tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/parkes-radio-telescope-28521/articlesParkes Radio Telescope – The Conversation2023-05-11T20:08:05Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2049022023-05-11T20:08:05Z2023-05-11T20:08:05ZFlip-flopping magnetic fields hint at a solution for puzzling fast radio bursts from space<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525288/original/file-20230510-23-sjc51m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1040%2C1047%2C2185%2C1429&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fast radio bursts – intense, milliseconds-long flashes of radio energy from outer space – have <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1703512114">puzzled astronomers</a> since they were first spotted in 2007. A single burst can emit as much energy in its brief life as the Sun does in a few days.</p>
<p>The great majority of the short-lived pulses originate outside our Milky Way galaxy. We don’t know what produces most of them, or how. </p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo6526">new research published in Science</a>, we observed a repeating fast radio burst for more than a year and discovered signs it is surrounded by a strong but highly changeable magnetic field. </p>
<p>Our results suggest the source of this cosmic explosion may be a binary system made up of a neutron star whirling through winds of dense, magnetised plasma produced by a massive companion star or even a black hole.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525534/original/file-20230511-21-ifg0v8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An infographic with heading 'Twisted Fields Around Mysterious Fast Radio Burst' shows an illustration of two radio telescopes, a bright object in the sky, and a chart." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525534/original/file-20230511-21-ifg0v8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525534/original/file-20230511-21-ifg0v8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525534/original/file-20230511-21-ifg0v8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525534/original/file-20230511-21-ifg0v8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525534/original/file-20230511-21-ifg0v8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525534/original/file-20230511-21-ifg0v8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525534/original/file-20230511-21-ifg0v8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Changes in the magnetic field around a repeating fast radio burst hint at the nature of its origin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Di Li / ScienceApe / Chinese Academy of Science</span></span>
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<h2>A fast radio burst that never stops repeating</h2>
<p>The repeating burst known as FRB 20190520B was <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04755-5">discovered in 2022</a> by astronomers at the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in China. Repeating fast radio bursts are rare, but FRB 20190520B is the rarest of all: it is the only one that never rests, producing radio bursts a few times an hour, sometimes at multiple radio frequencies. </p>
<p>After this intriguing object was first found, astronomers rushed to follow up the initial observation using other radio wavelengths.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-bright-fast-radio-bursts-revealed-but-where-do-they-all-come-from-104488">More 'bright' fast radio bursts revealed, but where do they all come from?</a>
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<p>Further investigation showed FRB 20190520B resides in an extremely dense environment in a dwarf galaxy 3.9 billion light years away. There are also materials surrounding the FRB source that produce strong, persistent radio emissions.</p>
<p>This led to suggestions that the bursting source is a young neutron star in a complex environment.</p>
<h2>Powerful magnetic fields</h2>
<p>What else can we learn about this intergalactic firecracker and its environment? We carried out observations of FRB 20190520B using CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope, Murriyang, in New South Wales and the Green Bank Telescope in the United States. </p>
<p>To our surprise, FRB 20190520B turned out to produce strong signals at relatively high radio frequencies. These high-frequency signals turned out to be highly polarised - which means the electromagnetic waves are “waving” much more strongly in one direction than in others.</p>
<p>We found the direction of this polarisation changes at different frequencies. Measuring how much it changes tells us about the strength of the magnetic field the signal has travelled through. </p>
<p>As it turns out, this polarisation measure suggests the environment around FRB 20190520B is highly magnetised. And what’s more, the strength of the magnetic field appeared to vary over the 16 months we observed the source – and even flipped direction entirely twice. </p>
<p>This change in direction of the magnetic field around a fast radio burst has never been observed before.</p>
<h2>Filling in the picture</h2>
<p>What does this tell us about FRB 20190520B? Most popular theories to explain recent observations of repeating fast radio bursts involve binary systems made up of a neutron star and either another massive star or a black hole. </p>
<p>While we cannot rule out other hypotheses yet, our results favour the massive star scenario. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-what-we-know-so-far-about-fast-radio-bursts-across-the-universe-154381">A brief history: what we know so far about fast radio bursts across the universe</a>
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<p>Massive stars are known to have strong stellar winds with organised magnetic fields around them. If the source of the bursts were moving in and out of the stellar wind region as it travels through its orbit, we would expect the observed magnetic field direction to reverse. </p>
<p>The time scale of the magnetic field reversal, the measured variability in the apparent field strength, and the dense plasma surrounding the burst source all fit into this picture. </p>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>Our observations might provide crucial evidence to support the hypothesis that sources of repeating fast radio bursts have a massive companion capable of producing highly magnetised plasma. </p>
<p>More importantly, the binary hypothesis gives us a prediction for the future. If it is correct, the changes in polarisation of the radio signals from FRB 20190520B should rise and fall over longer periods of time. </p>
<p>So we will be watching. Future observations with Murriyang and the Green Bank Telescope will reveal whether FRB 20190520B is truly in a binary system – or whether the Universe will surprise us once again.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204902/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shi Dai receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is affiliated with CSIRO Space and Astronomy and the National Astronomical Observatory of China. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Reshma Anna-Thomas receives funding from NSF grant AAG-1714897. Reshma Anna-Thomas is affiliated with Department of Physics and Astronomy and Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Di Li and Miroslav Filipovic do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Magnetic fields billions of light years away offer clues to the nature of intense flashes from the sky known as fast radio bursts.Shi Dai, ARC DECRA Fellow, Western Sydney UniversityDi Li, Professor, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of SciencesMiroslav Filipovic, Professor, Western Sydney UniversityReshma Anna-Thomas, PhD candidate Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1731572021-12-13T19:07:29Z2021-12-13T19:07:29ZWe counted 20 billion ticks of an extreme galactic clock to give Einstein’s theory of gravity its toughest test yet<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435995/original/file-20211207-21-1w4a3pw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=142%2C146%2C2578%2C2004&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An artist's impression of the Double Pulsar system in which the two pulsars orbit each other every 2.5 hours and send out high-energy beams that sweep across the sky.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://sites.google.com/site/johnroweanimation/home">Image credit: John Rowe Animations/CSIRO</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For more than 100 years, Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity has been our best description of how the force of gravity acts throughout the Universe.</p>
<p>General relativity is not only very accurate, but ask any astrophysicist about the theory and they’ll probably also describe it as “beautiful”. But it has a dark side too: a fundamental conflict with our other great physical theory, quantum mechanics.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-einsteins-theory-of-general-relativity-3481">Explainer: Einstein's Theory of General Relativity</a>
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<p>General relativity works extremely well at large scales in the Universe, but quantum mechanics rules the microscopic realm of atoms and fundamental particles. To resolve this conflict, we need to see general relativity pushed to its limits: extremely intense gravitational forces at work on small scales.</p>
<p>We studied a pair of stars called the Double Pulsar which provide just such a situation. After 16 years of observations, we have found <a href="https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.11.041050">no cracks in Einstein’s theory</a>. </p>
<h2>Pulsars: nature’s gravity labs</h2>
<p>In 2003, astronomers at CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope, Murriyang, in New South Wales <a href="https://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/highlights/2003/manchester/manchester.html">discovered</a> a double pulsar system 2,400 light years away that offers a perfect opportunity to study general relativity under extreme conditions. </p>
<p>To understand what makes this system so special, imagine a star 500,000 times as heavy as Earth, yet only 20 kilometres across. This ultra-dense “neutron star” spins 50 times a second, blasting out an intense beam of radio waves that our telescopes register as a faint blip every time it sweeps over Earth. There are more than 3,000 such “pulsars” in the Milky Way, but this one is unique because it whirls in an orbit around a similarly extreme companion star every 2.5 hours.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fifty-years-ago-jocelyn-bell-discovered-pulsars-and-changed-our-view-of-the-universe-88083">Fifty years ago Jocelyn Bell discovered pulsars and changed our view of the universe</a>
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<p>According to general relativity, the colossal accelerations in the Double Pulsar system strain the fabric of space-time, sending gravitational ripples away at the speed of light that slowly sap the system of orbital energy. </p>
<p>This slow loss of energy makes the stars’ orbit drift ever closer together. In 85 million years’ time, they are doomed to merge in a spectacular cosmic pile-up that will enrich the surroundings with a <a href="https://theconversation.com/cosmic-alchemy-colliding-neutron-stars-show-us-how-the-universe-creates-gold-86104">heady dose of precious metals</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437086/original/file-20211213-23-yur4x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437086/original/file-20211213-23-yur4x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437086/original/file-20211213-23-yur4x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437086/original/file-20211213-23-yur4x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437086/original/file-20211213-23-yur4x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437086/original/file-20211213-23-yur4x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437086/original/file-20211213-23-yur4x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Artist’s impression of the Double Pulsar system and its effect on spacetime. The spacetime curvature (shown in the grid at the bottom) is highest near the pulsars. As they orbit one another, these deformations propagate away at the speed of light as gravity waves, carrying away orbital energy. By counting each time the pulsed beam of radio emission sweeps over the Earth, we can track the slowly shrinking orbit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image credit: M. Kramer / MPIfR</span></span>
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<p>We can watch this loss of energy by very carefully studying the blinking of the pulsars. Each star acts as a giant clock, precisely stabilised by its immense mass, “ticking” with every rotation as its radio beam sweeps past. </p>
<h2>Using stars as clocks</h2>
<p>Working with an international team of astronomers led by Michael Kramer of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany, we have used this “pulsar timing” technique to study the Double Pulsar ever since its discovery.</p>
<p>Adding in data from five other radio telescopes across the world, we modelled the precise arrival times of more than 20 billion of these clock ticks over a 16-year period. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435538/original/file-20211203-13-1z06w8u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435538/original/file-20211203-13-1z06w8u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435538/original/file-20211203-13-1z06w8u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435538/original/file-20211203-13-1z06w8u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435538/original/file-20211203-13-1z06w8u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435538/original/file-20211203-13-1z06w8u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435538/original/file-20211203-13-1z06w8u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Parkes 64-metre diameter radio telescope, located in Central NSW, Australia, was used to observe the pulsed radio emission.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image credit: Shaun Amy/CSIRO</span></span>
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<p>To complete our model, we needed to know exactly how far the Double Pulsar is from Earth. To find this out, we turned to a global network of ten radio telescopes called the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA).</p>
<p>The VLBA has such high resolution it could spot a human hair 10km away! Using it, we were able to observe a tiny wobble in the apparent position of the Double Pulsar every year, which results from Earth’s motion around the Sun. </p>
<p>And because the size of the wobble depends on the distance to the source, we could show that the system is 2,400 light years from the Earth. This provided the last puzzle piece we needed to put Einstein to the test.</p>
<h2>Finding Einstein’s fingerprints in our data</h2>
<p>Combining these painstaking measurements allows us to precisely track the orbits of each pulsar. Our benchmark was Isaac Newton’s simpler model of gravity, which predated Einstein by several centuries: every deviation offered another test. </p>
<p>These “post-Newtonian” effects – things that are insignificant when considering an apple falling from a tree, but noticeable in more extreme conditions – can be compared against the predictions of general relativity and other theories of gravity.</p>
<p>One of these effects is the loss of energy due to gravitational waves described above. Another is the “<a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/catching-frame-dragging-in-action/">Lense-Thirring effect</a>” or “relativistic frame-dragging”, in which the spinning pulsars drag space-time itself around with them as they move.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/warp-factor-weve-observed-a-spinning-star-that-drags-the-very-fabric-of-space-and-time-130201">Warp factor: we've observed a spinning star that drags the very fabric of space and time</a>
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<p>In total, we detected seven post-Newtonian effects, including some never seen before. Together, they give by far the best test so far of general relativity in strong gravitational fields.</p>
<p>After 16 long years, <a href="https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.11.041050">our observations</a> proved to be amazingly consistent with Einstein’s general relativity, matching Einstein’s predictions to within 99.99%. None of the dozens of other gravitational theories proposed since 1915 can describe the motion of the Double Pulsar better!</p>
