Mount Pleasant Radio Observatory

Mount Pleasant Radio Observatory
Mount Pleasant Radio Observatory 26 metre Radio Telescope
Organization	University of Tasmania
Location	Hobart, Tasmania
Coordinates	42°48′18″S 147°26′21″E / 42.805°S 147.43917°E / -42.805; 147.43917Coordinates: 42°48′18″S 147°26′21″E / 42.805°S 147.43917°E / -42.805; 147.43917
Altitude	43 m
Established	26m Opened May 13th, 1986
Website www-ra.phys.utas.edu.au
Telescopes Mount Pleasant Antenna 26 metre radio telescope Vela Antenna 14 metre radio telescope AuScope Hobart Antenna 12 metre radio telescope

The Mount Pleasant Radio Observatory is a radio astronomy based observatory owned and operated by University of Tasmania, located 20 km east of Hobart.^[1] It is home to three radio astronomy antennas and the Grote Reber Museum.

Equipment

The observatory has three radio telescopes: the Mount Pleasant 26 metre antenna, the 14 metre Vela Antenna and a 12 metre AuScope VLBI Antenna. The Observatory is linked to the University of Tasmania's Hobart campus with a 25 km fibre optic cable, installed in 2007.^[2][3]

The 14 m Vela telescope was constructed in 1981 as a dedicated instrument for observation of the Vela Pulsar. The telescope has tracked the pulsar 18 hours a day, nearly continuously for over 20 years.^[1][4]

The 26 metre Radio dish came from the Orroral Valley Tracking Station, ACT, where it was used as a satellite tracker within the Spacecraft Tracking and Data Acquisition Network and then for support to NASA manned missions.^[5] The 26 metre telescope is used in Australia's very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) network.^[1]

Other Telescopes

The University of Tasmania also operates three other radio astronomy antennas: the 30 metre Ceduna Radio Observatory (SA) and two additional AuScope 12 metre antennas at Katherine (NT) and Yaragadee (WA).

The University also owns and operates optical observatories: Canopus Hill Observatory (soon to be closed) and the Bisdee Tier Optical Astronomy Observatory (under construction).

Grote Reber Museum

There is also a small museum on site dedicated to the life and works of Grote Reber. The museum hosts about 5000 visitors annually and runs several Open Days each year.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Johnston-Hollitt, Melanie (August 2004). "Mt Pleasant Observatory". School of Mathematics & Physics, University of Tasmania. http://www-ra.phys.utas.edu.au/physics_mt_pleasant.html. Retrieved 2009-04-28. 
2. ^ Reid, Brett; John M. Dickey (2006). "Hobart, Mt. Pleasant, Station Report for 2006". University of Tasmania, Geoscience Australia. http://ivs.nict.go.jp/mirror/publications/ar2006/nshobart/. Retrieved 2009-04-28. 
3. ^ "Big technical advance for Tasmania's radio telescope". ABC News. Fri Apr 27, 2007 2:40 pm AEST. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/04/27/1908271.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-28. 
4. ^ Dodson, Richard; Dion Lewis, Peter McCulloch (20th March 2007). "Two decades of pulsar timing of Vela". Astrophysics and Space Science (Netherlands: Springer Netherlands) 308 (1-4): 585–589. arXiv:astro-ph/0612371. Bibcode 2007Ap&SS.308..585D. doi:10.1007/s10509-007-9372-4. ISSN (Print) 1572-946X (Online) 0004-640X (Print) 1572-946X (Online). http://www.springerlink.com/content/t512u20u61x328mq/. Retrieved 2009-04-28. 
5. ^ Mackellar, Colin. "A STADAN antenna: Satellite Tracking and Data Acquisition Network". http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/other_stations/orroral/index.html. Retrieved 2009-08-12. 

External links

• University of Tasmania website on observatory