Sample radio telescope receiver, 1986

Sample radio telescope receiver, 1986. This sample radio receiver component was constructed at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton in Wiltshire. Operating at frequencies from 230-270 GHz, this VHF radio receiver is fitted to the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Located at an altitude of over 4000m on the mountain of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, the JCMT observes the sky at sub-millimetre wavelengths. It is fitted with a high precision collecting dish 15m in diameter and housed inside an observing building with massive doors. In operation these retract, revealing the telescope hidden behind a huge Gore-Tex fabric sheet. This protects the dish by stopping any distortion caused by the wind while allowing the radio waves through. ©SSPL/Science Museum