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  • Got a few million spare?

    Funding
    11th March 2008 - By chrislintott

    Then can I recommend this ebay listing?

    Background story is here.

    Edit : Ebay have removed the listing, which was for the Jodrell Bank telescope. If anyone has a screenshot, let me know.

  • 13 Comments to “Got a few million spare?”

    • Nick Cross on March 11, 2008

      Hi Chris,
      None of your links work. The ebay listing and Background story go to a broken ebay link, and the here just returns to the same page. I think the eaby link you want is this:
      http://tinyurl.com/ywug8w

      If someone bids more than £80million, then they can save the whole of UK astronomy (at least for the next 3 years).

    • chrislintott on March 11, 2008

      Cheers. I’ll take the cheque for £80 million if there’s anyone out there…

    • Bunny Burton-Bradford on March 11, 2008

      Guess what Nick!

      Your link doesn’t work either – could one of you simply explain what it is????? Please :-)

    • Andy Lawrence on March 11, 2008

      This was Jodders on ebay I believe, but some spoilsport has removed it. And sorry chaps but at £80M I could think of better things. £2.5Myr on the other hand – a snip.

    • Mint in the box « The e-Astronomer on March 11, 2008

      [...] Mint in the box You may have heard the rumours by now that some wag put Jodders on eBay. This was posted by Chris Lintott, but the link is broken .. some spoilsport removed the listing. [...]

    • astromusico on March 12, 2008

      When I looked at EBay this afternoon, the bids had already reached 5 Million – maybe as we speak, JB is already under new management?

    • Nick Cross on March 12, 2008

      Sorry Bunny,
      It was the Jodrell Bank telescope: the original 1957 telescope that Bernard Lovell built, which tracked Sputnik, got the first images from the first Russian probe to the moon scooping their press release and has made huge contributions to radio astronomy in the last 50 years. The 78m dish has been upgraded since then and the electronic links to other dishes around the UK have also been upgraded recently making it a useful instrument even now.
      Nick

    • Alice Sheppard on March 12, 2008

      Welcome back to the Victorian era and before, when everything depended on the wealth and charity of a few private individuals. Quite an amusing idea, though.

    • Megan on March 13, 2008

      The Register covered this story (with a screenshot): http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/11/jodrell_bank_auction/
      There’s a second listing up on eBay as well: http://tinyurl.com/23qp5q

    • Mang on March 13, 2008

      Pitty while they’re at it they could list the David Dunlap Observatory too.

      http://mangsbatpage.433rd.com/2008/02/black-hole-discoverer-to-be-eaten-by.html

    • Paul Sutherland on March 15, 2008

      There is a link to a screenshot (pdf) on the SPA website:
      http://www.popastro.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8945

      Paul

    • Jules on March 15, 2008

      You beat me to it – I also saved that page! “Collect in Person” – priceless! :0)

    • Alice Sheppard on March 18, 2008

      “Slightly ragged around the edges”; “Only £67.99″?!? Couldn’t find the £80 million anywhere. I’d pay £67.99!

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