Tourists, Television and Telescopes at Jodrell Bank

The Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratory of the University of Manchester, better known as Jodrell Bank, achieved popular fame by tracking Russian and American space probes and satellites, culminating in the reception of the first television pictures of the moon's surface. 98% of the observatory's operating time has, however, been spent on radio astronomy. Quasars and radio galaxies, and recently pulsars, have made more interesting quarry than rockets and satellites. PHYSICS TODAY recently visited the site, where, under the guidance of John Davies and Gerhard de Jager we learned about the facilities and the current research programs.