Narrabri Paul Wild Observatory

Operated by the CSIRO and located 25 km west of Narrabri in north-west New South Wales, the Paul Wild Observatory is an array of six 22 metre antennas used for radio astronomy. This was an unexpected highlight of our trip to the north-west, because we were not aware it existed until we arrived in Narrabri.

Visitors must put mobile phones into flight mode and switch off Bluetooth devices because the can overwhelm the weak signal the telescopes are detecting.

The Visitor Centre

This modern visitors’ centre has excellent displays showing the layout of the radio telescopes and information boards. These displays are interesting because they explain how the array works.

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The Antennas

Five of the six telescopes run on a rail track outside the centre, so you should always be able to see them. The sixth one is too far away to see. During our visit five were close, so we were able to photographs them all at once. Antenna number 2 was sitting right next to the car park, so we were able to see it in detail.

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Paul Wild Memorial

A sundial memorial to Paul Wild sits near the car park, as a tribute to his career in radio astronomy.

Dr John Paul Wild was a British-born Australian scientist. Following service in World War II as a radar officer in the Royal Navy, he became a radio astronomer in Australia for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the fore-runner of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). In the 1950s and 1960s he made discoveries based on radio observations of the Sun. During the late 1960s and early 1970s his team built and operated the world’s first solar radio-spectrographs and subsequently the Culgoora radio-heliograph which is now named after him.

In 1972 Paul Wild invented Interscan, a standard microwave landing system. From 1978 to 1985 he was chairman of the CSIRO, during which time he expanded the organisation’s scope and directed its restructuring. He retired from the CSIRO in 1986 to lead the Very Fast Train Joint Venture, a private sector project that sought to build a high-speed railway between Melbourne and Sydney. Lack of support from government brought it to an end in 1991. In his later years he worked on gravitational theory.

Outside Displays

Several old telescopes are on display, including one of the heliograph antennas, which you will see at the entrance.

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What Did We Think?

Not only do you see the huge antennas up close, but it is a fun learning experience on how radio astronomy works. A great place to visit if you are in the area.