Today's Colloquium: The Jodrell Bank 966 MHz Survey and Optical Identifications

© Richard Porcas (MPIfR)

I will describe the hunt for new quasars made by the Jodrell Bank Survey Group in the 1970's. This involved a new radio survey at 966 MHz made using the recently resurfaced "MKIA" telescope, follow-up accurate position measurements using Jodrell Bank local interferometry and the Green Bank 300ft transit telescope, and optical identifications using the Palomar Sky Survey. Final quasar confirmation followed from optical spectrosopy - with a remarkable discovery.

The picture above shows the Jodrell MKIA telescope during survey observations in December 1972.