THE HISTORY OF RADIO ASTRONOMY IN AUSTRALIA

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS AND REMINISCENCES.

Wednesday 6 October, 2022. 6:30pm via Zoom

PROFESSOR WAYNE ORCHISTON, UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF CHINA AND UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND

Following World War II, Australia and England quickly emerged as the world’s leading nations involved in the new science of radio astronomy. By recording radio emission from the Sun; the planets; gaseous nebulae in our Galaxy and hydrogen gas in the spiral arms; and distance radio galaxies (many of which turned out to be quasars), Australian scientists located near Sydney and later in Tasmania, were able to open a whole new ‘window’ on the Universe. In this presentation, I will review some of the major achievements of Australian radio astronomers, made from late 1945 through to the early-1960s and the advent of the 64-m Parkes Radio Telescope.

Between November 1961 and the end of 1968 I was personally involved in some of this research through the Division of Radiophysics, CSIRO, in Sydney, and since the mid-1990s I’ve been publishing papers (and recently a Springer book) on the early history of Australian radio astronomy, often in collaboration with one of the earliest pioneers (the late Dr Bruce Slee), and our doctoral students. This is part of a wider project, which aims to document the early development of radio astronomy in nearby New Zealand (which actually triggered the start of radio astronomy in Australia), and in France, India and Japan, so that we can place the Australian work in an international context. Image showing Yagi antenna, Dover Heights, Courtesy CSIRO.

This is our Annual General Meeting. Your attendance is appreciated as a quorum is needed to conduct the meeting. Please come along and have your say. (You must be a financial member to vote at the election)

Take part in Sydney City Skywatchers 127th Annual General Meeting. Find out and have your say on how your club is going, elect your new committee and hear short presentations from SCS members. Then listen to our speaker, Professor Wayne Orchiston, University of Science and Technology of China and University of Southern Queensland, present The History of Radio Astronomy in Australia: Personal Reflections and Reminiscences.

Why not nominate to be on the Committee ? We are always looking for new blood and new ideas.

We are particularly looking for anyone with good computer skills in website management and social media. If this is you, I encourage you to nominate.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….