When it comes to space science, a lot is happening in Western Australia’s backyard.
We’re punching above our weight and can be very proud of our achievements so far, and there’s a very bright astro future ahead. If you’re a student interested in space science, astronomy or physics, perhaps you’ll be working on these projects in years to come… we’ll start with a couple you might not know!
The sun is under the telescope at this Exmouth facility. The Learmonth Solar Observatory is operated by the Bureau of Meteorology – Australian Space Weather Forecasting Centre and the US Air Force.
There’s a Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) instrument, an optical telescope, a radio telescope and a solar radio spectrograph. All checking out the Sun from every angle.
See some cool images here.
West Australian Space Radar in Collie is one of six global locations to house a low earth orbit (LEO) phased-array radar operated by LeoLabs and it’s only a short drive from Perth!
The radar tracks the traffic in LEO including satellites and space junk.
Find out how they’re keeping space safe.
Fancy having a multi-national, multi-billion-dollar space science project at your fingertips in WA! The SKA Observatory’s low-frequency telescope is situated in Western Australia’s Murchison shire on the traditional lands of the Wajarri Yamaji.
SKAO recently commenced construction on the SKA-Low telescope’s 131,072 antennas, and the telescope will explore the first billion years of the universe, unveiling answers and undoubtedly raising more questions about how our Universe came to be.
Find more here about SKA-Low here.
The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) is a low frequency radio telescope consisting of 4,096 spider-like antennas across 256 tiles. MWA is one of three telescopes designated as a precursor for the SKA.
The MWA has been performing large surveys of the entire Southern Hemisphere sky since 2013,and all of the astronomy data it collects is sent to the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre in Perth, where it’s accessed by astronomers around the world.
The Curtin University-led MWA is located at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, CSIRO’s Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory on Wajarri country, along with the SKA and the CSIRO’s 36-dish ASKAP radio telescope.
Though the MWA won’t be integrated into the final SKA telescope it will continue to work as an independent resource in its own right.
Get the latest news on the MWA.
THE BEST STARGAZING Is iN astrotourism towns
Check out Astrotourism WA’s list of top towns for when you want to get away somewhere under dark skies.
