Sample radio telescope panel and adjuster motor, 1986

Sample radio telescope panel and adjuster motor, 1986. This sample panel with adjustor motor was constructed at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory at Chilton in Wiltshire. It is one of 276 lightweight panels which form the collecting dish for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Each aluminium section can be continually adjusted using computer control to maintain its precise shape. Located at an altitude of over 4000 m on the mountain of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, the JCMT observes the sky at sub-millimetre wavelengths. It is housed inside an observing building with massive doors. In operation these retract, revealing the telescope hidden behind a huge Gore-Tex fabric sheet. This protects the dish by stopping any distortion caused by the wind while allowing the radio waves through. ©SSPL/Science Museum