Jodrell << JOH druhl >> Bank Observatory, near Manchester, England, is one of the world’s leading radio astronomy observatories. The Lovell Telescope, the first giant radio telescope, began operating there in 1957. It has a dish-shaped reflector 250 feet (76.2 meters) in diameter that focuses radio waves on an antenna in the center of the reflector. The observatory serves as a research and teaching department of the University of Manchester.
Today, astronomers at Jodrell Bank study the radio emissions from celestial objects called pulsars (see Pulsar ) and gas and dust in galaxies. With the help of a radio telescope network called MERLIN (M_ulti-_E_lement _R_adio _L_inked _I_nterferometer _N_etwork), astronomers at Jodrell have mapped the structure of different radio sources, including distant galaxies and luminous objects called _quasars (see Quasar ).
