• About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact
  • Publications
Friday, January 22, 2021
No Result
View All Result
SUBSCRIBE
Women in Science
21 °c
Johannesburg
Fri
Sat
Sun
Mon
  • Home
  • News
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Heads Up
  • Home
  • News
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Heads Up
No Result
View All Result
Women in Science
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Italian national astrophysics giant joins MeerKAT+ project

by wins
2021/01/06
in News
Italian national astrophysics giant joins MeerKAT+ project
0
SHARES
250
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Whatsapp

Thabo Mohlala

A top Italian national institute of Astrophysics is the latest international company to join the MeerKAT+ project. South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) and the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft officially welcomed the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) as part of the global radio telescope initiative. The development is widely welcome within the astronomy community as it will provide the necessary boost to the initiative.

MeerKAT is a 64-dish system and it is the precursor to the intergovernmental mega radio telescope project called Square Kilometre Array based in the Nothern Cape.

SARAO is the national flagship facility of the National Research Foundation while the Max Planck Gesellschaft (MPG) is a non-profit organisation with 86 research institutes and facilities. Among these is the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR), which is one of the major participants in the SKA parabolic engineering consortium. 

Together with German industrial partners such as telescopic antenna specialists MT Mechatronics (MTM) and international partners, the Dish consortium is responsible for the design of the SKA’s medium frequency array (SKA-Mid).

“INAF and the Italian community are eager to contribute to the MeerKAT+ scientific programme and to participate in the technological advancement linked to its development,” said president of INAF, Marco Tavani. MeerKAT+ is an important step, added Tavani, towards the SKA Telescope which will open large ‘unexplored windows’ of our universe.

The MeerKAT+ extension founded by SARAO and MPG will increase both, sensitivity and spatial resolution of the existing MeerKAT telescope array and thus provide a powerful instrument to study the formation and evolution of galaxies throughout the history of the universe.

The project will also see 20 new dishes being added to the existing array of 64 dishes, a joint project initiated and funded by SARAO and the MPG. For its part, INAF will provide an additional financial investment of €6-million to the MeerKAT project. As a result, MeerKAT+ will not only see improved scientific capability, but will also benefit through the scientific participation of INAF.

At the moment the MeerKAT project has 64 dishes, and with this partnership the number will rise to 84. Importantly, the extension will result in the maximum distance between the dishes increasing from 8km to 17km, a move that will increase both MeerKAT’s sensitivity and its ability to capture higher definition radio images. The telescope’s computing requirements will also increase tenfold following these improvements.

Experts say the MeerKAT+ would be an even more powerful telescope to study the formation and evolution of galaxies throughout the history of the universe. They say the extended MeerKAT will increase the raw sensitivity of the instruments by about 50%, a move that will enable the telescope to survey the sky faster, and also enable it to detect even faintest astronomical sources. Eventually, the MeerKAT+ will be integrated into SKA1-Mid, the first phase of the SKA telescope, which will be an array of 197 dishes.

The MeerKAT+ project was initiated in 2019, and proceeded with thorough scientific evaluation and technical planning. Major tendering for MeerKAT+ is on its way, and first installation activities on site are scheduled for the middle of 2021. Integration and science commissioning of MeerKAT+ is expected to commence in 2023.

wins

wins

Next Post
Aviation, a combat associated with masculinity – not any more.

Aviation, a combat associated with masculinity – not any more.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Italian national astrophysics giant joins MeerKAT+ project

Italian national astrophysics giant joins MeerKAT+ project

2 weeks ago
Dr-Martinette-Kruger

Behind science of tourism

12 months ago

Popular News

  • wisa5

    Africa Science Week Kenya, Women in Science/STEM Day

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Seeking answers in the stars

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

History of Science and Technology

history of science and technology

Useful Links

  • Opportunities
  • Advertising
  • About us
  • Publications
  • Contact us
  • Privacy Policy

Science Partners

  • DSI
  • CSIR
  • DHET
  • African Scientists Directory

Address

Block A, Wedgefield office Park
17 Muswell Road South
Bryanston
Sandton
2191

Tel:+27 11 317 3631
editor@womeninscience.africa
newsroom@womeninscience.africa
advertising@womeninscience.africa
info@womeninscience.afrca


  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Publications
  • Contact

© 2020 Women in Science

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Heads Up

© 2020 Women in Science