Telescope turned on

A new radio telescope network has received its first signals from space at Manchester University’s Jodrell Bank Observatory.

The radio telescope network - dubbed e-MERLIN - is designed to help researchers create detailed radio images of stars and galaxies, using seven telescopes spread up to 217km apart across the UK.

The radio signals collected by the telescopes are brought back to Jodrell Bank using 600km of high-speed optical fibre cables laid by Fujitsu UK and operated by Global Crossing.

Professor Simon Garrington, director of e-MERLIN, said: 'The new optical fibre network, together with new electronics at each telescope and a powerful new correlator - a special-purpose computer built by Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) in Penticton, Canada - combine the signals at Jodrell Bank, making the telescope one of the most powerful in the world.