Creating world-class receivers: ‘hearing-aids’ for telescopes

'Receivers' are the hearing aids of a radio telescope, boosting cosmic signals by up to a million times and CSIRO's Australia Telescope National Facility tailor-makes receivers for its own telescopes and for others around the world.

Dr Lewis Ball: Chief, CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science

Dr Lewis Ball is Chief of CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science.

Partners in space: CSIRO and NASA celebrate its 50th anniversary

The 26th of February 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of CSIRO's partnership with NASA in solar system exploration. Learn more about our historic collaboration in this video. (7:08)

Dr Bärbel Koribalski: exploring galaxies and dark matter

Dr Bärbel Koribalski investigates the structure and dynamics of nearby galaxies using radio telescopes tuned to interstellar hydrogen.

Parkes, NSW (Parkes radio telescope)

Star of the film ‘The Dish’, the Parkes radio telescope has been at the forefront of astronomy for over forty years. It has discovered more than two-thirds of the 1,700 known pulsars.

Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP)

The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope, ASKAP, is a next-generation radio telescope being developed by CSIRO.

Signal processing: turning ‘space whispers’ into information

Faster, wider, more often … CSIRO engineers push for Olympic excellence in the signal-processing systems they build for astronomy. CSIRO’s Astronomy and Space Science Division can design and build high-speed signal-processing systems, both digital and analogue, for radio telescopes.

Australia Telescope National Facility

CSIRO's radio astronomy observatories are collectively known as the Australia Telescope National Facility, with the facility supporting Australia's research in radio astronomy.

CSIRO and the Square Kilometre Array

CSIRO is engaged in a number of national and international partnerships with industry, science organisations and governments to support Australia's involvement in the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope.

Dr Warwick Wilson: advancing technology for radio astronomy

Dr Warwick Wilson has achieved international recognition for his outstanding contributions to the technology for radio astronomy.

Dr John O'Sullivan: working on a next generation radio telescope

Dr John O'Sullivan is a research scientist with CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science developing novel receiver technologies for radio astronomy.

Dual SKA site welcomed by CSIRO

The A$2.5 billion Square Kilometre Array radio telescope will be deployed in Australia-New Zealand, as well as South Africa, the international SKA Organisation in Manchester, UK, announced yesterday.

CSIRO Space Sciences and Technology

Coordinating and supporting CSIRO’s space research, industry engagement and outreach activities.

Reaching for the stars with ultra-precision optics (Podcast 07 Oct 2009)

In this vodcast, we examine the work of CSIRO's Australian Centre for Precision Optics (ACPO) in the development of super-sensitive light reflectors for NASA in the United States. (4:50)

Creating precision optics

You want something impossibly smooth, round or flat? At CSIRO Optics we've been manufacturing with precision for more than fifty years.

Apollo 11 moon landing: celebrating 40 years

The Apollo 11 moon landing was one giant leap in which CSIRO played a significant role.

The Dish turns 45 (Podcast 05 Dec 2006)

Dr John Reynolds discusses the Parkes radio telescope and its place in Australia’s history in this seven-minute podcast. (6:41)

Dr Naomi McClure-Griffiths wins Malcolm McIntosh Prize (Podcast 17 Oct 2006)

Dr McClure-Griffiths discusses her research into astrophysics, which has seen her awarded the Malcolm McIntosh Prize, in this five-minute podcast. (5:17)

Networks create world telescope in real-time (Podcast 04 Sep 2007)

Dr Tasso Tzioumis from CSIRO’s Australia Telescope National Facility describes how scientists are linking telescopes around the world in real-time. (6:18)

Mysterious energy burst detected at Parkes radio telescope (Podcast 28 Sep 2007)

Dr John Reynolds, astronomer at CSIRO's Parkes Observatory, talks about a huge burst of radio energy detected in the distant universe. (3:40)

Strange star stumps astronomers (Podcast 19 May 2008)

It’s obese and yet speedy...find out why this pulsar has astronomers scratching their heads. In this podcast, Dr David Champion describes the star...and theories on why it’s such astronomical oddball.. (5:13)

CSIRO kicks off the International Year of Astronomy (Podcast 22 Jan 2009)

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009), was officially launched on January 15, 2009, with an almost non-stop, 33-hour worldwide observing marathon led by two of CSIRO’s radio telescopes. (3:26)

Surviving space radiation (Podcast 11 Jun 2009)

Space radiation is one of the main health hazards of spaceflight because it has sufficient energy to change or break DNA molecules, which can damage or kill a cell. (5:45)

Texan students get their hands on 'The Dish' (Podcast 12 Apr 2007)

The hunt for gravitational waves in space continues, with high school students from Texas becoming the first people to operate 'The Dish' remotely. (4:18)

Galaxy reveals its dark heart (Podcast 07 Jul 2009)

CSIRO astronomers have revealed the hidden face of an enormous galaxy called Centaurus A, which emits a radio glow covering an area 200 times bigger than the full Moon. (4:57)