Another milestone for SKA
SKA SA recently presented the first Array Release 1.5 images taken with MeerKAT 32 to the Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor.
Pandor delivered her department’s budget vote in Parliament on Tuesday this week.
Prior to the vote, Pandor undertook a tour of the exhibition at the Iziko Museum, where SKA SA joined other exhibitors for the showcase.
During her visit, SKA SA Chief Scientist Dr Fernando Camilo and SKA SA Head of Science Commissioning Dr Sharmila Goedhart released to the minister the recent AR1.5 results, images achieved by using various configurations of the 32 antennas currently operational in the Karoo.
This milestone of the integration of 32 antennas with single polarisation correlator was achieved on schedule by the end of March 2017. The 32 antennas are part of the eventual 64 instruments which are being built at the Losberg site in the Northern Cape.
Among the images presented by Camilo and Goedhart was the view of the hydrogen gas in M83, a famous galaxy discovered in Cape Town in 1752, generated by MeerKAT. The image was done with the MeerKAT configuration using seven 50-minute exposures – achieving this detail and sensitivity much faster than any previous observations.
The scientists also showcased a linear feature – a radio galaxy – that is four million light years long, identifying it as a Giant Radio Galaxy, the first such extreme object identified by MeerKAT as well as a star-forming region in the Milky Way. The previous best image of this star-forming region was obtained with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). The MeerKAT image is sharper and more sensitive and shows fainter features with additional detail.
Also featured was the increased observation power of MeerKAT through demonstrating the images taken with KAT-7 in 2012, Meer- KAT-4 in 2016, MeerKAT-16 in 2016 and MeerKAT-16 in 2017. The same black hole was observed with the increasingly improved arrays of antennas and the first radio image of a distant spiral galaxy, showing both the visible light and the radio waves which left this galaxy 230 million years ago.
Meanwhile, in her Budget Vote, Pandor allocated a further R693 million to the SKA to ensure the completion of MeerKAT, as a key priority for 2017/18.
The MeerKAT radio telescope is the precursor of phase 1 of the SKA. SKA will be built in two main phases, with construction of the first phase planned to start in 2017/18 and some elements operational by 2020 and full operation under way in 2025.
The SKA project is an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope to be hosted in South Africa and Australia. SA’s Karoo desert in the Northern Cape will host the core of the mid-frequency dish array, ultimately extending over the African continent.
Eventually, the SKA will be made up of thousands of dishes that will enable astronomers to survey the universe in detail and survey the entire sky much faster, and in more detail, than any system currently in existence.
In her budget address, Pandor noted that on Africa Day, May 25, South Africa will mark five years since the country was named as co-host of the SKA.
“I’m pleased to report that we now have 45 antennas and 57 pedestals installed as part of MeerKAT and we are on track to build the full complement of 64 by March 31, 2018. MeerKAT has reached another milestone with the integration of the 32 antennas into a polarisation correlator or array. The next array release, AR2, is set for later this year.”
Pandor also pointed out that 75 percent of MeerKAT components had been sourced locally. “To date, MeerKAT has spent R134 million on local construction suppliers,and 351 people have been trained by major SKA contractors such as Stratcom. The SKA project has created 7 284 employment opportunities through the construction of the KAT-7, MeerKAT and related projects.
“In its 11th year, the SKA bursary initiative has funded 919 students, 133 of whom are from other African countries. The department continues to provide extensive support to schools in Carnarvon. Nine pupils from Carnarvon High School have received full-cost undergraduate bursaries. We look forward to the beginning of SKA phase one construction between 2018 and 2022.”