Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder

The ASKAP radio telescope is a radio telescope array located at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in the Mid West region of Western Australia. Construction started in 2009 and was completed in 2019, when the major Survey Science projects started. The Survey Science Projects are expected to be completed by 2030.

The facility began as a technology demonstrator for the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA), an internationally planned radio telescope which will be larger and more sensitive. The ASKAP site has been selected as one of the SKA's two central locations.

It is operated by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and forms part of the Australia Telescope National Facility. Construction commenced in late 2009 and first light was in October 2012.

ASKAP consists of 36 identical parabolic antennas, each 12 m (39 ft) in diameter, working together as a single astronomical interferometer with a total collecting area of approximately 4,000 m (43,000 sq ft). Each antenna is equipped with a phased-array feed (PAF), significantly increasing the field of view. This design provides both fast survey speed and high sensitivity.

ASKAP observes three classes of projects:

Survey Science Projects, for which the telescope was primarily designed. These occupy at least 75% of the observing time
Observatory projects which are projects run by the observatory for the benefit of the broader community. All data from these are made publicly available without any proprietary period.
Guest Science projects, which are proposed by users through the normal Australia Telescope National Facility proposal process