Mark III

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The Mark III was a radio telescope located at Wardle, near Nantwich, Cheshire in the north-west of England. It was constructed in 1966. Similar to the Mark II, it had an elliptical dish with a major axis of 125ft/38.1m and a minor axis of 83ft 4 in/25.4m, however the surface was of mesh. It was remotely controlled from Jodrell Bank Observatory, and was mainly used as part of the MERLIN radio telescope network. It was designed by Charles Husband at the instigation of Bernard Lovell.

It was designed to be transportable, hence it sits on rails.

In circa 2003, it was decommissioned due to its age and lack of sensitivity compared with modern telescopes. It was subsequently dismantled and sold for scrap.

[edit] References and Further Reading

• Lovell, Bernard (1985). The Jodrell Bank Telescopes. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198581785.