The 76 Meter Lovell Radio Telescope
University of Manchester, Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories
Jodrell Bank
in England is the home of the
Lovell
Telescope one of the largest radio telescopes in the world. Completed
in 1957 under the direction of Bernard Lovell, the 250 ft. diameter dish
was
the largest steerable radio telescope. The telescope has been used
to monitor extremely faint radio emissions from space, including the
transmissions of the
Pioneer
spacecraft in the distant Solar System. The
telescope has been used in many astronomical investigations, including
the determination of structure in local interstellar gas,
searches for pulsars,
determining molecular abundances towards the Galactic center, and
mapping hydrogen emission in galaxies. Currently, the telescope is
not really for
sale.