CSIRO astronomers study cosmic objects, such as quasars, galaxies, gas clouds, pulsars and individual stars, using our own radio telescopes and other instruments.
Our team of astronomers are experts in observational radio astronomy and provide scientific support to other users of the Australia Telescope National Facility. Our world-class research spans four broad areas:
Particles emitting radio waves stream millions of light-years into space from the heart of the galaxy Centaurus A. Data for the image was gathered with CSIRO's Australia Telescope Compact Array and Parkes radio telescope: the frequency of the radio waves was 1.4 GHz. The smallest structure visible in the image is 680 parsecs (210 light-years) across: the scale bar represents 50,000 parsecs (about 163,000 light-years). The white dots are not stars but background radio sources, each a huge galaxy like Centaurus A in the distant Universe. Image: Ilana Feain, Tim Cornwell and Ron Ekers (CSIRO/ATNF). ATCA northern middle lobe pointing courtesy R. Morganti (ASTRON), Parkes data courtesy N. Junkes (MPIfR).
Our team of astronomers has been closely involved in the development of our newest radio telescope, the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, and are taking a leading role in several of the science teams chosen by an international panel to utilise the first five years of telescope operations. In addition, CSIRO astronomers are actively participating in the planning for science to be done with the Square Kilometre Array, a future instrument that will be the world’s largest observatory.