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PEERING INTO THE PAST: The Square Kilometer Array radio telescope will be located on sites in Australia and South Africa Picture: SKAO
AUSTRALIA

World’s largest radio telescope to be built after almost 30 years of planning

Tereza Pultarova – Senior Writer for space.com Construction of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) observatory, which is set to become the largest radio telescope ever built, will finally commence after nearly 30 years of preparations. Work…

  • Rob Knowles
THREADS THAT BIND: Image reconstructed using radio emission data from MeerKAT at 1000 MHz, showing unusual collimated synchrotron threads connecting radio emission lobes of ESO 137-006 – M Ramatsoku et al., 2020, A&A Picture: Rhodes University/INAF/SARAO
COLLIMATED SYNCHROTRON THREADS

Astronomers stumble upon unexpected features in a distant galaxy

An international team of astronomers, including astronomers from Rhodes University, has uncovered unusual features present in the radio galaxy ESO 137-006, using MeerKAT. Launched in 2018, the South African MeerKAT radio telescope aims to…

  • Rob Knowles
LOOKING INTO THE PAST: An artist’s impression of the MeerKAT radio telescope in the Northern Cape. Image: SKA
CANARVON

It has been a decade in the making, and now the MeerKAT radio telescope has been unveiled.

This is a major leap forward not just for South Africa but for global astronomy and our understanding of the beginnings of the universe MeerKAT was unveiled today some 70km from the tiny town of Carnarvon and in the vast big-sky landscape…

  • Rob Knowles