SKA-Mid, like its counterpart SKA-Low in Australia, is an array where many individual antennas are connected by optical fibre to act like one much larger telescope, equivalent in size to the distance between its furthest antennas. “Fringes” are obtained when signals received by two or more antennas are combined successfully.
And in the first true test that all the systems are working together a radio galaxy roughly 2.6 billion light years away has been observed.
“This source has been well studied so we know what the signal should look like, and that’s what we observed with this first fringes result. It confirms that all our hardware and software systems are working as we designed them to do, giving us confidence as we begin to commission the telescope,” said Dr Betsey Adams, SKA-Mid Commissioning Scientist.
That includes confirmation that all hardware and software are working as designed allowing for the commissioning of the telescope.
SKA-Mid now has seven dish structures assembled on site in the Northern Cape, with a further 12 on their way from the manufacturers CETC54 in China. When complete the telescope will comprise 197 dishes, including the integration of the existing MeerKAT radio telescope built and operated by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory.