<p>With larger and more sensitive radio telescopes, and new analysis techniques, we could keep using the Double Pulsar to study gravity for another 85 million years. Eventually, however, the two stars will spiral together and merge. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435781/original/file-20211206-104971-1rcisdi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435781/original/file-20211206-104971-1rcisdi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435781/original/file-20211206-104971-1rcisdi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435781/original/file-20211206-104971-1rcisdi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435781/original/file-20211206-104971-1rcisdi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=669&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435781/original/file-20211206-104971-1rcisdi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=669&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435781/original/file-20211206-104971-1rcisdi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=669&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Artist’s illustration of two merging neutron stars, which is the fate of the Double Pulsar in 85 million years’ time. Such collisions can be detected by gravitational wave laser interferometers, and provide a complementary test of general relativity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image credit: NSF/LIGO/Sonoma State University/A. Simonnet</span></span>
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<p>This cataclysmic ending will itself offer one last opportunity, as the system throws off a burst of high-frequency gravitational waves. Such bursts from merging neutron stars in other galaxies have already been detected by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave observatories, and those measurements provide a complementary test of general relativity under even more extreme conditions.</p>
<p>Armed with all these approaches, we are hopeful of eventually identifying a weakness in general relativity that can lead to an even better gravitational theory. But for now, Einstein still reigns supreme.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173157/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Deller receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Manchester has received funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Astronomers watched a pair of pulsars for 16 years to test the theory of general relativity, which has stood unchallenged for over a century.Adam Deller, Associate Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Waves (OzGrav), and Associate Professor in Astrophysics, Swinburne University of TechnologyRichard Manchester, CSIRO Fellow, CSIRO Space and Astronomy, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1707532021-10-29T04:46:36Z2021-10-29T04:46:36Z60 years after it first gazed at the skies, the Parkes dish is still making breakthroughs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429275/original/file-20211029-15-198o6ab.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C671%2C6479%2C5136&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The CSIRO’s 64-metre Parkes Radio Telescope was commissioned on October 31 1961. At the time it was the most advanced radio telescope in the world, incorporating many innovative features that have since become standard in all large-dish antennas. </p>
<p>Through its early discoveries it quickly became the leading instrument of its kind. Today, 60 years later, it is still arguably the finest single-dish radio telescope in the world. It is still performing world-class science and making discoveries that shape our understanding of the Universe.</p>
<p>The telescope’s origins date back to wartime radar research by the Radiophysics Laboratory, part of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the forerunner of the CSIRO. On the Sydney clifftops at Dover Heights, the laboratory developed radar for use in the Pacific theatre. When the second world war ended, the technology was redirected into peaceful applications, including studying radio waves from the Sun and beyond.</p>
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<img alt="Researchers use the antenna at Dover Heights" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429271/original/file-20211029-18-gtm4qf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429271/original/file-20211029-18-gtm4qf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429271/original/file-20211029-18-gtm4qf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429271/original/file-20211029-18-gtm4qf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429271/original/file-20211029-18-gtm4qf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429271/original/file-20211029-18-gtm4qf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429271/original/file-20211029-18-gtm4qf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Early antennas were much simpler, not to mention smaller.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>In 1946, British physicist Edward “Taffy” Bowen was appointed chief of the Radiophysics Laboratory. He had been one of the brilliant engineers, dubbed “boffins”, who developed radar as part of Britain’s secret prewar military research. The Radiophysics Laboratory had a dedicated radio astronomy group, led by the brilliant Joseph (Joe) Pawsey. Many of the group’s members went on to become leaders in the nascent field of radio astronomy, including Bernie Mills, Chris Christiansen, Paul Wild, Ruby Payne-Scott (the first female radio astronomer), and John Bolton.</p>
<p>While the group’s initial research focused on radio waves from the Sun, Bolton’s attention soon shifted to identifying other sources from farther afield. By the early 1950s, the Dover Heights radar dishes had discovered more than 100 sources of radio emissions from the Milky Way and beyond, including the signals from supernova explosions. These observations established the Radiophysics Laboratory as a world-leading centre of radio astronomy.</p>
<p>By 1954, the technology at Dover Heights was outdated and obsolete, prompting Bowen to initiate the next step for Australian radio astronomy: a state-of-the-art new radio telescope.</p>
<p>He decided the most versatile option was to build a large, fully steerable dish antenna. The eventual price tag was A$1.4 million (A$25.6 million in today’s terms) – far beyond CSIRO’s budget at the time.</p>
<p>The Menzies government agreed to fund the project, provided at least 50% of the money came from the private sector. Using his wartime contacts, Bowen secured A$250,000 each from the Carnegie Corporation and Rockefeller Foundation, plus a range of private Australian donations.</p>
<p>British firm Freeman Fox and Partners produced the detailed design, incorporating suggestions from legendary engineer Barnes Wallis, of “dambusters” fame. Based on the available budget and desired functionality, a diameter of 64 metres was agreed for the dish.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429264/original/file-20211029-23-nnz6hy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="1955 design by Barnes Wallis" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429264/original/file-20211029-23-nnz6hy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429264/original/file-20211029-23-nnz6hy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=662&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429264/original/file-20211029-23-nnz6hy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=662&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429264/original/file-20211029-23-nnz6hy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=662&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429264/original/file-20211029-23-nnz6hy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429264/original/file-20211029-23-nnz6hy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429264/original/file-20211029-23-nnz6hy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">1955 design notes by Barnes Wallis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The chosen site was near the town of Parkes, about 350km west of Sydney. This location had favourable weather conditions and was free of local radio interference. The local council also enthusiastically offered to cover the cost of some of the earthworks.</p>
<p>In 2020, the local Wiradjuri people <a href="https://blog.csiro.au/parkes-telescope-indigenous-name/">named the telescope Murriyang</a>, a traditional name meaning “Skyworld”.</p>
<p>The telescope’s construction began in September 1959 and was completed just two years later. On October 31 1961, the Governor-General William Sidney, Viscount De l'Isle, officially opened the telescope in a ceremony attended by 500 guests.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The Parkes dish's opening ceremony" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429278/original/file-20211029-26-91kgrk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429278/original/file-20211029-26-91kgrk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429278/original/file-20211029-26-91kgrk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429278/original/file-20211029-26-91kgrk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429278/original/file-20211029-26-91kgrk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429278/original/file-20211029-26-91kgrk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429278/original/file-20211029-26-91kgrk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Governor-General (centre) greets guests at the telescope’s 1961 opening ceremony.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Decades of discovery</h2>
<p>John Bolton was appointed the founding director of the telescope. Under his dynamic, decade-long tenure, astronomers made a string of significant discoveries that established the dish as the premier scientific instrument in Australia. </p>
<p>Astronomers revealed the immense magnetic field of our Milky Way galaxy. A few months later, the telescope detected quasars, the most distant known objects in the Universe – a discovery that increased the size of the known Universe tenfold. To cap off a memorable first year, Parkes tracked the very first interplanetary space mission, Mariner 2, when it flew past Venus in December 1962.</p>
<p>In the 1970s, researchers discovered and mapped the immense molecular clouds interspersed through our galaxy. The study of pulsars – rotating stars that emit beams of radio waves, rather like a lighthouse – became a major field of research. Parkes has discovered more pulsars than all other radio observatories combined, including the only known double pulsar system, spotted in 2003. </p>
<p>In the 1990s, the distribution of galaxies was mapped to a distance of 300 million light years, revealing the complex structure of the Universe. More recently, Parkes discovered the first Fast Radio Burst – a short, intense <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-what-we-know-so-far-about-fast-radio-bursts-across-the-universe-154381">blast of radio waves</a> created by an as-yet unknown process. The telescope has also been involved in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI), including the ten-year <a href="https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/initiative/1">Breakthrough Listen project</a>, which began in 2016.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-what-we-know-so-far-about-fast-radio-bursts-across-the-universe-154381">A brief history: what we know so far about fast radio bursts across the universe</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>To the public, the telescope is perhaps best known for its space tracking, especially its role in the Apollo lunar missions. But it has also supported other significant missions such as NASA’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-still-listening-to-voyager-2-as-nasa-confirms-the-probe-is-now-in-interstellar-space-108507">Voyager 2</a>, which flew past Uranus and Neptune in the 1980s and crossed into interstellar space in 2018. In 1986, Parkes was the prime tracking station for the European Giotto mission to Halley’s Comet. And next year, Parkes will track some of the first commercial lunar landers.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-still-listening-to-voyager-2-as-nasa-confirms-the-probe-is-now-in-interstellar-space-108507">Australia is still listening to Voyager 2 as NASA confirms the probe is now in interstellar space</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Parkes dish with the Moon in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429268/original/file-20211029-19-1e2zq5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429268/original/file-20211029-19-1e2zq5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429268/original/file-20211029-19-1e2zq5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429268/original/file-20211029-19-1e2zq5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429268/original/file-20211029-19-1e2zq5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=941&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429268/original/file-20211029-19-1e2zq5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=941&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429268/original/file-20211029-19-1e2zq5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=941&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parkes tracking the Apollo Moon mission in 1969.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Originally intended to operate for 20 years, the telscope’s longevity is a result of constant upgrades. Recent improvements include a new ultra-wideband receiver that can scan a huge range of radio frequencies, and CSIRO-developed “phased array feeds” (PAFs) that allow the telescope to observe up to 36 points in the sky at once. Work is now under way on a cryogenically cooled PAF that, when installed in 2022, will double this number. With these upgrades in place, a single receiver can be used to deliver more than 90% of current Parkes operations.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Construction workers building the dish" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429273/original/file-20211029-25-1ocnr6f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429273/original/file-20211029-25-1ocnr6f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429273/original/file-20211029-25-1ocnr6f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429273/original/file-20211029-25-1ocnr6f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429273/original/file-20211029-25-1ocnr6f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429273/original/file-20211029-25-1ocnr6f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429273/original/file-20211029-25-1ocnr6f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Construction took just two years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s hard to say how long the Parkes dish will continue to work. It depends on future upgrades and whether the telescope’s structure remains in good working order. But astronomers will always have a need for a large single-dish antenna.</p>
<p>Parkes has maintained its world-leading position in radio astronomy by constantly adapting to meet new requirements. Today it stands as an icon of Australian science and achievement. Sixty years after it first trained its eye on the sky, the future still looks bright at Parkes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170753/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Sarkissian does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>After six decades during which it tracked lunar missions, spotted distant pulsars and quasars, and even expanded our concept of the size of the Universe, the Parkes telescope is still going strong.John Sarkissian, Operations Scientist, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1705482021-10-25T19:12:23Z2021-10-25T19:12:23ZA mysterious signal looked like a sign of alien technology — but it turned out to be radio interference<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428186/original/file-20211025-25-mb1aem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2048%2C1367&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In December last year, the media reported <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/dec/18/scientists-looking-for-aliens-investigate-radio-beam-from-nearby-star">an intriguing signal</a> we at the <a href="https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/initiative/1">Breakthrough Listen</a> project found in our radio telescope data. Dubbed BLC1, the signal didn’t appear to be the result of any recognisable astrophysical activity or any familiar Earth-based interference.</p>
<p>The trouble was, we weren’t ready to discuss it. When you’re searching for signs of extraterrestrial life, you want to be very careful about getting it right before you make any announcements. Last year we had only just started secondary verification tests, and there were too many unanswered questions. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-asked-astronomers-are-we-alone-in-the-universe-the-answer-was-surprisingly-consistent-132088">We asked astronomers: are we alone in the Universe? The answer was surprisingly consistent</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Today we are ready to report that BLC1 is, sadly, not a signal from intelligent life beyond Earth. Rather, it is radio interference that closely mimics the type of signal we’ve been looking for. Our results are reported in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-021-01479-w">two</a> <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-021-01508-8">papers</a> in Nature Astronomy.</p>
<h2>Searching for solar flares and signs of life</h2>
<p>The story of BLC1 starts in April 2019, when Andrew Zic, who at the time was a PhD student at the University of Sydney, began observing the nearby star Proxima Centauri with multiple telescopes to search for flare activity. At 4.22 light years away, Proxima Centauri is our nearest stellar neighbour, but it is too faint to see with the naked eye. </p>
