Australia Telescope National Facility in the context of "Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Australia Telescope National Facility in the context of "Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder"




⭐ Core Definition: Australia Telescope National Facility

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)'s radio astronomy observatories are collectively known as the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF), with the facility supporting Australia's research in radio astronomy. It is part of CSIRO's business unit known as CSIRO Space and Astronomy.

CSIRO currently operates four observatories as part of the ATNF. Three are in New South Wales near the towns of Parkes, Coonabarabran and Narrabri.The fourth telescope, the next generation Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) is located at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia. These telescopes can be used together as a long baseline array for use in very long baseline interferometry.

↓ Menu

In this Dossier

Australia Telescope National Facility in the context of Parkes Observatory

Parkes Observatory is a radio astronomy observatory, located 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of the town of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. It hosts Murriyang, the 64 m CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope also known as "The Dish", along with two smaller radio telescopes. The 64 m dish was one of several radio antennae used to receive live television images of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Its scientific contributions over the decades led the ABC to describe it as "the most successful scientific instrument ever built in Australia" after 40 years of operation.

The Parkes Observatory is run by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), as part of the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF) network of radio telescopes. It is frequently operated together with other CSIRO radio telescopes, principally the array of six 22-metre (72 ft) dishes at the Australia Telescope Compact Array near Narrabri, and a single 22-metre (72 ft) dish at Mopra (near Coonabarabran), to form a very long baseline interferometry array.

↑ Return to Menu

Australia Telescope National Facility in the context of Mopra Observatory

The 22-metre Mopra Radio Telescope, located near Coonabarabran, New South Wales, is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility, operated by CSIRO. The name hails from the location of the facility close to Mopra Rock a geological formation overlooking the telescope. It is also close to the Siding Spring optical observatory in the Warrumbungle National Park.

For use as a single-dish, it has niche equipment allowing large bandwidths to be observed at millimeter-wavelengths. Being a part of the Australia Telescope, it is often used in conjunction with other AT antennas (e.g., the Australia Telescope Compact Array at Narrabri, and the 64-metre Parkes dish) to form a Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) array.

↑ Return to Menu