| The
most striking feature of the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell
Bank in Cheshire is the huge white bowl that can be seen
for many miles around. This bowl, fashioned in the shape
of a paraboloid, is the part of the telescope that gathers
incoming radio waves. When the telescope is pointed towards
a radio source in the sky, waves arriving from the source
are intercepted by the bowl and reflected from the steel
surface into the focus box mounted on top of the central
tower. Here, at the focal point of the reflector, a small
aerial picks up the waves and feeds them into a sensitive
radio receiver.
The whole telescope rotates on circular railway tracks,
while the bowl, supported on either side by two towers,
can be tilted at any angle from the horizon to the zenith.
In this way the bowl can be directed at any point in
the sky. The horizontal (azimuth) drive is powered by
two 50 horse power electric motors at the foot of each
tower, while the vertical (elevation) drive is powered
by two motors at the top of each tower, and by two more
motors driving the wheel girders beneath the bowl.
JODRELL BANK FACTS
| Mass
of the telescope |
3200
tonnes |
| Mass
of bowl |
1500
tonnes |
| Diameter
of bowl |
76.2
metres |
| Collecting
area |
4560
square metres |
| Surface
area of bowl |
5270
square metres |
| Focal
length |
22.9
metres |
| Latitude |
53:14:13.2
(ddmmss) |
| Focal
ratio (F number) |
0.30 |
| Height
of elevation axis |
50.5
metres |
| Maximum
height above ground |
89.0
metres |
| Radius
of wheel girders |
38.5
metres |
| Outer
diameter of railway track |
107.5
metres |
| Amount
of paint for 3 coats |
5300
litres |
| Longitude |
00:09:14.04
(hhmmss) |
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