The Square Kilometre Array Observatory mission is to "build and operate cutting-edge radio telescopes to transform our understanding of the Universe and deliver benefits to society through global collaboration and innovation". It will initially realise this through the construction of the world's largest radio telescope facility, composed of a pair of interferometric arrays, SKA-Low (Australia; 50-350MHz; 74km max baseline) and SKA-Mid (South Africa; 350MHz-15.4GHz; 150km max baseline). With the construction approved in July 2021, and permitting access provided to both sites by December 2022, we describe the high-level construction strategy, in particular, to develop the earliest possible working demonstration of the architecture and then maintain a continuously working and expanding facility that demonstrates the full performance capabilities of the SKA design. We report the current status of the infrastructure development, component manufacture, array deployments and system integration on both sites. We highlight the progress to-date against the planning baselines for budget, schedule and performance to indicate the trajectories for community engagement and early science. We also note the challenges encountered and navigated in the execution of global, large research infrastructure construction as well as the broader impacts for such investments, beyond the planned scientific research.
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project will build the largest radio telescope in the world with telescope facilities deployed in Australia and South Africa covering a frequency range from 50 MHz to 15 GHz (initial phase). The approval for the start of construction from its governing Council occurred in June 2021. This paper reviews the key science drivers and the outline observatory organization, design summary and site locations. We note the current progress and status of the SKA construction and projected schedule, noting the challenges within the current global climate.
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an ambitious project to build the world’s largest radio telescope to revolutionize our understanding of the Universe and the laws of fundamental physics. Geographically distributed between three host countries, and with more than a dozen member nations, the SKA is composed of two radio telescopes (SKA1-LOW and SKA1-MID) and a Headquarters facility. The SKA is now moving toward the start of the procurement phase and construction activities and is about to become a reality on the ground. Here, we focus on the SKA1-LOW and present the architectural highlights of what will be the most sensitive aperture array telescope on the earth, operating between 50 and 350 MHz.
Aniket Hendre, Bassem Alachkar, Paul Boven, Songlin Chen, Hannah Collingwood, John Davis, Peter Dewdney, David Gozzard, Keith Grainge, Charles Gravestock, Yichen Guo, David Hindley, Maria Grazia Labate, Sascha Schediwy, Simon Stobie, Luca Stringhetti, Gerhard Swart, Bo Wang, Lijun Wang, Mark Waterson, Richard Whitaker, Althea Wilkinson
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a next-generation radio astronomy facility that will revolutionize our understanding of the Universe and the laws of fundamental physics. To achieve the intended objectives, it needs a stable reference frequency and accurate timing signals at each digitizer. These references are used for digitizing astronomical signals received from the receptors. The stability and accuracy of these references are highly important for coherently sampling the astronomical data. They are distributed using long-distance fibers that are susceptible to environmental perturbations, which makes meeting the requirements a challenge. The system overcomes these perturbations by actively stabilizing the noise during fiber transmission to achieve the required reference signal stability and sub-nanosecond level of timing accuracy. We collect together summary descriptions of the sub-systems designed for distributing the reference frequency and timing signals for each telescope, to provide an overview of the whole timing and frequency system for the SKA.
Bassem Alachkar, Peter Dewdney, Luca Stringhetti, Songlin Chen, Keith Grainge, Maria Grazia Labate, Aniket Hendre, Alice Pellegrini, Jayashree Roy, Gerhard Swart, Mark Waterson
KEYWORDS: Signal to noise ratio, Visibility, Quantization, Calibration, Interference (communication), Receptors, Signal attenuation, Analog electronics, Error analysis, Telescopes
We present the main performance aspects of the sensitivity and dynamic range of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The sensitivity and dynamic range of a radio astronomy interferometer are affected by different sources of errors and noises. A general description of these effects is given, focusing on the direction-independent effects.
KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Pulsars, Data processing, Observatories, Control systems, Signal processing, Calibration, Optical instrument design, Data modeling, Antennas
The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) will construct two radio telescopes: SKA-Low in Australia and SKA-Mid in South Africa. When completed, the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) will be the largest radio telescope on Earth, with unprecedented sensitivity and scientific capability. The first phase of SKA-Mid (called SKA1-Mid) includes an array of 197 dish antennas incorporating the recently completed MeerKAT dishes to cover the frequency range of 350 MHz to 15.4 GHz. The 19 Tb / s digitized data stream is transported from the dishes in the remote Karoo to Cape Town where data are correlated and processed through high-performance computing systems. The demanding scientific performance requires extremely accurate timing and synchronization of the data measured by the distributed dishes. The combination of large-scale deployment, significant real-time processing, geographic distribution, and limited budget poses significant challenges for the physical, control, and processing architectures. We present the architectural highlights of the SKA1-Mid Telescope baseline design, for which its Critical Design Review was completed in 2019 and construction was started in July 2021.
The Square Kilometre Array is a global research infrastructure project to construct and operate a radio telescope observatory of unprecedented scale. The first stage of the project’s implementation (SKA1) has concluded its design phase and is about to begin construction in 2021. Composed of two interferometric arrays covering a frequency range of 50-350 MHz in Australia (SKA-LOW) and 350 MHz to 15.4 GHz in South Africa (SKA-MID), the observatory provides sensitivity and resolution which advance the currently available research infrastructure capabilities across a range of scientific frontiers. We describe the design development process for the SKA1, the antenna design and specifications, and the current construction planning and schedule.
KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Signal processing, Radio telescopes, Antennas, Observatories, Pulsars, Data processing, Data storage, Optical instrument design, Prototyping
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Observatory will construct two radio telescopes: SKA-Low in Australia and SKAMid in South Africa. When completed the SKA will be the largest radio telescope on earth, with unprecedented sensitivity and scientific capability. The first phase of SKA-Mid (called SKA1-Mid) includes an array of 197 dishantennas incorporating the recently completed MeerKAT antennas, to cover the frequency range of 350 MHz to 15.4 GHz. A Central Signal Processor, located close to the array, correlates and beamforms the 18Tb/s digitised data stream before it is transported to a dedicated super-computer in Cape Town for further processing. The combination of largescale deployment, significant real-time processing and geographic distribution poses significant architectural challenges. This paper presents the architectural highlights of the SKA1-Mid Telescope baseline design which has recently completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) on the path to starting construction in early 2021.
KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Pulsars, Signal processing, Antennas, Data processing, Space telescopes, Control systems, Calibration, Observatories, Data archive systems
This paper will describe the progress of the SKA-1 Telescope during the period from Preliminary Design Review to Critical Design Review. In addition to this, it will provide information on the management of the project with respect to managing cost and scope whilst working within a fixed cost cap. The paper will consider the balance between the technical choices made with the risk of delivering a large, distributed observatory across several continents. In addition, it will consider the challenges of carrying this out whilst developing the organisation towards an Inter-Governmental Organisation. It will consider, briefly, the key management tools used and the lessons learned.
KEYWORDS: Signal processing, Telescopes, Optical instrument design, Antennas, Space telescopes, Calibration, Systems modeling, Data processing, Systems engineering, Interfaces
The SKA1-LOW radio telescope will be a low-frequency (50-350 MHz) aperture array located in Western Australia. Its scientific objectives will prioritize studies of the Epoch of Reionization and pulsar physics. Development of the telescope has been allocated to consortia responsible for the aperture array front end, timing distribution, signal and data transport, correlation and beamforming signal processors, infrastructure, monitor and control systems, and science data processing. This paper will describe the system architectural design and key performance parameters of the telescope and summarize the high-level sub-system designs of the consortia.
The Square Kilometre Array is intended to be the next-generation radio wavelength observatory. With a Key Science
program addressing fundamental physics, astronomy, and astrobiology, the SKA will have a collecting area of up to one
million square metres spread over at least 3000 km, providing a sensitivity 50 times higher than the Expanded Very
Large Array, and an instantaneous field of view (FoV) of at least several tens of square degrees and possibly 250 square
degrees. In this paper, we describe the main features of the SKA, paying attention to the design activities around the
world, and outline plans for the final design and phased implementation of the telescope.
