Jodrell Bank Observatory World Heritage Site

Official name

Jodrell Bank Observatory | UNESCO

Country

United Kingdom | Map

Continent

Europe

Location

53.2339° Lat, -2.3038° Lon | Map

Code

1594

Time Zone

Europe/London (GMT, +0000)

Current Time

Category

Cultural

Description

Inscribed 2019. Located in a rural area of northwest England, free from radio interference, Jodrell Bank is one of the world's leading radio astronomy observatories. At the beginning of its use, in 1945, the property housed research on cosmic rays detected by radar echoes. This observatory, which is still in operation, includes several radio telescopes and working buildings, including engineering sheds and the Control Building. Jodrell Bank has had substantial scientific impact in fields such as the study of meteors and the moon, the discovery of quasars, quantum optics, and the tracking of spacecraft. This exceptional technological ensemble illustrates the transition from traditional optical astronomy to radio astronomy (1940s to 1960s), which led to radical changes in the understanding of the universe.