South Africa's New Radio Telescope SKA Reveals Giant Outbursts from Binary Star System

An artist's impression of the Circinus X-1 system showing the binary (double) star system. 

Two stars orbit each other every 16.5 days in an elliptical orbit. 

The small white sphere is the neutron star - an extremely dense and compact remnant of an exploded star, only about 20 km in diameter. 

The red sphere is an ordinary star - the companion star in this system. 

When the two stars are at their closest, the neutron star pulls material from its companion star. 

An accretion disk (the blue disk) forms around the neutron star, containing the matter that is sucked from the ordinary star. 

Powerful jets of material (the orange rays) then blast out from the neutron star at close to the speed of light, causing powerful flares in radio frequencies. 

Credit: Image courtesy of University of Southampton /SKA South Africa

An international team of astronomers have reported the first scientific results from the Karoo Array Telescope (KAT-7) in South Africa, the pathfinder radio telescope for the $3 billion global Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project.

The results appear in the latest issue of the international astronomical journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS).

Using the seven-dish KAT-7 telescope and the 26 m radio telescope at the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO), astronomers have observed a neutron star system known as Circinus X-1 as it fires energetic matter from its core into the surrounding system in extensive, compact `jets' that flare brightly, details of which are visible only in radio waves.

Journal Reference: 
R. P. Armstrong, R.P. Fender, G.D. Nicolson, S. Ratcliffe, M. Linares, J.Horrell, L. Richter, M. P. E. Schurch, M. Coriat, P. Woudt, J. Jonas, R. Booth, B. Fanaroff. A return to strong radio flaring by Circinus X-1 observed with the Karoo Array Telescope test array KAT-7. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2013

Square Kilometer Array (SKA): Organisation opts for dual site solution

After a tense few months that has had many in Australia and South Africa anxiously awaiting word on whether their particular site will be chosen to host the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope, the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) Organisation has finally made its decision.

It’s good news for both bids, with the organization opting for a dual-site solution that will see the SKA telescope shared between Australia and South Africa.

The joint Australia/New Zealand bid and a South African- led bid were left competing after sites in Argentina and Chile were ruled out in 2006.

However, hopes in the Australian camp were dealt a blow earlier this year when it was reported that a confidential report from the SKA Site Advisory Committee favored the South African-led bid.

While an official announcement was expected on April 4, 2012, the SKA Organization instead decided to postpone the announcement while a working group was set up to examine the two sites further, along with the option of a dual site solution.

Noting that both sites had their own advantages and disadvantages, and wishing to be inclusive, the SKA Organisation has now revealed it has agreed on a dual-site solution that will allow the project to take advantage of investments already made by the bidding nations.

The decision will see two of the three SKA receiver components built in Africa, with the third to be constructed in Australia.

The MeerKAT radio telescope, which is currently under construction in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa and will consist of 64 dishes measuring 13.5 m (44 ft) in diameter, will be used to supplement the SKA Phase I dish array, providing the majority of the collection area for the SKA telescope.

The majority of SKA dishes in Phase I will be built in Southern Africa, as will all the dishes and mid frequency aperture arrays for Phase II of the SKA.

Meanwhile, in Australia, SKA dishes will be combined with the 36 dishes of the almost completed Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) array in Western Australia. All of the low frequency aperture array antennas for Phase I and II will also be built in Australia and New Zealand.

When completed, the SKA will have a total collecting area of approximately one square kilometer (0.38 square miles), with thousands of receptors extending to distances of up to 3,000 km (1,864 miles) from its center.

It will also generate astronomical amounts of data – with each dish transmitting around 160 Gigabits of data per second to a central processor – posing some pretty intensive computing demands to be addressed by the DOME project.

Boasting 50 times the sensitivity and 10,000 times the survey speed of the best current-day telescopes, the SKA will extend the range of the observable universe, while addressing questions in the fields of astrophysics, fundamental physics, cosmology and particle astrophysics.

Construction of Phase I of the SKA is due to start in 2016, with initial observations set for 2019 and full operation scheduled by 2024.

