P007759 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

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 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Corporate Body created 2025-07-03 human Helen Cohn updated 2025-10-14 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P007759b.htm corporateBody Molonglo Radio Observatory The University of Sydney AACR2 MOST Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope 1965 June 2023 Start Place Hoskinstown, New South Wales, Australia Astronomy or Space Science Observatory The Molonglo Radio Observatory, which opened in 1965, was established as part of the School of Physics of the University of Sydney. Located in Hoskinstown, New South Wales, near the Molonglo River, the Observatory's telescope was a Cross telescope designed by Bernard Mills, Professor of Physics at the University, with E-W and N-S arms of 1.6 km. The telescope became a leading instrument in radio astronomy. Principal research projects ranged from mapping the entire southern sky (the Molonglo Sky Survey) and the Molonglo Galactic Plane Survey, with highlights including the discovery of a pulsar associated with a supernova remnant (Vela) and the more than doubling the number of known pulsars from 149 to 304. Observations between 1965 and 1978 resulted in publication of 194 papers including the catalog of the sky survey (Large [and others] 1981). The Observatory ceased operations in 1978 and was upgraded to the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST). Further upgrades allowed the detection of fast radiobursts (the equipment for which was called UTMOST) and continued research on pulsars. From 2015 the telescope was operated in collaboration with Swinburne University of Technology, with the goal of probing the radio transient sky in real time, monitoring pulsars and magnetars, and searching for Fast Radio Bursts. The Observatory was closed in 2023, having been overtaken by emergence of next-generation telescopes at more suitable locations. Many of the staff are now engaged in SKAMP, testing systems for the Square Kilometre Array with cylindrical geometry in the Molonglo Prototype. Green, Anne Josephine

Director 1994 - 2006

 Mills, Bernard Yarnton (1920 - 2011)

Designed the Observatory's Cross telescope

 The University of Sydney (1850 - ) 'Molonglo Radio Observatory', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Molonglo Radio Observatory Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Journal Article: The MOST and other radio telescopes Robertson, J. G. The MOST and other radio telescopes 1991 Australian journal of physics 44 729-42 Journal Article: Future plans for the Molonglo Radio Telescope Mills, B. Y. and Little, A. G. Future plans for the Molonglo Radio Telescope 1972 Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of Australia 2 134-5 Journal Article: Molonglo Observatory: building the Cross and MOST McAdam, Bruce Molonglo Observatory: building the Cross and MOST 2008 Journal of astronomical history and heritage 11 1 63-70 Journal Article: The Molonglo reference catalogue of radio sources Large, M. I., Mills, B. Y., Little, A. G., Crawford, D. F., and Sutton, J. M. The Molonglo reference catalogue of radio sources 1981 Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 194 693-704 Journal Article: The Sydney University cross-type radio telescope Mills, B. Y., Aitchison, R. E., Little, A. G., and McAdam, W. B. The Sydney University cross-type radio telescope 1963 Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers Australia 24 156-65 Journal Article: The Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope Mills, B. Y. The Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope 1981 Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of Australia 4 156-9 Journal Article: Origins of the Molonglo Radio Observatory - the Cross and the MOST Mills. B. Y. Origins of the Molonglo Radio Observatory - the Cross and the MOST 1991 Australian journal of physics 44 719-27