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Jodrell Bank is Science leaping forward. Discover the UK’s latest UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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JODRELL BANK, A WORLD HERITAGE SITE.
Photo credit, from top to bottom: Jodrell Bank / Bluedot, Blue Dot Festival @bluedotfestival.
Jodrell Bank is the earliest radio astronomy observatory in the world still in existence. It includes evidence of every stage of the post-1945 ground-breaking development of radio astronomy, which has revolutionised our understanding of the Universe.
At its heart is the Lovell Telescope, which has been quietly probing the depths of space since 1957 and stands as a symbol of our wish to understand the universe in which we live. Even now, it remains one of the biggest and most powerful radio telescopes in the world, and has unlocked a parallel universe of violent explosions, pulsars, neutrons, and proof of some of the most important scientific theories of the universe.
In totality, Jodrell Bank Observatory links to the fundamental concept underpinning modern astronomy: that we live on a planet orbiting a star, one in a galaxy of several hundred billion stars, itself only one of a hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe. The first 20th Century Observatory listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Observatory embodies the value UNESCO places on the universality of science, and its ability to build international collaboration and foster peace.
LOCATION
Where is Jodrell Bank?
The Jodrell Bank Visitor Centre and the arboretum are located in Lower Withington, while the Lovell Telescope and the observatory are in Goostrey, in Cheshire, North West England. The closest cities are Manchester and Liverpool.
Geographical Coordinates
53.1410° N 02.1825° W
GALLERY
Jodrell Bank in Photos
Discover Jodrell Bank’s outstanding beauty and admire the Lovell Telescope, the largest fully steerable radio telescope in the world on completion in 1957, which still operates as the third largest on Earth.
Home → World Heritage Sites → Jodrell Bank → Discover the Site
JODRELL BANK
Discover the history of Jodrell Bank and its scientific significance.
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WHAT IS JODRELL BANK?
Jodrell Bank Observatory is the earliest radio astronomy observatory in the world that is still in existence.
It is the one remaining site that includes evidence of every stage of the post-1945 emergence of radio astronomy, and as such, has played a pivotal role in expanding our understanding of the universe.
WHAT IS RADIO ASTRONOMY?
Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies.
The discovery of radio signals in the 1930s by Karl Jansky at Bell Telephone Laboratories opened a new way for astronomers to explore the Universe by detecting radio waves emitted by a number of objects. Karl Jansky’s accidental discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation, regarded as evidence for the Big Bang theory, was made through radio astronomy.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Radio astronomy is conducted using large radio antennas referred to as radio telescopes.
Through radio astronomy, scientists were no longer limited to observing objects that were only traceable through the naked eye. They could now also study celestial objects at radio frequencies. This dramatically expanded the scope and range of objects that scientists could observe, and in the process significantly expanded our knowledge of the known universe.
JODRELL BANK TODAY
The character of Jodrell Bank Observatory has been determined by the evolution of radio astronomy.
Jodrell Bank Observatory is now the hub of the UK’s national 217-km-wide array of up to seven radio telescopes. The signals from all seven telescopes are combined at Jodrell Bank so that the array operates as if it is a single Telescope, which has a similar resolving power to the Hubble Space Telescope.
FACTS
Jodrell Bank in numbers…
JODRELL BANK FOUNDED
LOVELL TELESCOPE BUILT
WORLD HERITAGE LIST
Home → World Heritage Sites → Jodrell Bank → The Criteria that made Jodrell Bank a World Heritage Site
CRITERIA
To be included on the UNESCO World Heritage List, a site must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria. Jodrell met 4 of them.
DISCOVER BELOW
A MASTERPIECE OF HUMAN CREATIVE GENIUS
Photo courtesy of Jodrell Bank.
CRITERION I
Represents a Masterpiece of Human Creative Genius.
Jodrell Bank is an outstanding example of creative scientific and technical achievement which revolutionised our understanding of the Universe.
The adaptation and development of radar and radio frequency reflectivity to develop radically new equipment, such as the Transit Telescope and Lovell Telescope (1957), were a key part in the development of entirely new fields of scientific research and led to a dramatic change in the understanding of the Universe.
Several important technological developments such as very large paraboloidal dish telescopes and interferometer were developed at the Observatory and were later influential in scientific endeavours in many parts of the world.
CRITERION II
Exhibits an Important Interchange of Human Values.
The Jodrell Bank Observatory contains numerous examples of physical evidence of the international interchange of ideas at a significant time in history, as the new science of radio astronomy and the space age developed during the 1940s-60s.
Jodrell Bank is a symbol of international scientific collaboration and exchange of ideas and values. The Observatory cooperates with leading institutions and scientists worldwide to help us all to better understand our place in the Universe through cutting-edge discoveries in astronomy, quantum optics, satellite communications and many other fields.
Human interaction and values remain at the heart of Jodrell Bank, and it welcomes numerous visitors each year, capturing their imagination and allowing them to actively engage with the world of science.
