Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics

The Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, at the University of Manchester, UK, consists of the Jodrell Bank Observatory and the academics based in the Alan Turing Building in Manchester. The Centre was named as such in 2007; previously, the group had been known either as the Astronomy and Astrophysics group of the School of Physics and Astronomy, or as Jodrell Bank Observatory.

The Centre will play host to the headquarters of the Square Kilometre Array from early 2008.cite news | url=http://www.space50.net/SKA.html | title=Jodrell Bank chosen as global headquarters of major new radio telescope | publisher=Space 50 / Jodrell Bank | date=4 October 2007 | accessdate=2007-10-11
cite news | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2007/10/04/scitele104.xml | title= Largest radio telescope base to be in Britain | publisher=The Daily Telegraph | date=4 October 2007 | accessdate=2007-10-11]

Research

The research at the Centre focuses on: [cite web | url=http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/research/ | title=Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics Research | accessdate=2007-07-28]
* Astrochemistry
* Astrophysical masers
* The Cosmic Microwave Background
* Gravitational lenses
* Theoretical astrophysics and cosmology
* Planetary nebulae
* Pulsars
* Stellar physics (including star formation and solar plasmas)
* Development of telescope receivers

Jodrell Bank Observatory

The Jodrell Bank Observatory, located near Goostrey and Holmes Chapel in Macclesfield, Cheshire,has played an important role in the research of meteors, quasars, pulsars, masers and gravitational lenses, and was heavily involved with the tracking of space probes at the start of the Space Age.

The main telescope at the observatory is the Lovell Telescope, which is the third largest steerable radio telescope in the world. There are three other active telescopes located at the observatory; the Mark II, as well as 42ft and 7m-diameter radio telescopes. Jodrell Bank Observatory is also the base of the Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN), a National Facility run by the University of Manchester on behalf of the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

References