Construction of SKA, the world’s largest telescope, begins today

After 30 years of planning and negotiations, construction begins today on the world’s largest telescope, the ultra-sensitive Square Kilometer Array (SKA) radio telescope, which will consist of two separate giant, interconnected telescopes, one in Western Australia and one in South Africa. It is one of the largest international scientific projects of the 21st century.

The SKA will pick up radio signals from various celestial objects and it is hoped that it will shed more light on some of the most puzzling phenomena in astronomy and astrophysics, such as the first stars of the cosmic ‘dawn’, the formation of galaxies, the expansion of the universe and the nature of invisible dark matter. Among other things, he will look for traces of intelligent extraterrestrial life, trying to answer the question “are we alone in the universe?”.

The person in charge of the telescope will be the UK-based intergovernmental organization SKAO, in which eight countries are already full members: Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Australia, South Africa and China. France, Spain and Germany are also planning to participate, while a few more countries (Canada, India, Sweden, South Korea, Japan) have also expressed their intention to participate in the future.

In 2012, the decision was made that the originally conceived as a single telescope would “break” in two, on two different continents. The long distances between the antennas of the two separate telescopes SKA-Mid (mid frequencies 350 MHz to 15.4 GHz) and SKA-Low (low frequencies 50 to 350 MHz) will give unprecedented sensitivity to the telescope. Both telescopes are interferometers, meaning each has multiple antennas that act as a single telescope.

The SKA will be built in stages, with the first phase of a budget of 1.3 billion euros expected to be completed by 2028. A second phase of implementation will follow in the next decade at a cost of another 700 million euros. The ultimate goal is to build a telescope with a total area of ​​one square kilometer (hence the name Square Kilometer Array).

Initially SKA-Low in Australia will consist of 131,072 dipole antennas, each one the size of a two-metre Christmas tree. Construction will take place in an isolated area inhabited by the Wajari Yamaji Aboriginal people, who signed a relevant agreement with the Australian government to grant the use of their land.

SKA-Mid will initially consist of 197 parabolic dishes spread over an area of ​​approximately 150 kilometers in the arid South African Karoo region. Already in the area is South Africa’s 64-dish MeerKAT radio telescope, which will be integrated into the SKA in 2027.

The first scientific milestone will be in 2024, when the Australian and South African SKA are expected to operate together for the first time.

RES-EMP

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