The observatory, despite its importance as an important research center, also plays an educational and popularizing role and is open to the public in this capacity. It is for this function that the Planetary Pavilion is intended - a visitor center at the entrance to the complex. It includes, among other things, a café with glass walls adorned with photographs of stars and galaxies. They were obtained using the famous 76-meter Lovell radio telescope located at the observatory. A Space Pavilion will also be built for exhibitions and social events, and a Galactic Maze and Space Garden will be created in the arboretum surrounding the observatory.
All these innovations should attract several thousand more visitors a year to Jodrell Bank Observatory, inspiring young people to study astronomy and presenting the latest research in this field to the general public.
The planetary pavilion will open by the end of this year, and the entire project will be fully implemented by the summer of 2011.
