Pioneering astronomer Bernard Lovell dies

LONDON - The Associated Press

Pioneering British physicist and astronomer Bernard Lovell, who developed one of the world’s largest radio telescopes exploring particles in the universe, has died. He was 98.

The University of Manchester, where Lovell was emeritus professor of radioastronomy, said he died Aug 6 in his home with many of his family members at the bedside. The cause of death was not announced. “He was a towering figure, not just in the UK, but globally,” said Dame Nancy Rothwell of the University of Manchester.

Lovell was founder of England’s Jodrell Bank Observatory and creator of its massive 76-meter-wide radio telescope that has borne his name since 1987. He also led an important World War II research project that developed the world’s first radar system for scanning the ground. The H2S radar technology was used on British bombers from 1943 onward to identify ground targets at night.