<p>Flares from stars are bursts of energy and hot plasma that may impact (and likely destroy) the atmosphere of any planets in their path. Though the Sun produces flares, they are not strong or frequent enough to disrupt life on Earth. Understanding how and when a star flares teaches us a lot about whether those planets might be suitable for life. </p>
<p>Proxima Centauri hosts an Earth-sized exoplanet called Proxima Centauri b, and Andrew’s observations suggested the planet is <a href="https://theconversation.com/bad-space-weather-may-make-life-impossible-near-proxima-centauri-150979">buffeted by fierce “space weather”</a>. While bad space weather doesn’t rule out life existing in the Proxima Centauri system, it does mean the planet’s surface is likely to be inhospitable. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bad-space-weather-may-make-life-impossible-near-proxima-centauri-150979">Bad space weather may make life impossible near Proxima Centauri</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Still, as our nearest neighbour, Proxima Centauri b remains a compelling target for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (or SETI). Proxima Centauri is one of the only stars we could potentially ever visit in our lifetime. </p>
<p>At the speed of light, a two-way trip would take 8.4 years. We can’t send a spaceship that fast, but there is hope that <a href="https://theconversation.com/observing-the-universe-with-a-camera-traveling-near-the-speed-of-light-93994">a tiny camera on a light sail</a> could reach there in 50 years and beam back pictures. </p>
<p>Because of this, we joined forces with Andrew Zic and his collaborators, and used <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/about/facilities-collections/atnf/parkes-radio-telescope">CSIRO’s Parkes telescope</a> (also known as Murriyang in the Wiradjuri language) to run SETI observations in parallel with the flare activity search. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/observing-the-universe-with-a-camera-traveling-near-the-speed-of-light-93994">Observing the universe with a camera traveling near the speed of light</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>An intriguing summer project</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428190/original/file-20211025-23-1q8jliz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428190/original/file-20211025-23-1q8jliz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428190/original/file-20211025-23-1q8jliz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428190/original/file-20211025-23-1q8jliz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428190/original/file-20211025-23-1q8jliz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428190/original/file-20211025-23-1q8jliz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428190/original/file-20211025-23-1q8jliz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428190/original/file-20211025-23-1q8jliz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The BLC1 signal. Each panel in the plot is an observation toward Proxima Centauri (‘on source’), or toward a reference source (‘off source’). BLC1 is the yellow drifting line, and is only present when the telescope is pointed at Proxima Centauri.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-021-01479-w">Smith et al., Nature Astronomy</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We thought searching these observations would be an excellent project for a summer student. In 2020, Shane Smith, an undergraduate student from Hillsdale College in Michigan, United States, joined the Berkeley SETI Research Experience for Undergraduates <a href="https://seti.berkeley.edu/Internship.html">program</a> and began sifting through the data. Toward the end of his project, BLC1 popped out.</p>
<p>The Breakthrough Listen team quickly became intrigued by BLC1. However, the burden of proof to claim a detection of life beyond Earth is exceedingly high, so we don’t let ourselves get too excited until we’ve applied every test we can think of. The analysis of BLC1 was spearheaded by Sofia Sheikh, at the time a PhD student at Penn State, who ran an exhaustive set of tests, many of which were new.</p>
<p>There was plenty of evidence pointing toward BLC1 being a genuine sign of extraterrestrial technology (or “technosignature”). BLC1 has many characteristics we expect from a technosignature:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>we only saw BLC1 when we were looking toward Proxima Centauri, and didn’t see it in when we looked elsewhere (in “off-source” observations). Interfering signals are commonly seen in all directions, as they “leak” into the telescope receiver</p></li>
<li><p>the signal only occupies one narrow band of frequencies, whereas signals from stars or other astrophysical sources occur over a much wider range </p></li>
<li><p>the signal slowly drifted in frequency over a 5-hour period. A frequency drift is expected for any transmitter not fixed to Earth’s surface, as its movement relative to us will cause a Doppler effect</p></li>
<li><p>the BLC1 signal persisted for several hours, making it unlike other interference from artificial satellites or aircraft that we have observed before.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Nevertheless, Sofia’s analysis led us to conclude BLC1 is most likely radio interference from right here on Earth. Sofia was able to show this by searching across the entire frequency range of the Parkes receiver and finding “lookalike” signals, whose characteristics are mathematically related to BLC1. </p>
<p>Unlike BLC1, the lookalikes <em>do</em> appear in off-source observations. As such, BLC1 is guilty by association of being radio interference. </p>
<h2>Not the technosignature we were looking for</h2>
<p>We don’t know exactly where BLC1 was coming from, or why it wasn’t detected in off-source observations like the lookalike signals. Our best guess is that BLC1 and the lookalikes are generated by a process called <em>intermodulation</em>, where two frequencies mix together to create new interference. </p>
<p>If you’ve listened to blues or rock guitar, you are probably familiar with intermodulation. When a guitar amp is deliberately overdriven (when you turn it up to 11), intermodulation adds a pleasant-sounding distortion to the clean guitar signal. So BLC1 is – perhaps – just an unpleasant distortion from a device with an overdriven radio frequency amplifier.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/seti-why-extraterrestrial-intelligence-is-more-likely-to-be-artificial-than-biological-169966">Seti: why extraterrestrial intelligence is more likely to be artificial than biological</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Regardless of what caused BLC1, it was not the technosignature we were looking for. It did, however, make for an excellent case study, and showed that our detection pipelines are working and picking up unusual signals. </p>
<p>Proxima Centauri is only one of many hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way. To search them all, we need to keep our momentum, to continue to improve our tools and verification tests, and to train the next generation of astronomers, like Shane and Sofia, who can continue the search with the next generation of telescopes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170548/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>In previous roles, Danny C Price has received funding from Breakthrough Listen. </span></em></p>Astronomers hunting extraterrestrials were excited to discover an intriguing signal, but closer inspection has revealed it wasn’t aliens.Danny C Price, Senior research fellow, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1543812021-02-11T04:35:53Z2021-02-11T04:35:53ZA brief history: what we know so far about fast radio bursts across the universe<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383653/original/file-20210211-14-1qn1hrd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C25%2C2480%2C1770&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.scienceimage.csiro.au/image/249/parkes-radio-telescope/">CSIRO/John Masterson</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/fast-radio-bursts-6352">Fast radio bursts</a> are one of the great mysteries of the universe. Since their discovery, we have learned a great deal about these intense millisecond-duration pulses.</p>
<p>But we still have much to learn, such as what causes them. </p>
<p>We know the intense bursts originate in galaxies billions of light years away. We have also used these bursts (called <a href="https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/F/Fast+Radio+Bursts">FRB</a>s) to <a href="https://theconversation.com/half-the-matter-in-the-universe-was-missing-we-found-it-hiding-in-the-cosmos-138569">find missing matter</a> that couldn’t be found otherwise.</p>
<p>With teams of astronomers around the world racing to understand their enigma, how did we get to where we are now? </p>
<h2>The first burst</h2>
<p>The first FRB was discovered in 2007 by a team led by British-American astronomer <a href="https://physics.wvu.edu/faculty-and-staff/faculty/duncan-lorimer">Duncan Lorimer</a> using <a href="https://blog.csiro.au/parkes-telescope-indigenous-name/">Murriyang</a>, the traditional Indigenous name for the iconic Parkes radio telescope (image, top).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/silence-please-why-radio-astronomers-need-things-quiet-in-the-middle-of-a-wa-desert-118922">Silence please! Why radio astronomers need things quiet in the middle of a WA desert</a>
</strong>
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<p>The team found an incredibly bright pulse — so bright that many astronomers did not believe it to be real. But there was yet more intrigue. </p>
<p>Radio pulses provide a tremendous gift to astronomers. By measuring when a burst arrives at the telescope at different frequencies, astronomers can tell the total amount of gas that it passed through on its journey to Earth.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A curved graph, starting high top left and curving down low to bottom right." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381639/original/file-20210201-19-15wjt3o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381639/original/file-20210201-19-15wjt3o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381639/original/file-20210201-19-15wjt3o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381639/original/file-20210201-19-15wjt3o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381639/original/file-20210201-19-15wjt3o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381639/original/file-20210201-19-15wjt3o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381639/original/file-20210201-19-15wjt3o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A typical Fast Radio Burst. The burst arrives first at high frequencies and is delayed by as much as several seconds at the lower frequencies. This tell-tale curve is what astronomers are looking for.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ryan Shannon and Vikram Ravi</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Lorimer burst had travelled through far too much gas to have originated in our galaxy, the Milky Way. The team concluded it came from a galaxy billions of light years away.</p>
<p>To be visible from so far away, whatever produced it must have released an enormous amount of energy. In just a millisecond it released as much energy as our Sun would in 80 years.</p>
<p>Lorimer’s team could only guess which galaxy their FRB had come from. Murriyang can’t pinpoint FRB locations very accurately. It would take several years for another team to make the breakthrough.</p>
<h2>Locating FRBs</h2>
<p>To pinpoint a burst location, we need to detect an FRB with a radio interferometer — an array of antennas spread out over at least a few kilometres.</p>
<p>When signals from the telescopes are combined, they produce an image of an FRB with enough detail not only to see in which galaxy the burst originated, but in some cases to tell where within the galaxy it was produced. </p>
<p>The first FRB localised was from a source that emitted many bursts. The first burst was discovered in 2012 with the giant <a href="http://www.naic.edu/">Arecibo telescope</a> in Puerto Rico.</p>
<p>Subsequent bursts were detected by the <a href="https://public.nrao.edu/telescopes/vla/">Very Large Array</a>, in New Mexico, and found to be coming from a tiny galaxy about 3 billion light years away.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386907/original/file-20210301-23-1k5kkjz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Several dish-shipped antenna in the desert, all pointing up towards the sky in daylight." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386907/original/file-20210301-23-1k5kkjz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386907/original/file-20210301-23-1k5kkjz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386907/original/file-20210301-23-1k5kkjz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386907/original/file-20210301-23-1k5kkjz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386907/original/file-20210301-23-1k5kkjz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386907/original/file-20210301-23-1k5kkjz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386907/original/file-20210301-23-1k5kkjz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Several of the ASKAP radio telescope antennas in WA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2018, using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder Telescope (<a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Facilities/ATNF/ASKAP">ASKAP</a>) in Western Australia, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-closed-in-on-the-location-of-a-fast-radio-burst-in-a-galaxy-far-far-away-119177">our team identified the second FRB host galaxy</a>.</p>
<p>In stark contrast to the previous galaxy, this galaxy was very ordinary. But our <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6453/565" title="A single fast radio burst localized to a massive galaxy at cosmological distance">published discovery</a> was this month <a href="https://www.aaas.org/news/astronomical-discovery-earns-2020-aaas-newcomb-cleveland-prize">awarded a prize by the American Association for the Advancement of Science</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1359616899945013256"}"></div></p>
<p>Teams including ours have now localised roughly a dozen more bursts from a wide range of galaxies, large and small, young and old. The fact FRBs can come from such a wide range of galaxies remains a puzzle. </p>
<h2>A burst from close to home</h2>
<p>On April 28, 2020, a flurry of X-rays suddenly bashed into the <a href="https://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/">Swift</a> telescope orbiting Earth.</p>
<p>The satellite telescope dutifully noted the rays had come from a very magnetic and erratic neutron star in our own Milky Way. This star has form: it goes into fits every few years.</p>
<p>Two telescopes, <a href="https://chime-experiment.ca/en">CHIME</a> in Canada and the STARE2 array in the United States, detected a very bright radio burst within milliseconds of the X-rays and in the direction of that star. This demonstrated such neutron stars could be a source of the FRBs we see in galaxies far away.</p>
<p>The simultaneous release of X-rays and radio waves gave astrophysicists important clues to how nature can produce such bright bursts. But we still don’t know for certain if this is the cause of FRBs.</p>
<h2>So what’s next?</h2>
<p>While 2020 was the year of the local FRB, we expect 2021 will be the year of the the far-flung FRB, even further than already observed.</p>
<p>The CHIME telescope has collected by far the largest sample of bursts and is compiling a meticulous catalogue that should be available to other astronomers soon.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-closed-in-on-the-location-of-a-fast-radio-burst-in-a-galaxy-far-far-away-119177">How we closed in on the location of a fast radio burst in a galaxy far, far away</a>
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<p>A team at Caltech is building an <a href="https://www.deepsynoptic.org/">array</a> specifically dedicated to finding FRBs.</p>
<p>There’s plenty of action in Australia too. We are developing a new burst-detection supercomputer for ASKAP that will find FRBs at a faster rate and find more distant sources.</p>
<p>It will effectively turn ASKAP into a high-speed, high-definition video camera, and make a movie of the universe at 40 trillion pixels per second.</p>
