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23 - Further European and Asian Radio Observatories

from Part 2 - Radio Observatories

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2016

David Leverington
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Summary

Stockert Observatory and the Effelsberg Radio Telescope

Germany was excluded from the development of radio astronomy in the crucial years immediately after the end of the Second World War as restrictions on radio research were not lifted until 1950. But even then there were still many more important calls on state funding to rebuild the country after the war. So there was no sudden explosion of radio astronomy research in Germany in the early 1950s to match that already underway in Australia, the UK and elsewhere.

But starting in 1952 Friedrich Becker and H. Strahl gave a number of lectures about radio astronomy in local government ministries in Düsseldorf, the state capital of Nordrhein-Westfalen.(1) This resulted in the idea of building a 25 m diameter fully steerable radio telescope which could also be used for radar research. Design studies were carried out by Metallwerk Friedrichshafen and Telefunken who had built the German Würzburg radar antennae during the war. Enthusiastic backing for the proposed project came from Telefunken's former chief engineer Leo Brandt who was then Secretary of State in the Ministry of Economics and Traffic in Nordrhein-Westfalen. With his support 1.2 million DM (about $300,000) was raised to pay for the project which was undertaken by a consortium of companies headed by Telefunken.

The basic requirement of this 25 m radio telescope was that it should be able to detect radio emissions at the 21 cm wavelength (1.4 GHz) of neutral hydrogen and shorter if possible. This meant that its dish should have a surface accurate to about ±5 mm. It was also expected that the dish, which would be supported by an altazimuth mount, would be pointed to an accuracy of 1 arcminute. Naturally, considering the pedigree of the main contractors involved, the actual design was based on that of the Second World War 7.5 m diameter Würzburg radar antennae. The surface panels were of 2 mm thick sheet aluminium with 10 mm square perforations to reduce wind resistence. As far as location of the telescope was concerned, its use for radar research required it to be built with a good view of the horizon.

Type
Chapter
Information
Observatories and Telescopes of Modern Times
Ground-Based Optical and Radio Astronomy Facilities since 1945
 , pp. 438 - 461
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2016

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