Giant radio telescope underway

2000/12/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

Radio telescopes have played an important role in understanding spatial phenomena such as quasars and pulsars. The hearts of galaxies, invisible regions for optical telescopes due to cosmic dust, have been studied by radio waves. Now, the International Astronomy Association (made up of astronomers from Europe, North America, Asia and Australia) has expanded its intention to build a giant radio telescope. The telescope, called Square Kilometre Array (SKA), will have a square kilometer surface, 200 times the largest that currently exists. The new radio telescope will begin construction in 2010 and will serve to investigate the weak signals emitted by the structures formed at moments after the Big Bang.