The 1948 solar eclipse and the genesis of radio astronomy in Victoria

Abstract

In the early years of radio astronomy, solar eclipses played a critical role in establishing the sources of solar radio emission. During the half decade from 1945, Australia emerged as a leading nation in radio astronomy, with most of the observations made at sites that were concentrated in and around Sydney. Radio astronomy in the state of Victoria was launched when a small group of Sydney scientists successfully observed the partial solar eclipse of 1948 November I from Rockbank, near Melbourne.