A bluffer's guide to Jodrell Bank

The Lovell Telescope: Facts & FiguresMass of the telescope: 3,200 tonnesMass of bowl: 1,500 tonnesDiameter of bowl: 76.2 metresSurface area of bowl: 5,270 square metresAmount of paint for three coats: 5,300 litresMaximum height above ground: 89.0 metresOuter diameter of railway track: 107.5 metresWhen it was built in 1957 it was the largest in the world. It cost £750,000 and was three times over budget.It is now the third largest movable telescope in the world after the Effelsberg Radio Telescope in Germany and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia. Both are 100 metres in diameter.The largest fixed telescope is the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which is 305 metres across.The Jodrell Bank site is named after a local stream. Jodrell is the family name of an archer at the battle of Agincourt who was rewarded by the crown with land.The Lovell telescope is so sensitive that using...

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