Source: SKA Organisation

Square Kilometre ARRAY (SKA): Astron and IBM to Build Low-Power Exascale Supercomputer

IBM and Astron, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, have collaborated to research on exascale computer systems that will help explore the origins of the universe.

The low-power exascale computer systems are targeted for the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA), an international project by Astron to build the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope.

The supercomputer will collect data from the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which requires processors that are a million times faster than today's fastest computers.

The supercomputer will reportedly be faster than the current world's fastest supercomputer, the K, that has 700,000 processor cores and a peak performance of 10 petaflops (thousand trillion floating point operations per second) - an exascale computer would be 100 times faster than that.

The initial 32.9 million euro project named Dome is a five-year collaboration with Astron and upon completion of building the telescope by 2024, it will be used to explore evolving galaxies, dark matter and even the very origins of the universe - dating back more than 13 billion years.

Ton Engbersen, IBM Research - Zurich explained: "If you take the current global daily Internet traffic and multiply it by two**, you are in the range of the data set that the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope will be collecting every day."

"This is Big Data Analytics to the extreme. With Dome we will embark on one of the most data intensive science projects ever planned, which will eventually have much broader applications beyond radio astronomy research," he added.

Scientists at Astron and IBM will also investigate the advanced accelerators and 3D stacked chips for more energy-efficient computing. They will also research on technologies to optimize large data transfers, as well as high-performance storage systems.

"Large research infrastructures like the SKA require extremely powerful computer systems to process all the data. The only acceptable way to build and operate these systems is to dramatically reduce their power consumption," said Marco de Vos, Managing Director of Astron.

"Dome gives us unique opportunities to try out new approaches in Green Supercomputing. This will be beneficial for society at large as well," he added.

Scientists from both IBM and Astron will work at the newly established Astron & IBM Center for Exascale Technology in Drenthe, the Netherlands. The construction of the super telescope is expected to begin in 2017.

Square Kilometre Array (SKA): South Africa wins science panel's backing

A scientific panel has narrowly recommended South Africa over Australia as the best site for the proposed Square Kilometre Array (SKA), an enormous radio telescope.

But the project's member states have yet to make a final decision on where the telescope will go.

A source familiar with the site selection process confirmed that the panel had indeed made a decision, but added that it was a close call. "This is not an enormous preference for one over the other," he says.

The US$2.1 billion SKA radio telescope will be made up of some 3,000 dishes, each 15 metres in diameter.

It will try to answer big questions about the early universe: how the first elements heavier than helium formed, for example, and how the first galaxies coalesced.

The telescope is so sensitive that it could even pick up television signals from distant worlds, something that might aid in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Background
Since 2006, South Africa has competed against a joint bid from Australia and New Zealand to host the project.

The South African site has some compelling advantages: construction costs are lower, and it sits at higher altitude. But the Australian site would be cheaper to insure, and is less likely to be encroached on by future development. The margin in favour of the winner was extremely narrow, the source says.

Final Bid process
Members of SKA's board will meet on 19 March in Manchester, UK, to discuss the scientific panel's recommendations.

The closed meeting will also provide the two bidders with the opportunity to contest any of the panel's recommendations. After the meeting, SKA's board write a commentary to accompany the recommendation, which will inform the final decision.

According to the source, because the two sites are so close in merit, both are still in contention. China, Italy, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, the SKA's voting board members, could yet decide either way.

It is even possible that the array could be shared between both nations, though this would likely increase the construction costs.

A final site decision could come as soon as 4 April, when a meeting of the board is tentatively scheduled in Amsterdam.

Nature ref: doi:10.1038/nature.2012.10205

Oxford University Astrophysics professor Steven Rawlings found dead

A man who was found dead in a bungalow was an Oxford University professor, police have revealed.

Steven Gregory Rawlings, 50, was found at the home in Oxfordshire on Wednesday night. He was Official Fellow and Tutor in Physics of St Peter's College.

A University of Oxford spokesman added: "He was one of the lead scientists in the international Square Kilometre Array project and also played a prominent role in the redevelopment of the Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station in Cornwall as a radio astronomy facility.

