Australia's national science agency has overseen the installation of the first batch of antennas for the Square Kilometre Array telescope, known as SKA-Low.
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They are the first of the 131,072 two-metre-tall, Christmas tree-shaped antennas that will make up the radio telescope at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, on Wajarri Country.
SKA-Low is one of the SKAO's two telescopes currently under construction on two continents; its counterpart, SKA-Mid, is being built in South Africa.
Among its science goals, SKA-Low will enable scientists to explore the first billion years after the so-called dark ages of the Universe.
Six countries worked together to design SKA-Low: Australia, China, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands and the UK.
The latest antenna design was optimised by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) in collaboration with CNR-IEIIT and the Italian industrial partner SIRIO Antenne, building on previous designs developed within the international consortium.
SIRIO was awarded the contract to manufacture the first 77,000 antennas for the telescope.
SKA-Low Telescope Director Dr Sarah Pearce said: “The telescopes are like time machines – we’ll see things we’ve never been able to see in the history of humanity.
“It may not look like other telescopes you’ve seen. But the SKA-Low telescope in Australia will be able to map the sky 135 times faster than other state-of-the-art telescopes, and will be so sensitive that it can detect the faintest radio signals that have travelled billions of light years across space.â€
Globally, 16 countries are part of the SKAO’s effort to build the telescopes. In Australia, the SKAO is also collaborating with CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, to build and operate the SKA-Low telescope.
In 2022, an Indigenous Land Use Agreement was finalised between the Wajarri Yamaji People and the Australian and Western Australian governments, as well as CSIRO.
It ensures Wajarri cultural heritage will be protected and the Wajarri Yamaji People will receive sustainable and intergenerational benefits in areas such as enterprise, training and education.
This week marks the start of on-site work for new field technicians, who will be tasked with the massive technical challenge of building more than 130,000 antennas across 74 km of the Murchison region.
The group of 10 field technicians, seven of whom are from the Wajarri community, are the first employees hired in technical roles to build the antennas on site.
The field technicians were recruited to participate in a 12-month training program, established by teams from the SKAO and CSIRO. The training program is intended to provide the skills they need to build the SKA-Low telescope, as well as transferable skills that will improve their long-term job prospects.
The SKAO and CSIRO teams worked closely with the Wajarri Yamaji People to encourage recruitment of Wajarri employees in these roles.
SKAO Director-General Prof. Philip Diamond said he was thrilled to see not only the progress on construction,which is due to be completed by the end of the decade, but also the realisation of the partnership with the Wajarri community.
“In Australia, the Wajarri Yamaji People have been observing the skies and stars from this location for tens of thousands of years, so to now be sharing those same skies and stars with them is a pleasure and privilege,†he said. ■