Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics
Encyclopedia
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
, is among the largest astrophysics groups in the UK. It includes the world leading facilities of the Jodrell Bank Observatory, the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility, the Development Office of the Square Kilometre Array, and the Jodrell Bank Visitor Centre. The Centre was formed after the merger of the Victoria University of Manchester
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester was a university in Manchester, England. On 1 October 2004 it merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form a new entity, "The University of Manchester".-1851 - 1951:The University was founded in 1851 as Owens College,...
and UMIST
UMIST
The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for research...
which brought two astronomy groups together.
The JBCA is part of the School of Physics and Astronomy
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester
The School of Physics and Astronomy, formed by the merger of the Departments of Physics at the Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST in 2004 when the universities merged to form the University of Manchester, is one of the largest and most active physics departments in the United Kingdom and...
. The current Director is Professor Albert Zijlstra. The Jodrell Bank Observatory has a separate Director, Professor Lucio Piccirillo.
The JBCA hosts the Development Office of the Square Kilometre Array
Square Kilometre Array
The Square Kilometre Array is a radio telescope in development which will have a total collecting area of approximately one square kilometre. It will operate over a wide range of frequencies and its size will make it 50 times more sensitive than any other radio instrument...
.
Research
The research at the Centre focuses on:- AstrochemistryAstrochemistryAstrochemistry is the study of the abundance and reactions of chemical elements and molecules in the universe, and their interaction with radiation. The discipline is an overlap of astronomy and chemistry. The word "astrochemistry" may be applied to both the Solar System and the interstellar medium...
- Astrophysical maserAstrophysical maserAn astrophysical maser is a naturally occurring source of stimulated spectral line emission, typically in the microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum...
s - The Cosmic Microwave Background
- Gravitational lensGravitational lensA gravitational lens refers to a distribution of matter between a distant source and an observer, that is capable of bending the light from the source, as it travels towards the observer...
es - Theoretical astrophysics and cosmologyCosmologyCosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
- Planetary nebulae
- PulsarPulsarA pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing towards the Earth. This is called the lighthouse effect and gives rise to the pulsed nature that gives pulsars their name...
s - Stellar physicsStellar physicsStellar physics, is a term coined for the research concerning the formation, evolution, interior and the atmospheres of stars. The understanding of the birth and death of stars requires the application of almost all branches of modern physics...
(including star formationStar formationStar formation is the process by which dense parts of molecular clouds collapse into a ball of plasma to form a star. As a branch of astronomy star formation includes the study of the interstellar medium and giant molecular clouds as precursors to the star formation process and the study of young...
and solar plasmas) - Development of telescope receiversReceiver (radio)A radio receiver converts signals from a radio antenna to a usable form. It uses electronic filters to separate a wanted radio frequency signal from all other signals, the electronic amplifier increases the level suitable for further processing, and finally recovers the desired information through...
Jodrell Bank Observatory
The Jodrell Bank Observatory, located near GoostreyGoostrey
Goostrey is an old farming village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is located off Junction 18 of the M6 motorway, near Jodrell Bank Observatory. According to the 2001 Census, the civil parish had a total population of...
and Holmes Chapel
Holmes Chapel
Holmes Chapel is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Until 1974 the parish was known as Church Hulme.At the 2001 Census the population of the village was recorded as 5,669...
in Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, has played an important role in the research of meteor
METEOR
METEOR is a metric for the evaluation of machine translation output. The metric is based on the harmonic mean of unigram precision and recall, with recall weighted higher than precision...
s, quasar
Quasar
A quasi-stellar radio source is a very energetic and distant active galactic nucleus. Quasars are extremely luminous and were first identified as being high redshift sources of electromagnetic energy, including radio waves and visible light, that were point-like, similar to stars, rather than...
s, pulsar
Pulsar
A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing towards the Earth. This is called the lighthouse effect and gives rise to the pulsed nature that gives pulsars their name...
s, masers
Astrophysical maser
An astrophysical maser is a naturally occurring source of stimulated spectral line emission, typically in the microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum...
and gravitational lens
Gravitational lens
A gravitational lens refers to a distribution of matter between a distant source and an observer, that is capable of bending the light from the source, as it travels towards the observer...
es, and was heavily involved with the tracking of space probe
Space probe
A robotic spacecraft is a spacecraft with no humans on board, that is usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe. Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather than crewed operation, due to...
s at the start of the Space Age
Space Age
The Space Age is a time period encompassing the activities related to the Space Race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events. The Space Age is generally considered to have begun with Sputnik...
.
The main telescope at the observatory is the Lovell Telescope
Lovell Telescope
The Lovell Telescope is a radio telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Goostrey, Cheshire in the north-west of England. When it was constructed in 1955, the telescope was the largest steerable dish radio telescope in the world at 76.2 m in diameter;it is now the third largest, after the...
, which is the third largest steerable radio telescope in the world. There are three other active telescopes located at the observatory; the Mark II
Mark II (radio telescope)
The Mark II is a radio telescope located at Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Goostrey, Cheshire, in the north-west of England. It was built on the site of the 218 ft Transit Telescope. Construction was completed in 1964...
, as well as 42ft and 7m-diameter radio telescopes. Jodrell Bank Observatory is also the base of the Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network
MERLIN
The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of STFC as a National Facility.The array consists of up to seven radio...
(MERLIN), a National Facility run by the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
on behalf of the Science and Technology Facilities Council
Science and Technology Facilities Council
The Science and Technology Facilities Council is a UK government body that carries out civil research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astronomy .-History:It was formed in April 2007 as a merger of the Particle...
.