Construction of one of the 21st century’s biggest scientific projects, the world’s largest radio telescope (SKA), has begun.
The construction of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which will conduct the most sensitive tests of Einstein’s theories and even search for aliens, is scheduled to be completed in 2028.
The telescope will initially operate with fewer than 200 parabolic antennas, dishes, and 131,000 dipole antennas. This will make it possible to provide a data collection area of hundreds of thousands of square meters. It will also provide significant sensitivity and resolution when examining targets in the sky.
In addition, the system will operate at a frequency between 50 megahertz and 25 gigahertz. This makes it possible to detect weak radio signals coming from cosmic fields billions of light years away from Earth. One of the SKA’s important missions will be to trace hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe.
Prof. Phil Diamond, Executive Director of the Square Kilometre Array Organization, said, “This is the moment of truth. It has been a 30-year journey. The first ten years were spent developing concepts and ideas. The second 10 years were spent developing the technology.
The last ten years were spent on detailed design, securing the sites, convincing governments to agree.” Dr. Shari Breen, the observatory’s Head of Science Operations, said: “The SKA will contribute to many areas of astronomy. One of these could be the ‘fast radio bursts that have been detected. These release the equivalent of a year’s worth of energy from our Sun in a fraction of a second. We have no idea what they are, and I hope the SKA will provide an answer.”
The Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which is partly based in South Africa and partly in Australia, is headquartered in the UK. With the new project, the SKA will tackle the biggest question in astrophysics. To do this, it will test the theories of the famous theoretical physicist Albert Einstein. The construction ceremony for the radio telescope took place both in Murchison in Western Australia and in the Karoo in the Northern Cape of South Africa.