by Jing Wang (CASS)

Viewing the focus cabin from the surface the “The Dish” before the start of the teachers’ workshop at Parkes. The top of the cabin is 58 m above the ground; it is held up by three 27-m struts. The cabin hosts several receivers, which are moved into the focus along a translator as required by the scheduled observing project.

The 64-m Parkes Telescope operates twenty four hours per day, through rain and cloud. It is now 10 000 times more sensitive than when it was commissioned.