The Lovell Telescope — Forward into the 21st Century
University of Manchester
Manchester, England
Press Release: PR9904
7 December, 1999
THE LOVELL TELESCOPE — FORWARD INTO THE 21st CENTURY
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 new surface 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
[NOTE: An image supporting this release is available at
http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/news/jifaward/]
