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Parkes Radio Telescope


Parkes Radio Telescope
A fully-steerable 64-meter (208-foot) radio telescope at the Parkes Observatory in Australia. The second largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere, it was completed in 1961. Since then it has been used almost continuously for astrophysical observations, tracking spacecraft, and SETI. It was the star of the film "The Dish" which dramatized its role in sending images of the first manned Moon landing to the rest of the world.

The design of the Parkes telescope proved so successful that NASA used it as the basis for the 64-meter dishes of the Deep Space Network located at Goldstone (Califonia), Madrid, and Tidbinbilla (Australia). In 1987, the Tidbinbilla instrument was extended to 70 meters making it the largest fully-steerable radio telescope south of the equator.


Related entry

   • Southern SERENDIP


Related category

   • OBSERVATORIES AND TELESCOPES


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