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1st of October 2020
The beginning of radio astronomy in Australia
The first successful radio astronomy observation in Australia took place on 3 October 1945. Scientists from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR, later CSIRO), supported by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), began a program to observe radio waves emitted from the Sun using equipment which had been installed at the Collaroy Plateau air and sea defence radar station during WWII. The detection on 3 October of intense radio emission coming from the Sun marked the birth of radio astronomy in Australia. The CSIR team was led by Joseph ("Joe") Lade Pawsey, pictured above, and included Ruby Payne-Scott and Lindsay McCready. More details are given in this CSIROpedia article by Harry Wendt, Jessica Chapman and Hastings Pawsey.



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