In a further statement, the university said: "He was a much liked and admired tutor and colleague within the college and will be greatly missed."

A 49-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

Thames Valley Police said Prof Rawlings and the arrested man had known each other.

The emergency services were called to Laurel Drive, Southmoor, at 23:20 GMT on Wednesday by a member of the public reporting that a man had been injured at the address.
'Students devastated'

Det Supt Rob Mason, from the Thames Valley Police major crime unit, said: "On attendance at the address CPR was administered by a member of the public, police officers and paramedics, but unfortunately the man had passed away.

The crime scene on Laurel Drive, Southmoor Police said Prof Rawlings and the suspect appeared to have known each other

"The investigation is still in the early stages and we are endeavouring to establish what has happened in the house and we are keeping an open mind until all our inquires are concluded.

"It is apparent that he was well respected and liked within the college and colleagues and students have been devastated by the news."

Prof Rawlings was elected to his fellowship in 1994.

He was head of the sub-department of astrophysics at the university from 2006 to 2010.

"We extend our deepest sympathy to his wife Linda."

A post-mortem examination was due to take place on Thursday evening.

SKA: The Square Kilometer Radio Telescope Array - Australia

The Square Kilometer Array (SKA), the world's most powerful radio telescope in development, may help make contact with aliens, if there is any, Australia's leading astronomer Fred Watson said on Tuesday.

The SKA is a global collaboration of 20 countries, which is aimed to provide answers to fundamental questions about origin and evolution of the Universe.

It will be able to survey the sky more than 10,000 times faster than ever before. With receiving stations extending out to distance of 3,000 km from a concentrated central core, it will continue radio astronomy's tradition of providing the highest resolution images in all astronomy.

Professor Watson, astronomer in charge at the Australian Astronomical Observatory at Coonabarabran in New South Wales, said the SKA will reveal more about the origins of the universe.

"It's about asking the big questions," The Australia Associated Press quoted Professor Watson as saying Tuesday.

Watson said, "The SKA will be by far the most sensitive radio telescope ever built. It will have the potential to reveal all kinds of things ranging from the possibility of picking up signals from aliens, if they exist."

It will look at the early universe, trying to work out how galaxies were formed, said Watson. The SKA would also investigate the "mysterious stuff" called dark matter, which permeates four- fifths of the universe, and possibly reveal how dark matter helped the formation of stars.

The Murchison region in the Western Australia outback is vying with a site in South Africa for the SKA, with a group of international scientists expected to make a final decision on the site for the SKA in 2012.

Some clues as to the location may be revealed following the final international SKA forum meeting in Banff, Canada held on July 3-8.

Construction of the SKA is scheduled to begin in 2016 for initial observations by 2019 and full operation by 2024.

Square Kilometer Array: The international radio telescope for the 21st century

Square Kilometer Array: The international radio telescope for the 21st century ScienceBlog.com

On 30 and 31 March a strategic international workshop on the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will seek to identify the major economical and societal benefits of large-scale scientific research infrastructure investments.

The SKA is a USD 1 billion+ international project to create a radio telescope incorporating a receiving surface of a million square metres, fifty times larger than the biggest receiving surface now in existence. This huge surface will be composed of many small antennas, divided into a dense inner core array which becomes more diffuse with increasing radius.

The SKA was conceived as a new international project to meet the future needs of radio astronomers. It will be use to address some of the more fundamental questions in contemporary physics and astronomy, including the nature of the first stars in the Universe, the cosmic history of the Universe, the nature of Dark Matter and Dark Energy, theories of gravity and black holes and the origin of cosmic magnetism.

Beside the major scientific value of this project, experts expect large benefits in terms of direct economic and indirect societal impacts, such as boosting technological learning, capacity-building, socio-economic benefit as well as stimulation of market gains.

Organised by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) with the support of INAF (Italian National Institute of Astrophysics), this strategic workshop is aimed at improving the understanding of boundary conditions and exchanging best practices that will positively influence SKA policy.