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Scientists and politicians of South Africa celebrate together the official opening of a gigantic telescope that is already transforming research into astronomy in the nation
A ceremony that was broadcast in live on national television channels on July 13 from a remote site in the province of Northern Cape marked the completion of the powerful radio telescope MeerKATT, designed and funded by Africa from South.
64 telescopes 13.5 meters in diameter, MeerKAT is the most sensitive telescope of its kind The project 4.4 billion rand (330 million dollars) will eventually be part of a future intercontinental facility called Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which once completed, "With this new instrument, South Africa is about to be at the forefront of astronomy and data science "said the general manager of the SKA Organization, Phil. Diamond said at the launch. "The anticipated success of SKA is largely based on the MeerKAT."
David Mabuza, vice president of the country, attended the ceremony, with many members of his cabinet, including the current Minister of Science and four former science ministers. "MeerKAT is an iconic instrument," said Mabuza. "We are proud that a project of this magnitude has been completed on time, in the planned budget."
Imaged Milky Way
Portions of MeerKAT collect data since their erection in 2016. At the ceremony, scientists unveiled an image made using all 64 dishes: the most detailed radio image from the center of the Milky Way, which contains a supermassive black hole (see photo above).
MeerKAT should be completely ready for science the next few months; two projects, one dealing with fleeting astronomical events known as transients, and another on the abundance of hydrogen in galaxies, are already underway. The transients include fast radio bursts, which can last a few seconds and are one of the most complex phenomena of astronomy, while astronomers are interested in hydrogen as the ## EQU1 ## 39 abundant element is the fuel of the stars, among others, and can be used to trace the history of the universe.
MeerKAT uses a technique called interferometry in which many vessels or antennas act together as a single telescope. Each dish collects relatively weak radio signals from space, which must be combined, filtered and transformed into useful data for astronomers.
Ambitions of Astronomy
The project stimulated the country's astronomical ambitions, which take advantage of conditions in places such as Northern Cape, a sparsely populated area selected for its cloudless reliable sky. These ambitions – and the attractiveness of SKA – have already attracted astronomers, engineers and data specialists from around the world. Several of its specific research chairs at SKA and astronomy, university positions devoted to research and postgraduate training, have been entrusted to foreign scientists or have attracted local scientists from other countries [19659002] "MeerKAT is what attracted me to South Africa." Says Fernando Camilo, Chief Scientist at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, who moved from the United States in 2016 to South Africa. South to join the MeerKAT project
J In the early 2000s, before the country Justin Jonas, chief technician at the Radioastronomy Observatory of South Africa and first pilot of the SKA project in South Africa. South, explains Justin Jonas, who hosted the SKA and launched a concerted effort to develop its astronomy-based research base. Many of its universities now have strong radio astronomy groups. "Back in the day, our astronomers went abroad to do astronomy, now we are the attraction," he says.
Scientists and officials expect MeerKAT to continue to raise the profile of South African science. For the moment, scientists are eager to get their hands on MeerKAT data "The provisional data are better than we expected," says Michael Kramer, director of the Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy in Germany, involved in a transient and pulsar project using MeerKAT.
He says some of his colleagues have moved to South Africa to be part of the project, while others are visiting regularly. "MeerKAT will host eight" big survey "projects, some led by South Africans, and others by foreign scientists, each of whom has devoted more than 1000 hours of observation time over five years. More than half of them will study hydrogen, says Camilo. The remaining observation time, about one-third, will be allocated to astronomers worldwide through an open call.
The 64 MeerKAT dishes will finally be absorbed in the first phase of the SKA, which will include 130 other dishes in South Africa. and up to 130,000 antennas in Australia. Construction is expected to begin in 2020.
This article is reproduced with permission and was published on July 13, 2018.
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