Telescope

The Wajarri-Yamaji people are the traditional owners and native title holders of the MRO site, Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, meaning ‘sharing sky and stars’ in the Wajarri language. This represents the deep connection to sky and Country held by the Wajarri Yamaji, as well as sharing their sky and stars with the global astronomy community by hosting these world-leading radio telescopes on Country. The Wajarri name for the MWA telescope is Gurlgamarnu (pronounced ‘Golga-mahn’) meaning “the ear that listens to the sky.”

This image represents sitting around a campfire, sharing stories on the stars and sky. The fire takes the form of a meteor as it streaks across the sky, the storytellers sit below and observe, and the dots represent their journey through the stars as they relive stories passed down to them through generations.

Learn more about the Wajarri Yamaji people

The Murchison area has excellent views of the sky, with the Galactic Center and the Magellanic Clouds reaching high elevations, and extremely low levels of radio frequency interference (RFI).

This is in part due to the radio quiet zone around the area, over 300km wide, which restricts the use of certain technologies that may transmit at radio frequencies. The Australian and Western Australian Governments established this radio quiet zone to protect our world-class radio-astronomy site.

Learn more about the Radio Quiet Zone