The History of Jodrell Bank
The story of Jodrell Bank begins in 1945 when Bernard Lovell came to the University of Manchester to observe cosmic rays. A quiet observing site was required and the University's botanical station at a little known place called Jodrell Bank, 20 miles south of Manchester, was the ideal location. Today, Jodrell Bank is a leading radio astronomy facility.
- 1945-1950 Early History - The first radar observations of meteors and the construction of the 218ft transit telescope.
- 1951-1957 The MKI Telescope - How the giant 250ft radiotelescope was conceived and constructed.
- 1957-1960s Using the Mk I - How the MKI telescope helped track down the quasars.
- 1957-1960s Space Tracking - An article by Sven Grahn describing Jodrell Bank's role in early space tracking activities (reproduced with permission).
- 1964 The MKII Telescope. - A second large radio telescope was completed in 1964.
- 1970 The MKIA Upgrade. - In 1970, a major reconstruction was made to the MKI telescope.
- 1976 MTRLI - By linking together telescopes with microwave links, a giant 134km array was built.
- 1990s MERLIN - MTRLI was extended with the addition of a new 32m telescope at Cambridge to become the MERLIN array.
- 2000 The Lovell Telescope Upgrade - In 2001 and 2002 the Lovell Telescope was given a new surface and drive system to greatly extend its capabilities.
- 2008 eMERLIN - MERLIN is updated with optical fibres to increase its sensitivity.
The history of Jodrell Bank has also been written about in a series of books:
- Lovell, Bernard (1968). Story of Jodrell Bank. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192176196 (hardback)
- Lovell, Bernard (1973). Out of the Zenith: Jodrell Bank, 1957-70. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192176242 (hardback)
- Lovell, Bernard (1985). The Jodrell Bank Telescopes. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198581785 (hardback)
- Piper, Roger [1965] (1972). The Story of Jodrell Bank, Carousel edition. ISBN 0552540285
Sir Bernard Lovell has also been the subject of several books, including:
- Lovell, Bernard (1990). Astronomer by Chance. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0333551958 — his autobiography
Jodrell Bank has also played a role in the history of the University of Manchester; this is covered in a series of books about the University:
- Pullan, Brian; Abendstern, Michele (2000). A history of the University of Manchester 1951-1973. Manchester University Press. ISBN 0719056705.
