IN A FEW WORDS€¦ · @SKA_telescope SKAtelescope ska_telescope Square Kilometre Array ska- ion t...
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Major dates End 2020- 2027 Construction of the first phase of the SKA (SKA1) 2025 Early Science Verification results 2017- 2019 Prototypes deployed at the sites 2015 SKA Global Headquarters site selection November 2013 Start of design phase 2012 Telescope site selection P When fully constructed, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be, by several measures, the largest scientific facility built by humankind through a truly global collaboration. By collecting and processing unprecedented volumes of data, it will tackle some of the most fundamental scientific questions of our time, ranging from the birth of the Universe to the origins of life. IN A FEW WORDS: DISTRIBUTED Infrastructure on three continents and data transferred to an alliance of regional centres around the world for the science community DATA INTENSIVE The world’s fastest supercomputers by today’s standard will be needed to process the data in real time, producing some 600 petabytes of data each year SCALABLE AND UPGRADABLE Designed from the start to allow future improvements to maintain cutting-edge capabilities over its 50 year lifetime through a development programme An international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope Two networks of hundreds of dishes and tens of thousands of antennas spread over hundreds of kilometres, co-located in Australia & South Africa, with the Global Headquarters in the UK Ground-breaking project already stimulating business investment, industry innovation, and positively impacting local communities and society as a whole Designed to operate for Science goals include studying gravitational waves to test Einstein’s theories, improving our understanding of the evolution of the Universe, mapping hundreds of millions of galaxies and looking for signs of life, among many others DID YOU KNOW? Over 1,000 scientists and engineers in 270 companies and research institutions in 20 countries have already been involved in designing the SKA December 2019 Final design review THE SKA AT A GLANCE
Transcript of IN A FEW WORDS€¦ · @SKA_telescope SKAtelescope ska_telescope Square Kilometre Array ska- ion t...
Major dates
End 2020-2027
Construction of the first phase
of the SKA (SKA1)
2025Early Science Verification
results
2017-2019
Prototypes deployed at the sites
2015SKA Global
Headquarters site selection
November 2013
Start of design phase
2012Telescope site
selection
P
When fully constructed, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be, by several measures, the largest scientific facility built by humankind through a truly global collaboration. By collecting and processing unprecedented volumes of data, it will tackle some of the most fundamental scientific questions of our time, ranging from the birth of the Universe to the origins of life.
IN A FEW WORDS:
DISTRIBUTEDInfrastructure on three continents and data transferred to an alliance of regional centres around the world for the science community
DATA INTENSIVEThe world’s fastest supercomputers by today’s standard will be needed to process the data in real time, producing some 600 petabytes of data each year
SCALABLE AND UPGRADABLEDesigned from the start to allow future improvements to maintain cutting-edge capabilities over its 50 year lifetime through a development programme
An international effort to build the world’s largest
radio telescope
Two networks of hundreds of dishes and tens of thousands of antennas spread over hundreds of kilometres, co-located in Australia & South Africa, with the Global Headquarters in the UK
Ground-breaking project already
stimulating business investment, industry
innovation, and positively impacting local communities and society as a
whole
Designed to operate for
Science goals include studying gravitational waves to test Einstein’s theories, improving our understanding of the evolution of the Universe, mapping hundreds of millions
of galaxies and looking for signs of life, among many others
DID YOU KNOW? Over 1,000 scientists and engineers in 270
companies and research institutions in 20 countries have already been involved
in designing the SKA
December 2019
Final design review
THE SKA AT A GLANCE
The SKA Observatory Convention, a multilateral treaty signed in Rome on 12 March 2019, is the founding document of the SKA Observatory. Its signing begins a ratification process which will see the SKA transition from a private company to an intergovernmental organisation (IGO), responsible for carrying out one of the greatest scientific endeavours of the 21st century: the construction and operation of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).
MISSION AND VALUESDeliver one of the most visionary and ambitious science projects of the 21st century
GLOBAL, COLLABORATIVE, DIVERSEThe scale and ambition of the SKA demand a global effort with long-term investment and significant international cooperation with diversity and equality at its core
CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE Contributing to advances in technology and innovation, and testing the limits of engineering and scientific endeavour to explore fundamental questions in astronomy and physics
IMPACTFUL Delivering broader benefits to society and addressing some of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
Major dates
P
KEY FACTS
Goal: form a long-term, stable organisation to build and operate the SKA internationally over 50+ years
Negotiations over three and a half years
SKA Observatory stablished by treaty negotiated by authorised state
representatives, and composed of sovereign states as members
Negotiations hosted by the Italian
Government in Rome through the
National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF)
OCTOBER 2015
MARCH 2019
DID YOU KNOW? The SKA Observatory joins
the European Southern Observatory (ESO) as the only two IGOs in the world dedicated to astronomy
The SKA Observatory will enter into force once the treaty has been ratified by five countries
including all three hosts
Multilateral treaty negotiation
Observer
2020SKA
Observatory enters into
force after 5 ratifications
secured
2019-20Ratification process by parliaments
March 2019
SKAConvention
signed in Rome
May 2018
SKA Convention text agreed
after 4 rounds of negotiations
October 2015Start of
negotiations to draft the SKA Convention
October 2013
IGO model first proposed
www.skaobservatory.org
THE SKA OBSERVATORY AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION
@SKA_telescope SKAtelescope ska_telescope Square Kilometre Array ska-organisation
