Model of radio dish from one mile telescope at Cambridge, 1964

Model of radio dish from one mile telescope at Cambridge, 1964. Made in 1964, this is a close-up three-quarter view of a model, one of three radio dishes forming the 'One Mile Telescope' (OMT). Built at Lords Bridge near Cambridge in 1964, the three dishes form a radio interferometer with a baseline of around a mile. Signals collected by the three radio telescopes are combined using a technique called aperture synthesis. This gives a radio picture of the object being observed at a resolution that is equivalent to using a radio telescope one mile in diameter. Sir Martin Ryle a pioneer of radio astronomy developed the OMT and in 1957 established radio astronomy at Cambridge University. This telescope and other instruments now form the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory at Cambridge. ©SSPL/Science Museum