1. The Australia Telescope Compact Array

This chapter gives an overview of the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) and provides the information needed to prepare an observing proposal. As such, this chapter supercedes the Guide to Observations that was provided in the past (and which contained a lot of overlap with the previous User Guide). The old User Guide is still available and is recommended for those reducing pre-CABB data (i.e., observations before April 2009).

The ATCA consists of six 22-m radio antennas which can be configured with antenna spacings of up to 6km, located at the Paul Wild Observatory near Narrabri, some 550 km northwest of Sydney. It is one of the telescopes operated by the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF).