<
https://physicsworld.com/a/thirty-years-of-the-square-kilometre-array-heres-what-the-worlds-largest-radio-telescope-project-has-achieved-so-far/>
"From its sites in South Africa and Australia, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA)
Observatory last year achieved “first light” – producing its first-ever images.
When its planned 197 dishes and 131,072 antennas are fully operational, the SKA will be the largest and most sensitive radio telescope in the world.
Under the umbrella of a single observatory, the telescopes at the two sites
will work together to survey the cosmos. The Australian side, known as SKA-Low,
will focus on low-frequencies, while South Africa’s SKA-Mid will observe
middle-range frequencies. The £1bn telescopes, which are projected to begin
making science observations in 2028, were built to shed light on some of the
most intractable problems in astronomy, such as how galaxies form, the nature
of dark matter, and whether life exists on other planets.
Three decades in the making, the SKA will stand on the shoulders of many
smaller experiments and telescopes – a suite of so-called “precursors” and
“pathfinders” that have trialled new technologies and shaped the instrument’s
trajectory. The 15 pathfinder experiments dotted around the planet are
exploring different aspects of SKA science.
Meanwhile on the SKA sites in Australia and South Africa, there are four
precursor telescopes – MeerKAT and HERA in South Africa and Australian SKA
Pathfinder (ASKAP) and Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in Australia. These
precursors are weathering the arid local conditions and are already broadening
scientists’ understanding of the universe.
“The SKA was the big, ambitious end game that was going to take decades,” says
Steven Tingay, director of the MWA based in Bentley, Australia. “Underneath
that umbrella, a huge number of already fantastic things have been done with
the precursors, and they’ve all been investments that have been motivated by
the path to the SKA.”"
Via Esther Schindler, who wrote "In 2016, I edited an article about this
way-out-there project, and decided to look up its progress since then. Cool
reading."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
