European countries have agreed to contribute funding to build the world’s largest radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), featuring antennas spanning up to one square kilometer.
With this scale, the SKA’s antennas will be 200 times larger than those of the current largest telescope, the Lovell Telescope at the University of Manchester (UK).
The SKA is expected to be completed by 2020 and will have the capability to detect radio signals (if any) from stars near Earth. Its design allows for deep-space observation, aiming to uncover answers to many current scientific mysteries, such as dark energy and the structure of galaxy formation in the universe.
The SKA will also be used to test Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, as well as to clarify ongoing research about distant quasars, which are among the strongest sources of electromagnetic radiation in the universe. These pulsars can only be detected through radio signals and serve as the most accurate timekeepers in the cosmos, alongside the residual radiation from the Big Bang that formed the universe.
Utilizing hydrogen signals, the SKA will assist astronomers in determining the position and mass of billions of galaxies throughout the universe.
