The Dwingeloo Dish: A Second Life

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Mar 30

2013

by Thilina Heenatigala

Published: Saturday, March 30 2013 09:51

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Live presentation of Activities at the Dwingeloo radio telescope by Jan van Muijlwijk on 5 April  19:00 UT on CosmoQuest.
 
This presentation will be about the history and restoration of the 25-meter Dwingeloo radio telescope. It was the first 25-meter movable dish in the world at the time of its construction in 1956. The telescope’s remarkable discoveries marked the beginning of professional radio astronomy.

In the 1990s the telescope became too difficult and expensive to operate, and professional research stopped. In 2004 the first plans were made to restore the telescope. A foundation was formed, and in 2006 the dish began to be used again. In 2008 the telescope became fully operational, but the large-scale restoration to remove the corrosion was yet to come.

Finally, in 2012, this major restoration started, and the restoration will be completed in 2013. In a few months the Dwingeloo radio telescope will be as new again, and we hope that it will operate for at least another 50 years.

Artisti bio:

Jan van Muijlwijk is an Environmental sound specialist in the City of Veendam (Netherlands). He got his amateur radio licence in 1978 and since that time he has been very active on a lot of the amateur radio bands, mainly VHF and UHF. Jan always dreamed about doing Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) radio contacts but it took until 2006 before the opportunity finally came within his grasp. Techniques which were too difficult or too expensive (or both) in the old days have now evolved and are within amateur reach. Also the possibilities of the computer are a welcome addition to the ability of receiving the very very faint radio reflections from the moon. In 2004 Jan run into someone who told him about the Dwingeloo radio telescope and the idea of giving it a second life. On that day his life changed. In Jan's words: 'It is so great to be able to rescue this first ever 25 m dish which means so much for radio astronomy. And it is so fantastic to do EME with it'.