The Paul Wild Observatory, also known as the Narrabri Observatory and Culgoora Observatory, is an astronomical research facility located about 24 km west of

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highway. At ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is the home of the

Australia Telescope Compact Array The Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) is a radio telescope operated by CSIRO at the Paul Wild Observatory, twenty five kilometres (16 mi) west of the town of Narrabri in New South Wales, Australia. Its opening ceremony took place on ...

, and the Culgoora Solar Observatory. The site itself and the Australia Telescope Compact Array are run by Australia's science agency, the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

. The current

Solar Observatory A solar observatory is an observatory that specializes in monitoring the Sun. As such, they usually have one or more solar telescopes. The Einstein Tower was a solar observatory in the Albert Einstein Science Park in Potsdam, Germany. Solar o ...

is run by the Space Weather Services section of Australia's

Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together ...

. The site is named in honour of Australian radio astronomer Paul Wild, who headed the team that built the instrument that the site was established for – the Culgoora Radioheliograph, the world's first radioheliograph – which ran from 1967 to 1984. The Australia Telescope Compact Array began operating at the site in 1988.

Current facilities

* The

– a six-dish

radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the radio frequency ...

interferometer Interferometry is a technique which uses the ''interference'' of superimposed waves to extract information. Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber op ...

* The

Ionospheric The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an im ...

Prediction Service (

Space Weather Space weather is a branch of space physics and aeronomy, or heliophysics, concerned with the time varying conditions within the Solar System, including the solar wind, emphasizing the space surrounding the Earth, including conditions in the ma ...

Services) Culgoora

* A node of the Birmingham Solar Oscillations Network (BiSON) *An element of the Magnetic Data Acquisition System (MAGDAS) global

magnetometer A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, o ...

array File:CSIRO ScienceImage 3757 Radio Telescopes at Narrabri.jpg, Four antenna dishes of the Compact Array. File:CSIRO Australia Telescope, Narrabri 1.JPG, Dishes of the Compact Array, showing track. File:CSIRO ScienceImage 11692 Antennas of CSIROs Australia Telescope Compact Array.jpg, A compact arrangement of dishes, at the north spur junction. File:CSIRO ScienceImage 11093 Australia Telescope Compact Array.jpg, East-west track of Array, before construction of north spur. 6th dish in far distance.

Past facilities

* The Culgoora Radioheliograph *The CSIRO Culgoora Solar Observatory *The Sydney University Stellar Interferometer (SUSI) File:Culgoora_radio-heliograph_antenna,_1970s.jpg, An Antenna of Culgoora Radioheliograph, 1970s File:CSIRO_radio-heliograph_antennae,_Culgoora,_Australia,_ca_1968.jpg, 7 of the 96 Antennae of Radioheliograph, c.1968

In the media

The children's/teen's television adventure series ''

Sky Trackers The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In th ...

'' was filmed at the site in 1993, with the antenna dishes of the Australia Telescope Compact Array being prominently featured.

Other sites nearby

In addition to the Paul Wild Observatory, there is a history of astronomical research at other sites in the Narrabri area. The Narrabri Stellar Intensity Interferometer (NSII), the predecessor of SUSI, was located about 10 km north of Narrabri. At a site south of Narrabri, near the Bohena Creek,

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

ran gamma ray telescopes from 1986 to 2000. The Bohena Creek site had previously been used for Sydney University's Giant Air Shower Recorder (SUGAR) for the detection of cosmic rays.

References

External links

Narrabri Observatory Public Information
(

)
Australia Telescope Compact Array - Fast Facts
(CSIRO)
Space Weather Services (IPS) Culgoora Solar Observatory
(

Australian Bureau of Meteorology Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

)
Birmingham Solar Oscillations Network
(

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

)
MAGDAS
(

Kyushu University , abbreviated to , is a Japanese national university located in Fukuoka, on the island of Kyushu. It was the 4th Imperial University in Japan, ranked as 4th in 2020 Times Higher Education Japan University Rankings, one of the top 10 Design ...

)
Paul Wild (1923-2008)
(CSIROpedia)
"A New Look at the Sun", a CSIRO film on the Culgoora Radioheliograph
(CSIROpedia)
"The Sun – Our Nearest Star", a CSIRO film on the CSIRO Culgoora Solar Observatory
(CSIROpedia) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wild, Paul, Observatory Astronomical observatories in New South Wales Radio observatories North West Slopes