English: The Parkes radio telescope. The collecting area of the telescope is a 64-m diameter paraboloid (the dish). The surface is high precision aluminium millimetre wavepanels to a diameter of 17-m (for operation to 43 GHz), then perforated aluminium plate out to 45-m, and rectangular galvanised steel 5/16-inch mesh for the remainder of the surface. The aerial cabin, which houses feeds and receiver equipment, is supported by a tripod. The Parkes Observatory is situated near Alectown, 25 kilometres north of the town of Parkes which is approximately 365 kilometres west of Sydney. The Observatory is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF) a division of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The Parkes site contains a 64-metre RadioTelescope, an administration building with offices, workshops and library, an Observer's Quarters and Visitors Centre.

• CREDIT: Photograph by John Sarkissian (CSIRO Parkes Observatory)
• COPYRIGHT: “Permission is given to use the images, but they must be credited to CSIRO”.
• PICTURE PREPARED by Adrian Pingstone in December 2003.