Paul Wild Observatory

About 24 kilometres west of Narrabri, New South Wales, the Paul Wild Observatory spreads six giant radio dishes across the flat Australian plain, one of the country's most important sites for radio astronomy.

About Paul Wild Observatory

Also known as the Narrabri Observatory or Culgoora Observatory, the site is operated by CSIRO, Australia's national science agency. It is named for Paul Wild, the Australian radio astronomer who led the team behind the Culgoora Radioheliograph, the world's first radioheliograph, which operated from 1967 to 1984.

Telescopes & research

The observatory is now home to the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA): six identical 22-metre radio dishes, five of which can be moved along a 3-kilometre railway track to reconfigure the array for different observations. Prime Minister Bob Hawke opened ATCA on 2 September 1988. The site also hosts the Culgoora Solar Observatory, run by the Bureau of Meteorology's Space Weather Services section, which monitors the Sun for space weather effects.

Location & getting there

The observatory occupies a wide, open stretch of land west of Narrabri in inland New South Wales, chosen for its flat terrain and radio-quiet surroundings, ideal conditions for an array of large moving dishes.

Visiting Paul Wild Observatory

As an active CSIRO research facility, access is more limited than at a dedicated public observatory. Check the CSIRO website for current visitor information before planning a trip.

See your named star from here

Star Register gives every named star real celestial coordinates, the same kind of data astronomers use to aim instruments like ATCA at a target. Explore named stars from around the world in our catalogue.