<p>By finding more bursts, and more distant bursts, we will be able to better study and understand what causes these mysteriously intense bursts of energy. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0t0KoVhqz3Y?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">For the localisation of the first ‘one-off’ FRB, our team was awarded the 2020 Newcomb Cleveland Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154381/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ryan Shannon receives funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Bannister receives funding from CSIRO and the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Australian astronomers are part of a prize-winning team that was the first to pinpoint the location of a fast radio burst. But there is much we still don’t know about these mysterious bursts.Ryan Shannon, Associate Professor, Swinburne University of Technology, Swinburne University of TechnologyKeith Bannister, Astronomer, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1299192020-01-15T23:23:37Z2020-01-15T23:23:37ZThe Dish in Parkes is scanning the southern Milky Way, searching for alien signals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309915/original/file-20200114-151853-19x0fb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C13%2C3008%2C1981&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Parkes radio telescope can detect extremely weak signals coming from the most distant parts of the Universe.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For John Sarkissian, operations scientist at the CSIRO Parkes radio telescope, astronomy has been his life’s passion – starting from the age of six. </p>
<p>“When I was six years old, I watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the Moon,” he says of the radio telescope made famous in the film The Dish.</p>
<p>“In fact, on the cover of my year nine mathematics textbook was a painting of the Parkes radio telescope. I remember sitting in the class staring at the painting and daydreaming working there one day. And so here I am now, 40 some years later.”</p>
<p>Today, on Trust Me I’m An Expert, editorial intern Antonio Tarquinio speaks to Sarkissian about the research underway at one of Australia’s most famous astronomical research facilities including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the role Parkes is playing right now in the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence</p></li>
<li><p>how the telescope detects extremely weak signals coming from the most distant parts of the Universe</p></li>
<li><p>why even a light breeze can imperil the dish unless it’s in the right position</p></li>
<li><p>how the explosion of phones, wi-fi and radio frequency interference is affecting research in the once-deserted Parkes location.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>And Sarkissian’s own take on whether Parkes will help find alien life?</p>
<p>“Well, as of today, the only place we know of the entire Universe that there is definitely life is right here on Earth,” he says. </p>
<p>“And what does that say? It says that we should appreciate our place in the Universe a little more.”</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-size-the-grandeur-the-peacefulness-of-being-in-the-dark-what-its-like-to-study-space-at-siding-spring-observatory-128998">'The size, the grandeur, the peacefulness of being in the dark': what it's like to study space at Siding Spring Observatory</a>
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<h2>New to podcasts?</h2>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trust-me-im-an-expert-what-science-says-about-how-to-lose-weight-and-whether-you-really-need-to-122635">Trust Me, I'm An Expert: what science says about how to lose weight and whether you really need to</a>
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<p><strong>Additional audio</strong></p>
<p><em>Kindergarten by Unkle Ho, from <a href="https://www.elefanttraks.com/">Elefant Traks.</a></em></p>
<p><em>Extra Dimension by Kri Tik, from <a href="https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kri_Tik">Free Music Archive</a></em></p>
<h2>Images</h2>
<p><em>Shutterstock</em></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/darkness-is-disappearing-and-thats-bad-news-for-astronomy-51989">Darkness is disappearing and that's bad news for astronomy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129919/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Today we hear about the Parkes radio telescope's role in the search for alien life. Our guide is the irrepressible John Sarkissian, the scientist who's had his eye on The Dish since childhood.Sunanda Creagh, Senior EditorAntonio Tarquinio, Editorial InternLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1289982019-12-18T18:58:08Z2019-12-18T18:58:08Z‘The size, the grandeur, the peacefulness of being in the dark’: what it’s like to study space at Siding Spring Observatory<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307307/original/file-20191217-123992-12tnqvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C17%2C5739%2C3025&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Today we hear about some of the fascinating space research underway at Siding Spring Observatory – and how, despite gruelling hours and endless paperwork, astronomers retain their sense of wonder for the night sky.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>How did our galaxy form? How do galaxies evolve over time? Where did the Sun’s lost siblings end up?</p>
<p>Three hours north-east of Parkes lies a remote astronomical research facility, unpolluted by city lights, where researchers are collecting vast amounts of data in an effort to unlock some of the biggest questions about our Universe. </p>
<p>Siding Spring Observatory, or SSO, is one of Australia’s top sites for astronomical research. You’ve probably heard of the Parkes telescope, made famous by the movie The Dish, but SSO is also a key character in Australia’s space research story.</p>
<p>In this episode, astrophysics student and Conversation intern Cameron Furlong goes to SSO to check out the huge Anglo Australian Telescope (AAT), the largest optical telescope in Australia.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307308/original/file-20191217-124022-j2z8ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307308/original/file-20191217-124022-j2z8ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307308/original/file-20191217-124022-j2z8ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307308/original/file-20191217-124022-j2z8ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307308/original/file-20191217-124022-j2z8ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307308/original/file-20191217-124022-j2z8ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307308/original/file-20191217-124022-j2z8ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307308/original/file-20191217-124022-j2z8ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Siding Spring Observatory, north east of Parkes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/darkness-is-disappearing-and-thats-bad-news-for-astronomy-51989">Darkness is disappearing and that's bad news for astronomy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>And we hear about Huntsman, a new specialised telescope that uses off-the-shelf Canon camera lenses – a bit like those you see sports photographers using at the cricket or the footy – to study very faint regions of space around other galaxies.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307298/original/file-20191216-124016-b2k0ag.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307298/original/file-20191216-124016-b2k0ag.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307298/original/file-20191216-124016-b2k0ag.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307298/original/file-20191216-124016-b2k0ag.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307298/original/file-20191216-124016-b2k0ag.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307298/original/file-20191216-124016-b2k0ag.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307298/original/file-20191216-124016-b2k0ag.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307298/original/file-20191216-124016-b2k0ag.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students use telescopes to observe the night sky near Coonabarabran, not far from SSO.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cameron Furlong</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Listen in to hear more about some of the most fascinating space research underway in Australia – and how, despite gruelling hours and endless paperwork, astronomers retain their sense of wonder for the night sky. </p>
<p>“For me, it means remembering how small I am in this enormous Universe. I think it’s very easy to forget, when you go about your daily life,” said Richard McDermid, an ARC Future Fellow and astronomer at Macquarie University.</p>
<p>“It’s nice to get back into it to a dark place and having a clear sky. And then you get to remember all the interesting and fascinating things, the size, the grandeur and the peacefulness of being in the dark.”</p>
<h2>New to podcasts?</h2>
<p>Podcasts are often best enjoyed using a podcast app. All iPhones come with the Apple Podcasts app already installed, or you may want to listen and subscribe on another app such as Pocket Casts (click <a href="https://pca.st/VTv7">here</a> to listen to Trust Me, I’m An Expert on Pocket Casts).</p>
<p>You can also hear us on Stitcher, Spotify or any of the apps below. Just pick a service from one of those listed below and click on the icon to find Trust Me, I’m An Expert.</p>
<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/trust-me-im-an-expert/id1290047736?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D8"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233721/original/file-20180827-75984-1gfuvlr.png" alt="Listen on Apple Podcasts" width="268" height="68"></a> <a href="https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVjb252ZXJzYXRpb24uY29tL2F1L3BvZGNhc3RzL3RydXN0LW1lLXBvZGNhc3QucnNz"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233720/original/file-20180827-75978-3mdxcf.png" alt="" width="268" height="68"></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-conversation/trust-me-im-an-expert"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233716/original/file-20180827-75981-pdp50i.png" alt="Stitcher" width="300" height="88"></a> <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/Trust-Me-Im-An-Expert-p1035757/"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233723/original/file-20180827-75984-f0y2gb.png" alt="Listen on TuneIn" width="318" height="125"></a></p>
<p><a href="https://radiopublic.com/trust-me-im-an-expert-Wa3E5A"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-152" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233717/original/file-20180827-75990-86y5tg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=268&fit=clip" alt="Listen on RadioPublic" width="268" height="87"></a> <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/7myc7drbLJVaRitAMXLB7V"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237984/original/file-20180925-149976-1ks72uy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=268&fit=clip" width="268" height="82"></a> </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trust-me-im-an-expert-what-science-says-about-how-to-lose-weight-and-whether-you-really-need-to-122635">Trust Me, I'm An Expert: what science says about how to lose weight and whether you really need to</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Additional audio</strong></p>
<p><em>Kindergarten by Unkle Ho, from <a href="https://www.elefanttraks.com/">Elefant Traks.</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Textural/Lucky_Stars_1189">Lucky Stars</a> by Podington Bear from Free Music Archive.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Blue_Dot_Sessions/20190309173200900/Slimheart">Slimheart by Blue Dot Sessions</a> from Free Music Archive.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel">Illumination</a> by Kai Engel from Free Music Archive.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase_2">Phase 2 by Xylo-Ziko</a> from Free Music Archive.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kri_Tik">Extra Dimensions by Kri Tik</a> from Free Music Archive.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Meydan">Pure Water by Meydän</a>, from Free Music Archive.</em></p>
<h2>Images</h2>
<p><em>Shutterstock</em></p>
<p><em>Cameron Furlong</em></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/antibiotic-resistant-superbugs-kill-32-plane-loads-of-people-a-week-we-can-all-help-fight-back-125813">Antibiotic resistant superbugs kill 32 plane-loads of people a week. We can all help fight back</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128998/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Three hours north-east of Parkes lies a remote astronomical research facility, unpolluted by city lights, where researchers are trying to unlock some of the biggest questions about our Universe.Sunanda Creagh, Senior EditorCameron Furlong, Editorial InternLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1224542019-09-27T02:02:47Z2019-09-27T02:02:47ZCurious Kids: what has the search for extraterrestrial life actually yielded and how does it work?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293705/original/file-20190924-54744-1dhnhy3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C0%2C5462%2C3630&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Parkes Observatory radio dish, the second largest telescope in the southern hemisphere, has a 'multibeam' receiver which can search 13 places in the sky simultaneously for signs of intelligent life. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au.</em> </p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>What has the search for extraterrestrial life actually yielded and how does it work? – Rose, age 13.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>Hi Rose, great question! </p>
<p>I am lucky enough to be a professional “alien hunter” for the <a href="https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/initiative/1">Breakthrough Listen</a> project, which is the biggest search for extraterrestrial intelligence we humans have ever undertaken. </p>
<p>My role in the search is to use data from the Parkes radio telescope in Australia to look for signals from space that might have been be sent by intelligent extraterrestrial life. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/initiative/1">Breakthrough Listen</a> program has been going for three years, and we have another seven years of searching to go. But people have been searching the skies for signs of intelligent life since the 1960s and to date we have found… zero aliens. </p>
<p>But don’t lose hope! The Universe is mind-bogglingly large, and with the latest technology, the search is only just starting to heat up.</p>
<p>There are three exciting ways we might detect life beyond Earth in the coming years. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-has-nobody-found-any-life-outside-of-earth-105128">Curious Kids: why has nobody found any life outside of Earth?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Probes to planets and moons</h2>
<p>The first is by sending probes to planets and moons in the Solar system. We already know there isn’t any other intelligent life in the Solar system, but there could be simpler life like microbes. </p>
<p>You may have heard about the NASA missions to Mars – the latest is the <a href="https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/mars-curiosity/en/">Curiosity Rover</a>, and it has special equipment that might detect simple life like microbes on the red planet’s surface. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293706/original/file-20190924-54790-1mwnawh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293706/original/file-20190924-54790-1mwnawh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293706/original/file-20190924-54790-1mwnawh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293706/original/file-20190924-54790-1mwnawh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293706/original/file-20190924-54790-1mwnawh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293706/original/file-20190924-54790-1mwnawh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293706/original/file-20190924-54790-1mwnawh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293706/original/file-20190924-54790-1mwnawh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">NASA has sent the Curiosity Rover to Mars to investigate the planet’s surface.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Curiosity recently uncovered an intriguing mystery: occasionally its sensors <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8452/curiositys-mars-methane-mystery-continues/">pick up methane gas in the atmosphere</a>. Methane is produced here on Earth by animals (in particular, cows and sheep), so finding methane could point to there being some microbes in the soil. </p>
<p>That would be an amazing discovery, but it could still be something less interesting, like a chemical reaction between rocks. Another upcoming mission is called <a href="https://www.kidsnews.com.au/space/by-2026-nasa-plans-to-launch-an-advanced-drone-called-dragonfly-to-explore-titan-to-see-if-it-could-support-life/news-story/027c91f2f7d98b399d763aaea8ca68fa">Dragonfly</a>, which will venture to Saturn’s moon Titan (which, amazingly, has an atmosphere) and will fly around looking for signs of life.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xn3-0a19sC8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">NASA says its Dragonfly drone will fly around Saturn’s moon Titan looking for signs of life.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Studying the atmospheres of other star systems</h2>
<p>The second way we might detect life is by looking closely at the atmospheres of planets in other star systems, which are called exoplanets. </p>
<p>Astronomers have detected lots of exoplanets, and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-09-12/water-detected-in-atmosphere-of-alien-planet/11498202">recently found water in the atmosphere of one exoplanet</a>, but we still can’t tell if there is life on the surface. </p>
