The Origin and Development of Extragalactic Radio Astronomy: The Role of the Csiro's Division of Radiophysics Dover Heights Field Station in Sydney

Between October 1945 and March 1946 Radiophysics staff took advantage of the facilities at radar stations located at Collaroy Plateau and Dover Heights in suburban Sydney to follow up the British and New Zealand solar observations mentioned earlier, and this effectively marked the launch of radio astronomy in Australia. The equipment used at these field stations included radar antennas connected to 200 MHz receivers. In 1947 Ruby Payne-Scott (1912–1981) described the Royal Australian Air Force Radar 54 antenna at Collaroy as a

show abstract

Expanding Horizons – The Milky Way and Beyond

Orchiston

Robertson

Sullivan

2021

Golden Years of Australian Radio Astronomy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Non-solar research at the Radiophysics Laboratory (RP) was launched in September 1946 when Joe Pawsey (1908–1962) tried unsuccessfully to observe the enigmatic ‘radio star’ in Cygnus that the British team of Stanley Hey (1909–2000, Fig. 4.1), John Parsons and James Phillips (1946) had announced in the 17 August issue of Nature. Two months later, John Bolton (1922–1993; Fig. 4.2) and research assistant Bruce Slee (1924–2016) were at Dover Heights trying to observe the Sun at 60 MHz. When it insisted on remaining inactive they decided to use their 2-Yagi antenna in sea interferometer mode to search for radio emission from other types of objects. Neither had a background in astronomy, and their astronomical knowledge and resources were virtually non-existent. Bolton (1982: 349) later described how they used the Russell, Duggan and Stewart book Astronomy to “… hazard guesses as to which types of objects might emit copious amounts of radio emission …” and Norton’s Star Atlas “… to find the position of the brightest candidate in each class.”

show abstract

The Origin and Development of Extragalactic Radio Astronomy: The Role of the Csiro's Division of Radiophysics Dover Heights Field Station in Sydney

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Remains of the Day: Historical Remnants of the CSIRO Radiophysics Field Stations

Remains of the Day: Historical Remnants of the CSIRO Radiophysics Field Stations

Frontier Life at the Field Stations

Expanding Horizons – The Milky Way and Beyond

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About