Finding hidden history while mountainbiking, combine hobbies.

[Eastman]

Hello All, today I went out on my mountainbike and found some astronomy history.

On a small hill there was a sign that on this spot there was a German Würzburg dish antenna (7,5 meter) wide from 1948 til 1955. Also there was a 30 meter wide dug in pit antenna.

They where used to do researh on the Milky Way and radiation coming from the Universe and especially from the Sun into the ionosphere.

 

It is all part of the radiopark Kootwijk build in 1917 and expanded in 1922. This park was build for overseas communication

 On may the eleventh 1951 it caught its first radio radiation of hydrogen gas from the Milky Way.

Everything is gone now and there are no signs of contructions left on the side.

The only thing left is the main building build in 1922, its a strange but also beautyful scenery, all this trees, moorland and one big building.

Frozen in time and not of any use for communication anymore.

But it is still serving the public as a exhibition space.

Of course I have seen the building many times before during my mountainbike rides but its astronomical past is new to me.

Great to have this at 20 km from my home, I really enjoyed it.

 

Thanks for reading.

[RichM63]

Nice find. it is always good to find hidden or previously unnoticed bits of history.

[Stub Mandrel]

Very interesting to read your report. It's good that bits of history like this are recorded and interpreted.

[Eastman]

16 hours ago, RichM63 said:

Nice find. it is always good to find hidden or previously unnoticed bits of history.

 

12 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Very interesting to read your report. It's good that bits of history like this are recorded and interpreted.

Sure is great to run into a bit of history like that. But I think that maybe@Waddenskyknows much more about it.

Find out that the Würzburg dish antenna served during the 2nd world war as a target follow antenna. After the war they converted it for astronomical purposes.

[Waddensky]

Yes, this is a great piece of early radio astronomy history. Observations made in Kootwijk were used to produce a map of the spiral structure of our Milky way for the first time. These results were a boost to the plans for the Dwingeloo Radio Observatory, where besides the great 25 metre dish two Würzburgs were present, primarily for solar research. The Planetron, also in Dwingeloo, still has a Würzburg on display.  A comprehensive article on the Dutch radio astronomy history can be found here.

[Eastman]

@Waddensky Thanks for the attached information, interesting to read.