Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Dawn of the Dish

NASA ^ | July 19, 2012 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: Wandering planets Venus and Jupiter were joined by an old crescent Moon near the eastern horizon on July 15. This serene southern skyview of the much anticipated predawn conjunction includes the lovely Pleiades star cluster and bright stars Aldebaran and Betelgeuse in the celestial lineup. For help identifying the stars and constellations, just slide your cursor over the image. Of course, the radio telescope in the foreground is the Parkes 64 meter dish of New South Wales, Australia. Known for its exploration of the distant Universe at radio wavelengths, the large, steerable antenna is also famous for its superior lunar television reception. On July 21, 1969 the dish received broadcasts from the Moon that allowed denizens of planet Earth to watch the Apollo 11 moonwalk.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit & Copyright: Alex Cherney (Terrastro, TWAN)]

[SunkenCiv]

• Russia's Electro-L satellite: 21 Megapixel Earth May 20, 2012 - redOrbit

Thanks Colonel_Flagg for the 'extra, extra' link idea!

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[OldMissileer]

The Parkes dish was the center of a great little movie called “The Dish.”

While embellished for Hollywood it still was an enjoyable watch.

[Bobalu]

I was once offered some 25 foot steel dish antennas if I would just dismantle them and cart them away.

They were old heavy ADM dishs, solid petals — very heavy!
With az-el drive motors and controllers.

Just didn’t have the energy :-(

Wish I had em here now to play at moon bounce...I’d run em full time whenever the moon was above the horizon...sending a morse beacon on 1296. Just 100 watts would give you a strong return signal.

[Bobalu]

Here's a 32ft 1296 moonbounce amateur rig...nice! The mesh dishs are far less heavy.

Here is a portable 16ft setup

Another nice setup by a ham who is also an amateur SETI guy

Believe it or not radio hams could maintain regular communications between Earth and Mars using such equipment :-)

[SunkenCiv]

That does sound like a great deal. :’)

[Tucker39]

Is “The Pleiades” what country folk commonly refer to as “The Little Dipper”?

[Talisker]

Wow, Orion is upside down. Southern Hemisphere funky.

[TheOldLady]

That’s an old crescent moon? I guess when they get old, they get fat too.