Swedish receiver to capture cosmic radio waves in Africa

Onsala Space Observatory has delivered its largest technology contribution to the SKA (Square Kilometre Array) project. At metres (3 ft) across, the 180 kg (400 lb) instrument is the first in place of over a hundred to be mounted on dish antennas in the Karoo desert, today home to the 64-dish-strong new MeerKAT telescope.

The Band 1 receiver, as it is called, allows the dish to measure radio waves with a frequency between 0.35 and 1.05 gigahertz (wavelength 30-85 cm).

The receiver is being tested on one of the 64 antennas in MeerKAT, one of today's largest radio telescopes and is in the same location in the Karoo desert where the SKA's antennas will be located. The instrument is a prototype manufactured in Sweden by Chalmers University of Technology in collaboration with Swedish industry, and it is designed to be mass-produced.

Sweden is one of 11 countries in the international SKA project, which will build the world's largest radio telescope at radio-quiet sites in Africa and Australia. The project is approaching the end of its design phase and construction is expected to start in the early 2020s.

As part of the SKA, Swedish receivers will participate in measurements of radio waves from many different sources in space. Scientists expect to make most sensitive radio measurements ever. They plan to test Einstein's theories to their limits and to explore the history of the universe by measuring millions of galaxies at distances of millions of light-years.

"This is a proud moment for us, getting a first glimpse of what the world's biggest radio telescope will be like. We work with developing the world's best receiver technology and hope that our contribution to the telescope will make it possible for humanity to see things we have never seen before," says Miroslav Pantaleev, project manager for SKA at Onsala Space Observatory.

The receiver's journey to Africa has been preceded by intensive collaboration between researchers and engineers at Onsala Space Observatory together with industrial partners, to ensure both performance and resilience. Before its trip, the instrument underwent tough environmental tests in Sweden, both in Onsala and at Saab Bofors Test Centre in Karlskoga.

John Conway, professor of observational radio astronomy at Chalmers and director of Onsala Space Observatory, looks forward beyond MeerKAT to the future dish array, SKA-mid.

"When the dishes in SKA-mid are operational, the world's astronomers will be able to access the world's most sensitive radio telescope and many exciting projects will be possible. We hope, among other things, to find new pulsars to test Einstein's theories, to study in detail how galaxies like the Milky Way were built during the history of the universe - and, of course, to make unexpected discoveries," he says.

Related Links
Chalmers University Of Technology
Stellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Gaia confirms extra-tidal stars around globular cluster
Lacey WA (SPX) Jun 20, 2018
Andrea Kunder, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics, Stephen Parker, Ph.D., associate professor of physics, Gordon Bellevue, physics instructor, and Saint Martin's students Arthur Mills, Joseph Edgecomb, Mathew Thomas, Levi Schilter, and Craig Boyle collaborated on research that resulted in the publication of a paper, "Radial Velocities of RR Lyrae Stars in and Around NGC 6441, in The Astronomical Journal, volume 155, number 4. As context for the research the team did, Kunder explained that the M ... read more