Mark II (radio telescope)

Mark II

The Mark II radio telescope at Jodrell Bank
Part of	European VLBI Network Jodrell Bank Observatory mERLIN
Location(s)	Lower Withington, Cheshire East, Cheshire, North West England, England
Coordinates	53°14′02″N 2°18′14″W / 53.23394°N 2.30384°W / 53.23394; -2.30384
Organization	Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics
Altitude	81.7 m (268 ft)
Built	1960–1964 (1960–1964)
Telescope style	radio telescope
Diameter	38.1 m (125 ft 0 in)
Focal length	12.2 m (40 ft 0 in)
Mounting	altazimuth mount
Location of Mark II
Related media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]

The Mark II is a radio telescope located at Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Goostrey, Cheshire, in the north-west of England. It was built on the site of the 218 ft (66.4 m) Transit Telescope. Construction was completed in 1964. The telescope's design was used as the basis of the 85 ft (26 m) Goonhilly 1 dish,^[1] and the Mark III telescope is also based on a similar design.^[2]

The original dish surface of the telescope was more accurate than the Lovell Telescope's at the time it was made, meaning that it was better suited for observations at higher frequencies. As well as operating as a solo instrument, it has been used as an interferometer with the Lovell Telescope, which provides a 425 m (1,394 ft) baseline.^[3] It is commonly used as part of the Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN),^[4] and for Very Long Baseline Interferometry observations.