The name given to the biggest telescope in the world now mirrors the name of a particular musical genre. However, according to Futurism, the telescope SKA stands for Square Kilometer Array.
The SKA Telescope Construction Project Begins
After around three decades of work and preparation, the construction project of SKA has begun just this week. It will be hosted and based in the United Kingdom. However, operations of the SKA will be shared by both Australia and South Africa.
SKA-Low in Australia
The Australian counterpart, called the SKA-Low telescope, will host the telescope with 131,000 different antennas that, when together, seem to share the appearance of a Christmas tree.
SKA-Mid in South Africa
On the other hand, the SKA-Mid will be hosted in South Africa. It will be hosted in the Karoo desert, where 194 antennas reach about 150 km. It will also collaborate with the MeerKAT radio telescope, armed with 64 dishes.
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The Potential of the SKA Telescope
The official site of the SKA telescope notes that its observatory that spans three continents will look into gravity anchallengeut the notion of general relativity. The telescope will also work with celestial pulsars and examine the possibilities of closing black holes.
BBC News also notes how the telescope will precisely test Einstein's theories. It will also be looking for extraterrestrial life and embark on a conquest to track hydrogen's history.
With the construction of SKA, scientists aim to come up with a collecting area that covers thousands worth of square meters. In fact, by around 2028, the SKA may have a collecting area that falls short of 500,000 sqm. This setup may continue to grow and probably reach up to a million square meters or a square kilometer.
Dr. Shari Breen, the head of science operations in the observatory, shares that SKA may lead to great contributions across various fields of astronomy.
According to Space, SKAO council chair Catherine Cesarsky also shares that the telescope can revolutionize what is already known about the universe. With the SKA telescope, scientists can look deeper into the universe's evolution and many other mysterious phenomena. The telescope's potential has become exciting for the scientific community.
SKA Specifications
SKA will be booted with a sensitivity that outpowers other models. It will also be armed with high-caliber resolution.
Besides that, the telescope's system will function with a frequency ranging from 50 megahertz to 25 gigahertz. With these specifications, the telescope should be able to pick up radio signals that are extremely faint and that are from sources that are billions of light years away.
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