The Mopra telescope, with its 22 meters in diameter and the suite of specialized instruments, is the only one able to quickly map large areas of the sky. The name comes from a geological formation in the vicinity, in the area near Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia. Its closure was decided after severe budget cuts by the Australian federal government but a fundraiser on Kickstarter could save it.
To be precise, Mopra is a radio telescope opened in 1998 operated by ATNF (Australia Telescope National Facility), a group of astronomical observatories in turn operated by CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation). For some years Mopra astronomers have been carrying out a mapping of the Milky Way but budget cuts forced CSIRO to decide the closure of this and some other Australians observatories.
This mapping work is still incomplete and it would take three more seasons to complete it. In winter the conditions are ideal for this kind of observatotions but they’ll stop without funds. The new major projects in the field of radio astronomy such as ASKAP (Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder) and especially the global project SKA (Square Kilometre Array) of which Australia is part are very important but you can save Mopra.
A group of astronomers led by astrophysicist Catherine Braiding who named themselves team Mopra decided to try to keep the Mopra radio telescope open through crowdfunding. A fundraiser was started a few days ago on Kickstarter with the aim of raising $65,000 (Australian dollars).
The initiative has already been successful because at this $71.441 (AUDs) were pledged. Unfortunately that might not be enough because they need at least $150,000 (AUDs) for the Mopra radio telescope to continue to work for another year. The astronomers hope to get more funding from the Australian Research Council but it’s important that the pledges keep on arriving until October 11, the last day for this fundraising.
You can read the complete story of the fundraising and of the Mopra radio telescope’s work on its page on the Kickstarter website. As always in these cases, there are various perks for the people who pledge their money. However, the point of this initiative is to save a unique scientific instrument to continue a task that will enhance our knowledge of our galaxy.
