Transit Telescope
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| Transit Telescope | |
| Organization: | Jodrell Bank Observatory, University of Manchester |
|---|---|
| Location: | Cheshire, United Kingdom |
| Built: | 1947 |
| Telescope style: | Wire parabaloid |
| Diameter: | 218ft |
| Focal length: | 126ft |
The Transit Telescope was a 218ft parabolic reflecting aerial built at Jodrell Bank Observatory in 1947. At the time, it was the largest radio telescope in the world. It consisted of a wire mesh suspended from a ring of 24ft scaffold poles, which focussed radio signals to a focal point 126ft above the ground. The telescope mainly looked directly upwards, but the direction of the beam could be changed by small amounts by tilting the mast to change the position of the focal point. The focal mast was originally going to be wood, but this was changed to a steel mast before construction was complete.
The telescope discovered radio noise from the Great Nebula in Andromeda - the first definite detection of an extragalactic radio source - and the remains of Tycho's supernova in the radio frequency; no obvious optical remnant remains.
It was replaced by the fully-steerable, 250ft Lovell Telescope. The Mark II telescope was subsequently built on the same location.
[edit] References
- Lovell, Bernard (1968). The Story of Jodrell Bank. Oxford University Press.
- The Early History. Jodrell Bank Observatory. Retrieved on 2006-11-22.
