The Australia Telescope

The opening of the Australia Telescope in September 1988. Photo Nick Lomb

The opening of the Australia Telescope in 1988 was very important to the further development in radio astronomy in Australia. The core of the radio telescope is the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) at Narrabri, NSW. Four of ATCA’s six 22-m dishes are shown in the image above taken at the opening of the telescope by then Prime Minister Bob Hawke.

To find out more about how Astronomy changed in Australia from 1966 through to 2024 read this paper: Lomb Nick, Stevenson Toner (2025) Spreading across the continent: the Astronomical Society of Australia 1966–2023. Historical Records of Australian Science 36, HR24020.