Episode 34: May 31st 2010 Effelsberg Radio Telescope

Nestling in a valley amongst the rolling green hills of the Eifel
region of western Germany is the 100m Effelsberg steerable radio
telescope. Similar to the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank which is
on the plains of Cheshire in northwest England which can be seen
from miles away. The  Effelsberg telescope  is situated
in a valley so it easy to pass close by and not see it. It is an
international facility. Participating in Very Long Base
Interferometry (VLBI) where physical links are necessary with other
countries it also hosts astronomers from many other countries 
and participates in global research projects. Although its website
may appear a littel dated, Effelsberg has a surprisingly rich
online presence including the current schedule and of course the
now mandatory webcam. Effelsberg is a leading player in a new
international project called LOw Frequency ARray or LOFAR. 
Lofar targets the low frequency range between 10MHZ and 250MHZ.
However, for many years commercial FM radio stations, the local
emergency services and the aviation industry have been using
frequencies between 90MHZ and 108MHZ so Lofar range is split in to
two bands. Low (10-90MHZ) and high (108 - 250MHZ). Thus there are
in fact three telescopes at Effelsberg. On a recent visit, Dr
Norbert Junkes talked about the previous, current and new
activities taking place at Effelsberg.