New Zealand Science Teacher

Kiwis to join global science project

27/11/2013

Researchers from Victoria University of Wellington will play a starring role in the international Square Kilometre Array Project.

Image: An artist’s impression of the Square Kilometre Array telescope. Credit: SKA

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope is one of the biggest and most ambitious science projects in world history. The construction of this radio telescope – the world’s largest – will allow astronomers to survey the entire sky thousands of times faster than any system currently in existence.

It has the potential to show us new information about the origins and history of the universe. Stationed in Africa and Australia, the telescope will consist of dishes and millions of dipole radio receptors, making it one hundred times more sensitive than any other large telescopes. It will also have the image resolution quality 50 times that of the Hubble Space Telescope.

In an announcement on November 26 by Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce, Victoria University of Wellington and Auckland Institute of Technology were named as two participants in this international project.

New Zealand will also contribute funds to the multi-billion dollar project. The Government will spend $1.7 million in addition to $2.1 million from national institutions.

More than 350 scientists and engineers from 18 countries are involved with the Square Kilometre Array, providing an important international opportunity to display New Zealand’s ICT and software capabilities.