The Australia Telescope Compact Array-Narrabri

The Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), at the Narrabri Observatory, is an array of six 22-m antennas used for radio astronomy.

Located about 25 km west of the town of Narrabri in rural NSW (about 500 km north-west of Sydney), it is operated by the Australia Telescope National Facility, a division of CSIRO.

The Australia Telescope operates in the radio region of the spectrum. It uses high technology to combine the signals from a number of dishes, to obtain the performance of a single theoretical dish a number of kilometres in diameter.

The Compact Array is located at CSIROs Paul Wild Observatory near Narrabri. It consists of six 22m dishes five of which are spaced along a 3km track with the sixth a further 3km to the west. From the visitors centre there are great views of the dishes, displays and video presentations.

The ATCA is open from 8am to 4pm daily, though is unstaffed except by request for groups (15+). For groups requesting a staff guide there is a charge of $3 weekdays/$5 weekends per person and three weeks notice required.