Many of us are already familiar with the large optical telescopes used by astronomers to explore the night sky. But these are not the only tools available for stargazing. Radio telescopes are also used to study naturally-occurring radio emissions from stars, galaxies, quasars, and other astronomical objects. One of the world’s largest fully steerable telescopes is the 100-metre Effelsberg telescope, which recently joined e-EVN, Europe’s largest radio interferometric telescope network. The new addition has enabled the network to double its surface and sensitivity.
Effelsberg, which is operated by Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, in Bonn Germany, connects to six other radio telescopes located across Europe that make up the e-EVN network. This is achieved using a 35 kilometre optical fibre link, the construction of which was partly funded by the Express Production Real-time e-VLBI Service (EXPReS) project of the European Commission.
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Tags: e-EVN network, Effelsberg, EXPReS, optical telescope
