A precursor to the Square Kilometre Array- the MeerKAT telescope - is being built right now and remarkable progress has been made in the last 12 months.
The refurbished radio telescope in Kutunse, Ghana paves the way for astronomy in Africa.
SKA
Astronomy on the continent has been given a much needed boost with Ghana’s converted radio telescope between it and South Africa, to conduct scientific observations.
Very few African universities offer postgraduate degrees in astronomy. This gap in knowledge and training can be addressed through international partnerships and collaboration.
Jets generated by supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies can transport huge amounts of energy across great distances.
REUTERS/X-ray: NASA/CXC/Tokyo Institute of Technology/J.Kataoka et al
It’s difficult to get jets - powerful, lightning fast particles - to give up their secrets. The new Square Kilometre Array radio telescope could hold the key to solving jets’ mysteries.
What’s particularly exciting about “first light” images from South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope is that they prove Africa is a rising star in the world of astronomy.
This is a new era of physics and astronomy - and scientists all over the globe, including in Africa, have a role to play.
NASA
The discovery of gravitational waves has ushered in a new era in astronomy and physics. Where will the next big discovery be made? There’s no reason for it not to be Africa.
The vast expanse of Western Australia is perfect for radio astronomy.
Pete Wheeler, ICRAR
The Murchison Widefield Array sits in remote Western Australia far from noisy civilisation so it can help us understand the universe by tuning into radio waves from the distant cosmos.
Malcolm Turnbull has now announced his strategy to promote innovation and science in Australia.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today announced the National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA). Here’s what it means for science, commercialisation and industry in Australia.
People throughout Africa can play a part in the work of the Square Kilometre Array even if they are not scientists.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
Citizen science will ensure that the skies have no limit when it comes to research, as ordinary people are encouraged to take part in simple acts of exploration.
Australian astronomers have their eyes on the skies.
ESO
Telescopes have come a long way since the days when they were all about lone astronomers watching the night sky through their upstairs windows. Today teams of astrophysicists build and use much more modern…
What future for the Parkes radio telescope amid the CSIRO cutbacks?
CSIRO/Wayne England
The future looks very bright for Australian radio astronomy but it was somewhat clouded earlier this year when CSIRO’s radio astronomy program took a dramatic hit in the Australian federal budget. CSIRO…
Three of the dishes used by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope.
CSIRO/Terrace Photographers
The first images from Australia’s Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope have given scientists a sneak peek at the potential images to come from the much larger Square Kilometre Array (SKA…
Today I awoke to the news that Germany has announced its intention to withdraw from the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project. The SKA is an ambitious project that plans to build a radio telescope with…
We’ve stellar astronomy research programmes and need to keep them up.
Flickr/xJason.Rogersx (image cropped)
AUSTRALIA 2025: How will science address the challenges of the future? In collaboration with Australia’s chief scientist Ian Chubb, we’re asking how each science discipline will contribute to Australia…
The antennas that capture low frequency radio waves at the Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope in Western Australia.
AAP Image/Supplied by Dr Natasha Hurley-Walker
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation e Michelle See-Tho, The Conversation
Education minister Kim Carr today launched the Murchison Widefield Array, an important precursor telescope that will one day feed space data to the Square Kilometre Array telescope, allowing astronomers…
The SKA is on the horizon, but how do we get from here to there?
Pete Wheeler, ICRAR
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope has been on the cards since the early 1990s. It took until May of last year to find out where it will be built – in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand…
ASKAP will help scientists to tackle some of the biggest questions in radio astronomy.
Alex Cherney
Today, after several years of design and construction, CSIRO’s Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) is officially open. The A$140m facility, built in the remote Murchison Shire of Western…
Ingenious innovation of the ancient world does not cease to amaze.
Tilemahos Efthimiadis
Modern humans may think they are clever, and each generation typically thinks it’s more intelligent than those that came before. Hence, it can be a shock to discover civilisations existing thousands of…