The contribution of the Division of Radiophysics Potts Hill and Murraybank Field Stations to international radio astronomy

Abstract

During the 1950s Australia was one of the world‘s foremost astronomical nations owing primarily to the work of the dynamic Radio Astronomy Group within the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation‘s Division of Radiophysics. Most of the observations were made at the network of field stations maintained by the Division in or near Sydney, and one of the most notable of these was located at Potts Hill, the site of Sydney‘s major water-distribution reservoirs. Another smaller field station called Murraybank was later established specifically to exploit the discovery of the hydrogen emission-line and together with Potts Hill these were the two research stations conducting hydrogen-line studies in Australia until 1962.

This paper examines the amazing range of radio telescopes developed at these field stations; the types of solar, galactic and extragalactic research programs to which they were committed; and the pioneering young men and women who played a key role in the early development of radio astronomy.