| 2nd of October 2020 |
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| The beginning of radio astronomy in Australia |
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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 image of the Collaroy Plateau radar is reproduced from
this CSIROpedia article,
and shows a COL (Chain Overseas Low [flying]) Mk.V 200 MHz radar in early 1946.
This radar was designed in Britain with the aerial and its tower built by the
NSW Government railways. (Photo courtesy of Deidre and Jim Thorncraft,
reproduced from Ted Dellit’s book The Royal Australian Air Force on
Collaroy Plateau in the Second World War, 2000).
As Monday October 5th is a public holiday in NSW, the next ADAP will be Tuesday October 6th. |