Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory
The Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory ( MRAO ) is a facility of radio telescopes located near Cambridge .
It was founded in 1957 by radio astronomy pioneer Martin Ryle of the Cavendish Laboratory and the Cavendish Astrophysics Group. Research on radio astronomy began in Cambridge as early as the 1940s and used radar development techniques during World War II. A substantial portion of the funding (£ 100,000) came - in addition to the Science Research Council - from Mullard, which produced many electron tubes for Great Britain during World War II. Here at the Interplanetary Scintillation Array in 1967 by Jocelyn Bell and Antony Hewish , a student of Ryle, the first pulsar ( neutron star ) was discovered.
Here are a number of large radio telescopes (the One Mile Telescope, the Ryle Telescope, and the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager, see below) and arrays of telescopes with interferometry . Another radio astronomy center in Great Britain is Jodrell Bank near Manchester.
The facility is at Lord's Bridge Railway Station, which was on a former Cambridge to Oxford railway line and closed in late 1967. The station a few kilometers west of Cambridge is now the facility's lecture and visitor center. It is located a few kilometers west of Cambridge.
The old railway line, which ran almost exactly east-west, was also used for some telescopes (Ryle Telescope, Cambridge Low Frequency Synthesis Telescope).
Telescopes
| telescope | Year of foundation t | status |
|---|---|---|
| Arcminute Microkelvin Imager Large Array | 2007 | active |
| Arcminute Microkelvin Imager Small Array | 2004 | active |
| Very Small Array (moved to Tenerife in 1999 ) | 1998 | active |
| Cosmic Anisotropy Telescope , it made the first high resolution images of fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background | 1995 | Off-duty |
| Cambridge Optical Aperture Synthesis Telescope (COAST), test facility for optical interferometry | 1993 | Operates on clear nights |
| e-MERLIN array | 1990 | active |
| Cambridge Low Frequency Synthesis Telescope (CLFST) | 1980 | Off-duty |
| Ryle Telescope (formerly the 5-kilometer Telescope ) | 1971 | Out of service (converted for AMI LA 2006) |
| Half-Mile Telescope | 1968 | Off-duty |
| Interplanetary Scintillation Array , where the first pulsar was discovered in 1967 | 1967 | Off-duty |
| One-mile telescope | 1964 | Off-duty |
| 4C Array , the first telescope on site for the Fourth Cambridge Survey used | 1958 | Off-duty |
Picture gallery
Lecture rooms and exhibition rooms in the former Lord's Bridge train station
Some antennas of the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager Large Array
The Arcminute Microkelvin Imager Small Array
Rest of the Cosmic Anisotropy Telescope
Part of the Cambridge Optical Aperture Synthesis Telescope
Inside the bunker of the Cambridge Optical Aperture Synthesis Telescope
The recipient of the e-MERLIN array
Preserved yagi antennas from the Cambridge Low Frequency Synthesis Telescope
Two antennas of the Half-Mile Telescope
Rest of the Interplanetary Scintillation Array
One antenna of the One-Mile Telescope (left), two antennas of the Half-Mile Telescope (middle) and the remains of the 4C array (right)
Detail of the remains of the 4C array, with the antennas of the One-Mile Telescope in the background
Mullard EL34 high-performance pentode produced by Mullard
Mullard Foundation Plaque
Lord's Bridge train station 1967
Lord's Bridge train station 2009
