Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Station

Return to WA in Space

Representation of the Square Kilometre Array: Image - Science Network WA
Enlarge
Representation of the Square Kilometre Array: Image - Science Network WA

The proposed SKA site has been relocated westwards to Boolardy Station from the original choice of Mileura Station to ensure separation from the radio-frequency (RF) interference of planned mining activities in the region. It SKA station will be known as the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP).

The spiral arrangement:Map – Australian Telescope National Facility
Enlarge
The spiral arrangement:
Map – Australian Telescope National Facility
The antenna configuration proposed will span Australia with “… a 5-arm symmetric log-spiral arrangement … out to a distance of 350 km from the core…“. The eastern spiral arm baseline will being extended even further to New Zealand for a longer baseline.

The State Government will work with the Commonwealth to develop legislation to protect the ASKAP site from unacceptable levels of RF interference.


For more detailed information see:

http://www.sciencewa.net.au/science_news.asp?pg=21&NID=1025 http://www.sciencewa.net.au:80/science_news.asp?pg=21&NID=1107

and the Australian canditate site: http://www.atnf.csiro.au/projects/ska/mileura.html


!! NEWS FLASH !!
Hopes of Australia hosting the international SKA were raised when the Commonwealth Government announced a $56.6 million investment for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) as a test-bed for the international SKA.

ASKAP will be built by 2012 at Boolardy Station. It will consist of “… up to 45 parabolic dishes equipped with phased array receivers and a low-frequency array of 512 antenna tiles. A remote array station in NSW will be linked to the WA core using fibre-optic infrastructure.” The Australian, Tuesday May 15, 2007


Return to WA in Space

Personal tools