Radio Astronomy at Cambridge

Radio astronomy is the study of celestial objects by means of the natural radio waves they emit. It tells us about the Solar System, our own Galaxy (the Milky Way), radio galaxies, quasars and cosmology. The signals emitted by radio sources can be received from the most distant parts of the Universe, though they are very weak when they reach us. Some of the problems are fundamental, like star formation, the energy sources of pulsars, quasars and radio galaxies, and the evolution of the Universe. They cannot be answered in terrestrial laboratories. Other problems are more technical like the design of highly sensitive receivers and computer software for telescope control and image analysis. These techniques are widely applicable outside astronomy. Radio astronomy is thus important both as pure research and as a training for scientists.

The Cavendish Laboratory pioneered in this field under the direction of Professor Sir Martin Ryle, F.R.S. from 1945 to 1982. The first Observatory was on the outskirts of Cambridge. In 1957, through the generosity of Mullard Ltd. and with support from the Science Research Council, the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory (MRAO) was built 5 miles south-west of Cambridge, at Lord's Bridge. The Observatory is operated by the Cavendish Laboratory, supported by the Particle Physics & Astronomy Research Council. The work of the MRAO was recognised by the award of the 1974 Nobel Prize for physics to Professor Ryle and Professor Hewish.

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To continue the tour of Lord's Bridge, click here. For more information, follow the links below.

An Introduction to Radio Telescopes
Stars - Birth and Death
Aperture Synthesis with Light
Galaxies and Quasars
Cosmology

Homepages for individual telescopes:

The Ryle Telescope (RT).
The Cosmic Anisotropy Telescope (CAT).
The Cambridge Optical Aperture Synthesis Telescope (COAST).
The Cambridge Low-Frequency Synthesis Telescope (CLFST).
The Very Small Array (VSA).
The Arcminute MicroKelvin Imager (AMI)

Last Modified 24 July 2003
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