Exploring the Universe: China provides tech support for radio telescope in Australia

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Europe

02:25

One of the world's most productive radio telescopes is also among the oldest -the Parkes radio telescope in Australia. It's being used for several projects - including a collaborative effort with China to better understand the universe around us. Our correspondent Greg Navarro has more.

The image these scientists in Sydney are looking at is from a pulsar - an extreme form of a star. It was discovered more than 5,000 kilometers away by the FAST radio telescope in China. Their job is to confirm that discovery.

GEORGE HOBBS RESEARCH SCIENTIST, CSIRO "Because we've wanted to check that these pulsars are true, everything is well understood, we've used the Parkes telescope to confirm these pulsars."

The Parkes radio telescope looms over the horizon in rural New South Wales and in its 57 years of existence - it has proved to be invaluable.

JOHN SARKISSIAN OPERATION SCIENTIST, CSIRO PARKES TELESCOPE "The Parkes telescope is arguably the finest single-dish radio telescope in the world."

Its accomplishments include broadcasting live images of man's first steps on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission, first detecting distant radio signals known as fast radio bursts, and aiding in the search for intelligent alien life.

DANNY PRICE PROJECT SCIENTIST, BREAKTHROUGH LISTEN AT PARKES "It is to me one of the most fundamental questions there is - are we alone?"

GREG NAVARRO PARKES "A big reason for this radio telescope's success over the years is that it is constantly being upgraded. The latest installation involves putting in the world's most sensitive receiver and once it is inside, scientists say it will be even more versatile."

The current quest to better understand pulsars involves a collaborative effort between Australian and Chinese scientists.

GEORGE HOBBS RESEARCH SCIENTIST, CSIRO "As an astronomer, you want to study your star or your object with as many different systems as you can so you collaborate."

SHI DAI BOLTON FELLOW, CSIRO "It is getting hard for one country to do these big projects. So it has to be through collaborations between different countries and we combine resources and different skills together to achieve our scientific goals."

Scientists say many of those goals are designed to answer fundamental questions about the universe and better understand our place in it. Greg Navarro, CGTN, Parkes.