborne radar systems for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in particular the AIF/AISF and H2S systems (night fighter `lock-on' radar and navigational/blind-bombing radar, respectively). Many of the files are highly technical in content, others afford a more personal, `unofficial' insight into the work of Lovell and his colleagues at TRE. Researchers who wish to obtain more background information concerning this subject are advised to consult Lovell's own accounts - the autobiography Astronomer by Chance (Basic Books, New York 1990) and Echoes of War: The Story of H2S Radar (Adam Hilger, Bristol 1991). -
Hertford College News
Hertford College News Issue 23, 2013 Showcasing Physics at Hertford Target Schools: Outreach History Fellowship Fundraising Update 48993 Newsletter23 A4 20pp OPTI v2.indd 1 03/04/2013 17:23 Contents 3 Principal’s Column: Peeling Potatoes 4 History Fellowship Fundraising: Update 5 Development News: From the Members’ and Development Office 6 Alumni Events 8 College News: Hertford at a glance 10 A Brief Guide: Target schools - Outreach 12 Physics, Hertford Matters: Interstellar Observations... 14 Physics Alumni: Where Are They Now? Ian Morison, An Unusual Astronomer Beyond Physics at Hertford 17 Physics Student Showcase 6 18 Student Showcase 14 20 Dates For Your Diary Hertford College News is published by the Members’ and Development Office for members and friends of the College. The opinions expressed are those of the writers and not necessarily the official views of Hertford College. 10 Editor, Layout & Design: Anna Baskerville Cover Photo: Ian Morison, The Mk II telescope used for 4 tracking down the Black Hole Produced by: Members’ and Development Office Hertford College Oxford OX1 3BW T: +44 (0) 1865 279428 E: [email protected] W: www.hertford.ox.ac.uk Hertford College is a registered charity: number 1137527 12 FRIDAY 27TH & SATURDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER 2013 Bridge Centenary Celebrations For more information please visit www.hertford.ox.ac.uk/bridge100 Contents 2 48993 Newsletter23 A4 20pp OPTI v2.indd 2 03/04/2013 17:24 There’s a memorable scene in Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 when one of the airmen peeling potatoes explains it is one of his favourite occupations: if you want to slow life down it is imperative to fill it with dull Peeling Potatoes tasks.