Visit to Jodrell Bank March 2005

The Henshaws visit to the telescope was a great success and we were allowed to go into the Control Room where monitors were linked to all of the telescopes in the UK. The room looked like a miniature Nassau and the Duty Officer had worked there for 32 years. He gave us a wealth of information about the running of the telescope and how they were able to rectify any faults which may occur at other telescope stations. There was a German telescope located there, trained onto the telescope and we were able to see birds perched on the top of the structure. Some photos were taken and once they have been cleared as safe by the powers that be, we hope to be able to add them to this post. The short lecture given to us was fascinating and we were able to listen to various recordings of distant planets. The fact that sound waves cannot travel in a vacuum has led tot eh discovery of the "Black Universe" which has been overlooked in the past due to the fact that there are no stars. I hope that I have remembered all of my facts correctly and if anybody has any questions, I am sure Mary would be able to answer them as she is an astronomy enthusiast.