The Postwar Explosion in Radio Astronomy: The US Falls Behind

Abstract

During the Second World War, a number of radar scientists independently discovered powerful radio emission from the Sun. Following the cessation of hostilities, and making use of their wartime experience, scientists, mostly at Jodrell Bank and Cambridge in the UK and in Sydney, Australia, used discarded radar systems to further investigate the complex solar radio emission, discovered powerful radio emission from old supernova explosions, and even more powerful radio sources from what later became known as radio galaxies. Encouraged by their early successes with relatively primitive equipment and the potential for new discoveries, scientists in the UK, Australia, the USSR, and the Netherlands developed plans to build more powerful radio telescopes and sophisticated new instrumentation.