Euro-net could be key to Jodrell Bank’s future

Apr 7 2008 by Richard Down, Liverpool Daily Post

SCIENTISTS at Jodrell Bank are bidding to be at the heart of the next generation of astrophysics despite the threat of the axe lingering over the existing operation.

The world-class space centre, which houses the 250ft-wide Grade I-listed Lovell Telescope, is threatened by the Government’s Science and Technology Funding Council’s (STFC) plans to cut £80m from space science and astronomy spending.

But this week Dr Tim O’Brien, head of outreach at the centre, said he hoped that a Europe-wide radio net that could offer a whole new glimpse at the heart of the universe would come to Cheshire.

The Low Frequency Array (Lofar) programme uses large sheets of metal and, rather than moving a dish to pinpoint particular points in the sky, the sheets pick up radio waves from all over the sky. By connecting banks of detectors in fields across Britain, France, Holland, Sweden and Germany, astronomers aim to create a radio telescope that will have unrivalled accuracy.

Dr O’Brien said: “Jodrell Bank is at the very centre of UK astronomy and it is obviously a likely location for the Lofar programme.

“It could do some different science than we’ve been able to do before. Every time that we look at the universe through a different wavelength, it tells us something new.

“This will provide another view through a new window.”

No decision has been made yet and the plans to link radio wave detectors in five countries come at a time when the centre is fighting for its very survival.

At present, the centre is the focus of a UK-wide series of radio telescopes called e-MERLIN which operate at a wider and higher frequency than Lofar promises.

Earlier this month, the government body responsible for funding research in astronomy, the STFC, praised the facility’s research.

But it also ruled that e-MERLIN was a low priority and funding would be withdrawn from April, 2009, to save £2.7m.

Consultations ended last week, and Dr O’Brien admits scientists are now biting their fingernails as they wait for the final judgment.

However, Britain is committed to building one Lofar set, and it could help guarantee the centre’s status at the epicentre of cutting- edge astrophysics for years to come.

richarddown