<p>Excitingly, the next generation of optical telescopes will be able to detect gases in the atmospheres of nearby exoplanets. If we see that an exoplanet’s atmosphere has a mix of gases like Earth, that would be strong evidence that we are sharing the galaxy with other beings. </p>
<h2>The search for extraterrestrial intelligence or ‘SETI’</h2>
<p>The search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or “SETI” as it is known, is the third way scientists are looking for life. In SETI, we look for signals from space that look artificial or that don’t seem natural. Detecting an artificial signal would tell us that there was not only life, but life capable of producing advanced technology. </p>
<p>SETI could detect an artificial signal from much, much further away than the other two methods; the disadvantage is that intelligent life is almost certainly rarer. We just don’t know yet how rare, and that’s the reason we need to look.</p>
<p>The best explanation for why we haven’t found life beyond Earth yet is simply that we haven’t been looking hard and long enough, and our technology has not advanced enough. There are hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way alone, and there are <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/106725/are-there-more-grains-of-sand-than-stars/">more stars in the Universe than there are grains of sand</a> here on Earth. </p>
<p>As SETI pioneer Jill Tarter is fond of saying:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You wouldn’t dip a glass in the ocean, come up with no fish inside and conclude, ‘No fish exist’.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The tide pools and coral reefs of the Universe may be filled with life, we just need to keep dipping our glasses into the darkness.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-what-plants-could-grow-in-the-goldilocks-zone-of-space-76918">Curious Kids: What plants could grow in the Goldilocks zone of space?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Have you got a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122454/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Danny C. Price receives funding from Breakthrough Listen, sponsored by the Breakthrough Prize foundation.</span></em></p>The Universe is mind-bogglingly large and with the latest technology, the search is only just starting to heat up.Danny C Price, Astrophysicist, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1081772019-07-18T19:19:03Z2019-07-18T19:19:03ZNot one but two Aussie dishes were used to get the TV signals back from the Apollo 11 moonwalk<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283804/original/file-20190712-173360-1uietju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=790%2C58%2C3103%2C2096&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">US astronaut Neil Armstrong on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The role Australia played in relaying the first television images of astronaut Neil Armstrong’s historic walk on the Moon 50 years ago this July features in the popular movie <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0205873/">The Dish</a>.</p>
<p>But that only tells part of the story (with some fictionalisation as well).</p>
<p>What really happened is just as dramatic as the movie, and needed two Australian dishes. Australia actually played host to more NASA tracking stations than any other country outside the United States.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-big-is-the-moon-let-me-compare-118840">How big is the Moon? Let me compare ...</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Right place, right time</h2>
<p>Our geographical location was ideal as US spacecraft would pass over Australia during their first orbit, soon after launch. Tracking facilities in Australia could confirm and refine their orbits at the earliest possible opportunity for the mission teams.</p>
<p>To maintain continuous coverage of spacecraft in space as the Earth turned, NASA required a network of at least three tracking stations, spaced 120 degrees apart in longitude. Since the first was established in the US at Goldstone, California, Australia was in exactly the right longitude for another tracking station. The third station was near Madrid in Spain.</p>
<p><img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/657/globe.gif?1563427305" width="100%"></p>
<p>Australia’s world-leading place in radio astronomy was another factor, having played a key role in founding the science after the second world war. Consequently, Australian engineers and scientists developed great expertise in designing and building sensitive radio receivers and antennas. </p>
<p>While these were great at discovering pulsars and other stars, they also excelled at tracking spacecraft. When the CSIRO <a href="https://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/">Parkes radio telescope</a> opened in 1961 it was the most advanced and sensitive dish in the world. It became the model for NASA’s large tracking antennas.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283803/original/file-20190712-173334-f0gaul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283803/original/file-20190712-173334-f0gaul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283803/original/file-20190712-173334-f0gaul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283803/original/file-20190712-173334-f0gaul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283803/original/file-20190712-173334-f0gaul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283803/original/file-20190712-173334-f0gaul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=941&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283803/original/file-20190712-173334-f0gaul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=941&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283803/original/file-20190712-173334-f0gaul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=941&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Parkes dish with Moon in 1969.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Commonwealth Rocket Range at Woomera, South Australia, also allowed Australians to gain experience in tracking missiles and other advanced systems.</p>
<h2>The dish you need is at Honeysuckle Creek</h2>
<p>NASA invested a considerable amount in its Australian tracking facilities, all staffed and operated by Australians under a nation-to-nation treaty signed in February 1960.</p>
<p>For human spaceflight, the main tracking station was at Honeysuckle Creek, near Canberra. Its 26-metre dish was designed as NASA’s prime antenna in Australia for supporting astronauts on the Moon.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283825/original/file-20190712-173376-void0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283825/original/file-20190712-173376-void0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283825/original/file-20190712-173376-void0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283825/original/file-20190712-173376-void0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283825/original/file-20190712-173376-void0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283825/original/file-20190712-173376-void0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283825/original/file-20190712-173376-void0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283825/original/file-20190712-173376-void0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Honeysuckle Creek antenna in 1969.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hamish Lindsay</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>NASA’s nearby Deep Space Network station at Tidbinbilla also had a 26-metre antenna but with a more sensitive radio receiver. It was called on to act as a wing station to Honeysuckle Creek, enhancing its capabilities, and ultimately tracked the orbiting command module during Apollo 11.</p>
<p>Over in Western Australia, Carnarvon’s smaller 9-metre antenna was used to track the Apollo spacecraft when initially in Earth orbit, as well as to receive signals from the lunar surface experiments.</p>
<p>To augment the receiving capabilities of these stations, the 64-metre Parkes radio telescope was asked to support Apollo 11 while astronauts were on the lunar surface. The observatory’s director, John Bolton, was prepared to accept a one-line contract:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Radiophysics Division would agree to support the Apollo 11 mission.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The original plan</h2>
<p>The decision to broadcast the first moonwalk was almost an afterthought. </p>
<p>Originally, the tracking stations were to receive only voice communications and spacecraft and biomedical telemetry. What mattered most to mission control was the vital telemetry on the status of the astronauts and the lunar module systems.</p>
<p>Since Parkes was an astronomical telescope, it could only receive the signals, not transmit. It was regarded as a support station to Honeysuckle Creek, which was also tasked with receiving the signals from the lunar module, Eagle.</p>
<p>When the decision was made to broadcast the moonwalk, Parkes came into its own. The large collecting area of its dish provided extra gain in signal strength, making it ideal for receiving a weak TV signal transmitted 384,000km from the Moon, using the same power output as two LED lights today.</p>
<h2>One giant leap</h2>
<p>On Monday, July 21 1969, at 6.17am (AEST), astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the Eagle lunar module on the Sea of Tranquillity.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nrzeFNEv150?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘The Eagle has landed.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It occurred during the coverage period of the Goldstone station, while the Moon was still almost seven hours from rising in Australia.</p>
<p>The flight plan had the astronauts sleeping for six hours before preparing to exit the lunar module. Parkes was all set to become the prime receiving station for the TV broadcast. </p>
<p>This changed when Armstrong exercised his option for an immediate walk – five hours before the Moon was to rise at Parkes. With this change of plan, it seemed the moonwalk would be over before the Moon even rose in Australia.</p>
<p>But as the hours passed, it became evident that the process of donning the spacesuits took much more time than anticipated. The astronauts were being deliberately careful in their preparations. They also had some difficulty in depressurising the cabin of the lunar module. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, moonrise was creeping closer in Australia. Staff at Honeysuckle Creek and Parkes began to hope they might get to track the moonwalk after all – at least as a backup to Goldstone in the US.</p>
<h2>Bad weather hits</h2>
<p>The weather at Parkes on the day of the landing was miserable. It was a typical July winter’s day – grey overcast skies with rain and high winds. During the flight to the Moon and the days in lunar orbit, the weather at Parkes had been perfect, but this day, of all days, a violent squall hit the telescope.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284643/original/file-20190718-147284-1xf0tp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284643/original/file-20190718-147284-1xf0tp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284643/original/file-20190718-147284-1xf0tp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284643/original/file-20190718-147284-1xf0tp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284643/original/file-20190718-147284-1xf0tp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284643/original/file-20190718-147284-1xf0tp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284643/original/file-20190718-147284-1xf0tp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284643/original/file-20190718-147284-1xf0tp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Parkes radio telescope with the passing storm that almost stopped the dish from broadcasting the images from the Moon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO/David Cooke</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Still, the giant dish of the Parkes radio telescope was fully tipped down to its 30-degree elevation limit (the telescope’s horizon is 30 degrees above the true horizon), waiting for the Moon to rise in the north-east.</p>
<p>As the Moon slowly crept up to the telescope’s horizon, dust was seen racing across the country from the south. The dish, being fully tipped over, was at its most vulnerable, acting like a huge sail.</p>
<p>The winds picked up and two sharp gusts exceeding 110km/h struck the large surface, slamming it back against the zenith angle drive pinions that controlled the telescope’s up and down motion. The control tower shuddered and swayed from this battering, creating concern in all present.</p>
<p>The atmosphere in the control room was tense, with the wind alarm ringing and the 1,000-ton telescope ominously rumbling overhead.</p>
<p>Parkes had two radio receivers installed in the focus cabin of the telescope. The main receiver was on the focus position and a second, less sensitive receiver was offset a very short distance away, which gave it a view just below the main receiver. </p>
<p>Fortunately, as the winds abated, the Moon rose into the field-of-view of the telescope’s offset receiver, just as Aldrin activated the TV at 12.54pm (AEST). It was a remarkable piece of timing.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284640/original/file-20190718-147299-ece97p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284640/original/file-20190718-147299-ece97p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284640/original/file-20190718-147299-ece97p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284640/original/file-20190718-147299-ece97p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284640/original/file-20190718-147299-ece97p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284640/original/file-20190718-147299-ece97p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284640/original/file-20190718-147299-ece97p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284640/original/file-20190718-147299-ece97p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">NASA and CSIRO staff at the Parkes radio telescope.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO/David Cooke</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The 64m antenna at Goldstone, the 26m antenna at Honeysuckle Creek and the 64m dish at Parkes all received the signal simultaneously.</p>
<p>At first, NASA switched between the signals from Goldstone and Honeysuckle Creek, searching for the best-quality TV picture.</p>
<p>After finding Goldstone’s image initially upside down and then of poor quality, Houston selected Honeysuckle’s incoming signal as the one used to broadcast Armstrong’s “one giant leap” to the world.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ekX_61Hub6o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">You can listen to the conversations between the Australian and US teams as Armstrong’s first step on the Moon was captured by Honeysuckle Creek (at 2'39") and Aldrin’s descent was captured by Parkes (at 21'30").</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Eight minutes into the broadcast, at 1.02pm (AEST), the Moon finally rose high enough to be received by Parkes’ main, on-focus receiver. The TV quality improved, so Houston switched to Parkes and stayed with it for the remainder of the two-and-a-half hours of the moonwalk, never switching away. </p>
<p>Honeysuckle continued to concentrate on their main task of communications with the astronauts and receiving that vital telemetry data.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284645/original/file-20190718-147303-140hk1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284645/original/file-20190718-147303-140hk1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284645/original/file-20190718-147303-140hk1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284645/original/file-20190718-147303-140hk1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284645/original/file-20190718-147303-140hk1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284645/original/file-20190718-147303-140hk1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284645/original/file-20190718-147303-140hk1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284645/original/file-20190718-147303-140hk1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A close-up shot of the monitor showing the moonwalk signal from Apollo 11 as it happened.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO/David Cooke</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Throughout the moonwalk, the weather remained bad at Parkes. The telescope operated well outside safety limits for the entire duration. It even hailed toward the end, but there was no degradation in the TV signal.</p>
<p><audio preload="metadata" controls="controls" data-duration="20" data-image="" data-title="It's hailing on the dish" data-size="328320" data-source="CSIRO" data-source-url="" data-license="Author provided" data-license-url="">
<source src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/1658/hail-storm-at-parkes-ii.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
</audio>
<div class="audio-player-caption">
It’s hailing on the dish.
