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2. Introducing the Parkes Observatory

2.1 The Parkes Site

The Parkes Observatory is located 414.80m above sea level at Latitude -32d 59m 54.263s South, Longitude 148d 15m 48.636s East, 25 kilometers North of the town of Parkes which is approximately 365 kilometres West of Sydney.

It is 6 kilometres off the Newell Highway, the main road from Parkes to Dubbo. The Shire has a population of 15,000 and the town a population of 10,000 and is in the middle of a rich sheep, wheat producing and mining area. The Observatory is part of The Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF), which is run by Astronomy and Space Science, a division of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The Parkes site contains the 64-metre RadioTelescope, the 12-metre ASKAP prototype antenna, an administration building with offices, workshops and library, an Observer’s Quarters, Visitors Discovery Centre and The Dish Cafe. A map and key of the site can be found below.

JPEG/sitemap

Figure 1.1: Parkes Observatory Site Map

001:  Radio Telescope               003:  Lab/Lunch Room
004:  Standby Generator Building    006:  Visitors Centre
007:  Store Room                    008:  Observers Quarters
009:  Grounds Maintenance Workshop  010:  Flammable Liquids Store
013:  Store                         018:  Administration/Receiver Lab
019:  Pump House                    020:  Mechanical & Electrical Workshop
022:  Workshop                      024:  Observing Assist. hse (No2E)
025:  Observing Assist. hse (No1W)  026:  The Dish Cafe
027:  Visitors Toilet               028A: NASA Hut (Demountable)
028B: Office (Demountable)          028C: Office/Workshop (Demountable)
029:  Machinery Shed                    

2.2 The RadioTelescope

The collecting area of the telescope is a 64-m diameter paraboloid (the dish). The surface is high precision aluminium millimetre wavepanels to a diameter of 17-m (for operation to 43 GHz), then perforated aluminium plate out to 45-m, and rectangular galvanised steel 5/16-inch mesh for the remainder of the surface. The focal ratio is 0.41 for the full 64-m surface, the focus being located 26-m above the centre. The aerial cabin, which houses feeds and receiver equipment, is supported by a tripod. Access to the aerial cabin is either by the lift on one of the tripod legs (the "lift leg") or by a ladder on one of the other legs. The feed platform translator, which holds up to four receivers, at the base of the aerial cabin has both up/down (focus), lateral and rotational movement. Further properties of the RadioTelescope are shown below.

Weight of dish:                   300 tonnes
Weight of counterweights:         475 tonnes
Total weight of the dish:         1,000 tonnes
Surface area of reflecting mesh:  0.4 hectares (1 acre)
Height of concrete tower:         10.7 metres (35 ft)
Height to centre of dish:         27.4 metres (90 ft)
Height to top of aerial cabin:	  58.6 metres (192 ft)
Power of Azimuth/Zenith drives:   11 kW (15 hp)
Pointing accuracy:	          Generally less than 20 arcsec
Coverage:                         Az 0-360 deg., El 30.5-88.5 deg.

The dish may be operated between the Zenith angle software limits of 1.2 and 59.5 degrees. There are three hardware limits at Zenith angles less than 1.5 degrees, and also another three past 59.5 degrees. The dish can be "stowed" at a physical limit 30 minutes of arc beyond the Zenith. It is constrained in this position by a locking pin. Azimuth angle is measured as 0 degrees due north, increasing to the east.

2.3 Observatory Contact Details

The observatory can be contacted at the following address:

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Last updated by Stacy Mader on May 17, 2013