Parkes Observatory

Parkes Observatory
The Parkes 64m Radio Telescope
Organization
LocationParkes, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates32°59′52″S 148°15′47″E / 32.99778°S 148.26292°E / -32.99778; 148.26292
Websitewww.parkes.atnf.csiro.au Edit this at Wikidata
Telescopes
  • Parkes 12-metre telescope
  • Parkes 18-metre telescope
  • Parkes Radio Telescope Edit this on Wikidata
Parkes Observatory is located in Australia
Parkes Observatory
Location of Parkes Observatory
  Related media on Commons
Built1961
Official nameParkes Observatory
TypeListed place
Designated10 August 2020
Reference no.106345

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",[1] 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 50 years of operation.[1]

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.

The observatory was included on the Australian National Heritage List on 10 August 2020.[2]

  1. ^ a b Robertson, Peter (9 February 2010). "40 Years of The Dish". ABC Science. ABC. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  2. ^ Furlong, Caitlin; Woodburn, Joanne (10 August 2020). "CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope – The Dish – added to National Heritage List". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 11 August 2020.