BBC - Giant UK telescope gets upgrade

Taken from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3749919.stm

By Dr David Whitehouse BBC News Online science editor

The giant Lovell Telescope is at Merlin's hub
Work has started to use optical fibres to link up the giant radio telescope at
Jodrell Bank with five others that are scattered across England.
The telescopes comprise an array called Merlin that combines the data from
each so they perform as a larger telescope.

The telescopes are currently linked by microwaves but replacing them with
optical fibres will be a revolution.

Astronomers say the new project, e-Merlin, will be a great leap in Jodrell
Bank's ability to look out into space.

Seeing the light

Connecting the array of radio telescopes with optical fibres will transform
what is already a world-class facility.

"Merlin is the first to be making this leap forward with optical fibres," says
its director Professor Phil Diamond.

The interconnected array of radio telescopes called Merlin (Multi-Element
Radio-Linked Interfometer Network) centred on Jodrell Bank in the north of
England has been a remarkable scientific success.

Since 1980, it has provided detailed images of objects ranging from the
closest stars to the most distant objects in the Universe.

It is the only instrument observing radio waves that is able to routinely
provide images comparable in detail to those obtained by the Hubble Space
Telescope.


But Jodrell Bank astronomers were aware that Merlin's full capabilities had
not been reached so they devised e-Merlin.

Currently, each telescope of the Merlin array sends back its data to Jodrell
Bank using microwaves which are able to carry just 0.5% of the signals
collected by each telescope.

"With optical fibres it will be possible to use 100% of the data from each
telescope, and that will give us a much deeper view of the Universe," says Dr
Simon Garrington, e-Merlin's project manager.

When fully operational, each telescope will be producing as much data as the
entire UK public internet.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark e-Merlin's launch, Jodrell Bank's director,
Professor Andrew Lyne, said that the expected increase in sensitivity of the
array by a factor of 30 would open a new door on the Universe.

Via Peterborough and Birmingham

The communications company Global Crossing Europe are providing the backbone
of the optical connections based on its extensive network running alongside
railway lines and roads.

About 90km of new fibre will be laid to link the radio telescopes to the
existing optical trunking.

The Merlin telescope at Cambridge will have an optical fibre that will follow
the road network to Peterborough, Nottingham and then to Birmingham.

The two Merlin telescopes at Defford and Knockin in the south of England will
also send their data to Birmingham where they will be combined with the
Cambridge data to be piped up to Jodrell Bank.

A Merlin view of an active galaxy some 10 million light-years away

The system will become operational in 2007 when Jodrell Bank will find itself
at the centre of an unprecedented barrage of astronomical data.

So much data, in fact, that today's computers could not cope. Jodrell's
astronomers are designing the network for the faster computers that will be
developed in years to come.

When it is complete, Merlin will be a transformed instrument.

"It is going to revolutionise the science we are going to be able to do," says
Jodrell Bank astronomer Dr Tom Muxlow.

"With the new array we will be able to do in just one day's observations what
would have taken us three years."


--
Nick in Northallerton
Also nickw7coc on both Yahoo Messenger & on MSN Messenger
And http://www.whelan.me.uk

In article , Nick
writes
Taken from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3749919.stm

By Dr David Whitehouse BBC News Online science editor

The giant Lovell Telescope is at Merlin's hub
Work has started to use optical fibres to link up the giant radio telescope at
Jodrell Bank with five others that are scattered across England.
The telescopes comprise an array called Merlin that combines the data from
each so they perform as a larger telescope.


There's a little more information on the Jodrell bank Observatory
website.

http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/news/connected/
--
David Entwistle

The giant Lovell Telescope is at Merlin's hub
Work has started to use optical fibres to link up the giant radio telescope at
Jodrell Bank with five others that are scattered across England.
The telescopes comprise an array called Merlin that combines the data from
each so they perform as a larger telescope.

Hopefully an Irish telescope can be built and tied in to MERLIN.

http://www.arti.ie/

Cheers,
~Al