The Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire, yes it's the wrong side of the Pennines, but the geek in me couldn't resist getting here and be awe inspired by the sheer size of this dish.
Building of the Lovell telescope was completed in 1958, and this was at the time the worlds largest radio telescope of it's time, it's so big that even today it's still the 3rd largest radio telescope of it's kind spanning a massive 76 metres.
Can you see the workmen on any of the pictures so far? Yes, it's that big you can struggle to see them, but I have enhance and cropped the image below just to give you an example of the actual size.
I have to admit it's a great day out, especially for people who's into all things space(y). There are more radio telescopes on site, but sadly these parts of the site are closed to the public, so you really only get to see a small part of what's there, I so want to see the rest.
Although it's very small compared to the Lovell scope, I think this one looks really cool lol.
This dish was originally used at Woomera Rocket Testing Range in Australia, the telescope is used by undergraduates on degree courses, measuring just 7 meters in diameter.
A little snippet from the official Jodrell Bank Website
'They use it to study emission from neutral atomic hydrogen in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies and to observe pulsars, which are rapidly rotating neutron stars'.
Another radio telescope I would have loved to get close to is this one, this is called the "Mark 2", it was built way back in 1964 and was given a Heritage Grade I listing in 1997.
I cannot stress just how big the Lovell telescope is, the turrets on the side are actually recycled from World War 1 battleships, I'd so love to have a look inside these little rooms, I'd even offer to paint if for free (if they provide the paint) so I could get some extra access lol.
I loved these clocks in the canteen, they were all setup for time on other planets etc, it was so interesting, especially the jupiter one as to how fast time went on that clock.
The space pavillion is a brilliant building, built to the same diameter of the Lovell telescope, inside is like some sort of hangar from starwars, I didn't take many photos inside (well I took one lol), as there were loads of school trips around plus I don't like too many shots with people in anyways lol.
For £12 if you book online, it's a great visit to spend a couple of hours, it wasn't the warmest of days but I can imagine in the summer it will be much better as you can sit and admire the views of the Cheshire countryside. I really need to go back and do some long exposure/night photography, although I'm not sure if it's always lit up at night or just on special occasions.
This might seem ultra geeky, but I loved how you could get a print out of the last thing they looked at on the Lovell Telescope, I thought this was really cool.
If you'd like to visit, then check out Jedrellbank.net website.
As I mentioned earlier it's £12.00 per adult and £4.00 to park, the tickets are valid for 12 months if bought online although you do need to pay for parking seperately.
The next time I go I am also booking into the planetarium talk, I didn't have time to do that today.
I highly recommend a visit here if you ever get the chance.
Thanks for reading this post and hope you've enjoyed the pictures.
All the best :-)