One of the grand scientific projects of the 21st Century begins its construction phase on Monday. The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be the largest radio telescope in the world when completed in 2028. Split across South Africa and Australia, with a headquarters in the UK, the facility will address the biggest questions in astrophysics. It will perform the most precise tests of Einstein’s theories, and even search for extra-terrestrials.
Delegations from the eight countries leading the project are attending ceremonies in the remote Murchison shire in Western Australia and in the Karoo of South Africa’s Northern Cape. When the festivities are over, the bulldozers will move in. “This is the moment it becomes real,” said Prof Phil Diamond, director general of the Square Kilometre Array Organisation. “It’s been a 30-year journey. The first ten years were about developing the concepts and ideas. The second 10 was spent doing the technology development. And then the last decade was about detailed design, securing the sites, getting governments to agree to set up a treaty organisation (SKAO) and provide the funds to start,” he told BBC News.
The initial architecture of the telescope will incorporate just under 200 parabolic antennas, or “dishes”, as well as 131,000 dipole antennas, which look a little like Christmas trees. The aim is to construct an effective collecting area measuring hundreds of thousands of square metres. These will take the total financial outlay to date to just under €500m (£430m) – out of an expected final construction budget of €2bn. By 2028, the SKA will have an effective collecting area of just under 500,000 square metres. But the set-up is such that it can continue growing, perhaps up to the much desired one million square metres, or one square kilometre.
One way this could happen is if more and more countries join the organisation and provide the necessary funds. The current members are: South Africa, Australia, the UK, China, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland. These countries have ratified the treaty. France, Spain, and most recently Germany, have got themselves on to the accession path. Canada, India, Sweden, South Korea and Japan have indicated their intention to join at some point.
Article URL : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-63836496