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span><span class="download"><span>321 KB</span> <a target="_blank" href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/1658/hail-storm-at-parkes-ii.mp3">(download)</a></span></span>
</div></p>
<p>The moonwalk lasted a total of 2 hours, 31 minutes and 40 seconds, from the time the Eagle’s hatch opened to the time the hatch closed.</p>
<p><img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/652/moon-rise.gif?1563257493" width="100%"></p>
<h2>Australians saw it first</h2>
<p>In Australia, the Apollo 11 feed was split. One feed was sent to NASA mission control for broadcast around the world. The other went directly to the ABC’s Gore Hill studios, in Sydney, for distribution to Australian TV networks.</p>
<p>As a result Australians watched the moonwalk, and Armstrong’s first step through Honeysuckle, just 300 milliseconds before the rest of the world.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-protect-the-heritage-of-the-apollo-missions-117007">We need to protect the heritage of the Apollo missions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>An estimated <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo11.html">600 million people</a>, one-sixth of the world’s population at the time, watched the historic Apollo 11 moonwalk live on TV. At the time it was the greatest television audience in history. As a proportion of the world’s population, it has not been exceeded since.</p>
<p>The success of the Apollo 11 mission was due to the combined effort, dedication and professionalism of hundreds of thousands of people in the United States and around the planet. </p>
<p>Australians from Canberra to Parkes, remote Western Australia to central Sydney played a critical role in helping broadcast that historic moment to an awestruck world.</p>
<p><audio preload="metadata" controls="controls" data-duration="17" data-image="" data-title="Parkes gives NASA the best TV pictures yet." data-size="273344" data-source="NASA/CSIRO" data-source-url="" data-license="Author provided" data-license-url="">
<source src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/1661/parkes-given-best-tv-yet-ii.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
</audio>
<div class="audio-player-caption">
Parkes gives NASA the best TV pictures yet.
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA/CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span><span class="download"><span>267 KB</span> <a target="_blank" href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/1661/parkes-given-best-tv-yet-ii.mp3">(download)</a></span></span>
</div></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284659/original/file-20190718-147270-12i0e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284659/original/file-20190718-147270-12i0e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284659/original/file-20190718-147270-12i0e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284659/original/file-20190718-147270-12i0e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284659/original/file-20190718-147270-12i0e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284659/original/file-20190718-147270-12i0e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=767&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284659/original/file-20190718-147270-12i0e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=767&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284659/original/file-20190718-147270-12i0e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=767&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong back inside the lunar module on the Moon after the moonwalk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.nasa.gov/details-as11-37-5528.html">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p><em>You can hear more about the Moon landing in our special podcast series, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/podcast-to-the-moon-and-beyond-73712">To the Moon and beyond</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108177/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Sarkissian does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When Neil Armstrong stepped on to the Moon 50 years ago this month, Australians saw the images first. Australia even defied bad weather to bring the historic images to the world.John Sarkissian, Operations Scientist, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/880832017-11-27T19:08:51Z2017-11-27T19:08:51ZFifty years ago Jocelyn Bell discovered pulsars and changed our view of the universe<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196451/original/file-20171127-2004-mbwiv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=408%2C229%2C2555%2C1760&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">CSIRO Parkes radio telescope has discovered around half of all known pulsars. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wayne England</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A pulsar is a small, spinning star – a giant ball of neutrons, left behind after a normal star has died in a fiery explosion. </p>
<p>With a diameter of only 30 km, the star spins up to hundreds of times a second, while sending out a beam of radio waves (and sometimes other radiation, such as X-rays). When the beam is pointed in our direction and into our telescopes, we see a pulse.</p>
<p>2017 marks 50 years since pulsars were discovered. In that time, we have found more than 2,600 pulsars (mostly in the Milky Way), and used them to hunt for low-frequency gravitational waves, to determine the structure of our galaxy and to test the general theory of relativity. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/at-last-weve-found-gravitational-waves-from-a-collapsing-pair-of-neutron-stars-85528">At last, we've found gravitational waves from a collapsing pair of neutron stars</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gjLk_72V9Bw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">What is a pulsar?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The discovery</h2>
<p>In mid-1967, when thousands of people were enjoying the summer of love, a young PhD student at the University of Cambridge in the UK was helping to build a telescope.</p>
<p>It was a poles-and-wires affair – what astronomers call a “dipole array”. It covered a bit less than two hectares, the area of 57 tennis courts. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196453/original/file-20171127-2038-s72xmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196453/original/file-20171127-2038-s72xmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196453/original/file-20171127-2038-s72xmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196453/original/file-20171127-2038-s72xmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196453/original/file-20171127-2038-s72xmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1163&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196453/original/file-20171127-2038-s72xmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1163&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196453/original/file-20171127-2038-s72xmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1163&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who discovered the first pulsar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By July it was built. The student, Jocelyn Bell (now <a href="https://www.biography.com/people/jocelyn-bell-burnell-9206018">Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell</a>), became responsible for running it and analysing the data it churned out. The data came in the form of pen-on-paper chart records, more than 30 metres of them each day. Bell analysed them by eye.</p>
<p>What she found – a little bit of “<a href="https://exhibitions.lib.cam.ac.uk/linesofthought/artifacts/bell-burnell/">scruff</a>” on the chart records – has gone down in history. </p>
<p>Like most discoveries, it took place over time. But there was a turning point. On November 28, 1967, Bell and her supervisor, <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1974/hewish-bio.html">Antony Hewish</a>, were able to capture a “fast recording” – that is, a detailed one – of one of the strange signals. </p>
<p>In this she could see for the first time that the “scruff” was actually a train of pulses spaced by one-and-a-third seconds. Bell and Hewish had discovered pulsars.</p>
<p>But this wasn’t immediately obvious to them. Following Bell’s observation they worked for two months to eliminate mundane explanations for the signals. </p>
<p>Bell also found another three sources of pulses, which helped to scotch some rather more exotic explanations, such as the idea that the signals came from “little green men” in extraterrestrial civilisations. The <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/217709a0">discovery paper</a> appeared in Nature on February 24, 1968.</p>
<p>Later, Bell <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/11941453/Female-physicist-overlooked-for-Nobel-Prize-finally-receives-recognition-as-Woman-of-the-Year.html">missed out</a> when Hewish and his colleague Sir Martin Ryle were awarded the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics. </p>
<h2>A pulsar on ‘the pineapple’</h2>
<p>CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope in Australia made its first observation of a pulsar in 1968, later made famous by appearing (along with the Parkes telescope) on the first Australian $50 note. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196445/original/file-20171127-2021-1aoob8w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196445/original/file-20171127-2021-1aoob8w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196445/original/file-20171127-2021-1aoob8w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196445/original/file-20171127-2021-1aoob8w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196445/original/file-20171127-2021-1aoob8w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=721&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196445/original/file-20171127-2021-1aoob8w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=721&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196445/original/file-20171127-2021-1aoob8w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=721&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia’s first $50 note featured the Parkes telescope and a pulsar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Fifty years later, Parkes has found more than half of the known pulsars. The University of Sydney’s Molonglo Telescope also played a central role, and they both remain active in finding and timing pulsars today.</p>
<p>Internationally, one of the most exciting new instruments on the scene is China’s Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope, or <a href="http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-blogs/astronomy-space-david-dickinson/fast-worlds-largest-radio-telescope-open/">FAST</a>. FAST has recently found several new pulsars, confirmed by the Parkes telescope and a team of CSIRO astronomers working with their Chinese colleagues.</p>
<h2>Why look for pulsars?</h2>
<p>We want to understand what pulsars are, how they work, and how they fit into the general population of stars. The extreme cases of pulsars – those that are super fast, super slow, or extremely massive – help to limit the possible models for how pulsars work, telling us more about the structure of matter at ultra-high densities. To find these extreme cases, we need to find lots of pulsars. </p>
<p>Pulsars often orbit companion stars in binary systems, and the nature of these companions helps us understand the formation history of the pulsars themselves. We’ve made good progress with the “what” and “how” of pulsars but there are still unanswered questions.</p>
<p>As well as understanding pulsars themselves, we also use them as a clock. For example, pulsar timing is being pursued as a way to detect the background rumble of low-frequency gravitational waves throughout the universe.</p>
<p>Pulsars have also been used to measure the structure of our Galaxy, by looking at the way their signals are altered as they travel through denser regions of material in space.</p>
<p>Pulsars are also one of the finest tools we have for testing Einstein’s theory of general relativity. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-einsteins-theory-of-general-relativity-3481">Explainer: Einstein's Theory of General Relativity</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This theory has survived 100 years of the most sophisticated tests astronomers have been able throw at it. But it doesn’t play nicely with our other most successful theory of how the universe works, <a href="https://theconversation.com/einstein-vs-quantum-mechanics-and-why-hed-be-a-convert-today-27641">quantum mechanics</a>, so it must have a tiny flaw somewhere. Pulsars help us to try and understand this problem. </p>
<p>What keeps pulsar astronomers up at night (literally!) is the hope of finding a pulsar in orbit around a black hole. This is the most extreme system we can imagine for testing general relativity. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PKtnaTxLARc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Jocelyn Bell Burnell describes how she discovered pulsars.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Finally, pulsars have some more down-to-earth applications. We’re using them as a teaching tool in our <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Astronomy/Astronomy-education-programs/PULSE-at-Parkes?ref=/CSIRO/Website/Education/Programs/Pulse-at-Parkes">PULSE@Parkes program</a>, in which students control the Parkes telescope over the Internet and use it to observe pulsars. This program has reached over 1,700 students, in Australia, Japan, China, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and South Africa. </p>
<p>Pulsars also offer promise as a navigation system for guiding craft travelling through deep space. In 2016 China launched a satellite, <a href="http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/xpnav-1.htm">XPNAV-1</a>, carrying a navigation system that uses periodic X-ray signals from certain pulsars.</p>
<p>Pulsars have changed our our understanding of the universe, and their true importance is still unfolding.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88083/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>George Hobbs receives funding from the Australia Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dick Manchester has received funding from the ARC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Johnston does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In mid 1967, PhD student Jocelyn Bell at Cambridge University was helping to build a telescope. She went on to discover a little bit of “scruff” - the first evidence of a pulsar.George Hobbs, Team leader for the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array project, CSIRORichard Manchester, CSIRO Fellow, CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, CSIROSimon Johnston, Senior research scientist, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/840592017-09-18T20:04:01Z2017-09-18T20:04:01ZExpect the unexpected from the big-data boom in radio astronomy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186344/original/file-20170918-27032-1hvbst6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Antennas of the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) at CSIRO’s Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Radio astronomy is undergoing a major boost, with new technology gathering data on objects in our universe faster than astronomers can analyse.</p>
<p>But once that data is scrutinised it could lead to some amazing new discoveries, as I explain in my review of the state of radio astronomy, published today in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41550-017-0233-y">Nature Astronomy</a>.</p>
<p>Over the next few years, we will see the universe in a very different light, and we are likely to make completely unexpected discoveries.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-australian-square-kilometre-array-pathfinder-finally-hits-the-big-data-highway-71217">The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder finally hits the big-data highway</a>
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</em>
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<hr>
<p>Radio telescopes view the sky using radio waves and mainly see jets of electrons travelling at the speed of light, propelled by super-massive black holes. That gives a very different view to the one we see when observing a clear night sky using visible light, which mainly sees light from stars. </p>
<p><a href="http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/B/Black+Hole">Black holes</a> were only found in science fiction before radio astronomers discovered them in quasars. It now seems that most galaxies, including our own Milky Way, have a <a href="http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/S/Supermassive+Black+Hole">super-massive black hole at their centre</a>.</p>
<h2>From early discoveries</h2>
