Attractions in Parkes, NSW
Parkes Radio Telescope
Attractions in Parkes in NSW don’t get much better than the Parkes Radio Telescope.
Our Parkes radio telescope has been in operation for more than 50 years. Thanks to regular upgrades, it continues to be at the forefront of discovery.
Just outside the town of Parkes in the central-west region of New South Wales is our Parkes radio telescope. It’s one of three instruments that make up the Australia Telescope National Facility.
Parkes radio telescope is an icon of Australian science and one part of the Australia Telescope National Facility.
Parkes is one of the largest single-dish telescopes (diameter of 64 metres), in the southern hemisphere dedicated to astronomy. It started operating in 1961, but only its basic structure has remained unchanged. The surface, control system, focus cabin, receivers, computers and cabling have all been upgraded – some parts many times – to keep the telescope at the cutting edge of radio astronomy. The telescope is now 10 000 times more sensitive than when it was commissioned.
Fast facts about Parkes Radio Telescope
- The selection of the Parkes telescope site took several years. It had to fulfill key technical requirements, such as a stable geology and low radio-frequency interference.
- It took three years to design and two years to build the telescope and was officially opened on 31 October 1961.
- The moving part of the telescope, above the concrete tower, weighs 1000 tonnes – more than two Boeing 747 aircraft. This moving part is not fixed to the top of the tower but just sits on it.
- The telescope only receives signals from space, but never sends them.
- The large surface of the dish catches the wind like a sail. Hence the telescope must be ‘stowed’ (pointed directly up) when the wind speed exceeds 35 kilometres an hour.
- It can detect radio waves from seven millimetres to four metres long. And be pointed with an accuracy of < 11 arcseconds – about the width of a finger seen 150 metres away.
- The telescope operates twenty-four hours per day, through rain and cloud.
- About 85 per cent of all time each year is scheduled for observing. Less than five per cent of that time is lost because of high winds or equipment problems. Most of the rest of the time each year is used for maintenance and testing.
Address: 585 Telescope Road, Parkes NSW
Parkes Aviation Museum
The Parkes Aviation Museum is located at the end of Muzycuk Drive at Parkes Airport. It’s currently housed in a former RAAF hangar from the airport’s time as a World War Two air force base.
Exhibits on display include a:
- Bell AH-1 Huey Cobra,
- De Havilland DHC-4 Caribou (A4-275),
- De Havilland DH.114 Heron (VH – AHB) and
- Convair 580 (VH-PDW).
The museum has also been working closely with students from Parkes High School. The students have been preparing and painting aircraft for display. Come along and inspect Australian aviation history, and admire the history of the sky.
Address: Muzycuk Drive, Parkes, NSW 2870
Phone: (02) 4257 4333
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Parkes Airport, Parkes NSW, Australia
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