Lovell Telescope

The Lovell Telescope is a radio telescope in Goostrey, United Kingdom, with a huge steel dish measuring 250 feet (76 meters) across on a rotating base. The structure rises above the surrounding Cheshire fields and receives signals from space through a movable parabolic system.

The facility began operating in 1957 and became widely known when it tracked the Soviet satellite signal from Sputnik 1. Over the following decades, the instrument contributed to research on pulsars and distant galaxies.

The observatory has served public outreach since its opening and shows visitors the basics of radio astronomy through exhibitions and guided walks. School groups and families use the grounds regularly to learn about space research and electromagnetic waves.

The site sits away from larger towns in rural surroundings, so visitors should plan to arrive by car or public transport. Access to the observatory is designed for wheelchairs and offers paths around the main buildings.

Engineers reused gear components from the World War I battleships HMS Revenge and Royal Sovereign when building the rotation mechanism. These parts still enable the heavy dish to align precisely toward different areas of the sky.