SKA-Low radio telescope takes big step forward in WA

The first of more than 130,000 two-metre-tall, Christmas tree-shaped antennas that will make up the SKA-Low radio telescope were installed last week in the Mid West region of Western Australia, on Wajarri Country.

The SKA-Low telescope will enable scientists to explore the first billion years after the so-called dark ages of the universe, when the first stars and galaxies formed. It is one of two telescopes, together with SKA-Mid in South Africa, being built by the SKA Observatory (SKAO) as part of a worldwide effort to revolutionise our understanding of the universe.

Australia is one of 16 countries that are helping to realise the SKA telescopes, with the SKAO and CSIRO collaborating to build and operate the SKA-Low radio telescope. SKAO Director-General Professor Phillip Diamond said laying the first antennas at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, was a significant day for one of humanity’s biggest ever scientific endeavours.

“Astronomers have been dreaming of this project for decades. To see the antennas that make up the SKA-Low telescope finally on the ground is a proud moment for us all,” Diamond said.

“These telescopes are next-generation instruments, allowing us to test Einstein’s theories and to observe space in more detail than ever before. With this telescope in Australia, we will watch the births and deaths of the first stars and galaxies, giving us invaluable clues about how the universe evolved.”

Australia-based SKA-Low Telescope Director Dr Sarah Pearce said the SKA telescopes would help us to answer some of our most compelling scientific questions, stating that “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 more than 100 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,” Pearce said.

CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Doug Hilton added that it was a milestone moment for an extraordinary science mega-project and that CSIRO, as Australia’s national science agency, was honoured to be part of it. “The SKA project truly evokes another scientific age of wonder, promising new discoveries that will challenge and enrich our understanding of the universe itself,” he said.

The installation marks the start of onsite 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 observatory site in the Murchison region. The SKAO and CSIRO teams worked closely with the Wajarri Yamaji People to encourage recruitment of Wajarri employees in these roles.

Diamond said he was thrilled to see the progress on the project, due to be completed by the end of the decade.

“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 a privilege,” he said.

Image caption: Members of the team with the first SKA-Low antenna installed onsite at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, on Wajarri Country on 7 March 2024. Image courtesy SKAO under CC BY 3.0