Parkes radio telescope. Evening view of Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia. The dish is 64 metres (210 feet) in diameter and divided into three sections. It has a solid steel plate from its centre to a diameter of 17 metres, a perforated aluminium plate to a diameter of 42 metres, and the rest is a mesh of galvanised steel. The weight of the dish is 300 tonnes. This radio dish is used to observe wavelengths from 5 millimetres to 2 centimetres. Radio astronomy has improved our understanding of the evolution of stars and galaxies. Parkes was completed in 1961, and in 1998 is run as part of the Australia Telescope National Facility.