The SKA will have a collecting area of up to one million square metres spread over at least 3000 km, providing a
sensitivity 50 times higher than the Expanded Very Large Array, and an instantaneous field of view (FoV) of at least
several tens of square degrees and possibly 250 square degrees. The SKA science impact will be widely felt in astroparticle
physics and cosmology, fundamental physics, galactic and extragalactic astronomy, solar system science and
astrobiology. In this paper, we describe the main features of the SKA, paying attention to the design activities around the
world, and outline plans for the final design and phased implementation of the telescope.
Brent Carlson, Luc Bauwens, Leonid Belostotski, Elizabeth Cannon, Ya-Ying Chang, Xiaohui Deng, Peter Dewdney, Joeleff Fitzsimmons, David Halliday, Kai Kuerschner, Gerard Lachapelle, David Lo, Pedram Mousavi, Meyer Nahon, Lot Shafai, Sigfried Stiemer, Russell Taylor, Bruce Veidt
The Large Adaptive Reflector (LAR) is a concept for a low- cost, large aperture, wideband, radio telescope, designed to operate over the wavelength range from 2 m to 1.4 cm. It consists of a 200-m diameter actuated-surface parabolic reflector with a focal length of 500 m, mounted flat on the ground. The feed is held in place by a tension-structure, consisting of three or more tethers tensioned by the lift of a large, helium-filled aerostat -- a stiff structure that effectively resists wind forces. The telescope is steered by simultaneously changing the lengths of the tethers with winches (thus the position of the feed) and by modifying the shape of the reflector. At all times the reflector configuration is that of an offset parabolic antenna, with the capability to point anywhere in the sky above approximately 15 degree Elevation Angle. At mid-range wavelengths, the feed is a multi-beam prime-focus phased array, about 5 m diameter; at meter wavelengths, it is a single-beam phased array of up to 10 m diameter. Simulations have shown that in operating wind conditions (10 m/s average speed with 2.5 m/s gusts), the position of the feed platform can be stabilized to within a few cm over time scales of approximately 20 s. Research indicates that the telescope concept is feasible and that an order of magnitude improvement in cost per m2 of collecting area over traditional designs of large parabolic antennas can be achieved.
A new Auto-Correlation Spectral Imaging System (ACSIS) for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) is being developed at the National Research Council of Canada, in collaboration with the Joint Astronomy Centre and the United Kingdom Astronomy Technology Centre. The system is capable of computing the integrated power-spectra over 1-GHz bandwidths for up to 32 receiver beams every 50 ms. An innovative, multiprocessor computer will produce calibrated, gridded, 3-D data cubes so that they can be viewed in real-time and are in hand when an observation is over. When connected to arrays of receivers at the Nasmyth focus of the telescope, the system will be able to rapidly make large-scale images with high spectral resolution and map multiple transitions. The ACSIS system will be mated initially with the multibeam 350-GHz receiver system. Heterodyne ARray Program (HARP), under development at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory in Cambridge, England. In this paper we describe ACSIS, how it is designed and the results of key performance tests made.
The Large Adaptive Reflector (LAR), currently being developed at the National Research Council Canada, is a low-cost, large- aperture, wide-band, cm-wave radio telescope designed for implementation in the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). The LAR consists of a 200 m diameter, actuated-surface, parabolic reflector with a feed located at a 500 m focal length. Since the feed must be positioned on a 500 m hemisphere centered about the reflector and between a zenith angle of 0 degree(s) to 60 degree(s), an innovative method for feed positioning is required. This feed positioning will be achieved using a high- tension structure consisting of a 4100 m3 helium aerostat supporting an array of tethers. The length of each tether can be controlled through the use of winches, resulting in accurate control of the feed position. The feasibility of the tethered aerostat feed-positioning system is of critical importance to the success of the LAR. Extensive steady-state analyses of the multi-tethered aerostat have been completed and provide strong evidence that this feed-positioning system will operate reliably in moderate weather conditions (10 m/s constant wind velocity with 2.5 m/s wind gusts). The framework of these analyses and the corresponding results will be presented.
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