The Square Kilometre Array, or SKA will be the largest and most sensitive radio telescope on Earth.
Two complementary radio telescopes, located in Western Australia and South Africa, will use different types of antennas to ‘tune in’ radio frequencies
Low frequency radio waves will be received in Australia by more than 131,000 Christmas tree-like antennas, stretching over the horizon
Mid frequency radio waves will be received in South Africa by around 200 dishes
Radio emissions from the furthest reaches of space, reach Earth…and are detected by the SKA telescopes.
These are converted to digital signals and sent through fibre optic cables to supercomputers for processing into images and information for researchers.
The amount of raw data coming from the telescopes will be amazing – nearly 1 Terabyte per second – that’s like downloading 10 ultra-high definition films, every second.
This data will help answer some big questions:
Why is the expansion of the universe accelerating?
Does Einstein’s theory of general relativity hold up everywhere in the universe – especially places with extreme gravitational fields?
What did the universe look like billions of years ago when the first galaxies formed?
Is there life elsewhere in the universe?
But the most exciting part about the SKA telescope? It will answer questions we haven’t even thought of yet!
To find out more about the SKA, its purpose, and who is helping bring this massive science project to life, visit www.ska.gov.au
