Molonglo Radio Observatory (1965 - 2023)

Summary

The Molonglo Radio Observatory, which opened in 1965, was established as part of the School of Physics of the University of Sydney. Located in Hoskinstown, New South Wales, near the Molonglo River, the Observatory's telescope was a Cross telescope designed by Bernard Mills, Professor of Physics at the University, with E-W and N-S arms of 1.6 km. The telescope became a leading instrument in radio astronomy. Principal research projects ranged from mapping the entire southern sky (the Molonglo Sky Survey) and the Molonglo Galactic Plane Survey, with highlights including the discovery of a pulsar associated with a supernova remnant (Vela) and the more than doubling the number of known pulsars from 149 to 304. Observations between 1965 and 1978 resulted in publication of 194 papers including the catalog of the sky survey (Large [and others] 1981). The Observatory ceased operations in 1978 and was upgraded to the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST). Further upgrades allowed the detection of fast radiobursts (the equipment for which was called UTMOST) and continued research on pulsars. From 2015 the telescope was operated in collaboration with Swinburne University of Technology, with the goal of probing the radio transient sky in real time, monitoring pulsars and magnetars, and searching for Fast Radio Bursts. The Observatory was closed in 2023, having been overtaken by emergence of next-generation telescopes at more suitable locations. Many of the staff are now engaged in SKAMP, testing systems for the Square Kilometre Array with cylindrical geometry in the Molonglo Prototype.

Related entries

Published resources

Journal Articles

• Large, M. I., Mills, B. Y., Little, A. G., Crawford, D. F., and Sutton, J. M., 'The Molonglo reference catalogue of radio sources', Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 194 (1981), 693-704. Details
• McAdam, Bruce, 'Molonglo Observatory: building the Cross and MOST', Journal of astronomical history and heritage, 11 (1) (2008), 63-70. Details
• Mills, B. Y., 'The Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope', Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 4 (1981), 156-9. Details
• Mills, B. Y. and Little, A. G., 'Future plans for the Molonglo Radio Telescope', Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 2 (1972), 134-5. Details
• Mills, B. Y., Aitchison, R. E., Little, A. G., and McAdam, W. B., 'The Sydney University cross-type radio telescope', Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers Australia, 24 (1963), 156-65. Details
• Mills. B. Y., 'Origins of the Molonglo Radio Observatory - the Cross and the MOST', Australian journal of physics, 44 (1991), 719-27. Details
• Robertson, J. G., 'The MOST and other radio telescopes', Australian journal of physics, 44 (1991), 729-42. Details