60 years after it first gazed at the skies, the Parkes dish is still making breakthroughs

Wed, 10 Nov 2021 06:29:37 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/60-years-after-it-first-gazed-at-the-skies-the-parkes-dish-is-still-making-breakthroughs-170753>

"The CSIRO’s 64-metre Parkes Radio Telescope was commissioned on October 31
1961. At the time it was the most advanced radio telescope in the world,
incorporating many innovative features that have since become standard in all
large-dish antennas.

Through its early discoveries it quickly became the leading instrument of its
kind. Today, 60 years later, it is still arguably the finest single-dish radio
telescope in the world. It is still performing world-class science and making
discoveries that shape our understanding of the Universe.

The telescope’s origins date back to wartime radar research by the Radiophysics
Laboratory, part of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),
the forerunner of the CSIRO. On the Sydney clifftops at Dover Heights, the
laboratory developed radar for use in the Pacific theatre. When the second
world war ended, the technology was redirected into peaceful applications,
including studying radio waves from the Sun and beyond."

Share and enjoy,
               *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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