#jodrellbank — Public Fediverse posts

A Reprieve for Jodrell Bank?

Three days ago the latest Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Andy Burnham, gave a commitment to rescue Jodrell Bank Observatory from the threat of closure resulting from funding cuts at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

In a previous post about this I wrote

The last time STFC had a financial crisis was in 2009 and e-Merlin might well have been cut then but survived thanks to political intervention at the highest level. I suppose that could happen again, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

It looks like it has indeed happened again. The exact quote from Andy Burnham is:

There must be a way to save Jodrell Bank, and I give a commitment today, at this despatch box, we will find it.

That sounds like an unequivocal commitment, but it raises quite a few questions. One of these is that STFC was actually planning to cut funding to the e-MERLIN project and it is by no means clear that the £2.8 million needed for e-MERLIN will actually be reinstated in the STFC budget. It may transpire that Jodrell Bank Observatory emerges as more of a heritage site than a world-class research facility, which is what it will be if e-MERLIN disappears.

And if £2.8M is found to keep e-MERLIN going without changing the overall STFC budget, then the axe will just fall elsewhere in STFC. Jodrell Bank is a special site with special arguments for keeping it open, but other targets can no doubt be found that are equally excellent from a scientific point of view, but can’t mobilize political forces to mount such a strong defence. This is no way to perform a scientific prioritization exercise. In any case it is important to remember that there are cuts and cancellations elsewhere too; see here for a full list.

I think that there needs to be a complete review of funding across all the UKRI agencies. It is deeply unfair that physics and astronomy have to bear the brunt of cost overruns at facilities which are largely used by researchers in other scientific areas. Surely their funding councils should contribute. I can accept that belts might need to be tightened, but that shouldn’t just apply to STFC.

Well I think I am liking this new +ve PM! In response to @[email protected] on Jodrell:

"there must be a way to save #JodrellBank and I give her a commitment at this dispatch box - we will find it"

Brilliant Burnham! Can you now save all the other epic projects that have also been cut 🙏🔭

@kev Isn't that place at risk of closing down soon? I think I read that somewhere. A friend of mine who now lives in Australia worked on this SKA project, which is related to Jodrell Bank in some way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_Kilometre_Array

Its all very interesting. I used to love a trip to Jodrell Bank - its where I met Patrick Moore, the Games Master himself!

#JodrellBank #Australia #SKA #PatrickMoore #Telescope #LovellTelescope

#JodrellBank #SaveJodrellBank

Jodrell Bank has inspired discovery, advanced our understanding of the Universe & captured the imagination of people across the world

Today, its future as an active radio astronomy facility is at risk

Following the decision by UK Research and Innovation to withdraw funding for e-MERLIN when the current agreement ends in March 2028, scientific observations at Jodrell Bank are expected to cease unless alternative funding can be found

https://donate.manchester.ac.uk/p/jodrellbank/

Jodrell Bank Update

With everything else that has been going on recently, I forgot to share this cartoon from the latest Private Eye:

Save everyone's favourite radio telescope...

https://c.org/r9JvPPzWHm

#jodrellBank #science #radioTelescope

Rather exciting weather: some big gusts of wind and two torrential showers but mostly dry by the time I got home. Cleaned my bike and gave Nansen a medal. Fastest ride this year.

Passed Jodrell Bank, may it continue to be a pinnacle of physical science.

#cycling #BikeTooter #jodrellbank

#Petition #JodrellBank #SaveJodrellBank

This week, UK Research & Innovation confirmed it's withdrawing funding from Jodrell Bank Observatory’s e-MERLIN telescope network

UKRI’s total research budget is close to £10 billion a year

The funding it is withdrawing from Jodrell Bank is £2.8 million

The Lovell Telescope has stood at the Cheshire site since 1957

£2.8 million is nothing compared to what we get in return

Please consider adding your name

https://www.change.org/p/fund-the-jodrell-bank-observatory-s-largest-telescope

UK Research and Innovation confirmed it is withdrawing funding from Jodrell Bank Observatory’s e-MERLIN telescope network, please consider signing this petition to reverse this decision:

https://c.org/mtwsRd4yT2

#JodrellBank #Science #Space #UKRI

One I took at Bluedot 2022 of the Lovell Radio Telescope at Jodrell Bank

#Photography #Jodrellbank

Jodrell Bank – Patric Dickinson

Who were they, what lonely men
Imposed upon the fact of night
The fiction of constellations
And made commensurable
The distances between
Themselves their loves and their doubt
Of government and nations;
Who made the dark stable

When the light was not? Now
We receive the blind codes
Of spaces beyond the span
Of our myths, and a long dead star
May only echo how
There are no loves nor gods
Men can invent to explain
How lonely all men are.