<p>Radio waves from space were detected by the American <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Karl-Jansky">Karl Jansky</a> in the 1930s. Since then, radio telescopes – such as the <a href="https://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/">64-metre dish at Parkes</a>, in New South Wales – increased the number of known radio sources in the sky from one (in 1940) to a few hundred thousand. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186313/original/file-20170918-27965-1v13j55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186313/original/file-20170918-27965-1v13j55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186313/original/file-20170918-27965-1v13j55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186313/original/file-20170918-27965-1v13j55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186313/original/file-20170918-27965-1v13j55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186313/original/file-20170918-27965-1v13j55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186313/original/file-20170918-27965-1v13j55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186313/original/file-20170918-27965-1v13j55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A composite image of a radio galaxy with radio in red, optical in white and X-ray in blue. An X-ray jet emanates from the environs of a super-massive black hole at the centre, powering two diffuse lobes (shown in red) of radio emission, which dominate the appearance at radio wavelengths.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Emil Lenc</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then, around the turn of the millennium, four projects driven by new technology suddenly increased the number of known radio sources from a few hundred thousand to about 2.5 million. They were the Westerbork Northern Sky Survey (<a href="https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/w3browse/all/wenss.html">WENSS</a>, NRAO VLA Sky Survey (<a href="http://www.cv.nrao.edu/nvss/">NVSS</a>, Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm (<a href="http://sundog.stsci.edu/">FIRST</a> and the Sydney University Molonglo Sky Survey (<a href="http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/sifa/Main/SUMSS">SUMSS</a> in The Netherlands, United States and Australia.</p>
<p>For almost the next two decades there was no significant increase in this number, because nobody could significantly improve on what those four projects had done.</p>
<p>A group of new telescopes in Australia, The Netherlands, the United States, India and South Africa are about to unleash new technologies that will generate another surge in our knowledge of the radio sky. </p>
<p>Leading them, in terms of numbers of sources, is Australia’s Evolutionary Map of the Universe (<a href="http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/Ray.Norris/emu/index.html">EMU</a>) project, running on CSIRO’s new A$188-million Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (<a href="https://www.atnf.csiro.au/projects/askap/index.html">ASKAP</a>) telescope in Western Australia. </p>
<p>For ASKAP, the new technology is CSIRO’s revolutionary <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-csiro-is-turbocharging-the-worlds-largest-radio-telescopes-60367">phased array feed</a>, which allows ASKAP to view enormous areas of the sky at once. </p>
<p>As a result, EMU alone will raise the number of radio sources to about 70 million, compared to the 2.5 million sources discovered so far by all radio telescopes in the world over the entire history of radio astronomy.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186309/original/file-20170918-27951-19m8q3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186309/original/file-20170918-27951-19m8q3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186309/original/file-20170918-27951-19m8q3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186309/original/file-20170918-27951-19m8q3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186309/original/file-20170918-27951-19m8q3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186309/original/file-20170918-27951-19m8q3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186309/original/file-20170918-27951-19m8q3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186309/original/file-20170918-27951-19m8q3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The graph shows two spikes in number of radio sources detected in major surveys over the years, from the birth of radio astronomy to the next-generation surveys.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ray Norris</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A change in radio astronomy</h2>
<p>This huge surge in humankind’s knowledge of the radio sky has several consequences.</p>
<p>First, we expect to answer some of the major questions in astrophysics, such as understanding why super-massive black holes seem so common in the universe, how that regulates the growth and evolution of galaxies and how galaxies swarm together to form <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-citizen-scientists-discovered-a-giant-cluster-of-galaxies-59373">clusters</a>.</p>
<p>Second, it will change the way we do radio astronomy. At the moment, if I want to know what a galaxy looks like at radio wavelengths, chances are I’ll have to win time competitively on a major radio telescope to study my galaxy. </p>
<p>But I’ll soon be able to go to the web and observe my galaxy in data already collected by EMU or one of the other mega-projects. So most radio astronomy will be done by a web search rather than by a new observation. The role of major radio telescopes will change from finding new objects to studying known objects in exquisite detail.</p>
<p>Third, it will change the way that astronomers do their astronomy at other wavelengths. At the moment, only a small minority of galaxies have been studied at radio wavelengths. </p>
<p>From now on, most galaxies being studied by the average astronomer will have excellent radio data. This adds a new tool that can routinely be used to uncover the physics of galaxies, opening wide the radio window on the universe.</p>
<p>Fourth, having such large volumes of data changes the way we do science. For example, if I want to understand how the gravitational field of nearby galaxies bends light from distant galaxies, I currently find the best single example I can, and spend night after night on the telescope to study the process in detail. </p>
<p>In future, I will be able to correlate the millions of background galaxies with the millions of foreground galaxies, using data downloaded from the web to understand the process in even greater detail. </p>
<p>Fifth, and probably most importantly, history tells us that when we observe the universe in a new way, we tend to stumble across new objects or new phenomena that we didn’t even suspect were there. Pulsars, quasars, dark energy and dark matter were all found in this way.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185968/original/file-20170914-6582-1bne29j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185968/original/file-20170914-6582-1bne29j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185968/original/file-20170914-6582-1bne29j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185968/original/file-20170914-6582-1bne29j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185968/original/file-20170914-6582-1bne29j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185968/original/file-20170914-6582-1bne29j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185968/original/file-20170914-6582-1bne29j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185968/original/file-20170914-6582-1bne29j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Radio astronomy may reveal more about the supermassive black hole, typically found at the heart of many galaxies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1515a/">ESO/L. Calçada/Artists impression</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>New discoveries</h2>
<p>So what can we expect these new radio projects to discover? We have no idea, but history tells us that they are almost certain to deliver some major surprises.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-machine-astronomer-could-help-us-find-the-unknowns-in-the-universe-68347">A machine astronomer could help us find the unknowns in the universe</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Making these new discoveries may not be so simple. Gone are the days when astronomers could just notice something odd as they browse their tables and graphs. </p>
<p>Nowadays, astronomers are more likely to be distilling their answers from carefully-posed queries to databases containing <a href="http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/petabyte">petabytes of data</a>. Human brains are just not up to the job of making unexpected discoveries in these circumstances, and instead we will need to develop “learning machines” to help us <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-machine-astronomer-could-help-us-find-the-unknowns-in-the-universe-68347">discover the unexpected</a> </p>
<p>With the right tools and careful insight, who knows what we might find.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84059/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ray Norris does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Technology is driving a revolution in the way radio astronomers study the universe, and it could lead to new discoveries.Ray Norris, Professor, School of Computing, Engineering, & Maths, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/774812017-05-22T19:58:13Z2017-05-22T19:58:13ZASKAP telescope speeds up the hunt for new Fast Radio Bursts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170086/original/file-20170519-12231-tzggyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">ASKAP at night.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Alex Cherney/terrastro.com</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>They’re mysterious bursts of radio waves from space that are over in a fraction of a second. Fast Radio Bursts (<a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/fast-radio-bursts-6352">FRBs</a>) are thought to occur many thousands of times a day, but since their <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/318/5851/777.full">first detection</a> by the Parkes radio telescope a decade ago only 30 have been observed.</p>
<p>But once the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (<a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Facilities/ATNF/ASKAP">ASKAP</a>) joined the hunt we had our first new FRB after just three and half days of observing. This was soon followed by a further two FRBs. And the telescope is not even fully operational yet.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168889/original/file-20170511-32610-197o80x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168889/original/file-20170511-32610-197o80x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168889/original/file-20170511-32610-197o80x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168889/original/file-20170511-32610-197o80x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168889/original/file-20170511-32610-197o80x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168889/original/file-20170511-32610-197o80x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168889/original/file-20170511-32610-197o80x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168889/original/file-20170511-32610-197o80x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The first FRB that ASKAP found. Bottom panel shows a grey scale image of what the FRB looks like. It’s less than 1 millisecond long and we detect it over a range of frequencies from 1,100 MHz to 1,400 MHz. The top panel shows what the FRB looks like when you add up all the frequency channels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ryan Shannon (CSIRO/Curtin University)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The fact that ASKAP detects FRBs so readily means it is now poised to tackle the big questions. </p>
<p>One of these is what causes an FRB in the first place. They are variously attributed by hard-nosed and self-respecting physicists to everything from <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-found-the-source-of-the-mystery-signals-at-the-dish-41523">microwave ovens</a>, to the accidental <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2124209-could-fast-radio-bursts-really-be-powering-alien-space-ships/">transmissions of extraterrestrials</a> making their first baby steps in interstellar exploration. </p>
<p>The astounding properties of these FRBs have so enthralled astronomers that, in the decade since their discovery, there are more theories than observed bursts.</p>
<h2>A distant flash</h2>
<p>FRBs are remarkable because they are outrageously bright in the radio spectrum yet appear extremely distant. As far as astronomers can tell, they come from a long way away - halfway across the observable universe or more. Because of that, whatever makes FRBs must be pretty special, unlike anything astronomers have ever seen. </p>
<p>What has astronomers really excited is the fossil record imprinted on each burst by the matter it encounters during its multibillion-year crossing of the universe. </p>
<p>Matter in space exerts a tiny amount drag on the radio waves as they hurtle across the universe, like the air drags on a fast-moving plane. But here’s the handy bit: the longer the radio waves, the more the drag. </p>
<p>By the time the radio waves arrive at our telescopes, the shorter waves arrive just before the longer ones. By measuring the time delay between the short waves and the longer ones, astronomers can work out how much matter a given burst has travelled through on its journey from whatever made it, to our telescope.</p>
<p>If we can find enough bursts, we can work out how much ordinary matter - the stuff you and I and all visible matter is made of - exists in the universe, and tally up its mass.</p>
<p>The best guess so far is that we are missing roughly half of all the normal matter, with the rest lying in the vast voids between the galaxies — the very regions so readily probed by FRBs.</p>
<p>Are FRBs the weigh stations of the cosmos?</p>
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<h2>Difficult to find and harder to pinpoint</h2>
<p>There are a few reasons why we still have so many questions about FRBs. First, they are tricky to find. It takes the Parkes telescope around two weeks of constant watching to find a burst. </p>
<p>Worse, even when you’ve found one, many radio telescopes like Parkes can only pinpoint its location in the sky to a region about the size of the full Moon. If you want to work out which galaxy an FRB came from, you have hundreds to choose from within that area. </p>
<p>The ideal FRB detector needs both a large field of view and the ability to pinpoint events to a region one thousandth the area of the Moon. Until recently, no such radio telescope existed.</p>
<h2>A jewel in the desert</h2>
<p>Now it does in ASKAP, a radio telescope being built by the CSIRO in Murchison Shire, 370km northeast of Geraldton in Western Australia. It’s actually a network of 36 antennas, each 12 metres in diameter.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168893/original/file-20170511-32620-1umkqxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168893/original/file-20170511-32620-1umkqxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168893/original/file-20170511-32620-1umkqxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168893/original/file-20170511-32620-1umkqxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168893/original/file-20170511-32620-1umkqxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168893/original/file-20170511-32620-1umkqxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168893/original/file-20170511-32620-1umkqxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168893/original/file-20170511-32620-1umkqxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">ASKAP antennas during fly’s-eye observing. All the antennas point in different directions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kim Steele (Curtin University)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>ASKAP is a very special machine, because each antenna is equipped with an innovative CSIRO-designed receiver called a phased-array feed. While most radio telescopes see just one patch of sky at time, ASKAP’s phased-array feeds see 36 different patches of sky simultaneously. This is great for finding FRBs because the more sky you can see, the better chance you have of finding them.</p>
<p>To find lots of FRBs we need to cast an even wider net. Normally, ASKAP dishes all point in the same direction. This is great if you’re making images or want to find faint FRBs.</p>
<p>Thanks to <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/354/6317/1249">recent evidence from Parkes</a>, we realised there might be some super-bright FRBs too. </p>
<p>So we took a hint from nature. In the same way that the segments of a fly’s eye allow it to see all around it, we pointed all our antennas in lots of different directions. This fly’s-eye observing mode enabled us to see a total patch of sky about the size of 1,000 full Moons.</p>
<p>That’s how we discovered this new FRB within days of starting, and using just eight of ASKAP’s total of 36 antennas.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170257/original/file-20170522-12231-19sr7rj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170257/original/file-20170522-12231-19sr7rj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170257/original/file-20170522-12231-19sr7rj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170257/original/file-20170522-12231-19sr7rj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170257/original/file-20170522-12231-19sr7rj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170257/original/file-20170522-12231-19sr7rj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=723&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170257/original/file-20170522-12231-19sr7rj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=723&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170257/original/file-20170522-12231-19sr7rj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=723&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Radio image of the sky where ASKAP found its first FRB. The blue circles are the 36 patches of the sky that ASKAP antenna number 5 (named <em>Gagurla</em> in the local Wadjarri language) was watching at the time the FRB was detected. The red smudge marks where the FRB came from. The black dots are galaxies, far, far, away. The full Moon is shown to scale, in the bottom corner.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Heywood (CSIRO)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>When fully operational</h2>
<p>So far, in fly’s-eye mode we have made no attempt to combine the signals from all the antennas. ASKAP’s real party piece will be to point all the telescopes in the same direction and combine the signals from all the antennas.</p>
<p>This will give us a precise position for every single burst, enabling us to identify the host galaxy of each FRB and measure its exact distance.</p>
