Introduction
I can’t believe it has taken me this long to do this place as it is quite interesting and reasonably local to me. Me @Wastelandr, and @KPUrban_ headed out to check out a few bits in Cambridgeshire with this being the last site of the day.
Information & History
Founded by Martin Ryle of the Radio-Astronomy Group of the Cavendish Laboratory, Mullard Observatory was opened in July 1957 and is now home to one of the most advanced aperture synthesis radio telescopes worldwide. Radio interferometry started in Cambridgeshire just after World War II and thanks to funding from the Science Research Council and Mullard Limited, this facility was constructed.
The first telescope to be constructed at the site was the 4C array in 1958, later the One-Mile Telescope was built. Other telescopes built later on include the Half-Mile Telescope, and the Ryle Telescope, amongst others. Many of the telescopes have now been decommissioned but some remain active. The most recent one to be constructed on-site is the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager Large Array.
Further descriptions are included between the photos below.
The Explore
The visit itself was a very relaxing wander to finish the day, we managed to see the 4C Array and the Half-Mile Telescope in addition to a few other bits and pieces on site.
Photos
Approaching from an entrance off the A603 we began at one end of the Half Mile Telescope. This part of the site was constructed in 1968 with two ariels, a further two ariels were added four years later. The ones below were fixed:
Moving further along this section, we were greeted with an old control room for the half-mile. It was sealed tight but I managed to get a shot through the window.
Further along the track, we were greeted with four other dishes. The two furthest away in the pic below are the largest. Two of these could be moved along the track.
There are now a couple of cameras in this area so we didn’t spend too much time around these.
A building at the base of the furthest dish houses a lovely control room, again sealed but I managed to get a couple of shots through the windows on either side:
The site does have a military feel to it. This is because the observatory was built on land which originally served as a munitions depot. This is evident in places:
A satellite image of the site serving as a munitions depot in 1945:
The first telescope at the site was the 4C Array. This was constructed with a cylindrical paraboloid design. Personally, I prefer Wastelandr’s description of ‘Duga Radar from Wish’.
At 450 metres long, it required 40 miles of reflector wire which has now been removed. It operated at 178 MHz and located almost 5000 sources of the 4C catalogue. This catalogue helped establish the evolution of the radio galaxy population of the universe.
In the distance, we spotted a much larger dish which I believe is still active. Originally I thought this was one of the Arcminute Microkelvin dishes but these are all constructed together further east of the site.
Finally, we had a quick look at the remains of the Cosmic Anisotropy Telescope. Built in 1995 and now decommissioned, this was a three-element interferometer used for detecting cosmic microwave background radiation observations and creating high-res maps of fluctuations.
Remnants of the old munitions structures were also present here:
Thanks for looking!
I can’t believe it has taken me this long to do this place as it is quite interesting and reasonably local to me. Me @Wastelandr, and @KPUrban_ headed out to check out a few bits in Cambridgeshire with this being the last site of the day.
Information & History
Founded by Martin Ryle of the Radio-Astronomy Group of the Cavendish Laboratory, Mullard Observatory was opened in July 1957 and is now home to one of the most advanced aperture synthesis radio telescopes worldwide. Radio interferometry started in Cambridgeshire just after World War II and thanks to funding from the Science Research Council and Mullard Limited, this facility was constructed.
The first telescope to be constructed at the site was the 4C array in 1958, later the One-Mile Telescope was built. Other telescopes built later on include the Half-Mile Telescope, and the Ryle Telescope, amongst others. Many of the telescopes have now been decommissioned but some remain active. The most recent one to be constructed on-site is the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager Large Array.
Further descriptions are included between the photos below.
The Explore
The visit itself was a very relaxing wander to finish the day, we managed to see the 4C Array and the Half-Mile Telescope in addition to a few other bits and pieces on site.
Photos
Approaching from an entrance off the A603 we began at one end of the Half Mile Telescope. This part of the site was constructed in 1968 with two ariels, a further two ariels were added four years later. The ones below were fixed:
Moving further along this section, we were greeted with an old control room for the half-mile. It was sealed tight but I managed to get a shot through the window.
Further along the track, we were greeted with four other dishes. The two furthest away in the pic below are the largest. Two of these could be moved along the track.
There are now a couple of cameras in this area so we didn’t spend too much time around these.
A building at the base of the furthest dish houses a lovely control room, again sealed but I managed to get a couple of shots through the windows on either side:
The site does have a military feel to it. This is because the observatory was built on land which originally served as a munitions depot. This is evident in places:
A satellite image of the site serving as a munitions depot in 1945:
The first telescope at the site was the 4C Array. This was constructed with a cylindrical paraboloid design. Personally, I prefer Wastelandr’s description of ‘Duga Radar from Wish’.
At 450 metres long, it required 40 miles of reflector wire which has now been removed. It operated at 178 MHz and located almost 5000 sources of the 4C catalogue. This catalogue helped establish the evolution of the radio galaxy population of the universe.
In the distance, we spotted a much larger dish which I believe is still active. Originally I thought this was one of the Arcminute Microkelvin dishes but these are all constructed together further east of the site.
Finally, we had a quick look at the remains of the Cosmic Anisotropy Telescope. Built in 1995 and now decommissioned, this was a three-element interferometer used for detecting cosmic microwave background radiation observations and creating high-res maps of fluctuations.
Remnants of the old munitions structures were also present here:
Thanks for looking!
Yeah I'm the same, think I'll be visiting again soon.