EXHIBITING IMPORTANT HUMAN VALUES
Photo courtesy of Jodrell Bank.
SIGNIFICANT TO HUMAN HISTORY
Photo courtesy of Jodrell Bank. Photo credit, from top to bottom: Jodrell Bank, Craig Strong.
CRITERION IV
An Outstanding Example of a Type Of Building, Architectural or Technological Ensemble or Landscape Which Illustrates a Significant Stage in Human History.
Jodrell Bank Observatory is a globally unique technological and landscape ensemble, that exemplifies, through its surviving physical evidence, the transition from traditional optical astronomy to modern multiwavelength astrophysics that took place during the early 1940s and the years that followed. Jodrell Bank also played an important role in the development of ‘Big Science’, which followed the Second World War.
The post-1945 emergence of the science of radio astronomy was a turning point in the progress of 20th-century astronomy. No place shows this development more than Jodrell Bank, through the use of recycled radar equipment, the remains of the world’s largest telescope from 1947, and the creation of the iconic Lovell Telescope in 1957.
CRITERION VI
Associated with Events or Living Traditions, with Ideas, or with Beliefs, with Artistic and Literary works of Outstanding Universal Value.
Jodrell Bank Observatory is inextricably linked to the fundamental concept underpinning modern astronomy: that we live on a planet orbiting a star, one in a galaxy of several hundred billion stars, itself only one of a hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe.
When radio telescopes were first pointed at the sky, it became apparent that there were whole aspects of the Universe, including exotic objects previously unimagined, which ordinary telescopes cannot see.
Jodrell Bank Observatory is intrinsically linked to this discovery – that there is far more to the Universe than meets the human eye, and that entirely new information can be obtained by using ‘invisible’ light, beyond the usual ‘rainbow’ of visible colours.
OUTSTANDING UNIVERSAL VALUES
Photo credit, from top to bottom: Wikipedia, Blue Dot Festival.
Home → World Heritage Sites → Jodrell Bank → The Public Initiatives that make Jodrell Bank a World Heritage Site
PUBLIC INITIATIVES
Jodrell Bank often welcomes visitors, schools and community groups to engage with heritage, cultural activity, education and research of the site.
DISCOVER BELOW
BLUE DOT FESTIVAL
Photo Courtesy of Blue Dot Festival at Jodrell Bank. Photo credit, from top to bottom: Blue Dot Festival, From the Herberts Dream Parade.
Jodrell Bank Observatory has a long history of world-leading public engagement with science. Scientific discoveries about our place in the Universe made possible by modern astrophysics capture the public imagination and innovative public engagement has been a key feature of the site’s activities since the Lovell Telescope first began working in 1957.
MUSIC FESTIVAL
Blue Dot Festival, an Innovative Science-music-art Festival at Jodrell Bank.
Set against a backdrop of the iconic Lovell Telescope and taking place over a whole weekend, the festival features a stellar line-up of live music, science exhibitions, talks and experiments as well as awe-inspiring art installations.
BLUE DOT’S MISSION IS…
To inspire and entertain.
To explore the frontiers of human advancement.
To celebrate science and the exploration of the universe.
To explore the intersection of science, culture, art and technology.
To highlight the fragility of planet Earth.
FORMAL EDUCATION
Over the last seven decades, many hundreds of scientists and engineers have worked and trained at Jodrell Bank.
These scientists often go on to work at other observatories around the world. The Observatory is part of the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester, a leading physics department, rated as the best in Europe in the 2017 Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities. The School now attracts around 320 physics undergraduates each year, the largest undergraduate physics school in the UK.
The research programme includes observational and theoretical studies covering almost the whole of modern astrophysics: from the discovery of planets orbiting other stars, to the origin of the universe in the Big Bang. The group is also a world leader in radio-astronomy-related technology development for ground and space-based instruments.
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
Photo courtesy of Jodrell Bank.
DISCOVERY AND EDUCATION
Photo courtesy of Jodrell Bank.
HANDS ON EDUCATION
At the heart of this, is the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre.
The Centre has a broad remit of enhancing public engagement through its research, combined with providing out-of-classroom education aimed at inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers. The Centre welcomes over 150,000 visitors each year, 21,000 of whom are school pupils on educational visits.
JODRELL’S FUTURE: FIRST LIGHT PROJECT
The First Light Project is unlocking Jodrell Bank’s full potential as a national heritage destination.
Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the First Light Project will conserve and restore the heritage of Jodrell Bank. The project will create a spectacular new interpretation space in which visitors can engage with and learn about the site’s fantastic stories, amazing feats of post-war engineering, and the creation of the Grade-1 listed Lovell Telescope.
The centrepiece of the project will be the First Light Pavilion, a stunning new building constructed in the gardens of Jodrell Bank. The Pavilion, designed by the internationally acclaimed architects HASSELL Studio, will include a new gallery dedicated to telling the story of Jodrell Bank, immersive projection space and auditorium, and a new education hub and cafe.
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
Images and renditions courtesy of HASSELL STUDIO and Jodrell Bank.
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