Although SKA1’s first phase of construction started in December 2022, operations are not projected to start until 2029. India’s financial contribution to the project was approved by the Union Cabinet this week.

The international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project, whose telescope arrays or groups of telescopes will be built in Australia and South Africa, will get Rs 1,250 crore from India.

The financial contribution to the worldwide astronomical collaboration involving over a dozen countries was approved by the Union Cabinet this week.

When built, the telescopes will be able to scan the heavens more quickly than any other of their kind, providing a more detailed map of every galaxy that can be seen, all the way to the edge of the universe.

Deep insights into the early stages of our galaxy’s evolution will be possible thanks to survey data from SKA observation, and the telescope will also look for evidence of extraterrestrial life.

In both locations, the SKA will be constructed in two stages; the first phase of SKA1 development started in December 2022. It is anticipated to start in 2029.

What scientific uses will the Square Kilometre Array serve? ThePrint provides an overview of the project’s fundamentals, importance, and Indian institutes participating in it.

What will Square Kilometre Array do? 

SKA is a network of radio telescopes that will operate in two distinct radio frequency ranges, from Australia and South Africa. The UK’s Jodrell Bank Observatory serves as its headquarters.

Through universe observation, the project seeks to provide answers to numerous, enduring puzzles in physics and cosmology. It will conduct a thorough analysis of the Milky Way. The arrays are being built in the Southern Hemisphere because it offer a better view of our home galaxy.

When completed, the SKA will be the most potent telescope ever created, and it is predicted to uncover previously undiscovered mysteries. With thousands of experts and the fastest supercomputers in the world involved, it will also be one of the biggest collaborative research initiatives ever undertaken.  

Goal of Square Kilometre Array

Gazing back in time, SKA will map and observe galaxies near the frontier of the observable cosmos. The telescope will map and investigate the radiation and magnetism of far-off galaxies. This will yield information on the evolution and origin of galaxies.

The “Dark Ages” of the universe will also be studied, as well as the little-known events that occurred a few million years after the Big Bang before there was any light.

The SKA also hopes to identify and comprehend the function of dark energy and dark matter in the universe through these findings.

Lastly, as part of a science mission called Cradle of Life, it will help in the hunt for planets that orbit stars in habitable zones and investigate their atmosphere for organic molecules.

Parts of Square Kilometre Array

As of 2019, Australia, South Africa, Canada, China, India, Japan, South Korea, the UK, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Italy are among the sixteen consortium members of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO).

The Australian telescope will operate in the low-frequency range of 50-350 MHz, while the South African array will search for mid-frequency signals between 350 MHz and 15.4 GHz.

In the future, the initiative will include more dishes from adjacent African nations such as Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zambia to increase the accuracy of data triangulation and its resolution.

Technology-focused international groups will create technical requirements at SKA. These are divided into three categories: Pathfinders, which are already-existing distant telescopes doing research; Precursors, which are telescopic facilities constructed at the SKA site; and Design Study, which is a space dedicated to hardware and building development.

The National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Pune is the operator of the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, which is the Indian Pathfinder research partner for the SKA project. As one of three organizations, India has also made significant contributions to the telescopes’ pre-construction stage.

More than 20 schools and universities from all throughout the nation make up the SKA India consortium, which will take part in the SKA project. These consist of: BITS-Pilani, -Hyderabad & -Goa, IISER Mohali, University of Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia, ARIES Nainital, Amity University (Noida), IIT Kanpur, -Varanasi, -Indore, -Madra & -Kharagpur, Presidency University, Indian Statistical Institute, Jadavpur University, Surendranath College, SINP (Kolkata), NISER Bhubaneswar, IIA, RRI, IISc (Bengaluru), CMI (Siruseri), IMSc (Chennai), IISER, IIST (Thiruvananthapuram), MG University (Kottayam), St Thomas College (Kozhencherry), MCNS Manipal, NCRA-TIFR, IUCAA, Pune University, PRL (Ahmedabad), DAA, TIFR, CEBS, and HBCSE (Mumbai), 

How will the telescope appear?

The antennae at the locations of these arrays will be able to detect radio signals dispersed over a large, radio-free area.

These locations will have dipole antennae, which resemble tall spikes with bushy end, and parabolic radio dishes. These can pick up weak radio signals across very long distances. The SKA got its name because the combined area of the approximately 3,000 antennas will be one square kilometer.

The SKA telescope arrays will be made up of 131,072 low-frequency antennas in Australia and 197 huge parabolic radio antennas in South Africa. To help calibrate the origin of reported signals, the dishes are spaced as much as 150 km apart. The 512 stations, each with 256 antennae, are formed by grouping the 2 m tall dipole antennae. There are up to 65 km separating these.

SOURCE: https://theprint.in/science/all-about-square-kilometre-array-worlds-largest-radio-telescope-project-and-indias-contribution/1908390/