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The Early Development of Australian Radio Astronomy: The Role of the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics Field Stations

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The Emergence of Astrophysics in Asia

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Abstract

During the period 1946–1961 Australia was one of the world’s leading nations in radio astronomy and played a key role in its development. Much of the research was carried out at a number of different field stations and associated remote sites situated in or near Sydney which were maintained by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s Division of Radiophysics. The best-known of these were Dover Heights, Dapto, Fleurs, Hornsby Valley and Potts Hill. At these and other field stations a succession of innovative radio telescopes was erected, and these were used by a band of young scientists—mainly men with engineering qualifications—to address a wide range of research issues, often with outstanding success.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This particular field station has special memories for both authors. W.O. operated the Chris Cross and produced the daily solar maps from 1962 up until the time when Fleurs was handed over to the University of Sydney, while Bruce Slee was closely associated with the Mills Cross and the Shain Cross throughout the life of the field station.

  2. 2.

    The last of these radio astronomers to die was Bruce Slee, the co-author of this chapter, on 18 August 2016. Bruce passed away one week after his 92nd Birthday, but long after we had worked together and drafted this chapter. It is only fitting, therefore, that he should remain a co-author. Earlier in 2016, before he died, Bruce was honoured when the IAU named a minor planet after him, and following his demise he was honoured posthumously in the Australia Day Awards.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Professor Woody Sullivan for access to archival material used in this research, to Professor Ron Ekers and Dr. Peter Robertson for helpful information, and to CASS for permission to publish many of the figures included in this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, 260 Moo 4, T. Donkaew, A. Maerim, Chiang Mai, 50180, Thailand

    Wayne Orchiston

  2. Australia Telescope National Facility, 76, Epping, NSW, 2121, Australia

    Bruce Slee

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  1. Wayne Orchiston
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  2. Bruce Slee
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Correspondence to Wayne Orchiston .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Oriental Studies, Daito-Bunka University, Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan

    Tsuko Nakamura

  2. National Astronomical Research, Institute of Thailand, Chiang Mai, Thailand

    Wayne Orchiston

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Orchiston, W., Slee, B. (2017). The Early Development of Australian Radio Astronomy: The Role of the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics Field Stations. In: Nakamura, T., Orchiston, W. (eds) The Emergence of Astrophysics in Asia. Historical & Cultural Astronomy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62082-4_19

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