| Mount Pleasant Radio Observatory | |||||||||
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Mount Pleasant Radio Observatory 26 metre Radio Telescope |
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| Organization | University of Tasmania | ||||||||
| Location | Hobart, Tasmania | ||||||||
| Altitude | 43 m | ||||||||
| Established | 26m Opened May 13th, 1986 | ||||||||
| Website www-ra.phys.utas.edu.au |
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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.
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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]
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).
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.