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Outback Astronomy

Chris Lintott travels to the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Australia to find out how its astronomers managed to see the moment when stars first formed.

In February 2018, news broke that astronomers had seen the cosmic dawn - the moment when stars first formed, flooding the universe with light. What's remarkable is that this incredible event was discovered by an instrument the size of a ping-pong table in a remote corner of Western Australia.

Chris Lintott travels to the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory to find out how they did it and what else the extraordinary radio telescopes there can tell us about the universe.

30 minutes

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:03

    Jean Sibelius

    Pelleas and Melisande: At The Castle Gate

    Performer: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Thomas Beecham.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Chris Lintott
Producer Simon Winchcombe
Executive Producer Jonathan Renouf

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