Context: The SKAO or Square Kilometer Array Observatory is an international mega-science project that will serve as the largest radio telescope in the world, will now include scientists from India.
India Takes First Step: Approves SKAO Convention and Sanctions Rs 1,250 Crore
- To formally become members, countries are required to sign and ratify the SKAO Convention.
- India’s approval for joining the project, accompanied by a financial sanction of Rs 1,250 crore, represents the first step toward ratification.
What are radio telescopes?
- Unlike optical telescopes, radio telescopes can detect invisible gas and, therefore, they can reveal areas of space that may be obscured by cosmic dust.
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About SKAO (Square Kilometre Array Observatory)
- Genesis: SKAO was established as an intergovernmental organization in 2021 after years of negotiations that saw participation from various countries, including India.
- About: The SKAO is an array of thousands of antennas that will be placed in isolated, radio-quiet areas of Australia and South Africa.
- Headquarters: The United Kingdom.
- SKA-India Consortium: It comprises engineers and scientists from over 20 national-level research institutions which include: the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA); Aryabhatta Institute of Observational Sciences, etc.
- NCRA earned the responsibility within the SKA for successfully constructing and operating GMRT.
About Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT):
- About: GMRT is the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope operating within the 110-1,460 MegaHertz frequency range.
- Contribution: It has delivered notable scientific results by studying pulsars, supernovae, quasars, galaxies, and has consistently experienced oversubscription for observation time.
- In June last year, GMRT was one of the six leading radio telescopes utilized to achieve the unprecedented detection of nano-hertz gravitational waves.
- In 2021, GMRT was recognized as the third facility in India to be honored with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Milestone.
- NCRA astronomers made significant contributions to deepening the scientific understanding of the universe using GMRT.
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What is the Significance of the SKA telescope?
- Some of the questions that scientists hope to address using this telescope include:
- The beginning of the universe,
- Origin of first stars
- The life-cycle of a galaxy,
- Exploring the possibility of detecting technologically-active civilisations elsewhere in our galaxy
- Understanding the origin of gravitational waves.
- India’s Role: Its main contribution to the SKA is the creation and management of the Telescope Manager component, also known as the “neural network” or software that powers the telescope.
- NCRA is a unit of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, which operates India’s largest network of radio telescopes called the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) near Pune.
- International Collaborators: UK, Australia, South Africa, Canada, China, France, India, Italy and Germany.
News Source: Indian Express
January 3, 2024
