CARNARVON, South Africa—South African officials and scientists on Monday celebrated a milestone towards building the world’s largest radio astronomy instrument, which is co-hosted with Australia and aims to unlock mysteries of the universe.
The construction launch outside the remote town of Carnarvon, Northern Cape, marks the next phase of developing a complex instrument aimed at revealing events since the cosmic dawn, when the first stars and galaxies were formed.
South Africa said it will add 133 dishes to its 64-dish MeerKAT radio telescope to create SKA-Mid in the next phase of developing a so-called Square Kilometre Array (SKA).
“Today has huge significance for all of us … working towards building a large, exploratory instrument that can serve our community and advance a number of scientific frontiers,” Joseph McMullin, deputy director-general at the SKA Observatory (SKAO) intergovernmental organisation said….