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| PRI (MPIfR) 04/2011 (1) | Press Release | April 02, 2011 |
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project has just announced that the SKA Project Office (SPO), the new headquarters of the SKA telescope, will be based at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in the UK. The announcement comes as a number of international organisations agreed to financially support the SKA project.
A Founding Board was established by nine national governmental and research organisations and a Letter of Intent was signed on Saturday, April 2nd, in Rome, Italy. With the SPO firmly established, the European partners will now concentrate on technology development and science coordination. The Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy and the University of Bonn will coordinate the German SKA activities.
Figure 1:
Artist's impression of an SKA field station.
Image:
SPDO/Swinburne Astronomy Productions
(Click image for higher resolution).
The SKA is a €1.5 billion multinational science project to build the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope. The SKA will be capable of answering some of the most fundamental questions about the Universe. To realise this, breakthroughs in technology are required that will benefit society and economy beyond the scientific application.
The SPO, which is expected to grow to 60 people over the next four years, will supersede the existing SKA Program Development Office (SPDO) currently based at the University of Manchester. The SPO will be based at an internationally recognised radio observatory and will be a state-of-the-art building, fully equipped to support the needs of a growing international project.Professor Richard Schilizzi, Director of the SKA, says: "The move to Jodrell Bank comes at a crucial time for the project as we move from development programme to international megascience project. The new location and facilities will support the significant expansion that is planned."
Europe is strongly represented in the SKA project, with major SKA pathfinder projects (LOFAR, e-Merlin, APERTIF and e-VLBI) and technological innovations. European scientists, organised in the European SKA Consortium (ESKAC) decided to strengthen the global activities for SKA.
"The SKA represents a quantum leap for European Science: from the origin of the Universe to the observation of the most energetic particles in space it promises novel answers in some of the most fundamental areas of modern science", says Professor Heino Falcke (Radboud-Universität Nijmegen, ASTRON & MPIfR). "European scientists and engineers are working at the cutting edge, not least driven by precursor projects like the low-frequency radio telescope LOFAR."
The further preparation of the exciting SKA science will be coordinated by a SKA Science Office in Bonn, Germany, where the Max-Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy and the University of Bonn bring together national and European activities to coordinate them with the SPO at Jodrell Bank.
"We are very pleased about this progress in the SKA project", says Professor Michael Kramer, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn. "This telescope will not only be a superb instrument in uniquely advancing our own research, namely the understanding of fundamental forces in nature like gravity and magnetism, but it represents an amazing observatory for the German, European and indeed global science community."
"The settling of an European Science Office in Bonn further enhances the role of Bonn as a science centre", adds Professor Frank Bertoldi from the Argelander-Institut für Astronomie of Bonn University. "The goal is to provide organisation and support for the strongly increasing radioastronomical science community in Germany and Europe."
The SKA telescope itself will be located in either Australia-New Zealand or Southern Africa. A decision on the location of the SKA telescope will be made in 2012.
Figure 2:
The SKA will be used to probe the laws of gravity using cosmic clocks known as pulsars that will allo to identify black holes in the Galaxy and its very centre.
Image: SPDO/Swinburne Astronomy Productions
(Click image for higher resolution).
The Square Kilometre Array will be the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope. The total collecting area will be approximately one square kilometre giving 50 times the sensitivity, and 10,000 times the survey speed, of the best current-day telescopes. With thousands of receptors extending out to distances of 3,000 km from the centre of the telescope, the SKA will address fundamental unanswered questions about our Universe including how the first stars and galaxies formed after the Big Bang, how galaxies have evolved since then, the role of magnetism in the cosmos, the nature of gravity, and the search for life beyond Earth. More than 70 institutes in 20 countries, together with industry partners, are participating in the scientific and technical design of the SKA telescope which will be located in either Australia – New Zealand or Southern Africa extending to the Indian Ocean Islands. The target construction cost is €1,500 million and construction could start as early as 2016.
SKA announces Founding Board and selects Jodrell Bank Observatory to host Project Office, SKA Press Release, April 02, 2011.
Square Kilometre Array (SKA), International Homepage.
European SKA Consortium (ESKAC).
LOFAR, e-MERLIN., APERTIF, e-VLBI.
Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) .
Fundamental Physics in Radio Astronomy at MPIfR.
Radio Astronomy/VLBI at MPIfR.
Argelander-Institut für Astronomie
at Bonn University.
Prof. Dr. Michael Kramer,
Director and Head of Research Group "Fundamental Physics in Radio Astronomy",
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn.
Fon: +49(0)228-525-278
E-mail: mkramer (at)
mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
Dr. Frank Bertoldi,
Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, Bonn University.
Fon: +49(0)228-73-6789
E-mail: bertoldi (at)
astro.uni-bonn.de
Dr. Norbert Junkes,
Public Outreach,
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn.
Fon: +49(0)228-525-399
E-mail: njunkes (at)
mpifr-bonn.mpg.de