This poem is from a collection called “The World I See”, by Patric Dickinson, which was published in 1960. The poem was inspired by a visit to Jodrell Bank observatory. I have posted it before, but it seems apt to post it again now.

Chuckle o'clock: over on stargazers lounge (ace place for 🔭chat) someone got v confused about the whole 🇬🇧Astronomer Royal vs 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Astronomer Royal thing, accusing me of closing #JodrellBank to undermine the UK for Scottish supremacy (paraphrased). The response was mighty & furious 💪 poster apologised 🙏

The #JodrellBank radio dish is a British icon ... since seven decades: https://www.britishpathe.com/lightbox/?st=1cc4c6302b117bd07855e9decc15fb253ed43abf&target=same has 12 British Pathé clips from the 1950s and 1960s.

Did I travel all the way to #JodrellBank this morning for a 5min TV interview? Yes reader, I did.
Did I then persuade the fab e-MERLIN Director Simon Garrington to let me climb inside the Lovell Telescope?
Well, if you can't flex a Royal title occasionally, then what is the point of having it? 😇🔭🧪

Sadly it's not just #JodrellBank losing funding, with deep cuts across the board for UK astronomy. One example is the HiPERCAM project whose funding has been entirely cut to save £50K/yr - peanut-levels of £s. Spectacular fast transient science lost, for what? 🔭😡

www.zmescience.com/science/astr...

One of Astronomy’s Fastest Cam...

What I want to know is that were these funding cuts because of Patrick Vallance or despite him? Because they seem very short-sighted and industry-led. #UKRI #UKPolitics #JodrellBank

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:xnluxweblpshlfoncxd6th2f/post/3mrmwh2affk2o

#astronomy #JodrellBank #Observatory

RE: https://scicomm.xyz/@cosmos4u/116992979563465485

I did my MSc at Jodrell Bank, and I still remember those summer mornings, with the sunlight on the horizon, as I walked past the Lovell Telescope. It’s one of those visual spectacles that has stayed etched in my memory. And let’s not even mention its contribution to astronomy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrZyJuaBfKA

I hope they come to their senses.

#SaveJodrellBank #JodrellBank

The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is shocked and dismayed to hear that the UK's iconic #JodrellBank Observatory is at risk of closure amid a slew of catastrophic budget cuts: https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/mass-cuts-and-potential-jodrell-closure-devastating-astronomy - other casualties in the long list of funding cuts include UK withdrawal from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) located in Hawaii, 20 per cent cuts for the UK's Square Kilometre Array Regional Centre and activities at the Vera Rubin Telescope in Chile, while the BISON solar observing network will suffer cuts of 40 per cent; see also https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jul/27/jodrell-bank-observatory-facing-closure-uk and https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y6r9rdxygo

RE: https://mastodon.online/@Shephallmassive/116987066918187630

And now #JodrellBank - who is representing UK #science, #space and #engineering in the political lobbying realm? - Burnham & his new cabinet must seek expert advice on UK strategy before the last vestiges of UK space & science capabilities and their opportunities for employment are completely destroyed.

Trashing UK astronomical science, all to save a back-of-the-sofa amount in government spend terms of £2.8m - I think that's less than 9p per person per year (33m UK taxpayers). Extremely short-sighted, risking the loss of a world-famous facility. #Science #JodrellBank

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y6r9rdxygo

Bastards!

The Jodrell Bank Observatory, which has housed the UK's largest telescope for nearly 70 years, has lost its funding and could now close. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y6r9rdxygo 📡 #JodrellBank #Science #ScienceFunding

Gutting news for NW England - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y6r9rdxygo

"UK's iconic Jodrell Bank telescope faces axe in science cuts… scientific observations at Jodrell are expected to cease on the 1 April 2028 unless alternative funding can be found.“

UKRI’s announcement is draped in managerial bullshit, claiming that investment will now focus on projects that deliver the "greatest long-term impact” even as they dismantle the foundations of cooperative science&astronomy research in the UK.

#JodrellBank #UKRI

While Labour is patting itself on the back for having changed it's leader there is work to be done, failures to rectify on their shift....stop getting the Guardian to fluff you.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jul/27/jodrell-bank-observatory-facing-closure-uk

#JodrellBank #Science #UKPol #UKpolitics #Labour