The Lovell Telescope - Forward into the 21st Century
7 December 1999
The University of Manchester has just been awarded a grant from the Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF) to fund a £2M upgrade of its world famous Lovell Telescope at the Jodrell Bank Observatory. The improvements in both sensitivity and frequency range will extend the operational life of the telescope, taking it into a second half-century at the forefront of astronomical research with as much promise and potential as when it was first built.
The University of Manchester's giant 76-metre (250ft) Lovell radio telescope at Jodrell Bank is probably the most famous working scientific instrument in the land and is widely regarded by the public as an icon of the very best achievements of British science and technology. For over 40 years, the telescope, still the second largest fully-steerable radio telescope in the world, has played a major role in astronomical research due to its large collecting area and great flexibility. Equipped with state-of-the-art receiver systems, the telescope is now 30 times more sensitive than when it was first built. In recent years it has played a leading role in many fields of astronomy, including the detection and study of a new population of pulsars and the discovery of the first gravitational lens. It is also currently attracting great public interest through its participation in the most sensitive search ever for signals from extra-terrestrial intelligence.
The upgraded Lovell Telescope will retain the full versatility of the present instrument. An expansion of the useable frequency range by a factor of four and an increase in the sensitivity at the key operational frequency of 5 GHz by a factor of five will allow a wide range of new science to be carried out. As a stand-alone instrument it is expected that the upgraded Lovell Telescope will be used to discover new distant pulsars, make a census of star-formation sites in the Galaxy through the observation of the spectral lines of formaldehyde, excited hydroxyl (OH) and methanol molecules and conduct a very deep survey for faint extra-galactic radio sources and galactic radio stars.
In addition to its use as a single telescope, the Lovell Telescope is a key element of the UK's MERLIN high resolution radio-imaging National Facility. The enhancement will increase the sensitivity of MERLIN by up to a factor of three and will open up exciting new areas of astrophysical study at a resolution which exceeds that of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and is matched to that of the planned next generation of telescopes in other wavebands. The Lovell telescope is also regularly linked to telescopes in Europe and around the globe to make observations with the highest resolution in all astronomy. Its contribution to this research will be greatly enhanced, with the upgraded telescope able to play a significant role in the expansion of these activities into space. Major advances can be expected in the investigation of objects ranging from nearby stars in the Milky Way to the most distant galaxies and quasars. However, as in the past, the most important and exciting discoveries by the telescope will be those which are totally unpredictable.
The upgrade package has four main elements, with the work planned to be carried out in the next three summers at a fraction of the cost (at least £30M) of building a new telescope of the same size and comparable performance.
New reflecting surface
The present surface panels will be replaced by new galvanised steelplate. Attachment will be with self tapping screws to avoid thermal distortions of the type induced in the present surface by spot welding.
Surface adjustment
Using modern holographic profiling techniques, the newsurface will be set to optimise the efficiency of the telescope for operation at frequencies above 5 GHz.
New pointing control system
The present drive and control system will be replaced by state-of-the-art technology to increase the precision of the positional control. This will involve independent control of individual drive motors.
Refurbishment of the track and foundations
Remedial work on the surface layer of the foundations will be carried out as recommended by specialists to prevent water ingress. The outer azimuthal track will be relaid to the current British standard.
Contact Details:
Professor Peter Wilkinson, pnw@jb.man.ac.uk
Ian Morison, im@jb.man.ac.uk
Both at the Jodrell Bank Observatory.
Phone: 01477 571321
FAX: 01477 571618
An Image of the 76m Lovell Telescope can be found at:
http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/research/seti/Lovell.jpg
An illustrated overview of the work of the Jodrell Bank Observatory can be
seen on the World-Wide-Web at
http://www.jb.man.ac.uk
Background information
MERLIN (Multi Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network) is one of the
most powerful radio telescopes in the world. It is operated by the
University of Manchester on behalf of the Particle Physics and Astronomy
Research Council (PPARC) and is the radio astronomy cornerstone of the
United Kingdom's astronomy programme. MERLIN is a sensitive network of 7
telescopes distributed over central England; several at and near Jodrell
Bank in Cheshire, one at Knockin near the Welsh border, one at Defford in
Worcestershire and the newest located just outside Cambridge. MERLIN
produces radio images with the same level of detail as that achieved
optically with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. More information can be
found at:
http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/merlin.
The radio telescopes of MERLIN often participate in joint observations
with other large telescopes in Europe and across the world. Using a
technique known as Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), in which the
signals from each telescope are recorded on large magnetic tapes and then
replayed later on special purpose data processors, astronomers can
synthesize a telescope with a diameter of up to 12,000 km. This allows
them to produce radio images hundreds of times more detailed than the
Hubble Space Telescope produces using visible light. More details on the
European VLBI Network (EVN) can be found at:
http://www.jive.nl/jive/evn
The Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF) is a £750 million partnership for the
improvement of University research infrastructure between the Wellcome
Trust, the Office of Science and Technology and the Higher Education
Funding Council for England. Details can be found on the Wellcome Trust
website at:
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/en/1/biosfgjif.html
