Australia Telescope Compact Array
The Australia Telescope Compact Array ( ATCA ) is a radio interferometer for astronomical observations located near Narrabri , Australia .
ATCA consists of six radio telescopes, each with an antenna diameter of 22 m, which can be set up at various stations with a maximum distance of 6 km in an east-west direction. Its location, the Paul Wild Observatory, is about 30 km west of Narrabri and about 500 km northwest of Sydney at an altitude of 234 m. ATCA has receivers for radio wavelengths between 20 cm and 3 mm. Together with the large radio telescope of the Parkes Observatory and another radio telescope in Mopra , ATCA is also used for Very Long Baseline Interferometry .
ATCA is currently the most powerful radio interferometer in the southern hemisphere. Together with other Australian radio telescopes, ATCA is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF) and is administered by the Australian science organization CSIRO .
Web links
- Official ATCA site (English)
- Official ATNF site (English)
Coordinates: 30 ° 18 ′ 46 ″ S , 149 ° 33 ′ 1 ″ E