<p>Armed with this information, we will be able to activate our network of cosmic weigh stations. At this point we will be able to investigate a fundamental question that has been plaguing astronomers for more than 20 years: where is the missing matter in the universe?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77481/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Bannister works for the CSIRO.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jean-Pierre Macquart receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is a member of the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics. </span></em></p>It used to take weeks to find any of these mysterious signals from deep in space but when the new telescope started looking it found one within days. Then another.Keith Bannister, Astronomer, CSIROJean-Pierre Macquart, Senior Lecturer in Astrophysics, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/672732016-10-19T22:29:57Z2016-10-19T22:29:57ZUnder the Milky Way: what a new map reveals about our galaxy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142389/original/image-20161019-20340-bti15y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Milky Way as seen from Earth.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ozdz/14083652247/">Flickr/Peter Ozdzynski </a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Look up on any clear night and if you’re lucky you may be able to see part of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-a-beginners-guide-to-the-galaxy-49">Milky Way</a> stretching across the sky.</p>
<p>For many thousands of years that was all people could see of our galaxy, though today light pollution means even <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/milky-way-space-science/">that view is now fading</a> for many naked-eye observers.</p>
<p>Even for astronomers, much of our galaxy is obscured from view in the visible light spectrum, including the <a href="http://www.universetoday.com/120006/why-cant-we-see-the-center-of-the-milky-way/">galactic centre</a>.</p>
<p>Our view of the Milky Way has also come a long way since the first observation on March 25, 1951, of the famous 21-cm neutral hydrogen line by Harvard astronomers <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/radio-astronomy#ref960941">Harold Ewen and Edward Purcell</a>.</p>
<p>Dutch astronomer <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hendrik-Christoffel-van-de-Hulst">Hendrik van de Hulst</a> in the 1940s had provided the first prediction of the existence of this faint cosmic emission, the detection of which was to revolutionise radio astronomy.</p>
<p>Observations of signals at this wavelength by radio telescopes allowed the spiral structure of the Milky Way to be seen for the first time.</p>
<h2>A clearer view</h2>
<p>Today sees the opening of a new chapter of discovery with the release of a brand new view of the Milky Way, <a href="http://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/icrar.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/12102646/bwinkel_langedit_printer.pdf">published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics</a>.</p>
<p>The map stems from a decade of analysis and thousands of hours of observing time on the 64-metre CSIRO Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia, and the 100-metre Max-Planck radio telescope in Effelsberg, Germany.</p>
<p>The outcome is a brand new hydrogen image of the Milky Way and its environment with a level of detail that is at least four times better than previous images.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142377/original/image-20161019-20313-1y4zr0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142377/original/image-20161019-20313-1y4zr0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142377/original/image-20161019-20313-1y4zr0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142377/original/image-20161019-20313-1y4zr0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142377/original/image-20161019-20313-1y4zr0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142377/original/image-20161019-20313-1y4zr0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142377/original/image-20161019-20313-1y4zr0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142377/original/image-20161019-20313-1y4zr0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This HI4PI image colours reflect gas at differing velocities. The plane of the Milky Way runs horizontally across the middle and the Magellanic Clouds can be seen at the lower right.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Benjamin Winkel and the HI4PI collaboration</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The importance of the new HI4PI image (as we call it) can be seen from the fact that the previous best but blurry image of hydrogen gas in the Milky Way, <a href="http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2005/35/aa1864-04/aa1864-04.html">published in 2005</a>, has so far been cited more than 1,700 times in scientific articles published in peer-reviewed journals.</p>
<p>Was it necessary to use observations of the whole northern and southern skies? Yes, because we live inside the Milky Way and we are entirely surrounded by it. </p>
<p>So the new image is a view from inside, and not an impossible view from outside. </p>
<h2>New structure to our galaxy</h2>
<p>By examining the motion of the hydrogen clouds towards or away from us (caused by the spin of the Milky Way), a good model of the Milky Way’s structure can be inferred.</p>
<p>The Australian team leader Naomi McClure-Griffiths, from the Australian National University, has already used the Parkes data to discover a new outer arm of the Milky Way.</p>
<p>Why did it take a decade to produce? Largely because the data not only had to be calibrated and imaged with new algorithms, but also had to be cleaned of terrestrial and cosmic noise. </p>
<p>Terrestrial noise comes from illegal transmissions in the 21-cm radio band. This part of the radio spectrum is protected by international treaty but we frequently detect emissions, usually caused by faulty or badly designed equipment outside (and occasionally inside) the observatories. </p>
<p>Cosmic noise comes from strong emissions which leak into the telescope from other parts of the sky, similar to trying to observe the night sky when there is a bright street lamp in the corner of your eye. </p>
<p>Fortunately, team member Peter Kalberla from the University of Bonn, Germany, was able to digitally remove these artefacts by using sophisticated models of the telescopes combined with carefully using the annual variation of the spurious signal provided by the orbit of the Earth around the Sun.</p>
<p>Other colleagues, including Benjamin Winkel and Juergen Kerp, were able to painstakingly crossmatch and patch together the two hemispheres into a uniform image of the Milky Way across the whole sky.</p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/187588691" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The hydrogen data from the two telescopes has already provided many scientific discoveries. The newly combined data will allow even more discoveries. </p>
<p>For example, we will be able to trace for the first time at this level of detail, the complete path of the <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/star-performers-the-magellanic-clouds/">stream of hydrogen being pulled</a> from the Magellanic Clouds by the Milky Way.</p>
<p>The enormously strong tide created by our Milky Way has pulled out a long tail of gas from the clouds, which extends across almost the whole sky.</p>
<p>Just as importantly the new data set is now available to all astronomers and will provide a valuable resource for future research.</p>
<p>X-ray astronomers, for example, will be able to use the data to better correct their data for interstellar absorption and better understand the intense emission associated with distant supermassive black holes.</p>
<p>A word of warning though for those wishing to download the whole data set – it’s about 188 gigabytes. Our receivers were simultaneously tuned to thousands of different frequencies. This allowed us to look at hydrogen at many different redshifts (using the so-called Doppler effect).</p>
<p>So the underlying data set is vastly larger than the simple intensity and velocity images shown here! But who knows what other new discoveries the data will reveal?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67273/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lister Staveley-Smith receives research funding from the Australian Research Council and the Western Australian government. </span></em></p>Astronomers are making new discoveries about our galaxy thanks to a more detailed map of the Milky Way.Lister Staveley-Smith, Science Director at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and Deputy Director of the ARC Centre for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO), The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/603672016-06-23T01:40:49Z2016-06-23T01:40:49ZHow CSIRO is turbocharging the world’s largest radio telescopes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127055/original/image-20160617-11135-1n121uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The 500-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) is the largest single-dish radio telescope in the world.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NAOC</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The world’s largest single-dish radio telescope, <a href="http://fast.bao.ac.cn/en/">FAST</a> (the Five hundred metre Aperture Spherical Telescope), is rapidly taking shape in China. </p>
<p>At 500 metres in diameter, it would only just fit under the arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. </p>
<p>To put this into astronomical perspective, the Parkes Radio Telescope has a diameter of 64 metres, with a collecting area – the amount of surface that the radio waves can bounce off – of 3,216 m<sup>2</sup>.</p>
<p>FAST, on the other hand, has a collecting area of 196,000 m<sup>2</sup>, which is 61 times greater.</p>
<p>Radio waves raining down from the cosmos will bounce off this huge dish and into a receiver overhead, which is being built by CSIRO. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127464/original/image-20160621-16045-ypu9og.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127464/original/image-20160621-16045-ypu9og.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127464/original/image-20160621-16045-ypu9og.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127464/original/image-20160621-16045-ypu9og.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127464/original/image-20160621-16045-ypu9og.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127464/original/image-20160621-16045-ypu9og.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127464/original/image-20160621-16045-ypu9og.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127464/original/image-20160621-16045-ypu9og.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The CSIRO-built multibeam instrument being installed on the Arecibo telescope.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Graeme Carrad</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To stay scientifically competitive, telescopes must have the latest technology. The telescope you see – the giant steel dish – will probably look much the same for decades. But behind the scenes, generation after generation of new instruments will be installed to analyse the incoming radio waves. </p>
<p>The continuous improvement of these instruments is what keeps a telescope current. The Parkes telescope, for instance, is now 10,000 times more sensitive than when it was first built due to improvements beyond the dish itself.</p>
<p>Instruments for radio telescopes aren’t bought off the shelf. Each telescope is different, and instruments are custom-made for the one they’ll be used on. </p>
<h2>Tuning in to the universe</h2>
<p>Radio astronomy is also a technically demanding field. The receivers are so sensitive, that they could pick up a mobile phone on Mars. We can even time the rotation of <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/pulsars">pulsars</a> to 11 decimal places. Astronomers push to record transient events down to timescales of nanoseconds.</p>
<p>Technical capability and science goals evolve in tandem: astronomers ask for more than they have, pushing the engineering ever onward. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127495/original/image-20160621-13039-l6k5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127495/original/image-20160621-13039-l6k5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127495/original/image-20160621-13039-l6k5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127495/original/image-20160621-13039-l6k5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127495/original/image-20160621-13039-l6k5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127495/original/image-20160621-13039-l6k5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127495/original/image-20160621-13039-l6k5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127495/original/image-20160621-13039-l6k5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) antenna with a phased-array feed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In CSIRO, that conversation happened at close quarters, with scientists and engineers mingling in the same tea-room. This frequent contact led to innovation that could not have taken place if the engineers had been working to meet “blue sky” science goals developed far away.</p>
<p>Telescope upgrades have been integrated with a strong research and development program. One we have kept going through the ups and downs of capital funding over the decades.</p>
<p>The receiver we’re building for China’s FAST telescope has grown from work we started decades ago. Traditionally, a single-dish telescope such as Parkes sees only one spot – one pixel – on the sky at any one time, and pictures must be built up by repeated scanning. </p>
<p>But we dramatically boosted its capabilities by developing a “multibeam” receiver that lets Parkes see several spots on the sky at once. </p>
<p>This receiver turbocharged Parkes, letting us scan the sky in less than a tenth of the usual time. It led Parkes to discover <a href="http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/F/Fast+Radio+Bursts">fast radio bursts</a> and hundreds of new galaxies hidden behind the Milky Way. </p>
<p>For the receiver on China’s FAST telescope, we’re providing proven technology rather than the very cutting edge. But it’s going into a telescope that’s even better than our one at Parkes. FAST will also search for pulsars, look for radio signals from extra-solar planets, and measure hydrogen in our own galaxy and tens of thousands of others. </p>
<h2>Beyond FAST</h2>
<p>The newest technology to speed up telescopes is phased-array feeds, which allow us to electronically synthesise a multipixel image of the sky. These feeds can “ignore” radio signals from satellites that would otherwise blind our receivers. We’ve used this technology on the <a href="http://www.atnf.csiro.au/projects/askap/index.html">Australian SKA Pathfinder</a> (<a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/square-kilometre-array">ASKAP</a>) in Western Australia.</p>
<p>The phased-array feeds have already produced some <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-first-images-from-askap-reveal-slices-through-space-27963">superb early science</a> during commissioning. There are more design improvements in the pipeline. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127498/original/image-20160621-12995-1r6s88u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127498/original/image-20160621-12995-1r6s88u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127498/original/image-20160621-12995-1r6s88u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127498/original/image-20160621-12995-1r6s88u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127498/original/image-20160621-12995-1r6s88u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127498/original/image-20160621-12995-1r6s88u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127498/original/image-20160621-12995-1r6s88u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127498/original/image-20160621-12995-1r6s88u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">CSIRO’s ASKAP antennas at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, March 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Neal Pritchard</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Plus, in the last few months we’ve learned more about how to best use the feeds by running one on Parkes, ahead of installing it on the <a href="http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/en/effelsberg">Effelsberg telescope</a> in Germany. </p>
<p>In just a few years, ASKAP’s home – the <a href="http://www.atnf.csiro.au/projects/askap/site.html">Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory</a> – will also house 130,000 low-frequency dipoles – essentially television antennas – of the international Square Kilometre Array (<a href="http://www.ska.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx">SKA</a>). </p>
<p>We’re working with <a href="http://www.astron.nl/">ASTRON</a>, the leading astronomy organisation in the Netherlands, to deliver the technology that will let these dipoles (which don’t physically move) “look” in different directions. This will be based on a system we developed for ASKAP.</p>
<p>Radio astronomy is not a big industry, but its technologies are central ones in radio communication, as shown by the well-known example of WiFi, which was born from radio astronomy. Australia’s experience in this field is a clear example of how innovation happens in practice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60367/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Douglas Bock works for CSIRO.</span></em></p>You can’t just buy a radio telescope receiver off the shelf. So CSIRO has been hard at work building receivers for the world’s largest telescopes using the very latest technology.Douglas Bock, Acting Director, Astronomy and Space Science, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.