Location: 1890 Timor Road, Coonabarabran, NSW
Country: Gomeroi
LGA: Wurrambungle Shire Council
Region: Northern NSW
Website: http://www.narrabri.atnf.csiro.au/mopra/
Map: Below
COONABARABRAN: ASTRONOMY CAPITAL OF AUSTRALIA
Mopra Telescope is a 22-metre single-dish radio telescope near the IAT town of Coonabarabran. It is operated by CSIRO’s Australia Telecope National Facility (ATNF), which is also responsible for the the Parkes Observatory and the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) near Narrabri. Mopra can be used either as a single instrument or as part of Australia’s Long Base Array interferometer.
Mopra Observatory is named for nearby Mopra Rock, a crag popular with rock climbers visiting nearby Warrumbungle National Park.
More on Very Long Baseline Interferometry
CSIRO Visitors Guide to the Mopra Antenna
Feature photo: Mopra Telescope, Coonabarabran, CSIRO Radio Astronomy Image Archive
In 2014, Mopra radio telescope suffered a near-death experience after the Federal government drastically cut CSIRO’s budget. At the time, a team of astrophysicists was using it to map a southern quadrant of the Milky Way. Even though the Mopra dish was defunded, the scientists were determined to continue their research. So they resorted to crowdfunding! Their Kickstarter campaign raised over $90,000, more than enough to complete their Mopra Southern Galactic Plane CO Survey.
Mopra survived this crisis and is still being used as both a single dish and with other antennas as part of the Australia Telescope National Facility’s Long Baseline Array. But it was a close call!
More on Mopra Telescope
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Page created 11 January 2025. Last updated 18 April 2025.
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